[Smurv]

1.0 intro:
hello, well i've decided to start writing a guide. Just a warning, my guide is going to be very biased towards not meleeing and staying in the back lines with the white mage and black mage. If you dont agree with a red mage playing that way then tell me why, because that's honestly how i see a red mage as most beneficial to a party. None of my info will mention swapping in melee gear, or how to do it, if u want to know how to do that read airspirits guide.

I'm aiming this at mid level range red mage, around 50-60 or higher, you can use the info at a lower level but I'm not going to bother breaking down equipment for lower level. You can do that yourself and figure out what weapon swaps etc to use. I am also assuming you are using a black mage sub, and have it fully leveled.

1.1 Equipment

Weapon
-Dark staff
-Light Staff
-Ebony wand +1
-Beestinger(skillup)
-Royal Guard Fleuret(skillup)
Sub
-Balance Buckler
-Astral Shield(this depends on race and current hp/mp balance, if you are taru you will not need astral shield til approx level 65 or 66.
Ammo
-Morion Tathlum (upgrade to phantom tathlum later)
Head
Warlock's Chapeau
Body
-Warlock's Tabard
Hands
-Warlock's Gloves
Legs
-Warlock's Tights
Feet
-Warlock's Sabots
earrings
-2x morion earring, phantom earring, morion earring+1, or phantom earring +1. Depending how rich you are
-Moldavite earring never hurts
Rings
2x eremites +1
2x saintly +1
2x astral, or electrum -- If you are not tarutaru.
Belt
Royal Knights belt
Lifebelt(skillup)
back
Red Cape +1
Neck
Promise Badge

That's pretty much all my equipment for rdm, i use 2x morion earrings right now, upgrading to morion+1 as cash alows. For rings i do not have the 2x astral, since i am tarutaru my hp/mp is already balanced enough as it is.. i'd prefer to have +3 int or mind than have -25hp/+25mp.

1.2 macros
Now I'll be going through all my macros, I literally have 4 pages which in the course of a battle i switch up and down between constantly; 2x alt and 2x control + I have my spell list organised for quick and easy access to every spell I need that I may not have macroed. I'm going to list all my macros here, i use in most of my macros, you can substitute that for , , , if you like.

legend:
yellow = main hotbar
orange = secondary hotbar

Control:
1:
name: Dia2
line1 /equip Ring1 "Saintly Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Saintly Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Dia II"
2:
name: Disp
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Dispel"
3:
name: refr
line1 /recast Refresh
line2 /ma "Refresh"
4:
name: Cur3
line1 /equip Main "Light Staff"
line2 /equip Ring1 "Saintly Ring +1"
line3 /equip Ring2 "Saintly Ring +1"
line4 /ma "Cure III"
5:
name: Cur4
line1 /equip Main "Light Staff"
line2 /equip Ring1 "Saintly Ring +1"
line3 /equip Ring2 "Saintly Ring +1"
line4 /ma "Cure IV"
6:
name: Conv
line1 /equip Main "Light Staff"
line2 /p ((Convert)) After 4 seconds
line3 /wait 4
line4 /ja Convert
line5 /wait 1
line6 /ma "Cure IV"
7:
name: Para
line1 /equip Ring1 "Saintly Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Saintly Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Paralyze"
8:
name: Grav
line1 /recast Gravity
line2 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line4 /ma "Gravity"
9:
name: Slow
line1 /equip Ring1 "Saintly Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Saintly Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Slow"
0:
name: EQ
line1 /equip Main "Ebony Wand +1"
line2 /equip Sub "Balance Buckler"


alt:
1:
name: Prot
line1 /ma "Protect III"
2:
name: Shel
line1 /ma "Shell III"
3:
name: fol
line1 /follow
4:
name: dark
line1 /equip Main "Dark Staff"
5:
name: sneak
line1 /ma "Sneak"
6:
name: invis
line1 /ma "Invisible"
7:
name: deod
line1 /ma "Deodorize"
8:
name: bio2
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Bio II"
9:
name: sleep
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Sleep II"
0:
name: elem
line1 /ja "Elemental Seal"

