Getting to DRG/BLU..

[Jereckk]

I am a n00b...straight and forward. I had wanted to join the FFXI world for years but was stuck on another MMO (crap one i might add..). I want to play a Dragoon and Blue Mage but am not sure how to get there.
Right now i am a 13 War. Thats it, just 13 War lol. So here is my train of thought..
Get War to 18, get sub, sub thief. Thief to 30. Unlock DRG. Run DRG/WAR till 30. Unlock BLU, run a BLU/WAR? This is where i get stuck. Would i be able to get into groups as a n00b BLU/WAR?
Then get BLU to, oh say 30. Then finally get to play what i want as DRG/BLU until DRG is 60. Then go back to getting BLU higher?

So im i doing this all wrong? Like i said...i understand im new but so far, in game, people have been a HUGE help. However its hard to ask random people this thought process. Any help would be great!!

Rhett
Asura

[Thonuwan]

Welcome to the community!

That sounds like a good strategy. The hardest parts out of this plan should be actually unlocking DRG and BLU. I don't think it would matter which one you unlock first.

WAR is a solid first choice, especially for where you plan to eventually go. My question is why are you planning to take THF to 30? I don't think it's a bad idea, I'm just confused why you put it in. I personally used THF as my main sub on DRG until I lvled SAM.

Good luck!

[Kensagaku]

You've got a good plan started! As a BLU and DRG 90, maybe I can offer you a good deal of advice in this regard.

Now, what you've got going is a good goal, but I suggest that you take your WAR up to 30, not your THF. The reason for this is because your SAM sub, which you're going to want as a DRG unless you plan on soloing the whole time, is going to need a WAR sub when you level it up. Since our final cap is going to be 99, your subjob will have to be at least 49, which means ITS subjob has to be at least 24.

Beyond that, I also suggest you level WHM and RDM subs as well as BLU; each mage sub has its own benefits to the DRG job when using it for solo play. WHM has Cure IV and Divine Seal for emergencies, as well as Reraise, Shell, and Protect. RDM comes with Refresh at DRG82, as well as Protect, Shell, and Phalanx. BLU's biggest advantage is the fast casting rate of its low-cost spells as well as Cocoon, which provides a 50% Boost to your Defense for a short time.

So in short, my advice: follow your plan, but also level SAM, WHM, and RDM subs at least for DRG.

Also, as a side note: get NIN as a subjob for BLU while you're leveling it as a sub.

[Jereckk]

Sounds perfect thank you! So if i level my War to 30, what would i use a sub? Or would i not even worry about the sub? Can i level rdm or whm with war as a sub?

Thanks again!!!

[Laciante]

A sub is absolutely necessary.
I leveled my WAR to 37 (old cap) almost entirely /RDM, and my RDM visa versa. Of course this was some years ago, when it was more or less ok not to fit the norm, and just play for less efficient fun. I would recommend using /MNK for getting through WAR.
It doesn't matter much, but since I don't like axes, I leveled WAR using spear and sword - marginally less effective than GreatAxe, but you will not have to work as hard getting those skilled in earlier levels on DRG and BLU.

So, WAR to 18, MNK to 15ish, subjob quest, run WAR to 30, pick up SAM, NIN, DRG and BLU, get SAM and NIN to 49 (both can use WAR sub) honestly, you won't need it past 60 anyway (/SAM gets Hasso at 50, Meditate at 60) of course, completion is a nice feeling; so now you can party with DRG and BLU, using /WAR in lower levels, DRG/SAM starting around 50 and BLU/NIN once you get Dual Wield at 20. I have heard THF is useful sub for certain BLU setups, but I can't stand daggers, so I've never picked up THF past 15 for TH1.
DRG/mage is an excellent soloer, especially after lvl60 and picking up the artifact helmet, but like I started with, I didn't lvl my RDM sub "properly" and I'm too impatient to play WHM

[Mirage]

I would say, if you want to keep the amount of subjob leveling to a minimum (at least to begin with)

MNK as the first sub for war instead of thf, simply because you're going to level mnk a lot faster than thf when you solo.

So, mnk18, war30, unlock sam, drg, blu. Then level sam, whm(or rdm) and blu to to 30, then drg to 60.

the reason i suggest taking the subs first to just 30 instead of 49, is that personally I get a bit impatient, and stopping at 30 for so to level the job i *really* wanted to level in the first place makes me feel a bit more content. If you have no problems staying on your subjobs all the way from 1 to 49 in one go, you can just do that instead.

After a while, you might want to unlock ninja, but in my opinion this isn't necessary in order to level blu just as a subjob, although it might help. Ninja is one of those "must have" jobs anyway, you're going to want it sooner or later, so if you feel like drg leveling can wait even a bit longer, go ahead and level that before you start seriously leveling drg as well.

After DRG60, i would keep continue leveling my subs to 49, and then take DRG to 90.

[Jereckk]

Everyone has been a HUGE help! Thank you!! I wasnt getting very many invites into parties as RDM/WAR so i said screw it and am alternating WHM/BLM just to get them up. Once i get each to 10, gonna go back and level MNK/WAR since WAR is 19 now. then do the DRG/SAM thing!! Thank you again all!

Rhett
Asura

[Mirage]

Keep in mind that /sam isn't super useful until drg50, because that's when you can start using Hasso.

[Jereckk]

ill keep that in mind =)