The Unoffical "Let's Fix Red mage" Thread

[ManaKing]

In reference to the new 2 Hours, SE told us they were working on a way to add more recast timers for job abilities and add new spells.

The reason we don't have new 2 hours already is that the new administration wanted us to have both available, instead of having to pick because it felt like the proper way to move forward.

For jobs like Dragoon, they may have access to all 4 offensive jumps. For jobs like RDM, it might mean a lot more. This is all going to come down to what the new vision is for the game and how they go about implementing it.

I said previously that I am hopefully and optimistic, but I am still reserved. The way the new administration is moving COULD indicate great things for us. It could also be me choosing to see what I want to see. I am supportive of the changes that are being made and I am willing to give the newer administration enough time/faith to disappoint RDM yet again. BUT I do think they will do better than their predecessors only based on how they are addressing new issues such as the 2 hours and the way in which they are going about fixing them for not just the current game but also for future improvements.

[Demon6324236]

I am 50/50 with them myself. I am interested by the things we have seen so far, asking what we want, and changing how the new 2-hours would function in general, not to mention reducing recast timers. My problems however are I still feel we are being ignored in some cases without being given a valid reason, one such case I am sure you can agree with me on that effects RDM greatly, is the fact they seem to be willing to do nothing to change how Excalibur interacts with Enspells. This kind of behavior is what saddens me, and takes away the hope I do, or did have.

Greetings,

Correct, this is intentional. As some of you may already know, added effects from weapons cannot stack, thus unfortunately the added effect from Excalibur cannot be used in conjunction with Enlight.

Also, it is not possible to make it so the effect from Enlight activates when the added effect from Excalibur does not. Likewise, changing the priority so that Excalibur's added effect is higher than Enlight would require a complete reworking of the weapon as well as limit the use of Enlight, which is not a realistic approach to this.

With that said, we will be keeping priority on Enlight and would like players to choose which effect they want to use by removing the Enlight effect for the times they prefer having Excalibur's added effect.

This was from the PLD area, however it effects RDM just as much as a PLD, or possibly even more.

[ManaKing]

It effects RDM more than PLD because Enlight + Almace is still very reasonable.

I don't disagree with your sentiment either, BUT I don't think that they are just going to run to our rescue and prioritize us first because we require more work than most jobs to do properly.

I hope they make large general fixes that help everyone first, such as adding more job abilities and spells. RDM will still be comparatively boned, but in actuality stronger than previously. We will still be under-powered and undesirable, but if they so choose they can come in and fix and fine tune a lot of the issues that this job has been hung up on for a long time.

The Excalibur response was infuriating bullshit, but it doesn't stop me from using it and enjoying it. I don't use enspells right now because I really want to get a good feel for pros and cons on the additional affect. When I double damage crit and the additional affect goes off, I feel great and the mob probably has eaten shit and died. If it hasn't, I don't get the extra hate from the additional affect. I can drop a lot more damage on a mob at once and it is very enjoyable. What would make it more enjoyable and not even remotely over powered? The additional affect from Excalibur overriding regular enspells.....

[Crimson_Slasher]

Hows about we give a trait to rdm allowing enfeebles to near-instant cast? Recasts can be unaffected if they are worried about balance but if we are intended to enfeeble, then breakneck cast speeds and possibly short recasts would ALMOST address our ability to do croud-control. Also wouldnt hurt in the melee field with a quick little pop of a spell fired at headbutt or stun speeds.

Aside from that, it may not be the best option, but i still stand by stances, because stances can be made excessively powerful on grounds of being dispelled, or locking/limiting other functions.

[Trangnai]

In reference to the new 2 Hours, SE told us they were working on a way to add more recast timers for job abilities and add new spells.

The reason we don't have new 2 hours already is that the new administration wanted us to have both available, instead of having to pick because it felt like the proper way to move forward.

