Red Mage Help

[LinktheDeme]

I was wondering about tier 1 red mage merits regarding a solo (dot) rdm.

Not sure if i should do convert 5/5 ice 3/5 and wind 2/5

or

wind and ice 5/5

Anyone know what avesta has? ;3

edit : Assume won't merit or hnm ever on rdm when giving opinions plz ty.

[Rahkis]

For missions and bcnms, nothing beats 5/5 convert.

[Sylphet]

Eh, like I said, I agree. It's best when you don't have to. There are plenty of linkshells though that don't really like the idea of a red mage tank. If you come in as a tank wanting to show your worth, then being able to do it is a plus. Especially for low man ventures.

What I basically mean is, if your tank party only has one red mage in it, then expect to have to refresh and phalanx. Another job can handle hastes etc., but as those are in party spells, you may have to cast them.

We've always given Citlin a lot of external support when he's tanked. (Citlin is the main RDM/NIN tank in our linkshell for those of you who have no idea who I'm talking about). He does an awesome job but I don't think I've ever seen him do all that all by himself. It's rather unrealistic to expect him to do that. I agree with you wholeheartedly that RDM/NIN makes and awesome co-tank but it's pretty rough for them to solo tank anything.

One of the things that a lot of RDMs don't realize is that just because you solo on RDM/NIN does not mean that you can automatically tank. They are fundamentally two different things. As Zoot said earlier you cannot be a good RDM/NIN tank unless you are willing to put a LOT of time and gil into getting the gear and experience needed for it.

Link: Don't ever assume you won't merit on RDM Guaranteed you'll be asked to at one point or another!
That being said, I wouldn't lose my convert merits if you paid me. It's up to you which you prefer for the other set. If you don't want to waste merits then I recommend that you go and play around with soloing and see which you end up relying on most and which you get the most resists on. You can chose your merits based on that. Don't forget people have been soloing on RDM for a long time, even before merits existed so you don't need them strictly speaking. It might be smarter to hold off on the decision to see which you'll need most.

[Zoot]

We don't expect him to do it all by himself, however there are many times when we are short on members. He has solo tanked Fafnir and Nidhogg as the only red mage. I believe he's also held Tiamat as we were gathering, although I could be mistaken. Yes, it's unrealistic to just expect them to perform well without support. But as the most flexible job in the game, I believe you should be willing to be as flexible as you can be and expect that it might happen.

However, I tend to think in BtL terms alot because we are statistically low on members.

Er, also. Just realized my word choice fails. I don't really mean that you should be like, "I don't need another rdm for this npnp" But instead, if the situation arises, be prepared for it. I am a complete supporter of a secondary red mage in the tank party. It makes things flow much, much smoother. And especially if your LS is not so keen on RDM tanking, you should counter that by being the absolute best at tanking you can be. But the way I am coming across is not really reflecting that >_>

Edit: I love convert merits for soloing. Sometimes that small amount of time can mean the difference between being able to cast that last nuke, bind, or gravity that decides whether you win or lose. And it shaves off time if you happen to be nuking something to death, or in a BC like Compliments to the Chef or Aspid.

Forgot to add >_< Syl is absolutely right about tanking and soloing being completely different. Soloing can be done many different ways but a great deal of it is Bind, Gravity, Nuke [Run Away!]. There are elements of tanking while soloing, such as having haste in your utsu gear, but other than the gear setups and mechanics are completely different.

[Jukor]

Anyone know what avesta has? ;3

According to his website, he has:

HP 8
INT 5
Enfeebling Magic 8
Sword 8
Dagger 8
Crit Hit Up 4
Spell Interrupt Down 4
RDM Group 1:
Convert 5
Ice Accuracy 5
RDM Group 2:
Slow II 3
Bio III 3
BLM Group 1:
Thunder Potency 5
Ice Potency 5
BLM Group 2:
Freeze II 3
Burst II 3

[Seditedi]

As for solo, if you are looking into learning how to do it, sky is perfect for it.
Zipacna/Steam Cleaner are really easy and if you get into trouble you can always just zone lol.
If you plan on soloing alot of stuff, definitely go for the Ice Accuracy (helps a ton for Bind and Blizzard III) and Convert merits.
edit: SC is really easy only thing that could be a problem from him is Ga IIIs/Magic Wall, but he usually isn't too bad with them. Last few I killed didn't even use the magic shield once lol. Zip isn't hard either, you'll definitely want to eat a Tavnazian Taco for him though, hits pretty hard and fast, without Taco/Terra's Staff/Cheviot cape, he will probably wipe your stoneskin in one hit.

[Gaborn]

There is one thing I failed to ask about in this post. I've got the concepts of INT and MND setups, merit allocation, and general job performance. What I am lacking is what gear is best for standing equipment for both general use and for tanking as RDM. No one has said it but from what i've gather here and there it seems Haste gear is only useful for actually casting Utsusemi spells. Someone mentioned MP+ gear for added mp to cure yourself back to full or whatever else you need it for. But what is good for standard gear that you macro back to after your enfeeble or blink goes of?

[Seditedi]

For a general standing setup (not tanking) I'd recommend getting your HP:MP as high and even as you possibly can. Definitely put Duelist's Chapeau/Dalmatica in your standing setup(if you have those). You don't really wanna use any HP->MP gear in your standing setup as that will usually screw up HP:MP ratio depending on what race you are.

[Tajin]

If you are not tanking, and just idling, some form of Auto-Refresh is handy, along with some -dmg gear or MP gear (if you have a BRD, plus sanction / sigil) since, sometimes you recover MP faster than you can spend it.

For tanking I have no idea, ENM+ gear along with -DMG gear I suppose.

[drwaffles]

Zip isn't hard either

Unless he binds you. That can be pretty brutal.

[OctavoGilgamesh]

There is one thing I failed to ask about in this post. I've got the concepts of INT and MND setups, merit allocation, and general job performance. What I am lacking is what gear is best for standing equipment for both general use and for tanking as RDM. No one has said it but from what i've gather here and there it seems Haste gear is only useful for actually casting Utsusemi spells. Someone mentioned MP+ gear for added mp to cure yourself back to full or whatever else you need it for. But what is good for standard gear that you macro back to after your enfeeble or blink goes of?

I mentioned my standing setup above in this thread ><

Macro in your terra's pretty much after every spell, then you can stack and damage down and refresh pieces you have available to you. Umbra's Cape, Golliard Trew's, Terra's Staff, hell you can even go as far as putting in -magic dmg stuff as well.

[Gaborn]

I mentioned my standing setup above in this thread ><

You mentioned your staff body and leg gear (which was great, no sarcasm intended) but I felt generally lacking as to what to look in the stats in general for my standing equipment (HP:MP ration and damage reduction for example). And you were the only(?) person to give insight. I like to get opinions from as many people as possible so that I can better understand the mechanics of why they are choosing these pieces so that I can do some digging and figure out gear sets on my own. Thanks again for the response though and I apologize if you felt shafted or overlooked in your above post. I didn't miss ya just wanted an extra opinion or two d('.'d)

[theo]

Honestly for basic standing gear there isn't a whole lot that I worry about. Auto-refresh is a given if you have it. I also try to wear gear that keeps my HP up high enough that I can get a full convert. Terra's staff (or Genbu's Shield if you like to idle in a wand) is a good idea. If I'm already wearing haste gear I won't bother to switch it out for other gear, because its highly likely that I'll need it for my next spell anyway.

After that I honestly make most of my standing gear choices based on what looks good and how many white boxes I can equip at a time.