Red Mage 101Follow

As a Taru RDM, I'll have to agree that they aren't the best RDM if you follow what a true Red Mage is... a blend of melee and magic As a Mithra or Hume, I would be a little more effective in certain cases when solo'ing or in a party.

What I like is having all the mana that comes with being a Taru. At times, it is almost too much for a Red Mage. I like the roll of a spellcaster, so it goes along well with what I like to do.

I also just beat Maat on my 3rd try. Being a Taru here helped a lot. I did extra damage with my nukes, and had the mana needed to beat him.
Trys:
1) Went in at level 69 as a test. I went in with the purpose of dieing, and I did.

2) I was REALLY tired when I went in this time; that was a mistake. I was sitting there mashing Alt-F1 instead of Alt-1 after using chainspell. After I realized this, I didn't even bother using my Elixirs... I just let Maat kill me.

3) Went in on FireDay. I used a Melon Pie +1 before entering the Burning Circle. After I enter, I ran right up to Maat so I could see what buffs he was casting, then I put up Blink/Stoneskin. I started out with Dia just for the fact of Casting time. I probably should have used Bind instead looking back on it. For some reason Maat decided to not put up Blink this time (he did the last 2 times I fought against him), so dia went through.

I cast Dispel next to get rid of his Shell 4. I followed that up by Aero 3 (which was a mistake). I should have used Water 3 instead. I then used Dispel one more time to get rid of any other buffs he may have had. Now it was time to start chainspell. So I just my 2hr, and realize my recast timer was still up for Aero 3 (took me a few seconds to realize this). So I cast Water 3 once, by then, Aero 3 was back up, so I started to spam that. In the middle of spamming that I got low on HP but still had a chunk of MP left, so I had to cast Cure 4 once. I got to about 200hp and 50mp then used my Vile Elixir +1. I then spammed Aero 3 until he was dead, and I finished with 120HP and 130MP.

After I won, I was all excited talking on LS and /tell. I didn't realize that he had cast poison on me and I was slowly dieing. Well, I died from that... luckily you don't loose exp from that death.

Gear I went in with: Dark Staff, Wind Staff, Mythic Wand, Enfeebling Torque, Full AF (warlock gear). Red Cape +1, Royal Knights Belt +1, 2 +3 int rings, the +1 int earing, Moldavite Earing, and Phantom Tathlum.

For the Maat fight, I think Tarus have an advantage since they have higher MP and higher Int. It really wasn't that bad of a fight. The difference between FireDay and WindDay for damage was about 15-20. The damage per Aero 3: 387(fireday) vs 410(windday) about, but I could be off a little on the WindDay damage. So going on WindDay probably would have helped as well.

I like being a Tarutaru RDM, if nothing else for the *cute* factor.

Edit: Wanted to add, I killed Maat in 1:46, the record was 1:37.

Edited, Thu Aug 26 09:49:45 2004 by CageKyrra

RDM71/BLM35 (Almost 72 gogo Errant!)

When I leveled to 65 I meleed with a club. Starlight and Moonlight (when I got it) were worth everything. The bonus int and mnd come in very handy. Redmage is a support class, what better way to support a party than to give them all 200mp? This is especially nice with a PLD after level 40 when I can convert. Moonlight is only good when it's at FULL 300%tp, though, which sucks, but it's the same case with Spirits Within. When it comes to my equipment I have a serket, astral, and 2 zircons which I switch to when I've used 75mp. I have all the elemental staves because at this point I'm fighting guards and things in sky, which shouldn't be meleed by a mage. I have a kraken club, mythic wand +1, and Astral Aspis. I highly agree that the astral aspis is the best shield a red mage can ever get. Fight those Cockatrices in Kuftal as long as possible to you can get to kill Pelican for the aspis. Earrings are Morrion, Wizzards, and 2 phantom. I use the hume rse boots (even though they look crappy) because +3int is a lot. Hume RSE2 gloves and level 70 belt are amazing and not too expensive. Certainly not cheap, but it's about 600k for each on my server, which is about 1/2 week of farming in sky for me. This guide isn't bad at all, but it focuses too much on the melee importance. My sword skill isn't capped, but it was at level 60, and I don't suffer from that at all. Yes, I have a kraken, but that's only good for EXP parties, it doesn't do damage to NMs worth killing (not even gimp ones like Aquarius) so I don't get TP. It is pimp for exp paries though because I can moonlight with full TP at least once a battle if I play my cards right.
Case in point, don't worry if you don't melee as a redmage. I never owned a dagger and I don't melee with my sword anymore. The club is nice, but I always do my casting duties before even considering going into attack mode and I never go into attack mode when a bard is in the party.

