Red Mage - Quick Magic

[Kwate]

Well everyone is saying no Cure 5, it'll gimp the WHM, fine, give RDM Quick, enfeebles and fast cast is RDM's specialty......
lets take it to the next level.

[LeaderofAtlantis]

I was unaware that you only needed fast cast gear on at the start of the cast (Galka, not a mage yet really). I just posted as an idea. I kept the activation rate low so as not to cause problems with balance, but perhaps a JA that lasts for 2 spells (like it does on FFVI - 2 actions while everyone else is frozen).

[Supersun]

You need it on at the start of the cast for the reduced casting time. You still need it for the completion of the spell if you need the reduced recast (which you should probably be wearing haste gear for anyway).

[LeaderofAtlantis]

You need it on at the start of the cast for the reduced casting time. You still need it for the completion of the spell if you need the reduced recast (which you should probably be wearing haste gear for anyway).

I use Haste + Fast Cast gear to help with Utsusemi recasts on THF and PUP and with Utsusemi and other magic recasts on PLD. I'm not a red mage, but I just had an idea and wanted to see what a wider group beyond my immediate in game friends, thought about it.

Which brings me to 1 other idea I had based off Celes' ability in FF VI - Runic Blade. Basically give it a 10 minute recast, but with a sword drawn, the RDM can force an offensive spell cast by an enemy to be drawn into their sword and the RDM can recover some MP from it. It can either be the full amount of MP used to cast the spell, or a percentage of it.

[Seriha]

I'm not averse to the idea, but a 10m timer is too much. 3m maybe, 5m tops. A lot of high end spells, if based on the MP cost, would be at least 150 MP back. I think the bigger question is if it would totally negate the spell being cast (on anyone) or if you'd have to be hit by it. The negation would be the bigger perk, really, but then Stun and Silence double for that effect in varying ways.

[LeaderofAtlantis]

I'm not averse to the idea, but a 10m timer is too much. 3m maybe, 5m tops. A lot of high end spells, if based on the MP cost, would be at least 150 MP back. I think the bigger question is if it would totally negate the spell being cast (on anyone) or if you'd have to be hit by it. The negation would be the bigger perk, really, but then Stun and Silence double for that effect in varying ways.

If you've played FFVI, it negates the spell completely. Now the downside in that game is that Celes draws cure spells her way as well and negates them. The 10 minutes is for balance because, as you said, it's instantly recovering 1 spell's worth of MP and negating that spell. I guess 5 minutes won't hurt the balance much though.

[Duelle]

If you've played FFVI, it negates the spell completely. Now the downside in that game is that Celes draws cure spells her way as well and negates them. The 10 minutes is for balance because, as you said, it's instantly recovering 1 spell's worth of MP and negating that spell. I guess 5 minutes won't hurt the balance much though.

Given the dev's tendency to give nerfed versions of such things, I would say 3 mins would be acceptable, provided the ability halved spell damage received and allowed the user to absorb half of the MP cost of the spell. Otherwise I can see spells that are meant to kill a player cheesed through Runic Blade. Still a nice idea and would love the un-nerfed version, though.

[ManaKing]

I like Duelle's idea, because it involves some level of risk. Knowing when to use your abilities is important and makes for interesting game play.

Example, using Runic Blade against a -Ga spell might instantly kill a RDM. But, if you already had Stone skin, Shell, and Phalanx up, you might survive and it would be a great way to provide damage mitigation for your party. As an added bonus, Shadow users and Pet users would love you.

We already get magic defense bonus to help with this. I wouldn't mind elemental or magic reduction shields being made more important for RDMs job as they would aid in our role as a magic tank.

A personal twist would be that you wouldn't gain MP back from the spell cast. Instead you would get a proportionate magic attack bonus for a set duration.