Help with choosing a class (sort of)

Hello fellow Eorzeans. I'd skip the long introductions about how I came from "that" MMO to this one. (Although I absolutely adore FF)

After trying this game for a day last December, I must say it WAS pretty confusing and the UI is pretty laggy so I concluded that it wasn't for me (Weak of me, I know.) but just last Saturday my cousin decided he also wanted to try the game and since I still had the initial free 30 days, I gave it another whirl.

I must say playing it with someone else and learning everything from scratch is better than learning it by myself. (We're currently in Besaid so if anyone wants to help us, we'd appreciate it). Anyway I've been playing for 4 days now and I must say I AM HOOKED with this game. Good thing I gave it another try. Just last night, I was able to reach level 30 from 25 by grinding the hell out of those Jellyfish near Camp Bloodshore (Playing a THM so I figured they're weak to lightning?) AND finally getting that Goobbue mount.

Anyway I just wanted to ask -- I've been playing with only 1 class so far and I know that we're not technically required to level anything else, however I want to be a decent end game player so I was wondering what class would be a good match for a THM main? Also what crafting / gathering classes should I go for? I'm planning to level all of the classes eventaully but seeing as I'm still new, it might not be a good idea --- or is it? Lastly, should I get my THM to 50 ASAP or should I focus on another class? I'm not "rushing through" the game (I read every story / quest log), it's just that years of playing Asian MMOs (I am Asian after all) have increased my tolerance for grindy-ish MMOs.

Thanks for any feedbacks, hope to see some of you in game. Cheers!

Conjurer is by far the most useful class to level up for abilities to complement your main class. I'd recommend getting it to at least 18 for the immensely useful Raise. Cure scales as you level and is decently powerful even if you aren't a CNJ, so you can backup/emergency heal while on THM if you have it. Leveling CNJ also gives you Aero and Stone for some added nuke elements/debuffs. If you want to go even further, Stoneskin is at 26, and Sacred Prism (Which lets you AOE your next healing or buff spell) is at 34, but they aren't as necessary as Raise.

Aside from that, getting Pugilist to 6 nets you Second Wind (Heal a good chunk of HP at the cost of some TP) and Featherfoot (raises your evasion temporarily, the next attack you evade gets rid of the effect but grants you some MP). Also, Sentinel is 22 Gladiator, and while not as nearly necessary as it used to be, is still nice to have for some endgame fights and Soloing.

There are probably some other abilities you can use, but you should look at your Abilities menu and see what you can find there. Anything that isn't restricted to one class or Disciples of War you can use on your THM. You can see what every class learns and at what level in that menu so you can plan accordingly. Usually the most useful abilities are gotten by the low 20's at the latest.

But uh.. yeah I'd really recommend leveling a few classes on the side, at the very least for extra abilities. You might even end up liking one.

Excellent post by Estellios, to recap :

Conjurer lvl 34 to get
1- Cure (lvl2)
2- Protect (lvl6)
3- Raise (lvl18)
4- Stoneskin (lvl26)
5- Prism (lvl34)

Pugilist lvl 6 to get
1- Featherfooted (lvl2)
2- SecondWind (lvl6)

Gladiator lvl 22 to get
1- Rampart (lvl2)
2- Sentinal (lvl22)

Lancer lvl 14 to get
1- Invigorate (lvl14)

Archer lvl 42 to get
1- Chameleon (lvl42)
-------------------------------------------------------------

Keep in mind that you dont need to have all these skills to join a lvl50 group.

However, I would recommend getting the ones from CNJ and PUG, if you have extra time get the ones from GLA and you will be set to go.

Thank you for the informative reply guys! It seems getting PUG to level 6 is a must based on the added skills. How about crafting classes? Which one would be preferable for a THM / CNJ spec? Thank you so much for the replys, keem 'em coming!

Weaver is useful for making body, legs, and headpieces for both classes, so I'd probably do that if anything. Luckily, it's one of the easier classes to get to a reasonable level because it gets a lot of stay-in-town guildleves. Your other options would probably be Goldsmith for some headpieces and THM weapons, or Carpenter for high level foot gear and CNJ weapons. At the moment crafting is definitely a mixed bag, especially at higher levels when it takes a LOT of time to level up, but the early to mid levels aren't too bad if you end up enjoying it and you will be able to make a sizeable range of gear for you and your friends.

