The Problem with Red Mage . . .

[Slvr_Stryker]

[[ comes in as BLU to crash the party ]] Hay gaiz, I herd dis waz teh complant fiel 4 BLU? 8D

But no, in all seriousness...I think a lot of it has to do with the player base as well. Yeah, SE isn't exactly throwing you any favors one way or the other, but the general consensus (one that I share) is the whole "jack of all trades" ideal, where they may not be the best at everything, but they're at least proficient enough in all of the things to matter enough in the long run. It also doesn't help that, for the longest time in this game, people forgot about the specialists that were WHM and BLM in a few key events, like exp or Dynamis. Sure, in the latter's case, you would still see both of them, but in the former's case, around the time when Colibri parties came along, both of those jobs virtually became obsolete. RDM could support the party for a much longer time than any WHM could, and it's not like you could effectively cast magic on Colibri without them casting it right back at you. Even in endgame events like sky, ground kings, Dynamis, anything...the thought of not going without a RDM or two was virtually unheard of. RDMs had a *lot* of fame back before the level caps rose...and then it suddenly it vanished when the levels rose past 75. All of what involved breaking past 75 meant that other mage jobs became more relevant again, leaving RDM, that "jack of all trades" in the dust. I will very freely admit, and this is very bold and highly rude of me, that I personally view all of the complaints about "Oh, RDM should get this!" "Oh, RDM should get that!" "Hey, why didn't RDM get this, this was designed for us and is better suited for us!" as...well...as incessant whining and moaning about how every single career RDM misses their glory days and wants to get them back. And I'm fairly sure that a lot of players in this game that we play probably have the same views I do.

However, this is to say that I don't feel that RDM needs something new and refreshing. I know, taking RDM up to only 49 means I missed half of what makes RDM great (I leveled it as a sub for my BLU, go figure), but knowing a few RDMs personally does at least help me realize the fact that RDM does indeed need *something* to make itself relevant in this game once again, and reading through this thread helps me consider a few things.

For the Melee side of RDM...let's face it, RDMs probably aren't going to compare to, say, WAR or DRK nowadays, but I think it is fairly safe to say that the melee side does need a boost. Maybe some RDM-exclusive gear that helps give them extra physical power, and I'm sure that WARs wouldn't even miss Sanguine Blade if it was taken off of them and slapped onto RDM. As far as Daniel_Hatcher's idea of Brave...I like it...except for the Regen+ ideal. You do have to keep in mind that if you were given something, it would likely be used alongside Composure, which means a really long duration and potency for all three of those stats, which is something that not even BLU gets. I know, I know, "but BLU gets all these unique buffs and spells that we don't get", I get it. But here's the thing: as I've stated elsewhere, BLUs are not as flexible as you RDMs. We have to plan and map out in advance what we need to use the most to boost our effectiveness, where as you guys can swap in and out as you please with no penalty or wait time. Not to mention that we generally have no real way of boosting all of our most interesting buffs in both length and duration; they're all static timers, and we don't have a Composure ability.

On the magic side...well, again, I've already said something very vocal about that: Dualcast. The simple fact is, if it was actually possible to code in the way I envision it, it would do a number of things for the job's magic side. It would help boost numbers in nuking damage, it would create the ability to give out stronger cures, and it would single-handedly help step enfeebling, which in this game is a RDM's top skill, back into the spotlight once more. As far as AoEing spells...I don't really think that's the case here. Maybe instead of limiting to self-target, like how Temper is, limiting it to only single-target, but still restricting it from being Accession'd or spread out in any way, shape, or form. If you look at a lot of what RDM has, aside from Diaga, it really has virtually 0 spread-target spells. Everything they have is single-target only, and I highly think it should stay that way. Ties in to the whole "specialist would be better off, but this works in a pinch" ideal that RDMs generally persist in having.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

[[ comes in as BLU to crash the party ]]As far as Daniel_Hatcher's idea of Brave...I like it...except for the Regen+ ideal.

The thing is even with Composure and Regen II stacking it's not really anything special and it no way detracts from SCH's Regen.

Regen II + Brave = 24 Regen /tic
SCH Regen II = 36 Regen /tic

Originally I decided on Haste being added to Brave and Fast Cast to Faith, but I could see SE saying no due to being OP, so settled on recovery forms of the stat damaged. Regen = Brave - Refresh = Faith.

[Tamarsamar]

I know, I know, "but BLU gets all these unique buffs and spells that we don't get", I get it.

For the most part, you are mistaken. It's not your buffs or spells that we don't get that we're complaining about; it's your insane gear availability over us.

(Also, I remember you from the old HSSS podcast; I enjoyed your narrative!)

[Demon6324236]

For the most part, you are mistaken. It's not your buffs or spells that we don't get that we're complaining about; it's your insane gear availability over us.

(Also, I remember you from the old HSSS podcast; I enjoyed your narrative!)

This is completely true, for me at least. It isn't so much the buffs, or spells, or anything of the sort that has ever bothered me. My problem will always be the gear options, ever since I saw that Emp gear for RDM was limited to 100% mage stats, I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn't honestly expect it like this. RDM is on some non-All Jobs haste gear, but limited outside of the occasional "mage" gear piece with haste on it like Shedir body or Rubeus Spats it seems. Where as BLU is not the same, it gets access to a wide range of gear, for all types of things, such as Toci's, Athos, and with Neo-Limbus gear. Were RDM open to the same gear as a BLU is I would be perfectly happy where RDM would stand with melee. As I have said before, I would trade my Zelus in for a Oce. Headpiece +1 any day!