RDM Enhancing magic needs a boost

[Eth]

Red mages are the enhancing magic experts in the game, but their uniqueness and desirability for the specific purpose of enhancing has decreased considerably with recent updates.

Haste, one of the most important enhancing magic spells, has always been shared with WHM who even gets it 8 levels earlier. With the recent increases in the level cap, any /WHM can haste, and soon every /RDM will be able to haste as well. On top of that, SMNs now have a practically useful hastega.

At 75 cap, refresh was another one of the most important enhancing magic spells, but due to the fact that /rdm now gets it, it is no longer a distinguishing characteristic of RDM. Granted, RDM now gets Refresh II, but with so many new refresh pieces for mages, /rdm refresh and convert, Ballad III, Ochain for PLD and siphon for SMNs, red mage refresh just doesn't carry the same weight anymore even outside Abyssea. Inside Abyssea, due to the immense power of refresh atmas and temp items additional refresh effects are almost irrelevant anyway.

PLDs can now Phalanx themselves. With capped enhancing skill at 90, no enhancing merits and enhancing gear, I believe they can get 28 dmg absorbed per hit, which is almost equal to a RDM's Phalanx II with 5 merits.

In terms of bar spells, RDM has always played second fiddle to WHMs who have Cleric's Pantaloons, and the Orison Attire +2 Set has now made WHM elemental bar spells even stronger.

-------------------

I have several ideas to make RDM once again into a unique and highly desirable enhancer.

- Haste II. Haste II has X% more haste than normal haste, and magic and total haste caps are ignored when adding X. X could be 5%.

- A job trait that greatly increase the activation rate of bar status spells (including the AoE versions with /whm) so that they are useful enough to cast.

- A 5 minute "enhancing seal" that greatly increases the potency of the next enhancing spell. It could

* increase the potency of Haste and the "X" of Haste II
* add 2 MP for each tick of refresh and refresh II
* add 50 to bar-element spells
* further improve the activation rate of bar-status spells
* remove the stoneskin dmg cap
* give blink 2 additional shadows for a total of 4
* make sneak and invisible effective against true-sound and true-sight NMs
* greatly increase en-spell damage
* greatly increase spike damage and activation rate for stun from shock spikes
* make erase remove 2 effects
* double Phalanx and Phalanx II effect
* double the stat increase from Gain spells
* boost the defense and magic defense from Protect and Shell spells.

- introduce new unique enhancing spells such as:

* two new stealth category spells, one that causes magic not to aggro magic-aggroing monsters, and one that causes low HP not to aggro undead monsters. These would be party target and would not wear off while under attack. This would be very useful to cast on a tank in an NM fight near undead or magic aggro monsters.

* native RDM teleportation. One spell to 'set' an arbitrary location in-game as a return-to point, and a second spell, Return, to warp back to that location. Self-target only.

* Phalanx III: doesn't just nullify a certain amount of damage but absorbs it (i.e. heals the character for that amount). Party target.

* A party-target spell to reduce the remaining duration of the weakness status effect.

* A party-target spell to increase spellcasting range by 50%.

[wildsprite]

the SMN hastega is the same as WHM haste but doesnt last as long unless SMN caps their summoning magic skill

[rog]

Red mages are the enhancing magic experts in the gameWhen did that happen?

[wildsprite]

enhancing while it is a primary skill for RDM is secondary to enfeebling and I wouldnt exactly call RDM experts at enhancing

[Duelle]

I'd cosign buffing our self-cast enhancing spells and putting more emphasis on self-cast enhancing spells (specially ones that help us in melee) way before I'd want to buff the support-type spells. Buffing enspells, giving us Saber, Double/Triple and finishing the Gain line of spells (and lowering the level req for them, as lv81 makes them seem lackluster) are more in line with what we can do in enhancing.

If you want masters of buffing, you need not look further than Bard and Corsair. Let them have and keep the party buff role.

[Eth]

When did that happen?

