Red Mage: A Walkthrough For Beginners

Category:Guides
==Introduction==
My aim here, is to create a level-by-level guide, explaining equipment, spells, macros, and your ever-changing role in a party as you progress through the levels.
If you're reading this guide, I'm assuming you'll be a newer player, not familiar with FFXI game mechanics, and so will be going over some of the simpler game matters, as well as some more difficult things.
When it is completed, I'm hoping this guide can take you from your beginnings in Vana'diel, all the way to end-game at 75.
If I leave any important information out, or if you have ideas on how this guide could be improved, please leave a comment on the talk page.
Thank you. 
==General Hurdles for Newer Players==
First of all, welcome to Vana'diel-- a world full of amazing characters, stories, adventures and friends. As you'll no doubt soon find out, Vana'diel is massive, and as such, may be a tad daunting for the new player!
There are two things that will help you immensely in Vana'diel:
:*Friends
:*Gil
Making friends with other lower-level players you see running about, or even with higher-level players will serve to benefit you (and them!) greatly. 
Vana'diel is much less scary, and much more fun when you explore with a friend! You can look out for each other, help each other complete missions and quests, and of course, make money-- which leads me to my next point.
Making a bit of money (gil), and using it wisely early on in the game can only benefit you. There are various methods of making gil, and the easiest of these for a new player to do, is farm. 
A general rule I went by: If it can be sold, don't throw it out.
===Sub-job===
Upon reaching level 18, you can do one of two quests, which will unlock your Support Job and allow you to level other jobs so you can gain stats and abilities that you wouldn't have access to. You must do one of these quests to be able to use a sub-job, Elder Memories or The Old Lady. 
Your support job will be restricted to half the level of your current main job. A level 75 RDM will have a support job restricted to level 37. RDM30 will have a level 15 sub-job, and so on.
In the examples above, the RDM will have access to all spells, abilities (except 2-hour abilities) and Job Traits that their support job has available at the restricted level.
For party play, there are two jobs that you'll want to level so you can use them as your support job: Black Mage and White Mage. The simplest way to level your jobs, to avoid having to stop leveling RDM to go and re-level BLM and WHM is:
#Level BLM to 18.
#Complete one of the support-job quests.
#Level WHM to 37.
#Level BLM to 37.
#Level RDM to 75.
Of course, BLM and WHM are interchangeable in the above example-- WHM can be taken to 18 first, then BLM to 37 and so on.
This is the most efficient way to level your RDM-- get your main support jobs out of the way, and then enjoy smooth sailing on your RDM, without the need to go back and re-level support jobs on the way.
Not only this, but BLM and WHM share much of the same gear pre-37, so you'll get extra mileage for your gil!
It is considered slack to level with an under-leveled support job, and there is a good chance party leader will not accept you into their group, or even remove you from the party if your support job is not kept current!
==Red Mage==
===Weapon===
From level 10 to 50, you'll most likely be using wands as your weapon, as many wands will boost your spells potency with the stats (see below) they possess. 
The day you hit level 51 brings untold joy, for you can now equip the Elemental Staves, which will greatly improve all of your spells.
For melee, RDM has two real options : swords and daggers, and we only have a B ranking in both. Generally speaking, swords will serve you better for most of your RDM melee purposes. They hit harder than daggers, not that much slower, and you have access to more powerful weapon skills earlier on.
This is not to say daggers are useless, just, you don't see them being very powerful until later in the game. 
===Magic===
As a Red Mage (RDM), your calling is Enfeebling Magic, as our Enfeebling Magic Skill is the highest of any job in Vana'diel.
Enfeebles are spells cast on an enemy to try and hinder them, making it more difficult for the monster to harm your party, and in turn, making it easier for your party to take down whatever they're fighting. This can include slowing down the enemies attack speed, inflicting poison and/or paralysis on the enemy, lowering defense or attack, or even slowing down the enemy's Movement Speed to a crawl!
There are two groups of magic a RDM will use:
*Intelligence-based INT spells
:Ex: Bind, Poison, Gravity, Bio, Stone, Aspir.
*Mind-based MND spells
:ex: Dia, Paralyze, Slow, Silence, Cure, Stoneskin.
Basically, you'll want to equip as much MND as is viable for your MND-based spells, and as much INT as possible for INT-based spells.
