[WishMaster3K]

I was tooling around in FFXI, and I realized something interesting. Not sure if anyone knows this, but I sure as hell dont mind sharing it. I figure I'll give back to the community that gave me so much.

For one thing, it takes me 2in-game minutes to cast Refresh. What does that mean, per se?

Well, If I hit my macro at 10:58, Refresh will finish casting at 11:00. I always found this interesting, and thought I'd chill out around and cast for a few minutes to see some more.

This part is sketchy, being as how it greatly depends (at least to me) on the current time and so on and so forth, since there is never an exact time for minutes (some minutes go by in instants, some take a more noticable few seconds.)

In any case, this is just to notify you that there is a Refreshing Technique, if you will. While my numbers may not be exact, simply using this as a base of reference to your personal play style will help.

I believe that for me, at least, i can cast on 10:58, finish by 11:00, and refresh will wear off somewhere in-between 12:04-12:07

So, in this time example, I would cast at 10:58, finish by 11:00, and on 12:06, I would start casting again. 12:07, Refresh wears off, then at 12:08, I gain the effect of Refresh. I feel that we get the most out of refresh and while the MP save is nominal, timing Refreshes based off of a clock does exponentially more than simply allowing us to save MP over the course of a few hours. (While it does save at most, 3mp a cast because it can take the normal Red Mage 3 seconds to react to themselves losing Refresh and recasting, I found more uses for it than giving a near-perfect supply of mp to all the mana users.)

The way I normally play is to simply go through the cycle, and cast on myself when I see it wear. This way has worked for 25 levels, and nothing is inherantly wrong with it. However, I find that I have to watch the chat log more often than I should (I mean, damn, dont we normally have to pay attention to mob buffs, debuffs, sc. . .) and that simply eliminating Refresh from what we have to think about leaves me calmer and more focused.

Example, fighting those Goblin Mages in Bibiki, not having to worry about refresh enabled me to only keep an eye on the clock while also watching when silence wore (cause they have nasty spells like Poisonaga II, Flare. . Firage III -.-). So for the duration of the pt, I would cast on myself at some easy to remember increment, normally a number divisible by 15 then take away 2 *minutes* from that.

Hence, I would cast Refresh on myself at about (*):58, then go through the normal cycle of 2 spells, Refresh, 2 spells, Refresh, etc, until last member was Refreshed again. With 4 people to refresh, I saw that it only took up about (*+1):35, leaving me with the remainder of the time to rest.

Just sharing my experiences, and hoping that someone will implement it and give me their feedback. Hopefully we can refine this and ensure that Refreshing is actually the least of our worries despite being the biggest part of our jobs ^^

[Jei]

the way i monitor my refresh, or rather estimate, is by counting the inbetween spells. dunno how to explain let's see....

cast first refresh, and usually if I cast *2* other spells, my refresh will almost be ready after the second spell. For example, refresh, cure, paralyze, refresh. I can estimate the timing without actually casting anything this way.

I kinda use this method for almost every commonly used spells. Like regen/paralyze/silence need 1 spell in between, slow needs 2, and so on.

[Ridill]

Originally Posted by Jei

the way i monitor my refresh, or rather estimate, is by counting the inbetween spells. dunno how to explain let's see....

cast first refresh, and usually if I cast *2* other spells, my refresh will almost be ready after the second spell. For example, refresh, cure, paralyze, refresh. I can estimate the timing without actually casting anything this way.

I kinda use this method for almost every commonly used spells. Like regen/paralyze/silence need 1 spell in between, slow needs 2, and so on.

Yeah, I approach it the same way. It works very well. Of course, It's gotten to the point where I know when Refresh is ready regardless of other spells. I think I've been playing this game so much that I've programmed a refresh macro in my brain...

/echo Refresh Ready!

[Balodoth]

Or if you use the parser, it can see the macro and sound an alarm once the timer you set runs down.

But that would be wrong and a violation of the TOS. Perhaps you could by a couple digital egg timers. One for the recast and one for the duration of the first in the series.

[WishMaster3K]

Duley noted. Of course, I tihnk i mentioned that I dont have a problem with the casting of refresh, I just wanted to share a method where you'd know when it was gonna wear off before it actually did ^^. Hence, getting the jump on it.

In any case, I'll try it for the next 10 levels and continue to post my thoughts here. I just hope its understandable.

[Will95GST]

Originally Posted by Jei

the way i monitor my refresh, or rather estimate, is by counting the inbetween spells. dunno how to explain let's see....

cast first refresh, and usually if I cast *2* other spells, my refresh will almost be ready after the second spell. For example, refresh, cure, paralyze, refresh. I can estimate the timing without actually casting anything this way.

I kinda use this method for almost every commonly used spells. Like regen/paralyze/silence need 1 spell in between, slow needs 2, and so on.

I do it the same way, and I know when mine is about to wear for some reason too. I guess i've been doing refresh cycles for too long. lol.

[Xyphere]

Originally Posted by Jei

the way i monitor my refresh, or rather estimate, is by counting the inbetween spells. dunno how to explain let's see....

cast first refresh, and usually if I cast *2* other spells, my refresh will almost be ready after the second spell. For example, refresh, cure, paralyze, refresh. I can estimate the timing without actually casting anything this way.

