RDM Earrings need some input

[Dahc]

Ok so I have finally gotten my Gear up to par in my opinion except for my Earrings. Besides the obvious antivenom and Insomnia earrings, what are some of the better earrings to get at lvl 55. I have my eye on the Enfeebling erring from the DEM ENM fight but have yet to get a pty willing to do this fight. With gil being scarce Iam more partial to finding items I can quest, NM fight or conquest point for them.

Any suggestions?

[LadyKiKi]

If you camp Morion Worm (poppable every 15 minutes to a random ???) in Korroloka you can get a chance for the Morion Tanthlum (spelling) to drop. Find a goldsmither OR sell it on Auction House and use the money to buy a pair of Morion Earrings. Since you got the enfeebling earring already, if you buy a pair you can nuke in those and swap it out for enfeebling earring for enfeebles.

Also, camp that Goblin in the Labyrinth of Onzozo for the Moldavite Earring (Magic Attack Bonus +5).

[Dahc]

This post envokes another Q I have. What is with the Morion Thalium. I see alot of RDM on Ramuh with them but never really took the time to see what it is good for.

On the NMs Iwill definately be making my way to those to pick up on the earrings TY

[Murphie]

Morion Tathlum just gives a small INT and MP boost. That's all there is to it. What have you been using in your ammo slot all this time?

[LadyKiKi]

Morion Tathlum - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Morion_Tathlum)

An ammo item. You can try for 2 and have one crafted/sold.

[Dahc]

For most of the time I have Silver arrows which I make and a bow. I rarely ever get to use the RA in those random instances I pull for some god aweful reason. I am usually always back line so my RA has fallen by the wayside

[Murphie]

As a back line job (now), you should focus your gear on boosting your spell casting. Arrows aren't going to do that.

Also, and this isn't an attempt to be mean, but merely a bit of advice. You can just roll all of your questions up into one thread and ask new ones there as they occur to you.

[Dahc]

I appreciate the post. I will keep that in mind from now on and roll all my Qs into one thread.

For the Ammo slot what would you suggest so as to maximize my MP or MND

[Murphie]

Well, it always helps to browse the AH to see what is available for that slot, but at your level, a Morion Tathlum (or Phantom Tathlum if you're of the right level) is a good idea. For boosting MND there is Holy Ampulla if I'm not mistaken.

[Saren]

Holy Ampulla is whm only, it felt oddly weird not being able to equip it on smn and sch.

[IfritnoItazura]

It's somewhat embarrassing, but I'm still using the same four earrings I was using at Lv.50:
- Moldavite Earring (for nuking only)
- Antivenom Earring (full time)
- Insomnia Earring (macro'ed in on Convert, in case Moldavite Earring is still in slot)
- Reraise Earring (Obvious only for use before special fights, unless RR gets dispelled.)

Obviously I think those are fine choices for a RDM (can leave Reraise Earring in Mog House most of the time), but I am biased. (Would love to get an Enfeebling Earring one day, but that's a million-Gil item.)

Ammo wise, it's fairly reasonable to go from Morion Tathlum, then to Phantom Tathlum (Lv.66). This is a good time to start saving for your Lv.64/65 neck piece as well; you'll want a Spider Torque (or an Enfeebling Torque if you're rich).


* * *

I have my eye on the Enfeebling erring from the DEM ENM fight but have yet to get a pty willing to do this fight. With gil being scarce Iam more partial to finding items I can quest, NM fight or conquest point for them.

Any suggestions?
Um, yeah. Don't ask people to do this ENM with you, only you get to take the ultra expensive item if it drops.

The drop rate is fairly low, too, so it's not too practical to keep repeating it until everyone gets an Enfeebling Earring. If you do set up this ENM, sell and split the profit--if there's anything to sell.

[Murphie]

Holy Ampulla is whm only, it felt oddly weird not being able to equip it on smn and sch.Sorry, I am rusty. I should have known that.

[Mhurron]

Geist Earring (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Geist_Earring)
Cunning Earring (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Cunning_Earring)

[Mog]

I'm surprised you all are forgetting about the most important (and expensive) earring for RDM: Enfeebling Earring.

I would only get this if you can afford it though... It has a hefty price tag on it. Don't ENM it. <.>

[Mhurron]

No one forgot it, it was mentioned several times. Most notably in the OP itself.

[Mog]

No one forgot it, it was mentioned several times. Most notably in the OP itself.

I'm too lazy to read posts. <.>

[Sabaron]

You also have:

Astral Earring - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Astral_Earring)

Harvest Earring - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Harvest_Earring)

and if you want to have some ENM Fun (I'm guessing your Elvaan):

Desamilion's Earring - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Desamilion%27s_Earring)

[Evion]

RDM needs a good INT boost IMHO, to land those enfeebles. If you're looking for Not Uber Expensive Gear, go with the Morion Earrings or the lesser Cunning Earrings. As an Elvaan, I really went for the few extra MP from the Morion Earrings... Also, you definitely should get a Morion Tathlum if you can.

[Sabaron]

RDM needs a good INT boost IMHO, to land those enfeebles. If you're looking for Not Uber Expensive Gear, go with the Morion Earrings or the lesser Cunning Earrings. As an Elvaan, I really went for the few extra MP from the Morion Earrings... Also, you definitely should get a Morion Tathlum if you can.

