Get off the /mage bandwagon!

[Deeman]

C'mon blus...all those cool abilities u get and u waste it on /whm and /rdm? You can tank better than PLDs at that lvl (most are 1-25ish)! Stoneskin, Cocoon, Pollen! thats tank stuff all the way! Hell, u can have an all blu pt! 1 or two on /whm, a few on.../whatever doing DD and one /war using the tank stuff! Think about it...cause I see a lot of blu/whm or /rdms seeking for hours cause everyone and their mother's a /whm or /rdm. Step it up.

Just my two cent.

[little ninja]

blu/nin nuff said!

[TheGrandMom]

Give it time. People will explore all the possibilities before there becomes a "standard" sub for blu. Hopefully there will be several acceptable subs for blu and give people a broader variety.

[DakAttack]

Blue Mages don't make good tanks.

Blu/Nin all the way.

[Balfree]

I'm much more interested on BLM/Blu ^^

[Mog]

Why sub blu for blm? I'm not seeing it o.o

[Nadien]

what i love about the blue mage, is when they all form a 6 man party with all differnt subs, Wht, nin, war etc. looking at it that was being dirty with killing everything lol (can see this getting nerfed)

[forster]

Currently running BLU/RDM just because I dont want to run BLU/WHM and end up a healer.

As soon as I get BLU to 20, Ill be subbing NIN for a bit and seeing how things go.

I'll stop playing BLU if it becomes a tank-esque class, that's really not how the job should be played at all to me. Yeah we get an early stoneskin, but god, the recast time and its lack of sustainment to anything higher than DC just doesnt work for me.

If I can /NIN well enough Im going 100% solo if that happens and it seems manageable.

[Nadien]

Yeah but i've seen is that blue mage has worked with everything, even heard people say that if pals had provoke then that would be the ultimate tank

[Taskmage]

Don't tell blue mages what they can and can't do until you've played it, please. For the most part the capabilities of blu are still being discovered. Metallic Body sucks I hear, at least at lower levels. No idea if it scales appreciably with mnd or blue magic skill.

There's nothing wrong with subbing mage for extra mp and support magic. It's a knee-jerk response for people to sub an mp job to a job with mp to give them more options, and there's sense in that.

blu/nin sounds like love though, what with the 1h sword skill and no shields. Maybe blu/nin will actually get their money's worth out of dual wielding Crimson Blades, unlike another job we all know and love >_>

[Kailea]

I was thinking more of BLU/COR or BLU/WAR or BLU/SAM :p

[Eohmer]

So far, from what *I* have seen as my friend was playing.... Pollen is better than Cure 1 as it takes the same amount of cast time, the same MP usage, and cures for .... I think 4 or 6 more points? Doesn't seem like much, but I don't see WHM being needed to sub to BLU.

[Kailea]

well the only bad thing about Pollen is that it is self only

[Taskmage]

Good stuff if you tailor yourself for a tanking role, though.
Setting Healing Breeze + Sheep Song gives you Auto-Regen, then Cocoon and Pollen for self-heal and defense buff. Seems like you'd be as durable or moreso than a pld at that level, assuming you can set all that.

[forster]

Pretty sure you should have space and points to set those TM, as for /SAM actually thats not a bad idea. Perhaps later on however when we need TP to start making a difference.

[Taskmage]

Btw, I'm anxious to see how those subs work out too, Kailea. Seems like we won't see much of blu/sam until 40 whem blu gets Chain Affinity, though.

[Zempten]

BLU/WAR works.

Maybe it's just my play style but it works. I had to carry Yagudo Drinks though, they help alot.
Food Type: Tacos

It was like RDM/WAR all over again back in the dunes. I kind of like it. I'm not sure if this is going to work though in the upper lvls. RDM/WAR got torned up around the mandys in Kazham

[Gwynn]

So you're saying we should get off the /mage bandwagon and jump on the /melee bandwagon?

>.> Gee thats some good arguing there.

[Kailea]

might even try BLU/PUP the puppet is every strong even when you sub PUP


get a RNG puppet and then have it sit back and shoot while you melee and cast spells :p

[Nadien]

So what about band wagon, to each their own as i would say. leave the blue mages be what they wanna be. so far with my own eyes ive seen them play well in partys with different subjobs

[Karinya]

I don't know what you're smoking, but I've actually been using /search to sample subjob popularity for the new jobs, and blu/war and blu/nin BOTH outnumber blu/whm among 20+ BLU. (Obviously /nin is rather pointless below that).

