Shattering Stars/Red Mage

=Red Mage =
==Obtain==
A Red Mage's Testimony from one of the following:
* Aura Pot (Level: 75 - 80) (Shrine of Ru'Avitau) 
* Dustbuster (Level: 73 - 76) (Ve'Lugannon Palace) 
* Hover Tank (Level: 64 - 67) (Temple of Uggalepih) 
* Magic Pot (Level: 68 - 70) (Upper Delkfutt Tower) 
* Ruby Quadav (Level: 69 - 70) (Qulun Dome) 
* Sprinkler (Level: 70 - 73) (Ru'Aun Gardens) 
==Special Notes==
Note:This guide uses a strategy that tells you to use the spell bind and then nuke with the magic Aero III. Due to changes in the spell, after you bind, now it will unbind him rendering you dead. I suggest using Gravity.
Note:Maat will use Asuran Fists back to back in both the first half and second half of the fight. Judging from this, Maat does not need to build TP in order to use Asuran Fists.
=Guides=
==A Maat Fight Strategy==
Very commonly considered the hardest of all the Maat fights and for good reason. Chainspell in the hands of an enemy is never a good thing. Luck plays a big role in this fight so say your prayers before doing this. First and foremost, get the elemental staff for your highest elemental spell. It will help your nukes not get resisted. Food is very helpful in getting your INT as high as you possibly can, every last point counts. Melon Pie +1 is very good INT and MP food, but others might work as well. Everyone has their own method for entering. Enter, run to Maat and buff yourself while keeping a close eye on what spells Maat is buffing himself with. Sleep him and dispel him until all buffs are removed. If you don't land that first sleep, you'll be glad you put buffs up first before starting the battle, they will buy you time in casting your other sleep spell.. Bind Maat. Nuke Maat with your highest tier III spell, then sleep him. If he managed to get cast a buff in the time you nuke/sleep him, dispel it. While he is slept, keep your buffs up if he had a chance to hit you. The nuke/sleep/bind method is a good way to keep him at a distance so he doesn't use Asuran Fists to wipe the floor with you. When your MP is almost depleted, make sure he is slept, check your buffs one last time, Convert, use potions to get your HP back to full, Chainspell and nuke away with your best tier III spell. You do not need to get his HP to zero, he will most likely give up before then. There are other methods to defeating Maat as RDM. It is possible to beat him at 66, but very difficult. Soloing the Ruby Quadev in Qulun Dome is good practice for fighting Maat, and will get you testimonies in the process. Keep in mind, that Maat will use Chainspell. If he does, make sure he is slept, and let him sleep long enough for it to wear off. Maat does have access to all tier III spells even though you don't. Bring food, drinks, potions and elixers. Creating a macro bar just for this fight does not hurt. Do not get discouraged, keep trying. This is not an easy fight.
==Additional Stratagy==
Get your INT as high as possible, as stated above. Also, make sure to get the wind, ice, and dark staves, as they will help your spell accuracy. As for consumables, buy the following: melon pie+1, Intelligence Booster (optional), 5-8 Hi-Potions (very important), 2 Yagudo Drinks, and at least 3 bottles of Mulsum. The key to winning by this stratagy is knowing how much MP you have, what exactly you're going to cast, and when to cast it. 
Macro in the following, and for the spells put /targetnpc and /equip main "Corresponding Elemental Staff" in the lines before the casting line for ALL of them: 
:[Alt Line] Sleep 2, Sleep 1 (make sure these are next to eachother), Bind, Paralyze, Aero III, Convert, Chainspell. 
:[Ctrl Line] Hi-Potion, Mulsum, Yagudo Drink, Stoneskin, Blink. 
Time to fight. 
Use your food outside of the burning circle and head in, it will NOT dissapear. Once you get inside, RUN as fast as you can to the edge of the arena and use sleep2 on maat, if that doesnt stick, quickly follow up with sleep1. Now, make sure you're at max distance from maat (you will be if the first one stuck) and use yagudo drink, INT booster, Blink, and Stoneskin. Dispel and Paralyze him, and then Bind. Now comes the crucial part: this is when you Chainspell. Once you Chainspell, use as many Aero III's as you can untill you have enough MP left for sleep 1 or 2! This is crucial, and if you mess up and don't have enough... guess what you brought the mulsum's for? IF there are resists or Sleep cannot be used, THEN USE MULSUMS to up your mp at the last minute before Sleeping Maat (Chainspell is up so dont worry about delay). Immediately Convert and SPAM HI-POTIONS. Get your hp up to a comfortable lvl and use the last bit of Chainspell to pound the old man into oblivion with your newly replenished MP. You will have enough MP to finish him off when you win, even though he gives up before you get the chance. Expressed in steps, this is what you do:
:Use food outside
:Go in and Sleep Maat
:Buff up and Dispel, Paralyze, Bind
:Chainspell
Within Chainspell:
:Aero III till enough mp left for Sleep (will vary with mp)
:Sleep 1 or 2 and make it stick (use mulsums if need be)
:Convert
:Spam Hi-Potions
:Aero III till he dies
You do not need to do anything else besides these steps. With Stoneskin and Blink both up, Stoneskin will cover the bumps Blink doesn't absorb, and you will have enough hp to take the 3-5 spells he'll manage to cast if they get through. The key is not to have any downtime between actions and to ensure the highest ammount of accuracy on Sleep's. You should finish in under 3 minutes if you're smooth, Good luck!
