I want to try a RDM/SAM or RDM/SMN

[Roller]

Well, to start, I should tell you that I've asked A LOT of people about these subjobs, and everyone so far has said that of the two, the RDM/SMN makes the most sense, and for the most part, I agree, because I think that at higher lvls, the SMN trait that regenerates MP would be UBER-USEFULL. But I told everyone I asked that I really liked being a melee and debuff centered RDM, but they still all said that SAM would be a terrible sub for RDM, but here are my opinions:

1. As a melee, Sam gives excelent DEX, and higher STR than all the Mage jobs (with WHM coming in close second on STR stat).

2. With a club (I prefer SWD but am thinking of having both) at high enough lvl to use Weapon Skill that gives MP to you or party and that has INT + MND boosts, with SAM subbed, there's a possibility of regaining MP very often.

3. I really like participating in Skill Chains, as I have a chart and am really experienced with them, and as SAM I could participate in more.

4. SAM gives higher HP and VIT than all mage jobs so as a melee-er I could take a few hits in the beginning while we kick the mob's ass and then the tank could take over...still thinkin about this as I don't wanna :dead:

Any feedback, positive or negative appreciated, but please, keep insults to zero. THINK CONSTRUCTIVE!

BTW: MY RDM IS A MITHRAN, NOT THE GALKAN YOU SEE IN PICTURE, HE'S GONNA BE A PALADIN/WARRIOR.

[frogurtx]

Rdm don't make good melee later on... Our Weapon rating is too low, so we barely hit, even with the dex bonus of a mithra. And if we do hit, we barely do any damage.. even with en-spells.

Of the two, Smn definately does make a better combo, because it accentuates the Red Mage as a mage. But for the extra 40mp at level 75, would you really want to give up Warp, Aspir, Drain, Shock, Burn, and your -ga spells? Or with Whm, -na spells, Curaga's, Divine Seal?

You really don't get many useful skills with your smn, being that they are all at half power. At level 50 Carbie won't really cut it

As a Rdm, you wont be able to participate in skillchains because you will be casting support and enfeebling spells the whole time.

Perhaps Drk would be more your liking, since they do very well in melee, plus have a few good tidbits of magic at their disposal.

[Roller]

Ok...so SAM is outta the question to you...and SMN isn't a good idea? Which of the two, BLM or WHM, would you suggest...I wanna be an enfeebler mostly, and I don't want to just sit back and heal/nuke...but for some reason I really like being a RDM...I have thought of being a DRK/BLM...but I've only seen ONE (1) so far, and everyone says THAT'S not the best idea either...I'm so lost...the only thing I know for sure, is that I want my Galkan to be a PLD/WAR.

OK, new question, but same basic Idea...

1) I wanna join in melee, even if only to add minimul amounts of damage.

2) I will use En- spells to add to melee damage.

3) I don't like being the main healer, as I've let some parties down before, and it just made me feel awful

4) I don't have any problem with throwing in the occasional DMG spell, but as I'm only a lvl16 RDM right now, it doesn't do much good. I don't know my stance on just standing back and nuking...

5) My enfeebling skill is ALWAYS maxed about 2-3 fights after I level, as I LOVE to use that kinda magic.

6) RDM is an expensive job, and I hear a lot of GIL offers for Teleporting, so I think raising WHM to lvl 38 would be a good idea, but not sure.

7) ummm... can't think of anything else :spin:

SO, based on all these, I would like some opinions on the best subjob to pick and WHY. So far, I'm leaning toward WHM, as I like throwing in the occasional heal spell, but I don't wanna be seen as main healer cause I LIKE MELEE too much. Also, don't tell me to switch to a melee job, because I couldn't stand to lose my ENFEEBLING MAGIC.

OPINIONS?

[Andry]

most RDMs i see have both whm and blm subs available

[frogurtx]

Red Mage are master's of enfeebling, so if thats what you want to do then you picked the right job. However you will never add any real damage to the melee fight. At level 52 where I'm at now, my sword damage is around 0-30 (when fighting IT's), with the added en effect of 12 dam (My enhance is at 151, almost capped). And that is if I actually connect with my swing.

