/DNC MNK, SAM or NIN!?Follow

Would probably depend on exactly what you were trying to solo/farm.

I'd say for general FoV/etc, MNK is better. Generally stronger damage, inherent self-healing to use with Chakra, tons of HP, and Counter.

If you are looking at higher end evasion soloing, like, when shadows are actually justified, then NIN/DNC would better as you'd actually have Utsu. MNK you'd need to choose. Have some enfeebles to use as well, magic and ranged damage are somewhat viable, and so on.

MNK also has some niches that it's desired for, such as Salvage, where NIN (though somewhat unjustly) is not particularly in demand for much.

Obviously, things may be changed up a bit in a few months.

edit: SAM...I dunno. It's not really in the same league as the others IMO, though most any melee does fine on EP/DC with /DNC. If you want to be desired for DD in groups though, it's probably the top pick atm.

Edited, Apr 10th 2010 12:24am by Isiolia

Would depend on what you're talking about soloing. A lot of what RDM/NIN gets their soloing reputation from is higher end mobs. Bind, kite, DoT down, /NIN to avoid potentially devastating damage if/when the mob gets close or casts, that sort of thing.

While not terrible, RDM/NIN isn't a particularly heavy DD. It can farm EP/DC mobs all day without stopping, but make take a little longer to chew through them. RDM tends to outlast more than overwhelm. If your soloing activity success relies more on speed than endurance, RDM may not be the top pick.

MNK does better for those sorts of things because of higher damage output, and that often in those cases it'd simply avoid a lot of the damage in the first place (decent evasion + /DNC gives evasion bonus, and Counter to boot).

SAM/DNC would likely be similar, though I'd still think MNK to be better. Proportionally, SAM does more of their damage via WS, and you'd be using that TP for support. The advantages of 2h DD present themselves less on the level of mobs you'd probably farm as well. MNK may fall behind on higher defense mobs, but it's hard to beat on lower level stuff.

As someone with both MNK and SAM to 75, here's my thoughts.

MNK/DNC is an extremely strong soloer for most anything T and lower. First off, the majority of a MNKs damage is via the TP phase, not WSes. Also if you own Faith Baghs, then MNK/DNC becomes much more powerful. You can even use it for exp, in those situations pre-74 where you're asked to sub NIN. A NIN sub brings nothing offensively to the table for MNK, and neither does a SAM sub (HTH is not 1 or 2 handed. It is it's own category). So pre-74 where all you'd have is Ichi, /DNC would be of more use to the party.

/DNC for MNK has two main drawbacks. First, you can't really countertank like on MNK/NIN. Counterstance is usually a no-no /DNC, when you get hit it hurts a LOT more (since you usually aren't targetting mobs that cap Att against you when solo). Secondly, on stronger mobs /NIN is required to solo, due to how hard they can hit.

SAM/DNC is an absolute beast of a soloer, but it requires getting your hands on a Soboro. If you don't have Soboro, it's just a so-so job combo. Seigan + TE plus Drain Samba II + Healing Waltz II make SAM/DNC, swinging a 450 delay G Katana which attacks 1-3 times, a very tough job to kill while solo. The HP regenerative capabilities, plus goodies like meditate and Sekkanoki, are golden. Again like with MNK, if mobs hit really hard, you aren't soloing them.

Solo farm? Depends on the target. But for low level farming, THF/XXX or XXX/THF. MNK/THF works great, as Chakra will heal the minor damage that you take over time. High level stuff? NIN/DNC if it can be blink tanked, or RDM/NIN. Your question is too open ended.