Is RDM good as an Elvaan?

[Avalie]

OK, I am a Female Elvaan RDM lvl 8, I am not sure if this is a good class to keep going with, I originally started as a WAR and it is lvl 5. Should I switch and go as a WAR?

[garic]

As long as you dont sub WAR for RDM i think youll be ok.

Obviously Elvaan mages have much less mp then most mages of other races, but this handicap can be overcome with good equipment.

It would seem to me that the high HP of an Elvaan and the Convert ability would work very well together.

Play what you want to play though, that is the most important thing.

[modnar]

I say go with WAR. for the reasone below:

If you can compensate for this reason, then I say go ahead.

Picture taken from this very website, all credit given to whom it belongs (not me).

[Avalie]

Yeah If I were a RDM, I would sub either WHM or BLM, and maybe eventually SMN, If I were a Warrior I would probably get PLD and sub WAR. And I have 5 spells currently; Dia, Cure, Stone, Poison, and Blind. I have ok equip but it could be a lot better. I dont know what to do yet. thx for helpin guys

[Rones]

It would seem to me that the high HP of an Elvaan and the Convert ability would work very well together.

Actually, just the opposite. The closer your hp is to your mp, the better for convert. Galka and elvaan have the worst convert ratios, while tarus have perfect ratios (sometimes more mp than hp which is even better). If you really want to go rdm and get more out of it then remake as taru. Elvaan on the other hand make very good war.

[Dano]

i like the elvaan female in rdm AF, it's just pure sexiness, tarus are just bleh..

anywayz, i would say go rdm, like the other post said you can over come the mp shortage with equipments, althou as a elvaan you cant bring out the full potential of the rdm but it's also fun to play with, as you are constantly managing yer mp.

side note, imo rdms has infinity mp when the abilities are used correctly and proper equipments. So give it a shot and see if you like it.

[ifandbut]

Elvaan RDM and loveing it.
Yes taru make the best mages, but I really dont have a proublem with my mp. Besides, I feal safe in the knowldge that when I'm bored with RDM I can go to SAM or DRKand be bad a$$ at it because Elvaans have the highest STR of any race.

[Aelith]

No, taru don't make the best Rdms, IMO. Humes do. Sure, taru have lots of mp, but thats it.

The human can take a hit better than a taru. Not really important for whm or blm, but a rdm really should be doing some minor chipping in combatwise to get the most out of their job. Because of higher hp and vit, the human will do this better than the taru.

The human will also be able to chip in combat wise more effectively than the taru, with a higher strength.

Magic? I know tarus have the greatest int, but do they also have the best mnd? If they don't have the best mnd, thats another strike against them, since rdm is likely to end up doing more healing than nukeing. Either way, humes still have decent mnd (and int).

As for mp, when you get refresh, a human rdm will be just as effective as the taru. He might have less base mp, but it doesn't matter, since he isn't likely to run out. Especially with convert thrown in.

So yeah, IMO humans are better rdms than taru.

As for the original post - you can make a good elvaan rdm. You'll sacrifice your hitiness for stuff to add mp though. You'll always want the rings and hairpins that take away from you hp and add to your mp. Without that stuff you won't work well, but with it you should be able to get by. Keep in mind that it might be frustrating to always buy that, instead of other gear that simply adds to stats without taking away from anything. If you don't like that compromise, go with the warrior.

[Rekiem]

Elvaan makes okay RDM. Very high MND, which help land Slow, Paralyze and Silence. But if you really want to be a pure RDM, Taru would be better. Simply because they have high MP which makes convert more efficient.

[bonovoxpsu]

why does this turn into a pissing contest on what race is better for rdm? all the time, sheesh.

aelith -

no, rdm is not a melee. nor are they good. nor do you get pt invites for your melee ability. you're going to be way too busy to melee - in fact, you really won't be wielding a sword past 40 very much, you're going to want to sit backline and wield a wand for the stat bonuses.

str and vit mean nothing to an rdm. both mnd and int are very important to rdms - THE most important, second to MP of course. and vit. wtf! vit is worthless.

as for hp and mp, you want your hp/mp ratio to be as close to 1:1 as possible. that is the best situation to be in during convert. no wastes.

and this has been said before, your MP drain doesn't decrease when you get refresh - IT INCREASES. having refresh means more to do, not less. you run out more then you think. you need all the mp you can get.

so please, don't make this a pissing contest any more by running in and going "RDM HUME BESTEST EVAR!" your facts are just all over the place and pretty much wrong.

[Aelith]

>> no, rdm is not a melee. nor are they good. nor do you get pt invites for your melee ability.

------>I agree, I agree, and I agree. I'm not trying to argue against any of these three points.

>> you're going to be way too busy to melee

--------> Why? as long as you are standing next to the enemy, you'll automatically attack whenever the computer gets the occasion. That takes almost none of your attention away from debuffing and healing and refreshing, and whatever other stuff you're up to.

>> in fact, you really won't be wielding a sword past 40 very much, you're going to want to sit backline and wield a wand for the stat bonuses.

---------->I'll admit I don't have any post 40 experience, so I can't argue against you here with any legitimacy. Regardless - a large chunk of your time will be spent between levels one and forty, so I don't think it makes sense to just disregard that time. In those levels, from all that I have seen, you certainly aren't a melee person, but you can still chip in enough to shorten fights. Thats one of the things we get that the other mages don't. We were designed for it. Were we designed for enfeebling and otherstuff to? yeah. Are we the best at combat? Of course not. But we have some capability in it. As far as I'm concerned, we aren't doing the best job we can if we aren't using that small capability.

