Overview - Character Creation - Sub-job Selection - Vital Spells - Job Equipment - Combat Tactics - Closing

Red Mage is simultaneously the most unique and one of the most difficult classes in Final Fantasy XI.  First off, shed any preconceptions, a Red Mage in FFXI really plays in a manner only vaguely reminiscent of Red Mages in Final Fantasy games of the past. Red Mages in FFXI do well as defensive mages, offensive mages, melee characters, and support characters. We Red Mages have spells to aid our friends, weaken our enemies, heal allies, harm foes, and to make our weapons carry the power of the elements.  If you're looking for a class that challenges you to constantly think about how your diverse abilities are best used at a given instant, a job with play that borrows elements from every other job there is, look no further than the Red Mage.

Some basic terms to know that I will use throughout the guide:
Debuff -- Weakening magic; Spells you cast on an enemy to introduce a negative status effect (ie, Slow will cause an enemy to attack slower)
Buff -- The opposite of a debuff, these spells are cast on allies to make them stronger (ie, Protect will add a certain amount of defense to the ally you cast it on).
Stick -- Any Debuff spell can be resisted by an enemy, in which case the enemy does not recieve the negative effect. 

"Capable of using both white magic and black magic; adept at swordsmanship. However, red mages take far longer to master powerful spells than white or black mages due to their broad range of abilities."

Unlike most classes, where one or two races are head-and-shoulders above the rest, no one race dominates at being a Red Mage, though every race does lend itself to a certain style of play. Rather than cover races generally, I've outlined below the Pros, Cons, and a suggested style for each race.

Humes: Humes are, hands down, the most diverse race.  Just as with the Red Mage job, Humes aren't particularly good at any one thing but are pretty good at everything.  Humes are given a good pool of health and a good pool of mana with slightly above-average stats across the board.  This would suggest that Humes are destined to be the true jacks-of-all-trades.  A Hume Red Mage can do well in any role but does best when allowed to do every role at the same time.
Pros:  Not lacking in any areas
Cons:  Not particularly special in any areas
Strategy:  Hume Red Mages can use any weapon they like.  I'll cover the uses of each weapon type later in the guide. As a Hume Red Mage, your best bet is to follow the general strategy which I will lay out in the Combat Tactics section.

Elvaan: The Elvaan are a more specified race than Humes.  Their strengths lie in the ability to do melee damage and their high Mind (MND) stat, which makes for more effective heal spells.  They suffer, however, from a low Intelligence (INT), which makes their offensive magic (and black-magic debuff) spells far less effective.
Pros:  Better than average melee damage, Better than average heals.
Cons:  Low-damage Offensive Magic, Black-Magic based Debuffs stick less often;  Low MP count
Strategy:  Use a sword.  Your melee abilities will make a Sword the most worthwhile weapon you can use.  Stay away from Offensive magic, as it's really a waste of your time.  Make sure to pick up ALL of the En- spells, as you'll be meleeing more often than the other races.  Keep your casting focused on Enhancing your sword and Curing your tank.

Tarutaru: Tarutaru are definately the mage race.  Taru have an abundance of MP and little HP, as well as excellent INT.  Their MND is tied for last place with the Mithra, but this isn't a particularly big disadvantage.  The tradeoff is a complete lack of decent melee ability.
Pros:  Great MP count; Good Offensive Magic due to high INT
Cons:  Low HP; Low melee damage
Strategy:  Fight with a Dagger if you must melee, but I would advise looking into a Wand for stat bonus purposes.  Begin with debuffs, then cast Cures and Offensive spells liberally.  Stay away from melee as much as you can afford to.

Mithra: Mithra are almost as well balanced as Humes, but their abilities tend more toward dexterity (DEX) and Agility (AGI).  They retain good casting abilities due to an MP pool identical to a Hume's, but they will hit more often in melee combat, although not quite as hard.  Another race with no real weaknesses.
Pros:  Increased melee hit rate, Increased melee evasion
Cons:  Slightly lower melee damage; Slightly lower spell effectiveness
Strategy:  Take a Dagger, and make sure to keep an En- spell up at all times.

