RDM 51 need some advice

[Dahc]

Well it has been a while since i played RDM, mostly due to lack of funds to purchase good gear. So far I have 3 elemental staffs that i have macroed in to my spells. but when it come down to gear, I get alot of questions as to why my gear sucks. Well my answer is usually cause I have no gil. Now by no means will i stoop to RTM to get the quick fix for this, but on the other hand I want to lvl my rdm badly. I currently have the RDM AF feet and leg, recently beet miser murphy but that is as far as I have gotten on AF gear. I was hoping that since i play healr most often that waiting to get to the level where i can wear my AF gear will save on having to purchase Armor and then I can focus on getting accessories. Now here is my problem , I rarely have over 10k gil , I have lvled my Woodworking to lvl 21, and I have a tough time farming. I usually go to ghelsba outpost to log for elm logs to make my gil, not a fool proof system btw some days i get none. So was wondering if there are any other RDMs out there with good advice on a couple of things:

1 good location for farming with 51/25 RDM/WHM
2 what accessory gear should I be wearing
3 are there any BCNM or NM that drop items that I can use for RDM
4 any good help that will get me gil

As for my gear this is my current line up

Main:
Fencing Degen
Yew wand +1
Ice Staff
Wind Staff
Light Staff
Secondary:
Targe
Head:
none
Neck:
Holy Phial
Earring Left:
Onyx
Earring Right
Onyx
Body:
Iron Scale Mail
Hand:
Iron Finger Gauntlet
Ring Left:
Mana Ring
Ring Right:
Tourmaline Ring
Back:
Red Cape
Waist:
Mowashb sash
Legs:
Iron scaleCruises
Feet:
Mage's sandals


Any and all advice is welcome as well as any critisism ----- got thickskin I can handle it

[IfritnoItazura]

You need to take the time to gather gil. If you have /BLM or /NIN ready, you can try BS40 Under Observation. RDM/WHM may work as well, but I'm not as sure.

I often walk away from parties with 2-3 stacks of crystals. Selling those usually pays for food and then some. Check the How to make money as a newbie (http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/frequently-asked-questions/67145-how-make-money-newbie.html) more more ideas.

Dark Staff for hMP, Sleep, Aspir, and Drain. Earth Staff for Slow. You absolutely should have them.

You really should have a MND gear subset (for Slow, Paralyze, Silence, Stoneskin) and an MP subset (for convert) by now, and macroed in situationally. INT subset is optional, but good to have.

Magic Cuisses (Lv.48) is ~7k on my server, and that's INT+3 and MND+3 right there. Tourmaline Ring is worthless. Get a pair of MND+ rings, and one more MP ring (such as Electrum Ring; HP-20 MP+20 at ~5k.) INT rings for Sleep, Poison, etc. would be nice, too.

[Icemage]

^

I sincerely doubt he's had the funds to level Ninja if he's struggling to keep up with the (relatively inexpensive) costs of Red Mage.

As for synthcrafting, I wouldn't expect to make any money at crafting until at least level 50 or so. For relatively quick and consistent money without needing tons of skill, go develop your Fishing skills instead.


Icemage

[Radiuz]

Back in those days, when lightning crystals used to sell for like 5k

I always farm at a place where NO ONE actually goes to (if you have chains of promathia).

go to Carpenter's Landing from Jugner forest and fight lightning clusters. it was easy getting those.

BUT If you're trying to make quick gil, then I wouldn't suggest seeing them as 1.7k in AH in jeuno for 1 stack of lightning clusters.

what I did to earn gil is to do Teleporting services (unless you have the scrolls and level 36+ white mage)

it would be good to tele for quick gil lol

one time I was teleing a party of people who were 65+, one person gave me 50k, and that's good service lol

[Mhurron]

Get a Dark Staff. Really. For partying, yes you can wear all your AF, though hands and feet are very good candidates for other gear.

