Galka Mages: What is tolerable?

[Rones]

Low mp pools hurt rdms the most since you won't be getting anywhere near the mp you could with other races from convert. If anything, I would say whm is harder than blm for a galka because whm have less choice on when they rest. If a blm runs out of mp mid fight he just rests up. If the whm runs out, bad things tend to follow. Blm has a lot more freedom as to when they rest and nuke, meaning as a galka you just have shorter nuke runs before resting. For galka mages I place them like this: blm> whm > rdm in how well they can do their job. I've seen way too little of summoners to make a good judgement on them.

[xcalibur2k]

I think a lot of good points already been said. I just want to add one more thing. WHM are really in high demand during the lower levels up to mid levels.

When I was playing an Elvaan WHM, I had no trouble finding pt at all. In fact, a lot of people are really grateful that I joined their pt (not because I am a great WHM, it's just that the job is really needed). Hence, if you decide to go for the Galka WHM route, I have no doubt that you will find pt fast.

[Spork]

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.

I'm in a similar situation right now.

L75 Taru BLM. For my next job i'm going to play Taru MNK.

Taru MNK is right up there with Galka Mages

I'm ready to throw however much money is needed to be good at my new job, and also know and accept that equally equiped, other races will be alittle better then me. But from what I see in your post you know and accept these things also, and like myself you just want to do something totally different and have fun with your 2nd job, so I say go for it!

Rank is going to be your #1 friend. Try to get rank9+. NA will avoid you, most dont realize that skill > gear > race, so with high rank you will find alot more JP invites.

Good luck and have fun!

[Peanut_Midgard]

I have seen and partied with excellent Galka mages for WHM/BLM/RDM. They are all very well. But when asking what I prefer, it would definitely be either BLM or RDM.

WHM like most others have said, shouldn't have problem with MP in a non-link situation. Good WHM should have a good amount of MP reserved even after chain 5. But Galka doesnt' have that luxury.

BLM generally get a lot of rest time even in battle. This is great for Galka. INT is not a problem, and there are a lot MP boosting equip that you can use. This is my personal best choice. Also, it's much less crucial when the BLM runs out of MP. The rest of the party can just keep the mob busy until the BLM can restore MP and finish up the mob.

RDM, it's true that you lose out A LOT during convert, but MP restored is MP restored. You don't need to cure yourself to full. /WHM is fine with divine seal, but I would recommend BLM sub for more MP. Though you won't be able to maintain a refresh cycle AND a haste cycle (even as a taru I have trouble maintaining MP when doing so, and I have 1:1 ratio for convert). The sticky part is that RDM gets very little rest time even between battles. This is a problem with every race, RDM is always low on MP with a demanding party. Tne less efficient convert really hurts in some cases.

I have no experience with Galka SMN, but since they are usually healers, that means no rest time in battle. So I don't think that would work very well.

Not considering Galka bards? They are great

[Malachite]

This topic is starting to get a bit old, but I have some info Jayblah might be interested in, as it comes from experience. The only galka mage I haven't grouped with is black mage. My linkshell leader is a galka red mage and leads one of the most successful HNM LS on our server. I also know and have grouped with a galka that only levels mages(he is 75 smn, 65 blm, 60 whm).

While you will have galka's natural disadvantages, you have the advantage of having a lv75 job in which you can earn money with. Having top of the line equipment will give you a huge advantage and put you on par with all of those with natural benefits. Simply getting 2 astral rings will make a galka's life below 40 so much easier.

Red mage: Biggest downfall here is the convert issue which has been mentioned & discussed a few times here already. One thing to keep in mind is though your MP pool will suffer a bit, you will have the refresh spell to keep that MP pool recharging. As long as your PT isn't relying on you as the main healer, you will be fine. Life as a galka red mages gets easier after 41. Not to mention people will love you simply because you're redmage.

Summoner: This would be a bit tough below 50 but manageable with a bunch of +MP equipment. I have played a taru summoner up to 40 and can keep it so I always have about 150 MP to spare. With that in mind, it gives some leeway to the galka's weak MP pool. If you have a white mage in the group as another healer it'll be quite a bit easier. Starting at 50 glk smn gets much easier. Your MP continues to increase but you will keep using the same spells & abilities. Since you're using the same crap over & over you don't have to worry about the next big upgrade costing more MP than you have to spare. Off the top of my head, the galka summoner i know has 1000 HP & 1000 MP(he has no cursed). Taru summoners with average(non-cursed) equipment have around 800HP and 1300MP.

White mage: I have the least experience with these but do have some. Galka white mage is really rough at lower levels. Astral rings do make it quite a bit easier though. At low levels you might want to stay away from things like goblins & damselflies so you don't have to cast curaga a lot and kill your mp. Once you get a dark staff it gets easier. The main problem with white mage is that if you get into a tight spot you might not have the MP to keep everyone alive, especially if it's something like pushing that last creature in a chain and your group is struggling to keep up.

Black mage: I could make plenty of assumptions based on logic and observation. But since i have 0 experience with a galka black mage I won't say anything incase it's incorrect.

Bard: Even though you aren't interested in this, I will say that if I had the choice I would switch from taru bard to galka bard in a heartbeat.


One advantage people often overlook is that at high levels there is a vast amount of HP to MP conversion items, especially in the cursed armor set. As a taru I am often afraid to equip a full suit because my HP plummets. If I'm fighting something with strong area attacks(Fafnir or Nidhogg as an example), I need to remove my cursed armor because theres a decent chance I could die if he uses area attacks twice in a row. Galka can fearlessly equip all of this HP to MP armor and have the advantage of their boosted MP(which would then be quite respectable) and have their great HP still.

[Icemage]

One advantage people often overlook is that at high levels there is a vast amount of HP to MP conversion items, especially in the cursed armor set. As a taru I am often afraid to equip a full suit because my HP plummets. If I'm fighting something with strong area attacks(Fafnir or Nidhogg as an example), I need to remove my cursed armor because theres a decent chance I could die if he uses area attacks twice in a row. Galka can fearlessly equip all of this HP to MP armor and have the advantage of their boosted MP(which would then be quite respectable) and have their great HP still.

Indeed. Almost all the good mage end-game equipment is +MP -HP, which helps Galka RDM a lot once they get high enough to use it, but it's a long haul to get to 75RDM, when most of that stuff becomes attainable. Not to say that the other mage jobs don't benefit from these traits as well, because they do, but Convert really makes those points count double, and really makes Galka RDM an attractive choice at end-game.


Icemage

[Stryyf]

I played a Galka BLM to lvl 63 before leaving the game.
I did not have a hard time at all. I played mage type jobs in other games and knew well enough about managing my hate and mana. Once you are able to wear RSE you are golden up till about 50. after that you will fall abit short for awhile but astral rings and the +65 MP gloves make things nice. Most people that partied with me were impressed that I did not suck. I still belive that a Galka mage while never having the best int or mana can be a great mage. I agree with others about being Galka Whm.
it was a good bit harder being a whm as i would feel bad that i did not have more mana, and i noticed that the PT would have to run at my pace. But good regen foods seem to help that a small amount.

[Fingolfin]

Being a lvl 75 already has great advantages...
You COULD get all the avatars and be a smn, because smners are more respected when they have all the avatars (just fenrir will do though :spin: )