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D ~ZN __________________________________________ _____ ___ _ _________________\ _|________ ____ ___ ____ ___________ ___ _______ _____ _____ _____ \\ __/___ \| /\ _ /__ |___ \\ _____ _ /__ \| / |__ _ /__ _/_____| / | _| | \ \ | _ / | / | _| _ / \ \ | _/ _ /___ __ | _/ |__|____|__\___|__|___|____| |__| ___|___|__\___|___|__|___|______||___| _|_____ ____ _______ __ __________ ___ ____ / ____/__ |__/ ____/__ | / ____/__ \| / Final Fantasy Eleven \ __/ / | / __/ / | / __/ / \ \ | The Job/Subjob FAQ |________|_____|________|___/|________|__\___| |_________________ !kehm ______________ __ _ /__________________________________\ The FFXI Job/Subjob Combinations Guide/FAQ v. 2.00 Author: wwwcom654 / Crow Large Contributors: Drakos,over at shadow-dragons.com, StarvingArtist at ffxionline.com, Dizax the users at ffxionline.com, and some users at the GameFAQs message board. ASCII by Kehmesis and Mike Sacco (ShonenSamurai) Copyright 2003-2004 wwwcom654 -------------- Table of Contents: -------------- 1. Introduction 2. Revision History 3. How Jobs/Subjobs Work 4. The Part Everyone's Been Waiting For! The Job/Subjob Combinations A. Warrior B. Monk C. Thief D. Black Mage E. White Mage F. Red Mage G. Paladin H. Dark Knight I. Summoner J. Bard K. Beast Master L. Ninja M. Ranger N. Samurai O. Dragoon 4. Contact information -------------- 1. Introduction -------------- Okay, so this is my first try at making an FAQ. No big deal. Everyone at the FFXI boards can tell you that this is one of the most discussed topics at the board, and the constant questions about the combinations become obnoxious... So finally I decided to take some action and post a job combinations FAQ, which I hope everyone will find helpful! I couldn't have done it without ffxionline.com and shadow-dragons.com, so I hope you visit those sites. Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll find the information you'll need! -------------- 2. Revision History -------------- v. 1.0 - First posting (10/17/03) v. 1.01 - Few corrections, emphasis on the favored jobs added (10/25/03) v. 1.02 - Useless ASCII art ^^, a few changes(nothing major) (10/27/03) v. 1.10 - Finally added a little FAQ on how the subjobs work and other things that need addressing. Big thanks to Dizax! (11/12/03) v. 1.11 - Updated a few combos and corrected a few things (3/6/04) v. 2.0 - Some major revisions... Most corrections to earlier patches (11/27/04) v. 2.01 - Quick WAR/NIN correction. -------------- 3. How Jobs/Subjobs Work (this section contributed by Dizax and edited by me) -------------- (1). You have to have a Character reach level 18 at which point you can do the quest to obtain the ability to HAVE a sub class. (*) once you have completed the Quest once. that is LAST time you have to do it. and you can now Sub ANY CLASS combonation you think of...(will explain more) ~~~~~~~ (2) You goto your Mog House. and Choose a MAIN JOB... and SUB JOB. --NOTE 2.A) ONLY your Main Job Gains Experience --NOTE 2.B) your SUB job, does NOT gain EXP. --NOTE 2.C) you can Switch your SUB and MAIN jobs ~~~~~~~ (3) LIMITATIONS? BENEFITS? --NOTE 3.A) Regardless of what REAL level a Class is, if it is used as a SUB class, it can only be HALF the level of the MAIN JOB --NOTE 3.B) Any Skills that You level, will Transfer to your OTHER classes, but will be Capped in relation to your Current Main Jobs level. --NOTE 3.C) All armor and weapon restrictions are determined by your MAIN CLASS --NOTE 3.D) Nearly all passive skills and all active abilities up to the capped level of your sub may be used EXCEPT the 2-hour ability(the one that takes two hours to refresh, like Mighty Strikes). I say most passive abilities and not all because there is some debate as to whether the same abilities will stack, for instance a level 50/25 WHM/BLM would have two Clear Mind Is, which I'm pretty sure do not stack. ~~~~~~~ EXAMPLES...okie. let's put this theory into some examples... So first Let's Say I have the following. LEVEL 20 Monk -- 60 h2h LEVEL 16 WAR LEVEL 6 WHM Ok.. so here it is. EX.1 Let's make this Combo. Monk/Sub-WARRIOR The levels will be as follows 20 Monk/ 10 War. --Notice even though the Warrior is level 16, he can only be half the level of the MAIN job so... He becomes Capped at 10 while a Sub for a level 20. EX.2 COMBO. MONK/WHM Levels = 20 MONK/6 WHM --Notice even though there is a Cap for the sub job, the WHM isn't high enough to be effected so who cares... EX.3 COMBO= WHM/MONK Levels = 6 WHM/ 3 MONK... again. The sub job is limited to HALF the MAIN jobs level... Ex.4 COMBO= WAR/MONK LEVELs= 16 Warrior / 8 Monk. Again the half thing. ~~~~~~~Ok more details I will be referring to the Previous Examples. EX.5 Ok let's go with EX.1 Combo. Let's say I play this combo for a Month. The SAME COMBO.. I would ONLY get exp for my MAIN class. So as I leveled, ONLY my MONK would increase in EXP LEVEL... But because the monk is getting higher. the half is level is getting larger. So the pre-level warrior will also be able to be tapped for his levels. Watch. 