Looking for advice: whm/bst to lvl 40

[Boldfinger]

I've managed to lvl my Hume Male to BST40 using /whm20, which I pretty much solo'd to 15 and then somehow managed to grab 5 levels in the Dunes without giving up on WHM entirely. I'm wanting to concentrate on BST as my main but have now lvld as high as I can without having a gimp WHM sub.

Even though I also have BLM20, I don't particularly want to PT as WHM because (a) I didn't really enjoy the little PT experience I previously had as WHM and (b) I don't really want to switch away from BST for 20 lvls and then have to switch back and re-learn everything.

I would like to give whm/bst a try and see if I can lvl that from 20 to 40 with any success. I have read a few posts in the WHM and BST forums which talk about it, and how the charm success of /bst is determined by the actual level of your BST and not it's sub level, however there isn't too much information available on whm/bst and more specifically what equipment to use for WHM melee at lower lvls. There are a few posts covering endgame WHM melee that I could find, but nothing I could find for lowbie.

I'll be using my normal charm macro switch gear of:
Head: Noble's Ribbon lvl 14 ~ Chr +3
Neck: Bird Whistle Lvl 14 ~ Chr +3
Rings: Hope Ring lvl 14 ~ Chr +2 (both slots)
Waist: Corsette +1 Lvl 40 ~ Chr +6

I was wondering if (due to my own limited knowledgeable/experience) some of the more experienced among you would have a look at this list of possible lowbie WHM melee equipment. Give me your thoughts, and offer up any general advice that you might have on using /bst on top of that.

Outside of the normal opinion, there are a few basic tips I'm looking for advice on. Like if it's worth sacrificing DEF for a gain in other stats or if it's best just to stick with the DEF being a feeble WHM. In particular, I'm unsure as to the benefits of the Hume Male RSE equipment and which stats I should be concentrating on. The majority of the equipment I have chosen is the highest DEF or STR available at that lvl, but I've also went for equipment with stats like ATK+, EVA+, AGI+, DEX+ & VIT+ although I’m not entirely sure about their individual benefits for one over the other.

All comments are welcomed, now on to the list…

Weapons
Warhammer 20 ~ DMG:17 Delay:324
Windurstian Pole 23 ~ DMG:23 Delay:390 Attack+3
Spiked Club 25 ~ DMG:26 Delay:402 Attack+3
Elm Pole 30 ~ DMG:29 Delay:402
Elm Pole +1 30 ~ DMG:30 Delay:390
Military Pole 33 ~ DMG:29 Delay:378 INT+1
Holy Maul 38 ~ DMG:26 Delay:324 MND+2 Resist Dark+3 Additional effect: Light damage
Oak Pole 40 ~ DMG:37 Delay:402
Oak Pole +1 40 ~ DMG:38 Delay:390

Sub
Mahogany Shield 20 ~ DEF:4
Frost Shield 28 ~ DEF:5 Resist Ice+3
Oak Shield 36 ~ DEF:6
Royal Squire's Shield 40 ~ DEF:7 Evasion+3

Head
Trader's Chapeau 20 ~ DEF:7
Great Headgear 23 ~ DEF:10
Empress Hairpin 24 ~ HP-15 DEX+3 AGI+3 Evasion+10 (0/6 so far though >.<)
Mercenary Captain's Headgear 30 ~ DEF:10 STR+1 DEX+1
Red Cap 36 ~ DEF:12

Body
Trader's Saio 20 ~ DEF:14
Great Doublet 23 ~ DEF:18
Wool Robe 28 ~ DEF:18
Seer's Tunic 29 ~ DEF:18 MP+8 MP recovered while healing +1
Mercenary Captain's Doublet 30 ~ DEF:20 DEX+1 AGI+1
Custom Tunic 33 ~ DEF:18 HP+32 VIT+3 INT-1 CHR+1
Frost Robe 33 ~ DEF:21 MP+6 Resist Ice+2
Linen Doublet 33 ~ DEF:22
Windurstian Doublet 34 ~ DEF:21 DEX+1 AGI+1 In areas under own nation's control: CHR+1
Gambison 36 ~ DEF:23
Velvet Robe 38 ~ DEF:24
Holy Breastplate 40 ~ DEF:45

