As a Bard, which Mages do you prefer?

[Faranim]

As a Bard, what other Mages do you prefer to have in an EXP party with you?

Most parties I know go with the following format:
1 Bard
2 Mages (BLM, RDM, WHM, SMN)
1 Tank (PLD or NIN)
2 Damage (All other Classes)

Obviously being the Bard, that's a no brainer... YOU'RE in the party.

But what about the other members? Which other mages do you think work best with a Bard? Which do you think can earn the most EXP / hour?

I'm mostly looking for opinions, so I'll start with my own (This post is regarding parties level 55+):

#1 BLM: Threnody! The True power of a BLM really shines when he's with a bard that is good at coordinating Threnodies with Magic Bursts. Black Mages add a considerable amount of damage to the table, along with some unique spells (BLM debuffs, D2, Escape, Ancient Magic, Sleep). Their Enfeelbing skill is quite high, and can also act as backup enfeeblers casting Slow, Paralyze, and Silence pretty effectively. Overall I prefer to party with BLM more than any other mages.

#2 RDM: Refresh! Refresh + Ballad as everyone knows is an amazing combination. Red Mages are so versatile they can work very well with bards to cover virtually any role. In the absence of a BLM, RDM can perform well by doing Magic Bursts with Threnodies, and Debuffing enemies. In parties that already have a BLM, a Red Mage can function as a primary healer, and overall support character. The versatility of RDM is very good, allowing them to fill any flaws a party might have.

#3 SMN: Often Overlooked but very good. I haven't had much experience with Summoners, but I feel that they work well with bards. A good Summoner could use level IV Magic in conjunction with Threnodies to Magic Burst. They also provide a large array of supportive spells that no other class has (Blink, Stoneskin, Leviathans Status Cure, Fenrir's Accuracy Boost). With their large MP pool, SMN can also act as a primary healer without much problem.

#4 WHM: I personally don't find WHM as useful as any of the other mage classes. What do they bring? Teleports, Higher level Raises, Group Buffs. All of these things are nice, but a good party doesn't need them. White Mage is like "Extra Security" in a party, but they slow down the flow of experience when compared to other classes. Aside from healing / Support, White Mages can't do much to take down a monster. Longer Fights = More Healing = More Resting = Slower Exp Chains. I'm not saying that they suck (they don't by any means), just that I'd prefer to have a RDM or SMN in the party than use a WHM as the primary healer.

This is just my personal opinion. My Ideal Party setup would contain myself (BRD), a BLM, and a RDM. Threnody + Double Magic Bursts, and enough healing / support to keep the party running and downtime nonexistant are keys to keeping the Experience Flowing.

I'd like to see what other Bards (or mages) think about this topic.

[Zonzon]

That's also exactly what I prefer. That setup provides sufficient healing, and each job has other helpful abilities as well. If WHMs had better offensive spells, they'd be more useful. However, at higher levels having one person dedicated only to healing really just slows everything down.

[Tonkz]

Well it also depends on the bard. Assuming the bard has a white mage subbed, and helps cure when possible, a white mage is pretty much useless here.

The only good thing about a whm is that it saves 20 seconds of buffing time :D.

The problem with some rdm's is that they don't like being a "healer". Sometimes it's hard to depend on a rdm to heal. White mages on the other hand, have no excuse for not healing.

I'd have to say, a Bard/Whm with a full subjob (and actually uses the subjob effectively) is better off partying with a RDM and BLM.

A Bard/(something else?) or /whm but doesn't heal much then WHM would be better for the PT.

If I was a RDM, and a PT asked me to go purely on healing, I'd do it, but it probably wouldn't be as fun ... If I wanted to heal, I would have been a WHM.

Oops I just realized you asked for a bard or mage opinion ... oh well.

[Kweh]

I prefer RDM and BLM in my parties. I have /WHM subbed and I use Protectra II on everyone, then the RDM just casts III on the tank and damage dealers.

WHM is a nicety at late levels, not a necessity imho

[Niland]

you can't exp without a whm at some higher level areas since only whm main job has access to stona.

i prefer whm, brd, rdm... its less damage output in exchange for less downtime.

i think rdm and brd just complement each other so well.

