pick my next job.

[Celebrindor]

Ok career mage here, looking to make myself more versatile by leveling a melee job. As seen in the sig, I have a support mage (RDM) and BLM leveled- BLM was just something fun to level and has its limited purposes these days, but I'm still very glad to have it. But I've been debating on leveling a melee job for a long time now just for something different and to fill different roles at events based on need. Everyone and their mother has RDM leveled up, and to be honest no matter how well-geared it is anyone can cast haste/refresh and people think "well that RDM is on top of his shit".

So like I said, I've been debating a few jobs, and want some input from LS leaders, other melees, and just general comments on the usefulness of tho ones I've been considering:

1. WAR- only problem is everyone has WAR, and I don't forsee an Adaberk or Ares Body any time soon (I don't do salvage yet, and when I do morrigans would definitely be a larger priority for me). I'd probably end up a ME/joytoy WAR to be honest, with a Byakko's Axe in storage if I ever level the job. Woohoo me- another AH WAR.

2. BLU- outside of Homam, a lot of gear options and merit options similar to RDM, so that's a nice plus. However, I personally don't see a lot of unique function at events among BLUs that I've seen. Any time someone shows up at events as a BLU, 90% of the time I just see headbutt spams, SATA cannonball, death. Rinse. Repeat.

3. DRK- part of me is REALLY interested in leveling up an Octave Club DRK to have available for zerg events. I doubt I'll ever afford a Kraken Club, so am wondering on the effectiveness/gearing of such a creature. Or would a level 75 DRK with a mercurial kris or bahamut zanghal be more suited for a zerg based on gear for a 73+ DRK?

4. RNG- another job that is kind of specialized in its uses I know- but I've seen some nice things against DL and Odin which make me feel this job is far from dead. And I missed the pre-nerf days of RNG so I won't necessarily be disappointed.

5. NIN- to be honest I'd level this for very personal reasons, so maybe I shouldn't include it in a discussion of "what would be good at events melee wise?". But would like some thoughts on it. Seems like another very stable solo job- something that has always attracted me about BLM and RDM so far.

Notice I have not mentioned SAM- I have no interest in the job whatsoever. I know its effectiveness at endgame, and cannot deny how incredibly powerful they are- its just not for me.

Also, I refuse to level BRD. uh no way. Not getting rope-a-doped into doing that and never coming on another job again.

Also no real urge to level PLD- with my craptastic computer I just don't trust my tanking skills. Not to mention I've seen what great geared PLDs can do and I doubt I'd be able to match that for some time.

If I've forgot any that you feel are worth mentioning, please give me feedback.

[Lordwafik]

BLU

It's fun and opens different avenues of solo/duo than your RDM or BLM has.

[Weeks]

RNG. For most zergs it's second only to DRK, and the dev team seems to have taken on the task of making it useful again over the past year. They'll probably handle it like they did PLD and continue to give it buffs long after it stops needing them, and you'll get to experience RNG's second golden age.

[Wolfknight]

BLU

It's fun and opens different avenues of solo/duo than your RDM or BLM has.

this I've been doing the job up to 62, it's very fun and pretty dam versatile too I'd recommend trying it for while atleast.

[Kaelia]

I want to say WAR, because it's an absolute powerhouse and was my first melee job. (Coming off of WHM SMN BRD BLM.) I'm not even fully merited and I'm already on par if not better than some career melees in my LS, just because WAR (especially WAR/SAM) has just THAT MUCH destructive potential as long as you put any sort of effort towards gearing it. SAM is broken for sure, but I don't think I'd be unjustified in saying WAR/SAM is nipping at its heels. There's also the benefit that you can merit basically any weapon's skill up off of a level 75 WAR, which will help you out should you choose to level future melees.

I've also since leveled BLU and while I found it fun, it was very frustrating at times trying to get a party. I think BLU would also take a lot more gear overall if you want to perform every facet of it at full capacity than something like WAR. You're not going to get a whole lot of play at events outside of Head Butt lock and Cannonball spam, I would assume, but your solo/lowman potential as a BLU is amazing. I'm not a RDM but I've played one, and BLU solo is more fun. (Not necessarily safer, but more exciting.)

[Redshift]

WAR, use great axe. (everyone has SAM leveled, not WAR)

[Thistle]

Try them out, see which one you like, and level that? You should enjoy whatever you decide to take to 75, not just do it for usefulness to others.

[Achika]

Try them out, see which one you like, and level that? You should enjoy whatever you decide to take to 75, not just do it for usefulness to others.

This. I've leveled jobs to give myself usefulness within my shell, and I tend to hate jobs that I level like that.

