New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

[m33k]

Hello everyone, for some backround info I am fairly new to ffXI and have recently been merging between various mmo's and have not found one that suited my tastes, and will provide me with the experience I am looking to achieve. I have always been a big fan of squares games and decided that an mmo put out by them in the final fantasy series has to be worth looking at.

I started out with a hume war and quickly started to get a feel for the game, and leveled to about 10. as i started to go on and think about what job i really wanted to stick with i couldnt make a decision and figured i would stick with war because i was enjoying having pretty stable mellee damage and more def compared to what i was eeing with my thief friend.

I came with an idea to start over, as an elvaan monk and eventually pick up white mage as a sub jub. the real purpose of my thread is to get advice from some the people that have understanding of the jobs and endgame content. with a mnk/whm i would like to use staves for the weapon skill that gives mp during the fight (staves + monk = bad idea? good damage?) and i also like the aspect of having whm abilities such as cure and other spells that buff my party and myself.

im seeking a unique experience out of this game and i think going as a mnk/whm would serve as a viable form of dps towards a party and also be the backbone for sticky situations if more healing is needed or anything.

ULTIMATLY, i just want to know if persuing this will be successful in the end to get into groups and see the endgame content other than what ive seen so far as mnk/whm bonuses mainly being for soloing advantages.

thanks for your time

[Ameroth]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

MNK/WHM will work fine for the most part when you're solo or doing some quests or something. As far as exp party play, you'll probably have trouble finding a leader that will be ok with /WHM. Most of the time MNK subs /war.

I'm not trying to persuade you from playing the game how you'd like, but realistically, MNK/WHM probably won't be the best job combo for EXP.

ps. MNKs will use hand2hand weapons.

pps. there's no need to start over or make new characters to try jobs. You can change your (sub)job anytime inside your mog house.

[m33k]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

Hmm, this is what i pretty much expected. and yeah, i knew i could just pick up a sub job but i had thought about it and decided id rather go with elvaan for there stats and also cosmetic reasons. i suppose i'll go with mnk/war then. i just thought the concept of mixing a mnk and a whm was rather intriguing to me and was just seeing if it infact would prove to be viable.

beside that, could i possibly choose to go rdm/mnk and be viable for EXP partys?

[Yellow Mage]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

rdm/mnk

No. There are a few who are, indeed, interested in the frontline Red Mage role, but /WAR would serve you leagues better than /MNK ever would in that department. Furthermore, we don't even have any native Hand-to-hand skill.

We're basically looking (at level 30) at Berserk versus Boost and maybe Subtle Blow: Boost ups the damage on a single attack (can be used with weaponskills), however Berserk ups the damage on all your attacks (including weaponskills), and Subtle Blow is practically a joke at that level.

Seriously, you'll find myriad more uses in even MNK/WHM than you possibly could in RDM/MNK. And either way, you'd probably be better off with /WAR.

[m33k]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

i see. forgive me if i am seeming like an idiot or anything im just curious to what i can do with job combinations and but now i see that it all isnt as easily mixable as i was thinking. i shall continue on with mnk for now then and worry about sub jobs later since i am still pretty new.

thanks for the help

[Ameroth]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

i'll go with mnk/war then. i just thought the concept of mixing a mnk and a whm was rather intriguing to me

By all means, try it out and experiment. Just because something isn't very useful in an exp party, doesn't automatically rule it out completely. MNK/WHM would be ideal in campaign and possibly besieged too.

[Nuriko]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

MNK/WHM is also useful as a specialty build against NMs, basically get in, Chi Blast, get out. Most of the time, though, /WHM isn't the sub of choice for front-liners ... this is one role you might try /DNC in, but you'll give something up in exchange.

[Celeal]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

Even for solo or small parties, MNK/WHM's MP pool is too small, and you would expect less max. MP from Elvaan. (I mean casting spell like Re-Raise or Raise would cost 150 mp)

If you choose to stick to this game for a while:
Usually veteran players have multiple subjobs ready for his/her main job. For MNK, the most popular subjob choice combo for exp. parties is MNK/WAR. Other useful subjobs are /THF, /DNC, /NIN, etc. (BTW, no need to rush, just take your time to enjoy leveling different jobs ^^' )

If you really like hand-to-hand style plus magic, I suggest you to take a look at PUP.

[Ziero]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

Because this game has been out for so long, there's really very little that isn't know. Especially about what job combinations work and which doesn't. When you're solo or with friends, things like Job combo or weapon choices won't be "as important" (meaning you won't get bitched out for it) but when you join random groups or do serious events, people like everyone to be at their best and the bests are usually "cookie cutter" builds.

For most situations, melees usually sub melee jobs and mages sub mage jobs. Though with Campaign, Besieged (as pointed out by Ameroth) and now Fields of Valor gaining Exp solo or in smaller groups is much easier. But for most of the game, from missions to random Exp parties to major events, people want the optimal build from a job to max out their performance. They let the mages do their mage things, the tanks do their tank thing and the melees do their melee thing.

