take rdm out if ffxi

[Urthdigger]

I think it's less that they should remove RDM, and more that they should remove melee. Trying to melee anything of a decent level nowadays is just asking for a bad time.

[Ketaru]

It's definitely a gear problem. With Composure and Gain-DEX up, I have just over 1000 accuracy without food. A bit of my gear is still outdated as well, since I just returned in November but had a lot of help catching up. My Taeon augments aren't the best and my Despair gear isn't finished. With a few changes here and there, I think I could get the accuracy to even hit Apex mobs reliably (Tenzen, however, is being a prick and won't drop Ginsen, for example).

If anything, RDM's melee rather overwhelmed me when I returned. We now have all the best Sword weaponskills without having a sub not-/NIN, have access to melee gear comparable to more dedicated DDs, and have opportunities to make even modest weapons that lend to both melee and spellcasting, such as Vampirism? With the best gear available, I hear it is even possible to just spam weaponskills endless, effectively doing back-to-back Light skillchains. And, because of the job's hybrid skills, we can even magic burst those skillchains, which is entirely the point of skillchains these days.

I think the job is doing pretty good. It just doesn't fit the currently dominant paradigm of SCH, GEO, BST for all pickup events. But players' attitudes are hardly the job's fault.

[dasva]

Use your defensive spells and DT gear. Rdm has always been one of the most resilient non tank jobs and at times even more resilient than the tank jobs

[Hyrist]

An update for those wondering.

Taeon, Claideamh Solius is soloable, though expensive to do alone. But this will get you entry level on gear as you work up.

Demersal Degen, Bleating Mantle, Carmine Cussies +1 and Combaant's Torque's are NM dependent and are currently out-of-reach for me as a soloist. I'll need to get a dedicated group for these things. Bleating Mantle, however, IMO looks to be replaceable now with the Augmented Ambuscade Cape with melee augments in them. I would figure DA +10, Accuracy +20 and Dex +20 outweigh what the loss of Triple Attack +2 could bring you in this case.

No word yet on Eabani Earring as I have not attempted the Escha Zi'tah boss. My idea is I will have to watch for crowds and co-op into this open event with my own trusts.

Windbuffet Belt +1 is AH buyable, but about 3 mil on Asura. I was lucky and got into a Walk of Echoes with a couple of Blue Mages doing a Surge walk 13 and it dropped for me there.

A word, however on A. Skirmish Gear and augments.

Dusk-anything, let alone Dusk Tips, which are required for the Damage Augment on the sword, as well as the +STR/DEX on armor pieces are incredibly rare and at a premium on Asura. This may take a lot of farming to get even a single piece to drop and I would recommend finding a farming group of similar interests to go with for repeat runs of Yorcia Weild A. Skirmish - as you will want plenty of Leaftips for attempts at triple-attack +2s for each Taeon piece regardless.

Taeon still remains our best 'easy to approach set' due to the focus and customization of stats. Though keep in mind gears like the Dispair set beat it out until you get max augments, which will take quite some time.

That said, while I'm woefully lacking on attack, I am at 904 based accuracy before buffs (including composure) or food and can easily see reaching the 974 Mark just by hemming up some of my lower rolls on stats, and augmenting my JSE Sword offhand for a sizeable boost in accuracy there. I'm already swinging quite frequently with my current augments and self buffs alone (Temper I still) and with support trusts, I get that 'Hundred Fists' Speed swings fairly easily.

In summary, there is a true sense of progression here for those who which to improve their front-line performance that will make you feel stronger and appreciate the work you are putting into it.

[Athen]

Demersal Degen, Bleating Mantle, Carmine Cussies +1 and Combaant's Torque's are NM dependent and are currently out-of-reach for me as a soloist.

If you have your heart set on a Bleating Mantle, Unity can be entered solo, and Ironhorn Baldurno is level 99, so you shouldn't have any trouble soloing him, especially with trusts.

[Hyrist]

I managed to pick up Demersial Degen from a party joining in. Funny that it went all-out offensive and I opened SC in a suicide run to magic burst down the boss. It worked though, boss was farmed (with lots of death) and I got my weapon and +1ed it that night.

