Can't Decide

[Ryathes]

I can't decide on either being a WHM/SUM, WHM/BLM, WHM/BRD, or a WHM/PLD. Can somebody with ff11 experience help me decide.

[Rostum]

Go WHM/SMN and WHM/BLM. (You can change jobs around whenever - but never ever go WHM/PLD, please do not ever do that)

[Miriel]

WHM/SMN will give you the largest MP boost in the game and that's what attracts a lot of people to the /SMN subjob. But other than the MP and the MND boost, there's not too many useful spells that come with that subjob since all your summons will only be at half-strength. But there are a few group spells that would be useful as well as the very handy Auto-refresh. Probably the second most popular subjob.

WHM/BLM is my personal favorite. It gives the second largest MP boost, and you get a couple of really handy spells including Warp, Tractor, and my two favorite BLM spells: Aspir and Drain. It's probably the most common subjob choice for White Mage.

WHM/BRD isn't really that common of a subjob. The thing is, if you really plan to make use of the /BRD sub, you'd need to be running back and forth between the melee and mages to cast buffs, and putting yourself at risk to the AOE attacks as well as neglecting your WHM duties. Other than a little bit of downtime saved with MP and HP regen, I really don't think /BRD is too useful as a sub.

WHM/PLD is not an option. Seriously, don't do it.

I'd suggest WHM/BLM since I think the balance is pretty great, but /SMN works ok too. Subbing Bard is not something I'd recommend. You can offer your party so much more with /BLM and /SMN.

[BlitzOn]

Sorry Ryathes if i loan you tread :) but i got an Q

Q. What lvl is required for SJ? lvl 50?..30?

A. ?

[Miriel]

You can get a subjob at level 18 by completing the quest in either Mhaura or Selbina. It's fairly simple, you just gather 3 ex items and then trade them in and ta da, you can have a subjob.

In order to have one of the advanced jobs (Bard, Beast Master, Dark Knight, Dragoon, Ninja, Paladin, Ranger, Samurai, Summoner) you need to be level 30 and do a quest to unlock each job. Summoner quest almost made me stab my eyes out in frustration. Bard is rather easy though. Those are the only ones I've done so far, but I think the difficulty of each advanced job quest varies quite a bit.

[Roogle]

What made you think about WHM/PLD, I wonder?

[Lionx]

WHM/SMN - Useless before level 50. Auto Refesh cannot be used then. The MP boost is nice but utility wise its alot less and much more hindering. At higher levels you can Garuda - Blinkga everyone, however thats a hefty 100mp. Pre 50, i find this to be a useless sub.

WHM/BLM - This is a useful sub all around for every level from soloing to end-game. Warp, Tractor(great for Raising), and Drain/Aspir is good for soloing. Sleep is great too, as well as the ever important Escape. Elemental Seal is something not to be underestimated where even my Sleeps have an...i guess 85% chance of landing on the monster IT++. At level 40 you get Conserve MP, which has been proven to save more MP as long as you cast alot. Its random, but it helps out when you cast frequently. The rest are great solo.

WHM/BRD - Reletively useless past lvl 20 and before level 50. Past the Dunes, you be better off with another sub preferably RDM or BLM. Pre 20 Paeon is very useful. Post 50 you can do Ballad and Madrigal for the Melee. Its a viable combination as long as you can keep up your Haste cycles and buffs as well as Cure. Time your songs and it will be definetly fine. I level BRD up along with my BLM so post 50, i can help MP regen the mages and PLD/DRKs along with RDMs. Of course with a real BRD this is useless in every single way. But without one this is perfectly viable if you can keep up. Ballad is MP Regen X however many people that have MP.

WHM/RDM - The alternative to BLM. The only thing is you dont get Warp, Tractor or anything. The real boon only comes 1-39 where BLM or RDM sub doesnt matter a whole ton. Around 30-40 it might be better with Fast Cast, however you trade Elemental Seal for it, so it might not be that great. Once you reach 40 however, BLM's Conserve MP beats RDM. At level 66 if you need an extra Dispeller it might be good to sub RDM. Other than that, it is not wise to use in an exp party.

WHM/PLD - ...................solo lvl 1-10?

[Ryathes]

lvl 30

[Ryathes]

I would enjoy the extra defense, and have an awesome advantage against undead.

[Lionx]

If you have a competent tank, it matters not however much DEF you have. That and even without the DEF Bonus, you can take a few hits too. Dont be a wuss. TAKE IT LIKE A MAN AND STAND TALL! Your tank will appreciate it.

You get no advantage against undead, since you have to be engaging(which you shouldnt) and also need to be holding hate to have use of Undead Killer. Undead Circle doesnt last long enough and is a 10 min recast. Even then, BLM sub has provided me the win vs some long battles soloing, its always a matter of outlasting the opponent in which my club, and Aspir/Drain has helped tons with, as well as Warp in which if bad things happen, i bail.

[Yeargdribble]

WHM/BLM
By far this is the most common subjob combination.

-At 34 you can warp which is very nice.
-At 40 you get the BLM passive trait Conserve MP
-At 58 you can escape which is extremely useful

This is a well balanced combination and you will never have to deal with people saying WTF?



WHM/SMN
This is less common but still very useful.

-At 50 you will get Auto-Refresh which is arguable better/worse than Conserve MP
-More MP in than BLM but without Conserve MP you will definately use more of it up

You will see this a decent amount in endgame situations where the MP bonus is very useful and you will almost always have a BLM around to to escape or warp you.


WHM/BRD
Some people have suggested this but...

-At 10 you get Resist Silence
-At 40 you get Resist Silence II
-At 50 you get Ballad but isn't it more useful to have Auto-Refresh and not have to sing it on yourself?

Now you can sing other songs to help your PT but keep this in mind. /BRD cannot use instruments. This has 2 effects... you can only sing one song and the songs you sing will be DRASTICALLY weaker than a BRDs song with instruments (especially the right instruments). Even though you have blink and stoneskin to keep you safe while buffing the PT you will have to run into harms way and waste time and potential resting to keep songs up. I suggest you steer clear of this.

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Really I think that's about it on useful subs for WHM. Some people sub RDM for fast cast but it's really not worth it especially considering the MP loss from not subbing BLM or SMN.

[Lionx]

I totally disagree with the /BRD comment, it takes a good ammount of knowledge and skill to do it right. While your Madrigal isnt as strong its still an Acc Boost that is useful for something like Torama which has high evasion, and Acc up is Acc up. If you are smart you sing Madrigal first and while the mob is near death ballad then switch to Dark Staff and rest. Chains actually go faster this way if you actually put in the effort.

Ballad is Ballad, it has no difference subbed or main, thats a huge point in this. That and more people get Refresh which will overtake Auto Refresh if you know what you are doing and it can become very busy.

[Ryathes]

I now know that I'll be a WHM/SUM, also a WHM/BLM depending on which skills I need to win, again thanks everyone for thier advice.