Redmages any good?

[Vorx]

Well while these "experts" continue to rip on me and proving my point, i'll address this back to you OP. If you need help figuring out a style for yourself with RDM i'm more then happy to answer your questions and give tips to the things i've found out about it. I've dissected this class from top to bottom and found numerous ways to play it. My style might not be best for you but RDM is the best class to experiment with.
You can contact me here in message form or on PSN. Just be easier that way, less know-it-alls trying to drive down my post as well.

[Kidria]

Well while these "experts" continue to rip on me and proving my point, i'll address this back to you OP. If you need help figuring out a style for yourself with RDM i'm more then happy to answer your questions and give tips to the things i've found out about it. I've dissected this class from top to bottom and found numerous ways to play it. My style might not be best for you but RDM is the best class to experiment with.
You can contact me here in message form or on PSN. Just be easier that way, less know-it-alls trying to drive down my post as well.

You've dissected your own arse if you can say RDM can out-melee a NIN.

[Lynesse]

I think RDM is fantastic, but I haven't raided with it yet.

RDM has certain gimmicks that give it carry potential in pugs. I've solo healed bosses when the healer has died. One time, we had to do Bardam's Mettle, but the tank left immediately. I ended up tanking the first boss, and when our healer died, I healed the DRG, who finished it off.

RDM gives you the tools to pull people through lower level content, but I'll repeat that these are gimmicks. They are not utility.

That's the problem RDM is facing right now.

But that's what I find attractive about it. It's true to Final Fantasy. RDM has always been a self-sufficient class in a game where self-sufficiency isn't needed. Because of that, it's impractical late-game, when everyone is powered up and capable of pulling their weight.

It's impractical, that is, unless something goes wrong. And things always go wrong in pugs.

RDM's rotation is fun and easy to learn, but it's deceptively nuanced, with Displacement usage, Embolden timing, and so on. Optimizing RDM -- which mostly involves when to use certain oGCDs -- varies a little from situation to situation, and that makes it exciting for me.

I like standing close to a boss to get in auto-attacks when I can. Little things like this make it interesting and fun to me, but I can see how some people would find it awkward or poorly designed.