[sp4rk]

My only problem with Nin is the cost of reagents needed for their moves. If I were to go Nin, the best sub woudl be War for the offensive boosts, provoke, double attack and defender?

[Armando]

Yes. /WAR is just about the only sub NINs need, with /DNC being used for solo situations (/DNC is a pretty universal solo sub for melees).

[sp4rk]

Alright thanks for all the help. my only conundrum I have now is that I hear that many of the Nin magic abilities other than the shadow generating ones are near useless for dmg. Is that true?

[Solymir]

The following statements go for Ninja as Main job, not /Nin.

The Ni versions of the Ninja spells do decent damage. They do not equal the power of a blm/sch/rdm using elemental spells, but they aren't bad. I personally recommend getting the ninja tools for the enfeebling spells over the elemental ones though. In the long run they will benefit you, and your party more.

Personally if I were the chosen one to be Tank and I wanted to be a good damage dealer, I would choose Ninja. Good luck, and have fun.

[IfritnoItazura]

Originally Posted by Armando

Yes. /WAR is just about the only sub NINs need, with /DNC being used for solo situations (/DNC is a pretty universal solo sub for melees).

For exp parties, using the support job /WAR is the usually the best. However, outside exp/merit parties, there are some creatures better tanked as NIN/DRK than NIN/WAR, but that is a distant concern.

It's not a bad idea to level DRK to 37 just before (or shortly after) NIN reaches 75.

[hexx]

Originally Posted by sp4rk

Alright thanks for all the help. my only conundrum I have now is that I hear that many of the Nin magic abilities other than the shadow generating ones are near useless for dmg. Is that true?

The NIN elemental spells past 40 are decent for helping hold hate, but they lose their effectiveness once you reach the Aht Urghan areas. Once there, you are better off spamming the Ni enfeebles instead to help you minimize the shadows you lose and such. Remember to cap your Ninjutsu skill (helps prevent interrupts ever so often) and your evasion as well, since it is what will keep you alive when shadows are down.

If you are looking to tank, war can do alright, but still nowhere near what a NIN or PLD can do. Play with both jobs, and see which is to your liking. NIN tanks by avoiding damage wherever possible, whereas PLD can just sit there and take a beating the way a NIN cant LOL. Best of luck

[Celeal]

Another points for blink: If done properly, it is awesome. However, there are many ways to screw up. In other words, there aren't much room of error. Keep in mind that a tank cannot function when he or she is KO-ed. Sometimes the tank may make a mistake, sometimes the party make the mistake, sometimes you are just unlucky.

In my opinion, a NIN tank has more margin of error than a WAR/NIN tank, and PLD tank has even more.

[Callisto]

I really am not fond of tanking things on WAR/NIN, primarily because unlike most other jobs that blink tank, WAR really has no native way of safely getting Ichi off if shadows are down and the mob is swinging at you, whereas PLD, NIN, MNK, SAM, and RDM all have some sort of native safety features. WAR/NIN is basically just being very attentive to pre-casting Ichi or hoping you get lucky and the mob misses/gets paralyzed while you're casting.

I personally would recommend PLD as your first tank job to level if you're intent on doing one, there's going to be a period when you get higher level where you're going to have to make do with some pretty plain gear before you can find the help/time/gil needed to gear yourself better, and PLD is a bit more user-friendly out of the box than NIN. Especially when doing things with a small group of friends, you can do a lot with just one healer, one support, 2 DDs, and a PLD.

[Karinya]

I'm kind of surprised nobody else has brought up the idea of WAR tanking with subjobs *other* than /NIN, which, as others have pointed out, is pretty bad before level 74.

The OP stated that the party will have "3 DDs, 2 healers and myself". If the 2 healers are, say, RDM and WHM, then you not only have plenty of healing, but also targetable refresh to support WAR/BLU (which can have defense as high or higher than PLD's without sacrificing attack).

WAR/DNC might also be worth looking into, although I haven't seen it much myself. With 2 healers the main issue in tanking is likely to be just generating enough enmity to keep the mob off the rest of the party, with damage dealing a secondary concern and mitigation somewhere down the list. Waltzes and Animated Flourish could go a long way toward that, even if it means giving up some WS.

[sp4rk]

I've been doing some research and am wondering about War/sam. would that be a viable tank setup?

[Durahansolo]

Originally Posted by sp4rk

I've been doing some research and am wondering about War/sam. would that be a viable tank setup?

WAR/SAM would only be viable if Third Eye was more reliable. You don't get access to Seigan until WAR70, so the most hits you could anticipate up until then would be one, (I don't remember if you can counter without seigan being active.) Once Seigan is availiable to you I think the least you can anticipate would be 2 (unless you screw Seigan up like I do and only get one anticipation lol.) and the most would be 6-8 times. I anticipated maybe 5-6 times once but it was extremely rare, and you also have a small chance to counter and keep Third Eye active. WAR/SAM is a better DD than it would be as a tank or at damage mitigation.

[Celeal]

WAR have no problem with holding hate, endurance (for tanking) is the real issue.

The best bet is to join the game, and try it yourself and see it in action.

[Nuriko]

NIN isn't effective as tank until 12, and WAR/NIN isn't until 24. Before that, you might as well be WAR/MNK for more HP and to use Boost.

For myself, I'd be more inclined to use PLD for tank, or NIN with BLU backing you up ... BLU can be pretty effective as a tank at lower levels.

[sp4rk]

After talking with the group, they want me to DD fully. Once again ive been hearing good things about wars dps, and am not sure if War/nin would still be good for dps or should I stick with War/Sam with a Great Axe and murder things lol.

Sorry about the long post that kinda went off topic but I am relatively new to the game and want to make sure I am doing the right thing for my team and any others I group with.

[Callisto]

You should be sticking with Great Axe regardless of what you're subbing, it's a superior weapon for almost the entire lifespan of WAR bar 5 levels(55-60) where Axe will have a better WS.

WAR is a fantastic natural DD, which is why I chose to level it over SAM or DRK as I can't access certain DD gear and won't have room for further Combat Skill merits than what I already have. You're going to want both subjobs though, I personally preferred /NIN until 70 then changed to /SAM(except for parties vs. Imps). /SAM the best offensive subjob once you hit level 50, but it doesn't have any form of reliable defense until 70.

Sometimes you'll actually do better overall with /NIN since you won't be sponging as much of your healer's MP, and won't have to hold back as much. Bear in mind that your damage will not be the most important thing in the party, but rather the overall XP/hr will be, and sometimes that means actually not doing as much damage as you physically can, and instead being a team player so your healer doesn't have to spend 5 minutes resting after every single fight.