Can RDM get a little bit of love...

[GunksFoy]

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I have long said that Summoner needs nerfed, or both of the other casters need buffed, but preferably the former. Summoner is too close to Black Mage in pDPS to compensate the rDPS they bring as well as the Raise utility. I'm not sure what to do with Red Mage honestly. I love playing it (not as much as Black Mage), but the low DPS pushes me away from it. When I can deal as much damage as an i262 Black Mage as some of the highest Red Mage parses, it's a tough pill to swallow. I don't know how much of a pDPS buff Red Mages can get without Dual-Raise becoming too powerful, but I would definitely support some Utility/rDPS increases.

[Dualgunner]

I have long said that Summoner needs nerfed, or both of the other casters need buffed, but preferably the former.

I would argue the latter is the better option. It's been brought up in either this or the "So, About Summoner..." thread, but Black Mage, Red Mage, and Summoner are not alone in their war for the fourth DPS slot in the party: they are also competing against Machinist and, in any fight that allows triple melee, Monk. Summoner is at a place where it offers legitimate challenge against the established Physical Ranged meta, and to nerf it wouldn't help Red Mages and Black Mages who just don't want to play Summoner; it would only shift the job which they're pestered into swapping to.

[GunksFoy]

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You make a lot of great points here. I actually think Black Mage could use a fairly large buff because it has 0 rDPS contribution and is quite difficult to master (despite a seriously simplistic rotation) in high level content, and they provide no utility outside Cross-class. Summoner is honestly just too close to be fair. Even Monks have gotten very close and they bring a fair amount of rDPS and utility, i.e. Brotherhood and Mantra. But, buff BLM too much and you end up with them being too good. Samurais could likely use the same treatment, but I don't play it all and don't have an opinion, though at least they have Slashing (worthless as that is in the meta). As for Red Mage, I don't know enough about them to offer detailed changes, but I generally agree with you that they need buffed in some way.