You don't use INT for White enfeebles. You use MND. Stacking +MND increases the effect of Paralyze and Slow. Stacking +INT increases the effect of Blind.

You choose the attribute boost based on the individual spell, so even though you have a lot of natural MND as Elvaan, it doesn't hurt to pack on more. You need both.

You'll want to read this:

Magic Accuracy - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Magic_Accuracy)

It tells you how to land your spells.

Also read these:

Talk:Blind - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Talk:Blind)

ImageShack - Hosting :: slowoj8.jpg (http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=slowoj8.jpg)

Paralyze proc rate also increases with MND Differential just like Slow.

The Red Mage Hierarchy of Enfeebling (general theory) says to do this to increase your accuracy. Use this primarily on effects like Silence, Gravity, and Bind that only need to land. Bio also goes in this category since it's damage output is based solely on your Dark Magic Skill:

#1: Increase your Skill
#2: Increase your Magic Accuracy
#3: Increase your Attributes

If you want to put emphasis on power (use with Slow, Paralyze, and Blind):

#1: Increase your Attributes
#2: Increase your Skill
#3: Increase your Magic Accuracy

You can also shift to the Accuracy mode with Slow/Paralyze/Blind when you encounter more resistant opponents.

There is a theory that Magic Accuracy increases by only 0.9 per skill point above 200 (this follows the Melee Accuracy formula). If true, then above 200 skill, 1 point of +Accuracy is better than 1 point of skill. Fortunately, you don't need to choose because most +Skill items are much more powerful than +Magic Accuracy items.

[Mhurron]

You don't use INT to enfeeble. You use MND. Stacking +MND increases the effect of Paralyze and Slow. Stacking +INT increases the effect of Blind.
As you just said, it depends on the spell.

MND Enfeebles:
Paralyze, Slow, Dia, Silence

INT Enfeebles:
Gravity, Blind, Sleep, Bind, Bio, Poison, Dispel

Though I suppose you could pull Poison out of there as just a DOT.

A good Taru RDM will stack INT for Gravity just as a good Elvaan RDM will stack MND for Paralyze.

[Icemage]

The truth is that earrings are probably one of the least important slots to RDM at any level below 75. Minimal boosts to MND and/or MP are just icing. Insomnia/Antivenom are probably pretty good choices in that level range; eventually you can upgrade to a Loquacious earring, and should you choose to do so, a Magnetic Earring.

I currently use Loquacious and Magnetic on my RDM at 75.


Icemage

[Fynlar]

Relaxing Earring is also a good one to have. That plus Antivenom has you covered for a good hMP set.

[Sabaron]

Relaxing Earring is also a good one to have. That plus Antivenom has you covered for a good hMP set.

Even with a full complement of 70 inventory space, I'm rather unthrilled with adding most earrings (including Relaxing) as swaps. Sure, if you want maximum swapping, then of course, they're in, but I only have so much space, and sometimes I want to be able to pick up items that drop.

Magnetic & Loquacious is an excellent combination that you really have little need to swap out.

The second problem with gear swaps is that (unless you're using 3rd party macros), you only have at most 6 swap lines and 95% of the time, they will be used for the more powerful armor or rings. Swapping earrings is usually at the bottom of the list.

I would try to wear one good pair that matches my intended role and leave the rest in my MH. There are a few that might warrant occasional appearances or swapping like Enfeebling Earring or the ones you use for Convert (+MP earrings are quite potent compared to other types).

A new guy is going to be hard pressed to farm the Rare/Ex ears like Relaxing but if you happen to have it, obviously you'll want to use it. I wouldn't go out of my way though.

Bottom line: Good earrings are either hard to find or very expensive. Don't worry too much about them until end-game. The Anti-venom/Insomnia combo is a good bet for you all the way up through 75. Focus on your larger armor pieces and rings first, and only fuss over your earrings if you have extra cash.

[Fynlar]

Magnetic & Loquacious is an excellent combination that you really have little need to swap out.

Keeping Loq Earring on for resting unless you're resting to maximum MP = fail. If you don't have Relaxing, at least put an Antivenom on.

A new guy is going to be hard pressed to farm the Rare/Ex ears like Relaxing but if you happen to have it, obviously you'll want to use it. I wouldn't go out of my way though.

A new guy isn't going to have Magnetic/Loq, either. If you have had sea access for long enough to get Magnetic/Loq, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to get Relaxing. RDM doesn't even need any help to get it.

Magnetic is kind of a lolearring, to begin with. I dunno why anyone would waste their sorta-one-time-only earring choice on something that pretty much replicates AH earrings, but to each their own... I guess they're the same sorts of people that get Bushinomimi just for the +2 str >_>

[Icemage]

Keeping Loq Earring on for resting unless you're resting to maximum MP = fail. If you don't have Relaxing, at least put an Antivenom on.
Red mages rest at level 75? This red mage doesn't... ever.

As I posted in the Convert ratio thread:
http://img02.picoodle.com/img/img02/4/2/16/f_img20080216m_ae25111.jpg (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/4/2/16/f_img20080216m_ae25111.jpg&srv=img02)

A new guy isn't going to have Magnetic/Loq, either. If you have had sea access for long enough to get Magnetic/Loq, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to get Relaxing. RDM doesn't even need any help to get it.