This damage totaly pales in comparison to a Paladin's swing (60-70), a Drk's swing (100-120), or a Drg's thrust (80-100). And thats not even the hundred's of damage they add with their weapon skills... So suffice it to say, my sword damage is pretty laughable.

With that out of the way, on to the questions!
1) Jei does it, so by all means

2) Excellent

3) Red Mages can, but dont always make the best main healer, but we do great support healing. However we are so versatile that we can be the main healer. It's a personal preference, I personally dont like to be the main healer because its a way stressful job, and you dont get to enjoy the action. Your eyes are always glued to the hp bars. But it does help if your party's in a jam, and cant find a Whm, for you to pick up the slack. I have both a Whm, and a Blm all leveled up and ready to be subbed for just this occassion.

4) As a level 16 rdm, you won't do much damage with spells. However at the later levels, around the time where you get water 2, and fire 2, you can MB for very respectable damage 200-
250 a pop (considering you have your elemental skills maxed). Idealy, a whm sub is more popular till you get into the lower to mid 30's. This means sitting back, throwing your enfeebs on, and back up heal. Also throwing in the occasional MB, and refreshing your enfeebs if they wear out. As a Rdm at early levels, magic conservation is key. Reserve MP for backup heals when your whm gets overwhelmed. Sub Blm is preferred after level 34+ (Warp baby!)

5) Enfeebling is what Rdm do best, keep it up. Try to take over all enfeebs to save your whm and blm from taking too much hate.

6) It's a very expensive job. But in relation to all the others, it's not TOO bad. Just have to bite the bullet, level a thf to 15, sub it on your rdm when you get to 30 and gil farm..

7) You'll think of something^^

Overall, feel free to melee, but don't expect too much damage wise. Because MP conservation as a young Rdm is KEY. So you must be resting after every battle, which will reduce the amount of WS you can do and skillchains you can participate in. However once you get to qufim, and your sword damage is reduced to 0 with a +3 damage enthunder on, I hope you'll just sit back, and rest your mp when not casting ^^

I'm thinking you will really love level 41+ as a Rdm, because you will be very very busy with refreshing enfeebling, as well as refreshing "refresh", haste and other support magic. When I do melee in a PT (with consent, and usually to build sword skills for soloing) I barely have time to swing twice, because im so busy casting on everybody. This job IMO is busier than a Brd.

[Paradigm]

I'm thinking RDM/SAM would be a good idea for obtaining the final Sword WS with the Sapara of Trials.

[Apple Pie]

I don't want to just sit back and heal/nuke...but for some reason I really like being a RDM...

I don't usually recommend melee subs for PT leveling, nor do I invite them in my PT but if that's the case, I recommend RDM/DRK.

Here's the list of both job abilities and job traits related to melee when you choose DRK as your sub-job.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Attack Bonus I [RDM20/DRK10]

Job Trait. It adds 10 points to your ATK.

2) Last Resort [RDM30/DRK15]

Job Ability. +15% to your ATK but -15% from your DEF. It lasts 30 seconds and you wait for 5 minutes to reuse it. It generates a lot of hate and remember to cut it off once you're aggroed. It is good of you to use it only when you shoot your WS like this

/ja Last Resort<me>
/wait 2
/ws Fast Blade <bt>

3) Soul Eater [RDM60/DRK30]

Job Ability. Consume 10% of your HP and it is added to the damage your weapon does. It lasts 1 minute and you wait 6 minutes to reuse it. It generates more hate than Last Resort does. So, I recommend you only use it when you shoot your WS.

BTW, it works perfect with stoneskin. Until it goes off, you don't get hurt.

4) Attack Bonus II [RDM60/DRK30]

The same as Attack Bonus I
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In addition to these, you get Vorpal Blade, a good WS for one-handed sword when your sword skill hits 200 (LV62). This is EX WS and either your main-job or sub-job has to be DRK, PLD, or WAR. It is much stronger than Fast Blade although you can do nothing against IT mobs even with this WS.

As for spells, you get Aspir, Drain and other dark magic spells. Both are useful especially when you MB them.

Well, in my opinion, it is a dark knight that satisfies what your wish but if you really wanna be RDM, this is what I suggest.

