Hello everyone, this is a guide for Red Mages mainly. It will go through preferred gear, spells and tactics to push Red Mage as a favorite job and also a very easy one. Coming straight from Pandemonium's Level 70 Red Mage Vivisan.

Race breakdowns on Red Mage.

Galka: A heavy hitter, prepare to hit alot and equip fighting gear more often. Worse Red Mage race type.

Mithra: A good choice for soloing, the AGI and DEX helps for fighting, but the drawback is lower MP and average HP.

Elvaan: Another melee type Red Mage, huge drawbacks on MP and high strength put these Red Mages in the frontlines, another bad race choice.

Hume: Ah....yes, completely average, be prepared to have the hardest job in all of Vana'diel if you choose hume and want to be good at it. Melee and Magic support is both wanted for these special Red Mages.

Tarutaru: The short taru, a MP powerhouse, be prepared to rarely help out on melee or tanking should things very go wrong. Tarutaru are more commonly known to take the place of WHMs early on and sometimes later in the game.

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Blake Shotgun's Response to this:
Every RDM should melee, no matter what their job is, unless there's an AoE to watch for (ie Anticans' AoE Silence, or Mandragora's Sleep). Unless you're a n00b and can't keep up with casting, or it's getting late in the chain and you need every chance you can get to rest for mp (this would be pre-41 and refresh), you should be swinging away.
My comment:
This really depends more of on a weapon and role in a party, until level 60 RDM should be meleeing, unless on crabs and beetles or other high defense mobs. There is no point in hitting it when your sword hits for 5-10 damage and you have plenty of mp to do several times more with a magic. This is generally 41+ because RDM should have lots of mp and good spells.

Example at level 70 my sword deals like 15-20 damage on a Cockatrice, my Aero III will deal around 400 or more damage, when MBed sometimes topping 500 damage. I can rest and gain my mp back through refresh, dark staff + rest and other bonuses faster then it takes to deal the damage on the enemy. Since RDM has usually poor accuracy on IT mobs unless specifically geared to melee it is a waste of time to try and melee. Though no matter what if you can constantly deal good damage always melee, like you can do for the first 50 levels.
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Alright let's get the lesson started!

Levels 1-10, a very good time for Red Mages
Red Mages are able to equip vast amounts of gear and weapons, not to mention having huge magic spell lists for crushing enemies. These levels will be easy if you pay attention.

Level 1-5
Welcome to Vana'diel as a Red Mage. Your first order of business is to secure a good source of gil and steady supply of it is needed. Farming and selling crystals off bees(Bastok) would be great, since they sell for around 200 gil a piece.

For a weapon...I strongly suggest picking up a Bronze Sword or Wax Sword(better weapon), instead of the Onion Sword. These cost around 400-1000 on most servers, if you are doing this as another job I would recommend something +1 of course, but don't go to daggers yet.

As for equipment the Bronze Harness and Bronze Subliger, the other pieces of the bronze set do not compare to the defense of these two pieces. A nice Lauan Shield while it may not do much for defense it will allow you to block attacks and it is well worth the 300 gil for them. However if you are experienced I would recommand going all +1 for the bronze set and the Marine Shield. A Blood Stone +1 is good, but incrediblely hard to find at times and a Rabbit Mantle.

When you have your basic equipment it is a good idea to pick up Dia, but this spell is around 100 gil in the shops and is not too important at this level, for taking on lizards, and beastmen you will want this spell early on. Cure is a MUST, get this spell it will allow you to take on more enemies much faster and harder then before.

Now some people at this level will choose to start leveling bow, I highly advise all new players that its either go +1 or don't go at all, bows while may seem cheap need a constant supply of arrows and is not really worth it unless you plan on tagging enemies of particular value to you later on. If you are experienced I would still say stay away from it unless you have Ranger leveled because Red Mages are horrible with bows, great for NM tagging in a Magic Aggro zone or out of magic range, but you will have low skill and bad accuracy.

For leveling a Red Mage should take on Even Matches or Decent Challenges, stay away from Lizards, Orcs, Quadav, Yagudo, and possibly Mandragoras. These specific monsters and beastmen have higher defense, higher hp or double attack such as the Mandragoras. Quadav, Orcs and Yagudo mages you want to stay away from, Poison and Dia are very deadly so stay away from them.