BLU and RNG are nice for kited battles (RNG for non-kited as well), WAR and DRK are similar. The only one that's really different is NIN, and I can't speak for NINs because I don't like playing the job. =p

I do agree with the whole versatility thing. I started out as a MNK, and I'm fairly useless in events, so I use MNK for merits. I picked up PLD cause my LS was lacking in them. Hated that job really, but I'll play it when I have to. That's my tank of course. I'm just finishing up RNG, which we also needed for my shell but I enjoyed that. That's my endgame event melee. I'm currently on the fence regarding my mage job, but I am leaning towards SCH.

[VZX]

Though, I've never really tried it. BLU/WAR can be a good super tank on Einherjar.
I really like my BLU for any non-boss zone of Limbus. There are couple times Head butt really makes the difference clearing the zone or not. Diamondhide and Diffusion -> Saline Coat can also be a life saver sometimes.
It's undoubtedly very useful on Nyzul assaults and certain "wipe many enemies at once" situation (blitzkrieg, ashu talif #1).
People said if you don't have that much melee jobs leveled, BLU is a great job to level.

As for RNG, I've only been using it for ZNM lately. Can be really useful whenever situation go ohshitweneedtokite.

[Kohan]

Though, I've never really tried it. BLU/WAR can be a good super tank on Einherjar.

Just don't forget to have an EXP buffer beforehand!

[rithridan]

Really, pick something you like to do and would put the effort in to make it work. Nobody needs a WAR who doesn't want to gear properly (for example).

I like your initiative to learn how to play a melee job, I see so many melees who refuse to learn what its like to be a mage and think they are god and need to be served by the humble mages. Ignoring everything but their "l33t d4m4g3" and need that haste/song the second it wears OMG!, adds don't matter haste/song me now~ sleep/lullaby later!. On the other hand there are the mages who only have mage jobs who just dont understand the nuances that come with being a melee and tweaking your gear and playstyle to maximize your damage output while not being the worst MP sponge ever (where applicable).

I leveled a shit-ton of jobs where I thought I would be useful in but in the end leadership in the LS needs to pick those who are the best at the jobs they need. You don't pick a second rate melee when you need to have a first rate one. Same with mages, you don't let the recently dinged BLM75 go BLM when his RDM is much better geared and meritted (unless you really need it).

Come to think of it, I know a Taru BLM75 friend who leveled DRK to 75 with me and even though (if I'm not mistaken) he's at the point that he has meritted his Scythe and a couple of other things, he still doesn't touch most of our other (older) melees in the shell when it comes to his DRK. On the other hand his BLM is amongst the best in our shell in terms of damage output. Safe to say that 90% of the time he will still be BLM when he comes to events. Only when we really need another melee and don't need a BLM then he comes on DRK.

[Bregor]

GAxe WAR is really fun, I know you might say "ho hum another AH WAR" but I'm glad it was my first true DD job. The only pseudo-annoying part is leveling subs (NIN SAM THF and DNC) but I think you'll find WAR can be pretty useful in almost any situation.

I don't have BLU leveled but I think that'd be another fun job, you can really tailor it to your style and not just Head Butt spam.

[Arcanesoul]

My choice would be blu (since that's what I've decided I'd do after my sch hits 75), but it also seems more gear intensive than some of the other jobs too. The reason I like it is because it has versatility, more so than the other jobs. My reasons for choosing it were because:
- Cannonball works great on mobs that resist magic from what I've seen.
- Stun lock.
- Can start or end light or darkness skillchains if needed.
- Physical spells are great for knocking down an opponent fast (e.g. gob pets if you're lacking party invites, or, well just about anything I guess)
- Can dispel, sleep, flashga, def-down, etc.
- Good for dealing with multiple weakish mobs
- Can play a support role if needed (although you have rdm for that)
- Has magic for mobs with physical resistance (again, you'd probably use blm I guess).
- can solo easily.
- Can tank a non-boss mob easily in campaign (although I see sch's doing it too, so perhaps any job can at 75?)
- Has applications in just about any endgame event.
- Has access to lots of good gear.
- Can use it to merit (if you're tired of the refresh-haste thing)
- Just plain all round fun in my eyes.

Another bonus for me is that I've bst to sub to it, so I can play bst too when I want and have an easier time of it.

The other jobs just don't offer this level of gameplay in my eyes (although I do see their uses), and if you get morrigans, your blu will love it too.

[Alibeemac]

I have all the mage jobs levelled and just finished BLU last week. Was awesome fun (when I got a party >< ). Obtaining spells can be frustrating when you first start out but as you get higher they in the most part take less attempts to learn (diaf Spinal Cleave ~.~ ). I was mainly levelling it via Level Synch with LS mates or via Campaign (did my last 60k to 75 in Campaign as no pts). The problem with this is that now my BLU and Sword skill are underlevelled a bit for 75 (this is a problem for all jobs tho). BLU is very versatile and can perform so many different roles. We have taken a BLU/WHM into a B2 manaburn as a healer and worked fine. BLU can do crazy damage with Cannonball on HNMs. They are great crowd controllers in things like Einherjar. They kick ass on stupid frogs in Salvage. They are great soloers. They can pretty much do w/e you want them to do and so far hasn't gotten boring to me.

