80RDM / 40???

Ding! Hit lvl 80 on RDM!

Got some sweet XP from multiple MMM runs last night. Getting between 5k-6k each time. Leaving me with just 13 XP tnl (level 80). And then .. Comcast began performing maintenance in my area to "provide the best possible service." So I had to call it a night at that point, since I couldn't log back in.

Jumped on today just long enough to go kill a lizard in Vollbow, and finally got it!! Should be interesting to see what can be done now. Hopefully get access to some nice subjob abilities that I couldn't before.

/40NIN
Most likely I'll still use NIN for my sub. Nothing new really, no new job abilities using /40NIN, just nice to have the shadows and dual wield. Simple enough.

/40SCH
I've had high hopes of subbing Scholar, thinking that some of RDM's better buffs or debuffs could be used to AoE. But no.. we can't, that's BS. Can't AoE Haste, Refresh, tier 2 EN-Spells, or even high level Cures. That blows.. Can AoE Stoneskin though, and I believe Phalanx, as well as teir 1 EN-Spells. So that's still pretty decent. Also, it brings up some of our lower magic skills to a B+. Which could make things like nuking a little more fun since they'll do more damage. Still .. I'm disappointed in not being able to AoE something more interesting. I can understand Haste and Refresh really, but why not teir 2 EN-Spells? I suppose a full party doing additional damage per hit would make killing mobs a little too easy. Another reason /SCH is nice is because of Sublimation, which isn't better than Refresh, but it's nice because it constantly does damage to my HP, making it so I can't be slept. Situational, but nice to have that in my pocket in case it's needed.
Edit: Forgot to mention, SCH also provides Resist Silence as a job trait which is hot, and when using the Light or Dark arts, spells cost is less and are cast faster. Lots of advantages to using /40SCH.

/40WHM
The standard useful subjob for healing of course. Not sure what new I'll have access to with /40WHM. Haven't really looked into it that much. I've heard that /40WHM also doesn't grant any new job abilities, and not a whole lot of new spells either. Stona will be handy that's for sure though. That might be about it. Probably still going with /SCH over /WHM though.

/40BLM
/40SCH seems a little more likely to be used really since it actually raises our magic skill caps. But /40BLM has some interest too. Mostly for Elemental Seal + Sleepga II, but that's been available since before the update. (And /40SCH can AoE Sleep II, just without having Elemental Seal) Think that Warp II becomes available at subjob level now as well. /SCH will beat out /BLM unless there's another reason to use it that I'm not seeing yet.

/40DRK
I like to play with DRK subbed, drain, aspir, more melee damage, access to Vorpal Blade WS, Absorb spells, and of course Stun. I haven't done it myself, but I've heard of Absorb-MND being incredible, but not sure how / what it was used for. That's a tactic I want to check into more. +20 or so MND to make spells more potent? Sounds killer, that's a lot of MND to be adding. For a RDM though, it looks to be yet another situational job. Mostly for Chainspell + Stun.
Edit: Hmmm .. /39DRK can use Absorb-INT. That might be nasty!

/40DNC
I pretty much laugh at the thought of this. Mainly since I am casting .. so .. incredibly .. much. That I don't really get a chance to build a whole lot of TP, especially if I'm in a PT. Solo isn't so bad since it's just me to cure & buff. I suppose I get a decent enough amount though to at least give it a try. Would be nice to be able to remove silence from myself when needed. And Aspir Samba would be nice at times. Too bad EN-Spells can't be used at the same time as Sambas though. Sounds some what interesting, mostly being a situational subjob to remove silence.
Edit: Since I'm planning on using a dagger in my main hand and doing the Trial of Magians to get an off-hand sword with +9 Store TP, /DNC might have a little more appeal. Dancer is awesome, but I'm not sure if this subjob would do that much for a RDM though.


/40BLU & /40PLD
I've read that some people like to sub these jobs on RDM, but I don't really see the reasoning yet. Will have to look into that more to see what the benefits are.


Review:
Looks like /NIN will still be the subjob of choice the majority of the time, /SCH for most parties, the rest being situational. Sooooo kind of the same as being lvl 75 almost, no major improvments or changes in abilities for RDM it seems. (Except /DRK might have some potential with Absorb-INT, and of course SCH's AoEs) Maybe something new next update.

Any job that sub's RDM however, now gets Convert. And that's going to be interesting to see how that works out for parties. Not too fond of other mages being able to use it really, but ahhh well. (Expecting to possibly see mages dying after converting and casting cure on themselves lol)