Magnetic is kind of a lolearring, to begin with. I dunno why anyone would waste their sorta-one-time-only earring choice on something that pretty much replicates AH earrings, but to each their own... I guess they're the same sorts of people that get Bushinomimi just for the +2 str >_>
Magnetic has +5 Conserve MP. What AH-available earring can replicate that?


Icemage

[Fynlar]

Red mages rest at level 75? This red mage doesn't... ever.

No nuking gear either, I take it? Because whenever I nuke stuff down, I happen to do a lot of resting. Only something like having 2000+ HP and MP would let me be able to rely solely on Convert for upkeep, which isn't feasible anywhere outside of Besieged, and nuking in there as RDM is pointless anyway.

Maybe in typical TP burn parties you don't get to rest, but saying you never need to rest at all in any situation and therefore need to pay no attention to hMP gear is a bit of a stretch. It's also quite inadvisable as far as being a mage goes.

Magnetic has +5 Conserve MP. What AH-available earring can replicate that?

Who cares? The effect of Conserve MP gear is so minor, it's practically placebo. +5 saves you approximately 1.5 MP over every 100 MP you spend. Not to mention that for many of the things you cast, this isn't an earring you'll want to be wearing anyway. If it was something you could actually wear 100% of the time without being gimped, it would be more worthwhile.

I don't know about anyone else, but the time my MP goes down the fastest (therefore, the time when the +5 CMP would be the most worthwhile, or at least as worthwhile as +5 CMP can be) is when I'm nuking.

If you nuke in Magnetic, ur doin it wrong.

[Sabaron]

Keeping Loq Earring on for resting unless you're resting to maximum MP = fail. If you don't have Relaxing, at least put an Antivenom on.



A new guy isn't going to have Magnetic/Loq, either. If you have had sea access for long enough to get Magnetic/Loq, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to get Relaxing. RDM doesn't even need any help to get it.


The point of that quote is that he doesn't need any of those earrings, Relaxing, Magnetic, or otherwise. I did not at any time imply that Magnetic earring was something that one needed but Relaxing was not.

Let's look at the difference between Magnetic and Relaxing.

Conserve MP - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Conserve_MP)

Eh... never mind... I miscalculated my first attempt. [Excised bad math]

The power of a Magnetic earring is about 1.5mp per 100 spent, so on a 1000mp bar, I save a whopping 15mp. Magnetic will always save about the same amount of MP over my cycle. Let us take a look at the difference between the earrings on a RDM with a 1000mp bar and both a relaxing and magnetic earrings which he swaps. The percentage listed is the amount of time he spends resting and we'll graciously assume that each 10 second resting tick yields MP (which it won't). Remember that the Magnetic Earring is always going to save us an average of 15mp on our full bar of MP as long as we're good and use it all up each convert cycle.

10% Resting over 10 minutes: 60 seconds = 6 ticks * 2mp = 12mp
20% = 12 ticks = 24 mp.
30% = 18 ticks = 36 mp
40% = 24 ticks = 48 mp

In order for your Relaxing Earring to restore as much mp as a magnetic earring saves, you'd have to be resting for around 15% of your Convert cycle (9 ticks) or 90/600 seconds which is decidedly well within the realm of possibility. Of course, if you can't do that resting all at once, it'll add more waste ticks and I didn't consider the base 1 waste tick for starting the first /heal, so if you do it over 2 rest periods, that's 11 ticks or 110/600 seconds or 18% of your Convert Cycle.

I suppose Magnetic Earring's Conserve MP effect is rather "lol". I will have to agree with you, then, that Relaxing Earring (afa Conserve MP is concerned) definitely outclasses Magnetic in terms of how much mp it saves you.

Oops again... I forgot Magnetic Earring has +1 hMP too, so it's not nearly as bad as I made it seem.

If I use only magnetic earring, remember that I always get +15 mp just for wearing it when I cast. I also get 1mp per rest tick, so let's look at Magnetic vs. Relaxing as a non-swapper.

10%: Relaxing gets 12, Magnetic gets 15+6 = 21.
20%: Relaxing gets 24, Magnetic gets 15+12 = 27.
30%: Relaxing gets 36, Magnetic gets 15+18 = 33.

So there's the break-point for a non-swapper. 30% resting or 180seconds/600. We can assume 3 cycles for an extra 30 seconds of rest time, so 210/600 seconds or 35% or so resting out of your 10 minute refresh cycle. 35% resting is kinda tight, I don't think I get that much most of the time.

Either way, the amount of mp conserved is rather minute. 36 MP isn't even enough savings to cast one Cure III. Therefore, I will have to renew my previous comment and say...


You definitely don't need to worry about either of these earrings before 75 and even at 75, you should probably concentrate on more powerful pieces.

There's no need to fight over a 3mp difference when resting 30% of your Convert cycle. In fact, I daresay there's no reason to call "lolRDM" on someone who doesn't have either one of these. You wouldn't be able to tell any significant difference between a RDM with neither of these and a RDM with both. Now the Spell Interrupt Rate and +MP on Magnetic does make it more appetizing IMO than Relaxing, but it's worthless when you're not getting hit.

