Abyssea Solo Master: SMN or BST?

[Linh]

I love Summoner, but is BST a better option if I wanna solo or duo box NMs like Orthrus?

This is in regards to BST Vs. SMN soloing while in Abyssea only of course.

[Sparthos]

BST. 'cause it has TH and without procs.... you're gonna need it.

[Zaknafein]

It's very situational. Bst is best on some target's, and smn excels on others. Regardless of which your using make sure you have Atma of Ducal Gaurd.

[wish12oz]

THF, DNC and NIN all have BST and SMN beat.
But really, THF wins for having TH.

[Jar]

pup wins <_<

[Gennadi]

Beastmasters can solo while all others die and cry out for raises.

[Dallas]

SMN is good, BST is better. Having one of each covers most NMs.

[Arciel]

between BST and SMN, definitely BST cos you get better gear options and more diverse pet options. Yuly is particularly good cos of eva, triple attack and TH.
however, do note that BST is also the more expensive option.

[Dreamin]

I agreed with Dallas on having both to cover most cases. Personally, I preferred using SMN and DNC when solo'ing in NM in Abyssea even though I have BST finished. BST might have more diverse pet options, but SMN's avatars can cover all the elemental strength/weakness for single/dual magic based NMs as well as better native PD- with just Ducal Guard without having to gear specifically for PD-.

BST does have the one big advantage of having TH pet but you can always get Dread if you really must have TH.

[Harukusan]

If dual boxing is an option for you, you might as well level WHM and a real DD job. It would be much faster than holding up a NM which people need to spam farm regularly for empyrean weapons. Or if you just want +2 upgrades, ask to join a group that is consistently popping one of those NMs, you'd be surprised how many of them no longer give a damn about +2 drops. Even with 3 ??? it can still get crowded at times, and spending nearly an hour to kill one NM makes me /headdesk when I see it happen.