The entire subjob game changes radically at 30, so I don't think it's very meaningful to invest emotionally in what people under 30 sub. They're not going to get berserk or sneak attack or elemental seal (let alone conserve MP or double attack or dual wield 2 or auto-refresh), so what does it matter? A few more MP, some cures you can use on other people, an emergency provoke, dual wield I, utsusemi ichi on a job combo that can't get or keep hate.

Now, of course, if you're tanking, then your subjob matters a lot. But the jury's still out on whether or not BLU/WAR can compete with other tanks (probably, at least before heavy armors get introduced) and whether or not that's the only style of BLU that's useful to a party (probably not).

Unless you think that ALL BLU should be tanks, there's no real reason to advocate one subjob choice over another at such low levels. And characterizing BLU/WHM as a "bandwagon" is absurd - you just haven't looked at the population. (Or it's very different on your server, which is possible, I guess.)

[Nadien]

good point, i agree with the whole differences over 30+. but i stand to say seen a few blu partys and they are good. I just dont mean the Blue Mage is a noob tool, but with a experience player as yourself the blue mages can be deadly weapons

[Icemage]

I'd be thankful that there ARE people willing to sub /WHM. There's precious few people playing WHM these days, even considering the incoming Xbox360 crowd, and lack of healers tends to be what kills party formation at the lower levels.


Icemage

[Nadien]

Yes, i know that problem too well. Even tho i've come back to final fantasy ive put a number of jobs through the teens. waiting for a white mage for a party can be fustratng (excuse the spelling).

[Spazz]

So much is still uncertain about BLU... therefore people are experimenting with everything. Hell... people still dont freakin believe me when I say you can have a Lv75 player in the same party with you and still learn abilities -or - the ability to learn off of Too Weaks. LOL Until people try shit for themselves, they wont be 100% satisfied.

/whm = Nice support just incase the shit hits the fan and your party needs some help healing and recovering.

/blm = At Lv24, you get Drain. At Lv30, you get Elemental Seal. At Lv34, you get Warp. At Lv50, you get Aspir. Those are the highlights.

/rdm = At Lv30, Fast Cast + decent stat boosts that are not directed at one side of casting or the other. You also get decent debuffs that I know I dont wanna waste spell pts on. This in my opinion is my fave sub for solo'ing.

/smn = Yes, MP. At Lv50, we get Auto Refresh. Ok . . . did I miss anything . . .?

Those are the mage subjobs.... I am currently trying to test the theory behind such stuff like Sneak Attack + Bludgeon. Once I finish my rounds of trying every subjob, I will tell you.

[Deeman]

lol wow I did not, in any way, mean to offend anyone by saying blu/war works. Blu/whm is indeed a blessing too, cures along with Healing Breeze owns my life...I'm not saying all /mage is bad. I just think blu should be more versitle at that level with the abilities they have. On midgard, if u do /sea all blu, u only see like 2 /war and the rest /whm and a lot of people in the DUNES (LEVEL 10-19ish, NOT 30+) are saying "we need a tank we need a tank".
So I'm not saying BLus will be ultimate tanks blah blah end-game or anything like that.

[Spazz]

well other than my crappiness of dieing and delvling trying to learn Digest last night... do a /sea all Spazz from time to time ans feel free to ask me to try anything for you. I have only tried /war a few times and liked it, but that was pre-Lv30. I did tank a few parties in the Dunes and I did just fine...

But yes... on Midgardsormr, everyone and there freakin brother's uncle's cousin's sister twice removed from their father's side is a freakin /whm or /nin.

[locus]

FYI, I've levelled to level 40 with BLU/WAR, being the main tank on Crawlers in Yhoat.

Provoke > Headbutt > Bludgeon > Headbutt > Bludgeon
Healing Breeze when you lose hate.

It works fine and I would take less damage than a pld if I had a shield. (stupid AH) =_=

[Spazz]

yay for blu tanks!

[Taskmage]

How does your mp hold up like that? Seems like you're spamming a lot of spells.

[locus]

Very very good question, Taskmage.

Luckily, Cocoon is 10 mp, Headbutt is 12 mp, and Bludgeon is 16 mp, so they're not horribly MP intensive, but I tend only to have enough MP to finish 6 enemies on chain 5. My max mp is somewhere about 410ish (hume), BUT I have merits and "unreasonable equip" for non-haijin players, so I definitely don't recommend this for most players.

The problem is - we had a corsair AND a bard, so I was getting ballad and healer's roll (evoker's occasionally, later). Meaning that this setup chews through MP quickly and requires long downtime after every chain if you don't have either job (like a PLD).

The benefit is that unlike a PLD, you usually have enough mp to last the entire chain without taking breaks inbetween. If you sub abilities for Clear mind and recover your entire 400 mp in one go, this alleviates the problem somewhat.

[Deeman]

just wow....nice job!

