Red Mage: An Endgame Perspective

Category:Guides
This is guide is for serious Red Mage's who look to excel at this job in all perspectives. So instead of looking at what race gives what stats, and how much MP you would have at a certain level, this guide is meant to help those who want to level Red Mage for the purpose of soloing. FFXI is different from many other games simply because you have to depend on other people for help in order to get things done, but it's nice to be able to know you can go out there and solo what you need. Hopefully this guide helps you achieve that.
==Starting Off==
Red Mage is without a doubt one of the most difficult jobs to excel at. Simply because they have so many tools at their disposal, and a key to soloing, is knowing when and how to use those tools depending on the situation, and strengthing those tools to the fullest, but first if you want to solo something that cons IT++ etc., you have to know the basics.
===Gear===
Your ability to solo is centered on your gear. Your gear reflects whether a spell will be resisted or not, or how potent it will be, like Stoneskin. The four types of magic in Red Mage soloing are: 1) Enfeebling Magic 2) Elemental Magic 3) Enhancing Magic 4) Dark Magic. Let me break down each of the four for you. + Magic Accuracy gear such as Balrahn's Ring and Nashira Turban helps Enfeebling, Elemental and Dark Magic spells become less resisted overall.
Enfeebling Magic
No job can Enfeeble like Red Mage. Its what keeps you alive, and the reason the words "Red Mage" and "Solo" are in the same sentence. The gear you need to help these types of spells land are based on the type of spell you are trying to land. + Enfeebling Magic skill gear is what you should try and get first. Warlock's Tabard, Duelist's Chapeau, and Enfeebling Torque are the three most common pieces of gear most use. Other's include Altruistic Cape and even Enfeebling Earring. When you have all the + Skill gear you can get, you focus on 2 attributes, INT and MND. Certain Enfeebles are based on your +INT, others on +MND. The +INT spells are black magic-type, such as Gravity, Bind, Sleep, and Poison, while the MND based Enfeebles include Slow, Silence and Paralyze. It's important to have swaps for each type of enfeeble, to ensure they land. Having Paralyze proc when you are getting attacked by a very strong monster can easily save your life. Examples of gear you want to snag with INT or MND (or both) include Penitent's Rope, Goliard Clogs, and pieces from the Errant Houppelande Set, as well as INT and MND rings. But remember, don't always take INT or MND gear over enfeebling gear. See what works best for the gear you have setup.
Elemental Magic
What? Did you think you can kill something with just Bio and Poison? Your ability to land a solid nuke will reflect how fast you will be able to kill something. There's no rush when your soloing, but with the high MP cost of Blizzard and Thunder III, your gonna want all the potency you can get, since Red Mage doesn't have the most amazing MP pool. For Red Mages on a budget, or without access to the really great nuking gear, the Errant Houppelande Set offers great nuking options that are easily buyable off the auction house. All Elemental Magic spells are INT based, therefore you want gear that increases that, obviously, as well as gear that increases your Elemental Magic Skill. When you feel you don't get resisted a lot anymore, you can replace some of that with Magic Attack Bonus gear. Key nuking items for Red Mage include Warlock's Chapeau, Duelist's Tights, Morrigan's Robe, Morrigan's Cuffs, Yigit Crackows, Nashira Crackows or even Goliard Clogs for the feet. You get the idea. Most of this gear is very difficult to come across, but be dedicated and persistent and it'll come eventually. And yes, I know I didn't name every piece of gear. I just want to give an example.
Enhancing Magic
Highly overlooked, though not as important as the previous two types of magic. Enhancing Magic Skill will reflect on 3 things that you need for soloing. First is Stoneskin. With nice Enhancing magic gear, you can easy absorb most, if not all of an -aga spell, but be sure to recast Stoneskin whenever some of it is used. Stoneskin should be up at ALL times. The second is Phalanx. Though not as important as having Stoneskin up, the extra - damage taken can make the difference between life and death. And finally the third are those handy Bar- spells. Using the Bar- spell corresponding to the element the mob you are fighting against can reduce damage greatly, further helping your soloing capabilites. Stoneskin is effected by +MND gear as well as + Enhancing magic gear, while Bar- spells (Baraero etc.) and Phanlax are strengthened by Enhancing magic gear. Main pieces of gear you want to have are Duelist's Gloves, Warlock's Tights and an Enhancing Torque, as well as the proper +MND gear for Stoneskin. These spells combined with the Enfeebling Magic and a few other things is what gives Red Mage the soloing capability they have.
