SwagVault MMO Blog

FFXI Red Mage Guide

November 11, 2008 – 10:51 pm
Posted by: honriyallo

I) A Red Mage in perspective.

II) Your objective, as a Red Mage in a party.

III) The Red Mage and you.

IV) The Red Mage and the rest.

V) A Red Mage and his sword.

VI) A Red Mage and his spells.

VII)Balancing a Red Mage’s Budget.

IIX)Questing as a Red Mage.

IX) Epilogue.

X) Acknowledgements.

XI) Disclaimer.

Last Revision:10/24

New in this Revision: Fixed typos and a problem with the quests, added ASCII.

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I) A Red Mage in perspective-The general Facts of Red Mages.

The Red Mage is a character class that delves in the art of Black and

White magic. This may seem a unbalanced class, especially once you consider

that he can fight with weapons much better than Specialty Mages, yet he isn’t,

the reason for this is that he gets most of his spells at a higher level

then Specialty Mages, and some spells he never gets. Of every spell in the

game that is casted by Specialty and by Red Mages that a Red Mage can

cast first are the Dia spells. This may seem to nullify the power of the Red

Mage for he gets most enfeebling spells at only a slightly higher level

than White or Black Mage. Most he gets only 2-3 levels after a specialty mage,

and he gets near all enfeebling spells. Their other strong point is Enhancing.

Most enhancing spells Red mages get at nearly the same level as their

specialty counterparts, however there is an exception, single target enhancing

skills that do so much better for a Red Mage, examples include Blink, Blaze,

Ice, and shock spikes, and similar spells. The reason these are at a later

level for a RDM is because they are significantly better for a Red Mage, why

does a White mage really need blink, their goal is to never attract hate

anyway, however a Red Mage occasionally tries to draw hate, and here

are worthful.

A Red Mage in summary specializes in Enhancing and Enfeebling.

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II) Your objective as a Red Mage in a party-General Strategical requirements

of a Red Mage.

The fight sequence of a Red Mage is, generally, as follows:

1-Use enfeebling magic on them, before lvl 20 this is usually Dia and blind.

2-At low level attack, at higher level just sit back with the other mages.

3-Serve as a back-up healer.

4-If a specialty mage ever gets hit heal them,so they dont get hate from

healing more.

5-Occasionaly Re-enfeeble them if its a long fight, usually not necessary.

6-Keep refresh on the other mages, if you are high enough to cast it.

Note: Steps 4-6 are not chronological, and are situation based.

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III) The Red Mage and you- Red Mages interaction with other classes.

Inter-class relations is relatively simple with a Red Mage.

Class-Relation a Red mage has with them.

White Mage, Black Mage- Red Mages jobs are to lessen the casting for both other

mages, and to keep them refreshed at high level.

Others- Provide cures for them, can also take a hit for them occasionaly.

As one can see a Red Mage mostly interacts with the mages in his party.

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IV) The Red Mage and the Rest- The claim that Red Mages are Jack of all

trades, master of none.

In the beta, and in those following the game slightly in locales where this

game hasn’t been released yet, it’s popular belief that Red Mages are near

worthless, this was soon not the case near the end of the beta for people

realized that Red Mages were a valuable member to a party. This misconception

feeds on ignorance, so if you start out the game like I did you may have

trouble finding a party, people looking for a healer and shunning you because

“Red Mages suck at healing”. This is a common misconception. Many new players

of FF XI believe that Red mages master nothing, however they are the masters

of enhancing and enfeebling. Don’t let this discourage you from being a Red

Mage because soon enough after release people will realize that they have

misjudged Red Mages.

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V) A Red Mage and his sword- Choosing a weapon for a Red Mage.

Now, time to look into equipment for a Red Mage, more specifically a

weapon. Most Red mages will choose a sword, such as me for example, yet it is

not as easy a decision as one may think it an easy choice, yet it is not so,

here I will present pros and cons of the three good weapon choices for a Red

Mage, then order them in my own personal opinion.

1: One-Handed Sword

Pros: Best damage for a Red Mage weapon, moderately fast attack.

Consack of swords with bonuses to casting stats, Red

2: Club

Pros: Nice bonuses to help casting.

Cons: Rather bad damage.

3: Dagger

Pros: Fast attack speed, makes the best of En- spells.

Cons: Weak damage.

My preference, in order: One-handed sword, Club, Dagger.

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VI) A Red Mage and his spells- A more in-depth view of spells.

Now a chance to look at some of the Red Mages basic sets of spells, the

primary use and objective having already being discussed here I will detail

some of thee basic spells.

Enfeeblingia-Lowers defense and does damage over time, use this every fight.

Blind-Decreases attack accuracy, quite useful considering its MP cost.

Paralize-Occassionaly loses ability to act, good but blind is better.

Poison-Does damage over time, good but I prefer dia.

Bind-Prevents Enemy from moving, good for casting other spells.

Dispel-Removes beneficial status effects from enemy, Red Mage only.

Gravity- Slows the enemy’s movement, Red Mage only.

Enhancingrotect-Raises defense by 10, lasts a while, keep it on constantly.

Shell-Raises resistance to magic, also good but not as good as protect.

Regen-Constantly regenerates life, very good but doesn’t last long.

Sneak, Deodor, and Invisible-Allows you to go undetected by enemies.

En spells-Add elemental damage to your weapon, adds 5 usually; ok.

Bar spells-Raises resistance to one element or status effect.

Stoneskin-Makes attacks do less damage, great for the occasional solo.

Phalanx-Makes all attacks do less damage, great for solo fights.

Refresh-Constantly regenerates MP, excellent; Best RDM only spell.

Elemental Spikes- Does Elemental Damage to enemies whenever they hit.

Healing: Cure: A necessity, allows you to heal yourself or your party.

Dark: Bio-Lowers attack and does damage over time, high MP cost.

Elemental: All elemental- Good for a bit of extra damage, usually a waste.

Divine: Red Mages get a divine skill, but no divine spells!

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VII) Balancing a Red Mages Budget- What you should buy.

The Red Mage is one of the most expensive classes, since they have more

spells than any other class to buy. I would suggest skipping the following

spells, unless you find them particular useful for what you hunt.

All of the Bar-Element spells.

All but one or two En- spells, eventually you’ll want them, at level 20 having

3 is a waste.

Swords between levels 1-9, quest for a Sapara in Port Bastok, then buy a Royal

Archer Sword.

Don’t buy any items with Conquest Points until you can get level 30 gear, as

anything lower is only slightly better their normal equivalent, with the

exception of Legionnaire’s gauntlets and Royal Footman’s Gloves, which I

recommend buying with gil.

Hats, Quest for A compound eye circlet, lvl 9 head slot, it is a very good

Helmet, decent DEF and +5 evasion.

What you should definitely buy:

All other spells.

Armor, usually warrior type armor.

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IIX) Questing as a Red Mage- Highly rewarding quests for Red Mages.

Windurst:

Star Onion Brigade quest series, Behind the Warehouse in port Windurst.

Do these for the Justice Badge and Blaze spikes;Noteo they first quest ASAP.

Manustary quest series, Manustary in Windurst Woods.

Do these for the Scentless Armlets.

Compound Eye Circlet Quest, Koru-Moru’s Manor in Windurst Walls.

Do this quest for the Compound Eye Circlet.

Bastok:

Powhatan quests, Steaming sheep Restaurant Port Bastok.

Equip A shell shield and talk to him, easy quest. You are rewarded with

a Sapara.