[Taskmage]

Support jobs aside, that's awesome. :thumbsup:

[locus]

I'm convinced it is a versatile class, sort of.

I can play support, Direct damage or tank on blue mage, but take note that I will almost always be worse at these roles than a "pure" character. I doubt BLU will ever outtank a paladin, do more damage than a black mage at high levels, or be as good a healer as a white mage.

Blue magic spells don't even do significant damage in the way a black mage can, so there's really no contest there.

The corollary is RDM. RDM and WAR were the two "jack of all trades" classes which could pretty much get away with subbing anything. (In the case of War - limited to non-mage jobs) BLU seems to be yet another job where any sub for it will give you something tangible.

[Pteryx]

It sounds like BLU plays a lot like I'd expected RDM to (and RDM is advertised to by NPCs at lower levels). If BLUs can effectively melee even at high levels, I'd think RDM would be a great sub for them. You get an MP boost (the main reason mages tend to have mage subs), just enough white magic to supplement the BLU's more defensive spells, and eventually Enelements to make your melee even more effective. I'd be interested in hearing if that works. -- Pteryx

[Karinya]

Unfortunately, enspells won't be much use without a native Enhancing Magic skill. They can be resisted by the target based on level, Enhancing Magic skill and element. The effectiveness of RDM's Phalanx and Stoneskin is also dependent on Enhancing Magic skill.

Enfeebles and nukes are also skill dependent, so you're probably better off saving your MP for your native BLU ones.

BLU/RDM *will* get fast cast, some cures, clear mind at 62/31 (if you don't get it through abilities equipped), and half leveled protect and shell (same time you would get them as /WHM, except limited to one person at a time). But I don't think it will end up being a very good sub.

BLU/PLD might be more worthwhile - you get some cures, even later protect and shell, Defense Bonus, Shield Mastery, the most shield skill you can get from a sub, the advanced sword WS (if BLU doesn't get them natively - any BLU/WHM or BLU/NINs high enough to check whether you have Red Lotus Blade?) and eventually Auto-Refresh and Flash.

BLU/THF has interesting potential, if physical blue magics work with SATA. Again, anyone high enough to test?

[Taskmage]

So all blue magic falls under its own skill, and blue mage has none of the "traditional" magical skills natively. Is that right?

[Hyrist]

Blue Mages natively get the EX weapon skills for sword, which is really cool cause I saw RLB go off in 30 cap ballista for almost 100 damage on its own, then swiftly followed by bludgen.

And yes, phyiscal Blue magic does stack with Sneak Attack. It's been tested by a thf/blu blowing a screwdriver for 200 damage. (The thf was level 22))

Blue mage has alot of godly options both main and subjob it seems. I perdicted that these new jobs would change party dynamics, so far they arn't proving me wrong.

[DakAttack]

Screwdrivier is a level 26 spell. Somebody lied to you.

[Patchinko]

スーパー青ＬＦＧ
サポ：白黒赤戦忍
誘ってくださいね＾＾

Instant invite!

[Atma]

More MP = More Bludgeon = More Win.

[Spazz]

I had my Bludgeon hit for 200+ today with Sneak Attack on it. I was pleasently surprised. I also tried the whole Elemental Seal and Divine Seal abilities... and they do work with Blue Magic. Divine Seal + Healing Breeze = 130 HP ^_^

[LadyPeorth]

I actually see BLU/SMN working due to the MP boost and Auto-Refresh. Right now, I have a minor 91 MP pool and with some of my better moves taking nearly 1/4th of that...it really hurts.

Still...BLU is one of those jobs that is borderline DRK/RDM...except more wedged between the two...it will hafta carve its own niche.

[Karinya]

To return briefly to the thread topic:

Of the 10 BLU 30+ on Carbuncle this morning (excludes anons, obviously):
5 /WAR
3 /NIN
1 /WHM
1 /RDM

There's clearly a bandwagon, but I don't think it's headed the direction the OP thinks it's headed.

I'd be interested to see how much this varies from server to server, though. Carby may or may not be representative.

[tazirai]

Unfortunately, enspells won't be much use without a native Enhancing Magic skill. They can be resisted by the target based on level, Enhancing Magic skill and element. The effectiveness of RDM's Phalanx and Stoneskin is also dependent on Enhancing Magic skill.

Enfeebles and nukes are also skill dependent, so you're probably better off saving your MP for your native BLU ones.

BLU/RDM *will* get fast cast, some cures, clear mind at 62/31 (if you don't get it through abilities equipped), and half leveled protect and shell (same time you would get them as /WHM, except limited to one person at a time). But I don't think it will end up being a very good sub.

