Questions about Mnk duo partner.

[Rochetm]

I have heard that Whm is great duo partner for Mnk and my wife was thinking about leveling it but she really likes her dnc and would prefer to stick with melee if possible.

So how well does a Mnk/??? and a Dnc duo?
What kind of limitations are there on these that Whm does not have?

For those that have duoed with Whm. How much time do they spend running away/hiding/resting? I think she would be happier knowing that whm isn't going to be a boring job later on.

Rdm and Sch are options for her but it seems whm is better but wanted an opinion from a Mnk.

Thanks in advance.

[Motenten]

Whm meshes well with mnk because you dump huge cures on mnk with Cure 5/6, but not have to constantly worry about them being at risk of being one-shot. Dnc could perform basically the same role with Curing Waltz V, however dnc is restricted to a 23 second recast, while whm is usually at about an 8 second recast on Cure V.

For most stuff, dnc would be a great partner. Mnk actually doesn't need a -lot- of healing most of the time, and dnc adds a lot more with sambas and steps and damage. You only really want to have a whm for the higher tier NMs, or anything where there's a lot of debuffs to erase (which is a sort of crippling scenario for dnc).

Ideally you'd probably want both options available, depending on what you're targeting.

[Motenten]

Oh, and as whm, I never run. More likely than not, I'm standing right next to the tank. There's generally plenty to do, and whm rarely has much to fear.

[Lynchilles]

It really depends on what you are doing. My girlfriend has Whm and Dnc leveled. If we're doing Abyssea, she gears her Whm. If doing Dynams, ZNM, Assault, Salvage or really just about anything else: she gears Dnc.

[Rochetm]

Well we started messing around with Whm and Mnk duo. We are only in the 30s but we are already amazed at how well that works. My mnk using the exact same gear in the same level range on the same targets needs less heals then my Nin when I am not using shadows.

Heck I even used Berserk and still needed very little healing. Counter + killing faster makes a big difference.

[Arcon]

Well we started messing around with Whm and Mnk duo. We are only in the 30s but we are already amazed at how well that works.

It'll work even better later in the game. WHM+MNK is one of the most powerful duo combinations in the game. MNK has one of the highest damage outputs while maintaining reasonable survivability, and WHM is a powerhouse when it comes to curing.

The only problem is that it may get a bit boring for the WHM, as her job will get pretty repetitive and just consist of spamming cures and occasionally erase and such stuff. But if she gets bored she can always start to melee, which isn't a bad thing in most situations (only on AoE high damaging or debuffing mobs).

[Babekeke]

Not exactly what you're after, but for Dynamis Qufim, I duo'd mnk/dnc with a friend on thf/dnc and we got over 300 coins. My mnk doesn't have VS either, nor is it geared particularly well.

[Economizer]

Rdm and Sch are options for her but it seems whm is better but wanted an opinion from a Mnk.

Part of the problem here is I don't know what gear/level you guys are and have, and then there are different situations. Plus there is the cure formula changes coming which will make Red Mage and Scholar heal more effectively.

Generally playing a bit of all would be a solid idea so you can understand what you have fun with, which really should be your priority.

For Abyssea you'll want Monk and WHM/SCH which will open up some of the weapon skill procs, however Scholar has more access to magic procs when it isn't a light based proc and might be more viable after the cure formula changes.

For Dynamis any choice will work but Dancer main frees up your sub for whatever which could be valuable. Red Mage is great duo with another magic using job such as Blue Mage. Scholar in Dynamis can contribute nukes nearly as large as a Black Mage while being able to provide powerful healing but has crappy melee capability. White Mage is no slouch either but it takes a lot more effort then any of these others to put out the numbers that have to be done in Dynamis lowmans while not having enough extra healing power to make up for it on a duo (you'd have to be pretty dedicated to White Mage to pull it off effectively).

But if she gets bored she can always start to melee, which isn't a bad thing in most situations (only on AoE high damaging or debuffing mobs).

In some situations (particularly fodder where the White Mage would be sitting around doing nothing most of the time) it is actually incredibly bad to not melee since you can be adding a bit of damage and either using Spirit Taker, Dagan, or Mystic Boon to get more MP.

Additionally you'll want to have your melee skills up for later in the game for blue (and occasionally red) procs in Abyssea if you are going to do White Mage.

White Mage subs and situations:

• Scholar
  The best sub for making friends not die, especially for beginner White Mages with undercapped skills. This is the only way to get Light Arts which provides a competitive cast time reduction to that of the Fast Cast trait, superior recast reduction over the Fast Cast trait, cuts your MP costs down by 10%, and provides a few Stratagems to finish the overwhelming superiority. On top of that it provides the only way for White Mage to reach the Enhancing Magic cap. Has access to Dispel and weather spells too, as well as the occasional Aspir to make it even more MP efficient.
  Sub this after level 20 when doing mostly healing.
• Red Mage
  With Refresh and Convert this isn't a bad sub, but it isn't the best and anyone that tells you otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about. Convert barely makes this option not a bad sub, but it doesn't make it a great one.
  Easier access to Dispel. Sub this when mostly healing until you get Scholar (or before level 20) and for when you are meleeing until you get Ninja or Dancer.
• Ninja
  Gets Dual Wield at 20. Utsusemi: Ichi at 24. Good choice for melee, faster swings due to higher tiers of Dual Wield and has shadows.
• Dancer
  Gets Dual Wield at 40. Don't forget it also has Steps and Flourishes. Good choice for melee, lose some damage potential for Steps and Flourishes. Use this if doing Dynamis.

For those that have duoed with Whm. How much time do they spend running away/hiding/resting? I think she would be happier knowing that whm isn't going to be a boring job later on.

As a White Mage and someone who has played with White Mages I think I'm more qualified to answer this then someone who has only duo'd with a White Mage (although Motenten would probably be the best qualified to answer in general out of all the people who have posted so far given her vast knowledge and experience, especially for this question).

It used to be resting was something I had to do a lot due to White Mage's primary weakness of a shortage of MP regeneration at lower levels, however even this weakness has been mitigated by chests full of temporary items, the constant presence of Refresh from any book, and better sub choices. Plus it is totally not an issue at higher levels between Atmas, gear, and weapon skills all designed to give you as much MP as you could reasonably need.

On weapon skills in particular, Staff gets Spirit Taker, which is okay. Club has access to Dagan and Mystic Boon, but neither natively. For Dagan you'll need to Empyrean Club, and for Mystic Boon you'll need to climb Nyzul Isle and then do the quest. Mystic Boon is better in general but requires a group of at least three or more to climb Nyzul, whereas the Empyrean Club requires killing a bunch of NMs, VNMs, getting 50 Fistule Discharges and 50 Bukhis Wings. I personally would say that Mystic Boon is a game changer for White Mage because it means you can get MP as long as you have something to hit.

White Mage can be a fun job if you don't play it like a coward or a robot - you are as much a protector of justice and the most heroic Paladin and there are better ways to play then mindlessly spamming the largest cure available.

Again, I'll reiterate that any of these jobs should combo pretty well with a Monk and you can have fun with any, so just find one that you are comfortable and have fun with and use that in the majority of situations. There may be some where once choice is overwhelmingly better and you'll want to use that regardless but however you find your fun is up to you.

Personally I think that White Mage can stand to the challenge and is certainly tougher then it looks, but it isn't for everyone. Whatever you choose has to be right for you.

If you want to play White Mage, you have to be willing to don a Staff and stay out of the fray when it makes sense and you have to be willing to take up a Club and jump into it when the times call for it, and you have to be able to judge when either is going to be neccisary.