It's always been part of the definition of the job. Let me quote

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Red_Mage

"Their real strengths lie in their mastery of enhancing and enfeebling skills when within a party.."

That RDM is meant to be the game's premiere enhancing job is also evident in the fact that it has the highest enhancing magic skill, B+. White Mage only has C+.

[Eth]

If you want masters of buffing, you need not look further than Bard and Corsair. Let them have and keep the party buff role.

You're welcome to your personal opinion, but you have to respect the fact that some people's game revolves around the HNM experience, and that they couldn't care less for RDM melee. These players like myself think of RDM as playing an essential supporting role and we would like to keep it that way.

[rog]

It's always been part of the definition of the job. Let me quote

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Red_Mage

"Their real strengths lie in their mastery of enhancing and enfeebling skills when within a party.."

That RDM is meant to be the game's premiere enhancing job is also evident in the fact that it has the highest enhancing magic skill, B+. White Mage only has C+.So...never?


Whm may have a lower skill, but they get all the better spells.

[wildsprite]

You're welcome to your personal opinion, but you have to respect the fact that some people's game revolves around the HNM experience, and that they couldn't care less for RDM melee. These players like myself think of RDM as playing an essential supporting role and we would like to keep it that way.

personally I hate this opinion, I dont play RDM to be a support player, people that try to make me just do support truly make me angry, if I want to be support I'll play WHM or SCH, but not RDM

[Eth]

personally I hate this opinion, I dont play RDM to be a support player, people that try to make me just do support truly make me angry, if I want to be support I'll play WHM or SCH, but not RDM

Yeah I've played with plenty of red mages in parties who thought that support was not their role. Politeness forbids me from telling you what I think about them.

[Duelle]

You're welcome to your personal opinion, but you have to respect the fact that some people's game revolves around the HNM experience, and that they couldn't care less for RDM melee. These players like myself think of RDM as playing an essential supporting role and we would like to keep it that way.Likewise.

At the same time, we're forgetting that one brought a RDM for events and HNM if:

1) You needed someone to help sleep adds (even if BLM could do it better due to Sleepga I and II)
2) Heals, Refresh, Haste and maybe Phalanx II
3) Chainspell + Stun

The job was not that useful to begin with, and the only places where stuff like CS+Stun really made a difference were things like Dynamis-Xarc. Dynamics-wise, refresh is what really got you into events unless Para procced at a crucial moment letting the group remember that you have that on your spell list as well. Remember that when these trends were being set no one had passive MP regen and PLDs, WHMs, and BLMs were addicted to Refresh like it was crack (not mentioning it was way easier to find a RDM than it was a BRD or COR). There's a difference between an actually essential part of a group by game design and something with an inflated value due to a handful of factors. RDM, like it or not, has always been of the latter.

I don't want to really shoot down your stance, because I do acknowledge some RDMs like staying in the back row and support a group. I simply do not want that to once again be the only focus of our job. I'm sure there's a way to make both you and I happy with the class again, but it's up to the devs to make that happen.

[wildsprite]

Yeah I've played with plenty of red mages in parties who thought that support was not their role. Politeness forbids me from telling you what I think about them.

the thing is, most RDMs who do that don't properly equip themselves either, most of them have really crappy melee gear or have on just mage gear and a sword or dagger, I hunt for the best melee stuff I can wear on RDM and I look for things like ATT+ cause I want to hit harder, I don't like doing melee with crappy gear

[wildsprite]

oh and I can backup heal/buff while I hit the mob with my swords so why shouldn't I? its really not that different than what DNC does with their daggers

[Quetzacoatl]

So...never?


Whm may have a lower skill, but they get all the better spells.

Hi2U Accession and /SCH.

[rog]

Hi2U Accession and /SCH.
That isn't a solution. 2 min recast doesn't work.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

That isn't a solution. 2 min recast doesn't work.

The point is RDM's native Enhancing is superior to anyone's, lack of spells means little other than SquareEnix never thought about it properly.