Hands
Trader's Cuffs 20 ~ DEF:5
Great Gloves 23 ~ DEF:7
Custom M Gloves 27 ~ DEF:6 HP+12 MP+4 STR+3 DEX+3 VIT-1 AGI-1
Windurstian Gloves 34 ~ DEF:7 AGI+1 In areas under own nation's control: Attack+5 Ranged Attack+5
Bracers +1 36 ~ DEF:9
Combat Caster's Mitts 40 ~ DEF:8 Attack+5

Legs
Mage's Slacks 20 ~ DEF:11 INT+1
Great Brais 23 ~ DEF:13
Martial Slacks 24 ~ DEF:12 AGI+2 Evasion+3
Wool Slops +1 28 ~ DEF:14
Mercenary Captain's Hose 30 ~ DEF:14 Evasion+2
Custom Slacks 31 ~ DEF:12 MP+32 STR-1 MND+3 CHR+1
Linen Slacks +1 34 ~ DEF:16
Windurstian Brais 34 ~ DEF:15 Evasion+2 In areas under own nation's control: HP+10
Hose +1 36 ~ DEF:18
Combat Caster's Slacks 40 ~ DEF:17 Evasion+5

Feet
Mage's Sandals 20 ~ DEF:5 MP+3 AGI+1
San D'Orian Clogs 25 ~ DEF:6 HP+3 MP+3 AGI+1
Custom M Boots 29 ~ DEF:5 HP+4 MP+12 DEX-1 AGI+3 INT+3 MND-1
Socks +1 36 ~ DEF:8

Neck
Black Silk Neckerchief 20 ~ DEF:2 INT+1 Resist Dark+3
Spike Necklace 21 ~ STR+3 DEX+3 MND-6
Tiger Stole 24 ~ DEF:2 Attack+5
Holy Phial 26 ~ DEF:3 MP+9 MND+3
Medieval Collar 35 ~ DEF:3 VIT+2

Waist
Mohbwa Sash 20 ~ DEF:2 MP+10 MP recovered while healing +1
Mercenary Captain's Belt 30 ~ DEF:3 DEX+1 VIT+1 AGI+1 INT+1 MND+1 CHR+1

Ear
Beetle Earring +1 21 ~ Attack+3 Evasion-2 (both slots)
Dodge Earring 29 ~ Evasion+3
Trimmer's Earring 30 ~ Latent effect /Bst: Accuracy+5

Ring
Courage Ring 14 ~ STR+2 Resist Fire+4
Balance Ring 14 ~ DEX+2 Resist Lightning+4
Garnet Ring 36 ~ STR+2 Resist Fire+5
Ametrine Ring 36 ~ DEX+2 Resist Lightning+5
Aegis Ring 38 ~ DEF:5

Back
Mist Silk Cape 10 ~ DEF:3 MND+1 Resist Light+3
Sarcenet Cape 30 ~ DEF:3 Resist Dark+5 Evasion+3

Thanks.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

My advice is simply suck it up and PT to 40, you're making it harder than it has to be by forcing solo on yourself. People who insist on soloing PT-dependant jobs make for poor support players, I've seen it happen time and again.

Yes, some PTs will suck, not every day in the game is going to be a bundle or joy and you've already taken BST through the pre-Leave levels, so you're just putting yourself up for more death.

Here's something to do instead - take up cooking to make juices and use them in conjuction with cookies to self-sufficient as a WHM. The pre-refresh world stinks for mages, but it is survivable and easy to get WHM to sub level and 40. Not only will cooking aid you in your WHM levelling, but supplant your BST later on, allowing you to make your own jug pets and pet food. I'd also look into +hMP gear such as Seer's body and Pilgrim's Wand before moving ahead, these will stack on the cookies you're already using.

WHM melee isn't anything to write home about at low levels and I don't really know what your intentions for taking it to 40 are. If its for level capped content such as CoPs or BCNMs, you're doing a tremendous disservice to people you'll be working with by having no real party experience near that level. Its at those levels that WHMs learn to be self-sufficient or they're simply never learn it. Learn how to help a PT, especially learn to use Regen (so many WHMs don't) and you'll make better use of /WHM for soloing and WHM for PTs down the road.

And you're not going to forget much about BST just for having levelled another jobs. WHM is not the only subjob you're going to need for BST - DNC, NIN and SCH have thier applications as well.

