RDM: Does it get fun at 70?

[Dualgunner]

I see.. Well might be interesting to give it a try

I could link you to some v3s streams of mine in a bit when I wake up. I'm by no means the best RDM around but it'd be an alright showing of its gameplay at 70 if you like.

[ChaoticCrimson]

I'm still leveling Red Mage, but when you compare Black and Red you're comparing a "Deep" class with a "Wide" class, the wide class does more variety of things, but as a result tends toward simplicity. A deep job does only one thing and in order to make it interesting does it in a complicated fashion.
Plus, Red Magic is still very "young" compared to Black. You'd really have to compare it to 2.0 Black Magic to get a good idea of where it stands. And level 50 Black Magic Rotations are fairly simple compared to post expansion level ones.
I have a feeling that when Red Magic starts to get adjusted, we are going to see the melee combo being available more often during play. If I were designing a class like RM, I'd intentionally keep the melee combo somewhat infrequent to begin with, so that I can tweak it to go faster and present it as a "buff" instead of starting off with it too fast and then having to "nerf" it.

Pretty much my feelings on it as well. I'm also still leveling it, but I've found so far that RDM is a great beginner job, and I like how mobile it is for a caster. I also enjoy the little bit of utility it gets, even if it exchanges that for complexity. But for my purposes, less complex is good because I can focus more on learning mechanics and staying alive while still being able to dish damage. Of course, as has been said it's subjective for everyone.

And yes, we're still early into the job's lifespan. As we get more expansions over the years I'm sure we'll see plenty of new things to come as the level cap increases. Perhaps maybe some protective buff spells? More physical attack skills to proc those spells? AoE Heals, even? There's lots of potential to add utility if they can balance it out properly (ideally maintaining DPS as the emphasis though). I, for one, would love to see Ardor thrown in as the "ultimate" AoE spell, in homage to the job's FFXII counterpart. That would definitely have an impact. Ah, but one can only dream... As for now, it is what it is but I like it at least.

[Sylvain]

I get what you mean but the boredom was inexistent when I leveled SAM. In fact, it got more fun past 62...

Maybe you just dont like the job?

Personally I feel like after casting Ver Ligntning or Air they should add an effect akin to "Reduce the recast time on your next spell by 1sec"
Waiting 2.5 after every big spell kinda break the flow and make the visual look more clunky.

[WhiteArchmage]

RDM main here so I'm obviously biased but while I've found BLM more "high risk-high reward", since you need to gauge when you can safely turret, when to pop your Tricast and Swiftcast for movement (or swiftcast to correct an enochian timer or squeeze out one last Fire IV or whatever), RDM is very easy to pick up and feels like an odd cross of a Ranged DPS and a caster, since you got your dualcasts and oGCDs to weave if you need to do mechanics. RDM is mechanically very simple but there's a very big difference between an ok RDM and a good if not great RDM.

Though, it IS all very subjective, if you're not finding the job fun in your early 60s when you have most of your arsenal, you won't find it fun at 70.

[Mekhana]

I like the idea of being a caster hybrid. Healing and raising people like nobody's business is really fun (especially in Deep dungeon.)

I just can't get into SMN after playing a Warlock in that other game for many many years. Pets just feel very unpolished in FFXIV.

RDM will remain my go to DPS until Time Mage comes out.

[Mature]

I'll post here rather than creating a thread,

I would like to start maining RDM I've got the basics and stuff but is there anywhere that will show me a good opener and so on?

Cheers!

[Lyraele]

I like the idea of being a caster hybrid. Healing and raising people like nobody's business is really fun (especially in Deep dungeon.)

I just can't get into SMN after playing a Warlock in that other game for many many years. Pets just feel very unpolished in FFXIV.

RDM will remain my go to DPS until Time Mage comes out.

RDM can’t raise in the PotD (only deep dungeon I know of). You get Verraise at 64 and PotD is capped at 60.

[ChaoticCrimson]

I'll post here rather than creating a thread,

I would like to start maining RDM I've got the basics and stuff but is there anywhere that will show me a good opener and so on?

Cheers!