20 mnk /10 war 21 mnk /10 war 22 mnk /11 war //notice half went up. 23 mnk /11 war 24 mnk /12 war 30 mnk /15 war 40 mnk /16 war // the War Gains no exp so stays at 16 till you make him your main and level him up as the MAIN job. so in truth in the above string of levels. the war wasn't really leveling. just the Number=MAIN/2 was rising. allowing the War to be tapped for more of his levels. EX.6 Let's look at EX.1, 20 mnk/10 war This is nice because not only do I have all the skills and such that come with a level 20 monk. But I also have all the skills that come with a 10 war, like PRovoke ( 5 war ability) plus any other abilities! Ex.7 Skills. Let's look at Ex.1 one more time. Notice my Monk had high level h2h. well when I start that War off. he will get that skill as well. Kinda.. see each level is capped at how high a weapon skill can go up. but let's say at lvl 10 it's "BLAH". well since the Monk's Skill way higher than "BLAH" the monk would automatically have the Max h2h he could have for this level EX.8 look at EX.2.. I now have a Monk with awesome Fighting skill, and NOW.. low level WHM spells and skills! EX.9 look at --NOTE 3.C, and WHM/WAR, the WHM can not now where heavy armor. the WHM is still restricted only by the MAIN JOB. but the WHM, will have more HP, etc -------------- 4. Job/Subjob Combinations -------------- First off I have to give you some general rules to these combinations. First, melee-type jobs and magic jobs generally don't mix well. I know everyone wants to be that apparently sweet looking dual-dagger wielding Summoner, but the thing is that mage stat bonuses and abilities don't help melee jobs much, and vice-versa as well. The second thing I need to mention is that generally Advanced jobs do not make good subjobs. They are so specialized that they shouldn't be put as a sub. Of course, a few exceptions exist(Samurai comes to mind), but otherwise it doesn't turn out so well. I will *not* put the worst(in my opinion) combos, in here as of this version, so please don't ask where they are. I know I'll be contacted by tons of people saying the same thing, namely that "people can be whatever job/subjob combination they want! It's their game!" Please keep in mind that I'm only posting a guide for combinations that are most useful to the party in general. Although that aforementioned Summoner/Ninja might be able to fight, it still won't work as well in a party as a Summoner/White mage because it has less MP. If you want to be any combination you want, then stop reading this FAQ right now, but be warned - you will not get as many party invites as these better combos, and you might be replaced by them in a game. The point of these combos is to emphasize your main classes strengths, and to let your party take care of your weaknesses. That being said, let's get on to the meat of the FAQ! I've put some "-"'s on the favored combos. *** A. Warrior *** Warriors are the weapon specialists, and they have a nice balance among their stats. This gives them many options to choose from. They can serve as tanks or attackers, although they will be surpassed in one of those areas by other classes. Warriors are still great choices, however, especially for a starting class. As a WAR, you should make the most use out of axes or great axes. --a. Warrior/Monk-- A good tank at early levels... HP bonuses and Counter from MNK helps. Switch to a NIN sub asap for real tanking, though. ---b. Warrior/Thief--- The best option for an attacking warrior... Sneak attack and trick attack stack well with such weapon skills as Sturmwind. c. Warrior/Black Mage Don't make me laugh. With nearly no MP or INT, this combo will do very little damage to enemies with spells, and as with Red Mage and White Mage subs, you don't get useful stats or abilities that could be boosting your meleeing. All spells will be easily resisted, and enfeebling spells won't stick. Nearly worthless job, so if you want attacking magic go with a Dark Knight. d. Warrior/White mage This combo is bad as a party combination, and it should probably only be used when soloing(and soloing is very very rare at high levels). Limited by low MP, low mind, and half level magic skills you will mostly be bringing down the party. See the info for Red Mage sub. If you want some healing magic, go Paladin. e. Warrior/Red Mage Not too good... Red mage is considered more of a mage class than a melee class by far. However, you will get a few enfeebling spells, which will benefit your attack power. The bad part of this is that you'll have a very difficult time getting those spells to stick. The very bad side of this combo is that your MP and magic skill will be incredibly tiny, as well as your INT and MND, allowing only a few weaker spells to be cast. Of course, as a Warrior you cannot sit around to recharge your MP, as your TP will fall when healing. This makes the Red mage sub a fairly bad combo for meleers. If you want a little magic, I recommend a Paladin or Dark Knight job. You will not get much of a useful stat or ability increase to help meleeing as well with this combo. f. Warrior/Paladin The added defense from the Paladin sub is not as good as you would think. Also, your White Magic(which is already limited as a Paladin), is halved, making it almost useless, with nearly no MP. I would definitely choose Paladin/Warrior over this combo. g. Warrior/Dark Knight See the info for a Paladin sub above. The offensive increase isn't as large as you would think, and your offensive magic is halved, making it useless. Low MP in