Tweet
Re: What & When to Cast Spells....
Then theres the blackmage who bursts too well.. I always get on edge when the little taru next to me gets hit once for half his life, even with stoneskin up...
It seems this is the central issue you deal with as a redmage, what to cast and when. This brings the true elegance of our fast cast and chainspell abilities to the fore. Our flexibility is our greatest asset, and it is rare we perform the same from one party to the next. Each party has its own what and when to cast spells, primarialy dependant on the other mages in the party but also heavily on the tank, support and the mobs you are fighting.
Regular debuffs: Dia or Bio, Paralyze, Slow, Blind - These are typically cast and recast when worn. Dia is used most of the time, if your party is taking a walloping you can always overwrite with Bio. Other jobs can take over for these, as detailed below.
Elemental debuffs: Frost+Drown+Rasp = AGI,STR,DEX down, or Choke+Burn+Shock = VIT,INT,MND down. Frost+Shock, Rasp+Burn and Choke+Drown are also valid combos. You might be casting these if there is no black mage. Frost+Shock is a good combo, AGI down for the melees and MND down for your enfeebles.
Other debuffs: Sleep, Gravity, Bind - These are mainly used for link control. Gravity can be used if your melees are missing often, but it is hard to stick and has a long recast timer. Frost works better for this.
Specific jobs:
PLD - Always first priority refresh, they can't do their job without MP. Their enfeeble is Flash which we don't get, it is a light-based blindness. You can have both effects on a mob, so keep casting Blind for a double-blind! Watch out for silence on the paladin.
NIN - Their power is in their shadows, so Haste on the NIN and Slow on the mob is first priority. If they are silenced, stop everything and cure it (if you can). They use paralyze, blind, slow themselves to gain hate, so you need to co-ordinate on these spells.
WAR - (or other tank) Bio is very useful here, as damage output shouldn't be a problem. Keep them hasted and regen/cure more often than for a pld or nin.
BRD - A bard has many useful abilities, the main duty they take over from us is link control.
BLM - A black mage can cast the elemental enfeebles stronger than us, so encourage them to. They can't blind as well and like to cast bio, so try to discourage them from this.
WHM - White mages can't enfeeble as well - no native ability. Their natural high mind helps with paralyze and slow, but the same applies doubly to you. The good thing about a whm in the party is you can concentrate on enfeebling. Always cure them if they get hate.
SMN - A summoner and a redmage work well together. Summoners are often placed into main healer role, which is crazy seeing that they do this solely from their subjob. You are a natural healer, so let the summoner play backup heal for once, and tell them to DD. You won't be disappointed, as most summoners are expert healers, and itching to DD, and tend to excel at both.
COR = Zero downtime. Evoker's roll can be as much as 3mp/tick additional refresh. I am in awe of COR.
Additional spells for Mobs:
Crabs - Dia, Barwatera, Dispel - Scissor Guard top priority
Crawlers - Dia, Poisona, Dispel - Coccon top priority
Pugils - Bio, Barwatera
Flys - Bio, Barwatera, Poisona
Goblin Melee - Bio, Barfira
Goblin Mages - Dia, Silence, Barfira, Dispel - Protect/Shell/Spikes top priority
Worms - Dia, Barstonra, Silence
Beetles - Dia, Dispel buffs
Dhalmels - Dia, Silena
Undead Melee - Dia, Cursna
Undead Mages -Dia, Silence, Dispel buffs
Mandragora - Bio, Barsleepra
For those times I mentioned a status-cure, the bar-status spell (eg. Barpoisonra) are also useful. When I mention Bio its usually on mobs with nasty tp moves. The general rule is to start with Dia, switch to Bio if your melees are taking too much damage.
This is not set in stone, its just some observations I have made. I think this is the central question a redmage asks in battle.. what to cast next? You get in a rythym, and something always breaks it. It takes adaptability, quick thinking and a cool head to do this well. Personally I /panic too much ^^ gotta keep it cool...