Next is levels 5-7. Comments are always good ^-^

Levels 5-7

By now chances are you've experienced a death and finding out you need harder enemies to get good experience. Levels 5-7 are great for getting a better taste of the gear for Red Mages.

Still I'd take a sword over a dagger for damage, Xiphos is good for level 5. By level 7 a Blinding Dagger is pretty good, but still the damage will be lower and the special effect doesn't kick in all the time.

Buying the Leather Set for level 7 is excellent. You should buy the entire set, because it is well worth it now. If you are low on money, buy a Shell Shield, but always carry a shield from now on. If you are rolling in money buy the entire +1 Leather set, Brass Rings if you are Hume, or Taru and a Leather Belt, a good Justice Badge is great to go with it.

Move away from the newbie areas and zone into the harder areas, like North Gustaberg, Giddeus, La Theine Plateau or Tahrongi Canyon if you can take the enemies there. Look for easy targets like Worms, Bees, Bats to maximize your exp without risking death. Start to /check your enemies more often now, a Tough Worm is about the strength of an EM Bat (not Bats, the three ones are deadly). These levels are primarily exploration and new gear, so enjoy the new array of spells.

Next is levels 8-10. (will be added here) Comments are always good ^-^

Galka: A heavy hitter, prepare to hit alot and equip fighting gear more often. Worse Red Mage race type.

Mithra: A good choice for soloing, the AGI and DEX helps for fighting, but the drawback is lower MP and average HP.

Elvaan: Another melee type Red Mage, huge drawbacks on MP and high strength put these Red Mages in the frontlines, another bad race choice.

Hume: Ah....yes, completely average, be prepared to have the hardest job in all of Vana'diel if you choose hume and want to be good at it. Melee and Magic support is both wanted for these special Red Mages.

Tarutaru: The short taru, a MP powerhouse, be prepared to rarely help out on melee or tanking should things very go wrong. Tarutaru are more commonly known to take the place of WHMs early on and sometimes later in the game.

Every RDM should melee, no matter what their job is, unless there's an AoE to watch for (ie Anticans' AoE Silence, or Mandragora's Sleep). Unless you're a n00b and can't keep up with casting, or it's getting late in the chain and you need every chance you can get to rest for mp (this would be pre-41 and refresh), you should be swinging away.



Level 1-5
Welcome to Vana'diel as a Red Mage. Your first order of business is to secure a good source of gil and steady supply of it is needed. Farming and selling crystals off bees(Bastok) would be great, since they sell for around 200 gil a piece.

Point out that we're talking about Wind crystals, not just any kind of crystal, as that's misleading - Earth Crystals are about 50-100 a piece. Bees are especially nice to farm because of beehive chips and honey, which are also nice to farm early on.


For a weapon...I strongly suggest picking up a Bronze Sword or Wax Sword(better weapon), instead of the Onion Sword. These cost around 400-1000 on most servers, if you are doing this as another job I would recommend something +1 of course, but don't go to daggers yet.

If you're coming from another job, the only choice is a Wax Sword +1. That'll last you until level 11 (or is it 10?) when you can pick up a Bee Spatha +1, which will last you until you're ~20.


As for equipment the Bronze Harness and Bronze Subliger, the other pieces of the bronze set do not compare to the defense of these two pieces. A nice Lauan Shield while it may not do much for defense it will allow you to block attacks and it is well worth the 300 gil for them. However if you are experienced I would recommand going all +1 for the bronze set and the Marine Shield. A Blood Stone +1 is good, but incrediblely hard to find at times and a Rabbit Mantle.

I would recommend a Vagabond's Set, if you're coming from another job. The lack in defense is okay, because it's quite usable and looks cool. :) A level 1 cap (the one that looks like a beret) is good to pick up, too. for the looks, as defense doesn't mater all that much at this level. o;


When you have your basic equipment it is a good idea to pick up Dia, but this spell is around 100 gil in the shops and is not too important at this level, for taking on lizards, and beastmen you will want this spell early on. Cure is a MUST, get this spell it will allow you to take on more enemies much faster and harder then before.

If RDM is your starting job you start with Dia.