PS. I'm aware also SCH matches them, however it needs Light Arts active so it's lesser than RDM in that department, that along with RDM's EA+2 giving nearly a 100% duration increase still makes them the better Enhancer.

[rog]

The point is RDM's native Enhancing is superior to anyone's, lack of spells means little other than SquareEnix never thought about it properly.
Or, it means they think whm should have better buffs than rdm.

[Supersun]

Why does Rdm having a higher enhancing skill then Whm matter because last I checked...

Sch has the same as us, Brd has better buffs and "more skill", Corsair has better buffs and doesn't even need skill, Summoner has AoE buffs (which some are better) and better skill, Blue Mage has "better" "AoE" buffs and a better skill.

When it comes down to it Rdm only has 4 buffs that it can cast on other people (without gems)
Protect, Shell, Haste, Refresh (and Phalanx II if you have it)

Now make a list of all the buffs that those other jobs can cast on people. It's a LOT more then 4.
I mean the VAST majority of Rdm's spells have actually been self-targeting only.
The only reason Rdm was considered a buffer in the past was because it had the only 2 buffs that mattered (and those just happened to be able to cast on others)

Refresh and Haste

Now that Refresh is largely not necessary, and your local Whm can already provide Haste there's really only one thing that could make Rdm the "buffing class" again, Haste 2...
Do you really want to go back to being a cycle mage... >.>

[Daniel_Hatcher]

Or, it means they think whm should have better buffs than rdm.

The only difference in Buffs is that WHM has AoE and RDM is self cast only, Phalanx itself trumps WHM's AOE buffs, not to mention you can just sub /whm and get them all then enhance better than a WHM. WHM is the ultimate healer, they're not the ultimate buffer.


Why does Rdm having a higher enhancing skill then Whm matter because last I checked...

Sch has the same as us, Brd has better buffs and "more skill", Corsair has better buffs and doesn't even need skill, Summoner has AoE buffs (which some are better) and better skill, Blue Mage has "better" "AoE" buffs and a better skill.

When it comes down to it Rdm only has 4 buffs that it can cast on other people (without gems)
Protect, Shell, Haste, Refresh (and Phalanx II if you have it)

Now make a list of all the buffs that those other jobs can cast on people. It's a LOT more then 4.
I mean the VAST majority of Rdm's spells have actually been self-targeting only.
The only reason Rdm was considered a buffer in the past was because it had the only 2 buffs that mattered (and those just happened to be able to cast on others)

Refresh and Haste

Now that Refresh is largely not necessary, and your local Whm can already provide Haste there's really only one thing that could make Rdm the "buffing class" again, Haste 2...
Do you really want to go back to being a cycle mage... >.>

I don't want them to go back to the Enhancer of the party, I'm only saying mage wise they are the better Enhancer out of RDM SCH BLM WHM and PLD, the 5 jobs with native enhancing skill.

[Kitkat]

From my experiences (both endgame and general partying) Rdm has always been a support role, and otherwise "jack of all trades." The only thing Rdm specificly excels at is Debuffs/enfeebling, second is enhancing, 3rd is their melee skills (which really isn't that good compared to real melee jobs), and just gets lower from there.

My biggest issue is the fact that Phalanx and Phalanx II have such a low enhancing skill gain post 300 skill. By level 99 (if SE still plans to go that high) Rdm will have an enhancing skill reaching near 400, and with gear available that is already obtainable. Why is it that the new equation is so exaggerated post the 300 skill mark? Even if Phalanx went up to 40 mitigation it wouldn't break the game. Additionally, with PLD reaching the 300skill+ mark Phalanx II is starting to become less appealing since it gains very little potency beyond 300 Skill (between 300 and cap of 437 from gear/merits there is only 3 mitigation gain). Why is it that the formula had to change to be weaker even though there are NM that hit in excess of 500+? How is it in anyway game breaking to allow mitigation to go up to 40?