[Rekiem]

RDM and BLM. Reason is because WHM and SMN anoy me with their buff they cast on the fighters at every round so when they are in in the PT, I don't have to worry about hitting my mage with the melee songs or having them miss Ballad because they decided to run around. I really like RDM because they give refresh to the PLD so I don't have to worry about his MP. To make this simple, BLM and RDM make me work less so I can have more fun.

[Kite322]

If the tank is a NIN, I prefer BRD/BLM/RDM.
If the tank is a PLD, I prefer BRD/WHM/RDM.

[Dusk]

BRD with RDM and WHM has never failed me. Quickest xp comes this way, too. Especially you have some guns like a RNG and a MNK hacking away.

[Xccoortri]

I like how my setpt is. Brd/Rdm/4 Melee's

I'm not 55 yet, but after 55 you can easily eliminate the WHM and the Bard and RDM can go healers. (at least when the bard has some spare time to pop in a heal)

With the MP regen of ballads stacked and refresh, you shouldn't even need a WHM. ALthough having a WHM is never a bad thing, you just won't be able to chain as much.

We've chained 6k exp in an hour without ever resting once with the above said setup.

[mIze]

No matter how good the pt, and I quote, "shit happens". Without a whm you'd have to hope there is someone around to pop a raise II/III or ask an LS whm to help if anyone is available. Also ports save a lot of time and are a necessity for some areas (Den).

I like Brd/Smn/Rdm best overall though. Rdm/Blm above all. They're super utility, can escape/refresh/sleep II/dispel. Smn has huge pool for duo healing with rdm and great avatar buffs. Just have to hope you Escape in time if there's too much trouble to handle. Dying without a whm around really sucks post-56.

[Rekiem]

Yea but the thing is that, if you replace the WHM by a BLM, you will gain close to 1000-1500 exp more per hour because of the added damage. Unless your short on EXP material (monsters to kill). So if you get Raise I, you will be at about the same EXP if you were with a WHM. But you can also ask other WHM in the area for a Raise II. Which is very common.

[Xccoortri]

I don't even care about raise I vs II...with the amount of EXP our group gets (pld, mnk, rng, brd, rdm, thf) we can have occasional deaths (like the time someone pulled an antican right near us and it silenced both mages) and still make back the exp in like 3 fights.

[mIze]

You're also 50 and have something like 10k tnl. At 62 my tnl is 31,000, so losing 3k+ isnt really fun. Raise II becomes a bigger deal when you break the 20k mark.

[Gryff]

What do white mages bring to the table?

First off teleports to alternate areas, good luck exping in castle zvhal, den of rancor etc and airshipping+walking.

Post 58 white mages get escape if they sub blm, and you and teleport altep instead of D2 at the end of a session.

High level protectra......tell me +55 def isnt worth it? Same with shellra vs magic mobs that protection is a life saver.

As has also been mentioned later on a lot of monsters like using petrify, only whms get this, so you cannot fight any monsters that use it.

Only whm gets regen2+3 these are amazing, especially regen 3, I'm back to using cure 2 and topping up with 3.


Past 65 the damage blms do is a nice bonus but not needed, the majority of monsters are brought to medium hp then finished with a light or dark renkai, it can be more important to have an extra melee over a blm for renkai versatility, when a dark can sneak+spinning slash a mob for over 1k and the renkai does over 1k, sure a magic burst for 600-800 is nice, but when the starting ws does a similar amount....its not as good as it was at lvl 50-60 with ancient bursts for 1k.

My ideal setup for mages is brd/whm, rdm/blm, whm/smn.



As to raises....at lvl 67 if you die and get a raise one, you lose 2700xp. Not a pleasant experience. If you get a Raise 2 you lose 900.

Tell me which you prefer.

[Xccoortri]

I think A WHM is deffinitley not a bad thing to have, but post 55, once you get ballad II, I think they just slow down killing. I'd still prefer a RDM and BRD...But then again, I'm only 50, so that's just up to 50, maybe in the later levels it will change.