Can't decide between BLM / SMNFollow

as a smn, your DPS seems pretty good but i haven't played the other classes yet arc is too fun.

i was in a party for the first dungeon with 4 arc's and we won. we used 3 of us tank carbuncle and one with the mage one. I was able to DPS, tank with carbuncle and heal him all at the same time. you have to watch that global cooldown though or carby might die and you have to resummon. I haven't run out of mana yet either it refills so fast.

i would say to answer all your questions, your DPS on SMN is easily sustainable, no mana problems, easily stay alive in fate because of healing skills, regular time finding groups i guess. Can fil healer roll or DPS easily. tank too perhaps but definatley not better than a real tank. Very easy to solo level.

I played THM in P3, so I can kinda talk from that side.

Sustainability is no problem for THM. Their key mechanic ensures this. When you cast Fire spells, you get an "Astral Fire" buff - boosts dmg, but also boosts MP cost, & stops MP regen. Casting Ice spells gives you the "Umbral Ice" buff - lowers dmg a little, but boosts MP regen massively. You also have an ability (Transpose) to swap your current buff for 1 stack of the other (can have 3 stacks later on). Essentially, you'll burn your MP with Fire spells, Transpose, toss out your Thunder DoT + Ice spells until MP is full (about 10 sec usually), transpose back & repeat.

In mass burn FATEs things don't live long enough to worry you. In single-target bosses, any tank on the scene should be able to hold off of you. Groups are the same for any DPS - given you can't choose your role for Duty Finder (you can heal lower-level dungeons pretty easily if you have Cure from a Conjurer). Soloing is not much of an issue - your firepower is top of the line. Again, grab Cure from Conjurer, and Protect is good too. Be aware that you wear cloth, and keep range. Blizzard I gives a heavy status (slow movement), Blizzard II has Bind (but is Point-Blank AoE, so use it & run!) and you have Sleep for hairy situations.

Thanks for the info, Carm! I actually figured out THM after playing it for most of the day. It's exactly as you said! I'll have to see some great performance out of ARC > SMN to convince myself to not go THM > BLM.

@Silver - I'm looking at either going THM > BLM, or ARC > SMN.