Control:
1:
name: aer2
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Aero II"
2:
name: wat2
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Water II"
3:
name: thu2
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Thunder II"
4:
name: fir2
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Fire II"
5:
name: bli2
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Blizzard II"
6:
name: aspir
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Aspir"
7:
name: drain
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Drain"
8:
name: fro
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Frost"
9:
name: Rasp
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Rasp"
0:
name: shock
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Shock"


alt
1:
name: aerg
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Aeroga"
2:
name: thung
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Thundaga"
3:
name: Watga
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Waterga"
4:
name: firga
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Firaga"
5:
name: blizga
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Blizzaga"
6:
name: Blind
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Blind"
7:
name: Haste
line1 /equip Ring1 "Saintly Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Saintly Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Haste"
8:
name: Choke
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Choke"
9:
name: Drown
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Drown"
0:
name: Burn
line1 /equip Ring1 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line2 /equip Ring2 "Eremite's Ring +1"
line3 /ma "Burn"

Phew, that took like 30 minutes to type haha. Ok now i'll go through my order of key presses. My main bar is macro set 3, my secondary bar is macro set 2. Now i'm just going to describe what you have setup here, as it stands all of your debuffs are on 7-0 key, either on main or secondary control or alt. The 6 elemental debuffs are on control 8,9,0 & alt 8,9,0. Memorize where you have them placed and memorize what cancels what, and what cannot be cast while whichever is on. For now I'm going to assume you know how elemental debuffs work. if needed i will break it down at a later time, just ask in replies if this is needed

At the start of every fight you're always going to hit ctrl 0 to swap in your shield & wand. Followed by dia, or bio depending what you're fighting then the rest of your debuffs.

1.3: The fight and how to use all those macros

Let's assume your thf, ranger, or whatever is on the way back with a pull, this is how i start every fight. Throw dispel in anytime if i see the mob cast a buff, or if we're fighting say; goblin alchemist i always dispel the alch 2-3 times before i start my routine.

assuming i was resting after a fight and i have darkstaff equipped at the moment this is the order of events. Again throw in dispel if you see an ability cast. Also if one of your debuffs gets resisted then recast that debuff(besides gravity) until it is not resisted; then move on.

yellow = main hotbar
orange = secondary hotbar

-Puller goes to pull
-i switch to macro set 3, my main bar.
-puller anounces to PT he found something and is pulling
-i stand
-Ctrl 0 -- swaps in wand and shield
-select paladin with f-key
-Ctrl 3 -- refreshes paladin
mob gets into range
~~begin debuff cycle~~
-Ctrl 1 or alt 8 -- Dia 2 or Bio 2
-Ctrl 7 -- Paralyze
-Ctrl 8 -- Gravity
-Ctrl 9 -- Slow
-alt 6 -- Blind
~~elemental debuffs~~
i leave this part up to you, depends on your party and what mob you are facing, use your own judgement as to which 2-3 elemental debuffs to use. And if you have a black mage in party let him do this. Also keep an eye on party HP and an eye on monster self buffs, heal and dispel as needed.

Keep an eye on debuffs and reapply as they drop. I'll go through chat filters later in the guide.
~~end Elemental debuffs~~
~~end Debuff cycle
-Select self
-Ctrl 3 -- Refresh self

At this point you settle into just re-applying debuffs as they drop, backup curing, doing haste cycle, and refresh cycle, and if you see the need throw an MB in there. My rule of thumb for refreshing MP is mages get refresh at 75% mp approx, so blms/whms/smns usually around 550-600mp i slap refresh on them. Dark knights get refresh at 25-30% mp, usually around 40 mp total. i get refresh at 85-90% mp, i mean it's me damnit! Paladin gets refresh 100% of the time. Paladins imho are the only ones that lose out on not having refresh on at the very least 95% of the time. I don't really have a refresh "cycle" per se, i use refresh when i see fit, to maximise my MP usage. I start my haste cycle typically with slowest of two DD melees, typically DRK, then i do the other DD. WHM typically hastes PLD.

when the mob you are fighting is around 95% dead, swap in your dark staff by pressing alt 4 and take a seat. Also if you have any time during the battle that you have nothing to do; ie white mage is covering cures, all debuffs are on mob and everyone is either refreshed or above their refresh limit, then swap in your dark staff and take a seat and try to get a tick of rest. Also do not forget that if you do use a cure macro you're going to have to swap your weapon/shield back in by pressing ctrl 0

Another spell that is your friend is aspir, use it, and use it alot when fighting mobs you can leech mp off of. This is one of the best spells you can have imho, 40 mp may not seem like much but that's the equivelent of 1 tick of resting! Keep your dark magic capped and you will see higher returns from aspir more often.

