How Many Would Have Rather Seen RDM than SMN

[Platinumstorm]

Not me. They clearly needed a ranged, magic and pet class in the game. Summoner takes care of two of the three and is a smart decision.

[trinta]

Not me. They clearly needed a ranged, magic and pet class in the game. Summoner takes care of two of the three and is a smart decision.

By this logic, we just need to hand archery to the Summoner class, and we can get rid of everything else.

[Malakhim]

We already have a Red Mage.

In Final Fantasy XIV it's called a Gladiator(or whatever melee class you want really) loaded out with both CNJ and THM abilities.

[Trollestia]

We already have a Red Mage.

In Final Fantasy XIV it's called a Gladiator(or whatever melee class you want really) loaded out with both CNJ and THM abilities.

Oh I thought that was called a baddie

[Enyce]

No thanks on RDM. We already can make "Jack of All Trade" classes, don't need a redundant Job for that.

[Enma]

The only strange thing is the link between Arcanist and its job Summoner. A debuff class is needed, so Arcanist (without pet) has to be implemented, and its job could have been Red Mage.
Maybe the class for Summoner should be Evocker, or something like that... But I don't mind, I too excited for ARR!!!

[Kiote]

The only strange thing is the link between Arcanist and its job Summoner. A debuff class is needed, so Arcanist (without pet) has to be implemented, and its job could have been Red Mage.

Arcanists have the ability to summon Carbuncle.

Red Mages are not a Debuffing class, they are DD who can assist with heals and buffs. Like ARC/BRD.

In every Final Fantasy, that had them, except XI, Red Mage was a Strong Melee with the Ability to Nuke and Heal.

[Eremor]

While it did place second to last in the player's poll, Red Mage did still receive a solid 15% of votes across all regions, and in a poll with 5 choices 15% is fairly high. Furthermore, Red Mage and Dark Knight were the only choices with only a single job exampled, the pet class choice also put forward Puppetmaster as an example, the assassin choice pointed to Ninja and Theif, and the original class displayed the completely different examples of Musketeer and Arithmatician, this certainly would have had an impact on the results. Maybe less so for Summoner since Puppetmaster fans are probably fewer in number then those of Ninja or Thief, and the original class choice was pretty much a catch all for anyone else. If one were to assume that the double job combinations were evenly split then Red Mage would have actually won the poll, albeit by a slim margin over summoner (though as i mentioned a even split there probably isn't the case, but might be likely between ninja and thief), but with a 5% or greater lead over any other single job.

I am still of the opinion that they will add at least two new jobs for 2.0, and that this second class would be more melee oriented. This would be a smart move to satisfy the many current players who have all DoW, both DoM, or all of the above leveled to 50, since it would allow both players who favor melee and those who favor mage jobs to experience the new content in 2.0 with a fresh start. If not as their favorite job, then at least as a discipline that they generally enjoy.

Red Mage could well fill the role of a melee-oriented job, as well as possibly fill the currently vacant role of debuff support (though it could be argued that this role is not even needed at all).

Regardless, while I do believe that there will be two new jobs for 2.0, I don't have much hope that Red Mage actually will be that second job. As the poll results show, it's more likely to simply be Thief or Ninja (or both depending on how the class/job thing works out).

[yoshikwalla]

*raises hand* I wanted both... but RDM more.

[NefGP]

Not me. They clearly needed a ranged, magic and pet class in the game. Summoner takes care of two of the three and is a smart decision.

All they've said is they just feel there aren't enough mages yet. I'm reserving judgment on SMN until I actually see it in action, as I wasn't particularly keen on seeing a repeat of FFXI and much more in favor of the traditional offline style of play - strategic use of summons (due to large MP costs) to swing the tide of battle in the party's favor with various flashy and extremely powerful effects. Of course, the typical response I see to that is you'd be killing BLM, but BLM has always been designed for steady, high impact attacks - SMN might be able to out damage a BLM in a single shot, but a BLM will always win out in MP efficiency vs a single target - that's the whole point. SMN is utility, BLM is for making shit dead.


Anyway. I just hope they don't gimp SMN in this like they did in XI. The job's gotten better since Abyssea, but it's still been flawed since it's inception. I'm really hoping SMN can still use things like Hellfire & Aerial Blast, maybe just not as powerful as they would be coming from the actual Primal. Please, just don't rehash Astral Flow... nobody wants that.


As far as RDM is concerned, I never really cared for the direction they took the job in with XI, and I sincerely hope they are rethinking it from when they asked in the polls - We sorely do need more enfeebling skills, but I think we'd be better served spread it out between WHM & BLM, and possibly DRK if it's ever added.

No more pink mage/refresh whore please. If you bring RDM back, at least try to make it similar to how BLU was done? BLU was much better designed as a "Fighter-Mage", and Red Wizard (FF1) was just amazing.


EDIT: Okay, here's how I personally see RDM working.

Base Class: Gladiator
Sub Class: Thaumaturge
Extra Skills: Conjurer

Allow RDM to use Cure/Cura/Thunder/Thundara etc, just not the final tier spells so they can still combo and be effective, just not as good as WHM or BLM would because they're not supposed to be. We should have new Epee-type swords/sabers that are RDM exclusive as well (can't use them as just GLA).

Job Skills:

- Refresh: Recovers MP over time (spell, targetable)
- Regain: Recovers TP over time (spell, targetable)
- Fast Cast: When active, reduces casting and recast times for spells. Reduces magic accuracy slightly. Effect ends upon re-use.
- Death Blossom: 3-fold sword weaponskill that reduces enemy's magic evasion. Combo Action: Swift Blade, Combo: Greatly reduces enemy's magic critical evasion
- Chainspell: Cast & Recast timers for all spells set to 0 for duration (15 seconds) and their MP costs halved.


So rather than just rehashing how it was in XI, this way RDM would really be a frontline mage, offering a balance of damage and support without stepping on WHM or BLM's toes, as well as bringing it's own unique abilities to the fray.