Galka: I honestly don't know much about Galka as a Red Mage, so I'll leave this relatively blank... if someone who does know would give me the info, of course I'll credit it to you.
Pros:  High HP allows you to take a few hits
Cons:  Incredibly low MP;  Slightly below avergae INT
Strategy:  Cast your debuffs as normal, but then lay off casting as much as you can.  Don't ever cast offensive magic, you don't have the MP count for it.  Always En- your weapon and melee constantly.  Refrain from Cure spells unless your group is in a really bad situation.

Character Stats: Many people have asked which stats matter most to buff up, what sort of items to pursue, etc.  This section deals with detailing which stats matter the most and which can be ignored.

First, HP.  HP can be largely ignored by Red Mages.  While we do have some offensive melee ability, we should never be the class taking the hits.  As such, your HP is mostly auxiliary and only helps on those rare instances where you might be soloing (farming items for gil, farming low-level enemies for quest items, whatever).

Second, MP.  MP is one of the biggest problems for Red Mages.  We have more spells to cast than other mages do, yet we also have less MP to cast with.  While the level 40 Convert ability and a good sub-job can help with this, MP is still something to be pursued.  If you are choosing status-enhancing items, go for +MP items first.

Strength, or STR, is figured into the mix in determining how much melee damage you do.  If you plan on doing a lot of melee with a sword, STR is a stat you want to have higher.  If you plan on using a dagger or on abstaining from melee, STR is meaningless to you.

Dexterity, or DEX, determines your accuracy.  For any RDM who is going to melee at all, DEX is something worth having improved, especially considering that RDM's have fairly bad accuracy anyway.

Vitality, or VIT, is an absolutely meaningless stat for Red Mages.  It deals with how much melee damage you take in combat, but acting as a melee tank is not among the Red Mage's duties.  Leave this stat to the Warriors and Paladins.

Agility, or AGI, is another meaningless stat for Red Mages.  This deals with how well you evade attacks.  As with VIT, your job is not to take hits.

Intelligence, or INT, is probably the most important stat you have aside from MP.  Intelligence deals with how much damage your offensive black magic spells do, as well as how effective your black magic debuffs are.  A few points difference in this stat will amount to 5-7% difference in spell damage, definately a good thing to have.

Mind, or MND, is, oddly enough, a relatively meaningless stat for Red Mages.  Mind deals with the effectiveness of your White Magic spells.  While this would seem to make for better Cures, it really doesn't.  Cure spells are unique in that they "max out" at a certain point.  Beyond about level 10, say, your Cure I spell will do a 30 HP heal, and a White Mage with full +MND gear will only do about 31 HP.  The differences are very, very small.  Additionally, MND affects the effectiveness of your White Magic debuffs such as Slow.  While this is an important feature, the differences, again, are not particularly pronounced.  Additionally, none of the White Magic debuffs have a variable effect other than duration, and you can always re-cast.  Finally, MND affects how much magic damage you take... but honestly, think for a second -- how often do you have a spell cast on you?  If your answer is "often," then why aren't you casting Silence?

Finally, Charisma, or CHR.  As far as I am aware, this is another absolutely useless stat for Red Mages, as it only pertains to Beast Tamers and Bards.
 

First up, your play style will have a large impact on what sub-job you choose.  This section will detail every possible sub and the abilities they offer.  Note that any numerical comparison used in this section is based on the numbers for a hume.  To adjust the numbers to pertain more to your race, just figure that any boost for a stat your race excels in will be more pronounced, whereas any boost in a stat your race isn't too good with will not be felt as much.

Melee Sub-jobs:
Warrior: The warrior is the generic melee fighter, good on both attack and defense.  Subbing Warrior will really only grant stat bonuses and one useful ability until you hit level 60 Red Mage.  Of the stat bonuses from Warrior, strength is the most important, as it will serve to improve your melee damage.  As far as abilities are concerned, only Berserk is truly useful.  Red Mages should not ever need to tank unless something goes horribly wrong, so Provoke and Defense Bonus aren't particularly useful.  Overall, this job simply isn't that good of a sub for Red compared to other choices.