>> str and vit mean nothing to an rdm. both mnd and int are very important to rdms - THE most important, second to MP of course. and vit. wtf! vit is worthless.

--------->I wouldn't go so far as to say it means nothing. You certainly don't want to waste rings or stuff increasing strength, but thats not what I'm talking about. I'm just talking about basic strength that comes with the race. Humes get enough extra strength to make chipping in worthwhile (pre 40 at least). Tarus don't. Humes also get all the mp they need to do their job fully. IMO, the taru mp is just extra. It's not needed 95% of the time.

as for hp and mp, you want your hp/mp ratio to be as close to 1:1 as possible. that is the best situation to be in during convert. no wastes.

>> having refresh means more to do, not less. you run out more then you think.

------------> I don't follow. Why does refresh hurt your mp? It means you personally have to spend more mp casting a few extra refreshes, but that lets the whm do more healing, and the black mage do more nukeing, so thats less mp you'll have to spend in those areas.

>> so please, don't make this a pissing contest any more by running in and going "RDM HUME BESTEST EVAR!" your facts are just all over the place and pretty much wrong.

-------------> I don't think I'm trying to turn this into a "pissing contest". I'm just going and arguing my own point of view. Maybe it's right, maybe it's wrong. It certainly isn't meant to offend you (and I'm sorry if it did). I also think my post was a bit more nicely phrased than "RDM HUME BESTEST EVAR", but hey - I guess everyone can judge for themselves on that.

[bonovoxpsu]

heh. maybe i was a bit too overzealous with that post. some angst there, i apologize for that.

however.

i hate to say it, but lvls 1-40, that's not even 50% of ffxi. if you make it to 50, then you'll start to understand what i mean by that. but there's more. then you have to get through the hell that is lvls 50-60 (if you have a static, this will be not so bad - still bad, but not so bad). now, if you've made it to 60, you have to somewhat endure the shock of clearing 60. a lot, and i mean a lot of people quit the game at 61, or start a new character/job. and then its just a battle of giant XP to get to 75.

so forgive me when i jump on a low lvl person like that, because, well, the phrase "you'll see" comes to mind.

and as for strength, i'm gonna say lvls 1-40 you aren't going to have any kind of significant damage output that is greater to my taru in anyway - unless you're packing strength rings and attack+ gear. otherwise at low lvls, our attack and damage are going to be the same or the difference is going to be negligible.

and there are tons of reasons not to melee at higher lvls - AOE, forgetting to enfeeble/refresh/heal. trust me, i've seen it. when you melee, you get distracted. its VERY common. best now to understand that in the near future, you won't be meleeing, you'll be on the backline. not that lvls 1-30ish you SHOULDN'T melee because you should, get that sword skill up!

but here's the deal - when you get refresh, you'll either hate rdm or love it - you become what's lovingly know as a "refresh whore". you'll be refreshing yourself, the pld, the whm, the blm, and every so often if you're really unlucky, the drk. not counting the dark, you're casting refresh 4 times per fight. that's a lot of mp. dont' forget enfeebles, nukes, heals. oh yeah, and haste. haste is a BIG mp chunk. that mp flies by. believe me, it doesn't get better.

and, well, you did come out and say - "No, taru don't make the best Rdms, IMO. Humes do. Sure, taru have lots of mp, but thats it.". and then go on to use bad examples (melee). so hehe, i'm gonna jump all over you for that. its just the rdm way.

[MrADC]

but here's the deal - when you get refresh, you'll either hate rdm or love it - you become what's lovingly know as a "refresh whore". you'll be refreshing yourself, the pld, the whm, the blm, and every so often if you're really unlucky, the drk. not counting the dark, you're casting refresh 4 times per fight. that's a lot of mp. dont' forget enfeebles, nukes, heals. oh yeah, and haste. haste is a BIG mp chunk. that mp flies by. believe me, it doesn't get better.

Hitting level 50 last night, I can say this after getting refresh, everything said above is correct (the term refresh whore...ugh). My main responsibility is to make sure I can keep my mp up so I can refresh first the pld, whm, then the blm and the drk every other fight or so. So that's 4-5 refresh cast (times 40mp equals 160-200mp). Then after getting haste, I end up casting that on 1-2 people depending on party setup (multiply that by 40mp also). So it does become an mp drain, but if you make sure to keep yourself refreshed, and time your resting and convert periods correctly, you'll be ok.

I find it easier to stay out of melee and focus on my macros, and health bars to be more efficent. From my leveling from 40-50, I only melee'd fulltime in a party once, and that was last night It was fun, I was able to learn how to manage without using my main macros, but it isn't easy to be as effective as when you sit back in the mage line.

Basically, if you are determined enough to be successful, you take a race and play any job. I know how many people are against certain race/job mismatches (Galka mage for instance) but after seeing a Galka redmage in full AF, it proves that you should do what you feel will bring you satisfaction in your gameplay time.

[Jaggywaggy]

Elvaan rdm is my favorite to work with, the high mnd helps a noticable amount landing enfeebles.

I think it's good if you take either job as your main job, the game needs more of each post 30.