Because of their natural affinity with magic, the subjobs they’re expected to use will be other mage roles. Mostly to increase the range of spells that they can cast. But they can also use these subjobs to support their physical attacks, too. So with all things considered, which jobs are the best to go with?
5. Black Mage
The Black Mage is the most niche option available to Geomancers, but not one that should easily be forgotten. Most geomancers using this subjob will be using it exclusively for the Stun and Sleepga spells, which offer fantastic crowd control. Stun in particular is great as an emergency tool to prevent deadly spells or attacks being used by an enemy. Geomancers with this subjob can also make use of the elemental DoT spells, which further lower enemy stats in conjunction with their own powerful geomancy debuffs. To that effect, they’ll also gain access to Elemental Seal – which offers a tremendous boost to the next debuffing spell. For damage, they’ll also be granted the Magic Attack and Magic Burst Bonus traits. These are both excellent when utilizing a geomancer’s impressive ability to deal magical damage with their –Ra spells. The Black mage also offers some mild utility in the form Warp I or II, Tractor, and Escape. Escape is specifically useful for leaving a dungeon quickly if a party’s destination is still within relatively close proximity of the immediate area. And Tractor is useful for moving KO’d players to safety before being revived. The Warps are helpful for being quickly transported to a home point, though it’s seldom cast in an age where travel in FFXI is both quick and readily available.
4. Ninja
The main reason for adding this job onto a geomancer is for the Utsusemi spell, which proves time and time again to be one of the most effective ways to deal with lethal damage from enemy attacks. Geomancers are very vulnerable to attack, as they have pretty low HP and no defenses. With that said, this subjob also provides the Dual Wield III trait. And you can put to good use with clubs! Geomancers have an impressive club skill, and they’re capable of dishing out some damage if the need arises. Having access to two weapons also gives you the passive bonuses that come alongside equipping an offhand weapon, such as Magic Attack or Magic Accuracy, so this is something to consider. Granted, a ninja subjob doesn’t offer much in the ways of utility past Utsusemi. So this is important to bear in mind if geomancy spells aren’t enough utility in a group.
3. Dancer
Dancer will be the more popular damage dealing job of choice compared to ninja. Reason being that a dancer subjob offers much more utility and only slightly compromises with Dual Wield, offering just Dual Wield II. In its sea of utility lies many helpful job abilities, too. Waltzes provide useful ways for a geomancer to heal, since they’re limited to Curative Recantation as their only natural way to heal. This greatly improves their usefulness in parties too, as it gives the party an extra healing source. And when you’re up in the faces of enemies, you can provide useful debuffs via steps. They all work well in combination with a geomancer’s already-potent debuffs. Plus a dancer subjob can also provide support via Sambas, namely Haste Samba for the entire party. Because of a geomancer’s powerful debuffs, you have the freedom to get close to an enemy if you can weaken the most dangerous aspects of them enough. And if you happen to take damage, you can swiftly deal with it from any number of your dancer techniques. Geomancers will also get access to Violent Flourish here, which is a way for them to provide a physical Stun that’s useful in a pinch.
2. White Mage
This is a very popular subjob that’s commonly used when geomancers need to focus on their supporting role. It’s particularly chosen for its –Na spells and Erase. But a WHM subjob also grants Cure IV, Raise, and Reraise, in addition to a sea of supporting spells like Haste, Stoneskin, Blink, and Aquaveil. Using white mage as a support job also grants geomancers with the AoE variants of bar-spells that complement the nature of their spells being AoE in the first place! They also gain access to Paralyze, Slow, Silence, and Repose, which can be put to good use (given the right strategy). And speaking of AoE, if you go with a white mage subjob you also get both Curaga I and Curaga II – which can be effectively used to wake up sleeping party members at any time. The white mage also grants Divine Seal, which is useful when combined with –Na spells to make them AoE, or it can be saved as an emergency boost to Cure IV to heal a party member in dire need of first aid.
1. Red Mage
I have to say, this is probably the best support job a geomancer could use for a majority of content in Final Fantasy XI. Picking a red mage subjob offers a massive range of utility spells that emboss a geomancer’s flexible nature tenfold. The 15% Fast Cast trait that you get with an RDM subjob is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg here. In addition to access to the ever-reliable Cure IV, you’ll also get access to many treasured support spells such as Raise, Aquaveil, Stoneskin, Phalanx, Haste, and Blink. Plus you’ll get Dia II, Bio II, Dispel, Slow, Paralyze, and Blind. Should I go on? With such a wide range of spells, geomancers will surely be using lots of MP. But that’s a downside that can be easily negated with both Refresh and Convert. And it doesn’t stop there! With all the single target bar-spells you could gain access to, you also get the Magic Defense Bonus II and Magic Attack Bonus II traits. These can help your geomancer not only in taking magical damage, but also in dealing it!