However, as many people discussed here, we're basically mages. Almost all of them invite us because they want mages and supporters. Therefore, remember to do your basics tasks first. If you fail to keep tracking on enfeebling spells, Dispel, Haste, Refresh, and so on, it will iventually slow your PT down and create more downtime. Also, we cannot always join in melee. You really have to be careful of TPO.

[Roller]

Ok, so from all your advice, and thank you for it by the way, I gather I should lvl up 4 jobs in order to have the right support for the right time.

BLM
DRK
SMN
WHM

any others I should consider if I want RDM or MAYBE DRK as my main job?

[LegendaryFire]

I was going to be a rdm/smn

But my friend pointed out how long I'll be stuck with Carbuncle and no other avatars. So I said I'll just wait.

You could try rdm/thf if you need some gil.

But yeah, if you consider being a rdm/smn be ready to put forth some time. Just hope you have some good friends to help you.

[Jei]

when you're partying, there are certain spells that you should give higher priority than others because it can be life or death of your entire group. As you know Rdm can do everything and we're expected to "fulfil" the missing part of the group.

important roles in my order. Lacking them, can only hurt your group really.

1. escape.. Top priority of all, if the party lacks the ability to get themself out of dungeons in case of emergancy, you need to be bable to do it.y ou NEED it everytime your party hunts in dungeon. 29Blm main and sub can use it

2. MP regen for your entire group. not just you.

3. ~na spells. 29Whm main and sub for cursena is enough for most cases. Stona Virna is not a common spells and you'll need main Whm for those anyway

So, assuming your party has Whm/Blm or Blm/Whm who can escape and get rid of most status effects, have Brd to sing ballad, then you, as a Rdm, is free to use everything you want. /Smn /Sam /War /anything go ahead.

But if your party is lacking any one of those 3, I suggest you use the sub that will fulfil that role. /29+blm for case 1, /25+brd for case 2), and finally /whm for case 3).

[Bamce Sylph]

another thing avatar quests require lots of fame in about everycity (i think everyone but not 100%) to get the corrosponding tuning fork, w/o said fork u can't even participate in the battle to get the "prime" to survive this fight u have to be like lvl 55+
another thing, i would go blm over whitemage because i for one am lazy, and have burned many insta warp scrolls and kicking myself for not leveling blm instead of white (althoit works out now since i'm playing a bard)
one more final push towards blm, i noticed in your info screen it said u were a galka, not sure if thats the race ur planning onplaying this rdm as, but the blackmage trait of conserve mp will help your limited mp stretch a bit more

[Tsubame]

You could try RDM/NIN, I have heard of people being quite effective with that combo (mostly at higher levels). It's a combo I see a lot amongst Japanese players.

You'll have dual swords, as well as the few types of debuffs you won't get as a RDM (The elemental debuffs).

Debuff the enemy to an element, En- your weapon with that element, and go to town .

[Jei]

no way...

Rdm/Nin is only for fun. only use it when you're out helping low level friends.

levelling up, leave Nin alone. Is it useless.

[Apple Pie]

It's a combo I see a lot amongst Japanese players.

Hmm... Although I'm Japanese, I've never seen such a combo among us when we go out leveling as a PT.

There are some of us enjoying soloing with RDM/Melee but if you do /search region RDM 61-75 in Jeuno, I'm sure 100% of us who are going out leveling take either RDM/BLM, RDM/BRD, RDM/SMN, or RDM/WHM. The majority is /BLM followed by /WHM.

Well, it may only apply to Gilgamesh but if you hang around some Japanese RDM forums, you'll see almost all of us think subbing melee jobs for RDM is something extraordinary.

[Roller]

Ok, all great advice, and thank you very much, but I don't want SMN as a subjob for the summons, just for the added MP and the Job trait the gives regenerating MP. I've decided to level up WHM, BLM and SMN up to level 30 or something, and use whatever Sub seems appropriate, but I have a question, what weapon should I use? I've been using a sword since lvl 1, but...I'm not doing much damage, and they don't really give any stat bonuses, and I started lvling my club skill, with the plan to use wands, with + INT/MND, but...argh! They just, don't do any damage and...I wanna do some melee damage...ok, so anyway, what weapon would you guys suggest using if my subjob is going to be either WHM, BLM, or SMN?