On the plus side, I've now decided without any further competition, which earring I'm getting from Apoc: Hollow Earring (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Hollow_Earring).

Scratch that... Hollow Earring has Diabolos and Fowling to contend with...I guess I haven't decided yet >.<

[Dahc]

First iwant to say I appreciate all of the post on this thread. As always you guys have great input and I learn alot from reading the info you guys give. I think for me at this point my goal is going to be to aquire anitvenom and insomnia along with some emfeebling earrings. For 90% of the time that I play my RDm Iam always RDM/WHM. While I dont' mind main healing I really wnat to focus on max emfeebling magic and maximize the change of having my enfeebles stick. I agree that earrings are one of the last Items I focus on when it comes to getting new gear. But since i am in the stretch of lvls where I am just getting to wear my AF armor, I am pinching my pennies in order to prepare for the lvls after 60 to get the gear that will get me through to Relic armor. Besides that I also have to get Fire andt Water Elem staff still. With access to assualt now, I will be able to work on getting my earrings that way instead of having to buy at AH. And hopefully I can get a few brave souls in my LS to run ENM with me in attempt to get Emfeebleing earring.

[Icemage]

No nuking gear either, I take it? Because whenever I nuke stuff down, I happen to do a lot of resting. Only something like having 2000+ HP and MP would let me be able to rely solely on Convert for upkeep, which isn't feasible anywhere outside of Besieged, and nuking in there as RDM is pointless anyway.

Maybe in typical TP burn parties you don't get to rest, but saying you never need to rest at all in any situation and therefore need to pay no attention to hMP gear is a bit of a stretch. It's also quite inadvisable as far as being a mage goes.
If I have to REST to defeat something on RDM, I'm already doing it wrong, when I have 1200 x 2 = 2400+ MP available to me, plus whatever I get from a Vermillion Cloak + Refresh + Conserve MP in the mean time.

Naturally I do have a nuking gearset, but no, I basically never rest on RDM no matter what I happen to be doing, from Besieged to BindNuking NMs to TP burn merit parties. It is an inefficient use of my time when I have a quite large amount of MP available to burn through, and almost insufficient time to cast enough spells to burn through it.

Who cares? The effect of Conserve MP gear is so minor, it's practically placebo. +5 saves you approximately 1.5 MP over every 100 MP you spend. Not to mention that for many of the things you cast, this isn't an earring you'll want to be wearing anyway. If it was something you could actually wear 100% of the time without being gimped, it would be more worthwhile.
What am I wearing instead of Magnetic Earring that I would prefer not to save 1.5% of my MP on?

Let's look at our candidates, shall we?

Novio Earring: Magic Attack +7
Moldavite Earring: Magic Attack +5
Enfeebling Earring: Enfeebling +3
Abyssal Earring: Dark Magic +5
Loquacious Earring: Minimal Fast Cast

When nuking, assuming one has access to both Novio and Moldavite Earrings, then yes, you wouldn't use Magnetic on them. If you're like 99.9% of the RDM population, though, you probably don't have a Novio, and Magnetic has applications in many more circumstances.

I don't know about anyone else, but the time my MP goes down the fastest (therefore, the time when the +5 CMP would be the most worthwhile, or at least as worthwhile as +5 CMP can be) is when I'm nuking.

If you nuke in Magnetic, ur doin it wrong.
Funny, last time I checked, no matter what you're wearing, RDM nukes are still pretty lackluster. Nothing above Tier III, and the accuracy even with a slew of merits, an HQ Ice staff, and all the INT and Elemental Skill you can muster still doesn't impress even your most gimped BLM with an NQ staff.

Frankly, if I wanted to stand around and do nothing but nuke things down, I'd just get down to business and level BLM to 75 instead of going for half-measures like trying to optimize RDM's limited nuking efficiency and power.

To paraphrase you, if you're doing some dedicated nuking at all on RDM instead of getting off your butt and levelling BLM - "you're doing it wrong".

---
Regarding the choice of Magnetic Earring that I made...

This is the MP I have available to me:
Level 5 Convert Merit for Convert timer at 8 minutes 20 seconds ( 500 seconds )
Refresh +2MP per 3 seconds net (is actually slightly higher but no one really gets every Refresh recast perfectly on time)
Vermillion Cloak effectively +1MP per 3 seconds
Convert Ratio of 1212

500 seconds / ~3 seconds per tick = ~167 ticks

This gives me, each convert cycle:
+1212 MP for Convert
+334 MP from Refresh
+167 MP from Auto-Refresh gear

= 1713 net MP to spend in each Convert cycle

Also note that I've figured in 3.3 castings of Refresh during this period, which is an additional 133MP, so my actual MP available/spent during that 500 seconds is 1846MP.

Applying the 1.5% Conserve MP against that results in an additional average available MP to me of about 27 extra MP per cycle, which means the Magnetic Earring, when worn by me is worth ~+47MP on average.

These numbers go UP if I have Sanction in a ToAU zone, Sigil in a Campaign zone, or am participating in Beseiged where there are HP/MP booster items, MP restoration items, and JA restoration items.


Icemage

[Sabaron]

Applying the 1.5% Conserve MP against that results in an additional average available MP to me of about 27 extra MP per cycle, which means the Magnetic Earring, when worn by me is worth ~+47MP on average.