From what it seems, you want to try and do a little of everything, be a strong DD while offering useful support. The best job that could be recommended for that would be Blue Mage imo. It's a job that has to melee to enhance it's spells damage output, but it also gains healing and defensive spells to help support a party. But much like how Celeal pointed out for Mnk, Blue Mage would be best suited to have multiple subs at the ready to increase your flexibility and usefulness. In this game, your subjob is more like a really strong piece of equipment then a defining factor in who you are or what you can do. So being able to change that "equipment" based on the situation is a sign of a skilled and intelligent player.

[Frobeus]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

I think that the main issue here is that you are looking to fill multiple roles in party. The way that both exp parties and endgame events are situated, everyone has their own niche roll to fill and generally there is very little crossover. As a poster said Tanks - tank, Melee - melee and Mages - mage. Jobs like mnk and war are very specific in their rolls (make mob dead). However, there are a few jobs that might provide the utility you are looking for. If melee'ing and curing is something you are intrested in you may want to check out DNC although you will have limited to no use endgame. If melee'ing isn't your main concern and you are more intrested in simply doing damage and support healing then BLM would be a very good choice. You may have some difficulty getting parties on BLM at the higher levels due to the nature of exp partys, but BLM is always in high demand for endgame events.

[Vevau]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

Mnk/whm has a very good place, and, whilst it is not mnk/whm but mnk/rdm, Genome has soloed avatars using a staff and capitalising on mnk's staff skill (and his time spent getting it to cap).

Mnk/mage definitely has its place in low-man events. If you are interested in the pugilistic style then get your mnk (or a mage sub) up to 30 and unlock pup, whilst it is a different way of getting damage/healing/magic whilst you are engaging a monster you may find it what you are looking for.

As a rdm75 (finally!) I must say rdm/mnk isn't a particularly good call as mnk's offense/melee skills do no particularly compliment rdm. For meleeing mage you are better off with blu > whm/nin > rdm/[drk/war/pld/blu].

Of course the beauty of the job system is it allows you to do, as I do regularly, and party as a good little rdm/whm then go off campaigning or helping lsmates on rdm/[drk/pld/blu] (just got Evisceration so SE+Evisceration means /drk is winning atm)

[Potemken]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

Wow. When I first started Mnk was my first job. I thought that mnk/whm would be excellent. Wow. I was wrong. Just like buttersheep.

There is a time its excellent tho, and thats sky. Sub it for the best mnd gain, and get some mnd gear. Then BOOST AND KAMEMEHAMEHAMEHAMEHAAAAAAAAA!

Otherwise, its not that good of a combo.

[Sabaron]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

If you're looking for solo healing subjobs try these:

1. Dancer: At 10th level (sub level 5) you get Drain Samba which can be useful, but you'll probably hold this in reserve until 30/15 when you get your first Waltz.

2. Blue Mage: A very good option for low-level soloing, the Pollen spell available at level 1 combined with Cocoon (at 16/8) is quite good.

3. White Mage: This is the old standby, very useful if you need status cures while soloing.

4. Puppet Master: Harlequin frame (the original) can cure you quite admirably. If you have the White Mage head and the Stormwalker frame, you can get even better curing from your maton


Monks never heal in XP parties. You're basic subs for MNK are WAR and NIN. Warrior is your damage sub--it will significantly increase your output, but you have to watch your enmity because you don't have a lot of defense except for a big block of hit points which is expensive for healers to fix. /NIN is a defensive sub and is quite useful in many situations. You can't use SAM as a MNK because you're weapon doesn't count as "two-handed" and therefore, you'll lose out on a lot of the abilities (other than Meditate) which puts /SAM far below the power of /WAR.

Also try:

Corsair: While in the low levels, when your sub job isn't doing much for you anyway, giving Hunter's Roll to the whole party is an amazing ability. This is a very good sub from 22nd level until you get Berserk at 30 from /WAR.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

Corsair: While in the low levels, when your sub job isn't doing much for you anyway, giving Hunter's Roll to the whole party is an amazing ability. This is a very good sub from 22nd level until you get Berserk at 30 from /WAR.

Its still pretty weak under sub though. Lots of melees could just sub RNG in their 20s and it would do them a world of good. /DNC would also have its first Step in the 20s, which is evasion down for the mob. So there are plenty of ways to spin it.

But it would be remiss not to point out that all these subs are jobs you have to unlock at 30, this guy just started and doesn't have access to them. So its /WAR or /WHM for him.

[Potemken]

Re: New player, my speculations as to MNK/WHM

If you're looking for solo healing subjobs try these:


3. White Mage: This is the old standby, very useful if you need status cures while soloing.

By the time he has a lot of the status cures from it being subbed, he will be close to Chakra. Chakra also cures some statuses, most importantly the ones most used. Like Poison, otherwise your good to go.