Thread: What will become of Red Mage v1.0?

Rune Fencer's a very good job so far and only needs a couple of things to make it an attractive option--particularly quicker casting and some better ability to take a hit while spelling a Paladin. As I played the job through to 99, I've found myself calling it Red Mage v2.0.

This, however, leaves it's predecessor in great crisis as to what it's identity is. I am, of course, speaking about Red Mage. A lot of people in the job forum have been clamoring for better melee aspects for years only to now see it thrust upon an entirely new job. The imposition of Tranquil Heart practically took away much of it's tanking ability now that the job cannot generate hate through enfeebling and curing--moreover, it proves the saying "rare cases make for bad law" as Red Mage tanking through enfeebling was really only done with Jailer of Love.

Estoqueur's Armor, while providing good stats for the mage side, really does nothing for the melee side of the job beyond improving Composure. This was the original reason I bought the NQ Dux Scale Mail set for melee purposes. As fortune would have it, Red...err, Rune Fencer can use the same armor.

What I'd like to know from the Devs is how they plan to get Red Mage caught up with this new job. "Pink Mage" will not do in Adoulin, nor do I even want it to go down that road again.

Originally Posted by Hayward

Rune Fencer's a very good job so far and only needs a couple of things to make it an attractive option--particularly quicker casting and some better ability to take a hit while spelling a Paladin. As I played the job through to 99, I've found myself calling it Red Mage v2.0.

This, however, leaves it's predecessor in great crisis as to what it's identity is. I am, of course, speaking about Red Mage. A lot of people in the job forum have been clamoring for better melee aspects for years only to now see it thrust upon an entirely new job. The imposition of Tranquil Heart practically took away much of it's tanking ability now that the job cannot generate hate through enfeebling and curing--moreover, it proves the saying "rare cases make for bad law" as Red Mage tanking through enfeebling was really only done with Jailer of Love.

Estoqueur's Armor, while providing good stats for the mage side, really does nothing for the melee side of the job beyond improving Composure. This was the original reason I bought the NQ Dux Scale Mail set for melee purposes. As fortune would have it, Red...err, Rune Fencer can use the same armor.

What I'd like to know from the Devs is how they plan to get Red Mage caught up with this new job. "Pink Mage" will not do in Adoulin, nor do I even want it to go down that road again.

I'm curious to see what their plans are for our job.

I'm a little confused at some of the gear selection. Once again we're off the light DPS set (the green outfit with the feathered cap), yet are on the coalition blade. Of course, the Dux set is a double-edged sword, as the entire set is covered in +enmity.

- I'm still wanting to be able to buff myself with multiple buffs at the same time to cut down on time spent casting stuff on myself and increasing the time for me to do other things. Just being able to Haste+Temper+Enfire myself all at once would be a huge help.

- The ability to reset buff durations on myself to further down cut on recasts once I get the ball rolling would also be a huge help. "Renew", as taken from this thread.

- More reasonably accessible melee gear. Really, why aren't we on the new light DPS armor?

- RedesignFix Enspell II's. These really should be a strict upgrade to tier I's.

- Change our merits. Elemental accuracy merits should be baked into the job via a Magic Accuracy Bonus trait. Merit spells should be naturally learned by RDM at the equivalent of 5/5 potency. Again, refer to the RDM Merit thread for ideas of what to replace them with.

- This:

Originally Posted by Ophannus

Would be hot if Composure granted a bonus potency to Regen,Refresh,Enspell and Spikes potency seeing as how Light Arts makes Regens ridiculously strong and Dark Arts adds a bonus to Helices.

also, reevaluate your stance on RDM/NIN tanking.


love that sh*t.

Originally Posted by OmnysValefor

I've a question for Red Mages that's gonna get me some hate.

Why do you deserve to do more damage? An RDM has a better chance at soloing than most non-pet DDs. Each of the common subs for mages or sword/shield or dual-wielders works well for RDM to play around with. So you can't dd like a monk, but neither can bst, or pld (weapon/shield or GS) and they're stronger for melee than RDM was ever hinted at being.

The question should be "why not?".

If you notice, everything mentioned so far has been melee-related. I doubt any of us would ask for a return of ye olde "kite+DoT+Nuke" soloing, which encompassed all RDM soloing pre-Abyssea. I personally want the sword to be more useful and RDM to be kept in mind and treated as a melee mage. Right now the job is an afterthought, and has been treated as such since the Abyssea era.