Galka Mages: What is tolerable?

[JayblahX]

Please read carefully:
This topic encompasses almost all the Mage options available (RDM, WHM, BLM, SMN). The reason I posted it here in the BLM forum rather than the general forum is because the level of discussion of individual job forums far exceeds the rampant noobocity of the general section. If a moderator wants to move it to general, that's fine. I would also like to add that I'd greatly appreciate middle-to-high level players input. Let's move on.

With my Monk fast approaching 75, I am looking at a new job at some point. As a Galka, its obvious I've a limited ability to become a fantastic Mage, being outclassed by all other races. I've also sadly never been in a party with a Galka Mage so have no experience of observation. I could continue on as a second melee or perhaps tank, but I'd prefer to try and make a Mage work. However, while its obvious that Bard is the best Mage-esque choice available to Galka, (particularly because everyone loves Bards so much, no one gives a damn what race it is) I would appreciate Bards not being included in this discussion.

Other things to note:

- Yes, I am prepared to throw money at my potential Mage.
- Yes, I understand I'll always be disadvantaged. Spare me the "make a Tarutaru second job" type of comments.

With all that said; of the four Mage Jobs I have mentioned (Red Mage, White Mage, Black Mage, Summoner), which of these would be the most tolerated by EXP-parties or even yourself?

Please explain why as well. Educate this MP-poor giant. :sweat:

[Mursk]

make a Tarutaru second job :p

[neighbortaru]

If you can survive the first 30 levels, I think you'll be ok the rest of the way. RSE offers a nice MP boost until you can get your AF's.

With that said, here are my opinions (getting to 30):

WHM - Your MND is no worse than a HUM and certainly better than a TAR. Thankfully, there's a ton of MND gear floating around at the low lvls. MP will be the weakest point here thou. Having to rest mid battle means the tanks are gonna hurt for a couple of rounds.

BLM - Your INT is a tad lower than a HUM and tremendously lower than a TAR. This will affect your spell damage. Not too many INT+ gear compared to MND+ so that kinda sucks. MP is not so much an issue as you can just rest mid battle to recover.

RDM - Lowest MP of the jobs. You'll also need to balance MND and INT, but this shouldn't be too much an issue. Resting mid battle also isn't too big a deal. When you get Convert, you'll have a nice renewable MP supply. However, curing your way out of convert might drain the pool again I would try RDM/WHM for divine seal.

right, so which would I choose? probably BLM or RDM. Low MP on a WHM scares me. Ironically, I've played ELV WHM for my RDM :sweat:

[Silkiv]

Re: Galka Mages: What is tolerable?

Originally posted by JayblahX
Please read carefully:

With all that said; of the four Mage Jobs I have mentioned (Red Mage, White Mage, Black Mage, Summoner), which of these would be the most tolerated by EXP-parties or even yourself?

Please explain why as well. Educate this MP-poor giant. :sweat:

When you dedicate yourself to a mage job you are in fact dedicating yourself to 2 mage jobs. (The main and it's sub)

Sure some people are discriminate against galka mages, beliefs that low mp will either kill them (Whm who don't have enough mp when things get rough) or lower exp chains.

Yet positively absolutely there are high lvl galka mages. I've seen the galka mages in AF galleries. You being at a high level mnk will have it's advantages. With your rank and money you will appear to know what you are doing. Astral rings and mage foods will help.


My suggestions on possible routes :
You can probably solo the first 10 lvl of any or all mages.

Whm- I can imagine you starting as Whm/Smn for a higher mp. Many go with Whm/Blm at 40/20 for conserve mp

Blm - I can imagine this being cool with a erudite+1/astral macro. All Galka Rse has +int which is nice for Blm or Rdm.

Rdm - Many Rdm can melee decently til lvl 30, there will be a point when you miss way to much or do such a low damage that you are only feeding the monsters tp. By then you should be able to wear RSE.

I don't know much about Smn but having many avatars will get nice responses. Also has good mp when used as a sub.

Galka RSE
lvl 27 - Gloves - 6 Def MP+32 INT+2
lvl 29 - Feet - 5 Def MP+12 AGI+3 INT+2
lvl 31 - legs - 12 Def MP + 20 Agi+2 Int+1 Chr+2
lvl 33 - torso - 18 def Mp+32 Int +1 Chr +1

So obviously by lvl 33 you can have +96 mp and int +6 which will help.

