Favorite Party Setup

[Del Murder]

I know this probably differs by level, but what are your favorite six jobs to form a party? From about 30-50 this has been my ideal setup so far:

Paladin/Warrior (me! Taru PLDs are the best tanks ever)
White Mage/Black Mage (the lifeblood, and Regen and Haste are pretty nice)
Black Mage/White Mage (Does the most damage of any class)
Red Mage/White Mage (With Refresh and Convert there is never any downtime)
Dark Knight/Warrior (I've found them to be the most consistent DD melee, and they make good SATA partners)
Thief/Ninja (Man I love SATA, gives me a buttload of hate to start the battle and does some sweet damage, THF is a good puller too)

There are plenty of efficient parties but when I am forming a group and there are a lot of people looking I tend to fall back on this setup.

[Markus. D]

though a not a very good one, a full party of Bards would be mine :]

n_n-b

[Yeargdribble]

At 75 for merits it would either have to be.

3xWAR/NIN, RDM/WHM, BRD/WHM, BRD/NIN

or

4xWAR/NIN, RDM/WHM, BRD/NIN


For most normal (non-burn) merit builds I prefer a NIN tank with a THF to help plan hate. I can't really say one PT set up because they are basically all the same thing as long as you have the right people filling the roles.

Tank, 2xDD (who can SC well together), BLM, WHM, RDM (or BRD or COR)

or

Tank, 3xDD, WHM, RDM (or BRD or COR)

I honestly think that in a PT of people that know what they are doing that the PT with BLM is more efficient, but you can't expect that all the time.

I'd rather be in an outlandishly odd PT of people that know what they are doing than a perfect set up with noobs. Most often the case is that if you have a group of people that know what they are doing the good set up will follow naturally.

[Fuego]

I agree with Yeargdribble

There really isn't a "Perfect" set up that always works. And even if there were a "perfect" party set up that doesn't guarantee that the people in the party know what they should be doin'.

I usually just check out the feel of the party and if it doesn't work then it doesn't work. I disband and move on.

I have been encountering alot of noobish groups who just build a party with their mates and disregard the fact there isn't a healer or DD ...
or that the lvl's in the party are spread out to about 5 or 6 ...

I am not trying to put anyone down because i am still pretty new to XI and i make mistakes to.

But sometimes those partys that you think "Holy cow this is going to be a big disaster!" turn out to be funner and more challenging ... sometimes that lil' voice of the tiny man inside your head was right .

I don't know ... i just try to have fun with it regardless :tongue:

[Necronopticous]

Back before all the modifications to Ranger we used to have a static RNG/NIN, RNG/NIN, RNG/NIN, RNG/NIN, BLM/WHM, BRD/WHM BCNM40 party. That was some of the most fun I ever had with the game.

[Del Murder]

There isn't a perfect setup but there must surely be some certain jobs you like partying with more than others.

[Mirage]

I don't really have a party setup that I tend to remake very often. I do have some favourite jobs though. Like everyone, I love a bard, furthermore, I almost always prefer a pld tank over a nin tank. It just feels like things are going smoother with a pld. Feels much safer because I know it's so much easier for him to hold hate. With a pld it doesn't really matter if i do a SATA behind another DD, he usually doesn't draw hate anyway. I would ofcourse try to get the SATA hate on the tank, but it's not always doable.
By the way, nin tanks are going to have a bit of a problem keeping hate when I get war to 30. Sneak Attack and Sturmwind hurts, I hear, and I'm already getting hate without SA.

[Ouch!]

BLM/WHM
RDM/WHM
BRD/WHM
SAM/WAR
Any other DD, I'm not picky.
PLD/WAR

The lack of WHM doesn't bother me. More often than not, I can main heal better than WHMs on my RDM anyway. Having a RDM and a BRD is pure awesome. Elergy and slow is a godsend for any tank, and refresh and double ballad is any mage's wet dream. I've always been fond of SAMs, and now that they've got their update, they should be even better. I'd also take a second DD; like I said, I'm not picky--I'd take just about anything. To keep up with the TP so they could chain as often as the SAM, I'd probably want a DRK for absorb-TP (though I don't know how much the nerf affected that). PLD/WAR is my favorite tank. I find them more reliable than NINs for maintaining hate, and with a refresher, they don't have to worry about running out of MP to heal themselves, which makes it easier to main heal for the RDM (me).

[Jimsour]

At Lv 60 (highest is 62) I good setup for me would be:

DRK/WAR(or THF) - Me
PLD/WAR
RDM/WHM
BRD/WHM
SAM/WAR
BLM/WHM

Basically, PLD will obviously tank, I skillchain with the SAM while the BLM magic bursts and does a few spells.. and the RDM can cure/haste/refresh (hey, I've done it plenty of times, its not hard) while the BRD buffs and pulls.