For parties, focus on having mage gear that boost MP, INT, MND and hMP. Leave the heavier armor for soloing. There is also Crow gear that has Enmity- on it. At least get something on your head.

You're entering the long stretch of resists. Having MND gear for MND spells, INT for INT spells and the right Elemental staves all macroed for the right spells will make your life a whole lot easier.

[Radiuz]

I actually never macroed before because it was confusing,

although I was able to put in SATA macros for thief lol.

but if I come back into playing I'll try to use macros although I can do without

[Mhurron]

but if I come back into playing I'll try to use macros although I can do without
Not playing optimally you can't. You will find the need to switch 5 or more pieces of gear for spells. There is no way you can switch the gear and find the right spell faster then I can hit ALT-X then CTRL-Y.

[Radiuz]

Not playing optimally you can't. You will find the need to switch 5 or more pieces of gear for spells. There is no way you can switch the gear and find the right spell faster then I can hit ALT-X then CTRL-Y.


That's BECAUSE my brother moved out and it was his account and I had no way playing ffxi but my mother ordered PS2 HDD with FFXI so in janurary I can start playing again.

do you have any idea how long I play a day?

I play about 20 hours+ a day.

[Clever Ninja]

Get a Dark Staff. Really. For partying, yes you can wear all your AF, though hands and feet are very good candidates for other gear.

For parties, focus on having mage gear that boost MP, INT, MND and hMP. Leave the heavier armor for soloing. There is also Crow gear that has Enmity- on it. At least get something on your head.

You're entering the long stretch of resists. Having MND gear for MND spells, INT for INT spells and the right Elemental staves all macroed for the right spells will make your life a whole lot easier.

Quoting to emphasize what he said. I use Light, Dark, Ice, Earth and Wind Staff for XP purposes on my 61RDM atm, Devotee's Mitts/some other gloves for MND/INT spells, MND/INT rings for the same purpose, +1INT earrings cause I haven't bought the MND ones yet >_>, and a few other things. With the exception of the staffs, Devotee's Mitts you should have already from leveling. It only costs 10k right now on Hades, good from level27 and at level61 I'm STILL switching it in for Cures and other MND based spells.

That's BECAUSE my brother moved out and it was his account and I had no way playing ffxi but my mother ordered PS2 HDD with FFXI so in janurary I can start playing again.

do you have any idea how long I play a day?

I play about 20 hours+ a day.

This...this makes no sense whatsoever to what he replied to you with.

[Mhurron]

I play about 20 hours+ a day.
That's nice. In addition to believing you like to exaggerate, biology says there's no way you're faster then my two keystrokes.

[Radiuz]

I never actually thought macros was that helpful, although I was thinking people in-game would complain because I dont use macros for upper 55's



and... " biology says there's no way you're faster then my two keystrokes." I have no idea what you mean.

Im not really that fast typing, and pressing macros.

[NicasinXS]

Hello rdm!

Get rid of all that melee stuff! Sell it all and get clothing for your rdm that has stats that boost mnd - int - mana. Thats the first, then get the 8 different elemental staves, they will increase your spells acc and potency alot.

Make a macro set just for playing rdm in parties with. Make sure you have one macro bar just for the spells you have to use alot so they are only a button away instead of a bunch of menus and scrolling. Under you /ma commands in the next line /equip main <relative Staff> this way your spells will be a touch away and the proper staff will automatically equip for the spell.

I found it easier for 1 macro bar to be enfeebles and a nuke the other for party support spells, refresh - haste - curez - etc. This should fumble proof your casting.

/whm for an increase in party invites, if theres already a whm in party /blm. As main healer its way easier to /whm for Divine Seal + Curaga.

[Sabaron]

I never actually thought macros was that helpful, although I was thinking people in-game would complain because I dont use macros for upper 55's



and... " biology says there's no way you're faster then my two keystrokes." I have no idea what you mean.

