My friend's character is on 3-5 (he got fed up with the game at this point; he also has PLD at 72 and RDM in the 60s I think); I'm on 2-5.
Meriting dagger was one of the "pros" in my mind when I was thinking about it; hard enough getting THF-specific merits solo, imagine weapon and stuff
For now, I think I am going to level BRD on my character (gotta loot-whore for THF somehow amirite). I may reactivate my friend's account anyway just for the benefit of PLing and 2boxing and similar fun stuff. Thanks everyone for your input :D