These numbers go UP if I have Sanction in a ToAU zone, Sigil in a Campaign zone, or am participating in Beseiged where there are HP/MP booster items, MP restoration items, and JA restoration items.


Icemage

Ah, yes... I forgot to add in the Refresh MP.

Yes, 47MP would put you at the 40% rest tier which is getting into the realm of RDMs who rest too much as far as Relaxing Earring goes which makes Magnetic better still.

[Icemage]

Ah, yes... I forgot to add in the Refresh MP.

Yes, 47MP would put you at the 40% rest tier which is getting into the realm of RDMs who rest too much as far as Relaxing Earring goes which makes Magnetic better still.
To clarify your numbers above, this is what an un-merited RDM at 75 would be looking at:

Relaxing Earring: +2 hMP
Magnetic Earring: +20MP +1hMP
Base MP probably in the 900 range give or take, so probably +14MP saved from Conserve MP.

The difference between these two is 1MP per resting tick, regardless of how long you've been resting, since +hMP isn't cumulative in the same way that Clear Mind is.

Remember that regardless of race, you will get the extra 20MP from Convert every 10 minutes, so to even break even you have to pick up 20 ticks of rest plus one for each point of MP saved = 34 ticks of rest.

20 seconds for first tick + ~300 seconds = 320 seconds resting out of 600

That's to break even with a Relaxing Earring on RDM versus a Magnetic Earring (you could of course wear both while resting, but this is a side by side comparison) on a typical RDM.

In my case, I would have to spend 20 + ~414 = 434 seconds out of my 500 second Convert timer to break even with a Relaxing Earring compared to the Magnetic Earring. I don't think I can cast all the spells I need to in 66 seconds - do you? :)


Icemage

[Fynlar]

If I have to REST to defeat something on RDM, I'm already doing it wrong, when I have 1200 x 2 = 2400+ MP available to me, plus whatever I get from a Vermillion Cloak + Refresh + Conserve MP in the mean time.

Nah, you just don't try to nuke down the tough NMs (assuming they are sleepable, in which case you definitely should be taking advantage of the fact you can rest, because they'd die a lot faster...), and/or you don't go for EXP chains. Not saying that's morally wrong or anything; people have different priorities, which is fine.

I come close to a 1100 Convert which isn't far off, but I still depend on my hMP build in order to maintain chains. It would be no different if it were 1200. You aren't that exceptional to everyone else, really.

Basically telling a mage that a hMP build isn't important is still piss poor advice, even if they happen to be a RDM. Yes, we don't get to rest in meripo, but the whole game is not meripo.


When nuking, assuming one has access to both Novio and Moldavite Earrings, then yes, you wouldn't use Magnetic on them.

You're right. Assuming Moldavite is a given, I would be using a Wizard's Earring, or a Phantom +1 (or Elemental Earring) if I wasn't using /BLM for some reason, in the other slot.

There are always better choices for nuking than Magnetic, Maggy is just taking the lazy way out. Not having a Novio isn't an excuse. Sure, you're free to go nuking in whatever gear you want, nobody is going to give a crap about a RDM's nukes, but don't try and say that Magnetic is a good earring for nuking; it's not.

/SCH has shown promise as a solid nuking sub for RDM which may cause some people to phase out Wizard's Earring, but you may not want to use that sub for every nuking situation, if you want things like Warp or Sleepga or Elemental Seal or whatever. Nevertheless, for nuking, we still want earrings other than Magnetic if you want an optimal build.


Funny, last time I checked, no matter what you're wearing, RDM nukes are still pretty lackluster. Nothing above Tier III, and the accuracy even with a slew of merits, an HQ Ice staff, and all the INT and Elemental Skill you can muster still doesn't impress even your most gimped BLM with an NQ staff.

Not only is BLM irrelevant to a RDM discussion, our nukes are what make the difference between a 2 hour Gration fight and one that takes about 2/3rds of that time, and that's just one example. Also, if you're RDM soloing for EXP (yes, you could EXP faster in a party, but people don't always want to party, and RDM does have a high burn-out rate) and you're using a tactic that doesn't involve throwing nukes, you're getting significantly slower EXP than you could be getting.

But while we're talking about BLM, have fun trying to solo Gration on BLM, as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's possible. I'm also sure they'd take longer to do it than me. They can laugh at our nukes all they like, but in the meantime I'll be laughing at their longevity.

BLM shines for solo EXPing, no doubt about that. We can imitate them but still not achieve what they can. On the other hand, NMs are where RDMs happen to shine.

[Icemage]

Nah, you just don't try to nuke down the tough NMs (assuming they are sleepable, in which case you definitely should be taking advantage of the fact you can rest, because they'd die a lot faster...), and/or you don't go for EXP chains. Not saying that's morally wrong or anything; people have different priorities, which is fine.
Against a sleepable NM or other target, sure, rest all you like. But don't make Relaxing Earring out to be the huge improvement over Magnetic, even when resting, because it's really not. The cases where this really matters aren't very common though, unless you're doing something odd like sleepnuking Hurricane Wyverns for a skull or something. Against anything that can't penetrate your standard Phalanx/Stoneskin/Utsusemi defense, it's usually much more efficient just to go toe to toe, blaze up an Enspell and smack it with a Joyeuse or Justice Sword, or if TP is an issue, a Ceremonial Dagger.

