[pasterz]

Hi!
I just want to start playing FFXI and I have a question. What is best way of Mithra? I wanted to have something with magic, not only meelee, so I considered RDM. But I heard that it's quite expensive to play RDM (scrolls etc.), and they aren't as good in meelee as I thought. So I got the RDM/THF (or later RDM/DRG) subclass... Is it wise to have sth like this? Or it'll be just worhtless and pathetic combination?
Plx help.

[nanatsu]

You can play any job with Mithra, you're not restricted to a good or bad job, but there are certain job combinations that the ffxi community will EXPECT you to play if you want to be invited to pt. Solo you can combine jobs however you want. But for exp parties some combinations work better than others.

For RDM you'd generally want WHM or BLM sub if you're going to join EXP parties. RDM/THF is usually used for farming only and you can't use Wyvern with DRG subbed just to let you know. There are plenty of posts on the forum about job combinations so using the search function can help you out a great deal when deciding what to do.

[nanatsu]

ADDED: In each job sub-forum there is a sticky topic called Party vs All Other Sub Discussion. Whatever questions you have about what to do about jobs and subs are probably already answered in those topics. If you just browse the forum and search about you can find your answers easily.

[neighbortaru]

you might want to try BLU then.
BLM to 18 -> WHM/blm to 36 -> unlock BLU.

[Taskmage]

The rule of thumb whenever this discussion comes up is you can't have everything. No job has the magic three traits that most new players want of good damage, magic, and inexpensiveness.

Red mage has a little melee ability, but it quickly drops off into worthlessness any many people will look down on you for doing it in experience parties even during the level range that it's vaguely worthwhile to do so. Rdm can melee well enough when on their own, gets a wide range of magic, and is relatively inexpensive to play, so if you're not too attached to swinging your sword all the time it might be the right choice for you. You'll need to level blm or whm as a subjob for this. Preferably both.

Ninja is another all-rounder that people like to cite. Ninja gets a compliment of enfeebling spells and later on some decent damage dealing magic. Depending on how you equip yourself you can be a very effective tank or a good damage dealer. The major drawback to nin is that it is extremely expensive to play, both in terms of your equipment and in the consumable items you use up every time you cast a spell. Nin is also an advanced job, so you have to get something else to level 30 before you can get it. The must-have sub for nin is war.

Dark knight is another melee/spellcaster hybrid, which a much stronger emphasis on melee damage dealing. I haven't played a DD job to high levels so I can't comment on the cost, but I know if you're the type of person that always wants to have the best equipment it will cost you millions and millions to be DD. Another advanced job. Subs: war and thf.

Blue mage is a new job that's more balanced between melee and magic than rdm or drk. Blu can be played relatively inexpensively, but the tradeoff is that you'll need to invest a lot of time and possibly get a lot of help from others to learn your spells by having them used on you by monsters. Blu is also arguably harder to play well than a lot of other jobs and definately requires more knowledge in terms of game mechanics. Blu is another advanced job and requires the Aht Urghan expansion. A lot of subjobs work with blu, but the most popular ones are /war pre-30, /thf post-30, and /whm or /rdm situationally for more mp and utility spells.

Oh, and mithra is a very balanced race where stats are concerned. Like Humes, they can play pretty much any job in the game without having to think much about covering for their weaknesses like the other races need to do.