BLU/PLD might be more worthwhile - you get some cures, even later protect and shell, Defense Bonus, Shield Mastery, the most shield skill you can get from a sub, the advanced sword WS (if BLU doesn't get them natively - any BLU/WHM or BLU/NINs high enough to check whether you have Red Lotus Blade?) and eventually Auto-Refresh and Flash.

BLU/THF has interesting potential, if physical blue magics work with SATA. Again, anyone high enough to test?

good thing My rdm 70+ and enfeebs capped, I may sub it, Its one of the jobs I planned on subbing it to blu anyway.
BlU/cor/pup seem to be a new tier of advanced job.

you have the basic jobs>advanced/extra jobs> advanced tier2

[Darkhound]

Well, I guess it all pedends on what type of blue you want to be? I am just level 6 blue mage atm, and i play to level all night today. Some people say /WHM is a bad idea, well what if you do not SET your blue curing abilities and use the white mage ones? It is true, did some quick tests and Pollen cured me for 20 HP while cure 1 cured me for 16. I agree with Tazirai, these jobs seem to be Tier 2 where there possibilites are bigger.

At level 6 /whm seems useless for me atm, why use cure 1 if i have pollen? I have Dia and cure 1 ... how much mp will i loose if i sub nin or war? Does anyone know. I am a hume and I have 2 merit uprades in magic, these of course wont kick in untill im 10 and 20. I have metallic body but I am unable to use it until level 8, how good is it?

Tonight I will try blue/war and see how it goes....
I will even try blue/smn to see the mp boost but i dont hink the MP boost and autorefresh will be enough justification to sub summoner.

I dont know how good SAM or THF etc will be... i dont plan on leveling those jobs to 37. I have my ninja on 37, my whm on 37, my blm on 37 and my war on 37 so those are he subs i will try on my blue mage career.

My 2 cents...

[elyssa]

I've been subbing RDM for my BLU, wild oats and dia are pretty nasty when stacked on a monster. Though some of the enfeebles are redundant unless they stack..for example:

slow spell + the slow from sprout smack.

I was thinking that /BLM might be a good sub if MP Conserve works with BLU spells.

[711rocks]

The other day I leveled war with a blu/nin in the party. (35ish)
All I have to say is: She was the shit. She owned the thing and was able to use utsu to stay alive whenever she needed to.

[forster]

Its funny what the internet throws up, here we have a thread downing /mage, over on alla there are threads downing /nin.

I played /nin last night and as 711rocks says, it really was the shit, and a real fun way to play.

Im really disappointed that people seem to take the view as to telling others how to play the game - I certainly know that if I was /rdm last night (what I usually am) then the party wouldnt have been anywhere near as fun, and we wouldnt have progressed as quickly as we did.

Play the game how you want to play it - dont let others pressure you into their way of playing, its not worth it.

[elyssa]

Question to the people subbing /Nin..

Do you find that you have enough MP to use your blue magic spells etc or is it like omg I wish I had more MP? I know that BLU magic bursting is dependant on MP and TP so to make the most of it you have to be meleeing as well.

Also I know now you can make up for not having abilities from certain subs by equipping certain blue magic skills.

I'm just trying to think of how to be the most effective BLU possible, because I'm planning on lvling the job to 75 just very slowly :)

[Darkhound]

Well, here is a few of my personal comments hope it helps! Note that I am just level 8 so my conclusions or ideas can be biased or mistaken but here goes anyway!

I first subbed WHM and notice that obviously my pollen is more powerful and yes... pollen and cure and redundant.... shall i want to drop pollen and stick to cure? I do now know if how stronger pollen gets compared to cure 1 in the long run so i will have to test that.

Is it worth to sub whm and not set all the healing blue magic? Possibly, i will definatley try that.

I then subbed war and i had 10 mp less and my pollen was less powerful, it worked pretty well and i am liking it so far. I will sub ninja tonight and see how that goes.

I have never played or even leveld RDM, and i probably never will, so i am not sure if blu is similar to rdm as in jack of all trades.... but im guessing blu will melee alot and cast magic at the same time!

[Khidir]

I think people in the game aren't used to jobs that can sub more than one job so it makes people uneasy.

There is no bandwagon for blu yet so enjoy w/e to your liking. There already seem to be many effective combos

whats wrong with diversity?

[Darkhound]

I agree, I think of the the biggest mistakes we have ALL made in FFXI is to "enslave" certain jobs to subing certain jobs. SMN must sub WHM, war MUST sub nin etc. Not that that is mandatory but certain combos have become standard. I truly think that SE made thi jobs more versatile to teach us that things can work with different sub jobs. This is veyr good imo because you get to experience a job from different angles!

my 2 cents