[rog]

The only difference in Buffs is that WHM has AoE and RDM is self cast only, Phalanx itself trumps WHM's AOE buffs, not to mention you can just sub /whm and get them all then enhance better than a WHM. WHM is the ultimate healer, they're not the ultimate buffer.
Exactly. Whm can buff everyone at once. They can get pro/shell up on a party without spending 1k mp, and a minute of casting. They can get barspells on an entire party, instead of just themselves. Same with gain spells. That sounds like a pretty big deal to me. Rdm is better at self buffs, whm is much better at party buffs.

No, it's not the ultimate buffer, but it's certainly better than rdm.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

Exactly. Whm can buff everyone at once. They can get pro/shell up on a party without spending 1k mp, and a minute of casting. They can get barspells on an entire party, instead of just themselves. Same with gain spells. That sounds like a pretty big deal to me. Rdm is better at self buffs, whm is much better at party buffs.

No, it's not the ultimate buffer, but it's certainly better than whm.

Well no not the ultimate buffer, COR is better, to some extent so is BRD. But with jobs with Enhancing Skill it is the ultimate.

[rog]

Er, i meant to say it's certainly better than rdm. My bad.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

Not really since you can /whm and do it better. :)

[Supersun]

Not really since you can /whm and do it better. :)

Except that Whm has merits to make those buffs better then we could make them with any amount of enhancing skill

[rog]

Not really since you can /whm and do it better. :)
Only if you want to give up a more useful sub. And even then all you get is barspells. Not prot/shellra, or boost spells.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

Only bar spells last I checked.

Eitherway, my point in the beginning was they were the master enhancer with the skill, just a selfish enhancer.

[Swords]

I think alot of folks forget this game was orginally designed for Lv50, at those levels RDM's enhancing skill had a much greater effect. Despite this however, enhancing skill still directally effects most of our buffing repetuare such as our En-spells, Stoneskin, and obviously Phalanx.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think the anwser lies within a new barrage of spells. For one our magic list is already cumbersome, then we have to farm or buy these new spells, probably for extorted prices (Example: Tier IV nukes). The most serious issue I can see really lies in the soft/hard caps which were likely designed for Lv75 jobs. If SE were to adjust the soft/hard caps to accomidate the higher levels I think it would solve some of the issues.


On another note, the idea of a JA that would increase enhancing spells by either effect or otherwise would not be a bad idea. One in particular idea I've had in mind, is while active this JA adds power and additional effects to En-spells corresponding to the En-spells particular element (I.E. Enblizzard I/II = Paralyze or an Elemental DoT like Frost). Like the elemental resistance down from the Tier II En-spells the additional effects grow in power to a certain degree.

The idea of this JA is to allow RDM a better oppertunity to move into the front line's by improving their power a bit, and reduce the amount of spells they need to cast while still offering a little mage support at the same time.

[Fetus]

I vote yes to Enhancing Seal or something like it. Making it enhance the potency of the next Enhancing Magic spell by like +25% or something seems like the easiest solution. Haste II would also be fine and dandy as long as Enhancing Magic skill has some role to play in its effectiveness... otherwise, what's the point? All of this "Augments Composure" or Increases Enhancing Magic effect duration stuff is worthless unless we have something worthwhile to cast.

[Supersun]

Enhancing Seal seems like an idea waiting to go wrong. Last thing I need is a bunch of DDs complaining because I used the seal + haste on someone other then him.

[Seriha]

And you know it'll be on a 10 minute timer, too. No thanks.

Only thing that'd make such a thing worthwhile was if the cast buff winds up lasting an hour, but the choice will boil down to haste or refresh.

[solidous]

RDM only Refreshga 1-2 and hastega, problem solved go melee if you want.

[Supersun]

Too bad SE will never give us those since they conflict with the nature of the job.

[ManaKing]

We already get Composure and Saboteur. Why would be need more JAs?

