Red is obsolete.

[idx1]

Curing Waltz V 900HP instantly 23 sec recast.

Red Cure IV and Cure III alternating is still far less. By the time you alternate your second cycle the DNC is ready.

The fuck at picking some redundant factor such as a universal timer vs. a practical situation where numbers are more important within a shorter time frame.

[Neisan_Quetz]

I have no words for taking 23 seconds to cast Cure 4 twice.

Not that a dnc should be using Waltz V in the first place it's that fucking terrible.

[idx1]

Looks like I gotta spell it out for you.

Curing Waltz V 23 sec recast. 900 HP NOT including curing potency, which is a heavy boost.
Cure IV 8 second recast. 390 HP.
Cure III 6 seconds. 190 HP.

You Cure IV twice, that is 16 seconds of recast and guess what, you're still UNDER healing vs. Curing Waltz V.
You do Cure III in the middle, that's 22 seconds of total recast time you've accumulated, not to mention the casting TIME of THREE spells.

DNC just shot off another Curing Waltz V or IV for that matter, and is still ahead.
Even with just Curing Waltz IV, still ahead, not to mention the healing is instant.

[Neisan_Quetz]

Oh okay, so you cast spells naked and don't know what macros are, that's all you had to say. And you somehow break the game because 8 second recast on Cure IV is impossible for Rdm barring Slow/Composure up. Even more so if you [Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines.] knew how Fast Cast works.

[Ketaru]

I've played as Red since the start of '07, what attracted me was Fast Cast, the 'unique' ability to refresh yourself or the party, 'unique' spells such as Enspells, and also being the best enfeebler.

I've been playing a RDM since 2004. You're surprised that a job that is referred to as a "Jack of all trades, Master of none" doesn't have many "unique" qualities? The whole premise behind the job is it steals qualities from other jobs.

Fast cast? No, for one a Blue can cast 100-500% faster than a Red.
Dancers can recast Utsusemi: Ni faster than Red - with Abby haste items, literally everybody has Fast Cast in the form of Haste.

Composure was great, until you cast something like Utsu: Ni - goodbye Fast Cast.
Full-time one of your best MP-saving Job Abilities and you can shove that Fast Cast.

1) As others have pointed out, Fast Cast is not Haste. 2) RDM can equip Haste too. It is not as easily accessible to us as most frontline jobs, but we can still cap Haste with what's available now.

Composure has a downside? We've totally never seen that before. Not in old nonsense like Berserk or Counterstance.

Enspells.
PLD and DRK Enspell ONE is better than all of Reds Enspell I + II.

...

Typically, Red's enspell 1 does about 22-26 damage per hit.
Enlight or Endark is about 50 per hit, with degrade.
You're telling me double damage that can be 'refreshed' every 30 seconds, is inferior to 'a longer lasting enspell'?
You might be right if both spells were only casted, once.

The more attacks you get in, the better your Enspell is relative to theirs. Swing faster and get a better weapon. By the way, numbers I see range more like 27-32. And I'm not even capped yet. Looks like you haven't been casting your Enhancing magics!

Refresh.
Everybody has Refresh. You go /SCH and it's already better than Refresh II.
Blue can Refresh-ga.

PLD/SCH. The wave of the future.

Enfeebling.
With maximum merits, a Red has access to more potent forms of basic enfeebles such as Paralyze, Blind, and Slow. Though it's just unfortunate that these enfeebles are heavily defensive, and only assist with keeping the Red alive in solo situations.
Though they may help keep a party 'alive', a stronger cure from a White or Scholar inevitably outweighs all forms of defense a Red can offer in terms of "defensive magic".

Where are you getting this from? Or are you just parroting what you heard other people whine about in Abyssea? Because you admitted at the beginning of your post you don't have Abyssea yourself.

Nuking and enhancing aren't even worth talking about.
Red is the weakest nuking class (unless they 2-Hour).
A Red has no -ga type enhancements.

