[Job Adjustmentｓ Manifesto] RDM

[Economizer]

Would you trade Cure 5 for them though? You'd be silly if you would considering that they are only marginally better then the T1 enfeebles (10% at best) and Cure 5 is well...Cure 5. It's pretty hard to debate inviting a Rdm JUST for their enfeebles when that's essentially the trade you are making by not inviting another Whm...not like that many things at the moment need more then one Whm anyway.

You don't ever just invite a Red Mage just for enfeebles. You also invite it for the buffs they use, and depending on how good the Red Mage is at handling these, extra magical and melee damage.

Would I trade Cure V for these enfeebles as a White Mage? No, I wouldn't, because if White Mage didn't have Cure V, there would be very little reason to have one. If either SCH or RDM were to get it, they'd pretty much dominate WHM in most aspects because they have superior MP longevity and they perform other roles like crowd control and buffs better.

Both camps act as if they aren't useful at all without the spell, but they ignore the problem that currently plagues the White Mage class, the prospect that at any moment, the masses will have their way, and White Mage will be useless outside of being needed for certain procs in Abyssea.

Anyone who says that superior cure potency gear or Cure VI would prevent any job with a better mana pool from being a better healer really doesn't understand how White Mage functions. They also could use a history lesson in FFXI, namely the ToAU era.

Maybe there is something seriously wrong with White Mage being the only job with Cure V, but at this point in time, White Mage doesn't have much else going for it. A bit of a metaphor, I'd still invite a Red Mage to a party even if the job couldn't cure at all. I couldn't say the same for White Mage.

[SpankWustler]

True enough, Doom. The joke kind of died half-way through my post, but I wasn't done making my point so I opted to drag it's rotting carcass along with me. Maybe that wasn't the soundest decision.

I still think "SpankWustler" is a perfectly goofy word, though. "The SpankWustler" sounds like a Doctor Seuss book about an awkward, fuzzy, little creature with one tremendous hand.

Would I trade Cure V for these enfeebles as a White Mage? No, I wouldn't, because if White Mage didn't have Cure V, there would be very little reason to have one. If either SCH or RDM were to get it, they'd pretty much dominate WHM in most aspects because they have superior MP longevity and they perform other roles like crowd control and buffs better.

Assuming you play White Mage completely naked and with no job abilities; this is a serious concern. Otherwise, it's more of an irrational fear born of a time when people fought pink birds and White Mage had a little over half the resources it has currently.

A 35% Cure-Skin with a cap of 400 is extremely helpful against challenging monsters, and a properly be-pantsed White Mage's cures are extremely MP efficient compared to any other job.

As for MP longevity, unless you need or want Stun you're probably subbing SpankWustler or Scholar. So White Mage generally has some form of MP restoration along with it's far, far more efficient cures.

Yeah, giving more jobs access to cure V might inspire a few folks to bring along a Spankwustler mule to heal themselves on easy content instead of a White Mage mule, but I don't see it affecting White Mage much otherwise. Particularly not on things like Voidwatch that actually offer vaguely hard monsters.

As somebody who is on White Mage 90% of the time, I could care less about having a iron-fisted monopoly on healing. It would make my rolls of fat undulate with joy if a buddy who so desired could heal in Abyssea on SpankWustler or Scholar, so I could at least find out if my new macros for Blue Mage or Corsair even work.

Although, maybe the disparity will sort itself out once Abyssea is just another event instead of the primary event. Our HP outside isn't that much higher now, and it won't be that much higher at 99.

Too-Long-Did-Not-Read-Version: No, other jobs getting Cure V wouldn't have a meaningful, negative impact on White Mage. It's a far more fleshed-out job now than it was five years ago.

In other news, I'd choke a kitten to cast Dia III. While it's only a 5% increase over Dia II, it's a 15% increase over some butt-brained Black Mage's Bio II. I know that's not a good reason, but overwriting that dreadful spell would feel so good.

Not that Spankwustler's merits, Category I and II, aren't a little lackluster otherwise. That's the case with a lot of jobs. Fortunately, that sounds like something the current development team really wants to work on.

