RDM solo

[Leroy Jenkins]

ok im a new RDM in ffxi. I am now lvl 13 and im trying to find out the best places for me to solo. Ive been trying to part in valcrum but i havnt had good luck with partys in a while and they pfften make me puller wich makes my lvl down...Rite now ive found out that with the empress ring i can lvl up at a slow pace in south gustanberg...but im wondering if there is a btter place to solo.

[Mhurron]

Re: RDM solo

ok, 2 things.

Konschtat Highlands
http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/gen...ead-first.html

[Leroy Jenkins]

Re: RDM solo

lol thnx man ^^

[Icemage]

Re: RDM solo

Good heavens, why are you being asked to be a puller as an RDM at level 13? Tell them you're a mage and you need to rest for MP and to get one of the lazy melees who have nothing better to do in between fights to go pull instead!


Icemage

[Draconi]

Re: RDM solo

I only remember 2 times that I was asked to pull as RDM, and both of them were at the Dunes. Yea, RDM's job is not puller, so tell them NO. You can solo in either LaTheine or Konschtat while waiting for a party invite. All jobs are easily soloable to lvl15, some alot higher. I pretty much solo'd all 18 jobs to lvl15, with only a few exceptions. Stick with EP mobs. You'll get alot more EXP per hour soloing on EP's than on higher level mobs, due to reduced downtime.

[Taskmage]

Re: RDM solo

If there's another mage in the party that's taking a main heal position, I don't see why you couldn't pull. Blind+Para+Slow only takes 2 tics a fight to restore with hMP food or you could just wait til the end of a chain and rest to full. It's less than optimal to have an mp user pulling naturally, but it's not a partybreaker especially at those levels.

Red mage can do anything at the right level in the right party. Advice like "if someone asks you to do x, refuse" is a mistake imo. The jobs are a lot more flexible than the majority of the playerbase seems to want to believe. Not every experiment or unorthodox method will turn out well of course, but the same is true even of "optimal" party setups.

[Mhurron]

Re: RDM solo

Good heavens, why are you being asked to be a puller as an RDM at level 13? Tell them you're a mage and you need to rest for MP and to get one of the lazy melees who have nothing better to do in between fights to go pull instead!
Icemage

While I do of course agree that there are better jobs to use as a puller, most parties don't really know what to do with a RDM before lvl14.

[Taskmage]

Re: RDM solo

most parties don't really know what to do with a RDM before lvl32.

Fixed. Bump to 41 if they're particularly ignorant.

[Mhurron]

Re: RDM solo

Fixed. Bump to 41 if they're particularly ignorant.

At 14 RDM that can focus can heal a party.

[Draconi]

Re: RDM solo

Red mage can do anything at the right level in the right party. Advice like "if someone asks you to do x, refuse" is a mistake imo. The jobs are a lot more flexible than the majority of the playerbase seems to want to believe. Not every experiment or unorthodox method will turn out well of course, but the same is true even of "optimal" party setups.

I'm not saying RDM can't pull.... they're just not the best choice for pulling. In almost every party situation, there is a better choice for puller. ie. almost any melee job would be a better choice. When I said I have only been asked twice to pull as RDM, I forgot about the manaburns I've been in. It is quite common to have a RDM puller/refresher in a manaburn party. But in normal exp parties, RDM is usually not the best option.

I strongly disagree that saying "NO" is a mistake. Sometimes the leader is not experienced, especially in the Dunes, and if you're asked to do something that's just plain wrong, there's nothing wrong with refusing and if needed, finding another party. Would you refuse to tank as a WHM? Obviously, the answer is YES. Well, it's ok to refuse to pull as a RDM too.

[hongman]

Re: RDM solo

Depending on the emchanics of the party, having RDM pull is not always a definate no no.

Given, almost any other melee would normally be a better choice to pull, but at that lvl, its not a bad idea to carry a cheap ranged attack with you anyway.

Would you rather spend 30 mins arguing and disbanding or just get on with it for some exp? At that lvl, if you are not needing to rest continually (as I said, dependant on the party setup), sometimes its just better to come equuipped nd be ready.

[Taskmage]

Re: RDM solo

I'm not saying it's not ok to say no. I'm saying make a blanket decision to never pull as rdm without thinking about it is wrong. You've said yourself that in manaburns rdm is commonly a puller, so "Yea, RDM's job is not puller, so tell them NO" is bad advice. In an experienced party that's built to be easy on your mp, or in a newbie party where nobody has a ranged weapon, it can be acceptable or even preferable to have the rdm pull and still have a functional, worthwhile party.

As with everything in the game, the answer to the question is situational. It should not always be "no."

[Callisto]

Re: RDM solo

Haha, I didn't main heal much as RDM on my way up the ladder, I actually pulled very frequently(especially back in the citadel train days, if the puller messed up more than once I took over since I knew how to not fall in holes and link bats.) Nowadays, at merit level, I still pull pretty much any party that I don't main heal.

Granted now with the Signet bonus I'd be much more inclined to melee during fights and rest mp in between pulls so I'd rather not pull, but there is definitely nothing wrong with pulling, firing off a few spells, resting 2 ticks, and then going for the next pull.

All this stuff makes me want to level RDM again, I need to rope a friend into starting the game so that I can get a sprout cap! There's so much cool lowbie RDM gear that wasn't around back in the day that I want to play with, plus going back through the dunes with fully capped skills and a good chunk of merits would be pretty fun!

[Draconi]

Re: RDM solo

I'm saying make a blanket decision to never pull as rdm without thinking about it is wrong. You've said yourself that in manaburns rdm is commonly a puller, so "Yea, RDM's job is not puller, so tell them NO" is bad advice.

I didn't make a blanket statement to never pull as RDM, and I wasn't saying all RDM should always refuse to pull. I was talking specifically to Leroy, who plainly said he doesn't want to be a puller. If he doesn't want to pull, he should say No, and tell him RDM's need to heal MP between fights, and that there are other people that would be a better choice for pulling. That's not bad advice.

It's one thing to have a RDM pull in manaburns, when he has stoneskin & blink up and does nothing else besides refresh. It's quite another thing to pull at lvl13 when you need to be casting on the mob and heal your MP in between fights.

[Clever Ninja]

Re: RDM solo

I soloed around a whole level(was either 14 to 15 or 13 to 14 can't remember now) in the Highlands as a RDM. Just have full scale armor, a good sword(I had Bee Spatha +1 which OWNS until the 20's, well worth the money) and did just fine fighting DC mobs. Just pull with Paralyze(since its a long cast time), then do Slow -> Blind -> Dia and whack away. I tried to stay away from sheep that were higher than DC- since a Sheep's Song can really mess you up.