I had a BRD pull in my last party and the experience was amazing.. this was the setup and it worked great. We did have the BLM use a few cure IIIs now and again when the RDM was running low on MP, which worked out nicely too.

Ofcourse, COR is nice too if a BRD doesnt show up. Gotta love CORs with a WAR in the party when you are a DRK/WAR..

[Fuego]

I was just in this really nice party ...

rdm
whm
pld
war
thf
blu

i got from lvl 53-55 in like 3 hours ... :tongue:

[Mirage]

That's pretty good. How much exp do you need from 54 to 55?

[Fuego]

11,600 for lvl 54-55 :D

[Miriel]

Hmmm, let's see.

My preferred party setup is pretty close to Del Murder's except I would switch out RDM for BRD or COR. My main concern as a WHM is having the lovely lovely support that BRDs, CORs, and RDMs provide. My personal preference for support jobs would be BRD and COR. The damage melee spots I don't really have much preference for. Anyone who is decent at their job can fill those spots and I wouldn't really care much. But I just looove BRD and COR.

[Luc]

BLM BLM BLM BLM BLM BRD

But.. if it's a regular party:

NIN SAM SAM RDM BRD BLM

[Fuego]

I love mana burn partys :D

Sooooo much fun !

[Crossblades]

MNK/WAR(me :D )
WHM/BLM(or BLM/WHM)
NIN/THF
BRD/WHM
DRK/WAR
SAM/WAR

[Misfit]

My favorite party setup?

blm/whm taru
blm/whm taru
blm/whm taru
blm/whm taru
war/nin me
rdm/blm or brd/whm taru

Heck yes. ;D

[Darius]

My favorite pt so far has been:

Pld/War (me)
Nin/War
Blm/Whm
Blm/Whm
Sum/Blm
Sum/Whm

This party was around levels 42-45 (cant remember exactly). We were in the crawlers nest and killing things VERY fast! I leveled up twice in alittle less than 3 hours. Well, I also had my band left over from the previous day so I got about an extra 500-700 xp total, on top of recasting my band :D

[Khaotic]

WAR/WHM
WAR/WHM
WAR/WHM
WAR/WHM
WAR/WHM
WAR/WHM

[Misfit]

WAR/WHM
WAR/WHM
WAR/WHM
WAR/WHM
WAR/WHM
WAR/WHM
Total pwnage. ;D

[Coronet]

NIN/WAR (tank)
RDM/WHM or /BLM (healer, debuff, dmg)
BLM/WHM (dmg dealer)
MNK/WAR (dmg)
BRD/WHM (buffs, healer)

Sixth member could be WAR/NIN or RNG/NIN.

Note: I quit XI as the new jobs were added, so I don't know too much about how they fit in the PT setup. :)

[Grand Lethal]

BRD/NIN
RDM/WHM
THF/NIN
THF/NIN
THF/WAR
THF/WAR

Doing Birds in Lufaise or even in the new zones doing pucks. So much fun lol. Everyone Trick attacking on everyone else.

[Yeargdribble]

At lower levels I enjoy a PT setup similar to that. 2xTank (preferably with shadows) 2xTHF/NIN, healer, buffer.

THF> tank> mob <tank <THF

You can just have your THFs SATA+VB back and forth on the tanks constantly. If you are lucky your tanks may even have a chance to open Distortion here and there.

[Darius]

Last night in Wajaom Woodlands we were getting almost 10k xp per hour.

lvls started out at 55/56 and we ended with one of ours getting 59. I went from 55-57 and im 4k tnl.

Our setup was:
PLD/war (me) for tanking
DRG/war
DRG/war
DRK/thf
RDM/whm
WHM/blm (didnt use any blm skills though, was straight healer)

We were seariously pulling Lesser Colibri's with ease. I made an 8 minute video and there was literally no down time and killed about 5-6 of them back to back....just in the video. We went about an hour at one point with no downtime AT ALL.

It was probably also due to sanction but thats besides the point. I held hate while the DRk and DRGs did massive damage. If I lost hate id just cast a cure 4 and get it right back. I was reborn to FFXI last night! :D

[Rostum]

Taru PLDs are the best tanks ever

Yes! They are!

I like party setups at end-game, they get exp really fast. Last one I was in I was PLD/NIN, and had WAR/NIN, MNK/NIN, THF/NIN, BRD and RDM. I had DD gear on that I borrowed from a friend. Well, let's face it, PLD aren't that great at DD'ing so I wasn't keeping up much with other DD's, but it was a friend party, so that makes it a lot more fun.

