Subjob

Hello,

This might seem like a silly question, but I need clarification.

I'm about to start the quest for Dragoon, but I was wondering if FFXIV is similar to FFXI where you still have to level your sub-job while progressing to max level on your main. In other words, when you reach level 50, whether it be as a Lancer or a Dragoon, should pugilist be at 25?

Not at all. You need level neither Pugilist nor Archer in order to get your Lancer to max level. Actually it's roughly what's up with me, i'm only slowly grinding Archer up to get Chameleon since it's useful but I had my Lancer capped long before.

Unlike XI, Your sublcass you can use all their skills up to their own max level however when dragoon at Cap your limited to like 5 abilities from your subclass. You do not have to level them to cap but need the minimum of lvl 15 to unlock dragoon.
To be the best you only need to level your subjobs to get the sublclass jobs abilities. However in this game its best for you to have all classes to 50 to be able to exchange rolls as needed to complete content.

Cool, thanks guys.

To get the most out of a Dragoon, you'll be wanting to take Archer to 42 so you have Quelling Strike and Chameleon. Getting the pre-requisite for Pugilist opens all the skills a DRG would want from that class, which are Featherfoot, Second Wind, and Blindside.