Thing is, I'm NOT certain that Bleating Mantle is worth it at this point. But if it is soloable with trusts, then I might give it a shot during the campaign, just to have the mantle on hand.

[Dale]

I managed to pick up Demersial Degen from a party joining in. Funny that it went all-out offensive and I opened SC in a suicide run to magic burst down the boss. It worked though, boss was farmed (with lots of death) and I got my weapon and +1ed it that night.

Thing is, I'm NOT certain that Bleating Mantle is worth it at this point. But if it is soloable with trusts, then I might give it a shot during the campaign, just to have the mantle on hand.

WB to FFXI Hyrist.

You may want to check out the Fettering Blade from The Dawn Promathia fight. That's a nice sword also and solo-able with trusts as a RDM on Normal.

[Rydal]

Hello. I am also a RDM main that has to deal with the fact that RDM is mostly pushed to the wayside, especially in the last year. I'll give you a few suggestions, although most of the best gear is not (easily) soloable.

-Egeking fully augmented gives a huge amount of accuracy if you find yourself needing some. It's better than most other options when accuracy is an issue.

-Nibiru Blade (Escha Ru'aun T2) is a great sword to have. Try to get a party for it.

-Fettering blade is a great main hand sword that gives great stat boosts (and it looks cool).

-Ginsen from the Tenzen 2 fight is a must have. Lupine cape from Fenrir 2 is great as well. You can spam them both during the campaign on Normal or Easy. Partying for Difficult or higher will yield better results but I got both from Normal.

-Now is the time to spam Alluvion skirmish to get augments on your Claideamh Solius and Taeon sets. Unless you can get hold of Carmine+1, Taeon is pretty much the best melee RDM can get.

-You can buy Voodoo Cuisses and Greaves for Carmine+1 (roughly 10m each, which is waaay cheaper than most HQ abjurations). You'll need to obtain the abjurations from T1 and T2 Escha Ru'aun NMs (shout or get a party) but they are well worth it. The NQ versions (probably under 50k each) are useable if you don't have 20m (or want to spend that much on 2 pieces of gear).

-Ambuscade cape- get at least 3 (1 for enfeebling, 1 for nuking, 1 for melee, and possibly a 4th for weaponskills)
-Accessories that are easy to obtain: Brutal Earring (Ancient Beastcoin exchange), Suppanomimi (Divine Might 1), Asperity necklace (Delve), Rajas Ring (CoP story).

-All the better accessories will require a party: Petrov Ring (Escha Ru'aun T1), Dignitary's Earring (Reisenjima T2), Combatant's torque (Combining all the Warder torques in Escha Ru'aun), Sanctity Necklace (Reisenjima Domain Invasion), Reiki Yotai (Escha Ru-aun Kirin), Hetairoi Ring (Reisenjima T3), Kentarch Belt+1 (Unity), Sarissaphoroi Belt (Reisenjima T2)

-Might be worthwhile to make an Excalibur (easiest REM to solo)

That's all I can offer for melee at the moment. If you want advice on magic sets I can do those as well.

[Longjohn]

Hello. I am also a RDM main that has to deal with the fact that RDM is mostly pushed to the wayside, especially in the last year. I'll give you a few suggestions, although most of the best gear is not (easily) soloable.

-Egeking fully augmented gives a huge amount of accuracy if you find yourself needing some. It's better than most other options when accuracy is an issue.

-Nibiru Blade (Escha Ru'aun T2) is a great sword to have. Try to get a party for it.

-Fettering blade is a great main hand sword that gives great stat boosts (and it looks cool).

-Ginsen from the Tenzen 2 fight is a must have. Lupine cape from Fenrir 2 is great as well. You can spam them both during the campaign on Normal or Easy. Partying for Difficult or higher will yield better results but I got both from Normal.

-Now is the time to spam Alluvion skirmish to get augments on your Claideamh Solius and Taeon sets. Unless you can get hold of Carmine+1, Taeon is pretty much the best melee RDM can get.