I've only just reached Lvl. 60 myself, but I've been doing a fair amount of research on the Lvl. 70 side of things. Coupled with my current experience, maybe I can give you an idea of what to expect. I wouldn't exactly say RDM has a specific opener, as a lot of what you do depends on the situation. The main thing to know is that you have two "phases", so to speak: the casting phase where you build up your mana on the balance gauge, and the melee phase where you cash in all that mana you store for boosted physical attacks. What you use also depends on what you need to be doing, whether it's single-target damage or AoE. Here's an example basic layout of what I know about it:

While mobs are two or less:
1. Cast Jolt
2. Dualcast Verthunder/aero (we'll start with the thunder here)
3. If Verfire procs: Cast Verfire
Else if impactful procs: Cast Impact
Else: Jolt
4. Dualcast Veraero
5. If Verstone procs: Cast Verstone
Else if impactful procs: Cast Impact
Else: Jolt
6. Dualcast Verthunder
7. Repeat steps 3-6 until both mana gauges are at least at 80.
8. Use Corps-a-Corps if you want to get within melee range of the target quickly (optional and may want to save depending on mechanics and such)
9. E. Riposte > E. Zwerchhau > E. Redoublement
10. If Black mana is higher: Cast Verholy
Else: Cast Verflare
11. Displacement to get back to casting range (again optional, situation depending)
12. If Verholy cast: Return to step 5
Else: Return to step 3

If mobs = 3:
1. Cast Scatter
2. Dualast Verthunder
3. Cast Scatter
4. Dualcast Veraero
5. Repeat until mana gauges are at least 90
6. E. Moulinet X3
7. Return to step 1

If mobs = 4+:
1. Cast and dualcast Scatter exclusively until mana gauges are at least 90
2. E. Moulinet X3
3. Return to step 1

Also, don't forget to use Fletch and Contre Sixte when they're available, and use Manafication to speed up mana production and reset your Corps-a-corps/Displacement timers. If you're about to pull a boss, you may consider popping acceleration and then hardcasting Veraero/thunder five seconds before the pull to get an instant proc afterwards. If you're close to other melee DPS and use Embolden you'll all get a nice damage boost for a time. As I mentioned above, Corps-a-Corps and Displacement are handy tools for getting to different ranges while dealing damage but their uses can be a bit situational. Typically you should consider staying close to melee range of targets at all times as RDM, though I personally still have a habit of staying a bit farther back. As such I usually start the melee phase with Corps-a-corps and then finish it with Displacement. But I've heard people mention using Displacement first then Corps immediately after as well. Some trials it may even be best to ignore Displacement completely (looking at you, Titan). Role actions are really variable based on the dungeon/trial, but I think a lot of people seem to agree Lucid Dreaming and Swiftcast are always nice to have at least.

That all being said, I'm not at lvl. 70 yet as I mentioned before. So a lot of this is just my research on the job workings. I've been trying to learn it all myself as I level up, so hopefully what I've learned so far is helpful. But I'm sure others will add input here too.

[WhyAmIHere]

As someone who wanted to get into a caster job but was put off by SMN, and was off-put by BLM, I enjoyed and still enjoy playing RDM, but ultimately to each their own.

[Tzain]

After hitting 66 I wanted to ask something about Red Mage and this seems one of the few Red Mage threads I could see that are active.
Am I the only one who feels that 'Impact' is a (no offense meant) waste of an ability?
The potency is only a touch above Jolt II.
It's available 50% of the time as a replacement to a spell that is the lowest priority to be cast (if verfire or verstone is up they are the better choice by a mile).
It requires using up a skill slot and learning new muscle memory for something that you cast (napkin math) 12% of the time if you're unlucky.
It's overly flashy with a particle effect that is way more intrusive than it has to be.
I admit, I'm a bad Red Mage and just dropped it off my bar. I would actually have preferred an extra role slot to this thing and I barely remember to use the role slots. I'm more likely to use Tether, and yes, I know I just reminded most of you that Tether was an ability in the first place (joking)

Side note: I think I'm going to start using Tether to annoy FC tanks when they try to to big pull.