Im not really that fast typing, and pressing macros.

I'm not really sure what the purpose of this is for or how it helps the OP. You're posts, in general, seem to be like the ramblings of a person who likes to talk just to hear their own voice and for no other purpose, or perhaps you're just trying to increase your post count so you can post a link to some horrible virus-infested gilseller website.


And to the OP.

The earrings definitely need an upgrade.

While this site is no longer maintained, here is a link that will help you:

http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/advanced.php

Since you're not terribly rich (judging from the requests for things that can help you make money), I won't reference anything terribly expensive.

You'll want the consider the following accessories--the starred items are must-have:

*Saintly Ring +1 x2
*Eremite's Ring +1 x2
*Electrum Ring (very cheap)
Antivenom Earring (You can get these from Assault if you don't want to buy)
Insomnia Earring (Also from Assault)
Moldavite Earring (You'll need help to camp Mysticmaker)


Earrings are terribly uninteresting unless you have some cash to burn. They're very expensive and have very small effects in general. You should hold off on earring upgrades until you have gotten the greater portion of your other gear. The exceptions are Antivenom and Insomnia which are very good items and well worth getting your hands on, especially the Anti-venom which has +1 hMP.

[IfritnoItazura]

Solace Ring should be cheaper than Saintly Ring +1; even Turquoise Ring would be better than what he has now--which is no MND rings. Wisdom Ring (or Goshenite Ring) over Eremite's Ring +1, too; he doesn't need to blow what little gil he has on Lv.10 +1 rings.

Agreed on Antivenom Earring, and I also think the limited funds should be spent on other slots first as well. Moldavite Earring is a luxury these days, and the OP should worry about getting gil first instead of getting help for Moldavite.

[ioshua]

Just a note to the older players. You do need to take into consideration how much bag space he's got. From a rough glance, he's at least 31 pieces of gear that he's being told to carry. Breaking 40 slots is where the bag quest jumps in price so, with his cash woes, I'm assuming he's got 40 at best. That leaves 9 slots for food and pearls. So now he's down to 7 slots for sundries and loot, loot that he'll need to pay for (if only in part) all of the gear he'll need for swaps.

Macros and hotkey skills are one thing but you've got to factor the backpack logistics in as well.

[Truece]

Gobbie bag quests come with the territory. Part of being a mage (especially post-51) means carrying around loads of gear to be efficient.

Farming is seldom fun, but it is a necessary evil. Macros make you efficient. The higher you go in level, the more gear you need to carry around.

While it's NOT absolutely necessary to do any of these things to do the job, it IS necessary to do the job well.

[Mhurron]

You do need to take into consideration how much bag space he's got. From a rough glance, he's at least 31 pieces of gear that he's being told to carry. Breaking 40 slots is where the bag quest jumps in price so, with his cash woes, I'm assuming he's got 40 at best. That leaves 9 slots for food and pearls. So now he's down to 7 slots for sundries and loot, loot that he'll need to pay for (if only in part) all of the gear he'll need for swaps.
Gobbie bag quests come with the territory. Part of being a mage (especially post-51) means carrying around loads of gear to be efficient.
These are both good points, and obviously leads to the next bit of advice, do the gobbie bag quests, and the mog house and locker upgrades as soon as you can.

If you need to scrimp on gear, and until you do some gobbie bag and mog house/locker upgrades quests you may find yourself in that position then scrimp on the soloing gear. Your partying 'magie' gear will be fine for farming lower level mobs.