[JayblahX]

While I appreciate the replies thus far, I'm not really looking for advice on how to level up, to be reminded that I'm also going to be leveling Mage subjobs and other similar intentionally helpful but unneccessary tidbits.

I'm looking for, simply, a Mage's opnion (since 99% of you are non-Galka) on what they would tolerate in their parties if a Galka had to be one of their Mage slots.

Again;

If you simply had to have a Galka Mage in your party, which Mage job would you as an experienced Mage knowing the nuisances of each Mage job*, hope the Galka Mage was? Which would you rank as most tolerable, most potentially successful?

Thank you.

*How each class uses MP, how much MP is adequate to facilitate chain 4/5s, what roles they perform with this MP, how much time they can sit and regen MP, etc.

P.S. Neighbortaru touched on some of what I was asking, and I appreciate that. Thanks.

[Erasmus]

I have a galkan LS mate who plays all mage jobs except rdm. He kinda got tired of /smn ( being kicked from pts cuz of no fenrir). But he loves whm. He also plays blm to a lesser degree.

People are usualyl impressed with him.

You will probably have the easiest time as a whm. Whm cant pick when they get hate like a blm can. Because of this they are more suitable to using astral rings. As a taru, if used them my mp pool would be HUGE, but my hp tiny, and I would die ALOT because of it. A dead whm cant heal so more people usually die.

Also, as a whm, MND isnt as important as int is to a blm. As a blm you will have to balance +int with +mp. You will need alot of both. As a whm, you can get as much +mp as possible and fill in any slots you cant get mp with mnd.

Smn has a huge mp pool and aut-refresh, so galkan mp isnt really a problem with good gear. You are at a level where you can get fenrir (if you dont already). Also, you have the potential to have all summons at lvl 1, which is a plus.

Rdm: One thing rdms tend to focus on ( regarding mp) is balancing mp and hp to maximize convert. As a taru, my rdm hp is more than my mp. It will be even more pronounced as a galka. Also, I see fewer galka rdm than any other mage.

All in all, you would have an easier time as a galkan whm, because its easier to make up for what you lack, but you can succeed in any of the jobs. No matter which mage job you play, you will probably end up leveling whm to 37, so maybe it would be a good idea to level whm to 37 and see if you like it before the other mage jobs.

[Tifa]

Black mage by far. When I take a high ranking, experienced galka for a black mage, I have an idea of what I'm getting:

Excellent MP management due to low MP from level 1. The three best BLM's I've watched play (I'm a whm) were ALL galka. Not a joke. Not saying there can't be hume or taru with the same skill, but someone who tries this first as a Galka will be more prone to learn good MP management habits early on.


I won't take a galka WHM main. In need of an add, which no doubt usually happens, if only 1 time during an exp session at higher levels (likely more often at lower levels), your entire party is screwed. If this leads to a death, you can count on losing 10 minutes of exping there, maybe more with weakness. With a less than ideal party you will already have a little more downtime than usual, so this certainly wouldn't help.

I really enjoy galka BLM's. Hope you can too.

[Nodoka]

BLM only need INT early on, until 40 or so. You'll see a difference in damage until then, but after that the INT difference will only mean 5-20 more damage.

If I had to pt with a galka mage, I would be comfortable most with them as a WHM. You really dont NEED mnd as a whm, especially if you have a rdm taking care of enf spells. That allows you to focus all your gear on MP items (although I think theres a . As opposed to blm or rdm in which you'll need INT/MND or ele skill+ items etc.

I believe Galka SMN is dooable with enough money to toss at it. The way the job is currently, you really just need Fenrir, a big pool of MP, verm and some staves (+1s are nicer though), and you're set. I dont think SMN really needs any stat other then that.


I've never PTed with a galka mage other then whm, so I really cant say. But usually I've noticed Galka WHMs in similar situations then you usually do better then most Taru I've PTed with (especially in the lower levels). I think the biggest obsticle would be getting to a higher level. I think you'd be safe once you get the +1 staves, verm, serket etc.

I hope this helped.

[Macht]

On my server I've seen 2 mage jobs that have had a large number of Galka do. WHM and RDM I even had seen a RDM Galka and WHM Galka in action. The play style is definatly different then what other RDMs and WHMs would do, also a Galka RDM gets a full recharge on his MP when ever he uses convert.