===Dia & Bio===
These two spells are ridiculously useful, both in a party, as well as solo play.
Dia is a light-based spell that inflicts DoT and lowers the enemy's defense by 5.27%. 
Bio is a dark-based spell DoT spell which lowers the enemy's attack by 5.27%.
There are three tiers of each of the above, with Dia II and Bio II further lowering the enemy's defense/attack, and Dia III/Bio III lowering them even more. However, the third tier is only available at level 75 through the usage of Merit Points. 
You cannot have both Dia and Bio active on an enemy at the same time. Bio will overwrite Dia of the same tier, though a higher level tier Dia will overwrite a lower tier Bio. Below, if the ">" symbol means "is overwritten by":
::Dia > Bio > Dia II > Bio II > Dia III > Bio III
It is up to you, as the RDM, to decide which will be of greater benefit to your party. Generally, Dia will get more use than Bio, as Dia helps all members of your party by making them hit the enemy for more, while Bio only helps the person being hit (which is usually the tank).
===Guidelines for Upgrading Gear===
As a general rule, replace your old gear with new only if the new piece(s) enhance stats that are useful to you. Some guides here on the wiki will tell you to replace X-armour with Y-armour at such-and-such level, even though it offers only a few more defense and no stat boosts. To me, this is a waste of gil and time, as 99% of the time, you'll be in the back lines, away from the mob, not being hit.
Stat boosts to look for on your gear upgrades include:
*Magic Points (MP)
*INT
*MND
*Enfeebling Magic skill
*Magic Accuracy (M.Acc)
Before level 50, only the first three items are generally required, as Enfeebling skill and Magic Accuracy are hard to find before this.
==The Guide==
Okay, so this is what you actually came here for. 
I'm going to try and break this down a bit, so as not to overload newer players with excess information. Please note that everything in this guide is for party play, with advice to match this.
Under each level-range sub-heading you will see:
*Equipment
:This will give you an idea of weapons and armour you should be aiming to obtain and why they'll benefit you. Because this is a beginner's guide, I'm going to go with the easier to obtain, cheaper gear options, though feel free to buy High Quality items if you have the means.
*Spells
:Will outline the spells you'll want to learn at these levels, where to obtain them, how much they cost, and why the spell is useful to you.
*Macros
:Because macros are infinitely useful in being as efficient and effective as you possibly can be, I'll give examples on what is useful to macro, which gear to macro in with, and when to use your newly made macro.
*Role
:What people will expect you, as a RDM, to actually do in a party will change over the course of your RDM career. Hopefully this will sort things out a bit if you're confused about what to do.
===Level 1~10===
These levels are generally gained by soloing, as the amount of EXP. required to gain your first few levels is quite low, as is the level of the mobs you'll be targeting, so creating a party at these levels will most likely slow you down. 
Be sure to keep any items that drop from monsters so you can sell them later!
Equipment
----
 	Main 	Sub	Ranged	Ammo	Head 	Neck 	Ears 	Body 	Hands	Rings 	Back 	Waist	Legs	Feet
Level 1 	Wax Sword +1 	 	 	 	RSE 	 	 	RSE or Pilgrim Tunica	RSE 	 	 	 	RSE 	RSE
Level 2 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Level 3 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Level 4 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Level 5 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Level 6 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Level 7 	 	 	 	 	 	Justice Badge	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Level 8 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Level 9 	Willow Wand +1	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Level 10	 	 	 	 	Brass Hairpin	 	Onyx Earring x2	 	 	Saintly Ring x2, and Eremite's Ring x2	Mist Silk Cape	 	 	
Comments:
*The level 10 rings are perhaps the best investment you can make at this level, both for their price, and their stat boosts.
*Mist Silk Cape is the only cape that enhances MND before lv.32, and as such, is a great piece to have. It may be quite expensive for new players, however, it drops from a lv.10 NM, which is only costs time.
*Don't worry about having lv.1 armor at lv.10-- there's nothing around here that boosts your stats.