this combo yet again. Choose Dark Knight as a main to take advantage of its abilities, or pick THF or NIN over this. h. Warrior/Summoner I'm not covering these mage combos again... Summoner is especially bad as a subjob, since you have tiny MP and half-leveled summons. For the good of the FFXI world, don't pick this. i. Warrior/Bard You would think that the bard songs may give you some useful buffs, but think again. You can only sing one song that's weaker than normal with bard as a subjob, and you can't equip instruments which boost the power of your songs. Another bad combo. j. Warrior/Beast Master Not too good either(Notice the pattern with subbing advanced jobs?). You won't be able to tame many good monsters and Beast Master only gives you mediocre stat bonuses. Use Beast Master as your main if you want to control monsters. ---k. Warrior/Ninja--- One of the best combos for warrior, if not the best, especially past 74. As a WAR/NIN, you'll be a blink tank. A bit more durable and damaging than a NIN, although you sacrifice effective ninjitsu and evasion. Also serves as an excellent DD in a party as well with dual axes or even a great axe. l. Warrior/Ranger Although warriors can already use bows and a few guns, they don't do too well with them due to their lower weapon skill, causing them to miss much more. Subbing ranger helps some, but it still isn't a very good combo as you'll be missing out on the great exclusive weapon skills that ranger as a main gets. m. Warrior/Samurai Samurai isn't as effective subbed, as such abilities as Meditate and Store TP become much weaker than they would be as a SAM main. THF or NIN is a much better option. n. Warrior/Dragoon Rule 1 of subbing Dragoon: Don't do it. You lose the key ability of Dragoons, the wyvern. Without your little attacking dragon, you only get the benefit of the different jumps, with much less damage than if you had a wyvern. The wyvern always attacks for half of your own damage every time you attack if your main is Dragoon. *** B. Monk *** Monks have great HP, and they specialize in hand-to-hand combat. Although they have high HP, they shouldn't be tanking due to low VIT and light armor. Their multi-hitting and counter abilities are incredible, and they become great damage dealers, specializing in damage over time often instead of impressive large swings... Don't underestimate a monk. --a. Monk/Warrior-- The standard combination... A MNK gains very nice skills from a WAR subjob such as the passive attack up abilities and berserk or double attack. b.Monk/Thief As a thief, you're missing out on the offensive bonuses of a WAR sub. You'll also be able to dodge and probably counter more, making this a very wise combination, if a MNK could tank at all. The gil and treasure abilities don't hurt either, making this a solo and farming class only.Higher accuracy on a monk is nice, but sneak attack doesn't go well with the hand-to-hand weapon skills. However, it stacks well with Dragon Kick at later levels, but still WAR sub would be a better choice unless you're in a position where you need to control hate. c. Monk/Black mage See Warrior/Black mage. Your offensive spells will be useless. d. Monk/White mage See Warrior/White mage. Chakra should be your only healing ability, and you won't be very useful for your healing spells. The only use for this is end-game... At late stages of playing, this is very effective for boosting Chi Blast damage on HNMs through MND bonus. For normal party play, though, don't choose it. e. Monk/Red mage Not nearly as useful as other combos. See Warrior/Red mage f. Monk/Paladin Not too good, for reasons posted in Warrior/Paladin. Defense isn't as good as suspected. g. Monk/Dark Knight You guessed it. Subbing Dark Knight isn't a good idea. See Warrior/Dark Knight. h. Monk/Summoner. Shame on you for trying to sub a mage job. See Warrior/Summoner. i. Monk/Bard Again, subbing Bard or most other advanced jobs is pretty bad. See Warrior/Bard. j. Monk/Beast Tamer If you want to be a beast tamer, put it as your main job for better taming. See Warrior/Beast Tamer. k. Monk/Ninja Pretty useless. Grappling weapons such as a monk uses are already equipped in both hands, and half-level ninjitsu isn't too good for him. Monk/Thief is a better choice. l. Monk/Ranger The only long distance attacking monks need to do is with their energy ball to pull monsters. They are meant to be very close-ranged fighters, so stay away from this combo. m. Monk/Samurai Warrior subjob will give you a much better offensive boost... The TP gained from a SAM sub isn't as impressive in helping multi-hit WS as it once was. Just pick WAR. n. Monk/Dragoon See Warrior/Dragoon. *** C. Thief *** The thief is meant to be the one who controls the hate in the party and deals some nice bursts of damage using sneak and trick attack along with a weapon skill(or not). The damage of these two skills is based on dexterity and agility, so these stat are very important for a thief. Keep all that in mind when playing THF. a. Thief/Warrior This combo deals less than nice damage normally, but with the Sneak attack and Trick attacks, you will be dealing some massive damage some of the time. Warrior adds a few useful skills like Berserker and double attack, which helps make up for the thief’s sometimes weak meleeing. You