General

[quote=Azzamok]For now a priest will be better due to a longer duration of HS.

Take note though that Phantom can provide more buffs.

Also, their future revamp increases the duration of stolen skills.

Your choice though

@Leonzheng Buff mastery only affects the user, not the party.[/quote]

A future revamp eh? Well I think that may change it all for me. Then again I can always make a phantom once the revamp hits. I think I will still stick to my bishop, thank you for your input!

Bish people get really pissed off when a phantom is just sitting on the rope giving crap hs

[quote=Leonzheng]Bishops also have Buff Mastery, even longer duration.[/quote]

Unfortunately Buff Master only applies to the bishop, not the party members.
@Azzamok You were right, trust your bishop instincts Unless they changed it in the very recent patches for us, then Buff Mastery still only applies to us bishops.

On topic,
I would say bishop because, as others mentioned, phantom Holy Symbol has horrible duration.
You will spend a lot of time walking and re-buffing yourself, when your lvling could be much more effective.
We don't have as many buffs as phantoms potentially can have, but we do have Advanced Blessing, Holy Shell, Resurrection and hyper skills (Heaven's door, buffs that enhance Advanced blessing, Holy Symbol and Holy Shell).
Our hyper skills also enhances Advanced Blessing to give a total of 700 hp and mp + 1000hp and mp, a total of 1700 hp and mp,
so if you want more HP and MP, there's a way to boost those traits with Advanced Blessing.
One of our hyper skills also gives a bonus +20 m.att and att, so Advanced blessing will give a total of 50 m.att and att, which is not bad at all

@Leonzheng Ah my bad, sorry.

OT: I'd go for a phantom then if you want a dedicated buff mule.

@Azzamok: Pretty sure Buff Mastery affects the durations of buffs casted by the Bishop that has Buff Mastery. I didn't mean for the parties' buffs.

For now a priest will be better due to a longer duration of HS.

Take note though that Phantom can provide more buffs.

Also, their future revamp increases the duration of stolen skills.

Your choice though

@Leonzheng Buff mastery only affects the user, not the party.

@EatNow: I said it because a Bishop would have it, and Phantoms would not.

[quote=EatNow]I'm pretty sure that's only for the bishop.. and this is for a mule so..(?)[/quote]

Just confirmed it for myself (quit for 2 years, so I am out of the loop). I will just get the bishop to around 135 and max Advanced Blessing and get 10 MW. I guess some people just don't know about the bishop class or didn't read my post properly.

[quote=Leonzheng]Bishops also have Buff Mastery, even longer duration.[/quote]

I'm pretty sure that's only for the bishop.. and this is for a mule so..(?)

Okay I have made my decision, a PRIEST mule it shall be. I guess I will leech it up from 83 - 120 like I did in the past. Lol.

correct!
i prefer less recasting over more buffs

Bishops also have Buff Mastery, even longer duration.

I'd say Bishop, HS and Adv Bless plus they both have a much longer duration than Phantoms.
Only thing Phantom would give you extra is SE from 4th job along with Rage in second job to replace Adv Bless.

hmm so Phantoms are 90 second Hs mules while Bishops are 180 seconds. That is quite the difference. Although I am taking this from a completely unfunded point of view with a cannoneer, so simply:

1. phantom uses haste, rage, hs and SE
-or
2. bishop uses advanced bless and HS (door is negligible since phantom can also steal it)

So essentially I can either choose constant buff spams and have more damage OR less buff spam and have less damage. Correct?

Unless you want to buff HS every 1min30seconds, I suggest you make a Bishop.

how bad are phantom's buff durations? What percentages? Also thank you all and all input is appreciated!

Phantom because they can steal other useful buffs as well.

Priest because phantom's buff duration is horrid.

I would say Phantom because you can steal many buffs and able to buff you other character.

Edit 1 : Phantom buff duration is decreased of the original skill ( 1 min 30
Sec ). Also don't know the buff duration for phantoms.