Red Mage ( Final Fantasy XI ) The Red Mage is one of the most versatile job classes in all of " Final Fantasy XI " . They are therefore dubbed the Jack - of - all - Trades , having abilities to cast both White Magic and Black Magic as well as fight with swords and daggers . Their wide variety of skills , though , also means that they are not a master of anything with the exception of Enfeebling . They can neither remove all status ailments or heal as proficiently in high levels as well as a White Mage . They cannot do nearly as much damage as a black mage with offensive magic having no access to Ancient Magic or higher tier Black Magic spells . In combat , they are not as deadly as blue mages with a sword or as handy as a thief with a dagger . Red Mage is a job that can be played in many different ways . Over time they have been played more and more in place of white mages at higher levels as healer of the party , being acquired as a dual healer and support role since Red Mages do have unique spells that only they can cast , like Gravity and Refresh and the most powerful Enfeebling Magic skill of any job in the game making it easier for Melee ' s , Tanks and other mage classes within a party to perform their duties . They are also responsible for crowd control when the puller within a party inadvertently brings back a link mob . The Red Mage is considered one of the most capable classes when it comes to soloing quests , missions and fighting mobs otherwise considered too difficult to take on when outside of a party . Though they take much longer to reduce an enemies HP to zero , their survivability is matched by few other classes when played appropriately . All races of Vana ' diel can make a competent Red Mage . From Tarutaru , who are primarily chosen due to highest MP totals , while Galka which lack in the MP department are more survivable due to higher HP totals and Vitality . Note that as with any job chosen by any race in " Final Fantasy XI " it is the player that makes the difference in playing a job on a skilled level . Becoming a Red Mage . Players can begin the game as a Red Mage and if they choose to do so , will be given an onion dagger as well as a scroll of their first Enfeebling Spell Dia in addition to their normal racial starting gear . Otherwise , they can choose to become a Red Mage at any time simply by changing their job at his mog house or at a nomad moogle . Gameplay . Red Mages have a multitude of utility since they bridge the gap between White Mage and Black Mage and have additional abilities only available to their job . They are skilled with swords , though not to a impressive extent , and have the capacity to do decent damage in that manner . Where they really shine , though , is through enhancing and enfeebling , to boost the abilities of themselves and their allies and impose debilitating status ailments on the enemy . Support Job s . Since Red Mage is one of the more versatile jobs , there are many viable subjob choices . Below is listed the most commonly used subjobs and their applications but there are certainly instances where players may want , use , or enjoy trying something different . Black Mage . Black Mage was , for a long time , the most common of all Red Mage subjobs . It remains one of the two most workable subjobs for Red Mage in party and alliance based combat . The major draw of subbing Black Mage is its Conserve MP trait , access to area effect damage , Drain , Aspir , and Sleepga spells , and the ability to cast Escape which can make the difference , while partying within an area where Escape is applicable , in a complete party defeat . At higher levels , the Black Mage is the main subjob for all Red Mages that participate in Dynamis events . White Mage . White Mage has become increasingly popular as a healer role for groups considering the scarcity of White Mages . While not as efficient as a White Mage , a Red Mage does offer some advantage , especially if a Red Mage can effectively bridge the gap between being both support and healer . White Mage offers Red Mages access to status removal spells and area of effect Curaga spells . Divine Seal helps make up for the Red Mage ' s lower healing power . Dark Knight . Dark Knight is a common subjob for Red Mages participating in Sky or other end - game battles . This has to do almost exclusively with Dark Knight ' s early access to the spell Stun . Combined with Haste spells and gear as well as natural and worn Fast Cast , a Red Mage makes the best chain - stunner in the game , helping to disable the enemy from doing much of anything . For soloing purposes , this can also be an enjoyable subjob for the use of Aspir and Drain and access to heavy damage weapon skills like " Vorpal Blade . " Ninja . Ninja is a very popular subjob used primarily for soloing and hunting NM ' s . Using Ninja subjob opens many doors for Red Mages , including the ability to solo the Avatar NM ' s and fight many high level normal monsters and NM ' s for EXP . This can only work by skilled use of the spells Stoneskin , Phalanx , and which when combined can give 100 % Damage Reduction for several minutes . Warrior . Warrior is often used by red mages when helping other people with various tasks that do not constitute a large challenge . The spell Phalanx plus Stoneskin can make Red Mages pretty resilient to low damage amounts . Warrior abilities , like Provoke in particular , help the Red Mage tank relatively easy engagements versus some " decent challenge " or easier opponents . While a red mage tank is extremely durable , they are limited to using Provoke for controlling an enemy ' s attention . Red mage tanking is very useful for parties that are focused on raising weapon skills rather than gaining EXP . Blue Mage . A recent subjob choice , Blue Mage makes soloing quite a bit easier for Red Mages . While offensive spells will be much less effective , defensive and curative spells are still very useful . Paladin . A subjob choice which can be used over Warrior , particularly for shield skillups and helping other people with various tasks that are considered ' easy ' for RDM to solo . Paladin abilities such as Shield Mastery , Flash and Sentinel in particular help the Red Mage tank relatively easy engagements . Similar to RDM / WAR , RDM / PLD is generally limited to Flash or Sentinel for controlling an enemy ' s attention . Also of note , the Paladin latent job ability Auto Refresh further underscores RDM ' s ' infinite MP ' . Also similar to / WAR , / PLD tanking is very useful for parties that are focused on raising weapon skills rather than gaining EXP . Scholar . Since its introduction , the Scholar has become something of a " definitive " mage subjob and no magic job feels all of the benefits to the same extent as the Red Mage . At level twenty , a Red Mage / Scholar gains Light Arts and Black Arts . Light Arts reduces the MP cost , cast time , and recharge times on all of the Red Mage ' s native White Magic by ten percent while boosting the Red Mage ' s Healing and Divine magic skill levels to a B + rank . Dark Arts reduces the MP cost , casting time , and recharge times on all of the Red Mage ' s native Black Magic by ten percent while boosting the Red Mage ' s Elemental and Dark magic skill levels to a B + rank . Light Arts and Dark Arts both increase the MP cost , cast time , and recharge times of the spells in the opposite school by twenty percent when they are active , something only the Red Mage feels to the same extent as the Scholar . At level twenty , a Red Mage / Scholar also gains Addendum : White which grants additional White Magic that would otherwise only be available with a White Mage subjob , along with strategems that reduce the MP cost of the next White or Black Magic spell by fifty percent . At level fifty , a Red Mage / Scholar has access to strategems that reduce the casting and recharge times of the next White or Black spell by fifty percent . At level eighty , a Red Mage / Scholar gains the Accession and Manifestation strategems . Accession turns select single - target White Magic spells into Area - of - Effect spells . Included in these spells are almost all of the Red Mage ' s native White Magic and the spells gained from Addendum : White . Manifestation does the same for almost all of the Red Mage ' s native enfeebling and dark spells as well as some enfeebling and dark spells gained from the Scholar subjob . Both Strategems stack with the Red Mage ' s own Composure skill and come with a cost of double the spell ' s base MP and triple the base casting time , but depending on the number of targets , the Red Mage can potentially become a far more efficient healer , supporter , and enfeebler than even when subbing White Mage or Black Mage . Other appearances . " Final Fantasy Trading Card Game " . Red Mage from " Final Fantasy XI " appears on cards . " Triple Triad ( Portal App ) " . Red Mage from " Final Fantasy XI " appears on a Triple Triad card .