also get both triple and double attack, and if at all possible, if the two kick in, you attack 6 times. However, a NIN sub is ultimately far superior for a THF... Dual-wielding daggers for more TP as well as stat boosts exceeds the bonuses you could get from subbing WAR. --b. Thief/Monk-- Monk helps with dexterity some and HP. Most monk skills don't help too much though. This subjob is only useful to gain the hand-to-hand abilities that you need to sub MNK for, making it only effective at early levels or when against skeletons. But generally, for most levels, choose NIN instead. c. Thief/Black Mage See Warrior/Black Mage. Try something else... Only useful for picking coffers with the INT boost. d. Thief/White Mage See Warrior/White mage. Thieves aren't healers. e. Thief/Red Mage See Warrior/Red Mage. Go for better abilities in another sub. f. Thief/Paladin Thief is an attacker, not a defender. See Warrior/Paladin g. Thief/Dark Knight Although the attack bonus is nice, it's generally not as good of a combo as the Dark Knight/Thief. See Warrior/Dark Knight. h. Thief/Summoner. See Warrior/Summoner. Summons will be absolutely useless. i. Thief/Bard See Warrior/Bard. It's not Robin Hood, there are no singing thieves >< j. Thief/Beast Tamer See Warrior/Beast Tamer. Use beast tamer as main if you want to use it. --k. Thief/Ninja-- Dual-wielding daggers is perfect for THF... At higher levels, the delay from dual-wielding is lowered, and the TP gain increases with this combo. Also, Utsusemi for pulling is great. l. Thief/Ranger Worthless... Wide scan and some ranged weapon skills and abilities aren't worth losing dual wield. Sub NIN. m. Thief/Samurai You will gain a ton of TP, which might come in useful for using with sneak/trick attack, but there are probably much better combinations for thief out there. Go NIN. If you want to control the weapon skill chains, then choose another job than thief. n. Thief/Dragoon See Warrior/Dragoon. Worthless. *** D. Black Mage *** Ah, the black mage. Black mages are one of the best damage dealers in the game with their elemental and magic spells, and they have some nice debilitating and warping spells as well. Of course, as a mage, black mages can't do squat for either giving or taking damage, so melee subjobs are a big no-no. I'm not even going to bother listing melee subs for Black mage. Even jobs like Dark Knight that add a little MP are worthless for subbing on mages. --a. Black mage/White Mage-- Generally considered the best combo for Black mages. Great MP boost as well as curative spells for emergencies, or more importantly to act as backup healer if the party is getting in the red. Curative spells and status eliminating spells are incredibly helpful for the party. --b. Black mage/Red Mage-- If you choose this combo, you're going to go all out in offensive magic. Gaining Fast Cast and INT boost from Red mage while getting those deadly attacking spells from black mage, you'll be killing monsters, period. Of course, you'll have a few minor healing spells, but nothing compared to Black mage/White mage. You also get a nice MP boost, although not as large as from White mage. On the other hand, you get a bit more HP, and the mighty Dispel spell as well, not to mention Gravity. Phalanx is a nice benefit, as well, but it's mainly a solo gain. c. Black Mage/Summoner Not as good as many are led to believe... And only viable post-50. You gain half level summons that you should never use(except maybe at high levels for abilities such as Blink, but you must have the appropriate avatars), but a very high INT boost. However, you'll have the largest MP boost possible of a BLM, causing you to be an MP tank. On the other hand, you'll be limited to black magic, meaning that if you only have one white mage in your party and he's in trouble, then there's nothing you can do. Using all that MP is also a generally bad idea, as you'll need to sit for long periods of time to heal which slows the party down. However, you will gain the MP refresh ability from Summoner, which speeds things up a little bit. Sub WHM or RDM for most parties... Backup healing is vital for most situations, which SMN doesn't give. d. Black Mage/Bard Subbing bard(as stated earlier) is a bad idea due to limited song power. You could get ballad, but it's not worth giving up MP and INT, along with spells/ abilities from a RDM or WHM sub. *** E. White Mage *** The basic healing job. Curing spells, status curing spells, and even a few attack spells make this a basic need of most parties. Again, I won't put melee jobs. Worth a note: Although mind is sort of like intelligence to a Black Mage, it's nowhere near as vital. Mind translates poorly to the power of white magic. --a. White Mage/Black Mage-- The standard. With this you get a few attack spells, and enfeebling spells like Bio, useful spells like Sleep and Aspir, or utility spells like Warp and Escape don't hurt either. Warp is especially nice to go with the teleport spells. Good MP boost as well, and you get the Conserve MP ability. Conserve MP is vital. The offensive spells from this sub are generally worthless, but the utility spells such as Tractor and Escape are very handy. b. White Mage/Red Mage Pure support. You shouldn't use your limited black magic too much because it will be very