What to start with.

[Minh]

Well I've quited FFXI awhile back and will be starting to play again on sunday I'm going to make a Mithra THF but they say that THF is hard to go from 1-15. The last time I played with THF I already have subjob quest done, so should I like play with another job first, like monk, get the subjob done and then play as THF to make life easier? would it be much of a difference, I'm interested in playing both classes, so it doesn't matter to me which goes first, but if playing monk first and subbing it for THF doesn't change much then I'd rather play thf first

Thanks in advance for your suggestion. Also will monk using a knife be a good idea? or should I just wait till I lvl THF for that? and should I lvl up sword too?

[Gman]

Doesnt matter if you have a subjob or not, pre-15 THF are the last melee picked (if the party leader has a clue). Also a party would have to have a deathwish to have 2 pre-15 THF's in it, so it's pretty much 1 thf MAX to a pt before they reach 15.

Having a subjob will get you picked over someone without one, but leveling THF to 15 is tough no matter what.

My honest opinion is to sub RNG (meaning you would need to get a job to 30 first) and spam bolts or arrows. They do good damage, and a THF's marksmanship/archery skill is decent enough to land a few shots per mob.

[Sylviana]

What I recommend is starting as thief and soloing as much as you can. I believe you can get up to 12-13 just killing everything that gives you even a shred of XP in Sarutabaruta. Then killing some of the slightly stronger things in Tahrongi Canyon. I solo'd theif to 15 just to make my life that much easier.

Its a little slower but damn is it less frustrating.

Also when soloing, bees are your best friend. Beehive chips and honey each go for about 5-6k a stack (Sylph). And is good stuffs to get some gil when you are just starting.

[Tokitoki]

If you start with WAR or MNK to 18 you will then have a working sub to make THF easier solo. Also you would be able to sub WAR up to 37 w/o having to lvl it again if thats the sub you plan on using, though i say MNK > WAR sub pre-30.

[Macht]

I would say to go with MNK first if you are that intent on going THF. MNK using Knife is not a good idea and THF before they get Viper Bite using a Knife is not a good idea.

Go MNK get H2H up and when you get sub you can sub MNK to THF. THF using H2H until they get Viper Bite is really good, using the Crossbows or Bows is also a good idea or even using boomerangs work good for a THF.

Do make sure to keep dagger up but I'd suggest until you get Viper Bite try to use H2H more SA+Combo works well.

[Minh]

Okay, so I guess I'll just play as MNK first until I get subjob, and then play solo with THF until 15. That would be an interesting combination, since I've never tried it out I've never played MNK also, so I guess it's a good choice. What lvl do you get Viper something? is it 33? so until then I should just use H2H combat? Should I try to lvl anything else? like Sword? beside knife ofcourse

Is a MNK Mithra a good tanker? I know that Mithra have low HP but could they be avarage in tanking maybe? or I just shouldn't tank at all?

Edit:
Is getting gils while being a MNK easy? I just need gil for equipment from lvl 1-20 is it easy for MNK to farm and get enough money for equipment? I think if I farm enough I'll hang in there

Thanks for your help.

[Macht]

Getting gil with MNK will be similar to getting gil with WAR. At the lower levels a MNK is ok at Tanking just because they get that HP Bonus. You could probably tank depending on what your gear is like till about 20 or maybe even further.

The only sad thing with MNKs is they don't get as much recognition as they should, people tend to look at effectiveness by damage a person does each hit and totally forgets the frequency at which that person is hitting.

So they'll see someone doing 50 - 60 damage for 1 hit every 3 sec. at those low levels and see someone else doing 30 - 35 damage for 2 hits every 3 sec. and they'll think the 50-60 is doing better. That especially happens if your 2 hit cycle is getting split from a messages by the 1 hit person.

Don't know why but for some people passage of time is severly distorted so they don't comprehend the MNKs power.

[guyincorporated]

Go with warrior. Everyone needs a warrior sub at some point in their lives (i.e., leveling your ninja sub, you'll need warrior.) Nobody needs a monk sub. H2H is just moderately better than 1h sword from the first 33 levels, which really isn't very long in a thief's career.

[Minh]

I see, okay. I don't think I'll be doing warrior when I start, cause I havn't try MNK yet and it seems like a fun class, also I like one of its job trait that lowers monster tp, since THF/MNK is constanly hitting, raising the monster tp, that trait is quite good ^^ I'll maybe lvl warrior later when I have time.

Thanks for your help.

[Balgas]

Originally posted by guyincorporated
Go with warrior. Everyone needs a warrior sub at some point in their lives (i.e., leveling your ninja sub, you'll need warrior.) Nobody needs a monk sub. H2H is just moderately better than 1h sword from the first 33 levels, which really isn't very long in a thief's career.

I whole heartedly agree with this statement. I was always told to use H2H with SA+Combo, I learned that this was not that much better than using a sword and shield.

Using a sword, you have a higher skill cap than H2H. This means you'll be a little more accurate and swords also have a lot less delay than the H2H weapons. I found that it was easier to gain TP using a sword, and even though SA+Fastblade does a little less damage than SA+Combo, you won't be sitting there waiting for what seems like years to get that last 10% of TP.

As a THF I have never found any use at all for MNK sub. Either NIN, WAR, or WHM if hunting chests.

[Asurasan]

Just a little input on pre-15 thf. Just play it like you would play a ranger, works wonders. Your damage will be fine.

[gleneasy]

h2h

although h2h + combo works well , in mid 20's it starts to get iffy

, a sword woks better. Hand 2 hand becomes 2 slow and misses

too much to get as much tp as sword for skillchain. and sword,

if you have mnk sub, with fast blade and a couple boosts does

almost the same as combo in the same exact situation.

[Minh]

So Boost stacks? Like if I use it again after using it once it'll do more dmg?

[modnar]

Boost stacks with a 2nd boost *if* you did not swing (whether you miss or hit does not matter). So doing it twice in mid-battle is not practical since it has a 15 second delay.

About the choice of subjob: yes, lvl up WAR instead of MNK. It will be more useful in the long-run as a subjob, and WAR is a better candidate at being picked without a subjob (Provoke is useful, so you would be useful despite not having a sub). A Monk with no subjob is NOT a great candidate to be picked. They are at the same lvl of a THF with no sub pre-15. At 15 THF becomes a better candidate where as MNK still gets no love until he gets his SUB.

Believe me, I lived it... it was terrible. :dead:

As for choice of weapons for a THF in the early lvls (this arguement is not related to the previous subjob discussion), *IF* you have H2H *capped*, then use it until lvl 19.

Why lvl 19? Because at 19, the "Short Sword" becomes available which has +2DEX on it. You will be hitting more often than H2H (which is becoming too low of a skill to use) and the WS+SA with DEX will be able to cover the difference, especialy since "Fast Blade" can close "Distortion" skillchains (if you have a RNG, NIN, SAM, or DRG to start it).

My 2 cents.