-You can buy Voodoo Cuisses and Greaves for Carmine+1 (roughly 10m each, which is waaay cheaper than most HQ abjurations). You'll need to obtain the abjurations from T1 and T2 Escha Ru'aun NMs (shout or get a party) but they are well worth it. The NQ versions (probably under 50k each) are useable if you don't have 20m (or want to spend that much on 2 pieces of gear).

-Ambuscade cape- get at least 3 (1 for enfeebling, 1 for nuking, 1 for melee, and possibly a 4th for weaponskills)
-Accessories that are easy to obtain: Brutal Earring (Ancient Beastcoin exchange), Suppanomimi (Divine Might 1), Asperity necklace (Delve), Rajas Ring (CoP story).

-All the better accessories will require a party: Petrov Ring (Escha Ru'aun T1), Dignitary's Earring (Reisenjima T2), Combatant's torque (Combining all the Warder torques in Escha Ru'aun), Sanctity Necklace (Reisenjima Domain Invasion), Reiki Yotai (Escha Ru-aun Kirin), Hetairoi Ring (Reisenjima T3), Kentarch Belt+1 (Unity), Sarissaphoroi Belt (Reisenjima T2)

-Might be worthwhile to make an Excalibur (easiest REM to solo)

That's all I can offer for melee at the moment. If you want advice on magic sets I can do those as well.

Hi there,

Veteran player coming back after few years break (7).

One question Rydal: what about the Emissary & Colada sword in your ranking ?
To me, it looks like Emissary fully augmented is > to Egeking and Nibiru, (and so is Colada), am I wrong ?

[Rydal]

Emissary isn't that good. It looks good, but it's lying to you. As a base weapon, it looks like a good magical sword, but as a melee weapon, it's not much better than other options. Added with the fact that it's harder to get than both Egeking and Nibiru, it's not worth the trouble.

Egeking (fully augmented):
DMG: 124
Delay: 236
Magic DMG: +70
Magic Accuracy Skill: +188
Enmity: -10
Phalanx: +2
Enspell damage: +10
Accuracy: +50
Magic Accuracy: +30
Fast cast: +8

Nibiru Blade Path A (fully augmented):
DMG: 133
Delay: 236
Magic DMG: N/A
Magic Accuracy Skill: +188
STR: +5
DEX: +15
Accuracy: +27
Magic Accuracy: +15
Double Attack: +2

Emissary Path A (fully augmented):
DMG: 138
Delay: 240
Magic DMG: +130
Magic Accuracy Skill: +201
Attack: +15
Accuracy: +30
MAB: +14
Fast cast: +10
PDT: -3

Fettering Blade:
DMG: 134
Delay: 231
Magic DMG: +108
Magic Accuracy Skill: +201
STR: +12
MND: +12
Accuracy/R. Accuracy: +27
MAB: +14
Crit rate: +4

Bold means they are the best of the swords listed in the category
Italic means they are the only sword listed that has the stat

Egeking aside (which I'd only consider for when you need a high accuracy offhand), Emissary isn't better than Nibiru or Fettering on the mainhand for melee. Nibiru is much better for using CDC because of the high DEX and it has DA. Fettering is great for Savage Blade and Death Blossom because of the nice STR and MND. The damage/delay difference is minimal compared to what the other two swords offer. FC doesn't matter because RDM caps it easily without a weapon. As an offhand, you want Nibiru because of the DA and DEX.

If you want it as a magical sword, Fettering already is better because of the equal Magic Acc skill and MAB and it has MND on it. If you augment it for magic, then why aren't you using a staff (higher magic stats)? If you're dual-wielding it as a magic sword, then Nibiru clubs are better. Apparently the Sinister Reign dagger Malevolence is the ultimate dual-wield magic weapon for RDM if perfectly augmented but good luck getting 2 perfect ones.

As for Colada, it can potentially be the best weapon you have outside of RMEA, both for magic and melee. Colada outclasses Emissary in every way (easily!). You just have to get the augments right. If you get more than one, you can augment them for different things. If augmented correctly, it'll be the best offhand even if you get a RMEA sword. I currently us Colada main and Nibiru off for melee RDM and BLU. I have 2 Coladas but the second one I didn't get great augments on so I put it in storage.