Job Feedback: RDM

[NorthernLadMSP]

WOW, I honestly had no idea Convert dropped them (haven't played BLM much). That's actually insanely good to know!

[Praesul]

WOW, I honestly had no idea Convert dropped them (haven't played BLM much). That's actually insanely good to know!

Yeah when i first played the job I thought Foul would be completely useless. I couldn't think of any situation where waiting to drop astral/umbral was a good choice except maybe if you had polyglot and then were out of combat for a long time, and even then it felt way too niche. Then I actually read Convert's tooltip and it made sense.

[NorthernLadMSP]

So, how would you compare them to SMN? That is the job I've mainly stuck with, along with some BRD and MCH here and there.

[Praesul]

So, how would you compare them to SMN? That is the job I've mainly stuck with, along with some BRD and MCH here and there.

Individually all of SMN's spells deal less damage than their other counterparts, but that's okay considering they apply constant pressure pretty much nonstop. They essentially switch between two "burst phases", dreadwyrm and than bahamut. During dreadywrm your dots are ticking and have a potent 1.5k GCD spell to use along with the 2000 potency finisher from Deathflare. After that when you enkindle bahamut, you're now applying pressure with dots, pet damage, and your ruin 3 (which while it does less damage, it's instant cast and being supplemented by pet damage) and can still use your aetherflow abilities (they're locked in dreadwyrm trance). So they switch between their two damage phases and...basically never stop. When they're done with one, the other just about comes up.

I think SMN is in a really good spot because they have pretty good CC and deal a lot of damage, but that damage doesn't happen all at once. BLM on the other hand deals really good sustained AND burst damage, but they have no off GCDs to catch people by surprise or help to secure kills so I think it balances out. BLM is also more affected by LOSing compared to SMN.

I think the other two casters are in a fine state, personally.

[Flowroro]

The real question is whether or not they plan to change RDM's playstyle.
If they don't plan to change their kit whatsoever, than these guys at the very least need an HP increase.

Fact of the matter is, you need to put out so much work to get your damage snowballing.
> Building up White/Black Mana
> Jumping into melee to do a 3 part melee combo
> walk out to finally get your 3k potency spells?

Seems like so much work when all the other Ranged Roles can rack up damage from a distance with little risk.

[Mirch]

There is the additional skill as self heal.

[Hyrist]

I don't see where people seem to get this idea that RDM is at all poor in PvP. Listing its flaws compared to a class with completely different structure and gameplay isn't how it works. RDM fits well in a dive composition and a poke composition. Its CC issues were resolved with the last patch, honestly, and its damage is fine considering how consistent its performance is.

[BloodRubyXII]

A lot of people are also bringing up BLM for comparison - just remember, they can fire IV into instant flare and they can also instant sleep. Sleep is probably one of the strongest CCs in the game, no cooldown, decent duration and you can peel for ages with it. RDM brings virtually no utility. It's probably on par with MCH right now with being one of the worst range slots for 4s. Also having to be in and out of melee in PvP is incredibly irritating, rather be a SAM, have better overall damage, and an escape than be an RDM. Also because of the tick system even trying to LoS sleep at times can just be entirely irrelevant since you'll go behind a wall and it still hits you.

[Hyrist]

Eh, each to their own opinion, I guess.

Just somethings to keep in mind, both noticed on paper and just in gameplay in general - as I play this in PvP a lot.

Red Mage has both a close and an escape tool. It's burst is up frequently (Thanks to the tool that also resets both gap closer and escape). The risk of me diving in is usually minimal, and also makes melee very wary of chasing due to fear of getting burst themselves.

In frontline, the mobility is really good if you're smart about it. Corps-a-crops an enemy, followed by Flenge get in front of them and then displacement. You now have free casting time as they have to catch up to and pass you, which may also bring Corps-a-corps up again. (Usually this is also assuming you have fellows chasing to pincer them in.)

It's also wise to keep in mind that Both Displacement and Corps-a-corps does the same damage as Verstone/fire. Paired with a Dualcast of Jolt II/Impact, that's 4150 on a 10 second timer. Thanks to the adjustments to MP cost adjustments, you should be able to do that three times over a 30 second period before MP/TP runs out.

Now, I'm all for buffs but I find people underestimate a RDM's tricks in PvP ... a lot.

[Praesul]

Red Mage has both a close and an escape tool. It's burst is up frequently (Thanks to the tool that also resets both gap closer and escape). The risk of me diving in is usually minimal, and also makes melee very wary of chasing due to fear of getting burst themselves.

RDM has an escape tool out of neccessity, not as a bonus. It'd be silly to throw them into melee range and not give them something to get out. The thing is, all you need is one stun, sleep, or bind once they jump in and they're fucked. It's very noticable when a RDM jumps into a group of people, and if they jump in just to jump out, what the hell was the point in going in in the first place if you dealt no damage? The risk is of course minimized in feast (at least in 4v4) since there's less people to pounce on them, and I do think they're slightly better in small scale pvp but still behind the other two casters.

In frontline, the mobility is really good if you're smart about it. Corps-a-crops an enemy, followed by Flenge get in front of them and then displacement. You now have free casting time as they have to catch up to and pass you, which may also bring Corps-a-corps up again. (Usually this is also assuming you have fellows chasing to pincer them in.)

Flunge delays your combo because it's on the GCD. I don't really see the point in using it unless someone popped sprint or you know they have their escape tool ready, since you move at the exact same speed as everyone else the only reason you'd need to slow people down is if they're going faster than you in the first place. It's an alright tool in 1v1 I suppose but in group fights, every second you're in melee is risky, and by using flunge you're extending the time you're vulnerable even longer. Of course you could justify this by saying "well don't just jump into a group of people" which I would agree with, but then that begs the question...Why play RDM? Melee go through the same risks but they're tankier, have off GCDs, and access to melee LB.

It's also wise to keep in mind that Both Displacement and Corps-a-corps does the same damage as Verstone/fire. Paired with a Dualcast of Jolt II/Impact, that's 4150 on a 10 second timer. Thanks to the adjustments to MP cost adjustments, you should be able to do that three times over a 30 second period before MP/TP runs out.

BLM does more damage in two GCDs (Just two Fire IVs) and from range. SMN does similar amounts of damage in three GCDs, along with fester and energy drain, with dots ticking right after. And they can do it all while moving.