Spells
----
Level	Spell 	MP	Element	Type 	Obtained From
1 	Dia 	7 	 	Enfeebling	Merchants:     Regine (San d'Oria)     Sororo (Bastok)     Kususu (Windurst)
3 	Cure 	8 	 	Healing 	Merchants:     Regine (San d'Oria)     Sororo (Bastok)     Kususu (Windurst)
4 	Stone 	9 	 	Elemental 	Merchants:     Regine (San d'Oria)     Zaira (Bastok)     Aroro (Windurst)
5 	Poison 	5 	 	Enfeebling	Merchants:     Regine (San d'Oria)     Zaira (Bastok)     Aroro (Windurst)
5 	Barstone 	6 	 	Enhancing 	Merchants:     Hasim (Lower Jeuno)
6 	Paralyze 	6 	 	Enfeebling	Dropped by:     Amethyst Quadav (South Gustaberg, North Gustaberg,          Palborough Mines, Konschtat Highlands)     Amber Quadav (South Gustaberg, North Gustaberg,          Palborough Mines)     Yagudo Acolyte (East Sarutabaruta, West Sarutabaruta, Giddeus)     Goblin Leecher (Sanctuary of Zi'Tah)
7 	Protect 	9 	 	Enhancing 	Merchants:     Regine (San d'Oria)     Sororo (Bastok)     Kususu (Windurst)
7 	Barsleep 	7 	 	Enhancing 	Merchants:     Susu (Lower Jeuno)Dropped by:     Amethyst Quadav (Konschtat Highlands, North Gustaberg,          South Gustaberg, Palborough Mines)     Goblin Leecher (King Ranperre's Tomb,Valkurm Dunes,          Ordelle's Caves, North Gustaberg,          Dangruf Wadi, Jugner Forest,          Batallia Downs, Pashhow Marshlands,          Rolanberry Fields, Inner Horutoto Ruins,          Buburimu Peninsula, Maze of Shakhrami,          Meriphataud Mountains, Sauromugue Champaign,          Lower Delkfutt's Tower, Ranguemont Pass,          Sanctuary of Zi'Tah)
8 	Blind 	5 	 	Enfeebling	Merchants:     Regine (San d'Oria)     Zaira (Bastok)     Aroro (Windurst)
Dropped From:     Orcish Mesmerizer (East Ronfaure, West Ronfaure,          La Theine Plateau, Ghelsba Outpost)     Amber Quadav (Konschtat Highlands, North Gustaberg,          South Gustaberg, Palborough Mines)     Amethyst Quadav (Konschtat Highlands, North Gustaberg,          South Gustaberg, Palborough Mines)     Yagudo Scribe (East Sarutabaruta, West Sarutabaruta,          Giddeus)
9 	Water 	13	 	Elemental 	Merchants:     Regine (San d'Oria)     Zaira (Bastok)     Aroro (Windurst)
9 	Barwater 	6 	 	Enhancing 	Merchants:     Hasim (Lower Jeuno)
10 	Barpoison	9 	 	Enhancing 	Merchants:     Susu (Lower Jeuno)Dropped by:     Amethyst Quadav (Konschtat Highlands, North Gustaberg,          South Gustaberg, Palborough Mines)     Goblin Leecher (King Ranperre's Tomb,Valkurm Dunes,          Ordelle's Caves, North Gustaberg,          Dangruf Wadi, Jugner Forest,          Batallia Downs, Pashhow Marshlands,          Rolanberry Fields, Inner Horutoto Ruins,          Buburimu Peninsula, Maze of Shakhrami,          Meriphataud Mountains, Sauromugue Champaign,          Lower Delkfutt's Tower, Ranguemont Pass,          Sanctuary of Zi'Tah)     Yagudo Priest (Giddeus)
10 	Bio 	15	 	Dark 	Merchants:     Regine (San d'Oria)     Zaira (Bastok)     Aroro (Windurst)
Comments:
*All of these spells will benefit you, but if you cannot afford all of them, the Bar-spells (Barpoison, Barstone) can probably wait.
Macros
----
MND-based spell:
/magic Paralyze <stnpc>
/equip ring1 "Saintly Ring"
/equip ring2 "Saintly Ring"
INT-based spell::
/magic Stone <stnpc>
/equip ring1 "Eremite's Ring"
/equip ring2 "Eremite's Ring"
Role
----
Levels 1 through 10 are usually done solo. The fastest way to level up is to slaughter any monsters that Check Easy Prey or Decent Challenge with your sword, saving your MP to Cure yourself when your HP is low.