FFXI: The Best Subjobs For Beastmasters

Beastmasters in Final Fantasy XI are best known for their ability to call pets of all shapes and sizes to the battlefield. These vary from attackers and tankers, to pets that actually provide support.

A beastmaster is also very capable as a hybrid support/damage dealer, particularly with the Killer Instinct ability that provides massive party-wide damage boosts.

Because of this, a beastmaster has the flexibility to use virtually any subjob. But which ones give them the most benefits?

5. Warrior

Subbing a warrior could be a good option when a beastmaster wants to focus solely on dealing damage.

This sub is very risky, since it forgoes nearly all utility and defensive options in favor of attack.

But while it doesn’t grant the dual wield trait, it does grant Fencer, which is a valuable addition to their DPS if they happen to be swinging their axes. This subjob also indirectly provides some passive defensive gear by the promoted use of shields.

Berserk, Aggressor, and Warcry are all fantastic ways for beastmasters to boost their power. These allow you to go all-out on the offensive.

Additionally, Provoke may be strategically combined with Snarl, allowing beastmasters to quickly push large amounts of enmity onto their pets.

In situations where you’re on guard, Defender is helpful too.

But as a whole, a warrior subjob is only recommended in situations where healing is confidently covered.

4. Scholar

Now this subjob is a little technical, but is of great use to beastmasters that know how to put this to work.

With the use of Light Arts and Addendum: White, a beast master gains access to all –Na spells with the exception of Stona, and various supporting spells like Stoneskin, Blink, and Aquaveil.

And you’d get all this while using as little MP as possible.

You’ll also gain access to Raise, Reraise, Sneak, and Invisible. All great tools for survival in dangerous situations.

Unfortunately, using scholar as a support job only allows up to Cure III, so healing capabilities are a little sparse here.

In emergency situations, Manifestation and Sleep gives you the ability to crowd control and pick off enemies one by one, or just to escape as needed. So these are definitely handy.

And Sublimation allows beastmasters to keep a reserve of MP to dip into when they run low, restoring as much of 50% of their total MP. This is very important because beastmasters don’t naturally have much MP at all.

This also functions as an anti-sleep tool by allowing beastmasters to wake up instantly after being put to sleep by an enemy. The only caveat is that they’ll need to remove stoneskin, as it negates Sublimation’s DoT mechanic.

3. White Mage

This support job used to be the most popular one for beastmasters. But with the reduction in range of their Ready and sic abilities, beastmasters are now forced to stand closer to enemies—and thus be in danger to AoE attacks.

A white mage is definitely still a great option for players who are skilled enough to weave in and out of the fray. It allows you to support yourself or your party from a safe distance.

You’ll also be given access to all –Na spells, as well as access to various powerful buffs such as Stoneskin and Blink – in addition to Cures I through IV, and even Raise!

This subjob also grants the Magic Defense Bonus trait, which is a welcome addition to beastmaster’s otherwise empty defensive capabilities.

Tranquil Heart is very beneficial too, as it allows you to use healing spells without generating much enmity. This ensures that enemies keep their gaze on their pets or other party members.

Divine Seal is exceptionally useful when combined with Cure IV for an efficient recovery from low health, but it can be alternatively used to turn any –Na spell into an AoE version, which could just save the day!

Additionally, you’ll gain access to Reraise, Sneak, and Invisible. These are all valuable tools to help you travel through dangerous areas safely—especially if soloing dungeon content.

2. Dancer

The dancer role is a very popular job to combine with beastmaster due to its versatility.

While it doesn’t offer much in the way of offense, its Skillchain Bonus trait is fantastic considering the fact that players will often be working together with their pets to form frequent and powerful skillchains.

Dancer’s waltzes give you some much-needed healing capabilities, as well as the ability to remove debuffs. And this provides ways for beastmasters themselves to debuff enemies, in addition to their furry friends.

Additionally, Violent Flourish gives you the ability to stun, helping you in controlling enemies in almost any situation.

The Dancer subjob also grants you Spectral Jig, allowing safe travel through dangerous areas. Since beastmasters have no natural way to defend themselves with traits or job abilities, you’ll want some kind of defensive positioning.

But most importantly, subbing dancer also provides the integral Dual Wield trait – something that’s essential to your kit, as dual wielding axes with pet bonuses on them seems very popular. Especially if you’re using any of the ultimate weapons.

1. Ninja

There was once a time when this support job was [retty unpopular, because beastmasters primarily stood away from danger.

With the unfortunate nerf to the range that they can use for the Ready and Sic commands, players running a beastmaster build will be forced to stand pretty close to enemies to use abilities now.

This means that guaranteed defense via Utsusemi is usually a top priority – considering beastmasters themselves have little to none.

With the addition of trusts, the lack of healing will be less of a concern—a weakness this job used to suffer from.

And while it doesn’t offer much in the way of offense, subbing a ninja does give you access to Monomi and Tonko. These get you access to Sneak and Invisible in the same way Spectral Jig does.

And similar to the dancer, a ninja subjob also provides Dual Wield. But it offers a higher tier which allows you to auto attack considerably faster. And who doesn’t want to land more hits?