Which of these magey jobs to take up?

[Vyuru]

I'm looking to gain a little more diversity for missions and events. While I do enjoy nuking or mainhealing, and just about everything inbetween, I want something with a little flexibility in what it does, so I am looking at Blu, Sch, and Smn.

These three jobs can mainheal, DD, and buff the party reasonably well, nice and flexible there. I am equally attracted to all three of these jobs, and most likely will level all three of them at some point, it's more a matter of which one to choose first.

Also, this is made a little difficult by not knowing what exactly I will be doing with the jobs, I want to have something else to offer than Drg if I get a Nyzul/Assault/ToAU missions/whatever static going again.

My current plan, is to take Sch and Smn together up to lvl 37 since they should share some of the gear on the way up, then I can decide which of the three catches my fancy (Blu being at lvl 30 right now).

Also, if I'm mainhealing on Blu or Smn, then I would probably like to use /Sch, which is another reason to take Sch to 37.

That's my plan, but I would like to hear other people's opinions as to which job I should go for and why I should go for it.

And IMO, Mithra look equally hawt in all three of the AFs, so that's no help either ; ;

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

Of the three, I personally would say SCH offers the most flexibility within EXP, Merit and endgame situations. I suppose you I could say I like SCH for the same reasons I like COR, as it doesn't leave me bound to a certain situation; I can solo, TPburn or manaburn on SCH for EXP at high level.

I will say I think Campaign EXP kinda blows on SCH, but that's hardly a problem considering how fast you can get it elsewhere.

Through the EXP levels 1-55, you'll bounce around /WHM and /BLM a bit and mainhealing on SCH doesn't really happen until about 30+ and only gets easier and easier from there. What I like about mainhealing SCH is that in time you'll be able to tap the best of what BLM, WHM and SMN can do, with a few tricks of SCH's own. Plus it never gets boring because you'll have JAs to look forward to playing with just about every minute of the job. After 68, /RDM is the subjob for practically all situations.

Advanced preperation for SCH should be fairly simple for you as well. The new Cobra Unit mage feet are nice, Moldavite earring may be something you already have. Vicious Mufflers are fairly easy to obtain if you have some mage friends. The AF body and legs have insane longevity, too. There are plenty of viable and affordable options. Oh, and the AF is completely free, which is a nice bonus. No coffer keys or paid AF, just quests.

To be honest, I don't know if I could go back and do BLM and WHM now that I have SCH. I'm finishing off my RDM to have another job that benefits from the magic merits I'll be putting into SCH, but I doubt I'd ever level another mage job on my taru again afterward.

[Empedocles]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

I agree with BBQ, do SCH first to 75.

The sheer versatility of SCH, during mid-battle as well as planned beforehand, is amazing.

Can't add anything else, really.

[MogKnight]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

Well, at first, I wouldn't really call BLU a "magey" job. I would put it towards a melee job if anything because while you can heal and sort of act like a support for other party members, your main concentration is going to be doing direct damage to the mob and that is one of BLU's more effective areas. If you want to be able to do all the special TP attacks that the mobs can do but never could before... well, there ya go! Also, if you want a pretty good melee job to solo with and have a large pool of spells to use, BLU is perfect.

SMN can be a huge MP Tank for healing if it needs but the important part will be doing ridiculous amounts of damage with it's blood pacts at 70. From what I hear from other LS mates, it is a fun job to level and being able to use your pet as sort of a handy tool is a great thing. You can help so much with crowd control and holding a mob down until things get situated. However, I've been told that SMN can be a pretty hard job to master so it will be something you'll want to spend some time with. Also, Yin-Yang Robe can be a bit difficult to get depending on when it pops and competition. Keep that in mind as the robe can be a really great item to have.

SCH is probably the most versatile job I've seen introduced into the game. It can make up for a WHM or BLM spot at times when one isn't available but can also provide good defensive support for melee and great offensive support for BLMs. Having a SCH in a Dynamis Melee party can pretty much replace the need of the WHM in it, so that the WHM can go into a tank party for example. With AoE Phalanx and Stoneskin. Never have I felt so confident to pull hate on a RNG in Dynamis without having to worry about Eagle Eye Shot. Also given the fact that SCH has some great MP conservation options and the ability to get movement speed by having Earth Weather on them with a certain piece of equipment (name escapes me), SCH can be a pretty entertaining job.