I come close to a 1100 Convert which isn't far off, but I still depend on my hMP build in order to maintain chains. It would be no different if it were 1200. You aren't that exceptional to everyone else, really.
The difference between 1100 and 1200 is pretty minimal even in meripo situations, since more often than not I'm just tossing out a Blizzard III or Thunder III to burn off the excess MP, but it's the crisis situations like getting multiple links where that extra MP flow is priceless.

In solo situations, that extra 100 MP every 500 seconds greatly reduces down time, and increases kill speed.

If anything, it's the level 5 Convert ratio merits that does the most for me, as that greatly expands the availability of MP over time.

Basically telling a mage that a hMP build isn't important is still piss poor advice, even if they happen to be a RDM. Yes, we don't get to rest in meripo, but the whole game is not meripo.
hMP is fantastic for every mage except RDM. For a RDM still in the XP levels, it's still somewhat useful, but the truth is that our spell cycle is 150 seconds long, and you have to rest for 20 before you ever see any payback from resting, which means you rarely get the opportunity to rest more than a tick or three even if you're looking for the opening, and with such little amounts of resting time, +hMP has to come in large amounts for it to make even a small difference.

You're right. Assuming Moldavite is a given, I would be using a Wizard's Earring, or a Phantom +1 (or Elemental Earring) if I wasn't using /BLM for some reason, in the other slot.

There are always better choices for nuking than Magnetic, Maggy is just taking the lazy way out. Not having a Novio isn't an excuse. Sure, you're free to go nuking in whatever gear you want, nobody is going to give a crap about a RDM's nukes, but don't try and say that Magnetic is a good earring for nuking; it's not.
It's not a good nuking earring, no, but it's not as horrible as you make it out to be. Phantom+1 adds peanuts to damage with its +2 INT, Elemental Earring's +3 Elemental Skill is barely even noticeable; both are just as negligible as +5 Conserve MP.

Frankly, Novio and Moldavite are really the only good nuking earrings. Everything else is a distant, distant, DISTANT third.

/SCH has shown promise as a solid nuking sub for RDM which may cause some people to phase out Wizard's Earring, but you may not want to use that sub for every nuking situation, if you want things like Warp or Sleepga or Elemental Seal or whatever. Nevertheless, for nuking, we still want earrings other than Magnetic if you want an optimal build.
Agreed.

Not only is BLM irrelevant to a RDM discussion, our nukes are what make the difference between a 2 hour Gration fight and one that takes about 2/3rds of that time, and that's just one example. Also, if you're RDM soloing for EXP (yes, you could EXP faster in a party, but people don't always want to party, and RDM does have a high burn-out rate) and you're using a tactic that doesn't involve throwing nukes, you're getting significantly slower EXP than you could be getting.
I can't imagine why one would want to solo Gration since the Tatami Shield isn't RDM-usable, unless you've got another job that can wear the shield, but again, we're talking minimal improvements even from Novio Earring, let alone the lesser pieces.

And frankly, if a RDM is so sick of partying that they'd rather go solo things for XP than join a merit party (or better yet, just go do Campaign), there's something wrong.

But while we're talking about BLM, have fun trying to solo Gration on BLM, as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's possible. I'm also sure they'd take longer to do it than me. They can laugh at our nukes all they like, but in the meantime I'll be laughing at their longevity.
BLMs also have a laughably easy time soloing something like Operation Desert Swarm compared to RDM, but who's counting, right? :)

In the case of the Gration fight, it's not the strength of RDM nuking that makes the difference. It's the fact that RDM has a lot of survival tools (fast cast + Utsusemi, Gravity, Bind, plus access to Crimson Leggings) which make soloing that particular NM possible. The nukes just make the process faster; not easier.

BLM shines for solo EXPing, no doubt about that. We can imitate them but still not achieve what they can. On the other hand, NMs are where RDMs happen to shine.
Again, it's not the strength of RDM nuking (and more pertinent to this topic, the contribution from the earring equipment slot) which determines the capability of RDM in these circumstances.


Icemage

[Fynlar]

The cases where this really matters aren't very common though, unless you're doing something odd like sleepnuking Hurricane Wyverns for a skull or something. Against anything that can't penetrate your standard Phalanx/Stoneskin/Utsusemi defense, it's usually much more efficient just to go toe to toe, blaze up an Enspell and smack it with a Joyeuse or Justice Sword, or if TP is an issue, a Ceremonial Dagger.

Oh, there's way more than that. Countless are the things I've had to fight where I can nuke them down easily, but would have taken eons to kill via melee. My meleeing setup isn't fantastic, but it doesn't suck either.

On the harder targets, while meleeing, the time you have to take defending yourself greatly detracts from the time you spend actually killing the mob. When nuking/DoTing, your defenses are simple and quick; Bind and Gravity.

For stuff like DC and below, yeah, you can probably plow through them faster with some pointy objects.


but the truth is that our spell cycle is 150 seconds long, and you have to rest for 20 before you ever see any payback from resting, which means you rarely get the opportunity to rest more than a tick or three even if you're looking for the opening, and with such little amounts of resting time, +hMP has to come in large amounts for it to make even a small difference.