For jobs like Dragoon, they may have access to all 4 offensive jumps. For jobs like RDM, it might mean a lot more. This is all going to come down to what the new vision is for the game and how they go about implementing it.

I said previously that I am hopefully and optimistic, but I am still reserved. The way the new administration is moving COULD indicate great things for us. It could also be me choosing to see what I want to see. I am supportive of the changes that are being made and I am willing to give the newer administration enough time/faith to disappoint RDM yet again. BUT I do think they will do better than their predecessors only based on how they are addressing new issues such as the 2 hours and the way in which they are going about fixing them for not just the current game but also for future improvements.

While I feel rdms ned 2hr is a lack luster, its good to see they are trying to implelement ways fo jobs to change and advance our current system within the game. Even thought this won't benifit rdm alone th advancements to the game could benifit rdm in a series of ways.

I know he devs have alot of stuff to work on alot of people to listen to and code to mess with to figure out if the game can change without breaking it. They are still having issues fixing other things broken by the last update.

FFXI is really reaching the end of its lifeline, at least as long as it has PS2 support. I have to admit I'm impessed they pushed it this far but 32bs of ram... slow custom CPU and needding to hav dedicated devs to that system and its unquie archtechture are what is prohibitng this game from moving forward, there would be no "we cn't do this" if they were not using such a dated system and could revamp engines and such.

Let me put it this way I can't still play WoW on a PowerMac G5

I can't still play EQ on Windows 98

etc etc, its soethig that MMOs do and it part of being a company that deveolps MMOs. We all talk about job balance and such. but Balance isn't as much of issue as having a reason to play it, just because other classes may be better at most roles you can play, how can the end group benifit from having you over another class?

If the PS2 is part of the reason rdm is stuck in Limbo other jobs are neglected etc etc. SE may just have to realise the PS2 needs to be dropped for deveolpmet of this game to contiune.

[Windblade]

I know this is an old thread, but as one who is very interested in RDM improvements, I just had to go ahead and reply.

My favorite job combination for RDM, especially when soloing, is RDM/WHM. Being able to remove status ailments is fantastic, plus there's the Convert/Divine Magic combination. But I love soloing. The only thing I don't like is that it takes RDM so long to kill something, and yet we can spend all the time enhancing, enfeebling, keeping ourselves alive, etc... RDM doesn't have any devastating weapon skills. I can fight alongside some other job and he can kill three mobs in the time it takes me to kill one, so he gets solo experience three times faster than I can. I believe that the time spent working on a mob should also be counted toward experience points.

As for the lack of real attack power with RDM, I suggest a method by which you could attain solo magic bursts. I tend to conserve MP when soloing so I can keep enhancements and cures going, so I don't do a whole lot of nuking, especially since the elemental magic skill limitation keeps nukes from doing a whole lot of damage. But what if Red Mage got a whole set of elemental weapon skills, at least one for each element? You could then have an en-spell going, then use a certain elemental weapon skill, and THEN use an elemental nuke spell for a magic burst -- maybe even a magic burst that is more powerful than what is normally attained when waiting for other players to set you up for a magic burst. Maybe call it a magic blast or something.

When I first started playing, I thought it was logical that you could first use a water spell on a mob, followed by a thunder spell to electrocute him more effectively. Of course, it doesn't actually work like that, but it would be great if it did. So a water spell should keep a mob wet for a time, causing double damage from Enthunder. Or you could combine Enfire, a fire weapon skill, then a fire spell to really incinerate the mob to a crisp as each one builds on the other.

Additionally, there's the cure issue. I remember hearing that a long time ago, not long before I started playing, RDM had Cure V. I had hoped that we'd get it back when the level cap was raised, but it didn't happen. Being stuck at Cure IV really does stink when you're Lv.99.

All these enhancements don't do a whole lot of good when you're in Abyssea. Even all the Easy Prey mobs I've fought in Abyssea hit a lot like even match mobs, even through Phalanx. So the need for some way to kill these mobs more quickly is desperately needed, in my view. I don't actually enjoy soloing in Abyssea because I can die so easily, while something like a monk seems to have a much easier time of it.