[Dahc]

First I wanna thank you all for the replies. As i wont say that I am really new to the game, I will say that this is the highest job I have. Just to give you all a breif overview to get an Idea of the type of player i am, here is a brief synopsis on my character. If you check my profile you see that I have 18 0f the 20 jobs open. I do alot of quest for fame and attempt to help LS newbies as often as I can sometimes I will go a day or two without lvling. I despise powerlvling or anyone that ask me to pl them. Even if I am trying to lvl my lower jobs in dunes I just hate it cause the newer ppl are not learning how to actually play the game. Anyways, my MH is currently at 70 slots due to not having gil for items for the 80 slot. I have 35 slots for my Storage and have not opened the locker yet. As far as the gobbie bag quest go I just got the quest for Gobbie bag V. Now alot may wonder ok where do you spend gil if not on armor. I prioritize my buying like this--- scrolls, weapons, armor then accecories. For every mage job I have made it a point to have every scroll up to two lvls ahead of my current lvl. This also goes for BRD songs and Dice. I am severly lacking for my nin. I have all the spirit pacts which I bought and have recently aquired Shiva. So when it comes to spells I have every spell possible at that lvl which in turns causes my armorm to suffer. The items I do have, well I am a pack rat and I can say that I have a little bit of everything for all 18 jobs at the current lvl they are at. For my mage jobs I have 4 different sets that go up in lvl as the job goes up in lvl. For the slots that I do have left over I use most of the up for lvling my Woodworking skill. SO after all this it goes to show or at leaast i hope that not much of the gil i get is actually spent on accecory gear. Now that I am in the mode to want to lvl my RDM past 51 all the while being able to be an effective member of the pty -- I find my gear lacking and my supply of gil short. I can honestly say that for the most part I get repeat invites and yes there have been sometimes where I have gotten booted for not being effective, mostly due to lack of gear
or lack of ability to land debuffs ( this as only happened in the last 10 lvls or so) but yet a rare occasion. I find it a kick in the arse and a gut check when I get LOLRDM and I wonder if it is my gameplay but usually come to find out that my lack of gear is playing a big part in this. As far as macros go, I have always used macros even from lvl 1 RDM as a noob and as I read these forums and learn more about my job I find myself constantly revamping them to make them more effective. I have the elem staffs that I have aquired macroed into my spells. I do not have any pure equip macro due to lack of gear and space. overall I would say that not using macros at this time in my RDM career would be like suicide. Well I know this is long but the point I am driving for is that it is not really a matter of knowing how to play the game or even doing a good job, but rather to gain knowledge on how to be better at my Main job. I am by no means and in no way the best at playing RDM but I want to be good enough that when I do play RDM that I have no problems sticking my spells and am able to maintain my cycles and keep the pty alive and have a good exping experience and hopfully earn respect as a good RDM worthy of a reinvite at a later time.

Thanks for your patience and I appreciate all inputs and or critisisms........... even spelling checks LOL

[IfritnoItazura]

>_> Paragraphs. You need more paragraphs.

I have the elem staffs that I have aquired macroed into my spells. I do not have any pure equip macro due to lack of gear and space.

Spell macros should do more than macro'ing staff. For example, this is my Paralyze macro as RDM75:

/ma "Paralyze" <t>
/equip neck "Spider Torque"
/equip L.ring "Sapphire Ring"
/equip main "Ice Staff"
/equip R.ring "Hale Ring"
/equip Body "Warlock's Tabard"

You don't have torques to worry about at Lv.51, but should have INT and MND neck pieces to switch to depending on spells by now. I switch body because some spells are better with Glamor Jupon, but you really should have at least MND and MP ring set.

The majority of my spells macros use all six lines. ^_^;

[Esoa]

I found RDM to be pretty cheap. I just bought 3-4 of the best non-HQ staves and some cheap +mnd/int gear to macro in, set up my macros, and proceeded to lvl to 75 without any difficulties. I never farm and I got all my money from PTing and occasionally fishing.

[Dahc]

I find that quite had to belive that you get your gil from ptys only. I have to farm,synth, and try a bunch of other stuff just to get gil. I buy all my scrolls first and I guess my problem stems from not focusing on one job but I still have trouble brining in any decent amount fo gil to buy everything I feel that I need to do RDM, at least at this point in time

With that said I have been spening the last month synthing woodworing to lvl up my WW skill. I am hoping to getting a high enough lvl to make a good profit off a few reciepes.