Out of the rest of your options, if you have money to burn do RNG. Every person I know who has levelled it recently has found it addicting and great fun. Need to have a good gil income stream tho for it.

[kayn]

COR
The only mele job useful even when you don't need meles.
We had a cor doing 1500+ Slugs to Dark Ixion. 300-400 ele shots to HNMs. Most likely, you'll be at the top of the list for all the gear too.
It's a really fun job and it's useful in every situation.

[Apelila]

PLD: Honestly? Gear makes tanking easier, it does not facilitate skill. Ninja is more about gear vs skill @ endgame, and all tanks when it comes down to it live and breath by their support.

HOWEVER I'd sooner have sex with rusty forks than level PLD again in xp, that sucked SO HARD. Like others have said, any melee job you pick is going to have the funderful grind of subs along side it.

[Isiolia]

It'd depend, in part, on what you do as far as events go, if you're hoping to use the job at events. Also, if you have the additional RDMs/BLMs (and in my case BRDs too) to allow you to go as a melee.
Everyone and their mother has 'a' melee job leveled too, but not necessarily backline. So while it might be hard to stand out as a RDM, it's even harder to shine as a melee if you're not even playing it >_>

Personally, I would narrow the ones you've mentioned to WAR and NIN. In part because I have both leveled myself, so I can speak some from experience...and in part because, in general, I feel that they tend to mesh better into more situations than other jobs you mentioned.

WAR is overall stronger as a higher level event DD. You do -not- need Adaberk or Ares to be above average on the job. GAxe is, frankly, the way to go on it though. DW can be nice, sure, with the proper gear and merits at endgame...but a 2h weapon in XP is just a -ton- easier these days.
In a way, WAR is similar to RDM in that you have a number of key JAs/traits, just as RDM has spells, native to the main job. Subjob just makes things even better. DA, Berserk, Aggressor, etc...all there, whether you sub SAM or DNC or whatever.

It's perhaps the only job where you can have viable A-level 2h and DW setups, along with others that work, depending on mob/merits/etc. If you're just gonna have -one- melee, WAR is a solid choice, since it's capable of encompassing most of the DD spectrum, and being one of the best to boot.

I think the one caveat there is that if you won't have the chance to use a melee much outside of maybe meriting and stuff, that WAR becomes less attractive, as it doesn't solo very well. With /DNC, it's certainly doable to a degree...but you're not going to open any new doors as far as that goes.

NIN, despite being kind of stagnant, and falling a little behind where it once was in the standings, is still rather strong. It's a nice job to have available, and can be quite fun to play. It does, however, take work to stand out. Unlike WAR, NIN's DD capacity doesn't really stay when you start hitting very high defense type mobs and the like. It's a nice job on things that it can damage well, but though NIN/DRK and all is quite viable, it's not as popular anymore.

Still, it's still a solid merit job, and the pertinent thing for a career mage is that it's useful (as you mentioned) for soloing as well. NIN/DNC, especially, is a job that you can quite readily take duo/trioing, or soloing, and succeed with. Evasion soloing is completely different from RDM soloing. Sometimes it's the only way to go, but at the very least (when viable) you're just not spending 1/4+ of your time reapplying buffs too.

Depending on the event, primarily for smaller group type events these days, being a "tank" is also a nice bonus.


IMO, it comes down more to how you'd want to use the job and/or how you would be given the opportunity to use it. If you'd actually be able to bring the job along to alliance level events and all that, then WAR would be a good choice I think. If, like me, it'd be a rare thing (even if the job was geared/merited better than most in your LS), then I think NIN would be better. Even if it's less desired for alliance level stuff...the additional utility in solo/duo type capacity would make up for that.

[Thistle]

COR
The only mele job useful even when you don't need meles.
We had a cor doing 1500+ Slugs to Dark Ixion. 300-400 ele shots to HNMs. Most likely, you'll be at the top of the list for all the gear too.
It's a really fun job and it's useful in every situation.

I love COR for the mixed bag that it is. I love being able to support others as well as DDing at the same time. Plus it has, hands-down, the best looking AF of them all!

[Aurara]

only on mithras @.@. all other races(maybe taru)look fugly.

[Faithe]

I'm going to side with RNG. RNGs are useful in ALL situations. You can toss DRG DRK WAR but you can't toss RNGs.