==Gun Ho Strategy==
This strategy is best used for jobs that have more MP. I've personally tested this strat on Tarutaru and Humes. I would also assume it works very well with Mithra. Galka and Elvaan may not be able to use this strategy effectively.
The goal here is to maximize Magic Attack Bonus then INT then MP. This path is also a more expensive path than most since it requires a vile elixir and a vile elixir +1. You may be able to cheapen the meds but its something I do not recommend. The int potion although was released before COP was in low supply when I did both my tries so it was something I was unable to get. I'd recommend it if its cheap on the server but its not necessary.
Equipment I used (my attempts predate COP so some items may have better equipment now)
:Weapon - Auster's Staff (HQ Wind) 
This is useful because of the 15% magic attack bonus for the aero III spam you will be doing
:Throwing - Phantom Tathlum / Morion Tathlum
:Head - Warlock's Chapeau
:Neck - Elemental Torque
:Earring - Moldavite Earring/Phantom Earring or Elemental Earring
Moldavite is the key to this strat. It adds an additional 5% damage in a slot that doesn't do much overall
:Body - Warlock's Tabard
:Hands - Warlock's Gloves or anything that gives +int
:Rings - 2 x Zircon Rings
:Back - Red Cape
:Waist - RK Belt +1 (thats what I used when I started) but Penitent's Rope is better
:Legs - Warlock's Tights or Anything that gives +int
:Feet - Warlock's Boots or anything that gives +int
:Food - Melon Pie +1
The strat I used was to eat food before entering the BC, then enter, then run to the BC edge, cast Stoneskin, cast Blink, cast Diaga, activate Chainspell, spam Aero III and then Blink, repeat Aero III and blink, once low on MP pop a Vile Elixir, repeat Aero III/Blink spam, low again pop a Vile Elixir +1, repeat till MP is gone.
It should take I believe 12 Aero IIIs to beat Maat. 
To increase damage, go on windsday.
This strat is more expensive but its how I did win in record time.
Category:Guides
Added note
(This fight is enough to make you wish you never chose RDM as your main, but this was the only strat that worked for me, just a couple notes I'd like to add. Don't Dia maat, because if you dia him you cant sleep him, and you will need to sleep maat to debuff him and use any potions you might have brought along, another thing is dont count on sleep sticking unless your Int. is very close to or above 100 total. If you wanna avoid Maats heavy melee dmg, stay away from using silence, and dont count on being able to bind or gravity maat, he seems highly resistent to both.)
== Melee Strategy (Eden) ==
1/1 on Maat with melee in mind. I am a level 70 RDM Taru with capped sword, evasion, enfeebling, enhancement, and elemental, though I did not nuke. Set the record. 
Equipment: 
* Sword: Wise Wizard's Anelace
* Ammo: Morion Tathlum
* Neck: Black SIlk Neckerchief
* Ears: Morion Earring x2
* Ring: Eremite's Ring
* Back: Red Cape +1
* Waist: Qiqirn Sash
* Armor: Full AF
Food: Melon Pie +1
I bought health potions but did not use. 
Strategy: 
* Eat food then enter BCNM. 
* First, run up to Maat to see what buffs he uses (if any) in order to dispel. Maat will not engage until you do. 
* Buff up - Refresh > Protect IV > Shell IV > Blink > Stoneskin > Phalanx > Haste > Shock Spikes > Enthunder 
* Rest. I healed until ~600 mp.
* Immediately silence Maat. He did not use any form of shadow so silence stuck. Dispel any buffs he may have used.
* Debuff Maat - Paralyze > Slow > Blind > Gravity. I did not use DoT in case I needed to emergency sleep. 
* Keep chipping away at his HP and reapply blink and stoneskin as necessary. I hovered over my silence macro for when it dropped. I had to reapply once more and he snuck a Poison II which did not land due to shadows. Between stuns, paralyze, slow, and blind, he did not hit much. Reapply debuffs as they wear. Make sure you are fully buffed as well. 
* At ~50% hp, Maat used Asuran Fist which took off stoneskin and blink and did about 100 points of damage. Continued with buff/debuff and melee. 
* Maat gave up at ~25%. 
* Did not have to use 2hr or any potions, self cure, sleep, or nuke. 
Notes: 
I skilled up on colibri outside White Gate and Mold Eater worms in Aydeewa Subterrane. This prepared me to solo and cap skills. 
