The boring mage of red

[Hyrist]

Again, RDM is 1/3 melee at its peak melee. Additionally you should actually know the philosophy behind the kind of sword you're so on about too before you harp about it so much.

The rapier class sword was not a war sword so much as it was a dueling weapon, then often used as a weapon of station among officers of rank when firearms became more prevent. But even it its heyday they were not meant for frequent clashing, but rather for accurate striking. The game design fits the history and philosophy of the weapon - The rapier is not a clashing sword.

Also, Red Mages just happen to be some of the most vocal jobs in its history, you need only look as far as FFXI for that proof. I woulden't go putting too much stock on how loud people get about it. After all Duelle's been tooting the same horn for over a decade now.

[YokeM]

Again, RDM is 1/3 melee at its peak melee. Additionally you should actually know the philosophy behind the kind of sword you're so on about too before you harp about it so much.

It is not! If RDM would spend 1/3 in melee, would not complain at all.

The rapier class sword was not a war sword so much as it was a dueling weapon, then often used as a weapon of station among officers of rank when firearms became more prevent. But even it its heyday they were not meant for frequent clashing, but rather for accurate striking. The game design fits the history and philosophy of the weapon - The rapier is not a clashing sword.

Are we really going to talk about what a weapon is supposed to be in RL? Are we then going to talk about how DRK greatswords have hardly ever been used, duo to being immensely unpractical. Or the fact that you normally use a lance to keep your enemys at distance? My point is that he shouldn`t have a rapier if he isn`t going to use it! Not if it is historical precendent as a war sword.

[Virin]

I don't know even at 51 I seem to get to jump in and use my sword often. In PvP I use it a lot. Once I get 70 and I can use the rotation that I wait till 99/100 instead and go in twice in a short amount of time i think it will feel even better

[YokeM]

I also think, that many people are disappointed with how RDM turned out, because he was advertised as something else first:

I couldn`t find the original article, but here is a translation from the Lodestone:

http://de.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...4/blog/3180007

He was first advertised as A hybrid ranged/melee style achieved via high-speed positioning. Which isn`t the case. He is more or less pure caster with a little bit of melee every now and then. I can only imagin that they changed their approach while developping RDM.

[YokeM]

I don't know even at 51 I seem to get to jump in and use my sword often. In PvP I use it a lot. Once I get 70 and I can use the rotation that I wait till 99/100 instead and go in twice in a short amount of time i think it will feel even better

Thats it! If the mana gauge would fill as fast in PVE as it does in PVP, that would be awesome.

[Duelle]

The rapier class sword was not a war sword so much as it was a dueling weapon, then often used as a weapon of station among officers of rank when firearms became more prevalent.

From what recall, rapiers were used on the battlefield, but as sidearms to supplement muskets or pikes. They weren't often used in "clashes" because they lost out in terms of range compard to conventional weapons (pikes, spears, muskets) of the time.

The rapier did enjoy a stint as a dueling weapon, but that was soon overtaken by small swords (which were designed specifically for dueling). They may look similar (better at thrust, built-in hand protection) but are not really interchangeable. For one because small swords could only thurst (they had no edge), whereas rapiers still had an edge that could be used for cutting (even if it was arguably not as useful as the edge on a cavalry saber or arming sword). For two, because small swords were very short to accommodate for dueling and combat in closer quarters, whereas a rapier was actually longer than your standard arming sword (in fact, a dude with a rapier had a notable range advantage over someone with an arming sword). For three because the small sword was very light weight, whereas a rapier weighed about the same as a "normal" sword; same amount of metal, just pounded into a thinner, longer blade with quillons/swept hilt for hand protection.

Thanks for making me notice that the FFXIV RDM weapon is a small sword rather than a rapier, though. I was asking myself why the blade looked so short...

[7-car-pileup]

Thats it! If the mana gauge would fill as fast in PVE as it does in PVP, that would be awesome.

Heck half of that is due to the 1minute cooldown on manafication, that alone would keep things interesting by constantly jumping between ranged and mellee. I don't want to sit in mellee all the time but sitting at full distance for most of the fight gets dull with no intent between casting spells beyond filling up meter.

In the end it seems to be boiling down to one or a few of these:

a) Manafication needs to be shorter akin to the pvp version.

b) Mana needs to fill up more so that its about a 9 GCD's at a range to 3GCD's at point blank (I wouldnt mind if the recast on this balance iteration meant the mellee combo came out at a normal pace rather than the speedy version we have now)

c) Impact/Verstone/Verfire Add individual buffs to manage and justify casting them beyond just filling meter, Verholy/Verflare could use this treatment too but being that they have a more nuanced use already it wouldnt be as necessary.

[LunarEmerald]

After playing Red Mage the whole MSQ, I feel their melee attacks aren't that strong. Until you get ver flare/holy at the very end, it feels like you do more dps chaining spells than wasting time jumping in and out for melee attacks.

[RyouAkizuki]

After playing Red Mage the whole MSQ, I feel their melee attacks aren't that strong. Until you get ver flare/holy at the very end, it feels like you do more dps chaining spells than wasting time jumping in and out for melee attacks.

Across 3 GCD's a Red Mage spellcasting will do, by some rough calculations, 750 Potency on average before Jolt II is unlocked, and 800 Potency on average after Jolt II.

By comparison the Red Mage's Enhanced Melee combo will do guaranteed 970 Potency over those same GCDs.

It should be noted that getting the most optimal spell combo (Procced Spell, VerThunder/VerAero, Procced Spell) is 840 Potency for 3 GCDs.

So yes, it always is worth it.

[ScorpioMoon]

I don't think the class is boring or easy. The rotation might be simple in theory, but it's not as easy in practice, especially in high stress situations.
A lot of people have been talking about lack of AoE options and complaining about having to spam Scatter. I think spamming scatter is a mistake. As a lot of people have said, the main goal of a Red Mage is building your Mana meters, so in situations where there are two or more enemies, I just hard cast Scatter and use Verthunder or Veraero to build meter as fast as possible, to build up for Enmoulinet. Get the right angle and firing off three Enmoulinets in rapid succession is pretty satisfying.
With that said, I'm not exactly a fan of the Manafication and Acceleration skills because they feel like filler skills, enhancing something you already do, and since you should be using them on cool down, it feels a little nagging.