take rdm out if ffxi

[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.

[Longjohn]

Thanx Rydal for your expertise.

Looks like we got alot of choices, depending of the situation..

Since I don't think I'll get the Colada before long, and that I have :
- Emissary x2 (1 only fully augmented melee)
- Demersal NQ (dmg 109, delay 224)

SHould I forget the demersal and its twice attack (which seems to proc quite often) and go for Emissary + Nibiru ?
Also I'll try to get the Fettering, but not sure I'm able to solo that fight... even in Easy