Doing the sequence of Refresh on self, Convert, then Cure and they do really great at conserving their MP. The biggest challenge or trick I've noticed is that Galka's just have to find other sources to keep their MP up, a common thing I saw with the WHM Galka is he would either buy Ether potions or craft them from supplies he brought to help compensate the lower MP.

Other then that he had little or no reason to hold back on his cures. He was able to make Curaga quite useful in a party battle situation with a backup healer, even if he got hate the larger amount of HP gave time to draw hate off him.

I would imagine the lower levels to be quite difficult once you reach your RSE gear it would probably get easier then.

EDIT:

As far as a job being doable, really any of them are just how much money you have to toss at them to do so changes.

[Tibiam]

I have many Galka BLM Friends, and they arent bad. One Galka on my Server is a 75BLM and he is one of the best.
You could be a Galka BLM, a party will still get you no matter what.
Also I forgot to say. I would say a Galka WHM is prob a better choice then BLM. Only because they have more Mind than INT. Also there are several high lvl Galka WHMs on my server.. A lvl75 actually.
If you want to contact her and you are on Leviathan, the WHM name is Fura, and the BLM is Sheep..

I love Galka Mages, if I were to ake anotehr character I would choose Galka BLM!! :D

[Icemage]

Galka BLM: Definitely doable. Very difficult for the first 40 levels or so without exceptional gear, but also easy to survive with if you accidentally pull aggro. Galka BLM can actually hit pretty hard when using staves! One of my LS mates is a Galka BLM75.

Galka WHM: There are several high level Galka WHM on Midgardsormr. I think the highest I've seen is level 73. MP pool can be an issue here, as WHM have the weakest MP recovery ability of all mages. Be prepared to juice your way past early levels, if necessary.

Galka RDM: I think this is the best option. Still requires good MP management like all other Galka mages, but Convert and Refresh really help you even the odds at level 41. Find every piece of -HP/+MP gear you can lay your hands on once you hit level 40. Nukes may be a bit weak, but its not like RDM nuking power makes or breaks a party.

Galka SMN: No other mage is as dependent on MP pool as Summoners are. I've seen a single Galka SMN at level 64, but that's it. Not sure how well this works, as I've never seen one in action, but while low MND and INT stats probably don't hurt here, lack of MP makes Astral Flow a lot less potent.


Icemage

[Miriamel]

Actually, the convert factor is hindering as Galka... ideally, the best convert ratio would be HP and MP 1:1. That way, you don't lose much of your MP pool when you heal your HP after converting.

A Galka uses about 1/4th-1/3rd of his MP pool to fill his HP back up after converting.

[AtraposBLM]

If I had to have a galkan mage in my party, I'd pick it in this order:
1. WHM
2. BLM
3. RDM
4. SMN

Reasons:
WHM - To be honest, if you really use regens a lot, and use your most mp-efficient cures, you really won't need that much MP. Leveling my sub, I never use that much MP (I usually have a good 200-400 leftover after chains and such). The only problem you'll run into is when you get adds and such...you won't have as much extra MP in reserve. However, to be honest, WHM isn't add control, so that's why I wouldn't mind having a Galkan WHM. Plus, in the early levels where Benediction actually gives hate, Galkan whm's will have a little more leeway in using it. All in all, as long as you're willing to get all the overpriced +mp gear, use juices, and use good food (witch kabobs, mainly), you'll be just as effective if not more so than other whm's.

BLM - You have more INT than an elvaan, and people always say that elvaans make good blms...lol. Anyways, Your RSE gives a ton of +int and +mp that non-galkan's couldn't wear, and you would only be lacking on damage (not resists). If I invited a galkan BLM who didn't have amazing gear though, he would get the boot. Meaning, you can't really skimp on any +int, no matter how outrageous. After lv51 though, the gap will close between Galkan and Taru blm's (never in terms of MP, but in terms of damage, and in terms of MP recovery making up the difference in flat MP) due to the introduction of staves. Make a concerted effort to have all the staves by lv51...they make a BIG difference.