I kinda use this method for almost every commonly used spells. Like regen/paralyze/silence need 1 spell in between, slow needs 2, and so on.

I do something like Refresh-> Haste-> Enfeeble -> Refresh.. and that seems pretty good for me. Only like 3-5 seconds before next cast this way...but yeah..

[TheGrandMom]

Originally Posted by Will95GST

I do it the same way, and I know when mine is about to wear for some reason too. I guess i've been doing refresh cycles for too long. lol.

Agreed. I can't tell you how many times I've looked up thinking "Is it that time?" and I see my icon disappear as I do. You just develop a 6th sense about it after I while I think.

[WishMaster3K]

; ; well i'm sorry not being a rocket scientist capable of keeping track of these things.

XD ah well, i suppose i didnt need to offer help to those that dont need it. Not like lowbie RDMs come to this forum anyway >.>;

[Balodoth]

My RDM is 20. While my focus is DRG, I really had fun w/ RDM and may get it ready in the unlikely event that the level cap hits 85. Mmmmm, self-refreshed heal breaths.

[Hereaux]

i just want to say thanks guys... im an aspiring rdm and you guys give soooo much good information.

[WishMaster3K]

=O YES! Two RDMs that wont follow the Red Warrior Nazis ><

omfg, my work has just begun. time to liberate the game ;.;

[Mila]

I use the casting of spells to time my refreshes as well but I also use another strategy to insure that everyone (that needs it) has refresh up at all times.

As everyone else, I refresh myself first; but I usually start my cycle long before the 1st mob is even pulled. But instead of casting refresh as soon as it is up again, I /heal for two ticks or more to begin refreshing the others. This way if I just happen to miss refresh wearing off myself I still have a lot of buffer before the others' refresh wears. If I screw up, I'm the only one who will be missing out on MP. This gives me a lot more leeway to change up my routine to aliviate boredom/react to an unexpected situation.

Usually, after adjusting to the party's specific needs, the ol "it's about time" instinct kicks in. And I find refresh wearing off myself WHILE I'm casting it back on.

Another strategy I use in parties heavily is timing my elemental seal and my converts as well as my nukes and cures to help ensure chain #5s everytime. For mobs chain 0, 1, & 2. I play conservatively, I keep my refresh cycle up (of course) cast enfeebles and throw out a regen or two, I only cast cures in an emergency; I never nuke or even MB; trying to stay as close to full mp as possible. I play purely defensively. If we have a PLD tank, I cast Bio instead of Dia to save the healers MP if I'm not the main healer. On chain 3, I do everything as 0-3 but Sometimes, if I'm low at mp at this point, I eleseal + aspir (assuming the mob has mp) to try to regain mp for chain 4.

Chain 4 is where I start to play agressively. My number one goal here is to ensure that everyone has else has an excess of MP for chain #5. I make SURE I MB here and I cure the tank and melee before the WHM even get a chance to. I want to be as close to out of mp completely as possible for convert. I also want the mob to die fast so I cast dia here.

Chain 5 is where go all out. I convert RIGHT after chain 4. The only real enfeebs I place a high priority are gravity and dia but I'll throw para and slow if I feel the need. But really, I'm all offense here. I do the one thing most ppl tell rdms to never do, and that's nuke. After the tank establishes some hate, I begin chain nuking; usually one MB and 2 or 3 more nukes are enough to finish the mob. If I didn't use ele seal back on chain 3, I will use it on one of my non-mb nukes to ensure the nuke is unresisted. If everything goes right, I usually do about 1500 damage to the mob (closer to 2k if no nukes are resisted, but that's rare) and am left with around 100+ mp left. The other mages are around 50% and the tank at 70% mp: more than enough for a pull w/o any rest in between. ;D

Then it's right back to the playing conservatively during chains 0-3 and by chain 4; I'm usually back to 80% mp, ready to go all out. All over again.

....but all the while: refresh. must. stay. up. ;D

I <3 rdm ^^

[TheGrandMom]

Originally Posted by Mila

I make SURE I MB here and I cure the tank and melee before the WHM even get a chance to.

I play a whm and a rdm. When I'm on whm, I find that at times the rdm and I overlap on curing. This is slightly annoying since its my job to main heal, especially seeing my cures land for a lot less than they can or even 0. If the rdm communicates to me first that he/she is going to take over, then thats fine. But wasting mp because the rdm decides to change tactics is bad for the pt. I've run into this quite a bit. I'm not saying that you do this, but I do want to bring it to rdms reading this so they are aware this can happen.

When I play rdm, I'm aware of this. I watch the log very closely to see what the whm is casting, if anything. You gauge if the person needs a cure 2, 3 or 4. Then if the whm does a cure 2 and the person needs a cure 3, then I'll rip off a cure 2. This way the cure isn't too much and is beneficial to the recipient and to the pt.

Rdm is the job I keep coming back to because of its versatility. For me it is by far the best job in all of Vana'diel.

[Vinen]

Does anyone else have the problem of being highly hesitant to burst? I leveled from 1->75 as RDM/WHM as a primary healer in 90% of groups. Now whenever I go and XP with a WHM in group... I find myself not able to cast nukes, even during a chain #5+ skillchain.