Dark Magic
For 1 spell, and 1 spell only. Bio. Bio is the key, and is most of your DoT damage (Damage over time). Having + Dark Magic skill gear effects the initial damage of Bio, and how long the effect generally lasts. Gear you would want to have for this are, Crimson Finger Gauntlets, Nashira Manteel and Dark Torque.
===W.Legs!===
Crimson Cuisses, more commonly known as "W.Legs" (Wyrmal Abjuration: Legs) can be as important as enfeebling skill when solo'ing or attempting "crowd control." Since Red Mage soloing is pretty much simply running around, while staying alive and chipping away at the enemies health, being able to run faster helps everything! Whether you're trying to escape an AoE spell, trying to get far enough to start casting a nuke, or simply running for dear life because you're defenseless. These are difficult to obtain (they come from Kirin and have a poor drop rate), but makes life so much easier that you won't believe it.
===Refresh and Convert===
Yet another reason Red Mage can solo. They never run out of MP. But in long fights, 3 MP a tick won't always be enough, especially when you have to use 40 MP to cast the actual spell. That's where these two pieces of gear come into play: Duelist's Chapeau and Morrigan's Robe or Dalmatica. The extra 2 MP a tick lengthens your availablity to use damaging spells and gives you that safe, secure feeling knowing that you have backup Refresh, especially when the spell wears off and your under 40 MP. The Dalmatica is superior in most situations since you have an extra +5 magic defense bonus, but Morrigan's Robe overall is better when it comes to nuking. Vermillion Cloak is fine if you don't have either, however using the Yigit Gomlek Set is not since you have to sacrifice W.Legs, unless it's a slow moving NM like Genbu. I wouldn't take the chance though.
===Sub Jobs===
Depending on your skill and the mob, you have the choice of 2, maybe 3 subjobs. The first is:
====Ninja====
You'll be using this subjob 98% of the time. You can't go wrong when you combine Utsusemi with Fast Cast. Gives you incredible survivability. May wanna practice blink tanking for tight situations.
====Blue Mage====
What? BLU? For the mobs that attack so fast that shadows are just pointless (Charybdis). Takes a lot more skill since you can't let the mob anywhere near you for obvious reasons. Cocoon is the main attraction from /BLU. Be sure to set spells that boost INT, MND or MP.
====Paladin====
If you're soloing, and subbing something other than NIN for the reason I just mentioned above, then you want something that will help you defensively to compensate for the loss of shadows. I don't feel /PLD is better than /BLU, but Sentinel is amazing to have if you're in big trouble, and Flash is always nice for those few seconds the mob will miss you. Use it if you don't have /BLU.
I don't recommend any other subjobs, simply because when soloing something that will hit very hard, you want all the protection you can get. Subbing ninja is recommended for almost all situations except on very very very rare occasions. If you feel something else works out better, then by all means go for what you think fits you best.
==Down to business==
Ok so you have the gear, and you have the knowledge, but do you have the skill? DoT kiting an NM or very tough mob isn't as easy as it sounds. You need proper timing, hope key spells don't get resisted, and know how to use MP sparingly. If you're subbing NIN, you should have a basic know-how on blink tanking and when to cancel shadows. Remember Red Mage has a ton of tools at its disposal, be sure to use them all.
===Bind and Gravity===
Your primary weapons. Thus I recommend capping merits on Wind and Ice magic accuracy. Remember, most, if not all NMs can't be slept simply because they're NMs, so plan accordingly. 
Bind is your best friend. Most NMs will build resistance over time to gravity, but not bind, making this your main source of... well, staying alive. Sky is a good place for beginner Red mages to go and practice. Try killing an Aura Statue to work on timing and see where your skill stands, then move on to NMs like Despot or Zipacna. When you master those, try a Genbu. There are plenty of NMs to try outside of sky. I won't name them all, but most are as long as they don't have Draw In, and even some of those are soloable if you have the skill.