Good luck!
Comment on the above strategy - This seems to be a bet on when Maat will give up. Tried this and timed out while Maat was around 22%. The upside is that this method is that death is highly unlikely, I never went under 75% hp and timing out does not result in exp loss. The downside is that you will need to farm a new testimony. I think chances are much better if you use mp potions instead of resting, but this is still not a guaranteed win, as it seems that the exact point at which Maat gives up is random and if you're really unlucky he may not give up at all.
== Sleep-Nuke (Eden) ==
The classic method of nuking with Aero III works on Eden and is probably the most reliable way but you will need to be fully prepared.
Preparation: Cap all magic skills (except divine and dark). Capping healing is very easy - just spam cure (first tier) on yourself. Capping enhancing is also easy - just spam random buffs on yourself. Avoid buffs that don't overwrite themselves. Do this in front of your mog house so you can run inside and recover MP when needed.
To cap elemental (extremely important!) practice on worms in Aydeewa Subterrane (map 3, H-9). Silence the worms then spam stone and water (lowest tier). Capping enfeebling takes longer now as it is no longer possible to spam dia (no longer overwrites itself, therefore gives no skillups beyond the first use). Silence then cast random debuffs, repeat when they wear. Do not recast a debuff before it wears as it will give no skillup (exception: you can cast dia ii over dia). Make sure the worm you're practicing on is at least EM to cap skills. It is advised to split the chat log into two windows through the configuration, as it will make it easier to notice when debuffs wear.
Once your skills are capped, time for the fight. I've decided not to save gil on this one, so the items on this list may be expensive. I ended up not using most but would still buy them if I had to fight again.
* Armor: Full AF
* Weapon: Wind Staff
* Ammo: Morion tathlum
* Neck: Black silk neckerchief
* Earrings: Morion earring + Moldavite earring
* Rings: Windurstian ring (yes, the lv 1 ring) + Mana ring
* Back: Red cape
* Waist: Mercenary Captain's belt
Food & medicines:
* Melon Pie +1
* Vile Elixir +1 (very expensive but can turn the tides of the battle)
* Vile Elixir (Cannot have another HQ since they are both rare)
* Yagudo Drink - 2x
* Pro-Ether
* Hi-Potion - A lot
Macro all items as well as the following spells: Aero III, Sleep, Sleep II, Bind, Silence, Stoneskin. It is advisable to use <bt>, as this will target Maat even if not targeted by the marker.
Since you're going to be using Aero III exclusively, fight Maat on Windsday. Eat the melon pie, full rest then enter BC (the food buff will not wear, but all other buffs will). Note your mp, it will be lower than usual since you don't have a subjob during this fight.
As soon as you're inside, run to Maat. He is non-aggressive and will not attack before you start the fight, no matter how close you are. Buff yourself with Protect IV, Shell IV, Stoneskin and Blink. Everything else is a waste of MP. Drink a Yagudo drink - mp means everything, you need a refresh and you don't want to pay 40 mp for it. While buffing yourself, watch which buffs Maat casts on himself. Note exactly how many and hope that he doesn't cast Blink.
Begin the fight by sleeping Maat (if you're using <bt> for macros, they will not work until you make the first claim, so use the menu or the command line, after that you can use the macros). If your enfeebling skill it capped it should stick unless Maat cast Blink and it hit a shadow, in which case immediately sleep him with Sleep II. When asleep, dispel all buffs he cast on himself and debuff him with silence (extremely important), paralyze and blind. Do not use any other debuffs as it's just a waste of mp. Take a safe distance from Maat, then cast Aero III, followed immediately by Sleep. Run to a safe distance before nuking again. Rinse and repeat, alternating between Sleep and Sleep II due to recast timers. If one of your sleeps doesn't stick, use bind, which, when combined with silence gives the same effect. If you miss more than one sleep in the entire fight it means that your INT is too low or your enfeebling skill is not capped. When your mp goes below 150, use the pro-ether (it will give you a medicate effect but it's fine because we don't have anything else that conflicts with it). Second time it goes below 150, use the NQ vile elixir. Save the +1 for emergencies. I ended up not using it.
Keep Stoneskin up at all times - Maat hits hard but he will need to hit you at least 3 times to remove the Stoneskin effect. If he does, recast after you sleep him. Make sure Maat remains silenced at all time (use the 2-window chat log option to see clearly when silence wears) - The reason I failed on my first couple of tries is because he starts casting Cure IV when he's about ~50% hp, recovering 15%. Maat will use Chainspell at some point, which is another reason to keep him silenced.
If you get hit, spam Hi-Potions, you don't want to waste mp on cures. If you need to convert (don't do this unless you've already used both the ether and the nq elixir and down below 150 mp again), make sure Stoneskin's up and that Maat's asleep, then convert and spam hi-potions to full health.
Took me around 3.5 mins for the entire fight.