RDM in promivion

[ikkleste]

okay, i'm talking about prommy dem, mea and holla here.

i've finally bullied my linkshell in to getting these done. But currently my only 30+ job is RDM. Now i've heard people say RDM sucks for prommies. But generally these are the same people who say you need a SMN for them too.

Now i appreciate that we may not be the best promivion players, but i refuse to belive that we are useless. We don't seem to bring much to the table that others can't do better at this level. WHM heals better. BLM nukes better. A melee will melee better...

So what do we bring to the table? How can i make myself most useful to the run? What gear should i invest in? SHould i be thinking shade gear and to melee (i'm not one who melee's much outside of solo generally, but it could be interesting to try)? or should i focus on my usual debuff/backup healer/magic burst role.

[Raydeus]

Re: RDM in promivion

Suport, at that level you are backup everything, before Convert and Refresh RDM is an all around support/melee.

Your first priority is Enfeebling the mob, then back up heal, then melee/MB. At that level you can do it all. You are there to make sure the party runs smoothly. And bring lots of Yagudo drinks and pies and +acc/+att food. You'll use em acording to the situation.

[Mhurron]

Re: RDM in promivion

Whip out your sword, be prepared to back up heal, have Yag drinks and you'll be fine. Don't worry too much about nuking, even a BLM can't make nukes stick that well on those bosses. What a RDM in Promyvion means is that in one party slot you have extra healing and casting and melee damage. We might not be the best at any of them, but no other job can do all three at the same time. Yes you will be also casting your enfeebs, but the backup healing will be a little more important then it is in most exp parties and will probably cast Bind a lot more then usual. It doesn't stick for long but for one or two seconds its usually enough for the tank to get control again. I had (have) shade gear, but its main benefit was anima farming before hand (you are going to right?). If you're not often meleeing you might need to make sure your sword skill is within a few levels of the cap at 30 (89).

And ignore people that say X job is bad for Y, you're going in as a party not a single job.

My Holla win was BLM, RDMx2, PLD, WHM, and some other melee job. Since everyone is poisoned for that, the extra healing goes a long way.

[Icemage]

Re: RDM in promivion

RDM isn't as useful in Promyvion than other jobs for a few reasons.

RDM doesn't really come into its prime until level 40+ with Convert and 41 with Refresh. WHMs have almost identical levels of enfeebling skill at level 30, and have the ability to cast various bar-spells, have access to Divine Seal, can cast Stoneskin, have more MP recovery in terms of Clear Mind traits and the all-important Raise spell.

You can still contribute as a RDM, but just be aware that RDM in Promyvion is, strictly speaking, weaker on every front than a WHM (edit: aside from melee, where RDMs are actually fairly competent at that level).

The only natural advantage RDMs give in Promyvion is Gravity, which can be useful for kiting certain enemies (particularly combined with a /BLM subjob for elemental seal). This advantage is dependent on the composition and strategy of your party, as well as the enemies you'll be facing (Gravity is useless against the end boss of Promyvion-Dem, for instance).

This is actually one of those rare occasions where I think RDM/NIN is actually pretty good. Fast Cast plus Bind, Gravity, and Utsusemi with the ability to Cure and Regen makes for a pretty strong kiter.


Icemage

[Aeni]

Re: RDM in promivion

Well, since you need to level up both WHM and BLM as your RDM progresses in level, you can also just raise those two subjobs to 30 and just not have to worry about it too much. Yes, it seems just a cop out, but what I found out the hard way is COP is infinitely easier if everyone have at least two jobs at the appropriate levels so that it's easier to form parties and a strat to go with it. It's a good practice for end game, where anything goes.

[Murphie]

Re: RDM in promivion

While a RDM isn't ideal, it's not completely useless for Promys. You won't have Raise, so that might make some folks nervous, but otherwise you'd be a competent backup healer/debuffer. You could try for some nuking damage, but I don't know that you'd do enough of that for it to be worthwhile.

[Taskmage]

Re: RDM in promivion

Stab things, debuff things, cure when needed. Sub ninja if you have it and pretend you're a ninja with Cure II instead of Provoke. As you said, you won't hit as hard as a war or heal as well as a whm if things get scary, but you can do both better than half as well as either, so if you look at it that way, you're better.

[arkaine23]

Re: RDM in promivion

Keep at it! CoP is not an expansion for the weak. I toured through the 3 promies in somewhere around 6 attempts. I went as mnk, rdm, and war. The above posters have covered the general playstyle tips well. You'll probably do far better gearing and eating for melee, with swaps to enfeeble and using the bulk of your mp for backup curing.

These fights are not easy. Read the guides. Come prepared with expendible meds, mp drinks, etc. Farm for anima and get your order and strategy worked out before the boss. Make sure the people (or at the least the white mage) have reraise for the trip to the top.

CoP doesn't get any easier as you go along. It's very helpful to form a static at about the point you're at, preferably full of people with multiple jobs leveled. Though CoP statics tend to mix and match, break and reform. If you're LS is pushing CoP, ride it as much as you can. it's well worth the effort to finish the storyline.

