Which of these classes best at solo old content?

[LitheSuxman]

Want to play a class specifically for the purpose of soloing old content such as alexander, bahamut and many hard or extreme difficulty dungeons and trials.

That being said, I am stuck between three options.

RDM: decent dps and ridiculous self-healing
BLU: intended solo class
WAR: great burst damage with (sustainable?) plenty of self-healing

The reason why I'd consider WAR along with the other two is that I already main several dps jobs, meanwhile I don't have fun playing any of the healer jobs. My thought process is that if I'm to level up a job to a point that I can solo most old content, which is quite a time investment, might as well do it with a class that can fill a different party role for the sake of occasional quick queues. But if I am to be frank, I'm not exactly a fan of both RDM and WAR weapons and their postures. And I only know BLU being a side content solo class, what it does I have no idea.

Which of the three would you recommend based on my need and why? Thanks in advance

[ryouma17]

i use redmage when doing old content, it does good damage and has good self healing, even at level 80 old primals like ramuh still do good damage so you'll need that healing

[LitheSuxman]

i use redmage when doing old content, it does good damage and has good self healing, even at level 80 old primals like ramuh still do good damage so you'll need that healing

It seems to be the logical choice here for me to play RDM then. But then if I can solo most content with RDM what's the purpose of BLU? It seems a little bit odd that it's difficult to level up BLU without help from other players but it's branded as a solo content job.

[Rowde]

It seems to be the logical choice here for me to play RDM then. But then if I can solo most content with RDM what's the purpose of BLU? It seems a little bit odd that it's difficult to level up BLU without help from other players but it's branded as a solo content job.

It's already been explained, are you just cherry picking posts to respond to that support some narrative?

If you're not familiar with the content. There is some stuff that will be an actual DPS race when solo, even when doing it level 60 stuff unsync at 80. As long as you can kill the targets before they get to problematic mechanics, or have a plan to deal with mechanics if you reach them, it has the potential to be faster clears. Remember that healing on RDM takes away from the same resource you do to do your dmg spells with. So you can't heal forever, you get rooted every other cast and swift is on a one minute cooldown.

Tanks will give you way more defensive options for dealing with the same mechanics, but the fights will ultimately take longer. WAR is great when you know the fights and know how to manage your cooldowns for healing while in combat. The issue again is if you are unfamiliar with a fight, WAR only has the one heal on a one minute cooldown that can be used without an actual target. This is part of the reason why PLD is generally the safer Tank to solo with at first, and typically is the first job that most solo clears are done with. In addition, PLD has Hallowed Ground as it's Invuln which is far superior to the tanks invulns in most Solo scenarios.

BLU gives you the a mix of both tank and dps, it even has the equivalent of a tank Invuln it can cast whenever it wants as long as you have the MP available. The main hinderance is that it's level cap is 10 levels lower than every other job. You'll still have way more defensive options than a normal DPS and probably be able to dish out more consistent dmg than a tank though. Plus, again, with familiarity there is more potential to cheese fights, especially near the end, since Final Sting combo can do so much dmg in one hit.

[Liam_Harper]

It seems to be the logical choice here for me to play RDM then. But then if I can solo most content with RDM what's the purpose of BLU? It seems a little bit odd that it's difficult to level up BLU without help from other players but it's branded as a solo content job.

Why ask advice if you're going to pick one post and ignore the rest?

BLU is much better than RDM at soloing a lot of content (except PotD) and for anything BLU struggles with you'd want a tank. PLD is the best pick, but WAR is strong too. BLU also has a lot of use for speed-running old content and has been the best choice for multiple moogletome events and the old dungeons and alliances for the current Relic. It's well worth having a Blue Mage leveled.

Tanks will give you way more defensive options for dealing with the same mechanics, but the fights will ultimately take longer. WAR is great when you know the fights and know how to manage your cooldowns for healing while in combat. The issue again is if you are unfamiliar with a fight, WAR only has the one heal on a one minute cooldown that can be used without an actual target.

Warriors Nascent Flash no longer requires a target, so their healing is quite decent now.

[Rowde]

Warriors Nascent Flash no longer requires a target, so their healing is quite decent now.

It still requires having something to hit though. During transitions WAR can only heal with Equilibrium if they didn't top themselves off with Nascent beforehand.

TC gave me the impression that they were going to be solo'ing these things for the first time. I agree that WAR is fine if you know what you're doing, but I still think PLD gives more wiggle room for derps if they're also learning/experiencing the fights for the first time on top of doing them solo.

[LitheSuxman]

It's already been explained, are you just cherry picking posts to respond to that support some narrative?

Why ask advice if you're going to pick one post and ignore the rest?

My reply was neither to cherry-pick on answers I gather nor a conclusion of my pick. I'm confused as to the aggressiveness coming from the two of you. I read all of the replies and simply chose one that I find it puzzling to ask for clarification.
Anyroad, I'm still new to the game and has a lot to learn about what works and what doesn't, considering EW will be coming out in weeks, I think I will put leveling BLU aside for now and focus on getting a tank alternative, and thanks for reminding me that time put into healing is a loss in dps so it seems RDM isn't really outracing WAR or other tanks in terms of soloing content.

If I may, I'd love to know more about your opinions on the survivability of WAR compared to DRK, which I already play, just a few levels behind my main. Walking dead is such an unreliable ability that much I know especially in solo. In the meantime, I am doing research as to how 6.0 may change both WAR and DRK so I can finally settle on one of them.

[Jeeqbit]

If I may, I'd love to know more about your opinions on the survivability of WAR compared to DRK, which I already play, just a few levels behind my main. Walking dead is such an unreliable ability that much I know especially in solo. In the meantime, I am doing research as to how 6.0 may change both WAR and DRK so I can finally settle on one of them.

DRK survivability in a party is great from level 70 because of TBN, a magic shield absorbing 25% of maximum health worth of damage, on a 15 second cooldown. It's so good that a lot of the time, you can absorb entire tank busters especially when combined with Shadow Wall. It can prevent knockbacks, dooms and I would recommend thinking of TBN in situations where you would normally think of living dead, unless it's planned like a tank swap in extreme or savage.

TBN is the best alternative DRK has to the useful invulnerabilities other tanks have, because like PLD's hallowed ground it can prevent incoming damage from affecting health (up to 25% health which is usually enough) and prevent knockbacks.

Alone, DRK can solo things with TBN but it is a lot more challenging than soloing with PLD or WAR and in some fights will survive a long time but still just die, depending on if the self-healing from their combo is enough.

How WAR is different is it usually takes the damage instead of mitigating it, then heals it back up. The invuln will prevent them going below 1hp, then they can heal it back up on their own with a combination of their combo, a heal called Equilibrium, Nascent Flash which makes their attacks heal them and Thrill of Battle which increases their health and heals the amount increased. They may lack TBN but TBN only goes so far without enough self-heals.

In EW, all of the tanks except DRK are getting more self-heals that will make them rival WAR for self-heals while attacking.

[White_Wolf_X]

Most classes with some kind of self healing really, pld and war are my favs to do it with.

[ItMe]

Of those 3, WAR is the best at soloing a lot of current content, so my money is on it for being best at old content.
(Except for PotD, RDM beats it there, but not HoH).