When you hit approximately 70-90mp it's time to convert. I typically back as far as possible away from the mob and hit ctrl 6. With this macro cure 4 finishes casting before convert graphic is even gone. I also inform the whm not to cure me, and let paladin cure3 me for extra hate, if/when forced to convert during battle. I then use drain to get the rest of my HP back, good way to keep dark magic high

1.4 Filters are your friend

I said earlier i'd tell you how to use filters, well i guess now we're at that part. Filters have made my life so much easier, once i figured them out haha. I have damage done by and to all others outside of my group filtered off. I dont care if another group is dying, as long as mine isn't . I really wish there was a way to filter the yellow text of other players using abilities, but alas Square has to make life difficult. I also have damage done by my party to others, and all actions etc done by my party to others filtered off. I dont care that my drk hit for a 1k guilotene, or wtf ever. It cloggs up my chat screen and makes me miss dispels,debuffs, and is just rather annoying having so much junk spamming by.

By just doing this you limit pretty much all your spam to; /p talk, LS talk, /say & /shout talk, damage done TO your party, Yellow text of your party/other people/and mobs using abilities, and debuffs/buffs wearing off.

-/p talk is blue for me, default
-/ls talk is green to me, default
-/say & /shout i have as a light grey, and dark grey respectively
-damage done TO party is light grey
-debuffs/buffs wearing off is white, default

This way the only stuff that is white on my screen is when a debuff goes on a monster, comes off a monster.. or a buff goes on a person, or comes off of a person. It makes it easier to see when something drops.

I organize my spells so that top 4 of spell list are my 4 cures, followed by stoneskin,phalanx and all my en-spells. Below the enspells are all of my spike spells. At the bottom of my spell list i have warp & escape

1.5 Food

I decided to bring this up, because i've noticed alot of mages, not just rdm, using cheap food. And it bothers me, there's no reason why a lvl 60 white mage should be using apple pies. Or a 60 red mage, or a 60 blm. By this level people should be using +1 foods. They are barely more expensive than regular food and have betters stats. Your main choices for food for a rdm should be:

1) Melon pie +1 (MP: 30 INT: 5 MP Regeneration While Healing: 2) 60 min
2) Melon pie (MP: 25 AGI: -1 INT: 4) 30 min
3) Pumpkin pie (MP: 40 AGI: -1 INT: 3 CHR: -2 ) 30 min
4) Pumpkin pie +1 (MP: 45 INT: 4 CHR: -1 MP Regeneration While Healing: 1) 60 min

Now i used to 100% use pumpkin pie, i was poorer then and also an MP nut instead of a int/mind nut. I liked the +40 mp. Since then i've changed my mind about food and i use it for + stats. And in my honest opinion Melon pie +1 is THE best food for red mages, and black mages. White mages i'm not too sure.

On my server melon +1 typically go for 16k a stack, pumpkin regular was going for approx 6.5k a stack. Melon +1 lasts and hour, pumpkin 30 mins. So if you compare the cost of 2 stacks of pumpkin to 1 stack of melon, it's only 2k more than what i was paying before.

I looked through all the foods and Melon pie +1 is what i chose, i like the +5 int, and the +2 mp regen while sitting. I threw in the other pies above just to compare the stats. Those are the 4 pies i considered and i ended up choosing mp +1.


1.6 Conclusion
Well it's 06:00 am right now my time, i just spent 2 and a half hours writing this haha.. i'll add more to it at a later time probably. Any feedback is welcome, flames and all. Think i'm dumb? tell me why, and use actual reasons not just "OMGGG YOUR SOOO LAZZYYY YOU CANN"T MELEE AND CAST AT THE SAME TIMEZ OMGOGOZORZ U SUK". cuz i'll promptly get you rated down and out of the thread.

