A Guide to Paladin/Blue Mage By Lothloran

THIS GUIDE IS FOR PLD/BLU IN CB, NO OTHER REAL SITUATIONS. For EVERYTHING else, use PLD/NIN, PLD/WAR, or some other accepted combination for whatever you're doing.
 
: In this guide I will cover the pros and cons of this combination, the things to remember and armor and weapon choices, the best uses for this and some tips on how to maximize the effectiveness of this job combo
 
This is not a popular option for some reason despite all the upsides to the job don't expect to get a party with this as your sub, let me make that clear. If you have this set up and you're flagged for a pty ,you'll be waiting forever. Save yourself the frustration and switch to the more conventional Pld/War.
* Some things to NOTE,
** This is not a good combo for parties, always stick with sub Warrior
** You will lose defense with no buffs but will gain more def than you can imagine with war when fully buffed
** What stats you lose with warrior you can make up with Blue Magic 
** This is not a good combo pre 60's for obvious reasons, such as having 10 or less spells and less points to distribute spells effectively 
*PRO's!
** Higher MP pool and more damage dealing spells
** Stat Steroids with Blue Magic spells
** Cocoon and Metallic Body (enough said)
** Well used spells yield more hate over time than a voke (Head Butt is pretty much spammable, so is bludgeon) 
** A second stun with headbutt (or a third if you use Flat Blade)
*CON's
** Loss of Voke, Berserk and Defender (but really? Who cares, we're in campaign battle)
** No double attack (Unless your using Joyeuse which has has a higher chance percentage of Double Attack then the Warrior job trait. --Avarlon, Febuary 08, 2010, 13:18
** Slightly lower Hit points
Lets get into the meat of this guide, and what better way to start with meat than to start with food? Your food choices will vary depending on what you're doing at the time but in the long run the two foods Tavnazian Taco and Sole Sushi
*:Tavnazian Taco The stats on this are unbeatable in my own opinion for Paladin, Defense Vitality, Agility and HP/MP boots and more. This is the only food PLD should use when doing hard core tanking such as HNM's or Campaign Battle Mega boss's
*:Sole Sushi For what they're worth there's no beating this food for ACC, they can be picked up at the AH for a pretty decent price. This food should be your main choice for regular mobs in campaign battle.
Now that we're all full and content and feeling lazy from all the raw fish gluttony. Stat boosting! Most Blue Mage spells come with some stat boosts. Look for anything that boosts VIT and HP first and regardless of what spells you want to set I highly recommend that you set Cocoon and Metallic Body for Defense boost and Stoneskin, they're both low leveled and don't require much mp to cast. With the static paladin spells like Protect III and IV you can nearly double your DEF with Cocoon/Protect and a Taco. This is obviously very helpful when getting hit by mobs like the mega bosses in campaign
Your lovely armory cache; Just because this isn't the "ordinary" combo, doesn't mean your armor should be anything but your ordinary paladin gear. If you're doing campaign then regardless of your sub it's well advised to pick up a Haubergeon for the acc. Weapons on the other hand, unless you're packing a Sanguine sword or something epic like that then you might consider getting your hands on a Dragvandil for the additional effect of paralyze.
Now that we've gotten that all out of the way. Here's a super sexy scenario. (tried and true)
:Avatar Battle (pokemon battle jingle)
:: A wild Titan appears
::GO, Party!
Buffs up: Tavnazian Taco, Protect IV, Metallic Body, Cocoon. Will put def up 900+ without super gear.
Run up the hill after buffs and flash, head butt and cure as needed. Hate isn't a problem since headbutt generates a pretty good spike and has a very quick recast. With your buffs, Titan's 2h deals roughly 200-300 damage if that. Cure and DD, head butt and bludgeon and stayed completely out of the yellow. Finished in 3 minutes and 12 seconds with one DD's, and RDM/WHM and a mid level tag along and PLD/BLU as tank
that actually wasn't super sexy :( But it covered (very basically) what it's all about. Your general tactics are going to vary but generally it'll fall under either Mega DEF/VIT or Mega ATT/STR
*DEF/VIT, PLD/BLU ---> SuperTank,