RDM - Most people have been saying that convert/refresh helps with your MP issues. Wrong - it makes it worse. You won't have MP for extra nukes, you won't have a lot of leeway for resists, you won't be able to help with links, you won't be able to back up cure as well as other RDM's. However, since most people just want a rdm for Refresh...well, I guess that works. Personally, I hate rdm's that just refresh and melee. Refresh whoring doesn't require much MP, but the difference between a taru rdm and a galkan rdm is rather large up until ...zenith gear? lol. I've played with a few galkan rdm's, and to be honest, they're a lot better before lv41. For galkan's, convert is like...1/2 as effective as others. Ah well...

SMN - To be honest, I've only partied with 2 different summoners. One was at lv30ish (he only had carbuncle), and one was at 70/71. The one at lv30 was basically a whm that threw in carby's protect/shell every so often. The one at lv70 just used the lv70 abilities and rested. So to be honest...I know people say that SMN is really MP dependant, but I don't see how it's more MP dependant than WHM before lv70, and I don't see how it's more MP dependant than BLM after lv70. Plus, summoners do their job without any basis on stats....so to be honest, a fully pimped galkan would be just as effective as any other race.



If you're willing to go the whole 9 yards with your galkan mage, it really won't matter what job you pick. Your invites might suffer until people get to know you, but once people know you're not just some newb that picked galka because you liked the look, you may actually get *more* invites than non-galkans, just out of sheer respect for what you're doing. Just do your parties a favor - always use HQ food, bring juices, and get great gear. Since it sounds like you were planning on doing that anyways...just pick what you want to play

[Sadeira]

the most important thing about galka is mp. therefore there are several items you can use to buff mp regain.

food that i recommend:

roast mushrooms: they give +3 mnd, +10 mp and +2 mp while healing. the increased mp while healing makes a big difference and one of the reasons why it's such a wonderful food to eat. also they are cheap if you buy them in the right place. on jeuno ah, a stack can sell for 5k-5.6k gil however in kazham, they sell for about 317 gil each, which is around 3800~3900 gil a stack. i usually keep 4 stacks in mog and 1 stack on me so i don't have to keep going back to kazham. this is about the cheapest good item that you can eat. THIS IS FOOD THAT I HIGHLY RECOMMEND EATING.

apple pie +1: for blm, this is wonderful stuff. +4 int, +30 mp, and +2 mp while healing. it does get a bit expensive though and would be a total waste if you are in a bad party. i recommend bringing roast mushrooms along just incase you have some food to eat. this is budget high quality pie going for about 9-11k

melon pie +1: this is pretty much the best of the best pie any blm can eat. +5 int, +30 mp, +2 mp while healing. i usually eat this when i'm exping blm but i also keep melon pies with me just in case i'm in a bad party. this food also tends to get very expensive based on the conquest status of elshimo islands. one week on titan, elshimo island was lost and the price of pie went from 12~13k to 15k ><

also, you should invest in getting your cooking high enough so that you can make melon juice. melon juice is the cheapest juice that can be made. since you can just cruise on over to kazham to get them and water crystals are a dime a dozen (ok, 700 gil, that's a bout a dime right? ). if you're particularly cheap, you can just farm water clusters in pashow.

someone mentioned ethers i think. i recommend that you keep some elixers on you just in case things go sour and you need instant mp.

[DrSerpico]

Throwing my 2 logs on the fire.

My advice would be whm or blm.

Since you probably will use one to sub the other, I'd recommend getting both to 37... By then, you'd had full RSE for a few levels, and gotten a feel for both jobs. If you play smart, you'll have more mp to spare than unskilled taru mages.

Average skill + Galka mage = Bad.
Average skill + Taru mage = Ok.

High Skill + Galka mage = Good.
High Skill + Taru Mage = Excellent.

That's about all there is to it.

I've heard Smn is a bit boring, so I'd steer clear of that one, and to be honest, I as a mithra feel the hurt of convert, so a Galka Rdm will be very painful.

If I had to choose, I'd say Blm, since blm is more about tactical play and mp recovery than mp pool. You'll be a ways behind in nuking power and leeway on links/high chains, but other than that, you'll do fine as a Galka Blm.

For whm, as others before me have pointed out, you'll be hard pressed if shit hits the fabled fan. As a galka blm, Manafont = unlimited mp, so it'll be the most useful 2hr ever in consideration to race limitation ^^

And, if you play both to level 37, you'll have warp and the teleports, which are nice to have now and then. Good luck buddy, and check your PMs! ^^