[Boldfinger]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I have also lvld RDM34 (which was my highest job until I lvld BST40) and managed to acquire a Pilgrims wand which I was using for that. I've also managed to slowly lvl my cooking up to 70, which I've been using to make jugs and pet food for BST and ginger/wizard cookies for LS friends.

Being honest, I was probably looking to lvl WHM40 for use mainly as a sub for BST and to tele-whore for cash if I desperately needed it. I'm not sure off the top of my head what the teleport spells go up to but I was thinking it was 40 (maybe 42? I'm not sure). Other than that, I suppose I could use it for BCNM or CoP purposes if i was asked to, but I went off RDM because I was getting pushed into main healing which I wasn't particularly enjoying. Which brings me back to the train of thought that if I was successful with my whm/bst adventures, I was going to give nin/bst and dnc/bst a shot next.

I'll definitely resort to PT exp for WHM et al. if /bst proves unsuccessful but I thought it would be worth giving it a try to see how I got on and asking around here for gear advice to help my chances of success. I'm loathe to main heal

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

"Main heal" and "loathe" can't go in the same sentence as "White Mage."

Addtionally, tele-whoring for gil isn't a real money maker anymore, players are too cheap to pay you worthwhile gil for it. You'd make more in an hour farming Zitah bats as /THF than you would make teleporting for gil.

[Susurrus]

And you're not going to forget much about BST just for having levelled another jobs. WHM is not the only subjob you're going to need for BST - DNC, NIN and SCH have thier applications as well.

Just out of curiosity, what could /sch benefit over /whm? I've never really heard of that for BST. My BST is 74, and while I see potential situations for several SJs, not really one for SCH.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Just out of curiosity, what could /sch benefit over /whm? I've never really heard of that for BST. My BST is 74, and while I see potential situations for several SJs, not really one for SCH.

Sublimation to regenerate MP, Penury, Drain, Aspir, Addendum: White for status cures and Regen II at 74. You lose Erase, Blink, Stoneskin and Reraise, but still getting a lot back in return. BST gets a nice chunk of HP, so Sublimation could make you solo nonstop as /DNC would.

[little ninja]

Bst isn't a hard job to leave and come back to. I was gone from the game for awhile and the first night back on my BstWhm I soloed LoO and OsE. The next day I was leveling in my normal spot as a Bst/Nin. So I fail to see how you would forget how to play to role.

Anyways /bst is a pain. IF I were you id focus on upping the damage since your a whm. You shouldn't take to much damage. An if you do your whm so you have the mana to heal yourself. Right now you should still have pretty much all your charm gear. So no point in even mentioning that.

Also i would keep juice material on hand to keep your mana filled all the time. This will cut down on downtime and speed the exp up. Also Id like to add not to give up on pts as a whm. Instead use /bst as a way to exp while you seek or if you just dont have enough time to party. But if you do have the time. Please seek, otherwise you will get drained and will not injoy coming back to bst.

As for exp I went Rdm/Bst while I seeked. Just stick to areas you exped as with Bst. You should be alright.

[Boldfinger]

"Main heal" and "loathe" can't go in the same sentence as "White Mage."

Addtionally, tele-whoring for gil isn't a real money maker anymore, players are too cheap to pay you worthwhile gil for it. You'd make more in an hour farming Zitah bats as /THF than you would make teleporting for gil.

Thanks for the heads-up on the teleporting, but given how helpful you are to a lot of other people posting here I'm a little diapoointed that you couldn't see your way to commenting more directly on my OP.

I thought the notion might be at least entertained for the sake of discussion because I had put a little effort in and come up with some suggestions but alas, it can't even get as much of a response as some of the completely unresearched "How I minez 4 fish?" kind of questions that pop up regularly.

Nevermind, I'll just have to try it on my own and see.

[LadyKiKi]

Read it, you seem to be ... Level 20? I'm starting WHM soon, NIN is nearly finished (either WHM or THF, might take WHM to 37 first). I had some sort of a plan down so ...

(My motivation for starting WHM is for RR, RR2 and RR3, at 75 I can attempt to solo or do crazy shit with pretty much minimal penalty. I don't ever plan to party with it unless in emergency).

oh, and teleport money, I think on my server there's still money to be made, someone shouted for a 3000g teleport so ... depends on server I guess...

