What Sub for levels 1-10?

[Aelith]

What subjob do you guys think would speed up the first few levels the most? I was thinking blm might be good, since a nuke to open up the fights might speed things up reasonably. Not sure if whm would be more efficient though (or simply a melle job that lets me hit harder).

What have been your experiences? I've had an urge to try bard as of late, but if I do I'd want to rip through those opening levels asap.

[UnnamedGalka]

/BLM was good for me 1-7 in the Zehrun Mines (Stone I just destroys those bats), and then /MNK proved to be very useful 7-10 in South Gustaberg's Fumaroles (the two attacks per turn really helped). Upon reaching 10th, it was time to go /WHM from then on (Tried /RDM at one point and didn't think it was nearly as useful as /WHM).

Anyway, good luck!

[BloodQueen]

I always used /whm.. but a friend of mine used /war with mithkabobs until level 10/11 and it seemed to work well.

[Laehn]

Bst always seems to speed things up. Just make sure you charm something pretty weak so if it comes uncharmed, its not going to beat you down while youre fighting a tougher monster.

[Gman]

Originally posted by Laehn
Bst always seems to speed things up. Just make sure you charm something pretty weak so if it comes uncharmed, its not going to beat you down while youre fighting a tougher monster.

At the earlier levels I think this is a very bad idea. I wouldnt even recommend charming mobs as a BST main pre-10. The reason is because the experience cut isnt worth what little help the mob will give you. An easy prey enemy at level 7 will do crap dmg vs an EM or tough mob. I'm talking 0-4 dmg. Not worth it.

I have not leveled BRD, but as with any other job 1-10, its nice to have a way to heal yourself to avoid downtime. WHM is best to accomplish this. Grilled Hare or something comparable would be good to boost str/att to make up for WHM sub.

[Balodoth]

What I did.

I don't see why people are always so religiously dedicated to /WHM in the first solo levels. In the first four or five levels I found my MP to be more of a liability than a benefit. I had to /heal more often for MP than I ever had for HP with a melee sub.

As far as BRD is concerned, I would actually recommend WAR. The first few levels it's very useful, and your songs will actually give you a lot of longevity. WAR at this point will help you kill quicker and move on to the next. At mid levels it's useful because you will have Paeon to regen your HP and Minuet to add to what WAR gives you for offense. By level 6 RDM might be useful because you will have Dia and Cure. WHM will give you this also, but RDM is better for a slight offensive advantage. Otherwise, I personally stuck with WAR. At level 7 I wasn't taking on EM anymore, but I would do two EP to build TP and then a DC without any downtime whatsoever. I would get about 50 per EP and 72 on DC, so the exp rolled in pretty quickly. What you may want to consider is Selbina Milk. It's cheap, it's easy, and it's like having another Paeon. If I'd thought of it at the time, I would have been doing DC nearly nonstop. In fact, Meat Jerky is another great option because it's also buyable from an NPC (read: cheap) and gives you a few STR and +ATK, about 10%.

Of course, if you're willing to buy food and drink, you can use almost any sub you want. Without food, I went 1-11 subbing WAR in about a day. And I'd recommend not partying until 11 when you get Madrigal and your Singing, Wind, and String skills are maxed or near max.

[Laehn]

Originally posted by Gman
At the earlier levels I think this is a very bad idea. I wouldnt even recommend charming mobs as a BST main pre-10. The reason is because the experience cut isnt worth what little help the mob will give you. An easy prey enemy at level 7 will do crap dmg vs an EM or tough mob. I'm talking 0-4 dmg. Not worth it.

I have not leveled BRD, but as with any other job 1-10, its nice to have a way to heal yourself to avoid downtime. WHM is best to accomplish this. Grilled Hare or something comparable would be good to boost str/att to make up for WHM sub.

Oh, i forgot about the exp cut

[Kilgraw]

I liked /Mnk 1-10 for the HP.

[lufia22]

Used WHM. I rarely had down time as a BRD 1-10. With paeon I could run around and get healed while I looked for the next enemy and if I was ever in a jam or wanted to reduce down time when I needed more than paeon to heal, then I cured myself. Sure, it's only a few cures, but it still helps with downtime.

IMO, a few cures is better than some extra HP or a minimal strength boost.

Also, the debuff spells that WHM offered were also a small bonus.

BRD/WHM has been my easiest job 1-10.

[Gman]

Originally posted by lufia22
Used WHM. I rarely had down time as a BRD 1-10. With paeon I could run around and get healed while I looked for the next enemy and if I was ever in a jam or wanted to reduce down time when I needed more than paeon to heal, then I cured myself. Sure, it's only a few cures, but it still helps with downtime.

IMO, a few cures is better than some extra HP or a minimal strength boost.

Also, the debuff spells that WHM offered were also a small bonus.