Airspirit makes many many references to Elvaan having low DEX for RDM but 'forgets' to mention that Hume have the second lowest DEX in the game (as do all races except for Mithra). Hume and Elvaan have the same DEX at level 1 and all the way at level 70 there is only 4 points higher than Elvaan.

Despite his claims, most Elvaan RDM do not have difficulty with the job, and we do not suddenly decide to quit at 50 (on my server most RDM past 50 are Elvaan)

Do not allow his racial bias influence your selection.

Thanks a lot this poast was a big help. A few things I knew already but a lot of stuff, like the use of a daggar and sword was compleatly new to me.

Thanks again

Braden

I believe after getting continuous flames and rate-downs from lvl 20 RDM/Melee's and the Elvaan population that Airspirit gave up updating it.

I think it's still a great starter guide for anyone, and shows you the *type* of equipment that is available and preferred at each level. I probably read back through it every 5 levels or so just to jog my memory.

If you know it's outdated, then go buy the new stuff ^_^

I'm sorry Salinsha, I wasn't trying to be insulting towards you in my statement.

Please discuss... What do you feel is outdated or incorrect? As I stated in my post, I read it top-to-bottom every now and then as a refresher. Not to follow it like a bible, but just to jog my memory on what else is out there.

I'm glad I read through it this time. I'm 1 tnl and staring me in the face at 61 is the Caraprice latency armor. I just picked it up today for 30k. Wow... I can't wait to use it. I just need to talk to Maat to finish Limit 3 now ^_^

I'm not 75 but I made it to 60 as one of the more "pimped-out" RDM's around my level on Siren. What level are you and what more are you looking to know?

Err, some of what you're suggesting, Salinsha, is good. Some of it is not.

Bio - no longer appropriate to cast this if someone else has a higher Dark skill
The damage of Bio is now dependant on your Dark skill. I haven't heard anything about the effects. Are you casting Bio for damage?

That's saying a bit much. We now know the percentages on Dia and Dia II (5% and 10%), which is amusing considering that a 5% evasion drop from Gravity is downplayed in another section as "minimal".

Defense is damage variance (not max damage), so a small drop relative to your DD's Attack can result in large gains. Every study of Evasion I've seen shows it as a more linear comparison. Besides, it's easy to pump your attack, and it's hard to pump your accuracy (unless your server is oozing with BRDs). This makes the Dia penalty more significant.

I haven't seen hard numbers of Gravity's actual effect. Source please?

Convert - Blink instead of Stoneskin for a mid-battle convert? That's deadly advice, isn't it?

Not if you're nowhere near the top of the aggro list. That same section recommends you move away from AoE mobs before converting because even with Stoneskin, they can sometimes break through.

Yes. Welcome to the conclusion that I arrived at a long time ago, it's good to see you're here. This is why you don't see a post called "Salinsha's Red Mage 101". I only offered those observations as examples (examples or varying quality and accuracy) of things that might need to be changed/adjusted. But anyway:

I actually don't cast Bio at all. I'm rarely in a situation where it's better than Dia. I didn't read the patch notes closely enough, though, if Dark skill only impacts damage. If the effectiveness remains the same, I won't have the BLM do it.

Check the guide for Gravity numbers. If you don't believe him, look somewhere else? I can't argue Blink/Stoneskin, because I rarely use them in parties anyway. The subject comes up often though, and people usually recommend Stoneskin, since Blink is dodgy (especially after the update).

/shrug

(dupe)

Edited, Tue Sep 21 12:26:07 2004 by Salinsha

In this case, I'm either unsure of the facts because I lack first-hand experience (like Convert), or I don't care. Doesn't matter, because I'm not trying to argue a point on any specific issue, only that inconsistencies exist and are misleading.

The "guide" is the one we are all replying to. >< Airspirit cites unspecified sources for his 5% Gravity figure.

My personal reason for avoiding Bio is that Dia gives me more bang for my buck, both in MP and in effectiveness. Well, I suppose not in a party with only one primary tank, but those tend to be rare for me (static, remember). I deal with noob tanks by feeding them fish mithkabobs.

I worded Blink wrong. I only meant that it's always been unpredictably random, but it's more noticeable now with the new feedback that was added in the last update.

[i][/i][lg][/lg]ok. for my comments this is a well writen forum, and for the people that cant understand that it was writen outta the kindness of heart, well enough said, I've have a Taru RDM/BRD now with that said, I understand what the writer was talking about, which taru are weak at physical/Health then all ot the other classes best for a rdm, but all I can say is understand ur weakness and learn from it. this is why I play BRD as a sub. I have been in geat pt's that have picked pts members based on weakness not faster kills, with refresh/mage ballard you have some room to speak, I have gotten at much at 10/12 ticks for MP regen, this make living so much easier cause then u just gave ur grp minor mana regen, and for the major mana users, (blm,whm,smn for pets) this is a great combo, but not at all easy to play with all the equpiment changes (armor/wep and insturments) havn't seen to many able to pull this off. if u can welcome to the elite players of RDM/BRD everything else was pretty much covered by airspirit and I thank you for the time you put into posting this.

great info i love it all

I created an account just to rate this thread up. It has been an invaluable aid to me as a new player.


