I mained PLD in FFXI. after a couple of Seiryu I was able to cap both shield and parry with ease. my main form of keeping hate was cures so that also capped easily. my enhancing took the longest. but spamming protect while seeking for party usually kept me close enough.

I don't see skill up fitting in this game very well.

It's been stated repeatedly they want to increase the pace of the game and make combat faster. IE: skill ups slow things down. so it wont' be happening unless it's retarded easy. and therefore pointless.