[Citizen Bleys]

SAM/WAR (me)
PLD/WAR (anyone, don't care)
WHM/BLM
RDM/WHM
BRD/NIN
MNK/NIN

I love PLD tanks 'cause nin can't keep hate off of me, WHM are nice to have for R3 (especially in Bhaflau Thickets...@#$# Firespit one-shots), RDM to keep the whm refreshed--and if necessary Dispel that doesn't have a ONE HOUR recast like Finale, BRD for pulling, and MNK for the occasional random SC (Gekko -> Asuran Fists or vice-versa makes Darkness...one of the few SC where both jobs pop their best ws)

[Khaotic]

SAM/WAR (me)
PLD/WAR (anyone, don't care)
WHM/BLM
RDM/WHM
BRD/NIN
MNK/NIN

I love PLD tanks 'cause nin can't keep hate off of me, WHM are nice to have for R3 (especially in Bhaflau Thickets...@#$# Firespit one-shots), RDM to keep the whm refreshed--and if necessary Dispel that doesn't have a ONE HOUR recast like Finale, BRD for pulling, and MNK for the occasional random SC (Gekko -> Asuran Fists or vice-versa makes Darkness...one of the few SC where both jobs pop their best ws)
Why not make light with the pld? :confused:

[Citizen Bleys]

Gekko > Kasha.

[Khaotic]

What about it? Doesn't make light if thats what you're saying, yuki > gekko > kasha makes light, and you can do that once every 2 hours.

Savage blade > kasha = light
Ground strike > kasha = light
Spinning slash > kasha = light

[Citizen Bleys]

I mean I'd rather do Gekko over Kasha in an exp party. Asuran Fists -> Gekko still makes a level 3 renkei, and Darkness is just as good as light, without the requirement for Tachi: Kasha.

Sure, the paralyze effect is nice, but that's what rdms are for, and I consistently get better damage on Gekko than I can with Kasha.

[Khaotic]

Well thats not possible, they both have the same damage modifiers, so either you haven't thoroughly tested the two, or you just used kasha once and saw 200damage and never used it again. Or maybe you were fighting Jnuns, in which case, my gekkos do over 2k damage with 300% tp on.


Light will always be better than darkness. Especially during HNM's. Thunder is the strongest magic BLM's have, therefore Thunder IV MB off light works wonders, darkness cannot do that.

Only time you should actually use the WS's for their added status effect is if a mage type mob is casting a spell(gekko) or if you're soloing and could use the extra paralyze on the mob, or even blind. Otherwise its pointless, considering they don't last very long, and as you said, thats the RDM's job.

[Citizen Bleys]

I've used both WS on exp mobs. Kasha is still good, but I consistently see better damage on Gekko, and I favour my own empirical observations over statistics compiled by someone else.

[Del Murder]

I've changed my mind. My new favorite party setup is:

PLD/WAR
DRG/WAR
NIN/THF
WHM/RNG
SMN/BLM

No sixth member.

[Mirage]

Why WHM/RNG?
-edit-
Oh, lol FFIV.

[strawberryman]

PLD/WAR
(Melee)
(Melee)
BLM/WHM [Me! >_>]
RDM/WHM [Static partner!]
WHM/BLM or SMN.

Me and my static partner love PLD tanks. Because a majority of NIN tanks we get suck. >_> Be it holding hate or actually using their Shihei. (Yes, we've had NINs that drain about as much MP healing as PLD.)

[Ultimage]

I really liked the setup of my last two parties and they got me amazing exp, so I put them:

RDM/WHM (me)
BRD/WHM or NIN (both worked well)
WHM/SMN
PLD/WAR or NIN/WAR (both were good, although the PLD was wearing a Bomb Queen ring and we were at Mamool Ja staging point)
DDx2

One of those parties was short but went fairly well while the other one was a little under five hours long and got me just under 6 merits. We had 5 people for a lot of the time in that one though because of members having to leave and waiting on/finding reps.

[Dante WolfWood]

this isnt my FAV. type of pt, but its been the first one to work w/o a PL (people are just so use to those now...>.>)

RDM/WHM main heal (me)
NIN/WAR
WAR/MNK
DRG/WHM (support healer; never had to tho...I'm that good :D)
BRD/WHM (other support, ditto above :p)
THF/NIN puller

The NIN would tank with shadows while I put on enfeebles; by the time I got all of them on, the war would provoke and take hate until the thing was dead. It worked very well, and we were getting good exp chains. First time I was ever IMPORTANT in a party >.>.

edit: at my level this might be a problem bc of shortage of MP unless your a taru OR (like me; Hume) you have a MP Regeneration item. Like my Godsend Pilgrim's Wand :D