Now to begin with, there are only nine jobs available to new players after they leave Trainee Island: Strider, Dark Magician, Sorcerer, Fighter, Kahuna, Spirit Singer, Holy Warrior, Cleric, and Breeder.
Now that may seem like a bunch of jobs but I'm going to break it down for you. You see, there are really only three classes: Warriors, Mages, and the Pet classes.
As in all MMORPGs, Warriors are the fighter types. The ones holding the huge-ass swords and beating the crap out of everything. They excel in defense, physical damage, and having a bunch of HP. Warriors are pretty much the big damage dealers in the game. Now each race has its own Warrior class. I'll outline them below.
Asura: Strider
Striders are the warrior class of the Asuras. They excel in evasion and damage, choosing to do pretty decent damage really, really fast. Striders can go on to be either Assassins or Shadow Hunters, the Archer version of the warrior for those who don't like to be up-close to the monsters. An important note: Striders can dual wield meaning they can hold TWO swords at the same time. Pretty nifty.
Gaia: Fighter
Fighters are the warrior class of the Gaias. They are a jack-of-all-trades having a good balance of the damage that Striders can dish out and the durability of a Holy Warrior. Fighters can dual wield axes of choose to use a longbow. Respectively, they can get their second jobs as a Champion or an Archer.
Deva: Holy Warrior
Holy Warriors are the warrior class of the Devas. They excel in defense and having a lot of HP to take the brunt of the damage. They are usually what we call "tanks". This terminology will be explained later on in the Dungeon Party section. Holy Warriors are able to deal damage using a variety of spells as well as swinging their sword in the monsters face. They can go on to be either Knights or Soldiers.
A staple in all MMORPGs is the Mage class. Mages are the magic-casting people who tend to use their spells to do what they want. With an entire repertoire of spells in their command, mages excel in magical damage as well as either helping other players or disabling the opponent. Each race has its own Mage class and I'll outline them below.
Asura: Dark Magician
Contrary to what you see in Yu-Gi-Oh, a Dark Magician does not wear a pointy purple... thing. Dark Magicians are able to deal damage using a variety of fire/air/shade spells. Not only do Dark Magicians have damage dealing spells, they also have curse spells to weaken their opponents and go in for the kill. Sadly, Dark Magicians do not excel in helping others. They have two buffs that are able to be passed onto others. Dark Magicians are really easy to kill. Being a dark magician myself, I know how easy it is to die. We don't have very much HP or very much Defense. Dark Magicians can go on to be either Warlocks or Chaos Magicians.
Gaia:Kahuna
Besides having a cool name, Kahunas are mages that work with nature. They have a good balance of spells that help themselves, self buffs, and spells that help others, buffs. They also have spells that deal damage and cripple monsters. Overall, a good balanced class and wanted in many Dungeon Parties although no one can ever find one because they're in so high demand. Kahunas can go on to be either Druids or Battle Kahunas.
Deva: Clerics
Clerics are the quintessential healers of the game. While Dark Magicians and Kahunas both have healing spells, they do not match up to the calibre of the heals of the clerics. Clerics were made for healing and buffing up other people and are a must in parties. Who else would heal the rest of the party? Clerics have high defense and HP to keep themselves alive. Clerics can go on to be either Bishops or Priests.
The Pet class is unique to Rappelz. Pets are an important aspect in the game and can do everything from healing you to helping you destroy the opponent. There are more than 10 different types of pets with possibly more coming soon. Pet classes are there to help their pets and make them useful damage dealers. Why deal damage with just one character when you could, essentially, have two?
Asura: Sorcerer
Sorcerers are usually known as a synonym for mages. Well, that's kind of the point. Sorcerers are the Asura pet class and are able to rely on themselves more than on their pets. They start out with a lot of the same skills that dark magicians do in order to sustain themselves until their pets become battle machines. Sorcerers can go on to be Battle Summoners.
Gaia: Spirit Singer
Spirit Singers are the Gaia pet class. They rely on magic that helps their pet and themselves in order to work as one with their pet. They have a lot of self-buffs for them and their pets in order to help each other. The unity of pet and Spirit Singer becomes obvious in second job when you actually get to BECOME your pet. Speaking of which, Spirit Singers go on to be Evokers.
Deva: Breeder
Breeders are the pet class for Devas. They use their really strong buffs to power up their pets. At first, it's a lot of defensive buffs in order to protect your pet. While your pet will do most of the damage, you'll be right behind it for support having skills to heal and protect your pet. Breeders go on to be Soul Breeders.
Please note, each class is not restricted to using a certain weapon. Pretty much every class can use any weapon they want; there are no class restrictions on weaponry. You could have a cleric using a spear. Although that's not very effective, it's possible. Some classes have skills that specialize in using certain weapons. Striders can dual wield dirks and swords while Dark Magicians get a physical attack boost for using a dirk or a staff.