FWIW,
Windblade

[Crimson_Slasher]

With propper gearing, kill speed isnt too bad, even without an emp i averaged 2500+ deathblossoms at 95 cap on EM sandsweepers in abyssea, and rdm can really do some decent DOT with temper and enspells and DW/DA/Haste gears.

But i still do agree with you that being so heavily gear reliant for even a little kill speed is something that could be addressed. Also subjob choice of /whm can hurt that killspeed too, and if you wouldnt mind we are entirely open to offering gear selection suggestions if you would care to show us what you are currently using when fighting mobs?

[Windblade]

With propper gearing, kill speed isnt too bad, even without an emp i averaged 2500+ deathblossoms at 95 cap on EM sandsweepers in abyssea, and rdm can really do some decent DOT with temper and enspells and DW/DA/Haste gears.

But i still do agree with you that being so heavily gear reliant for even a little kill speed is something that could be addressed. Also subjob choice of /whm can hurt that killspeed too, and if you wouldnt mind we are entirely open to offering gear selection suggestions if you would care to show us what you are currently using when fighting mobs?

Well, that WHM subjob can remove blindness, paralysis, and most other status ailments that can easily nullify any advantages you might think you get from leaving the WHM sub in the mog house. Like you can remove all those pesky Attack-Down, Defense-Down ailments. Probably, all job combos result in generally the same end result. The only variation is in how you attain victory. So some job combos take a little longer, some are a little faster. And which mobs you're fighting makes a difference, too.

[Doombringer]

Well, that WHM subjob can remove blindness, paralysis, and most other status ailments that can easily nullify any advantages you might think you get from leaving the WHM sub in the mog house. Like you can remove all those pesky Attack-Down, Defense-Down ailments. Probably, all job combos result in generally the same end result. The only variation is in how you attain victory. So some job combos take a little longer, some are a little faster. And which mobs you're fighting makes a difference, too.

lemme preface this with a simple disclaimer; you can sub whatever you want.

BUT! /WHM really does nothing for your killspeed, and dual wield is a pretty huge deal. so don't delude yourself.

/NIN is like a 35-40% DMG buff, not to mention that utsusemi will mitigate a lot of the damage you take, and potentially some of those status ailments you were on about (assuming the mob even has them)

/DNC gives a lower tier of dual wield than /NIN, but you're still looking at a 20-30% DMG increase compared to /WHM. this also gives you healing waltz, which directly removes status ailments. (even silence since it's a job ability and not a spell.) you also gain sambas, which can up your survivability, staying power, or damage. (though they force you to use enspell2 or no enspells at all. so it's not exactly a free lunch)

The only PRACTICAL reason to /WHM is if you see yourself needing to throw out lots of -na spells for multiple people, particularly if you don't wanna be within range of eating those status ailments yourself (that pretty much rules out /DNC) and many would argue that you can get the same or better results by subbing scholar.



Again, NOT trying to kick anybody's favorite baby down the stairs, just trying to help you make an informed decision.

[saevel]

The only PRACTICAL reason to /WHM is if you see yourself needing to throw out lots of -na spells for multiple people, particularly if you don't wanna be within range of eating those status ailments yourself (that pretty much rules out /DNC) and many would argue that you can get the same or better results by subbing scholar.

To add to what DB said here, /SCH is typically your sub of choice for party work. The only thing /WHM has over it is stona.

DWIII is 25% DR, suppa is 5% additional DR.
100/70 = 42.85% increase in melee DPS from /NIN
100/80 = 25% increase in melee DPS from /DNC

That doesn't take into account the additional hit on WS's nor the slightly increased TP gain speed. So for raw kill speed /NIN or /DNC are the way to go, for party support it's /SCH or rarely /WHM.