Clearly you're only interested in BLM and SCH as other nuking classes. But hey, at least you admit BLM should be the strongest because of their other limitations.

Special something about SCH that people who whine conveniently ignore about the job: without using Addendum: Black, SCH is restricted to tier III nukes. RDM has unrestricted access to tier IV nukes. Even if RDM subs /SCH, and therefore must work within the Arts stances, that is still one less limitation that RDM must account for to be a nuker. RDM also has access to a much wider variety of gear than SCH, including more Magic Attack Bonus. Not that SCH can be discounted as a nuker, but I play the job (do you?) and it requires much more fine management than RDM does.

Throw in other generalist jobs like BLU and DNC, and clearly RDM is still the one that most seamlessly transitions between roles.

Melee.
You go anything that is not /NIN and your melee is beyond useless.

The word you're looking for is situational. It's niche and rather redundant in a game full of a bunch of meleers. But it's not useless.

tldr; Haste II? Enspell III? Stoneskin II?
From 90-99 these won't exist.

You're mad because you won't get these?

Reraise? Cure V? Regen III? Tier 5 Nuke?

I thought you wanted "unique" stuff.

Curing Waltz V 900HP instantly 23 sec recast.

Red Cure IV and Cure III alternating is still far less. By the time you alternate your second cycle the DNC is ready.

The fuck at picking some redundant factor such as a universal timer vs. a practical situation where numbers are more important within a shorter time frame.

They need TP to do it, which often means being in range of melee attacks and Area attacks. But please, by all means, keep ignoring the limitations all these other jobs have that RDM does not.

To Neisan_Quetz...you need to watch your language. Not because you aren't right. But because the powers that be have the authority to censor you.

[Neisan_Quetz]

Thanks for the concern but I have no intention of censoring my posts.

[idx1]

Oh okay, so you cast spells naked and don't know what macros are, that's all you had to say. And you somehow break the game because 8 second recast on Cure IV is impossible for Rdm barring Slow/Composure up. Even more so if you [Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines.] knew how Fast Cast works.

Nice assumption, but that's just you talking dirty with baseless fact, and without tact in regards to discussion.
I had enough "Equipment changed" spamming my chat log and lifelong inventory problems, and in regards to my 'skill' in using a RDM - there are players that can vouch - I can PM you their IGN on Odin.

Ketaru - I did not say Fast Cast was Haste. I said that 1) Blue can cast faster than a Red. 2) Everybody has access to Fast Cast in the form of Haste - though where I wasn't clear about the 'cast faster than the bar reaching 100%', I was more talking about recast.

"The more attacks you get in, the better your enspell is"
Yeah let me just get my Beestinger, oh wait even better a Kraken with Enspell II the "pwns".
You're obviously one who thinks haste is better than higher damage outputs per swing.
27-32, yeah perhaps with a Fencer's ring or an enhancing sword.

None of my input is in anyway related to what I heard 'Abby players whine about'.
It's the sad truth but most Reds don't have those enfeebles maximized. Simply put, those merits are better off in other areas, in other jobs.

And stop trying to belittle me with baby talk about me being mad regarding Red not getting whatever spell I mentioned - it's called calling out what a Red won't get - however you perceive it is your deal.

In regards to "unique stuff" - yeah, that would of been nice - but it ain't so unique anymore now, is it?

DNC healing vs Red healing - there are limitations on both sides. A Red's is safer and weaker but consistent, and a DNC can actually save your life.

[saevel]

The guys a troll. Best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them and not read their posts. They crave attention as evident that he keeps responding to each of you in some sort of "I'm right" war. Deny them that attention that they go away. Chances are he doesn't even play RDM, he's just coming on here hoping to stir up stuff and get a laugh at your expense.

In short,
Don't feed the trolls.

[Silverleaf]

RED MAGE POWER FOREVER!!!

[Daniel_Hatcher]

Shouldn't argue with the OP.

He's joined simply to troll.