If you insist on levelling solo, get:



Get it. GET IT. Also, grab a Monster Signa to macro in for charm. Wear whatever for melee before that. Won't make an incredible difference. Just a note, I'm HUME as well. So this is what I have in mind/plan (I know it will work for me, so adjust to your needs):

Head: Trump Crown/Noble Ribbon. E.Pin @ 24
Body: Not much else, whatever really. Nomad's Tunica or Garrison Tunica. Won't matter really, everything sucks.
Hand: Battle Gloves
Rings: Hope Rings for charm. I might get some other rings. Not too important for me.
Legs: Anything. Martial Slacks @ 24
Feet: Power Sandles

Back: Whatever. Maybe that Mist Silk thing
Waist: Anything. Friar's Rope?
Neck: Anything. Justice Badge maybe
Sub: Tropical Shield, or anything really...
Ammo: Easter eggs

The "gimpy" gear, what most might put it as, is to control hate. You don't want to be too strong but you also don't want to turn back much. WHM has incredibly survivability. You won't need food, but feel free if you must.

Level 20 ... Dunes! Hang around outpost, use snippers vs snippers/the odd goblin. Level 22~ should be when leeches become available for use. Use those and fight the tougher goblins until 25.

Move to Korroloka @ 25/26. Charm seeker bats, mass kill worms, they die fast. EXP rolls in fast. At 28 odd try charming jellies and fight them fat bats. Spiders make awesome pets at 28/29. Pretty much use them to kill the lesser mobs fast, such as seeker bats/worms. Should be ok until 33.

33 --> Lufaise Meadows if possible. Hang near the southern Tav.Safehold entrance. Bees vs Sheep or vice versa. Sheep vs Sheep too.
35 --> Hang near the middle of the map with leeches, fight orcs/sheep/bugards.

Use the BST guides for area suggestions. It'll work the same for subjob BST.

I have to stress that you may struggle or find this difficult. You might not have the mindset or experience to carry it out, it's hard to say. Believe me there's only a limited amount of people in my shell who will do this, and most of them call me insane for doing what I do. You're welcome to try it but don't be too surprised if you feel the need to give up. If you do, walk away, eat some food, take some rest/do something else, then try to come back to it. Let us know how you get on.

EDIT:

Squeeze in your RSE as they come along. I would personally use RSE until AF, stoneskin itself will be sufficient for all your defence needs in my opinion. And regen. I haven't looked past level 50 yet, but yesterday I went and got myself this in preparation:



For soloing and most likely full time body gear, depends. Upgrade your other slots to what you see fit.

I forgot also to add: Earrings: Buy a Trimmer's Earring. This is full time ear gear for any subjob BST person. Accuracy +5 while BST is subjob. The earring is level 30. And is cheap, my server comes in at 10k.



Trample grannies, shoot animals, snap Japan off and connect it to Africa, I do not care, get the earring no matter what. It's invaluable.

Otherwise, upgrade your other gear as you see fit. i.e. Corsette, Tilt Belt, Red Cape/White Cape/Loyalty Ring/Peacock Charm/other ear/sniper rings:woodman rings

Weapons, again, I haven't looked past that mace ... maybe Holy Mace/AF weapon/Time Hammer.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Thanks for the heads-up on the teleporting, but given how helpful you are to a lot of other people posting here I'm a little diapoointed that you couldn't see your way to commenting more directly on my OP.

I thought the notion might be at least entertained for the sake of discussion because I had put a little effort in and come up with some suggestions but alas, it can't even get as much of a response as some of the completely unresearched "How I minez 4 fish?" kind of questions that pop up regularly.

Nevermind, I'll just have to try it on my own and see.

I have lots of solo experience with various jobs, but there are just some jobs that are more deeply reliant on being in the party environment in order to be played well and WHM is undeniably one of them. Even LadyKiki as admitted to lack of party experience affecting her performance in missions and in a party environment as a RDM.

I don't solo just for the sake of doing so, if my job truely offers a vital role to a party, I'll party on the job. If that job can be self-sufficient, I'll solo it and take the odd party invite as it comes. If I'm unfamilar with a particular role, I'll probably party with it.