** Gear: AF, Relic or Adaman gear, Life belt, Knightly Mantel or Valor Cape, Bibiki Seashell or whatever you prefer to switch in
** Food: Tavnazian Taco
** Tactic: Generally tanking with /BLU is just like tanking with /WAR with a few key differences. First off? No voke, instead you have hate spikers with quick recasts. Bludgeon and Head Butt will draw enough hate to keep you the center of attention. If you ever lose hate and can't get it back then macro Healing Breeze which generates a fair amount of hate like a slightly nerfed Curaga II. This is NOT your main choice for party tanking though so remember that.
*ATT/STR, PLD/BLU ---> MeanMachine,
** Gear: Fourth Division stuff is great, STR+ and with each piece you get a boosted attack and a Haubergeon; Life belt, as with tanking, when dealing out pain, you need to value your acc. Smilodon Mantle +1. I can't stress how important ACC is in being a DD with the added possibly of still tanking.
** Food: Sole Sushi
** Tactic: The greatest thing about this is, even when you're dealing out the whoop ass, you can still take hits like a god(dess) the only difference is you can dish it out as good as you're taking it. Just like your tanking tactic, keep protect/cocoon up because this will still give you a hell of a lot more def. Your main objective with ATT/STR isn't to become a pure DD, because even still you won't be hitting like sams or drgs. The goal of this is to take your att/DEF to ATT/DEF and your str/VIT to STR/VIT and balancing out your states to deal passable damage. The best way to keep hitting hard is with a low delay sword and the best one on the market is the Macuahuitl +1.
Seriously though the gear I rambled off is more of a... foundation stone, if you want to call it that. Basically forcing the point into your face. You can use whatever gear you feel is best, but keeping with the formula, focus on att/acc/str for a solid attack pld in campaign and obviously DEF/VIT for the reciprocal.
*Campaign Battle: This is your time to shine
*Survival: The Solo Code,
**Regardless of what you're shooting for be it STR or VIT. You're not going to be a tank without back up, you can hold your own if you have to but without woundpatchers or the like you simply won't survive very long (if you want a campaign solo option try Pld/Dnc) That aside, you can live (unless you get surrounded) as a solo player as long as you remember the solo code: Cowards Live, Fools Die and When in Doubt, Shout for Help. 
*Making it Big: Tips on maximizing EXP
** There are a few things that make gaining EXP in campaign easier, first off. Your physical damage builds over time and as long as you're hitting for more than 0 you're making 10% of the damage, even if you hit for 10 each time, it adds up so DO MORE THAN HIT THINGS. Weapon skills are their own body but the damage still falls under "physical damage". If someone's tanking near you, throw a cure their way because (guess what) you get 10% of the HP restored in EXP. Secondly, and most important, Raise! With an MP pool of around 400-450 depending on your race you should raise whenever safe to do so, not a lot of people raise but that exp adds up really quick. Another great way to gain exp is with Rampart, if you can gather some LS friends to pty with you and you pop off rampart you get 5 exp per each person it lands on. There could be 30 exp for 2 seconds of work. With your Blu sub you can throw out random magic damage and add to your physical damage exp with bludgeon and what not. Lastly on the exp note, When the mob has only the slightest sliver of health left, pull your best weapon skill for the kill. Each kill is worth 100 exp.
*General Info: It's General Info!
** Temporary items can be a life saver, use them. Mana Drink > Body drink or just buy both since they're both useful. Sigil can have Regen and Refresh added along with increased meal duration. I suggest grabbing it, it WILL make your life easier.
Thank you for reading everybody
please note that the solo code is an original phrase by Lothloran and she doesn't claim ownership of it but asks that you acknowledge her as its brainmother so she can be internet famous
PS!!!
This job combination should be retired AS soon as you reach 75, and ONLY used in campaign battle. 
if you're seeking a party as pld/blu in CB, better play as /war unless you put "I just use /blu for CB" in your seacom but you'll probably not get very many invites or /tells