Now some people at this level will choose to start leveling bow, I highly advise all new players that its either go +1 or don't go at all, bows while may seem cheap need a constant supply of arrows and is not really worth it unless you plan on tagging enemies of particular value to you later on. If you are experienced I would still say stay away from it unless you have Ranger leveled because Red Mages are horrible with bows, great for NM tagging in a Magic Aggro zone or out of magic range, but you will have low skill and bad accuracy.

Just say no to bows as RDM. You'll never need to pull anything, ever, with one. Either Dia or Gravity to pull. Using bows while NM camping is one of the WORST things you can do. Chi Blast or Charm, or you're screwed, 'cause competition will get it 2+ seconds before you if you use a bow.


Still I'd take a sword over a dagger for damage, Xiphos is good for level 5. By level 7 a Blinding Dagger is pretty good, but still the damage will be lower and the special effect doesn't kick in all the time.

Only dagger worth using, at all, at level 7, would be Beestinger. Stay with swords otherwise. (In fact, RDM should avoid daggers altogether besides Beestinger and Hornetneedle, which are delicious fun with enspells)


Brass Rings if you are Hume, or Taru

don't waste money on brass rings. :/


Move away from the newbie areas and zone into the harder areas, like North Gustaberg, Giddeus, La Theine Plateau or Tahrongi Canyon

oh god no.
Tahrongi and La Theine are way too high a level for being 5-7. Maybe at 8+, maybe. 9+ is fine.

Of course, at 7 it'd work duoing, tripling, or partying.

level 7-9 or so, in the Sarutabaruta area (west by the Twinkle Tree or whatever, east by the middle Horutoto Ruins entrance) has good Giant Bees to fight.


Start to /check your enemies more often now

You should never, ever, start a battle without checking it first.

if you want, after you finish, I can delete all extraneous replies (such as mine) and sticky it.

replies don't need to be deleted. ;(

and stickies are sort of flooding this forum as is, we'll be doing something else to keep tutorial-esque/FAQ threads around soon.

replies don't need to be deleted. ;(

and stickies are sort of flooding this forum as is, we'll be doing something else to keep tutorial-esque/FAQ threads around soon.


alright. O:

it's just sometimes these guides like to have one post be about blah, then the next be about blahsomethingelse, etc.

but if it stays all contained, then you're right.

Also by the end of the month some of the inactive journals will be coming down, unless you dissaprove?

Well...thanks for the re-info, but that was my exact order for RDM that I did it, sorry if, my old thing wasn't doing to good. I am going to rewrite the 7-10 part I was working on. I was taking T's by level 7, it was easy to, though do to the update Apple Pies (at least in Pandemonium) are glitched and last only 3 minutes....I found it out when leveling on T's in Dangruf Wadi with Summoner, the loss of mp when it wore off lead to me failing a chain and dying running to zone. 33 Damage from a T Goblin Fisher...

Oh and Blake this is for level 1-7 atm, I don't think anyone would be coming across an Antican, but that holds very true. Except I never melee in parties now, I seriously get yelled at, Gold Sword for going solo stuff, Mythic Wand (or two if I sub NIN) for parties. No party anyways would want you to melee if you have +35 or more INT. Given there are many paths for RDM based on race, Galka Melee the most and I have yet to see a RDM lvl 60+ that is Taru or Hume meleeing at all, except a RDM named Cruzan with melee gear.

Except I never melee in parties now, I seriously get yelled at, Gold Sword for going solo stuff, Mythic Wand (or two if I sub NIN) for parties. No party anyways would want you to melee if you have +35 or more INT. Given there are many paths for RDM based on race, Galka Melee the most and I have yet to see a RDM lvl 60+ that is Taru or Hume meleeing at all, except a RDM named Cruzan with melee gear.

+MND is more important than +INT, no?

because MND = paralyze, and slow. which is much more important imo.

Also, it wastes no time in a party to stand next to a mob with auto-attack on. You can still cast and do everything except rest - when you need to rest, obviously, do that instead of attack.
O:

Then again, I had +23 MND before I quit (+17 or so INT).. and still melee'd really well (especially with enspell damage), because I utilized equipment changing in my macros..


