am i stupid?

[robbiesla]

im new to the game. i was looking at a dragoon/monk combo.. but i havn't seen anything on the forums about it. is it possible? is there any good points about a drg/mnk combo? or am i just being stupid. thanks in advance

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

DRG/MNK... it worked in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, but doesn't work very well here.

Reason being that MNK doesn't have much of a diverse function outside of hitting stuff. Boost is a nice small attack buff, but better for Warrior tanking since it generates hate and keeps the enemy glued to a Warrior so it doesn't hit other members. But even Warrior tanking is rare in FFXI.

Good combinations for Dragoon are:

Dragoon/Warrior - Attack bonus, Double Attack, Berserk all help DRG dish out more damage.

Dragoon/Samurai - Hasso gives a bonus to strength, adds a Haste effect; Seigan adds the ability to evade attacks better through the use of Third Eye. There is also TP bonuses from SAM's job abilities and Meditate, which let us use Weaponskills (i.e. Limit Break) more often. Hasso and Seigan only apply to two-handed weapon users, which is what DRG is since they use a lance.

Dragoon/White Mage (see also /Red Mage and /Blue mage) - What to play a Freya-style or Khimari-style Dragoon? Here's that option. All "mage" jobs will allow you to cast spells that make your wyvern heal party members under specific conditions. This is also a great for soloing.

Dragoon/Thief - THF's Sneak Attack and Trick Attack abilities allow DRG to play a deeper role in hate control as well as doing more spike damage.

There are some other combinations, but the ones I've listed are the most common and play to the diverse aspects of the job.

[robbiesla]

thanks heaps for that champ think ill go dragoon/samurai

[IfritnoItazura]

I would say that many job/support job combinations which work at lower levels do not necessarily work at higher level, and vice versa.

Party Use:

DRG/SAM: Lv.50+, though you do get a small boost at DRG40/SAM20 with Zanshin. It gets much better at Lv.60+ when you get Meditate.

DRG/WAR: Lv.30+, though most people seem to use it from Lv.10+. It doesn't have much to offer before DRG30/WAR15 for Berserk, to be honest, unless you want to tank. (Which you can, in Valkrum Dunes.) Double Attack is good to have, at DRG50/WAR25.

DRG/THF: Lv.30+ only; nothing to offer before Sneak Attack. More useful at Lv.60+, when you get Trick Attack, too.

DRG/BRD: Lv.10-29. No one else will appreciate it, but Paeon is a great help to any party, and heals a great deal of HP over time. You can always switch to Minuet for battle if you want a little extra attack boost instead.

DRG/RNG: Lv.20-29, for Accuracy Bonus. Some people will think you're stupid since DRG has no range attack skill, but Acc+10 at those levels is a huge leap forward. On paper, at DRG60/RNG30, you'd get the very helpful Accuracy Bonus II, but most people would argue other support jobs would still be better.

DRG/WHM (or /RDM or /BLU): Lv.60+, after obtaining Drachen Armet. In the right party setup, your Wyvern's Healing Breath can be the main source of curing.

Solo Use:
DRG/PUP: Before Lv.10? Supposedly it has a lot of potential, but I have no experience with it at all. Probably only for those who don't get mad when random strangers laugh at them.

DRG/WHM (or /RDM or /BLU): Good any level, I guess. Just don't try to fight anything which can potentially kill you in one big special attack.

DRG/NIN: Lv.24+ I've heard it used to good effect, but it's purely hearsay. >_>; Just remember you can't cure your fellow party members if you're duo'ing.

* * *

Realistically, it's possible to go from Lv.1 to Lv.75 with just Warrior for support job, although Thief is a pretty important alternate one, however.

You should try other combinations if you can; at least have /WHM ready, since parties are not always easy to come by.

I'm rather partial to the idea of DRG/SAM for party and DRG/RDM for duo'ing myself. ^_^b (Then again, I'm the weirdo who used DRG/RNG and DRG/BRD in lower levels... I do enjoy strange things, like killing DC/EP's on DRG/BRD.)

BTW, Monk doesn't offer enough to warrant its use as a support job for Dragoon, as Omgwtfbbqkitten says.

[robbiesla]

actually wondering. since neither dragoon or samurai are basic job types does it really matter which job i use to level to 30 to do the quests to gain these jobs? also like to thank you two for your input. it is very helpful =) it sounds like a dragoon/ summoner combo is completely out of the question :p so yea.. does it matter what class i start out with? O.o

[IfritnoItazura]

does it matter what class i start out with? O.o

Not really.

I always recommend new players start with White Mage as the first job to Lv.37, but others will disagree. There will always be conflicting advices, but that's part of the fun--sorting through the info and make your own decisions.

It's not a bad idea to play all six starter job to lv.10--and sell all the drops and crystals you'd get along the way for money. (You don't need a lot of equipment or money to get to level 10, and you don't need to form party with others, yet, for the most part.) That way, whichever job you decide to take beyond Lv.10, you'd be able to finance some decent food and equipment for it.

* * *
Some links, in case you haven't came across these info already:

• Exp Party Index
• Food Effect Guide
• Dragoon
• White Mage
• Warrior
• Thief
• Somepage's Equipment Database (Note: Fill in Job, Item Slot, and level range, then hit Search.)