Also I would have to ask where you ptying at lvl 51 cause the ptys i get only wind up with crystal drops or stuff that sells for cheap, nothing that you can make steady money on enough to buy elemental staffs and scrolls and armor.

[Esoa]

What did you do with all the money you earned from 20-51? There's very little important RDM gear to buy so in that time period you should have earned enough from PTing and farming/fishing/etc. while LFP to buy 2-3 of the most important staves.

In your current situation you'll just have to earn the money or wait till you can afford them, which might be many levels. I personally hate farming and have probably done less than 5 hours total between 1-75. I've earned money primarily from skilling up fishing and from leveling new jobs to 15ish since you get lots of crap to sell on the AH.

[Evion]

I'm a level 50 RDM now, and I'm quite interested in this topic, though I do have a little bit of cash to buy staves and gear with.
@Ifrit: I was looking at your Para macro. Firstly, I play on an Xbox 360, so I haven't really needed to macro until now. According to the macro above: You start casting the spell paralyze and then equip the gear for it while casting? Or, does it all initialize at the same time? or what exactly...

Thanks,

Evion

[Ameroth]

Few points to make:

and have not opened the [mog] locker yet.

If you have Treasure expansion pack, srsly get the locker. It's easy to get, and after a few updates will provide you with looooots more storage. No reason to not have it.

I'll try to use macros although I can do without
That's BECAUSE my brother moved out and it was his account and I had no way playing ffxi but my mother ordered PS2 HDD with FFXI so in janurary I can start playing again.

do you have any idea how long I play a day?

I play about 20 hours+ a day.

What th...?

Get a Dark Staff.

This is important. Really, any job that actively uses MP post lvl 51 should have one. If you don't get to rest often, that extra +10mp in one tick will make a load of difference in a pinch.

While this site is no longer maintained, here is a link that will help you:

http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/advanced.php

Considering the recent controversy over somepage (and the fact there is harmful code that can steal your account info), I'd discourage using this website anymore. Use it if you want, because it was a great source of info, but be aware.

play on an Xbox 360, so I haven't really needed to macro until now

I don't get this. How can you level 50 levels without using macros? I mean, how can you stand to scroll thru menus and lists to find what you need? No offense, but not using macros (especially for a RDM) is horribly inefficient. Like Mhurron pointed out, there's no possible way you could swap 3+ pieces of gear, go thru menus and locate and cast a spell, and swap those 3+ pieces of gear back out before I could simply press alt+1 and alt+2.

And for the gil issues:

Seriously, find a way to make gil before continuing to party. Spend some time just farming or making gil however you want. Continuing to level up without the gil required will only harm you even more. Spells and gear gets more and more expensive as you level. Hell, just buying Protect and Shell spells for your level would cost about 50k gil from NPCs.

Edit:

I have been spening the last month synthing woodworing to lvl up my WW skill. I am hoping to getting a high enough lvl to make a good profit off a few reciepes.


Honestly, don't expect WW (or any synth) to start bring you back cash for quite sometime. You can make gil while skilling up, but it's a slow process based on research, economics, and luck. Powerleveling a synth skill will do nothing for you but quickly dry up your wallet. Take it slow.

[Evion]

Gear-swapping isn't really neccessary pre-50 IMHO, especially since I've had really nice gear throughout. Also, the menu/spell choosing for the XBOX 360interface is REALLY easy and fast. You'd have to try it to know what I mean... I do feel that full macros and gear swapping becomes neccessary for a RDM post lv 50 though... Which is why I was asking about it.

[Ellipses]

Also, the menu/spell choosing for the XBOX 360interface is. . .
. . .exactly the same as the interface on the other platforms.