BRD/WHM has been my easiest job 1-10.

DRG/WHM 1-10 was my easiest. Ate Mithkabobs and with my Wyvern, it was like having a duo, without the exp cut. Powered from 1-10 in about 2.5 hours.

[Aelith]

Well, I've gone and done 1-10. I pretty much was unoriginal and ended up useing whm for the sub for most of the levels.

I'm just posting to say that it was really cool. I used some orange juice ( I've just started cooking, and getting all those stacks of water crystals was one of my reasons for working with bard), along with mithkabobs. After getting Army's Paeon, I didn't have to rest a SINGLE time. It was unbelievable - very cool.

I guess that's what I get for useing food in the first few levels. I can't believe I didn't think of it with any other jobs before now - it was well worth the cost in time saved.

Anyhow, thanks to everyone for your thoughts. I definitely love bard so far, and would make it my main if I wasn't hooked on getting my whm high enough for a nobles tunic (and then finding a way to actually get that tunic :p) Once that's done though, I might make bard my new main. I might actually like it more than whm - I've put to much time in whm to just abandon it though.

[UnnamedGalka]

I will be upfront about this...if you decide to go all the way with BRD, there will be times when you will absolutely hate it. Yes, you will get more invites than you'll know what to do with...but the job itself gets very stale and boring. At higher levels, singing your songs is pretty much all you're ever going to do...Madrigal, Minuet, Ballad, Elegy, Threnody, Requiem...over and over and over again. The most excitement you'll ever see in an EXP PT is if you're needed as a backup healer...but at higher levels, your main healer is almost always competent enough that your own /WHM abilities are rarely ever needed.

Not to mention the times when you'll encounter the PLD who, for the life of him, can't get his positioning right in the "Ballad Triangle" setup, then bitches at you that he's not getting his Ballad...or the THF who SATAs on the PLD and just stays there and gets hit with Ballad, overwriting whatever useful song buffs she had on her at the time....or any other stupid melees who stand near the PLD and get hit with Ballad. Really, it's enough to make you go crazy. (I always prefer NIN tanks...can't you tell? )

Don't get me wrong, though...I'm not dissuading you from leveling BRD (Altana knows that all servers are in need of more BRDs), but I just wanted to let you know the downsides to the job as well. Be mentally prepared and brace yourself for bouts of extreme boredom.

[felpa_de_osa]

Originally posted by UnnamedGalka
Not to mention the times when you'll encounter the PLD who, for the life of him, can't get his positioning right in the "Ballad Triangle" setup, then bitches at you that he's not getting his Ballad...or the THF who SATAs on the PLD and just stays there and gets hit with Ballad, overwriting whatever useful song buffs she had on her at the time....or any other stupid melees who stand near the PLD and get hit with Ballad. Really, it's enough to make you go crazy. (I always prefer NIN tanks...can't you tell? )

You said it... I hate it going into crawlers or for that matter anywhere, where the THF SATAs off the PLD and just as you're standing there the THF gets blasted with Ballad. Then I get a bit peeved and kindly wait or even ask the thief to move the opposite side of him so he wouldn't get hit with the song.

Or I have to play two etudes to remove it off of him or her then run back while the PLD has his back turned to the mage(s) so I can play ballad for all 3 people then slap on etudes for pld and mages.

I so don't like it when the mage's are apart from each other and they both want Ballad > > I always repeat "I need both mages together".

Then there is the whole party is all up on each other's butts and even when I am playing melee songs and it lands on the mages and the same for mage songs landing on melees...

I am starting to love ninja tanks they can blink tank enfeeble the monster. I would go far as to say screw RDM and their convert lol you might find little resting time but resting time can't be stop altogether. No offence to the PLDs you get love but not to much

[Macht]

For Levels 1-5 which ever sub you used doesn't seem to make any extreemly huge impact. The right ones will let you fight a slightly harder mob but the downtime may make the effort less worth it.

From 5-10 I always went with /BRD no matter what that helped me tremendously or more specifically Army's Paeon I was able to kill a lot more an never really rested. As for BRD the best sub for 5-10 seemed to be /NIN or /WHM, both of those worked fairly well.

[Gman]

Originally posted by Macht
For Levels 1-5 which ever sub you used doesn't seem to make any extreemly huge impact. The right ones will let you fight a slightly harder mob but the downtime may make the effort less worth it.

From 5-10 I always went with /BRD no matter what that helped me tremendously or more specifically Army's Paeon I was able to kill a lot more an never really rested. As for BRD the best sub for 5-10 seemed to be /NIN or /WHM, both of those worked fairly well.

I'm curious... why sub nin on brd from level 5-10? Seems kinda useless to me. Why not war or mnk if you want a melee sub? Does nin get any worthwhile bonuses at /5?