Monk: About as good a choice as warrior, but for different reasons.  The stat bonuses from Monk are only a little bit different than from Warrior.  You'll have slightly less Strength, but slightly more Dexterity, as well as slightly less intelligence, but slightly more mind.  These differences are trivial, though, as they only amount to 1 or 2 points at level 75 Red Mage.  The abilities from Monk, however, are a bit better than those of WAR.  Monk grants Boost and Focus, both of which are very good abilities.  As far as passive abilities are concerned, you will only get Counter and HP Boost 1 early on, neither of which matter much (remember, you're not supposed to take hits, so Counter isn't much good to you).

Thief: Another good choice, Thief offers quite a few useful abilities.  First off, Thief will net you a good dexterity bonus, which amounts to higher accuracy.  Since Reds suffer on accuracy anyways, this is a good thing.  As for abilities, Gilfinder and Treasure Hunter I are both indispensible for us poor mage-types.  As well, Steal will help quite a bit toward getting enough money to survive.  All three of those abilities are excellent for farming sessions as well, making levelling Thief to at least 15 for a sub a good idea even if you don't plan to use it in parties.  Finally, Trick Attack is an excellent ability that will really help to make your attacks more worthwhile.

Paladin: Horrible, evil, bad, no, make it stop.  Paladin is one of the few classes that truly doesn't help Red Mages much at all.  The only useful thing you'll get from Paladin is a bit of Mind.  The Vitality, Sentinel, and other defensive bonuses are only any good if you're taking hits, which as I've said, you shouldn't be.  True, you will net a very, very small bonus in MP, but come on -- it's 21 MP bonus at level 75.  Additionally, the only spell Paladins get that we don't is Banish, which doesn't hit hard enough to be worthwhile at level 14 Red mage anyways.  Do yourself a favor and take a better sub.

Dark Knight: Heh, most of you know how I feel about this, but I'll try not to be too nasty.  Lets see, first off, Dark Knight really truly doesn't give any better stat bonus than WAR would.  You get some 1 extra point of STR and 1 extra point of INT compared to a Warrior sub, and that's at level 75.  The MP bonus, as with Paladin, is a mere 21 MP at level 75, not enough to matter much.  The abilities, however, are petty decent.  You'll get 2 counts of Attack Bonus by level 60, which is a decent ability for Reds.  More importantly, you'll get Last Resort and, way later on, Souleater.  Both of these will provide a pretty decent increase in your damage output at the expense of Defense and HP respectively, neither of which is too important for Reds.  You'll also get a couple nice spells.  Drain (HP Drain) and Aspir (MP Drain) are forever a good combination, which is a good thing since they're basically the only spells you'll gain from a Dark sub.  All in all, it's significantly better than the other melee subs.

Samurai: I tried to like Samurai as a sub for Red, I really did, but in the end, it just isn't any good.  The stat bonuses you get are less than you get from Warrior.  The only useful passive abilities you get are Store TP, which honestly isn't that important to a Red.  A Red Mage should NEVER count on being part of a skillchain since, simply enough, casting is your first duty.  If your job is to be part of a skillchain, but you've had to cast the whole fight to help keep your tank alive, you won't have the TP you need even with this ability.  For active abilities, you only get defensive abilities which, again, don't matter to Red Mages much.  Meditate is nice and all, but again, you should never count on being part of a chain.

Ninja: A rather interesting job, actually, though it simply isn't that good.  Ninja as a sub doesn't provide more stat boosts than Warrior does, but the abilities are excellent.  Passive ailities include two counts of Dual Weild, a skill that lets you use two weapons at once.  The downside to this is that equipping two weapons doesn't provide you any bonus whatsoever until you get the second count of Dual Weild.  The delay times of the two weapons are added together for your attack, meaning that you don't attack any more rapidly than normal.  With level 2 Dual Weild, you'll hit about 10% faster.  You do, however, get some great Ninjutsu.  The level 15 Ninjutsus lower an enemy's resistance to a certain element.  Using the appropriate ninjutsu before a magic burst will cause your Bursts to do wicked damage.  Overall, though, it's simply not that useful due to expense of ninjutsu tools relative to the effect.