weak. Like Black Mage/Red Mage, you get less MP, and in this situation INT, but you get more HP and MND, which is useful in some white magic spells. Mind isn't too vital to a White mage though. Fast Cast can be a life-saver at times with this combo, but the abilities and spells from a RDM sub don't help too much, especially when you can gain MP conservation with a BLM or SMN sub. --c. White Mage/Summoner-- Tons of MP, and Autorefresh. Plus you get the bonus of avatar buffs, although only two are really useful: Shining Ruby and Aerial Armor. Only use this combo post-50... Pre-50 BLM is a far better choice. d. White Mage/Bard One of the better support combos, but you should really go Bard/White mage. They get nearly all of the same good white mage spells anyway. Not actually a bad combo though you will only be able to sing one song and have no instruments. *** F. Red Mage *** Ah, the Red Mage, the jack of all trades. As a rule though, the Red Mage loses his strength in melee in the higher levels, and becomes more of a mage type which is used for spells like Refresh and enfeebling above all, as well as backup healing. Remember, at higher levels melee subs really lose their value, so I'll only put mage subs again. Subs such as Thief and Warrior might be fun early off, but later they'll be doing very small damage and will only be decent to get hit with when under Stoneskin/Phalanx. --a. Red Mage/Black Mage-- It may seem repetitive, but actually it's a very good combo which specializes in attack magic and enfeeblement. With convert and refresh from the Red Mage job, and INT, conserve MP, and more max MP from Black Mage sub, this is a very viable combo, with more spells to help out like the Choke series, Sleep, and Aspir. Conserve MP is a huge help for MP conservation, and Elemental seal every 10 minutes is a great tool for sticking enfeebles or a magic burst. --b. Red Mage/White Mage-- Very similar to Red Mage/Black Mage, but this combo specializes in healing and support, which goes very well with Red Mage's strength in enfeeblement. Better MP and MND than average, and the group curative spells and status spells from White Mage makes this job a very loved job in parties with Convert and Refresh. Not to mention Divine Seal every 10 minutes. --c. Red Mage/Summoner-- Benefits such as an MP boost and auto-refresh, as well as highest INT and MND gain, plus Aerial Armor and Shining Ruby make this a decent RDM sub. However, your avatars will be worthless in meleeing. Also, you might be missing out on some very valuable spells from BLM or WHM subs, as well as the Seals. d. Red Mage/Bard This is actually a possible combination, but again Bard is really nerfed as a subjob. Most parties would prefer a Bard/Red Mage to this combo. e. Red Mage/Ninja I don't know why this got so popular, but it's not very viable for anything other than solo work. The +INT/MND from dual wands does not justify the loss of spells and abilities(not to mention MP) from a mage sub. After 74, this is a powerful solo class, but in a party situation, stay away. *** G. Paladin *** A Paladin is the tank of the party, period. You're there to take damage for the less defensively-inclined of the group, and you should do a good job of it. A couple curing spells and above all Flash help to hold hate a little bit. Their offense on the other hand isn't the best out there... But this class is the best at keeping hate and guarding the little guy. I love paladins! --a. Paladin/Warrior-- If you want to be an effective, loved, or wanted Paladin, choose this. General stat boosts from warrior as well as the almighty Provoke allow you to hold hate effectively and well, not to mention defender and double attack and warcry. Go for it. b. Paladin/Monk Less useful than Pally/Warrior. You'll only be the support tank and you won't be able to keep hate nearly as well without Provoke. c. Paladin/Thief Pretty bad as well. Although you might have an interesting time keeping the hate. Thief helps agility and dexterity, but no good HP or vitality bonuses exist for this combo. Again, go for Paladin/Warrior. d. Paladin/Black Mage Paladin may come equipped with a tiny amount of MP, but that doesn't mean that they should ever take a mage sub, especially Black Mage. No INT at all. See Warrior/Black Mage. e. Paladin/White Mage Actually a possible combination, although your white magic will still be much lower than average. However, you can use more cure spells to hold hate. But with lower defense and without Provoke, this won't ever tank as well as Paladin/Warrior. If you want this tank, Tarutaru is generally the best choice for a character actually for the better MP, but they'll still be best used as a PLD/WAR. f. Paladin/Red Mage Useless... Paladins don't need resisted attack magic or enfeebles. I don't recommend it. Besides, MP still won't be big and you won't want to waste it on anything but healing. g. Paladin/Dark Knight Never sub Dark Knight. It gets all its useful abilities at later levels. Plus, Dark Knight's magic will be worthless, and the attack increase won't be as good as you thought. h. Paladin/Summoner The tiny amount of MP doesn't help half-leveled summons. See Warrior/Summoner. i. Paladin/Bard Paladins are there to fight, not sing. Subbing bard is bad for reasons stated above. See