BarSpells

[Icemage]

Re: BarSpells

They give the same amount of resistance, but as others mentioned, the self target version will overwrite the -ra.

True enough, though to be honest I've never seen any definitive testing of single target vs. area target versions (pretty hard to do since magical damage is so random). Suffice to say that the differences, even when cast by WHM vs. RDM, are minimal as long as skill caps are factored in.


Icemage

[Fynlar]

Re: BarSpells

Magical damage is actually very consistent, much more consistent than melee damage; it's the resistance (accuracy) rates that can seem random

If you continuously nuke some weak mob that will rarely resist you under the exact same conditions (neither target changes level or INT value, day/weather isn't affecting the element used, etc.) chances are your nuke will land for the exact same damage, every single time. No melee, even fighting Too Weaks, will be able to get that kind of consistency on their damage, even with unchanging conditions.

But yes, assuming capped skill, the difference between a WHM's and a RDM/WHM's Barspells is going to be minimal, assuming Blessed Briault, WHM relic pants, and merits haven't entered the picture yet (in which event the WHM zooms clearly ahead). People will often say that a RDM/WHM should handle it in parties that also have a WHM, but I am a believer in giving the duty to whichever mage is least busy and can best keep it up. This could be the RDM (due to the fact that Barelement spells fit nicely with a Refresh cycle), but sometimes they get so darned busy that they let the Barspell drop occasionally. To me, consistency is better than having a handful more points of resistance.