I don't need to keep up any cycles if I'm solo, that's the point.

Solo happens to be where hMP shines for us. Or, like, things that aren't TP burn parties... yes, other things do exist.


And frankly, if a RDM is so sick of partying that they'd rather go solo things for XP than join a merit party (or better yet, just go do Campaign), there's something wrong.

I don't see anything wrong with it at all. Some people are tired of grinding Refresh/Haste, and meripo is full of idiots. Also, in my case, Campaign isn't an option, because it's just like Besieged; too damn laggy and makes my game crash, and after enough times of crashing and losing your EXP, you'll ask yourself why you even bother. Not that I care because I find Campaign EXP to be slow anyway.


Phantom+1 adds peanuts to damage with its +2 INT, Elemental Earring's +3 Elemental Skill is barely even noticeable

3 skill for RDM isn't "barely noticeable". Wizard's isn't much better than that and I definitely notice its +5 skill.


both are just as negligible as +5 Conserve MP.

INT is a constant boost to damage, it is guaranteed to boost your nuking, unlike Magnetic which only has a small chance at saving you some MP, and even if it works it's not guaranteed to save you an amount of MP substantial enough for you to actually make use of it. Constant effects > unreliable ones. Don't roll them up into the same category.


In the case of the Gration fight, it's not the strength of RDM nuking that makes the difference. It's the fact that RDM has a lot of survival tools (fast cast + Utsusemi, Gravity, Bind, plus access to Crimson Leggings) which make soloing that particular NM possible. The nukes just make the process faster; not easier.

I'm not saying the nukes make it possible. I'm saying that our nukes are not so weak that you may as well just say "who cares lol, blm nukes r bettar!11", when our lolRDM nukes can cut an approx. 2 hour solo fight down to 70-80 minutes or so. Our main benefit is actually being able to throw a lot more nukes than BLM can in this particular instance thanks to Refresh and Convert (like I said, better longevity). In order for BLM to do any nukes at all while still maintaining Bio 2, they pretty much have to use juices. RDM needs no consumables.


I can't imagine why one would want to solo Gration since the Tatami Shield isn't RDM-usable, unless you've got another job that can wear the shield, but again, we're talking minimal improvements even from Novio Earring, let alone the lesser pieces.

Gils, and friends. I've soloed it about 30 times by now and still do every so often. Also, those "peanuts" add up; that is the only reason why we bother equipping ourselves at all.

[Sabaron]

You realize, of course, that there are now 2 pages of dialogue on the effectiveness of an earring that gives +2 hMP right?

[Icemage]

All I can say at this point is that 1 stack of mulsum = 120MP total, costs relatively little, and generates way more MP in much less time than you'll ever get from wearing a Relaxing Earring in even most solo situations when resting.

Seriously, even with the best earrings, the differences are extremely small; you have to stack a LOT of such differences together to see any tangible change in performance. Actually you can expand that definition to about 95% of the gear that people think is "great".


Icemage

[IfritnoItazura]

INT is a constant boost to damage, it is guaranteed to boost your nuking, unlike Magnetic which only has a small chance at saving you some MP, and even if it works it's not guaranteed to save you an amount of MP substantial enough for you to actually make use of it.
So, about not nuking in Magnetic Earring, and use INT instead. (Moldavite assumed for the other ear slot.):

Assuming middling INT to start with, each additional INT brings up the base damage of Tier III single-target nuke by 1.5. (Once above a certain point, each additional INT would only give 0.75 additional base damage.)

The discussion is about INT+2 in the ear slot or something, then? That's +3 to base damage.

Assuming no Magic Defense Bonus (i.e. MDB = 1.0) and no Target Magic Damage Adjustment, in a solo (i.e. non-MB) scenario you can get the following multipliers:

No Resist: 1.0
HQ Staff Bonus: 1.15
Day of Week Bonus: 1.1
Double Weather: 1.25
Magic Attack Bonus: 1.40 (1.24 from MAB II trait, then MAB+16 from gears--obviously will vary from player to player)

Total muplier: 1.0 * 1.15 * 1.1 * 1.25 * 1.40 = ~2.21

Total increase to damage from INT+2 (under incredibly good scenario):
3 * 2.31 = 6.

So, INT+2 means about 6~7 points extra damage from every nuke under the ideal scenario, depending on the MAB gear used. (Also assuming sea obi, of course.)

I'm not saying the nukes make it possible. I'm saying that our nukes are not so weak that you may as well just say "who cares lol, blm nukes r bettar!11"
Whether RDM nukes are weak or not, INT+2 (or even +3) isn't really a deal breaker when it comes to Tier III nuke, unless it makes the difference between positive and negative dINT.

Or, if I may, the effect of gaining INT in the ear slots is so minor, it's practically placebo.

Constant effects > unreliable ones.
Nuking is highly susceptible to partial resists, is it not? The effect of nuking is unreliable, if looked at individually.

In fact, most things RDMs can do to worthwhile enemies are not 100% reliable, aside from perhaps Dia and Bio. Probably shouldn't stop you from trying Slow II on strong monsters, though.