[Evion]

Not true... I've seen the differences by looking at my friend's on his PC. Firstly, he has to use his mouse on things that I can highlight by pressing ^. I press ^<X. And I'm curing someone... That's just as fast as your 2 hotkey heal for the PC. I do have some macros, and I know I can find them using my controller faster than PC Hotkeys. Left Trigger,>,>,X done.

[Ameroth]

Not true... I've seen the differences by looking at my friend's on his PC. Firstly, he has to use his mouse on things that I can highlight by pressing ^. I press ^<X. And I'm curing someone... That's just as fast as your 2 hotkey heal for the PC


FYI: No one actually uses the mouse on the PC version.

I press ^<X. And I'm curing someone...

On my PLD I use a Hospitaler Earring (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Hospitaler_Earring) only for my cures. I press ctrl1 (Cure4 on myself) and it swaps my current L.ear piece to the Hospitaler Earring (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Hospitaler_Earring), casts the cure, and then switches back to my original earring. Without macros that would require opening my equipment (Ctrl+E), highlighting my earring spot, clicking it, selecting the new earring, applying it, canceling out of equipment menu, opening magic, scrolling down, highlighting and clicking on Cure IV, closing magic list, opening equipment again and reapplying my original earring. Which process is faster nah?

The interface may look different graphically, but it's still the same one we're using. I can uses my arrow keys to scroll thru menus, or I can just make a macro to do it for me.

[IfritnoItazura]

Gear-swapping isn't really neccessary pre-50 IMHO
Macros are never necessary in the strictest sense--just fast, effective, prudent, and a good idea in general.

Try THF for instance, which has an useful but still low C+ ranked marksmanship. To make good use out of it, one needs to:

1. Switch to different status bolts, depending on what's needed.
2. Switch in R.Acc gear, so the bolts would land.
3. Switch OUT of R.Acc gear when melee'ing, since many cheap R.Acc gear actually lowers melee swings' accuracy.

Now, you can do all that manually, or you can macro. All the useful bolts (Bloody, Acid, Sleep) are Lv.30 lower IIRC, and R.Acc rings with Acc- traits are available before Lv.20. I'd say a smart THF would definitely start macroing way before Lv.50.

* * *

As for RDM, I've been switching MND and INT gear in spell cast macros since Lv.10 personally, and will roll my eyes at RDM40+ players who don't have MP gears macro'ed for Convert. Having an hMP gear macro for resting is really handy as well.

[Evion]

I think gear-swapping pre-50 for a RDM is a little elitist.... I've always done a great job as a RDM without gear-swapping or macroing and have been told so on a number of occassions. I'm not saying that macros aren't sweet. I'm just saying for RDM pre 50, it doesn't really make that much of a difference...

[Ellipses]

Not true... I've seen the differences by looking at my friend's on his PC. Firstly, he has to use his mouse on things that I can highlight by pressing ^. I press ^<X. And I'm curing someone... That's just as fast as your 2 hotkey heal for the PC. I do have some macros, and I know I can find them using my controller faster than PC Hotkeys. Left Trigger,>,>,X done.
Anyone who "has to" use a mouse is doin' it wrong.

I think you're referring to target up/down inside your party list, and/or target left/right? Keybindings to do that are available. Absolutely the only thing you can do with a controller that you can't do with the keyboard (if you have it set correctly) is scroll along the macro list(s) from left to right. But then, with the keyboard, you've no reason to. And you can always connect a controller to a PC and do that, too. The only interface difference from platform to platform is the name of the button you press on the controller (Triangle/X/Square vs. A/B/C or whatever vs. Button1/Button2/Button3) for any given effect.

[IfritnoItazura]

I think gear-swapping pre-50 for a RDM is a little elitist....
You can call it "elitist" if you want, but I call it doing the best I can for my parties.

I didn't (and still don't) have the greatest gears, but if I can macro what I have to squeeze out a better performance, I would. Every inventory slot is a potential resource for bettering my output, and so is every macro space.