Do we know whether the reduced emnity effect on Quelling Strike works for spells? I know the bonus TP procs on attack magic, yielding about 300 for me. If so, then just getting Archer to 22 would give a little emnity reduction that would allow for more damage output in parties. It also provides enough TP to keep Second Wind going.

I haven't tried it yet but since Quellng Strike doesn't specify that spells don't work, while other buffs do (For example, Blindside and Blood for Blood specifically say they don't work for spells), so I'm assuming it does.

edit: Thinking about it some more, if the TP bonus activates then the Enmity down definitely is working. Quelling strike is all-or-nothing, so it's another move to consider getting, Sheranfur.

Oooh, did not know for Quelling Strike.

I think the others have pretty much stated the adventuring side o' things.

For crafting, I don't think it'll ever keep up with the rate you're leveling without a massive detour in play time.

In the long run, as a caster, I would probably suggest Weaver as your main focus. Supplemented by Goldsmithing.

My reasoning is for this is that many of the wands/staves/canes aren't a very attractive for just leveling up Carpentry and Botany. The time and money you'll save in purchasing a crafted magic weapon to affix materia to or even finding one seems worth it to me.

Weaving as a caster I think is where it's at. While you're leveling, you might initially buy your latest set of gear. But as you bring Weaver up to snuff, you'll be able to turn your old gear into materia, replace it with stuff you wear. And when the time comes, turn *that* into materia, which you could use to improve yourself or sell materia off for profit. Continuing to replace your own gear while creating more materia.

Similar deal with Goldsmithing. You'll have lots of accessories here and there, possibly turning all of them into materia at the same time, and replacing them with a new set. Between the two, you'll most likely have materia that is attractive to yourself and your friend, in addition to having excess ones to sell to the market to fund the equipment you aren't crafting.

With the time investment in general, it may be a very expensive and timely process.

Thank you for the reply guys, very helpful! I'll try to work on leveling my WVR ASAP then followed by GSM!

Sher, I am on besaid, and would be more then happy to help the two of you out......I have nearly capped mining and goldsmithing. If you need any tips on either, I am sure I can help. I initially started as con/thm with focus on thm so I went GLS to work all my own jewelry and thm weapons are goldsmith made and repaired as well. I abandoned my focus on thm after the changes, I have played a bard in most MMOs so I leveled archer once I discovered thats were bard is at. I still have a couple of classes not 50 that I could join with you to party some time as well, and set you up on jewelry and perhaps some supplies from my mining exploints for you to level up GLS on. I am working a few back to back 12 hour night shifts through monday, but I should be back on by tuesday so send me a tell in game and we can see if I can hwlp you out.

That would be great Coglin, many thanks! I'll just try to PM you in game if ever you're free. I'll try to level GSM since that seems to be one of the better professions to compliment THM and CNJ. It's also nice to see another player from Besaid! :) Is there any chance that we could join one of your LS? My cousin and I could use a more social setting in game instead of just us talking.

All of the suggestions you got were pretty spot on.

Unfortunately I don't have any classes lower than level 40 so I wouldn't be able to help you out with much but if you ever need advice on what to do or where to go next or how something works you're always welcome to shoot me a /tell in game.

Feel free to add me to your friends list if you'd like.

Seeing as if you continue playing this game and would like to participate in more of the end game content, you could pretty much accept the fact that you are taking all your combat classes to 50. I guess its all about the order you take them in. If you are thaumaturge 50 you definetly need conjurer 50.

After taking those two to 50 just randomly pick another class and take that to 50. Having each class at 50 is not an amazing feat and pretty easily obtainable with some a little more than casual play. Each DOM/DOW that you have a 50 makes you that much stronger in each other class.

As far as crafting is concerned, ME personally if i was in your shoes knowing what I know now, would just stick to leveling all your DOM/DOW to 50 first. If you get bored grab a handful of leves from uldah (GSM/WVR/ALC) for kicks.

My two cents... hope it helps.