Class crossing question

Hey folks, just started playing about a week ago, having a great time. So many thing remind me of past FF games which hold a special place for me.

Anyways, I'm leveling a Gladiator, currently level27. Really like the class. My question is do I have to level other classes to be an effective tank? Or going pure Paladin good enough? I've always been a min/max type of guy so if I need to I definitely will. If so, when is a good time to level the other class? Wait till max or just start now and keep them all balanced?

Welcome!

You do need to at least level one other class to at least level 15 to even be able to unlock PLD (CNJ for PLD), so you may as well use the abilities offered, especially as when you have a job equipped the pool of available abilities to cross class is tiny (because you have unique Job abilities that replace them). Having said that, PLD is an unusual case in which most of the available abilities that can be cross classed are rather secondary - very useful, but not 'essential' to tanking. GLA and PLD both give you pretty much everything you need to survive as an effective tank natively, meaning what you cross class comes down to personal preference. The most useful crossclass ability PLD can make use of would probably be the CNJ spell Stoneskin, which will absorb most damage up to a certain point for a certain length of time - it should be obvious this is a very useful ability to use as a tank.

Other abilities you can find may help your will be the CNJ's Protect (spell that boosts defense), MRD's Foresight (buff that increases defense as well) and, arguably, Bloodbath from MRD (drains a tiny amount of HP from the enemy each time you attack).

The rest are lesser use - they have their uses, but are more situational - Raise is only useful outside of battle and cannot be used mid-fight, so it's a waste of an ability slot in a party, although soloing if you find someone KO'd out in the field, it does not hurt to be altruistic and raise them (there is an achievement based on that incidentally), and Cure should be useful than it actually is - at higher levels the amount of HP it restores is insignificant, even with Convalescence active, but it can be helpful early on (or if you're in a level capped fight down to a low level). And Mercy Strike tends to be a hit and miss affair - especially in a party, does it really matter restoring your HP if you've just won the fight with that attack?

But again, this is just personal preferences - find what works well for you and go with that. :)

Awesome, thanks for the reply. Good info as well. PLD comes at level 30 if I'm not mistaken, so I should get crackin' on it soon.

Enkidoh covered the basics. The cross-class skills available to you as PLD are limited and generally optional. None of these skills are "mandatory" in the way certain other classes at high level play will find them (Warrior, for instance, needs Gladiator's Provoke to do certain fights!), although I certainly wouldn't neglect Foresight. Seriously, level 2 skill. They're just nice advantages to have.

My personal selection of five is Protect, Foresight, Stoneskin, Bloodbath, and Mercy Stroke

Protect (listed first) helps ensure you always have it in party content even if your healer doesn't.
Foresight is a skill learned at Marauder level 2 (so there's no excuse, seriously) and it's a free awesome defensive cooldown.
Stoneskin will require significant CNJ levelling, but is well worth it; if you cast it while bosses are occupied with their own casts, you can stave off a lot of extra damage.
Bloodbath does generate a tiny bit of extra aggro due to the healing you're generating, and hey, free healing is nice.
Mercy Stroke is not much, but a free hit for extra damage off your GCD is nice for helping burst things down. The healing's just a bonus if the stars align because realistically it's super hard to time.

Fracture and Cure just don't hold up, and Skull Sunder is straight up a less useful (to you) version of Savage Blade, so yeah. Not much competition.

Question is there a guide to see what classes are available to cross train this is my first char so yea everything's new.

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Originally Posted by knitebear

Question is there a guide to see what classes are available to cross train this is my first char so yea everything's new.

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BRD = PUG 42, LCN 34
PLD = CNJ 34, MRD 26
DRG = MRD 26, PUG 42
WAR = GLD 34, PUG 42
MNK = LCN 34, MRD 34
NIN = PUG 42, LCN 34
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WHM = ACN 34, THM 26
BLM = ARC 34, ACN 34
SMN = THM 26, ARC 34
SCH = CNJ 34, THM 26

For specific skills, just check someplace like ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com and look for the job you're interested in.

COol, thanks for the info. Just started leveling a CNJ.... so boring, but I guess I'll do it since I want to be a paladin. Wish there was a way around it, but it is what it is. Got the lvl2 MRD skill, that sure is nice and easy to get.

Conjurer is a pretty slow killer for sure, but really starts to shine once you get to 15 and queue dungeons as a healer. But yeah since you wish to be a tank. I don't think that will happen :D Unless of course you with to have Stoneskin, for which you need to level Conjurer to 34.

Bear in mind that Marauder defensive cooldowns won't be as effective as your own ones, as you'll be missing the passive traits which improve them so you'll only ever get the baseline effects if you take them as cross-class skills. As a gladiator you have a much wider range of cross-class skills to choose from, but once you equip your job crystal and become a paladin you're more limited in how many cross-class skills you can use, and you can only equip marauder and conjurer skills.

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Originally Posted by Elysaine

Conjurer is a pretty slow killer for sure, but really starts to shine once you get to 15 and queue dungeons as a healer. But yeah since you wish to be a tank. I don't think that will happen :D Unless of course you with to have Stoneskin, for which you need to level Conjurer to 34.

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Yeah, I'm clawing my eyes out for sure. Only lvl12, and the next 3 levels I'm dreading.

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Originally Posted by JimboTCB

Bear in mind that Marauder defensive cooldowns won't be as effective as your own ones, as you'll be missing the passive traits which improve them so you'll only ever get the baseline effects if you take them as cross-class skills. As a gladiator you have a much wider range of cross-class skills to choose from, but once you equip your job crystal and become a paladin you're more limited in how many cross-class skills you can use, and you can only equip marauder and conjurer skills.

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GOod to know