If there is anything you need clarified please respond and let me know and i'll do my best to update the information to answer your questions.

Thanks for your time And remember; Guides are just guides not meant to be a bible on how to play any particular class. Because there is no perfect way to play. It's just something to guide you in the right direction of playing.

[Rezer]

Little off topic, but I have the yellow text from other's abilities turned off I believe...so it's possible, but I don't remember which it is ><

PS: I'm praying some of the newbies actually read this and realize they're not a blm/whm/war all at once in one party and stop sucking so damn bad...I swear lately I have to invite 3 rdms to even match a single whm, when one should do well enough. Of course, that's but a dream...sigh.

Edit: Just checked, the filter is "Special actions initiated by others." Unfortunately this also filters out the yellow text from mobs you're fighting as well, so you have to watch for the sparklies from special moves instead of looking for the mob readying it.

[Smurv]

exactly my point, i can't afford to turn off seing mobs using an ability.

[Shiia]

Some add in gear:

Boots: Ogre Ledelsens (lvl 70 better than AF in stat)
Hands: For non Taru RSE2 (costy but very worth it)
Waist: JSE belt at 50 and one in 70
Rings: +3INT MND ring somewhere at 60s. or was it 50s... the +1 one give +4
Weapon: Mystic wand or +1 (65 I believe)
Neck: Enfeeble torque (at 65) Spider torque (at 64)

And of course at 72: Erant gear. Legs, boots and gloves are the only parts you would be wearing though... Body when healing for MP.

If your default gear is Stat based (not boosting MP) then when converting:

(my case)
/equip head Gold hairpin
/equip Legs Custom pants
/equip R.ring Astral ring
/equip L.ring Astral ring
/ja convert
/ma CureIV

Then switch back to your usual gear. Purpose? Your Swapped mp gear will cover the CureIV cost via switched MP gear, so this means that when you are swapping to normal gear your MP will be full.

I bet as a tarutaru doesn't need this but as a hume CureIV mp cost is pretty steep.

[Angelas]

ouch...thats a lot of switching out...
I do minimal switching of gear since I am Elvaan pretty much stick with INT boosting gear since my mnd is already crazy high...

I find that I only need an ice staff for bursting and dark staff for kneeling...

I use my RSE gloves in pt play since I lack so many mp...

basically all I focus on is INT and Elemental boosting items....

I dont even look for mnd items other than my promise badge ^^

Ang

[Munchkin]

pro guide smurv, i will follow it well as i continue to lvl up my rdm

[Smurv]

updated and fixed a few spelling errors

[YnNeB]

For macro like refresh, i think it's better to use the

/echo Refresh (to show you will use it to yourself)
/recast Refresh (to be sure you can use it)
/ma Refresh

and use F1~F6 to select target~


For all debuff, i will use (battle target)

/echo Casting spell. Paralyze
/ma Paralyze

Like that i can target an other monster if needed, like when you need to hold sleep on an other monster, you can still use debuff / Dispel on the battle target.

I like /echo because if you are lagging, and the spell dont start when you hit the macro, you dont have to press again because if you see the echo you are sure the spell will be cast.

edit: i forgot, good job smurv^^


edit 2: oups sry, just realized that you use too ^^;

[Smurv]

using causes extra key presses. You have to press enter after selecting. I simply just press my f-key to select person in group then press my spell macro, voila it casts. Alot more efficient imho. is more for if you're meleeing, which i don't do.

[Rezer]

Well, another bonus to is you can put a /recast before it, and see about how long you should wait before pressing enter...but I guess by the time you're in the 60s you've got how long 15 seconds takes pretty much down...there being a recast at all is slowly driving me insane, bleh.

[YnNeB]

I dont melee though^^;; rdm who melee sucks

And yes Rezer that's why i use , and again, when you have to target an other monster to sleep / bind it, you cant select a player or you will have to tab till you target the monster again, but with you dont have any problem to always target the same monster.