Warrior/Bard. j. Paladin/Beast Tamer Again, beast tamer doesn't give any real benefits to a Paladin. See Warrior/Beast Tamer. k. Paladin/Ninja This is only viable in very specific high level instances past 74... Otherwise, Provoke isn't worth giving up WAR sub. l. Paladin/Ranger Paladins gain nothing from a RNG sub. See Warrior/Ranger m. Paladin/Samurai PLDs aren't damage dealers... Stick with PLD/WAR to hold hate. n. Paladin/Dragoon Bad. See Warrior/Dragoon. *** H. Dark Knight *** The main advantage to being a Dark Knight is... their AF armor. Just kidding! These folks have crazy attack power, but keep the baddies off them or else they'll fall. In other words, their defense is horrible, and they can draw hate quickly. A few black magicspells are useful as well, especially the absorb series. --a. Dark Knight/Warrior-- One of the standard combos. Warrior's stats and abilities do help Dark Knight well, but you will only need to taunt in extreme, extreme emergencies(i.e. you and the mages are the only ones alive), or if you're the Sneak attack/trick attack tank. Double attack, attack up, and berserker make this very effective. b. Dark Knight/Monk Honestly, I've never heard of anyone using this combo, but it doesn't sound too good. You'll get more HP, but you won't be as powerful as the Warrior sub. Fewer useful abilities as well. --c. Dark Knight/Thief-- Another of the standard combos post-60. This one deals huge damage, but with tiny defense. However, sneak attack and trick attack are useful, especially when stacked with such weapon skills as Spinning Slash to create powerful level 3 skillchains, while dumping hate on another. d. Dark Knight/Black Mage Sure, you might get some better black magic and a bit more INT and MP, but the Dark Knight is meant to be an attacker, not a mage. The magic you should be using as Dark Knight is limited to the absorb spells and maybe enfeebling spells, which work fine without the Black Mage sub. e. Dark Knight/White Mage An already puny mind stat and small MP make this pretty useless, although some DRKs enjoy the extra healing at early levels... Although Dark Knights have more MP than Paladins, it's still not too good to sub a mage class. If you want to have some healing magic, go Paladin. f. Dark Knight/Red Mage Dark Knights have more magic power than Paladin, making this combo more useful than its Paladin equivalent, but still bad. You'll have low MP with which to cast your buff spells, and less strength to attack with(as well as the loss of many abilities). I'd recommend a Warrior or Thief sub. g. Dark Knight/Paladin Subbing Paladin is always bad. It doesn't give the defense you would believe, and the healing spells you get become useless. Less attack power as well. Who can be a holy and evil knight at the same time anyway? h. Dark Knight/Summoner Horrible. See Paladin/Summoner. i. Dark Knight/Bard Don't. See Warrior/Bard. Darks are there to attack, not sing. j. Dark Knight/Beast Tamer What a strange combination... Too bad it doesn't work well. See Warrior/Beast Tamer. k. Dark Knight/Ninja Dual wielding is useless to Dark Knights because they specialize in two-handed swords and scythes. Blink ninjitsu isn't worth it. l. Dark Knight/Ranger Dark Knights do have some skill with one or two guns, but they'll either miss or have horrible damage. Besides, they're meant to be on the front lines. m. Dark Knight/Samurai After the TP nerf on Guillotine, this isn't worth it. Choose WAR, or THF post-60. n. Dark Knight/Dragoon Again, no. See Warrior/Dragoon. *** I. Summoner *** Summoner, the class I personally play as. Their group support abilities and a few attack abilities are great, but they can't keep their summons out for very long. Don't expect summons to be the huge attackers they were in previous games except after 70, or else you'll be sorely disappointed. Be a Black Mage if you want to dish out attack magic. Summoners best serve as a support/healing role, and can occasionally magic burst or skillchain now, but they cannot be effective damage dealers until after 70. Period. --a. Summoner/White Mage-- The established standard. When you've used your useful summon's abilties and recall it, you're able to be a backup, main, or co-healer which becomes a valuable asset to the group. A great support class. -na spells, Divine seal, cures, etc. b. Summoner/Black Mage Subbed black magic here is pointless... SMNs have no elemental or enfeebling skill. Any black magic will be easily resisted. Pointless for a sub in a party. c. Summoner/Red Mage Probably the second best combo. You get some cure spells, as well as buffs and some MP, but WHM is a far superior sub... Many more spells and abilities. d. Summoner/Bard You'll be able to sing one song when you call your summon back, and a pretty ineffective one at that. Probably not the best option. Even ballad isn't worth it usually, although this could work in some very specific party setups where SMN is a dedicated support mage. Typically, though, a SMN will be called upon to be some form of a healer. Stick with WHM. *** J. Bard *** Excuse me while I refrain from mentioning the word "spoony." Oh darn, I slipped. Anyway, these guys are one of the best support classes along with White Mage, and are great assets to their parties with their crazy buffing songs. Prepare to do a lot of