Red Mage looks Incomplete

[ArcaviusGreyashe]

Sure, it's a shame that, even if it wasn't a build development, RDM has actually some weaknesses, isn't a healer and a tank, and, worst of all, despite being nearly as powerful as the SAM, has a skill that buffs only physical DDs around him...

Do you all even have any idea how broken those classes are, right now ? Step back a little, and accept that RDM isn't a god class, like WAR was from 3.0 to 3.1... Or, if it is, that it will be nerfed anyway...

[Endemerrin]

Not 100% sure I can alleviate many worries, but, I'll try my best! I was at the media event in San Fransisco, and played a fair amount of RDM. I'll also preface this with the fact that the build we played was under development, so any of this is 100% subject to change. Remember, nothing is completely set in stone yet.

1) I'd say my answer to this kind of ties into #5 as well. From what I experienced, Vercure seemed to be a very potent spell - and definitely had to scale off INT. The best example I can give is that when we were running the 4-man dungeon, my Vercure was healing me for around 5k - out of a total of 23k. That being said, due to dualcast, you essentially get two Vercures for the casting time of one. So that's a 10k heal in roughly 2 seconds - at level 64, mind you. That's nearly 50% of your HP.

2) I never ran into any MP issues. I ended the last fight of the dungeon we ran with about 75% of my MP, and I never stopped casting, save for when I was doing my melee combo or when the boss forced it. This was about a 3 and a half minute encounter, with two brief pauses where I couldn't attack anything. Using your refresh cross-class on cooldown + other party member refresh utilities will likely mean you won't have issues unless you are spamming Verraise.

Three and four I can't really comment on. As an FFXI player, I definitely get the want for en- spells, but the thing is RDM is a caster and not a melee. It really wouldn't make much use out of them in their traditional sense. That being said, it does have enchantment spells in name - the upgraded melee combo from spending B/W mana.

Only real reason I could see Embolden being the way it is, is as you said - to stop it from being too appealing. If it was 10% across the board, it'd encourage you to always have a RDM in the party, since it buffs every comp. Their idea for SB seems to be to make it so everything is flexible, with pros and cons. Giving one role an ability that trumps all would encourage the "meta" giving that job a permanent slot.