The Adventures of Tobatobu

The wayward travels of an adventurer.

 I have begun my training on NIN/BLM and recently reached level 47.
Equiping my moldevite earring, provided me 5 more damage on unresisted nukes vs 1 int from a Cunning Earring.

Since the Black Mages, don’t like me in their solo xp camps I have begun seeking out a few more alternatives. 
With the release of Wings of the Goddess, several more camps have likely opened up, and chances are they are untapped.

I have discovered a few advantages to being a NIN/BLM vs a BLM/NIN:
First, I don’t magic aggro unless I want to.  This is because Ninjutsu magic isn’t arcane.  I can take advantage o this in a few situations.
For example: Temple of Uggelepih has a few internal camps which Tonberry w/ elemental pets are alone with the exception of a nearby pot.  Black mages can’t camp here since they will magic aggro, however NIN/BLM can.

As a NIN, I’m built ot avoid hits.  In most cases, Utsusemi will negate all damage, and I can get away with no damage.  The only exception to this is -ga magic.  

Using ninja tools allows me to avoid rest time.  Since I’m using tools and not mp, I don’t need to rest unless I get hit.  

The Cons:
#1 Ninjustu is low range.  It has a maximum casting range of 15 ticks.  BLM can fire off with 20.  I can get around this in non-magic aggro camps by just using a BLM spell for my inital pull.  This helps me since 1)  I can cast farther out, less likely to aggro the pets owner.  2) It gives me a larger head start on the initial -ga spell.   If an elemental casts waterga,  I can often run back to a safe distance and avoid the spell entirely.  

NIN/BLM does not have the high yield Ancient Magic.  Because of this, I am a bit relectunt to to try out the rabbit and bat camps.  The bats may not be so bad, but the rabbits attack quickly and have shield removing aoe.  Because of this, I am focusing on elemental camps, which seem to take greater damage from my ninjutsu than the other pets.

The bigest Con as NIN/BLM is no provoke.  This puts me in a secondary tanking position until I can figure out how to spike hate at the start of an xp party.   Once I take hate, I am usually able to maintain it, unless someone is fighting me for it.  
However, Haste is a must, since the lower timers make it possible to cast quickly, with less downtime. 
- Changes that would strengthen this:
At 48 I get burn, this usually helps vs resists.  And if so, more damage on my part.
more enmity gear, right now I have none, except or a +2 enimity belt that I can equip.
I use Melon Pies +1 for the int boost, but I coud sacrifice that for an extra enimty boost from food.
An Eris earring would easily give me +2 enmity instead of 1 int, a fair trade.  
At 60 I will recieve an extra boost in Magic Attk Bonus from BLM sub. 
63 will let me utilize Arhat’s set, a very good set for Evasion and Enmity.
At 70-75, there are too many options, but it will be very exciting.

At 51, I will need to make the choice on using Staves over Katanas.   I currently have a pair of swords with +5 int picked out for level 49.