I feel like there are a lot of good options for RDM. When I'm worried that content will be hard, I usually play on /BLM for sleepga. If I specifically know I'm going to want stat cures, /WHM. If I'm meleeing, obviously /NIN.

I'm considering leveling SMN for general use and XP parties both for the extra MP for my converts and for the auto refresh (with a little more MND than /BLM too). Anyone regret leveling summoner for this? Is it worth it ever?

I've gotten the occasional weird glance from friends, who are of the opinion that RDM's mostly shouldn't bother soloing, and should just ask constantly for help in order to receive higher lvls of TH or slightly faster mob kills. I tried my best to explain to them that there are times I wanna do stuff on my own, especially at odd play times or if I need a change of pace from whatever grind we've been up to lately.

That having been said, I lvl'd up /pld to 37, mostly for the auto-refresh. It's been a nice sub for me, allowing me to solo up to Tough mobs in Sea w/o spending money on food, Shihei, or constantly having to bother people to drop what they are doing and come help. It's nice to have 2/tic of Refresh going at all times (with Relic Hat), and Sentinel if you need to get a clutch Stoneskin off w/o interruption.

I haven't used rdm/smn since retail, but the Max MP boost along with Magician's Earring and auto-refresh, can go a long way towards making a non-Taru RDM feel a little more adequate =p And there is some utility to be had as well, with access to things like Aerial Armor and Rolling Thunder.

It's situational, but I am of the opinion a RDM should have every subjob. Yes... yes.... I am working on /smn I swear, it's coming up slowly but surely.

Heresy that you don't like /NIN for solo play. Shihei are cheap enough(especially if you are geared enough to have relic hat). Its so easy to solo with/NIN and the dual wield is strong if you have good gear. But I can see using PLD if you are trying to nuke things down. I personally dont think I could stand the MP pool of /PLD, but to each their own.

Oh I also have /nin of course, I think the point was to not waste any money at all, during times I am trying to MAKE money. I still go rdm/nin when it is needed, and /pld when it's not needed.

Do you find the mp pool from /pld to be different than from /nin? Can't say I noticed /nin having any more mp....

Edit: I wasn't suggesting using /pld over /smn, just using my anecdotal experience to relate how nice having Auto-Refresh is
Going /pld would never be done in replacement of a /mage subjob, it's only a choice for farming vs /nin subjob. That's why
I was a little confused over your comment about the mp pool, it should be very similar to /nin's. You would never go /pld
out to content where you were doing normal RDM mage duties.

Personally love /BST but that is just me.

RDM/BST is amazeballs. I solo'd RDM to 60 as that subjob, hands down the largest toolkit of any /bst combination, heck even our AF has some CHR on it. Don't ask me why (I realize Mithra has very subpar natural CHR), but my charm rate as rdm/bst seemed even superior to BST main. Very rarely I would get 1 mischarm, but not 2-4 in a row like would often happen while xping BST