Class crossing question

[Enkidoh]

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.

[Barratheon]

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.