Level 30 can be obtained pretty quickly. If you're having trouble getting these promies done, try leveling subjobs for red mage and using some of them if needed. RNG and SMN are in high demand for promies, but WHM, BLM, NIN, & WAR would all be worth the effort to get to level 30 or 37. These are by far the most common subjobs for any main (well blm is only subbed by red mages, but the others are subbed by everyone else). By the time you're ready to finish CoP, you'll have to have a job @ 75. Red Mage is a good one to take you all the way through. I can't think of any fight after the 3 promies where we are not desirable.

[Jei]

Re: RDM in promivion

I wouldn't want a Rdm if I go to the 3 prommies. Seriously, I took tons jobs up to 30 just for this. And no I didn't stop at 30, I took even more jobs to 60s so I can be flexible in later CoP missions. Early missions, I've used Rng, Nin, War, Smn, Whm primarily. Not until after cap 60s that I started I use Rdm. Rdm generally is not very helpful before that but will become very helpful later on.

In the first 3 prominions, most useful things you can do as Rdm are paralyze and slow the boss. Which Whm generally has no problem landing theirs here. Other stuff like cure regen poisona nuke melee tank kite, other jobs can do it too but better than you.

You offer nothing unique here.

[Dryhus]

Re: RDM in promivion

Back when my RDM was a shade over 40 I heard that RDMs sucked in Promys, so I thought I'd expand on my versitility. Now I have RDM, BLM, RNG, and MNK over 30 for Promys. Unfortunately, I've still only completed Promyvion-Holla.

The moral of the story is to consider making yourself more versitile by leveling more desired jobs (read: WHM, as it's useful in the 30-cap Promys and as a RDM sub) but don't stop trying to find a group that will take you through them as a RDM, because completing them is more important than completing them as a RNG or SMN.

[Patchinko]

Re: RDM in promivion

Since your BLM is apparently level 24, and it's a more useful job in the level 30 Promyvion's, I would advise you to level it up to 30 and use it instead. Besides, if you plan on levelling RDM further, you'll need to get it to higher levels!

[Stromgarde]

Re: RDM in promivion

RDM isn't useless in Promyvion per se, it's just that any viable sub that you'll have at endgame will be a lot more effective- WHM is the only one with Raise, SMN has Astral Flow and the ability to freely damage the Memory Receptacles, and Black Mage rounds out the three despite suffering from a cripplingly low mp pool on some races as well as resist problems for all races.

[Aeni]

Re: RDM in promivion

I wouldn't want a Rdm if I go to the 3 prommies. Seriously, I took tons jobs up to 30 just for this. And no I didn't stop at 30, I took even more jobs to 60s so I can be flexible in later CoP missions. Early missions, I've used Rng, Nin, War, Smn, Whm primarily. Not until after cap 60s that I started I use Rdm. Rdm generally is not very helpful before that but will become very helpful later on

I agree, but I kinda of wanted to not be so firm about this point, because you can go as RDM if you really want, just that I think it's easier to just finish leveling up subjobs and use them instead.

I plan to level BLM and WHM to 40, just so that I can have other options (BCs) and not just because of COP. I think RDM is okay for 50cap and beyond (COP) so it's not an issue. The sticky area is the 30 cap and even 40 cap (Because you don't have refresh and not sure how often Dispel is used) Thus, having a WHM or BLM leveled (You need to level it anyway to have it leveled appropriately as a subjob for a higher level RDM) will help tons. I also plan to level NIN, DRK, etc. for RDM anyway, so having a lot of jobs across the board to choose from can make life infinitely easier. Especially when you see a shout for COP and see that 4/6 looking for two members and see a job that's not your current main. If you had other jobs leveled too, you'd be a shoe in for that slot...

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: RDM in promivion

Although I've never asked anyone to use RDM for Promyvion runs, after like ~20 runs of them (I organized these things for my current and previous LS), I don't see any reason to say "no" to RDM.

If that's the only Lv.30+ job one has, and good at it, it's fine--depending on what other people can bring, of course.

I'd take a good RDM over a bad SMN for any Promyvion.

[ikkleste]

Re: RDM in promivion

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I am trying to take up other jobs i have BLM to 24, DRG to 23, but am currently working on on WAR and WHM as subjobs to those. In anycase it looks like the first run will be this weekend so the chance of me leveling up BLM to 30 before then is slim, especially as i'm no levelling fiend. After 17 months my highest job is 42 and next highest is 24....(I'm also currently trying to help my girlfriend move house, and, well, it is world cup season )

In any case my LS seems happy to take me as RDM, so finding a group for the time being shouldn't be a problem. But yes i take on board the point that i'll need other jobs anyway. I am already working on that, but at my own pace. I know COP is a long journey, and i'll likely need another job or two leveled to make it through. I'll probably keep at the three prommies for a while even after completeing them depending on what the others in the linkshell are doing, before i move on to the 40 cap stuff. I'll be improving my versatility as i go. But for at least the first couple of runs i'll be RDM.

I'm looking for tactics and what roles i should be filling here, and the first posts in the thread have pretty much answered those queries well. I'll go in with my normal debuff/backup heal gear but will probably take melee gear too.

Another question. If i'm going to be meleeing significantly would it be worth changing my sub? As i'm not nuking, BLM doesn't seem the most useful sub. WHM or WAR would be my other options. and i'd guess whether i'm mainly healing or meleeing would dictate which to use. So party set up will dictate a lot. NIN isn't an option yet.