running as a Bard. Bards are one of the most sought-after classes in the game, and they're one of the earliest members that can minimize downtime as well. Everyone loves a bard ^^... kind of like a paladin in that regard. --a. Bard/White Mage-- The ultimate support combo. You'll get your songs, as well as curative magic. Parties love this stuff. Even though Bard doesn't have MP as a main class, MP isn't too much of an issue here. You'll only be a backup healer, and odds are you'll have an MP refresh song on you. b. Bard/Black Mage All black magic will be resisted. Choose a WHM sub for support help. c. Bard/Red Mage Much better than Bard/Black Mage. Enfeeblement and some curing magic go well with the job. Probably the second best combo behind White Mage as a sub. d. Bard/Summoner You have no MP to boost, and your summons will be ineffective. The only benefit to this is Aerial Armor or Shining Ruby. *** K. Beast Master *** One of the most different classes. This is generally considered the best solo class, but it has use in parties as well. I've shortened the list some because there are only a few combos that I see working. If you have another good one to add, contact me. --a. Beast master/Warrior-- One of the best BST combos in a party... Double attack and attack up abilities help out here. For solo work, choose WHM. b. Beast master/Thief An interesting support attacker... Could be potentially useful but I'd go with another combo, unless you want to try sneak attack with Sturmwind. --c. Beast master/White Mage-- One hell of a solo player. However, it's mainly useful due to increased charisma(allowing easier and longer taming), and you can cast a few cure spells in the party or while soloing. Strange, but effective. Blink is a huge help, too. d. Beast master/Bard You'll be able to play a song while your beast is attacking, which might be fun. Charisma bonus as well. However, you only get one song and no instrument. WHM sub while soloing, or a WAR sub in a party are better. *** L. Ninja *** Ninjas are some of the best tanks in the game... Evasive by nature, they rely on Utsusemi to dodge most attacks and using Provoke and Ninjitsu to draw hate, along with their katana weapon skills. --a. Ninja/Warrior-- This combo can work well as an interesting tank. Stat and ability bonuses help out ninja anyway. If you have the money for tons of blink ninjitsu, then taunt away and you could possibly replace a Paladin as the best tank. THE blink tank combo. Spamming Ninjitsu will help out with keeping hate. b. Ninja/Monk I have no idea how this would work. Really though, the stat and ability bonuses of the Monk don't work well on Ninja. Go with Warrior or Thief. c. Ninja/Thief Ninjas just aren't good damage dealers... Pick a WAR sub to tank. d. Ninja/Black Mage A BLM sub actually offers a magic attack bonus for ninjitsu... Some ninjas have found this sub effective, but don't try it until you've researched it. Plus, you need items like magic attack+ earrings and elemental staves. e. Ninja/White Mage See Warrior/White Mage. The only magic-like skills you need are in ninjitsu. f. Ninja/Red Mage Another bad one. See Warrior/Red Mage. Dual-wielding enchanted weapons isn't that good. g. Ninja/Paladin Curing spells won't help with tiny MP... You need to keep hate. Choose WAR. h. Ninja/Dark Knight Still not too good. You should never use black magic, and subbed Dark Knight is useless anyway. See Warrior/Dark Knight. i. Ninja/Summoner Horrible. See Warrior/Summoner. j. Ninja/Bard Pretty useless... Have you ever seen a singing Ninja? See Warrior/Bard. k. Ninja/Beast Master Bad. See Warrior/Beast Master l. Ninja/Ranger You cannot dual wield bows or guns, so stop asking. No real benefits to this one except for some added agility and dexterity. m. Ninja/Samurai You will get a ton of weapon skills with this combo, although one-handed weapon skills aren't exactly the best ones. Still, not a bad combo. o. Ninja/Dragoon No. No. See Warrior/Dragoon. *** M. Ranger *** Rangers are the heaviest damage dealers in the game, closely contesting with Black Mages. They stay away from the enemy and hit hard with bow and gun skills. Agility and strength are incredibly important to rangers. As a rule, rangers must be rich to keep up the costs of ammo and shihei. ---a. Ranger/Warrior--- This combo allows a RNG to hit much harder with increased STR and berserker; however, you lose Utsusemi and dual-wield... Huge hits, but hate is an issue. b. Ranger/Monk Some HP, dexterity, and vitality, but it's really useless. You should never be close enough to counter. c. Ranger/Thief Useless... You get no major abilities from the THF sub that'll boost damage. Also, you miss out on utsusemi or dual-wield from a NIN sub. d. Ranger/Black Mage Mage sub to melee main = bad. Although it may sound fun to bind someone and then shoot away, you should go with a better sub such as thief. See Warrior/Black Mage. e. Ranger/White Mage No need for Rangers to be backup healers - they're there to do damage. See Warrior/White Mage f. Ranger/Red Mage Same as above, See Warrior/Red Mage. g. Ranger/Paladin Rangers don't need defense. See Warrior/Paladin. h. Ranger/Dark Knight Strength doesn't effect bows or guns. See Warrior/Dark Knight. i. Ranger/Summoner Almost no MP and half-leveled summon. See