RDM are melee. Throw dirt in the mobs eyes, stab them with your lightning sword, and heal your friends because you like playing with them and don''t want them to die if the mob gets serious. I play RDM because I enjoy the flexibility to do a little bit of everything. If you want to be a support there are much better jobs at being dedicated support.

We are already super great at debuffing.

[Duelle]

Too bad SE will never give us those since they conflict with the nature of the job.This is where intent and concept clash. We've been given spells that other players want casted on them. We get only single-target versions, which means we spend most of our time casting these single-target spells, robbing us of a lot of time. I never really thought giving RDM busy work in parties through spell cycles and the stress associated with healing on top of it was good design.

[Seriha]

We are already super great at debuffing.

Not really. Only debuff we have unique to us at the moment is Addle, and if the DATs are to be believed, other jobs will be getting it as the cap rises. BRD, without any JA use, has a more potent Slow. BLU has some debuffs we don't, a lot of them also being AoE or Conal. BLMs were always better sleepers.

Honestly, I'd be willing to drop the melee crusade if SE really embraced the enfeebling role, but that still wouldn't help most basic scenarios like EXP (mobs die way too quickly to get the full spread, nevermind MP costs to do so every mob) or seal farming where people believe slowing down or inhibiting a mob's attacks is a detriment to a MNK's counter/kill speed.

[Strife]

Haha RDM is such a versatile job I'm not surprised there are such differing opinions on what a RDM does/ is good at, it's good to see^^


There's a difference between an actually essential part of a group by game design and something with an inflated value due to a handful of factors. RDM, like it or not, has always been of the latter.

Your kidding right <.<? RDM has always been and still is an essential job in my HNM LS -Abyssea LS is probably more accurate now, who does HNM any more? lol- De-buffing mobs makes a tanks job so much easier & on some mobs took them from challenging to easily manageable, enhancing was also always a big part of my job at events allowing our melee or mages to pump out more damage while I also helped to keep them healthy. In a party or alliance situation these have always been a RDM main duties as compared to other adepts in each class RDM DD is lacklustre (that's not to discount RDM offensive capabilities though which solo can be quite good this coupled with RDM excellent survivability make then in my opinion the best soloer in the game & this was always how I enjoyed playing the job most).


Blue Mage has "better" "AoE" buffs and a better skill.
BLU doesn't really have any AoE buffs except SS unless you use Diffusion & even capped -& why would you cap this over other things?- with the low duration of most BLU buffs it's pretty useless.


I mean the VAST majority of Rdm's spells have actually been self-targeting only.
True but that doesn't limit us to 4 buffs /whm we get all the important ones & you know SE likes people to use their subs.


Exactly. Whm can buff everyone at once. They can get pro/shell up on a party without spending 1k mp, and a minute of casting.
/SCH & you can pro/ shell the entire party at once.


Enhancing Seal seems like an idea waiting to go wrong. Last thing I need is a bunch of DDs complaining because I used the seal + haste on someone other then him.
Lol I could see this happening to.


RDM only Refreshga 1-2
Go /SCH


We've been given spells that other players want casted on them. We get only single-target versions, which means we spend most of our time casting these single-target spells, robbing us of a lot of time
This is what Composure & AF3 are for.

I don't really agree that RDM needs big changes to make it a relevant job for buffing again & I think the changes the OP is suggesting while sounding nice are kind of game breaking. RDM is a jack-of-all-trades master of none -save enfeebling- always has been. We get a lot of the benefits a SCH does using it as a sub now, sure Accession triples recast but with how long our buffs can last now who cares? Even though we have the highest enhancing magic skill we were never in any practical sense THE enhancers we were always supplementary in the role helping the other support role jobs enhance the party with de/buffs and cures. We will never beat out jobs such as BRD that are specifically geared towards party buffs because we have so much skill in other areas.

[Protey]

i see a bunch of you asking for refreshga, hastega, and other buffs... i'm wondering why i don't see the buff mentioned that all of you have in the back of your mind:

we should be able to purchase a spell that puts a friggin laser beam on our heads for one miiiiiillion dollars... err gil.