====Bind and Gravity doesn't stick! What do I do?====
In the case an NM is immune to bind and gravity, the only option you have is to kite it around an object. The NM will generally make wide turns, so if you cut your corners and pay attention to the direction it is moving, then you should have little problem. The only difficulty with this is finding time to stop and recast buffs, or nuke while a gravity-less mob is chasing after you. Check the zone around you before you attempt this, so you know where to pull it ahead of time, instead of frantically running around hoping you find something. You have little or no chance of soloing something without bind and gravity in an open field.
===Magic Defense Bonus===
Red Mage also has the handy job trait of Magic Defense Bonus, which reduces the damage you take from magic attack spells. For the harder NMs you decide to try and solo, such as Gration, who's Thunder-based spells will hurt very much, it is very important to have a Magic Defense Bonus setup if you feel you won't escape an -aga spell in time, even with W.Legs. Dalmatica is a very nice piece for this, as is Lamia Mantle +1, Unfettered Ring and gear that gives - magic damage taken, such as Merman's Ring. All this, combined with Stoneskin, Phalanx and your bar- spells will ensure your survivability, so take advantage of this handy tool Red Mage has.
===Other Pointers===
1.) Bio and Poison are your 2 sources of DoT. When they wear, reapply them. If a shadow is knocked down from a hit, reapply your shadows,even if it's just 1 shadow gone. If Stoneskin absorbs any damage, get to a safe distance and put a fresh stoneskin. 
2.) Bind has a recast of roughly ~18 seconds, and most of the time, the actual bind lasts less than that, usually around 8-10 seconds. On weaker NMs though it may last the full recast or even more. Either way if something has built resitance to Gravity, and bind wears while the recast is down, you find yourself in quite a situation. Which is where your blink tanking skills come in! Instead of running around panicing, simply recast shadows while the mob is swinging at you then run. If you have good timing you won't get touched, and even if you did, Stoneskin will most likely absorb it, but just one hit. If it doesn't absorb one hit, have Aquaveil up to make sure your chances of getting interrupted are reduced. This isn't necessary if the NM you are trying to kill has slow movement speed, since you can just run out of range. Most will catch you as long as you don't have gravity on it. 
3.) If something you are fighting happens to put up Blink or Utsusemi, first WAIT until the recast of Bind is ready. Then Diaga to get rid of its shadows. Remember any type of initial damage will break bind, such as from Bio or Dia, even if it's 0 damage. Poison does NOT break bind, since it does not cause any initial damage when it lands. Also make sure there are not any regular mobs in the area when you use Diaga.
4.) Gear swapping, as annoying as it can be to make macros, is very important, since you want every spell you have to be in its fullest effect. Be sure you macro in all your Fast Cast gear for Utsusemi, such as Duelist's Tabard and Warlock's Chapeau, and have torques for each type of magic (Enfeebling, Dark, Enhancing, Elemental), as they will help resist rates greatly.
5.) Getting gear is very, very difficult, since most of it is in high-demand, especially the relic and Morrigan's Robe Set, so be patient, and go for the more important gear first.
6.) Soloing is very time-consuming, but very fun and will test your skill, so I recommend all Red mages @ 75 to try it out. Don't get mad or disappointed if you die. The more you practice and figure out what you did wrong, the better you will get. Have a friend watch you solo so he/she can point out anything you may need help with. Pay attention to everything that happens, 1 mistake can cause you to die. So best of luck soloing.
==In conclusion==
So why does Red Mage solo so well? Main reasons are:
1) A+ Enfeebling Magic Skill
2) Fast Cast + Utsusemi
3) Refresh and Convert
Use them. Love them.
==Credits==
Thanks to all the people who convinced me to level Red Mage a long time ago, and to those Red Mages I duo'd with for helping me get a better understanding of soloing. Hope everyone else can learn the same.
Created by User:Bryeen on 07/07/08