[Makomage]

I use a wide variety of earrings mainly dependant on what the spell is and what my sub is, All of these should be available to you at your current level

Insomnia Earring (resting or convert)
Anti-Venom (generally static but also convert)
Geist (for Mnd based enfeebles, cures, stoneskin)
Morion (nuking, Int based enfeebles)
Moldavite Earring (Nuking, elemental Blm enfeebles and Weapon skills - when I'm soloing)

I should mention that the Moldy is either a piece of cake or a total nightmare to obtain - some people are 1/1, I was 1/12 after 2 days of almost constant camping - popular NM, lowish drop rate and aggro for lv65's and under

Other options are the Phantom +1, the elemental and enfeebling earrings though the cost of these is very high on my server so I cant comment. I suspect that it's probably more important as you get closer to 75 and endgame - capped enfeebling skill and matching the spell to the appropriate elemental staves have served me well in 99.9% of situations up to 65 - certainly on exp pt mobs.

I was using a reraise earring but have changed over to a reraise hairpin slightly more expensive but raise 2 is worth it.

[Tsrwedge]

Moldavite Earring (Nuking, elemental Blm enfeebles and Weapon skills - when I'm soloing)
(emphasis added)

Why on Vana'diel would you use a MAB earring for a spell that isn't affected by MAB?

[Sabaron]

Other options are the Phantom +1, the elemental and enfeebling earrings though the cost of these is very high on my server so I cant comment. I suspect that it's probably more important as you get closer to 75 and endgame - capped enfeebling skill and matching the spell to the appropriate elemental staves have served me well in 99.9% of situations up to 65 - certainly on exp pt mobs.

Those two earrings are +3 Skill earrings and provide you with about 2.7% Magic Accuracy on their respective spells. By contrast, paying to upgrade your Wind Staff to an Auster's gives you an extra 5%. The earrings, however, affect a wide variety of spells based on skill, but the Staves affect them based on element. The HQ Staff collection is very expensive just like the earrings, but more effective "per spell" than the earring.

On Asura, I could do Terra's, Austers's, and Pluto's staves for the same price as Enfeebling earring and get 5% effect on Slow, Silence, and Blind. Aquilo's on Asura is only 170,000 so quite a bargain. I would say your best bet is to upgrade staves first because of the huge price tag that you usually find on Enfeebling earring which is about 1.6 mil on Asura. Popular HQ staves by contrast are around 500k-600k. Elemental earring is 600k. Just another reason to make your ears the last slot you look at.

[Karinya]

Maybe in typical TP burn parties you don't get to rest, but saying you never need to rest at all in any situation and therefore need to pay no attention to hMP gear is a bit of a stretch. It's also quite inadvisable as far as being a mage goes.
Yeah: every RDM should have at least 15 points of hMP gear. Because you can get that in TWO SLOTS, using equipment that you'll want to have anyway for its other bonuses:
Pluto Staff or Dark Staff
Warlock's Tabard +1 or Yigit Gomlek or Errant Houppelande

With that plus your clear mind you already start resting for over 30 per tick (plus refresh, refresh gear and sanction/sigil - and you can also use an hMP food if you think it's warranted). The effect of a +1 or 2 hMP difference in your earrings is well beyond trivial at that point. (And I didn't even count the very cheap Hierarch Belt, which you'll also probably want to have regardless of your earring choices - assuming you don't have Duelist's Belt.)

Earrings with tiny amounts of hMP may be good for jobs that spend *lots* of time resting; they're not so good for a job that spends a few ticks resting per 10 minutes (if that).

And anyone who isn't using third party programs is not going to be swapping earrings for every spell they cast: there are far more important slots to swap with the 5 lines in each spell macro. Even if you're only swapping between rest gear and casting gear, earrings probably don't make the top 6.

The one earring I would suggest that hasn't already appeared in this thread: if you do any significant amount of Dynamis and/or Apollyon, get Diabolos's Earring. Free, and the magic accuracy applies to all your (resistable) spells while you're in the applicable weather (which is always, in those zones). As a nice bonus, it also provides +3 acc for soloing, or any melee jobs you may happen to level.

BTW, Loquacious and Magnetic are the only earrings I can think of that help (slightly) with the *other* side of RDM: nonresistable spells like refresh, haste, cures, etc. Any spell can benefit from fast cast and conserve MP, even if only slightly. So it's all the *other* choices that are the situational earrings.

[Makomage]

Those two earrings are +3 Skill earrings and provide you with about 2.7% Magic Accuracy on their respective spells. By contrast, paying to upgrade your Wind Staff to an Auster's gives you an extra 5%. The earrings, however, affect a wide variety of spells based on skill, but the Staves affect them based on element. The HQ Staff collection is very expensive just like the earrings, but more effective "per spell" than the earring.

On Asura, I could do Terra's, Austers's, and Pluto's staves for the same price as Enfeebling earring and get 5% effect on Slow, Silence, and Blind. Aquilo's on Asura is only 170,000 so quite a bargain. I would say your best bet is to upgrade staves first because of the huge price tag that you usually find on Enfeebling earring which is about 1.6 mil on Asura. Popular HQ staves by contrast are around 500k-600k. Elemental earring is 600k. Just another reason to make your ears the last slot you look at.

Thanks for the heads up on the HQ's Sabaron I'm looking to upgrade for my Maat fight, this info helps a lot :thumbsup: