FFXI Races
In Final Fantasy XI there are 5 different races to choose from, each with their own unique advantages and disadvantages. All of them (except for Mithra and Galka) can be played as a male or female character and can, to an extent, be customized in appearance. However, the selection for these customizations is much smaller than it is in other MMORPGs, and therefore you are bound to run into several characters who look exactly like yours.
Hume
The Hume tends to be the most popular choice, as they are the only human-looking race. They are also a completely balanced character, having no particular strengths or weaknesses. Some argue that the Hume is the best race for playing multi-purpose jobs such as Red Mage.
Mithra
The Mithra is a cat-like race that can only be played as female. Having high dexterity and agility, it can become a great Thief or Ninja. It also has the ability to eat raw fish; something the game will allow you to do with no other race.
Tarutaru
The Tarutaru is the smallest race in the game. They have low strength and vitality so they tend not to make the greatest melee or tank. Their extremely high intelligence lets them become powerful Black Mages, and while having low mind, their large MP pools allow them to make great White Mages and Summoners as well.
Galka
The Galka, technically not having a gender, are huge and generally thought of to all be male. Their high vitality and HP make them perfect for tank jobs such as Warrior or Paladin, and their above average dexterity and strength make them good melee damage dealers. Having the lowest MP pool out of all of the races, Galkans tend to stay away from the mage jobs. The Galka have a unique ability similar to the Mithra's; they can enjoy the boosts of any raw meat.
Elvaan
The Elvaan are a tall race (It's argued whether the average Elvaan or Galka height is taller) that have high vitality and strength, but in exchange have poor dexterity and agility. Elvaan are well-suited to playing Paladin, Warrior and Ranger, although they can hold their own with other melee jobs.
FFXI Jobs
Final Fantasy XI has an unique job system (or class system) with two distinguishing features. First, after completing a certain quest each character can have both a main job and a support job. The support job grants the character all its abilities and stat bonuses, but its level is capped at half the main job level. Second, all characters can change main and support jobs at any time in certain locations in the game. A character can only gain experience points for their current main job, and must level support jobs separately. A character's stats will only be affected by its current main and support jobs, with the exception of merit points that can be gained after the maximum level of 75 is attained.
There are 6 basic jobs in Final Fantasy XI: Black Mage, Monk, Red Mage, Thief, Warrior and White Mage. There are also 9 advanced jobs which can be individually quested at level 30 in any job. Three of the advanced jobs require the Rise of the Zilart expansion pack, and there are rumors of new jobs to be coming with the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion.
Black Mage
As in all Final Fantasy games, Black Mage's main focus is magical attack. The main attributes affecting this job are intelligence and MP. Equipment can also be used to boost magic attack bonus and the amount of mp gained while resting.
Monk
The monk is a melee damage dealer proficient in the use of hand-to-hand weapons such as katars and patas. Aside from weapon proficiency, Monks are unique in that they are the only job that can guard (halving physical damage from an attack) or counter (nullify an attack and deal damage).
Red Mage
Red Mage is usually the best solo job, with a combination of healing and attack magic, a proficiency with swords as well as the refresh spell to restore magic points over time. Red Mages specialize in enfeebling magic, drawing on both intelligence and mind to slow, blind, paralyze, etc. their foes.
Thief
The thief is the master of backstabbing, and use their sneak attack ability to deal large amounts of damage if positioned correctly. Thieves also get an ability called trick attack which tricks the enemy into thinking another character dealt the following attack. The combination of these two abilities can make for excellent hate management, but only if used carefully. Thief has proficiency with daggers, although they can make good use of crossbows as well. The ideal sub job for a thief is to use ninja for Utsusemi: Ichi and Utsusemi: Ni for pulling but also for dual knives for more damage.
Warrior
Warrior is the most balanced of melee jobs. They can load up on attack gear and be a respectable damage dealer, or load up on defensive gear and be a tank. Their strongest weapon proficiency is with axes (two handed and one handed), but they can do well with a variety of other weapons if needed. Warrior is quite possibly the most mis-played job in the early levels, because they start with a sword rather than an axe or great axe.
White Mage
As with all Final Fantasy games, White Mages are the best at healing. A high mind stat can marginally boost their healing spells, and increase the accuracy of their paralyze and slow spells, but a large MP pool is more important in the long run. White mages are also in charge of removing negative status ailments such as poison or paralysis, which often keeps the job from being incredibly dull. White Mages are useful in the end game due to their Raise III spell which greatly reduces the experience points lost on death.
Bard
Bard is a support job, similar to Red Mage in a party situation. They sing songs for the party or against the enemy, and can eventually boost any resistance or strength in the game. The number of concurrent songs is limited, however, so most of the time accuracy and attack songs are used. Like Red Mages, Bards can easily get party invites, but the job can get repetetive.
Beast Master
Beast Master is very different from all other jobs because it is usually played solo or in small groups, rather than the traditional group of six. Beast Masters have the ability to charm some monsters, and to have them attack other things. This job is very slow before level 35, and even after that it can have a hard time in a crowded area. Still, Beast Master is near Red Mage in terms of solo ability, because it can charm some powerful monsters.
Dark Knight
Dark Knight is somewhat like a cross between Warrior and Black Mage. Their highest weapon proficiency is scythe, although great sword is at least as good for most of the game. Dark Knights rely on dark magic spells to drain the stats of its enemy, effectively buffing themselves and debuffing the enemy at the same time. Dark Knights are also able to drain HP and MP, to save themselves some resting time.
Dragoon
The dragoon is a melee damage dealer that primarily uses a polearm. Their distinguishing feature is the wyvern they can summon to fight alongside them. Aside from attacking, the wyvern will also perform certain actions depending on the Dragoon's support job. For example, if a Dragoon/White Mage with low HP casts a spell, his wyvern will use a healing breath to heal him.
This job requires the Rise of the Zilart expansion.
Ninja
Ninjas get special spells called ninjutsu which require the use of items in the inventory. Most notably, the utsusemi ninjutsu will give the caster copy image, so they can get attacked three times without taking damage. At level 37, Ninjas get a second utsusemi which can be used with the first to blink tank, which involves holding hate without taking any damage. Other ninjutsu can debuff the enemy, deal elemental damage or make the caster invisible. Due to the use of items with ninjutsu, Ninja is arguably the most expensive job.
This job requires the Rise of the Zilart expansion.
Paladin
The Paladin is somewhat like a mix between a Warrior and a White Mage, and is almost exclusively used as a tank job, with Warrior as the support job. Their highest weapon proficiency is in the sword, and they also have the highest shield skill. Of all the tank jobs, Paladins are desirable because they are good at holding hate, and bring an extra MP pool to the party.
Ranger
Ranger is usually considered a melee job, although they are most effective at a short distance with a ranged weapon. Rangers have equal proficiency in bows, crossbows and guns, and their melee weapons are selected based on stat bonuses alone. Because ammo is a finite resource in Final Fantasy XI, Ranger is arguably the second most expensive job.
Samurai
Samurai are the masters of weaponskills, and specialize in the great katana. Samurai are known for their meditate ability which generates tech points (TP) without having to attack anything. Samurai are also somewhat proficient with a bow, and with a Ranger support job they can use the powerful sidewinder weaponskill.
This job requires the Rise of the Zilart expansion.
Summoner
Summoners have low physical stats, and have no offensive or healing spells of their own. Instead, they rely on summoned avatars and spirits to do their work for them. A summoner's avatars must be quested and defeated before they can be used, and gain abilities as the summoner levels up. At level 70, summoners become a formiddable damage dealer due to the abilities their avatars get at that level, although avatars can only use abilities once per minute. In general, summoners use the White Mage support job so they can assist in healing while not summoning or resting.