[ManaKing]

I've always seen our Enhancing skill being the highest as a way to ensure that our en-spell damage is the best in the game. The only enhancing magic that gets better qualitatively with higher enhancing skill are all self target, combat spells. Phallanx, Enspells, Stoneskin, Gain Stat, and Spike spells all get something from higher enhancing.

Better Spells and abilities out shine what we can do in that roll. With one exception. Phallanx II you can cast on others. Look we have a job in a party. Huzzah! What is that, MNK > PLD? They would like Phallanx II? There you go. Now get up there and stab that mob in the face so that it dies faster. IF you don't like doing that then go level SCH. It really is what you are looking for and is an exceptional job.

[Kitkat]

Guess I was the only one who thought it was kinda lame that 300-437 Enhancing gives less potency to enhancing spells thatn 200-300 did. Prior to cap raise Phalanx equation was (Enhancing magic skill / 10) - 2, now it is similar to Phalanx II equation past the 300 mark. This can also be seen on barspells. Haven't been on rdm enough to see if Enspell equations were unaffected...but it just seems like capping enhancing was more a waste of my time only to see minimal gain out of it ;;

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Haste, one of the most important enhancing magic spells, has always been shared with WHM who even gets it 8 levels earlier. With the recent increases in the level cap, any /WHM can haste, and soon every /RDM will be able to haste as well. On top of that, SMNs now have a practically useful hastega.Haste is and always has been a WHM spell. RDM is after the fact.

And nearly everything in your OP is WHM for that matter, I understand the title, but you're confusing what the job is supposed to do. It sounds like a complainer RDM complaining.

[Duelle]

De-buffing mobs makes a tanks job so much easier & on some mobs took them from challenging to easily manageableMNKs, Counter and higher overall tank survivability make this moot.
enhancing was also always a big part of my job at events allowing our melee or mages to pump out more damage while I also helped to keep them healthySee my point about Heals, Refresh, Haste.

[Swords]

Guess I was the only one who thought it was kinda lame that 300-437 Enhancing gives less potency to enhancing spells thatn 200-300 did. Prior to cap raise Phalanx equation was (Enhancing magic skill / 10) - 2, now it is similar to Phalanx II equation past the 300 mark. This can also be seen on barspells. Haven't been on rdm enough to see if Enspell equations were unaffected...but it just seems like capping enhancing was more a waste of my time only to see minimal gain out of it ;;

Spells that are directly affected by enhancing skill like Enspells and stoneskin are still limited to their old Caps so your still only going to max 21/42 damage from Tier I/II enspells and Stoneskin is still only gonna absorb up to 350 dmg, excluding gear that increases these through other means of course.

[Eth]

"Support specialists who excel at transforming their allies from mere mortals into demigods with their enhancements."

Very first sentence of SE's official vision of what the RDM job is or should be.

So.. Rog, Wildsprite, Duelle, you are all welcome to your personal opinions. But I hope we can now lay this silly notion to rest that enhancing is not one of RDM's primary intended functions.

[Seriha]

I'll believe it when we actually get some unique spells we can cast on others.

Not sure what's worse, the manifesto line or "RDMs are powerful, so we have to be careful" (Also known as, "We don't know what to do!")

[Supersun]

Still haven't gotten another one of these "transformative demigod" spells since lvl 48.

[Duelle]

So.. Rog, Wildsprite, Duelle, you are all welcome to your personal opinions. But I hope we can now lay this silly notion to rest that enhancing is not one of RDM's primary intended functions.Oh, how sweet. I got namedropped. I'll reserve judgment until I see implementation, as was wisely noted in the General thread about the visions, they may not go all the way with anything they wrote there. Still, AyinDygra succinctly summed up my reaction to the RDM part of the manifesto:
Red Mage
"We've decided to rename Red Mage: Oracle (From FFT). Forget the whole white and black magic thing and the magic fencing with swords... they're mainly enhancers and enfeeblers now. We're giving their dual magic side to Scholar and melee side to a new job that we're not talking about yet (Mystic Knight.)" That's what I read. "Red Mage" doesn't exist anymore.


