whm/rdm

[Brayden]

greetings,

Ive got a queston for anyone with the above job type. how is subbing a rdm working for you? I played a rdm in beta and enjoyed it, but whm is my job of choice these days. After looking and other sub job options, im starting to consider rdm rather than no sub. pros and cons?

[MessiahX]

heres what i found from other posters in this forum.

You'd be better off going with a WHM/BLM. Trust me. Most of the spells that the RDM has can be used by a BLM or WHM. Plus, almost all of the RDM exclusive spells can only be cast on yourself. Spells like Enthunder won't do you much good because you can't melee. On the other hand if you go WHM/BLM you'll have more MP (second only to SMN sub), and you'll have the advantage of gaining some really good spells that will compliment your WHM nicely.

that was from solid-jamz.

Only advantages to WHM/RDM currently is the ability to parry and 'fast cast'. Fast cast seems to take about 5% off of the spell casting time. The Parry skill will be awful low, but according to my friend who played WHM50/RDM21 in beta, it kicks in once or twice a battle. When the level cap increases to 80 you'll get convert. Convert will most likely be limited in some way when used as a sub (ala meditate and sneak attack). When the cap hits 85 you'll be able to use refresh.

You'll lose a bit of of MP, the skill that randomly reduces mp cost (i don't remember it's NA name), and -aga spells.

this reply was from Mithrael.

[Icemage]

I can give you some insight into this combination if you want to pursue it. I played WHM/RDM in beta (and am playing WHM/RDM now in retail) and it works fairly well. You have to know what you're doing, and where your limitations are, however.

Early on when you sub /RDM for WHM, I actually think it is a superior sub vs. BLM. You get the Parry ability, which will let you breeze past the normally (very ugly) early levels of WHM.

At level 20 WHM, the two subs start diverging. /BLM starts giving significantly more MP, while /RDM gives you the occasional defensive Parry when you draw aggro (and what WHM doesn't draw aggro on a frequent basis?)

At WHM30, you see big payoffs in both subs. For /BLM, Elemental Seal is very powerful, and can be used with pretty much any spell to make it "stick" better (even white magic!). For /RDM, Fast Cast is subtle but very, very powerful. You're spells take effect about 1/4 to 1/2 a second faster than normal, which can mean the difference between life and death in some situations. This is particularly useful in the case of long-casting time spells like Regen, which should be a staple spell by thgis point.

Overall, it IS a slightly weaker sub than /BLM, and I won't argue the point with the cookie cutter purists, but with the correct approach it is equally usable.


Icemage

[Brayden]

thanks for the input you two.