I just recently tried out FFXI for myself to see what it was like after hearing about some changes made.
First off, I'm sorry to say that FFXI is not a game I can really continue playing and experience the endgame of. For someone who jumped on the online gaming bandwagon around 2008, I found that the game itself just lacks too many things that I have come to take for granted, and on top of that, it’s not free-to-play either beyond the first 30 days.
However, if there is one class in the game that I would continue paying for FFXI just to play, it would undoubtedly be the Red Mage (RDM). This thing flat-out rocks.
Once I finally managed to figure out all the technical problems with PlayOnline accounts and other barriers to entry and created my Mithra Red Mage, I knew only a few things to expect: As a RDM you can be a tank, healer, or caster dps, the melee ability of the Job troubles a lot of people (many players have accused it of being weapon prowess for the sake of weapon prowess), the game is very group-oriented, meaning it’s almost impossible to solo level, and the combat system is turn based more similar to single player FF games. As I went through the first few levels, all I really knew was, “this could potentially go many different ways. Literally and figurativelyâ€. When my 30 day trial period expired and the quiet realization that I had just experienced one of the better hybrid classes I have heard of. Needless to say it went the way I was hoping, although I wasn’t sure why.
First of all, was it difficult to solo level? Not at all. Okay, rare spawn monsters, maybe a little bit; and more-so the further in the game you get. It’s not too difficult learning the mechanics of teamwork since you can now hire NPCs to fight alongside you rather than recruiting a party of human players as you reportedly had to do in the past.
For some reason, despite having gone through several updates, there are no maps or indicators of questgivers, meaning that you have to talk to people to find out if they even have a Mission for you. I found myself constantly asking questions like “How do I know where to go next? Where is my inventory? How do I obtain spell scrolls that can’t be directly purchased?†I also had a LOT of problems with movement since I am so used to using WASD and mouse to control my character. In fact, for a newbie coming from newer MMOs such as FFXIV, I’d say this game has probably the biggest learning curve I’ve experienced (even more than EVE Online).
So far the game is only a few minutes in and there are already several critical counts against it. However, once you find a good walkthrough and get used to the basic mechanics, the fun begins.
Honestly, I got up to about Level 60 between my 30 days of trial period, and even I can’t tell you exactly what’s going on in there, at least in a way in which I can picture the entire rotation in my head. However, I did gather enough that I can at least describe a general picture of how the class works for those of you wanting to know. Here’s my take on what a RDM does: throw out Cures to party members when needed, place a Regen on Tank, and use the class’s enfeebling and enhancing spells to buff the party and debuff enemies. If there is any weakness to not being a full-on WHM, it certainly wasn’t to the detriment of your ability to be a support-oriented healer. WHMs reportedly have much stronger healing abilities (namely AoE), but the fact that you have so many support abilities as a RDM really keeps you busy and gets you a spot in the groups from what I hear.
Once I was able to choose a sub-job I picked BLM since you can hire NPC healers anyway, and this gives you access to the –aga line of elemental spells. Wait, what? I thought in most FF games “Fire III†and “Fireaga†were different names of the same spell? Apparently in this universe the -aga suffix refers to an area version of the spell. In FFXIV the second rank of a THM’s spells is used for the AoE version, and while a RDM/BLM can’t put out the insane damage a primary BLM can, the ability to hit multiple targets is always a boon.
And finally, the melee ability of the class. Put Enfire on yourself, and then click your standard attack, to hit mobs with bonus magic damage. Contrary to what I had been warned about, I found the melee dps output was actually pretty good, possibly actually higher than simply standing back and slinging spells.
Alright, so sounds like a pretty cool Job, right? Why do I give it such particular praise? Well, for one, I like the fact that this is a type of Mage I have never seen before and has a completely non-standard sequencing pattern from every other hybrid class. Things like the combination of healing and support, the ability to improve on magic damage or healing depending on your subjob choice, the melee buffs, it all stands out above the competition as having an original bag of trick up its sleeve.
Secondly, it’s very powerful without ever being a glass cannon. Reportedly it used to be one of the few jobs back in the days that could actually solo most content if played correctly. The era of the game may be a factor, as specialized classes often tend to dominate the line of thinking today, since in a game like WoW before they locked in the talent trees, if you tried to take some healing talents and some DPS talents, you will usually end up bad at both. But they still retained the feel of a classic FF Red Mage, plus the standards of what constituted “overpowered†hadn’t yet been lowered to the level they are today. So it also has all of that going for it, which is generally all I ask from a good class.
But thirdly, and this is what really gave it the extra push over other like-minded designs, is that it knows how to fit properly in a group, and it uses the “jack of all trades†status to its advantage. While some classes pride themselves on specializing in a role to maximize effiency, RDM is wise enough to strategically fit in whatever a group may need most, and throw in some support abilities while at it. It doesn’t come off as a master of none, but more like specs similar to the Druid from WoW. I can always appreciate how much I enjoy both healing and DPS and how I switch roles whenever I get tired of one. The RDM is technically 1 part WHM, 1 part BLM, and 1 part WAR, and no one section outshines the others, and yet they’re all very different and unique. And unlike a character who has leveled all three of those Jobs to 50 in XIV, which requires time and collecting many different gear sets, FFXI’s RDM feels like it’s actually designed to adapt to the situation in whatever way is most desireable for the party.
So in conclusion, I really liked this class once I got over the technical difficulties. I honestly wish SE could have found a way to work it into FFXIV’s lore somehow.
Edited, Jul 18th 2014 3:25am by JFrombaugh