Still haven't gotten another one of these "transformative demigod" spells since lvl 48.There's this, too. Demi-god buffs would be something like +Max HP, +Max MP, crazy insane regeneration, huge damage mitigation for a couple of seconds, +crit rate, +crit damage...hell, if you want to see the full list, google Lineage 2 Prophet or Heirophant. and look at their spell list. Granted, they're only good for acting as buff bots for two-boxers, but I'm not the one wanting to go in that direction. >.>;

[Hyrist]

Green Mage is more like it.

Not that I mind being a buffer. But seriously, SE make claims to our buffing skills that are just not there, at all.

Protect
Shell
Phalanx II
Haste
Refresh

These are the only enhancing spell lines we can share with party members without /sch being MANDATORY. and 3 of them are accessable from whm, 2 of those 3 have a better version available to WHM. WHM also has AoE versions of some of our own other enhancing spells. They also have other buff magic we dont. (Auspice.)

Put bluntly. White Mages are better buffers than we are.

SE has to make some absolutely drastic changes to Red Mage to get that 'Vision' to be adaquate. And so far, they've got nothing to show for progress on it. Adding more debuffs does not add to that image, nor does Quick Cast.

[saevel]

I would dearly like more enhancing magic, just not more fckign cycles. Although honestly I think "cycles" are dead, haven't seen them used in months now. Emp armor really helps out with reducing the load though.

What I've always said is that RDM's should do things through their enhancing magic, both mage mode and melee mode. We should have self-cast spells that make us better at either. I would love a special super Regen that healed based on enhancing magic skill, or enspells that actually work (Tier 1's getting long in the tooth). Give us a JT that enhances duration / effect of enhancing magic based on our enhancing skill.

And I lol'd at the "Oracle / Green mage" reference. Both those jobs were theme jobs and pretty useless. I only leveled Oracle to get access to pray-faith and that spell that raise's brave. I spammed them to get all my melee char's at 97 brave.

[AyinDygra]

Two thoughts seem to stand out to me on the "Enhancer" role for Red Mage:
1: Most of Red Mage's enhancing spells are self-target.
2: Red Mages don't need any more cycles.

One possible solution to both:
Job Ability: All for One and One for All (maybe too long of a name...)
As long as the Red Mage is hitting a target with their weapon, they produce an aura that copies all buffs on themselves to other party members around them.
(potential sub-feature... Red Mage may gain the benefit of self-target buffs of other party members, such as when a Monk uses Focus/Dodge, the Red Mage would gain accuracy/evasion too. Berserk when Warriors use berserk, etc ... and when coupled with the Red Mage's buffs copying to the others... anybody's self-buff now becomes a party buff! Demi-gods anyone? Would need to look at all the potential combinations to see the real potential)

Now, all their self-buffs become "AoE", there are no cycles (except Refresh for the mages who aren't in the aura range), and they get to melee monsters as a bonus.

~*~

They could obviously use new enhancing and enfeebling spells, if they're going to live up to the definition provided by SE in that vision, but it's a good start with what they already have. And yes, I tied it in to the Melee side of Red Mage (without breaking with their vision!)

[Seriha]

I've entertained similar before, exceptions to transfer being buffs that change in status over time like Blink, Stoneskin, and perhaps Aquaveil. Otherwise you could technically make your party invincible or close to it. Then again, that would fit the vision blurb...

[Swords]

I've entertained similar before, exceptions to transfer being buffs that change in status over time like Blink, Stoneskin, and perhaps Aquaveil. Otherwise you could technically make your party invincible or close to it. Then again, that would fit the vision blurb...

Not like game mechanics arn't already horribly broken as it is.