I also just feel its inconsiderate to be out there as a WHM and refusing to PT. You can go /anon and turn down invites if you please, but really, other people are trying to level subjobs, too and WHMs help with levelling quite a bit.

[LadyKiKi]

Yes, I'm really bad at partying, but from the way I play, I rarely do need to party, only in very special circumstances (i.e. ToAU44 where I was the only RDM).

I need to add a disclaimer on my posts soon. As I know everyone is different, I know my posts cannot be moulded to suit everyone's needs, only to what I like/can do/dislike/etc.

BUUTTTTT. Before I go on completely putting myself down at others, I hear from my server forums that most people suck at partying anyway, due to the "TP burn" mentality. I won't say I'm the most proficient at the jobs I play, mage wise, but I think I'm quite decent at my other jobs .

I can keep up a refresh cycles a few rounds, then it gradually fades, and I think I'm a tad slow on cures too. To quote:

Granted, my partying ability is complete shite. I totally did not refresh the SMN during a mission run last night for ToAU42. I forgot he ... was there. We won anyway. And I lack a lot of de-facto RDM gear. (Cape, belt, earrings, rings, neck)

Anyway, I solo while chatting, and helping where I can. I guess everyone's "objectives" or needs differ from one anothers for playing the game. I guess I solo because I normally like to do things differently no matter where personally, and this personality carried on into the game. As "against" the culture of the game as it is, I'm not hurting anyone entirely, and I do try my best.

Oh, I did stress I love to AFK a lot to do other random things. A good few times I have a pet charmed I forgot about and come back to my screen dead. Rarely happens now but still does once in a while. I can commit to a "none-exp-party" environment (i.e. Sky, constantly moving. Except for Diorites) but anything else requiring me to repeat actions in a robotic pattern I lose interest fast. Soloing with subjob BST is not as robotic, sometimes it is, but normally the fun starts when I mischarm, or need to kite links around, etc. That's why I do it, I guess.

[Boldfinger]

I also just feel its inconsiderate to be out there as a WHM and refusing to PT. You can go /anon and turn down invites if you please, but really, other people are trying to level subjobs, too and WHMs help with levelling quite a bit.

but most of the PTs I was in ended up having someone PL anyways, which kind of made my WHM redundant and made me not enjoy playing it. Seems that no-one wants to just exp anymore for the sake of new people learning their job because most of them already have a job at a high level and just want to lvl ASAP. Particularly the "lolDunes" or "It doesn't matter, it's the Dunes" mentality. Well, it matters to me because this is my first time playing through the game and I'm trying to learn how to play a job 'properly'. I would imagine that The Dunes and Qufim should be when I get to grips with the basics of a job and build from there?

I've never seen a SC or MB due to people just using their WS as soon as they get 100% TP and even if the party didn't have a PL to start with, it soon ends up having one because someone in the PT is impatient and wants more exp, NOW!!

I also just feel its inconsiderate to be out there as a WHM and refusing to PT. You can go /anon and turn down invites if you please, but really, other people are trying to level subjobs, too and WHMs help with levelling quite a bit.

What if I told you that I find it inconsiderate that all these experienced players don't want to take the time to play the lower levels as they should, for the sake of newblets? How am I supposed to learn to be "self-sufficient" as WHM if a PT generally consists of me standing in the Dunes or Qufim while some lvl75 dishes out cure III after cure III? What if I told you that I thought they were "doing a tremendous disservice to people" who were new to the game?

I have to stress that you may struggle or find this difficult. You might not have the mindset or experience to carry it out, it's hard to say. Believe me there's only a limited amount of people in my shell who will do this, and most of them call me insane for doing what I do. You're welcome to try it but don't be too surprised if you feel the need to give up. If you do, walk away, eat some food, take some rest/do something else, then try to come back to it. Let us know how you get on.

I do appreciate that it'll more than likely be a struggle and I may have to suck it up and PT to 40 like BBQ suggests, but I'd sooner try and fail than not try at all. I just don't feel like I was getting enough out of early PTing to make it the 'must have' experience it's being made out to be.

I don't get home yet for another month so this is all just leg work to be prepared for when I do, but I'll definitely let you know how I get on. I'll even give BBQ the "I told you so" moment if the opportunity arises

Thanks to all for taking the time to comment.