My level 75 RDM friend melees whenever she gets a chance... does that make my point more valid? Probably not, but I thought I should throw that out there. ;p

Lol, but it comes up futile for me to even melee really. I can do much more damage to nuke and then rest then melee, even Blizzard I can do like 70-80 damage for me which is the same as like 6 attacks that hit. Since I don't have like the best sword, 75 RDM can melee if they have like the Joyesse or another great weapons, but it relates primarily to gear about successfulness in it. I rather take +2 for many stats with my Royal Knights +1 belt then +10 acc. Its just not worth it for me anymore to melee with my gear type. Errant gear which the body adds +10 INT, MND and CHR alone is gear absolutely great, though if I were to wear melee gear or a mixuture of them then I could melee and actually have it mean something. ^-^

Most RDM just don't melee at most levels -period- for being of little use but giving the enemy more TP, AOE or not. ;3 Keeps the ol' healer's MP up there, ya kno. 'Course, no one need Typo taru tell them that! At FF_Fan's level it wouldn't really even be needed for him to draw weapon anyway, but, uh, he kinda already said something to that effect. Maybe I just feel typetive todey.

Just giving second/third opinion. ";D

the body adds +10 INT, MND and CHR alone is gear absolutely great

AF Body should be the last body piece RDM use.. +Enfeebling Skill is more important than anything else for RDM, no?

at least, that's the "school" of RDM I played as. ;)
that with Relic hat is awesome as well...

of course, for fast casting fun you can go with AF hat and relic body.. that's another story.

anyways, I don't get what'st he problem with meleeing while wearing your normal equipment, and, say, you were super rich (just for example :P) and you had a peacock charm and enfeebling torque and other applicable torques for spells ;)

you could just add /equip neck "Peacock Charm" to your macro when switching to sword from wand/staff. add /equip neck "Enfeebling Torque" in front of all your enfeebling spells, and /equip neck "applicable torque" in front of whatever other spells they would apply to. ;)

as well as switching other things for casting...

you could even use equipment swapping to get that +10 acc, to wear those melee pieces of equip, and then switch back to casting gear when you're done...

but, at level 70+ equip switching isn't incredibley important, from my understanding.
it's nice, at lower levels, to get much superior stats without super expensive items, though, when you switch...

I dunno what I'm really going on about.

Well even still switching provides a huge draw on space, espically if you haven't completed up to Gobbiebag VI yet. I have only completed the second gobbiebag so I have a mere 40 items total. Though the items for equip Blake would be crazy high, so you could not even carry your goods. My base RDM equip takes up 13 item slots, switching to melee style takes up another 13 slots. Now in addition to the elemental staves I carry. Dark Staff for MP, Ice Staff for nuking and so on it comes up to around 34 slots being used. Now add food into your pack. Melon Pie, Meat Chiefkabob or Rolanberry Pie (which is now nice because it is stackable to 12 and lightens the pack load). Still though those 2 items bring it up to 36. Now add nuking gear which is an entire new set basically except the Phantom Tathlum which would add up to 48 items.

A full equipment macro would take three slots and need one for each staff in addition to all RDM key spells, like refresh, Dispel, a standard debuff macro and then you'll need one for nuking and en-spells.

The whole idea is very good till later on when gear no longer crosses the same paths as it did in the early levels. When a wand was for both RDM and BLM by the INT it gives, but now Ice Staff and Mythic Wand are different in mine due to the +10 Elemental skill. It just becomes so overwhelming and tedious to switch back and forth from debuffing to meleeing to nuking and keeping everything up. The biggest draw is on MP. My Melee gear in order to make me at least worth something requires that I stand the loss of 150+ mp to fight, which is usually around 300-350+ a battle after debuffing then, in order to keep refresh up and en-spells up. Where as usual I lose around 150 mp in a normal battle when I nuke and rest moderately.

So while it seeming like a good idea it is just not practical or mp friendly to switch gear because it only adds to downtime. In most low-level areas down time is high enough and mp loss is very little. However when you chain 5 alot there is little downtime, around thirty seconds from last kill before you have another battle on your hands. RDM cannot regain mp that fast to keep pace and would ultimately need to convert before it recharges and thus delaying the party.

It was a good idea Blake, but the end of the leveling is really anti-equip change friendly. Though if you are not 40 yet, I RECOMMEND having a nuking gear set along with a simple weapon for meleeing.