Then theres the blackmage who bursts too well.. I always get on edge when the little taru next to me gets hit once for half his life, even with stoneskin up...
It seems this is the central issue you deal with as a redmage, what to cast and when. This brings the true elegance of our fast cast and chainspell abilities to the fore. Our flexibility is our greatest asset, and it is rare we perform the same from one party to the next. Each party has its own what and when to cast spells, primarialy dependant on the other mages in the party but also heavily on the tank, support and the mobs you are fighting.
Regular debuffs: Dia or Bio, Paralyze, Slow, Blind - These are typically cast and recast when worn. Dia is used most of the time, if your party is taking a walloping you can always overwrite with Bio. Other jobs can take over for these, as detailed below.
Elemental debuffs: Frost+Drown+Rasp = AGI,STR,DEX down, or Choke+Burn+Shock = VIT,INT,MND down. Frost+Shock, Rasp+Burn and Choke+Drown are also valid combos. You might be casting these if there is no black mage. Frost+Shock is a good combo, AGI down for the melees and MND down for your enfeebles.
Other debuffs: Sleep, Gravity, Bind - These are mainly used for link control. Gravity can be used if your melees are missing often, but it is hard to stick and has a long recast timer. Frost works better for this.
Specific jobs:
PLD - Always first priority refresh, they can't do their job without MP. Their enfeeble is Flash which we don't get, it is a light-based blindness. You can have both effects on a mob, so keep casting Blind for a double-blind! Watch out for silence on the paladin.
NIN - Their power is in their shadows, so Haste on the NIN and Slow on the mob is first priority. If they are silenced, stop everything and cure it (if you can). They use paralyze, blind, slow themselves to gain hate, so you need to co-ordinate on these spells.
WAR - (or other tank) Bio is very useful here, as damage output shouldn't be a problem. Keep them hasted and regen/cure more often than for a pld or nin.
BRD - A bard has many useful abilities, the main duty they take over from us is link control.
BLM - A black mage can cast the elemental enfeebles stronger than us, so encourage them to. They can't blind as well and like to cast bio, so try to discourage them from this.
WHM - White mages can't enfeeble as well - no native ability. Their natural high mind helps with paralyze and slow, but the same applies doubly to you. The good thing about a whm in the party is you can concentrate on enfeebling. Always cure them if they get hate.
SMN - A summoner and a redmage work well together. Summoners are often placed into main healer role, which is crazy seeing that they do this solely from their subjob. You are a natural healer, so let the summoner play backup heal for once, and tell them to DD. You won't be disappointed, as most summoners are expert healers, and itching to DD, and tend to excel at both.
COR = Zero downtime. Evoker's roll can be as much as 3mp/tick additional refresh. I am in awe of COR.
Additional spells for Mobs:
Crabs - Dia, Barwatera, Dispel - Scissor Guard top priority
Crawlers - Dia, Poisona, Dispel - Coccon top priority
Pugils - Bio, Barwatera
Flys - Bio, Barwatera, Poisona
Goblin Melee - Bio, Barfira
Goblin Mages - Dia, Silence, Barfira, Dispel - Protect/Shell/Spikes top priority
Worms - Dia, Barstonra, Silence
Beetles - Dia, Dispel buffs
Dhalmels - Dia, Silena
Undead Melee - Dia, Cursna
Undead Mages -Dia, Silence, Dispel buffs
Mandragora - Bio, Barsleepra
For those times I mentioned a status-cure, the bar-status spell (eg. Barpoisonra) are also useful. When I mention Bio its usually on mobs with nasty tp moves. The general rule is to start with Dia, switch to Bio if your melees are taking too much damage.
This is not set in stone, its just some observations I have made. I think this is the central question a redmage asks in battle.. what to cast next? You get in a rythym, and something always breaks it. It takes adaptability, quick thinking and a cool head to do this well. Personally I /panic too much ^^ gotta keep it cool...
Comment