Support Jobs & /NIN vs /SAM

It's finally come to my attention that V's clear acknowledgements, over the span of many days, have finally hit me in the big ahriman eyehat. Well, mainly because I met an enthusiastic potential player who asked about ballista and said he wanted to try out NIN/SCH. Socute!

That might not be the case with our matches, but choosing your support job is exceedingly important and can either supplement or wound your main job in a match. When choosing a support job, keep in mind that you're supposed to try to contribute to the team effort with a job that you can handle, while utilizing it so your team can benefit.

V pointed out the misuse of /NIN for jobs that would be better off, job-wise and for the team, with a different support job. 

Commonly seen in a couple of our past matches are:
MNK/NIN
DRK/NIN
WAR/NIN
SAM/NIN


First, let's compare /NIN vs /SAM and talk about which would be a better option. 

I managed to ask one of our members about why he wanted to /NIN and he said "because of shadows since WS is absorbed by Utsu." /NIN gives you the chance to cast Utsusemi: Ichi (not even Utsu: Ni until level 75) and dual wield. Dodging a weapon skill sounds nice, but you can do so more effectively with /SAM on two-handed jobs such as DRK, WAR, and SAM that are listed above. 

/SAM-ing allows you to use Meditate and accumulate free TP, Third Eye, and all without sacrificing your hard hitting two-handed weapon. Third Eye is by far much more effective in dodging attacks than /NIN's Utsu: Ichi. I'm assuming that's the main reason why /NIN is happening because shadows absorb WS. In the event you, a WAR/NIN, is up against someone who has TP and is planning on WSing you to death. Most likely, you would've casted your shadows in your down time before engaging your opponent. Your opponent though, seeing that you are /NIN, will probably swing a few hits at you to take down your three shadows before WSing you, so shadows prove useless in absorbing WS damage. After you have taken damage from the first WS, your opponent uses Meditate and plans on WSing a second time. The casting time for Utsu: Ichi is too long and will most likely be interrupted by a regular attack; if it does go through though, your opponent will probably, again, take a few swings until your shadows are down and then WS you right in the face. 

When used, Third Eye is instant and uninterrupted unlike Utsu: Ichi.  -ga spells don't get rid of Third Eye as they would, easily to Utsu: Ichi. When used properly, you can anticipate your opponent's WSs and dodge them by using Third Eye, unlike the predictable Utsu: Ichi. 

DRK & WAR would be better off /SAM if the purpose they /NIN'd is for damage mitigation. 
MNK uses hand-to-hand which doesn't count as a two-handed weapon, so MNK might be better off with /WAR, providing the extra HP boosts and Provoke to aid your team. 

SAM/NIN should never ever happen. Again, because Third Eye are more effective for dodging than shadows, and having either Hasso or Seigan up double the recast and casting times for any spells.