Warrior/Summoner. j. Ranger/Bard This isn't Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Rangers don't sing. See Warrior/Bard. k. Ranger/Master Again, not too good. See Warrior/Beast Master. --l. Ranger/Ninja-- Dual-wielding Archer's knives or other +ranged accuracy or ranged attack items is great... Not to mention Utsusemi, a life saver for NINs. Being able to absorb a few hits before the tank regains hate is perfect. m. Ranger/Samurai Tons of TP... Too much. Besides, a WAR sub would give better damage altogether, or a NIN sub would give better abilities. n. Ranger/Dragoon Horrible, bad, please stop. See Warrior/Dragoon. *** N. Samurai *** The Samurai is there for one thing: weapon skills. These guys gain TP like crazy, and they're the leaders in skill chains. A very fun class... --a. Samurai/Warrior-- Some nice stat and ability bonuses. As stated above, you'll be dishing out tons of weapon skills, so this combo helps in case you gain too much hate and have to take a few hits. WAR sub boosts damage, something SAMs need badly. Double attack, berserk, attack up, all necessities. Also, Provoke is handy for being a viable Sneak attack/trick attack tank. b. Samurai/Monk MNK offers nothing for a SAM main... Choose WAR. c. Samurai/Thief Useless for a SAM... The abilities from a WAR sub far outweigh Sneak or trick attack. d. Samurai/Black Mage No. See Warrior/Black Mage e. Samurai/White Mage Don't do it... See Warrior/White Mage f. Samurai/Red Mage Some buffs aren't worth it... See Warrior/Red Mage g. Samurai/Paladin Not useful either. See Warrior/Paladin. h. Samurai/Dark Knight Might give a bit more damage, but you're better off going with a Warrior sub. See Warrior/Dark Knight. i. Samurai/Summoner No-no. See Warrior/Summoner. j. Samurai/Bard Not too good. See Warrior/Bard. k. Samurai/Beast Master Again, no. See Warrior/Beast Master. l. Samurai/Ninja Dual wield is useless as you have a specialty in two-handed katanas. Ninjitsu doesn't help so much either, except maybe Blink in some solo situations. See Warrior/Ninja. --m. Samurai/Ranger-- Useful, but only in very specific situations... You gain Sidewinder with a bow, and the ranged bonuses from a RNG sub can really help. Usually though, WAR is a far superior sub. n. Samurai/Dragoon Again, very bad. Don't worry, we'll get to the good Dragoons soon. If you want to be a Dragoon and a Samurai, be Dragoon/Samurai. See Warrior/Dragoon. *** O. Dragoon *** Dragoons have one main advantage: the wyvern. This little guy allows you to deal tons more damage. Always keep it handy, and try to keep it alive. Jumps aren't as useful as you may think, except for Super Jump, which gets rid of your hate. Very useful. Just remember, the wyvern does half your damage at every attack, and also unleashes some breath skills every time you use a weapon skill, or in other occasions sometimes... Healing breath isn't really worth the strength decrease in my opinion, so stick with melee subs and have fun with the offensive breath attacks. --a. Dragoon/Warrior-- Good stat boosts and abilities. Pretty standard, and not a bad combo. Attack up abilities make this the staple. Provoke mixed with jumps make a Dragoon arguably the best sneak attack/trick attack tank in the game. b. Dragoon/Monk I suppose you would get some counters and HP, but it's really not worth it. Go for the Warrior sub. c. Dragoon/Thief More evasion, dexterity, sneak/trick attack, and more treasure and gil. Not bad. The loss of the attack bonuses from WAR, though, make this sub usually inferior... And horrible until you get Sneak/trick attack. d. Dragoon/Black Mage Very bad, see Warrior/Black Mage. Haven't you learned this yet? e. Dragoon/White Mage You get some interesting healing breath spells that are very MP-effective, but you lose the attack bonuses that you'd get from a warrior subjob. This is a great solo subjob, though. f. Dragoon/Red Mage See Dragoon/White Mage... You get a very cost-effective and quick heal from using Dia, but it's usually not worth it in a party. g. Dragoon/Paladin Dragoons don't need defense or healing magic. See Warrior/Paladin. Random healing breath isn't that useful either. h. Dragoon/Dark Knight You will get an attack bonus, but no useful Dark Knight abilities. See Warrior/Dark Knight. Random healing breath isn't that useful either. i. Dragoon/Summoner Please, don't. See Warrior/Summoner. You can only have one pet at a time anyway. j. Dragoon/Bard Not too good... Dragoons are attackers, not supporters. See Warrior/Bard. k. Dragoon/Beast Master Not good as well. See Warrior/Beast Master. You can only have one pet at a time anyway. l. Dragoon/Ninja You're using a two-handed spear so dual wield is useless. Ninjitsu and evasion isn't worth it. See Warrior/Ninja. m. Dragoon/Ranger Dragoons are close ranged. See Warrior/Ranger. n. Dragoon/Samurai Useless after the big TP nerf... Just sub Warrior for the biggest damage. -------------- 4. Contact Information -------------- Thanks for reading! I hope it was useful for everyone. Of course, I could have gotten something wrong, so please feel free to contact me to change it. I would prefer that you IM me using the screenname Basil Stein1, but you can also mail me at bear654@aol.com. Be warned though that I will very rarely check my email, so I drastically prefer you IMing me. Thanks!