Red Mage...Are they good fun ?

jamos

They look like a good all round class ...has anyone got any experience with them ? I want to make the right choise as I can only have one charecter right ? Ive played alot of MMORPGs but FFXI seems pretty daunting right now ;-) I love FF though so Im looking foward to getting stuck in ! Any advise on classes would be nice !

whitedelight

Before I left it was my absolute most favorite class, lots of roles you get to fill in a party, I seemed to always keep busy.

Wizardry

Yes a new player should play a mage so that they get invites into parties.A red mage isnt that much fun because basically you wil still be no more than a healer at low levels and mid levels still a healer with a few more roles.A red mage by level 4o becomes very busy in a party and you really need to be good at your job and have the full set of macros in place.Red mage is the busiest of all jobs i nthe game,so if your not sure you can handle an extremely busy and skilled job then perhaps a black mage or white mage,BLM being easier of the two and carries less responsiblity on keeping the party alive.

You can only have one player with the set subscription however you can add addiional players for $1 each.You can change your job with that one player anytime in your moghouse,so you are not limited that much by making the wrong decision.Where your decision matters is on your race selection.I can give you a very simple guideline that is of course my own opinion as to waht class is good for what6 jobs.

Taru >>>BLM/WHM/RDM.....thief

mithra >>>thief/DRK/RNGR/SAM.....not bad for many other jobs.

Elven >>>RDM...not bad for a few other jobs such as rngr/pld/sam/mnk/war

Galkan >>>War/MNK....good at tanking or melee jobs[massive hit points]

Hume >>>>IMO perfect for PLD....very good as RDM ..and decent at several other jobs[maging] but excels in none other than perhaps PLD.

All jobs and roles can change alot as you gain a higher level,this you should bear in mind for the long term.An example of this is say a elven RDM gets very little MP at lower levels,but at higher levels will have enough with accessory gear,but you will get the added bonus of more hit points/defence and melee damage for soloing/farming.You can NEVER over come the basic setup the game has made for each class.Each class is designed in a specific manner such as more STR/DEX/AGI/VIT and although you can challenge the design it will never be your best option,to wary from the games design.

Suplyndmnd

Wizardry really nailed the race/jobs specifics.  I am a level 50 red mage and let me tell you.  You stay BUSY!  And by busy i mean BUSY!  You have to make sure to Dispel buffs by enemies, maintain buffs on your people, enfeeble the baddies and healing as well sometimes.  This doesn't sound like a lot but if you got 2-3 mages and a PLD who all need Refresh with the Paladin and other melee's needing Haste you gotta keep it in a cycle as so you are casting the spell on them as the other is running off.  Oh and dont forget, you gotta pay attention to the baddies buffs and make sure you enfeeble but, oh, the PLD is complaining about Haste and the WHM's Refresh just ran out... yeah, that's the endless crap you get as a RDM.



Like previously stated, the higher you get the more roles you have to fill.  The good thing, again like previously stated, is that you can fill all or some of those roles so it's pretty easy to get a party.  You literally can make or break a party.  I am sort of tired of it at 50 and am now leveling Samurai with WAR sub just to take a break.  This is the exact opposite of a RDM.  You can literally pretty much go afk during the fight.  If you wanna tackle one of the hardest jobs to master go for it.  You wanna start off a bit easier, go with MNK or WAR or NIN when you hit 30.