DNC sub jobs

this is just a quick informal guide on possible sub jobs for DNC. the following is my opinion on playing DNC and certainly not the set-in-stone standard. i encourage everyone to experiment with various job and sub job combinations and find what works well for you. you may get some questioning looks or even the occasional impolite remark about your choices, but all in all, this is YOUR game and YOU pay to play it, so therefore you should play it any way you like.

that being said, as many of you know, i have my DNC to 75 and it's definitely one of my favorite jobs in the game and i'm certainly glad i took it all the way up. i like to think i have a fair amount of experience with this job and i hope i can help others who have questions regarding aspects of this amazing front-line healer.

sub jobs
as with all jobs when they first come out, there is much experimentation on which sub jobs work the best at certain levels or for special circumstances. the following is a list of sub jobs i have used during the course from level 1 - 75.

/MNK - this is a great sub job for DNC, more so at early levels. the hand-to-hand ability is essentially "dual wielding fists," meaning you strike the mob two times per attack round. this promotes higher TP gain as well as more HP back once you finally get your drain samba at level 5. at lower levels, daggers--which are the DNC's main weapons throughout the game--are very weak and in my opinion, considerably useless. with MNK as a sub you have a natural hand-to-hand ability with higher strength and you will strike the mob for more damage, thus having faster kills and more XP gain in the long run. at later levels you maintain the higher strength than most other sub jobs and still reap the benefits of a "dual wield" scenerio without the NIN sub, however, you lose your shadows and will suffer significantly more damage.

/NIN - on most jobs, the switch to NIN as a sub job occurs at level 24 when the player will have access to utsusemi, or "shadows." however, on DNC, the switch to /NIN occurs at level 20 when you gain the dual wield ability. this is very similar to using hand-to-hand at the lower levels in the way that you will gain TP faster as well as receive more HP back from your drain samba. at level 20 is when daggers start to become useful and while there aren't any good weaponskills at this level for daggers, it's a good idea to begin using them to start raising your dagger skill if you haven't already. NIN can certainly be used as a sub job from level 20 - 75 with no problems and once you gain access to utsusemi at level 24, you'll be able to take a few more hits without having to rely on your TP to heal yourself. at 24 is also when soloing with DNC becomes a more viable option than previous levels. i used /NIN from 20 - 75 and i, personally, think this is the best sub job for DNC at higher levels. i can easily solo campaign mobs as DNC/NIN.

/BLU - this job is a fairly unique blend. while DNC as a main with a mage sub job doesn't give you a very large MP pool (gear and race will definitely play a factor here) it's enough to increase your damage output or to help with healing (depending on the spells equipped) however, again, you lose your shadows and will suffer significantly more damage. using BLU as a sub job gives you access to many of the BLU spells which offer various forms of protections or increased stats. metallic body and cocoon will help with damage reduction as well as the myriad of stat boots you can get from other BLU spells. one such stat that DNC relies heavily on for their curing abilities is CHR and there are many BLU spells out there than can be equipped that add CHR+ attributes and will increase the amount of HP a DNC can heal on a target. that's just one example of a benefit of BLU as a sub, but i urge you to play around with this sub and find good combinations of spells that give stat boosts.

/WHM - increased MND will help with a DNC's healing abilities. at higher levels you will also have access to blink and stoneskin which can be used in conjunction to help with damage reduction. also, throughout the world of vana'diel, there are many mobs that can siphon your TP and with WHM as a sub, you may be able to rely on your sub jobs curative abilities to help you out in a pinch.