[Neisan_Quetz]

In other news, I'd choke a kitten to cast Dia III. While it's only a 5% increase over Dia II, it's a 15% increase over some butt-brained Black Mage's Bio II. I know that's not a good reason, but overwriting that dreadful spell would feel so good.

Not that Spankwustler's merits, Category I and II, aren't a little lackluster otherwise. That's the case with a lot of jobs. Fortunately, that sounds like something the current development team really wants to work on.

I never get tired of overwriting Bio 2 - and then rage as another Rdm casts Bio 3 over me.


As for the Cor argument - I have no problem with Cor being considered more viable (because Cor really needs the buffs) as long as SE delivers. Come on SE, deliver.

[SpankWustler]

I never get tired of overwriting Bio 2 - and then rage as another Rdm casts Bio 3 over me.


As for the Cor argument - I have no problem with Cor being considered more viable (because Cor really needs the buffs) as long as SE delivers. Come on SE, deliver.

Bio III - Strong enough to use while spending 2 hours soloing an NM because you have no idea how to cast Elemental Magic, but subtle enough to enrage countless melee and one other caster in just 1.5 seconds. The perfect spell.

Corsair definitely could use...something. Most of it's unique buffs from rolls (which never held a candle to a decent March for a competent melee) are all over equipment now, and the relatively new "Haste" roll is too weird to be universally useful. Between that and stacks of Oberon's Bullets existing only in the hearts and minds of dreaming children, I'm barely on the job at all.

It seems like the last job anyone should worry about taking their favorite job's role, as things stand.

[Duelle]

Would I trade Cure V for these enfeebles as a White Mage? No, I wouldn't, because if White Mage didn't have Cure V, there would be very little reason to have one. If either SCH or RDM were to get it, they'd pretty much dominate WHM in most aspects because they have superior MP longevity and they perform other roles like crowd control and buffs better.

Both camps act as if they aren't useful at all without the spell, but they ignore the problem that currently plagues the White Mage class, the prospect that at any moment, the masses will have their way, and White Mage will be useless outside of being needed for certain procs in Abyssea.

The answer there would be to refine RDM's roles, create an alternate spell for healing for RDM and SCH, and give WHM additional and class-inherent (because almost everything that contributes to MP efficacy on WHM comes from gear that enters the game very late in the leveling process) MP efficacy. Seeing that Refresh I and II are the most un-RDM things to ever exist, I wouldn't mind giving those to WHM as well. The only thing you'd be missing is convert, which is fixed at 80 when you sub RDM.

A bit of a metaphor, I'd still invite a Red Mage to a party even if the job couldn't cure at all. I couldn't say the same for White Mage.

Well, both jobs are kind of different. One is a healer, the other is a guy with white magic, black magic, and a sword in hand.

[SpankWustler]

Seeing that Refresh I and II are the most un-RDM things to ever exist

Something that some guy from SE said a couple of weeks ago:

"Support specialists who excel at transforming their allies from mere mortals into demigods with their enhancements, while rendering once-formidable enemies impotent with enfeebling magic.

We want to see red mages play a more vital role in HNM battles by making enfeebling magic more effective against high-level notorious monsters and their legendary levels of resistance as well as allowing them to better contribute to party member enhancement."

My apologies to you and your Frankenfurter-Flipper's Sharpened Spatula, but the dudes at SE seem to have other ideas and they're the ones who will be fine-tuning SpankWustler.

Not being sarcastic. Well, not with the "Sorry" part, anyway.

I get that you're not happy with not being able to hit things with things while wearing a red thing on your thing, but that's not the direction things are going in this game.

Yeah, the idea of a spellsword or whatnot is a common concept in fantasy works and fantasy RPGs in particular. It's just that a dude in blue pants fills that role in FFXI rather than a dude in red pants, as was the case in some previous Square games.

Sorry you got a raw deal in that Red Mage isn't what you expected, but keep in mind lots of people enjoy SpankWustler as-is and apparently the development team is among those people.