Please do not lock Jobs to the Weapon Class that unlocks them.

[Malakhim]

Not saying anything to the contrary, and of course you used a RDM's melee capability when the situation called for it, but raise of hands now, who would use RDM for anything other than nuking/healing/buffing when there were DDs far more capable of dealing melee dmg?

[Cairdeas]

Not saying anything to the contrary, and of course you used a RDM's melee capability when the situation called for it, but raise of hands now, who would use RDM for anything other than nuking/healing/buffing when there were DDs far more capable of dealing melee dmg?

I sure wouldn't stop a Red Mage From Meleeing if he can maintain his hate and perform his magic abilities as well.

[Malakhim]

I sure wouldn't stop a Red Mage From Meleeing if he can maintain his hate and perform his magic abilities as well.

...Do you have 3 gold medals now, MZ?

Anyway yeah, I wouldn't stop a RDM if he was awesome either. All I was getting at is that the main idea behind red magic is a weaker mix of both traditional schools of white and black magic. The sword is kind of just a sword. True the whole point of a RDM is its versatility, but the weapon doesn't define a RDM as much as the magic a RDM can use does.

The main draw of a white mage, black mage, or a geomancer isn't in their weapon either, right?

...Damnit I want Geomancer or Time Mage in this game so bad now...

[ZephyrAM]

Well first, in order to really judge the Red Mage, you have to forget the version that ever existed in XI . It was a buff bot there.

From there, I get the idea that Red Mages can be melee fighters because I've used them that way in every Final Fantasy game that they've appeared in, to appealing effectiveness. Admittedly, they get overshadowed (at least for me) in V by the Mystic Knight, but they're always quite capable of being front line fighters who use magic as a back up.

Large group of enemies, especially all weak to an element? Sure, throw a nuke out there.

Need healing somewhere? If the healer's busy, help them out.

'Any' other situation: swing those swords!

I'm currently running one in FF III, and his melee damage rivals that of the Geomancer's ability damage, and blows the Viking/Knight/Dragoon out of the water.

[SuzakuCMX]

Saaaaaaaaaad face.

[Corrderio]

Once again, they are NOT doing the Final Fantasy Tactics thing, guys.

Which is a damn shame.

[Duelle]

I sure wouldn't stop a Red Mage From Meleeing if he can maintain his hate and perform his magic abilities as well.

Here's where people and I clash a lot. What is it that a Red Mage should do in party?

I don't want the buffbot thing to resurface again, because I hated it and it demeaned everything else about the job. It's why I mention "magic fencer" in the context of Red Mage, leaning more to it being the guy that while unable to deal the same raw damage a barbarian or a warrior would deal with a sword, makes up for his lack of physical damage by coating his sword with magic to make up the difference. The guy that can stop swinging his sword for a second to quickly cast a cure on a fellow that isn't getting much attention from the healer, only to turn back to the enemy and release a nuke at point-blank range. Both may be weaker than what a white mage or black mage may be able to do, but are used in conjunction with each other to make the Red Mage an asset.

XI's issue was that the enfeebling theme allowed the RDM to outlive and solo things not intended to be solo'd. Aside from that, it has always been a numbers game as far as overall DPS generated by one and how it matched up to everyone else that got to front line. The numbers were skewed against the RDM because the devs were afraid (and still are) to touch the job, and XI desperately needed support classes (though that is no excuse for soiling RDM the way they did in that game).

All I was getting at is that the main idea behind red magic is a weaker mix of both traditional schools of white and black magic. The sword is kind of just a sword.

The class is more about three different aspects brought together. From a certain perspective, a Red Mage would have to be creative in how they do things on the battlefield to make it through because they (technically) have less to work with than what the specialists have in their arsenal. The sword is just as important as the black magic and white magic. Otherwise Red Mage would not have access to Lightbringer, Excalibur and such throughout the years.

The main draw of a white mage, black mage, or a geomancer isn't in their weapon either, right?

Because they're built around very different ideas and their gimmicks are solid and easy to spot. It's trickier with a hybrid like RDM because Red Mage has the pimp hat, the sword in hand with a bunch of spells in the other and thats it.

[Col]

So each class only unlocks 1 job..... Which pretty much means no Thief.

I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed.

[Cairdeas]

So each class only unlocks 1 job..... Which pretty much means no Thief.

I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed.

They said at first.

[Teknoman]

So each class only unlocks 1 job..... Which pretty much means no Thief.

I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed.

We dont know that for sure, although there will only be 1 job per class at first, its 100% that they'll roll out more jobs and classes later. Its not set in stone that they'll do 1 to 1 forever.

EDIT: Hopefully we'll get news on other classes like fencer, musketeer, and arcanist as well. Would be nice if all 3 were unlocked with 1.18 along with jobs.