[eticket109]

for general DoT... nothing beats DRG/WAR. /THF and /SAM are great for weaponskill numbers but /WAR is typically the best straight up melee setup. Honestly though DRG is so versatile that any of those combinations BBQ listed can be used very effectively.

[Malacite]

umm.... DRG/PUP? Doesn't work. You can't have two pets out at once, so you'll have to pick from between the wyvern and the automaton. With the right gear, the auto will blow the wyvern out of the water in the early levels, but then why are you even playing DRG if you won't run around with your best friend in the whole world :3


Also, please avoid subbing THF before 60. Sneak attack is NOT worth it compared to berserk. 25% attack boost > 1 guaranteed critical hit every minute.

You can also sub MNK actually from 10-19 for boost. That way you still have the offensive wyvern breath and you can use boost to pump WS damage :3

[Wind Adept]

actually wondering. since neither dragoon or samurai are basic job types does it really matter which job i use to level to 30 to do the quests to gain these jobs? also like to thank you two for your input. it is very helpful =) it sounds like a dragoon/ summoner combo is completely out of the question :p so yea.. does it matter what class i start out with? O.o

Warrior might be the best to start with if you're completely intent on levelling DRG and SAM, but then again, once you get to those jobs you may not enjoy them
(Having WAR already leveled is also convenient for levelling up SAM, as it is generally the subjob of choice, and also offers more benefits as a sub than SAM does up until a certain level. Also, WAR is an accepted sub for basically any other melee job in the game).

As Itazura said, white mage is a good choice for starting out - party invites are easy to come by, it's not particularly expensive, and you can get a feel for the game. Plus, you gain access to some pretty useful transportation spells at level 36 (as a warning, many don't find the white mage job particularly exciting, but you may).

Anyway, just remember that it's best to look into all of the jobs. They may not appeal to you in the beginning, but playing them could be more fun than you expected.

[Celeal]

If you are not sure, or want to experience different jobs before, you should try the most starting jobs to level 8~10 as IfritnoItazura mentioned above ^^'

If you want to play a job that stays in the party's frontline, it is worthed to level WAR to 37 for subjob. Almost everything /WAR offers, is useful to most frontline jobs.

[IfritnoItazura]

for general DoT... nothing beats DRG/WAR.

That's level dependent; Warrior has nothing to offer an offensive Dragoon before DRG30/WAR15 with Berserk, and gets better at DRG50/WAR25 with Double Attack added.

umm.... DRG/PUP? Doesn't work. You can't have two pets out at once, so you'll have to pick from between the wyvern and the automaton. With the right gear, the auto will blow the wyvern out of the water in the early levels, but then why are you even playing DRG if you won't run around with your best friend in the whole world :3

So, you acknowledge that the Automaton is more useful than Wyvern in very low levels, but it still "doesn't work". That does not make sense. (Especially given that I was only talking about the very low levels.)

You can also sub MNK actually from 10-19 for boost. That way you still have the offensive wyvern breath and you can use boost to pump WS damage :3

This is a pretty bad idea. At lower levels, DRG does so much more damage compared to other DD's, it's already quite easy to cross the hate threshold. Adding Boost to that mix and you'd get either get beat up or have to switch to more defensive setup--which would defeat the purpose of using /MNK to add attack.

[eticket109]

That's level dependent; Warrior has nothing to offer an offensive Dragoon before DRG30/WAR15 with Berserk, and gets better at DRG50/WAR25 with Double Attack added.

yeah, I probably should have clarified that. lol

[Malacite]

Re-read my post -_ -


My point was that subbing PUP (another pet job) defeats the purpose of playing DRG.

[Drive]

yeah, I probably should have clarified that. lol

You don't have to clarify. Provoke hands down been any ability from any other job before level 20. I rather all DD's sub War so they can take the heat off of the tank(since everyone can pretty much tank) before 20 then any other sub. Now you can sub bard for Paeon but other then that /war is the best way to go before 20 which opens up acc bonus from ranger.

[IfritnoItazura]

You don't have to clarify. Provoke hands down been any ability from any other job before level 20. I rather all DD's sub War so they can take the heat off of the tank(since everyone can pretty much tank) before 20 then any other sub. Now you can sub bard for Paeon but other then that /war is the best way to go before 20 which opens up acc bonus from ranger.

Um. Yeah.

DRG/WAR: Lv.30+, though most people seem to use it from Lv.10+. It doesn't have much to offer before DRG30/WAR15 for Berserk, to be honest, unless you want to tank. (Which you can, in Valkrum Dunes.) Double Attack is good to have, at DRG50/WAR25.

Anyway, I only took (a slight) issue with what eticket109 wrote because the OP probably has not unlocked DRG, yet, and /WAR doesn't add to DoT at low levels. (DoT was what he pointed out.) I wasn't picking on him or denying the utility of /WAR.

Besides, plenty of melee use /WAR in Valkrum Dunes levels, so having an extra Provoke in the party isn't really a large issue. (Also, I am uncertain whether DRG/WAR or DRG/mage would be in the better position to help out a tank in trouble; enmity free cure's are pretty nice when the tank's HP is in the red.)

Once more, "Realistically, it's possible to go from Lv.1 to Lv.75 with just Warrior for support job." It's not so much against /WAR as saying there are somewhat better alternatives before Lv.30. Besides, it's fun to try different combinations; what is Dragoon if not one of the most flexible melee job in FFXI?