One thing about SCH and Campaign: If I heard correctly from people, you can easily cap out Campaign EXP by using Accession and casting some sort of outside party buff at an allied NPC as it will hit EVERYONE (PC and NPC) that is taking place in campaign. With this considered, you will hit the XP cap for enhancing at 300. Wait the appropriate amount of minutes so that you can earn the entire 300 XP bonus, submit your tags, pull out another set of tags, and repeat the process. While this isn't really the fun way of getting XP in campaign, it is definitely an option to keep up with the other people taking part in Campaign as mages tend to get sorta screwed in Campaign.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

I really just stick with nuking mobs and buffing allies/NPCs, I don't run back to the C.A. to exploit the cap, though. Personally, I'm amazed and disappointed SE hasn't nerfed the exploit on songs and enhancing magic yet.

[MogKnight]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

Well, they can take their time nerfing that... just wait until I get my BLM high enough to duo with my girlfriend first. ;_;

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

Well, they can take their time nerfing that... just wait until I get my BLM high enough to duo with my girlfriend first. ;_;

I'm sure your enfeebling and elemental skill will be amazing.

[Nuriko]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

In the 50s you'll need to find another way to level elemental anyway, assuming it's not raised through another job. One-shotting for good XP doesn't give that many chances, really...

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

I levelled RDM back in the day where Nuking wasn't frowned on in EXP PTs at 50+ so, its really not my problem. What skill I lacks, SCH hax

[WishMaster3K]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

SCH looks insanely fun. I would be inclined to say it's even more versatile (as a mage) than RDM.

I actually think SCH's deep Spell list and it's Strategem system coupled with the sheer amount of toys it gets it pretty awesome.

I think only BLU competes with SCH in terms of spell count. The thing is, you can find yourself using your SCH anywhere from 80%-100% of it's potential at any given time, because it's such a technical and dynamic job. Curing in light arts and using JAs and switching to Dark Arts and nuking and switching to light arts to buff the pt...

Yeah. SCH is totally the next job I'm raising after I cap Enfeebling and Elemental.

[Andrinor]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

Getting away from the sheer utility of the jobs, I honestly had more FUN leveling BLU than I had in a long while. I never saw spell-farming as a chore, it was genuinely an adventure to go out to all sorts of different places, fight monsters I'd never sought to fight before, and felt like a real accomplishment when I learned a new spell.

Granted I haven't leveled SCH, but BLU was such a non-traditional job in terms of how spells are gained that I had a blast doing it. Not only that, but being able to adjust on the fly for different situations, mastering the art of getting the right spell-set crammed into your set points, deciding when to go for traits, stats, or specific spells, putting together gearsets and macros for all the different roles, basically all the THINKING that goes into being a really, REALLY good BLU, I simply love that job.

So if you're looking for what's hot right now in terms of mage flexibility, invite rate and end-game utility I can't really argue with the SCH recommendations. But if you're looking for a truly unique FFXI experience, I'd go with BLU. But that's just one mithra's opinion

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

Well smn and sch really are backline jobs. If thats more what you are looking for then those would be the way to go. Out of those 2 I would go with sch. Smn is a beast of a job to level, at least for me.

If you are looking to be in the thick of things and wacking away at a mob, then go with blu. I too wouldn't classify blu as a mage type job. They are very much dd in my book and entirely different than sch and smn.

I don't know all of the jobs you have leveled but I see you've done melee. Going from melee to a backline job is a big leap so you might want to take smaller steps and do blu first. I've known a lot of melee that decide to try a backline job and end up hating it because it is so different. Either way, good luck with your decision!

[WishMaster3K]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

IDK, all those jobs mentioned in the OP need a full-time Refresh.

[Kaickul]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

BLU isn't exactly sought after in terms of endgame jobs, but as others have said... it's a fun job. I do really well in many things that don't involve HNMs or mobs that have ridiculous resists.

I wouldn't, however, recommend it as a first job just because of the amount of time you will have to spend getting spells. Unless you have friends willing to assist you, several of the spells are not easy to get.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Which of these magey jobs to take up?

Yep, the spells really bugged me and its why I stopped lvling it. I had the absolute worst luck even with the most simplist ones!