na redmages

[VMK]

bottom line, don't think of them as cookie cutter subs, think of them as tried and tested.

That was very nicly put. I was actually pretty scared of the flames I thought I was going to after I posted that.

And after reading I guess my combo isn't that crazy. It was more tried and tested than I thought. It's BST/WHM. Pretty hard from what I hear but like a posted said befre me, it prob looks better on paper.

Might not be a good grouping combo but soloing is what I love to do. I dual-boxed a Wiz/Enc combo SOLO to 49 in EQOA. Not bad for playing two casters at once. I do enjoy grouping but too much and I tend to abanden the game. I am so happy there is much to do in this game besides xp'ing.

And while I got all you vet's here, mind if I pick your brains a bit?

I have read a lot but I am still confused on a couple things. Not really Red Mage questions but I don't think this is really a Red Made thread anymore. :D

1. Guilds
Sorry but I am going to use EQOA as an example. You were limited by the max rank you could obtain by the level you currently are at. I was wondering if this was the same.

2. How far away are the cities? In lists of XP spots I have seen they seem to list the same areas over and over again. Is the world small or are there many more areas?

3. "Camping Ettiqute" I am use to playing MMORPGs where you are either the only ones there or there are camps. So what is the ettiqute for engaging mobs in an area with many groups?

4. Steal. I saw something about thiefs pissing off the group for using STEAL. Why?

5. Rares
Are rare items dropped by all monsters? Or just off the (crap I forgot the FFXI phrase for named) ones?

Sorry to ask such newb questions. :D

[EDarkness]

"You just have to accent your fighting just like you would your mage abilities" the problemwith this isby accenting your melee ablities, you become a les than "accented" mage, which when forming groups is what your invited for. also, that goon hitting for 55ish, seems to be more his problem than your greatness. besides he has penta thrust, u have? fastblade? whoo!

Actually, anyone who sees my sub when the search, knows they're getting a RDM who melees so they get me for both. Or perhaps they can live with the fact that I melee. <shrug> Besides, I do my job as a RDM, so it's all good.

Fastblade? Man, who the heck uses that? I gave that up a long time ago. The WS I use most is either Shining Blade (if I'm using sword), Viper Bite or Cyclone (if I'm using dagger). When I equip WAR as sub I use Red Lotus and Seraph. I do more damage overall with Red Lotus (in my opinion), but since most of the time I have NIN subbed, I use Shining Blade. I can get anywhere from 80 to 200 damage with it. On average I do around 120 or so.

Also, at no point have I said that RDM meleeing was great. Just that it can be pretty good if you equip good stuff to help it out a little. We do the same for the mage side, so I don't see the problem with it.

The DRG was a taru. A pretty cool taru who was going against the grain also and he was a JP. He was taking serious heat since the THF was Trick Attacking off of him. He was getting more damage out from time to time, but again we're talking averages.

Also, I didn't talk about WSs because the damage there can vary depending on how much TP you have built up. The other thing about this is how can you compare the damage of a two handed weapon to a single handed weapon? They're two different beasts altogether. A two handed weapon BETTER eclipse the damage of a one handed weapon by at least 2x. You sacrifice a lot of speed in order to get that damage. When I'm leveling my WAR, I use greatsword. I love the damage, but if you miss that's your ass.

Let me try to answer some of VMKs questions:

1. You can build up your skills as much as you want. Just costs lots of time and money. I know people who are level 1 and have a 20+ cooking skill. I'm a member of only a few guilds but I find that it takes too long to work on skills when I could be doing something else.

2. Now that I've been just about everywhere, I'd say the world is relatively small. But there are lots of little dungeons, castles, passages, etc whe you can go to explore. Be warned, a lot of those places are tough. I remember when I stumbled into Ordelles caves for the first time. I had no idea what it was, but my exploring instincts set in and I traveled into the place. Being a mere level 20 RDM, I got easily trounced on by the goblins in there. I had to come back at level 30 and get some revenge. :-D Some of those dungeons are HUGE, man. You can be lost in Ordelles for weeks if you don't have a map. So the world may be kinda small, all things considered, but you don't want to walk if you can avoid it.

3. First come first serve. I've seen more shouting matches and heated arguments in camped areas than anywhere else. Someone always gets upset when a NM is snagged right from under them. It's too boring for me, but I can see the reason people do it. Equipment can get to be REAL expensive. Since I share an account with my GF, I don't have as much time as I would like and spending 6 hours camping is not an efficient use of time.

4. Some people think it's stealing items from the group. At least that's what I was told by a few people. I don't get it. The guy's a THF...they steal stuff. They shouldn't have to share, either.

5. Depends on the rare item. Most of the good ones drop from Notorious Monsters (NMs). The good ones are heavily camped. I don't think I've ever seen Leaping Lizzy. Heh, heh. I make a point to wave at the campers as I ride by on my chocobo. I can't think of any that drop off of regular monsters.



-EDarkness

[VMK]

Thanks EDarkness!

[Tukka]

The reason people get upset at THFs for stealing is because of the misconception that stealing from the creature removes the item that's stolen from the creature's inventory so it doesn't drop as loot (and thus isn't made available for lotting). That's not the way it works though, "stealing" an item essentially "creates" the item that is stolen... this is fairly obvious from the fact that thieves steal beastcoins a lot more often than they ordinarily drop.

[VMK]

Ah so it's just a lack of knowledge issue. Kinda like xp loss and BST in PT. I guess I will just have to be sure to beat that in to new players heads. :D

[Uroboros]

The only reason to get irritated with a THF stealing is in a tough fight, well, he Steals in lieu of hitting the enemy that turn, and maybe that would have given him enough TP for a crucial Viperbite or something. Usually not a big deal though. But them stealing doesn't take anything away from the group. Nothing like farming and stealing Saruta Cotton, then getting it as a drop from the same mob.

[Bamce Sylph]

unforutantally lack of information, is a widespread problem