What job?

[Firaeon]

I'm just starting out and I want to know which job would be best for me if I plan on being a Samurai? What about a Dragoon?

I was going to go with THF or WAR, but I was curious and thought I'd ask.

[KoukiRyu]

Both, try this, THF to 18, WAR to 30/37, and then go unlock some jobs.

[Feba]

MNK->18, WAR->37, unlock SAM, play SAM, and then go back and level THF around 50-60; before you would want SATA, but after you can get Flee.

Kouki, please don't tell me you intend for him to level WAR/THF until level 30. That would be horrible.

[Firaeon]

Okay thanks.

[Nuriko]

Just remember, there's no harm leveling any job, you can keep it and just use it later. Go ahead and try them all!

By the way, WAR is a safe enough thing to level no matter what you go ahead and do later, but do MNK to at least 10 or so for use as a subjob for when you unlock that ... or do WAR10, MNK18-20, WAR37, then whatever.

[Firaeon]

Alright, I'm gonna level WAR up, and then go for MNK. I already have RDM and THF to 2, but oh well. xD

Right now I need to get 12 earth crystals. I'll sell them for 1,000 or so gil at the AH and get some cash to buy equipment. :)

[Firaeon]

Also what weapon should I train with? Swords?

[Feba]

or do WAR10, MNK18-20

Why in the world would you level WAR to 10 first? It's just a waste of time, since you won't have a subjob. Get MNK to 18 ASAP and you have a sub that will last you as long as you need to level WAR, AND unlock subjobs. It's much quicker to solo WAR/MNK up than WAR, then MNK, then WAR/MNK.

As far as your weapon, on MNK you'll want to go with H2H weapons- Cesti, Claws and hthe like, on WAR you use Great Axe. Sword is for PLD. You can use it on other jobs, but you will be gimping yourself rather badly.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Also what weapon should I train with? Swords?

Great Axe and Hand Axe are best for WAR at most levels, sword comes into the picture for them pretty late. You'll do your best damage with axes for the most part.

[Legal Fish]

Great Axe and Hand Axe are best for WAR at most levels, sword comes into the picture for them pretty late. You'll do your best damage with axes for the most part.

This isn't exactly true, though Great Axe is really the best weapon for WAR at early levels, but it's not because of their skill level.

Skill level makes nearly no difference at the beginning of the game. We are talking less than half a handful of attack and less than 2% less hit rate comparing the difference between a Polearm WAR and a Great Axe WAR for the first 20 levels of FFXI.

I would suggest Great Axe for early party play because the very nice Weapon Skill "Shield Break" which lowers evasion a fairly large amount, usually -10 to -40. 2 less Evasion or 2 more accuracy = 1% hit rate. That means you'll be getting a +20% chance of hitting sometimes. That's really good. And a bit later on, Sturmwind is some hot stuff, but I would skip using Iron Tempest.

[Feba]

This isn't exactly true, though Great Axe is really the best weapon for WAR at early levels, but it's not because of their skill level.


I... didn't see anyone mention skills at all.

[Nuriko]

Why in the world would you level WAR to 10 first? It's just a waste of time, since you won't have a subjob. Get MNK to 18 ASAP and you have a sub that will last you as long as you need to level WAR, AND unlock subjobs. It's much quicker to solo WAR/MNK up than WAR, then MNK, then WAR/MNK.

Learning about jobs isn't a waste, and the extra gil from drops would be nice to have. Level 10 is fast enough to solo to. In fact, it might not be a bad idea to do a few levels of everything, just to get a feel for it all. There's more to this than the fastest way, after all...

[Feba]

Learning about playing jobs is fine, but playing up to lv10 doesn't teach you crap about them. Most jobs are just WARs with a different two hour until at least lv15, and still don't really become their own until around 30. Leveling a job to 10 will just teach you what leveling that job to ten is like, it won't actually help you in the long run.

[neokaril]

OK, you can call me old school or just hard headed, but my personal belief is nothing gives you the understanding of the jobs in your party like playing them. I like to run all the jobs up, it helps in understanding party dynamics and allows me to mix and match to find job pairings that work well for me in my static group.

That being said, if you want the down and dirty pipeline, level MNK (it is the easiest starting job to play and the best starting job sub for WAR IMO) level that to 20, then go back and level WAR to the same range and then go hit up your sub job quest. WAR/MNK is great for counter, additional HP etc.

Also in leveling both to 20 you should ensure that more of your skills are capped, making it easier each following go round. Most start out with single axe then switch to GA once they become respectable and your gear will support the loss of def in going two handed.

Just my two cents. Have fun and enjoy playing, do yourself a favor and remeber it's not a race to the top of the mountain.. Take some time, pick up a craft or two and enjoy yourself..

Good Luck!

[Feba]

I'm not saying playing other jobs is a bad thing. I'm just saying that leveling them to 10 is like learning how to buckle your seatbelt, and then saying you know how to drive a car.
That being said, if you want the down and dirty pipeline, level MNK (it is the easiest starting job to play and the best starting job sub for WAR IMO) level that to 20, then go back and level WAR to the same range and then go hit up your sub job quest. WAR/MNK is great for counter, additional HP etc.
Wait, wait, wait. Level *two* jobs to twenty *before* you unlock your subjob? Wtf?

[KoukiRyu]

Kouki, please don't tell me you intend for him to level WAR/THF until level 30. That would be horrible.

Yea, I did, it's not very hard to get to 37 as WAR/THF. Plus /THF is more useful for both of those jobs, and he'll have to level it less in the future.

[Feba]

WAR/THF under 30 is a horrible combination. I'd honestly rather party with a 24WAR/NIN than a 24WAR/THF

[KoukiRyu]

Ah, I suppose so. I did WAR/MNK to 37 when I leveled my WAR sub starting out...I was just suggesting it to him so that the wouldn't have to level as much in the future. Seeing as he could solo to 20 anyway, and be through with Qufim relatively fast, I wasn't thinking a THF sub would hurt too much, and just make less trouble for the future.