A mage looking to try melee

[Beener]

I'm a career Mage, namely Redmage, and I would like to try a melee job.

I was partied with a lvl 32drk/16rdm and he was awesome. He did lots of damage (slightly enhanced by En-spells) and backup healed with cure2 and 150 MP.

I'm not looking for the perfect damage dealer, just a melee with enough magic to keep my fix satisfied.

For that purpose, is DRK/RDM a viable combo?

[Drynavere]

It sure is. I'm actually a Drk/Whm. Yay so I don't do as much damage as the Drk/War's or Drk/Sam's....but I also die less, and have fun playing as a Drk/Whm.

Drk/Whm and Drk/Rdm are fairly good combos, but they are hard to have as your main, because, sometimes people want the DRK for damage purposes only, so they'll choose a drk/war over a drk/whm or drk/rdm.

but otherwise it's a really good combo In my opinion.

[Beener]

yeah, that's cool. i wasn't planning on getting high lvl as a dark knight, just wanted to try out a smacker job.

[Socrates]

i've played both drk/war and drk/whm

here's my comparison:

drk/whm
-can heal if there is NO whm. healing is really useless because it delays your swings. you cannot just "cast between swings" as casting spells just adds even more delay to your slow attack rate. if you really want to heal, play WHM or RDM. DRK/WHM is not the answer.
-can enfeeble enemies, but mostly worthless spells such as dia or paralyze that any WHM can already cast, plus adds more delay to weapons swings.
-can solo like hell. poisona is a lifesaver, but after lv 15, you really don't solo unless farming or questing.


drk/war
-can provoke, great for emergencies and tanking if necessary, doesn't add much to weapon delay.
-can use berserk, this will outdamage any spells you can cast subbing whm or rdm.
-adds much needed def bonus, again, helping 0 drk tanking abilities
-does the most dmg <60 out of all drk subs.
-not great for soloing. poison and rasp enemies kill you even after you beat them up. =(


so there you have it. DRK/WHM, DRK/RDM is great for soloing purposes. DRK/WAR is the way to go in parties. But under lv 30, i think DRK/anything can do just fine. I personally think under 30, drk/brd would be a wacky combo that could work.

[sdjk]

i dont think you cant even play songs as a brd sub =0

[Satyricon]

You can play one song, that is it.

[Taga]

I think he meant you can only sing with BRD sub.. not play.

[Socrates]

wassup koreanhero. ^^

well, i partied with a pld/bard (taru) and he did couple of nifty songs that affects +attack and a song i think was paeon. it definitely helped...

like i said, below lv 30, most subs would work, so why not bard.

[albert lee]

yes any sub will work under 30... but after 30, thats when the sub kicks the person (or pt) in the ass. whm or rdm sub great for soloing, but crappy for pt's. your job is not to heal and you shouldn't need to heal, thats what a whm/rdm/brd/ or blm/whm job. anything until 30(I think more 25) is okay. drk really don't cast spells except the ocassional drain/aspir and untill you get the absorbs... lol. my dark lvl is at like 81... TT so hard to raise it...

*1 more thing, paeon is a regan type spell.. regenerates ur hp.