[Shaminka]

This is the age old argument does the RDM have to melee or not... I myself dispite those RDMs that stand back and nuke all day i think RDMs are Buffers and DEbuffers i buff my party up and debuff the mob Nuke when i have to MB heal when i have to. anything else is a bonus "but you have refresh use more MP" i use around 200 - 300 mp per battle in my static any other pt depends on how they work things out just because you have the MP and just because you have convert to back you up doest mean you cant use it all in one fight. If summoners tought like that... lol well.. you kno what i mean

The whole point is you melee a lil and dont make it your main priority i still en(elemental) and haste myself at times ived slowed down the higher i go since i have to conserve MP since at high lvs you dont know what can happen... an add can mean death to everyone really fast.
Or at most times just sleep them ^^'
Those 10-20 dmg you do helps no its not big dmg but its helping but if your against AOE casting mobs i recomend standing back your doint nothing more then just having the WHM spend MP on your healing you. Anythign else that doesnt AOE you should at least melee with your stalve if you have to ^^v

[Evelyn]

Yes I melee, but I'm a mithra so I can afford do and still have decent accuracy. With a taru, I can see why you wouldn't. Elvaan melee acc is down the tubes. but I can still do an effective amount of damage in a party to warrant meleeing.

I:n terms of macros, I don't macro /follow or sneak/invis/deodor. I also only have two macros for nukes: one is my best one (Blizzard II right now) and one is my best for the MB. No -aga spells on my party macro. Also don't have any macros just to switch out equipment, I do that with my spell macros. And all my self-spells are macroed in a different set that I use for soloing (best cure, stoneskin, phalanx, spikes, en-spell, etc). I only main-cure in emergencies, so I only have Cure IV on my main macro set, but I have cure III on my solo one. Also I usually don't bother with Blind if theres a PLD in the party, I leave Flash to him

[Aidan]

Post 40 our spell list is just so freakin' huge that you take to much time scrolling through it if you don't use macros, at least that's what I think. I sat down and macroed just about every spell I have ^^.

Also, this is to mainly low level casters in general... I realized a long time ago that you don't need cute messages to the party in every single spell macro. No matter how clever it is or how funny... it gets old after about the 20th time you've hit it. The only macros I have that have messages now are my convert macro (so the WHM doesn't have a heart attack) and my weaponskill macros (which don't get used that often in a party).

[motoh]

Aidan :
The only macros I have that have messages now are my convert macro (so the WHM doesn't have a heart attack)

Which I still do.

Interesting mashamacro trick...

/ma "Spell1"
/wait 1
/ma "Spell2"

Keep mashing it, and it cycles between the two.

o.o

[YnNeB]

Evelyn :
Yes I melee, but I'm a mithra so I can afford do and still have decent accuracy. With a taru, I can see why you wouldn't. Elvaan melee acc is down the tubes. but I can still do an effective amount of damage in a party to warrant meleeing.

So what ? you do 1-2 dmg every 15 hit ? and you give more tp to the monster~ Good job!

[motoh]

Thanks for the sarcasm. Apparently you need to update your weapon, your attitude, and your post quality.

On topic, how much use do you guys get out of Aspir?

[yamaroo]

you know, smurv, I'd really like to meet you someday. I'm in fairy too but I've never seen you. I've seen munchkin around before (nice to meet you!). I am currently taking a break from levelin while my BF catches up to my level....just crafting and fishin right now to make money. ^^ I'll definently send you a tell if i see you Smurv!

[jebe]

Hahah Smurv can only play weekends. During the week if he's in game he's fish-bottin' :-X

[YnNeB]

motoh :
Thanks for the sarcasm. Apparently you need to update your weapon, your attitude, and your post quality.

lol... from someone who play without a sub, i will take that like a compliment.


Even with capped weapon skill, without +acc/dex equipement, you will miss most of the time when you fight IT++. As rdm, you have no str, even if you hit, even if you have the last sword for your level, you will not do dmg or very very little. Why ? because a red mage is a MAGE, he doenst wear +str/atck +dex/acc gear. So all you will do by meleeing, gives more tp to the monster.