I'm still too low level (35 at time of this post) to add much in the way of information, however I seem to have found one bit of misinformation....

I experimented a fair amount with the .2 delay you have included in some of your equipment swapping macros, and my macros seem to function exactly the same with or without decimal delays in, as if they are ignored entirely by the system. not including them obviously grants the potential to fit more commands on a macro, which certainly can't hurt...

I would also like to thank Airspirit for the time and effort that went into writing this huge (and hugely helpful) guide. I would also like to commend (her?) for sticking to all the facts and findings in spite of all the silly and often off topic arguments against them. I'm surprised at the sheer volume of people who want to argue points like the efficiency of Mithra/Hume over others, and quibble because the most efficient are (quite correctly) labled as best. Even more disturbing are the posters that level personal assaults at you, or constantly search for flaws in stupid attempts to belittle you. It doesn't take knowledge of a video game to spot jerks and morons. One imbicile even shot jibes at you for labling correct information as "good information" (makes one wonder what they thing good means).Just feel reassured that there are also intelligent people reading your stuff and making use of it. To all you jerks I have a quote for you. "If you offer unsolicited opinions, you run the risk of learning their exact value to your listener"

Anyway I for one hope you can ignore all the useless detractors and continue to provide extreemly helpful information. My Rdm is still a kitten, but I hope by the time she trades her hairpins in for a sexy red hat you'll have had a chance to add info for the 65-75 range.

Edited, Sat Oct 2 11:17:46 2004 by RainsweptRedmage

Edited, Sat Oct 2 12:53:56 2004 by RainsweptRedmage

wow, im inspired. i play THF as my main right now, but this puts a whole new perspective on things. bieng I have thf already past 15, if i start lvling RDM, i can becoming a farming machine! also it wont be so hard to find invites anymore, and i wont just sit around during a battle and hit a macro every minute (it gets kinda boring :P).

Your updates made me dicide to start back RDM! Rate up! I won't make a bad example of us....

YOU RULE!!! I just set the carbuncle server record for beating MAAT at 1 minute 50 seconds by following your plan. THANK U SO MUCH!
Speerit
Carbuncle server
RDM 70/BLM and SMN 35 now...need to update my profile :p

Edited, Mon Oct 11 05:00:59 2004 by speeritcarby

I searched through the guide but it wasn't listed.

Is Dispel a MND or INT based debuff?

Does it matter? Dispel debuffs no matter wht doesnt it?

Dispel can be resisted. Nothing you commonly xp off of will do so but it is possible. Same with Dia and Bio.

HI,

I'm taking up rdm as a 2nd job and found your guide very useful so far, thanks for putting the time into it.

I dont have the patience to read all of the replies to this thread so excuse me if someone has already brought this up, but when levelling rng ~72 i had the pleasure of partying with a rdm/brd.

the party setup was:
pld/war, thf/war rng/war blm/whm, whm/smn

when invited a rdm/blm to fill the last spot. Before leaving to exp he changed to brd sub, we were fighting rdm type weapons and for the party setup+type of mobs this was a very useful combo.

Along with the usual rdm duties , he was able to keep ballad1 on the mages, madrigal on melee and prelude on the rng, and had a 2nd dispel spell(finale) in his aresnal , which is VERY useful on those damned weapons.

The party worked out really well, and the mp pool was never an problem, despite the 3 cure-hogs on the frontlines :)

hope this helps ,
fatkat

why did this lose it's sticky?

this is an awesome guide to the red mage job
regardless of the new/old ways of thought
and by following it 99% of the people you
will play with will call you an
'excellent red mage'

this is the guide to play rdm 'traditionally'
and there is nothing wrong with that
please put it on the top!

I keep reading through this thread and I try to find where you actually have intelligence to insult. Would you care to point it out for me?

Uh huh...so why did you dig up a guide that's almost a year old instead of using one of the other XX-number of Maat guides?

Yeah, that's exactly it.

I've been following it for most of that year now, and it's served me well. Not to mention that I tried sleep-nuke strategies twice with bad results. No, I had to try this method out of respect for airspirit and frustration at the cheaper sleep methods not working for me.

Why did you bring this thread up after it has been under raps for so long?
Granted, this was the guide that I used when I first started, but seriously, the new RDM 101 is more complete and less biased. Let it die.....