Dragoon: Another interesting choice, though again it falls short.  The stat bonuses, as usual, are roughly identical to a Warrior's bonuses, nothing special.  The only abilities you'll get are two counts of Attack Bonus and Jump / High Jump.  The jump attacks simply aren't all that useful  compared with other possible subs, and the attack bonuses are mimicked by Dark Knight.  Add to the mix that you will not get a Wyvern, which is where half the Dragoon's strength lies.

Melee Subs Overall: For melee subs, there are only four worth considering:  Warrior, Thief, Monk, and Dark Knight.

Mage Sub-jobs:
White Mage -- White Mage will provide a significant Mind bonus as well as good MP (78 MP at level 75).  For abilities, you will get Divine Seal, a second count of Clear Mind, and Auto Regen.  Divine Seal is indispensible in some situations, most notably, after you use Convert.  Converting, using Divine Seal, then Cure III'ing yourself will bring you to a safe level of HP quickly without wasting tons of mana.  Spells you gain are Curaga (group-heal) and status-cure spells.

Black Mage -- IMO, this is the single best sub for Red Mage out there.  You will recieve a better MP boost (97 MP at level 75) and an Intelligence boost.  As with White Mage, you'll get Clear Mind a second time, but you'll also get Conserve MP, a great ability that can reduce the MP cost of spells on occasion.  Elemental Seal is another good ability for Reds, as our attack spells fail all too often.  The two counts of Magic Attack Bonus are great for Reds as well, serving to bring our spells up to a good level of power.  For spells, Black Mage adds a good 6 debuffs to our list (Choke, Burn, Drown, etc), spells that can do damage over time and lower an enemy's attributes.  As well, Black Mage offers both Drain and Aspir.

Summoner -- Another good choice, subbing Summoner will net you INT and MND boosts almost equal to those of Black and White mage.  Additionally, you'll get more MP than even Black Mage can offer.  Your summons will, admittedly, be lacking in power compared to a real Summoner, but you still get useful abilities like Aerial Armor.  The most useful effects of Summoner, however, are the pure Stat and MP boosts.  One of the best abilities you gain, however, is Max MP Boost (2 counts).  On top of those, you also get Auto Refresh, a passive ability that will continually restore your MP.  All in all, a good sub.

Mage Subs Overall: Any of the 3 mage jobs will act as a good sub-job for the Red Mage.

Misc.: There are, you will note, 3 subs I didn't discuss because they are just bad.  Bard as a sub will only allow you to use one song at a time which will be horribly underpowered for your level.  Beastmaster will only allow you to Charm enemies half your level, and where are you going to find something half your level while you're out exp'ing?  Finally, Ranger doesn't net much of a useful stat bonus, but more importantly, you will not be able to use Ranger bows and guns, making the sub absolutely terrible.

As the name of Red Mage implies, your spells are obviously a big part of your life.  Red Mages, rather than focusing all their energies into any one side of magic, have dabbled in every area, granting them offensive, defensive, curative, and status-effecting magic.  I'll go over the best spells of each line within their respective sections.  These sections will simply list what spells you get and what they do, as well as which spells are worth your money and which aren't -- how and when to use these spells will be covered in the Combat Tactics section as mentioned earlier.

Debuff (WHM/BLM) Spells: The most potent spells in your arsenal are not that ones that function like high explosives, but rather the subtle debuffing spells.  Debuffing spells are designed for one purpose: to render your enemy ineffectual, giving you and your party time to have your way with them with little fear of the enemy becoming a threat to your lives.  Every single battle you have should be begun with the full round of debuff spells.  The only drawback to these spells is that enemies will often resist their effects, meaning you must cast the spell again.  Some spells merit being recast, others don't.  See below for the debuff spell list:

LV 1 -- Dia  Lowers enemy Defense by 5% and does 1 light-damage / second
LV 5 -- Poison  Does damage / second based on your Enfeeblement Magic skill and INT
LV 6 -- Paralyze  Occasionally causes enemy melee attack to fail -- will produce "The <enemy> is paralyzed" message when attack fizzles
LV 8 -- Blind  Lowers enemy accuracy
LV 10 -- Bio  Lowers enemy Attack rating by 5% and does darkness damage / second
LV 11 -- Bind  Freezes target enemy in place.  Enemy can still attack and cast spells, but cannot move.  Good for running away from hopeless fights
LV 13 -- Slow  Increases enemy delay between attacks by about 50%.  This is the single best debuff you have 
LV 15 -- Diaga  Same as Dia, but works against multiple enemies
LV 18 -- Silence  Prevents an enemt from being able to cast spells.  The enemy can still use abilities (like Baleful Gaze)
LV 21 -- Gravity  Reducs enemy movement speed by 50-75%
LV 25 -- Sleep  Puts an enemy to sleep.  Sleeping enemies cannot attack, move, or cast, but they will wake up instantly upon taking any damage
LV 31 -- Dia II  Lowers enemy Defense by 10% and does 2 light-damage / second
LV 32 -- Dispel  Removes one beneficial status effect from target enemy (eg, removes Defense Boost from a crab's steelskin)
LV 36 -- Bio II  Lowers enemy Attack rating by 10% and deals darkness damage / second
LV 46 -- Sleep II  Same as Sleep, but provides a greater duration and greater chance to succeed.

Of those spells, every last one is important to buy regardless of your race.  The ones you should never ever be without, however, are (from most to least important) Slow, Paralyze, Dia, Bio, Bind, and Sleep.

Defensive (WHM) Spells: Defensive spells are far fewer between for a Red Mage than Debuffs are, yet they are just as important.  These spells are designed to keep your party alive through HP restoration and damage minimization.  The list is as follows:

LV 3 -- Cure I  Restores a tiny amount of HP
LV 7 -- Protect I  Increases target's Defense by 10 points
LV 14 -- Cure II  Restores a small amount of HP
LV 17 -- Shell I  Increases target's resistance to magical attacks
LV 21 -- Regen  Restores 5 HP / 3 seconds on target.  Length of effect varies with skill and MND
LV 26 -- Cure III  Restores a moderate amount of HP
LV 27 -- Protect II  Increases target's Defense by 25 points
LV 37 -- Shell II  Increases target's resistance to magical attacks
LV 38 -- Raise  Revives a dead player and restores some of the XP they lost
LV 47 -- Protect III  Increases target's Defense by (?) points
LV 48 -- Cure IV  Restores a good portion of HP
LV 57 -- Shell III  Increases target's resistance to magical attacks
LV 67 -- Protect IV  Increases target's Defense by (?) points
LV 73 -- Cure V  Restores way too much HP

Of those spells, Cure spells and Raise are crucial.  Regen is very useful, as is Protect.  Shell isn't worth nearly as much -- why bother with magic resistance when you can Silence the enemy and not worry about magic at all?

Offensive (BLM) Spells: These spells are probably better known as "nukes."  They exist for solely one purpose -- to blow the bejeesus out of stuff.  Their damage is effected by your prowess with the Elemental magic skill as well as your INT.  The tradeoff for these spells, however, is their high mana cost.

LV 4 -- Stone  Deals earth elemental damage to an enemy
LV 9 -- Water  Deals water elemental damage to an enemy
LV 14 -- Aero  Deals wind elemental damage to an enemy
LV 19 -- Fire  Deals fire elemental damage to an enemy
LV 24 -- Blizzard  Deals ice elemental damage to an enemy
LV 29 -- Thunder  Deals lightning elemental damage to an enemy
LV 35 -- Stone II  Deals earth elemental damage to an enemy
LV 40 -- Water II  Deals water elemental damage to an enemy
LV 45 -- Aero II  Deals wind elemental damage to an enemy
LV 50 -- Fire II  Deals fire elemental damage to an enemy
LV 55 -- Blizzard II  Deals ice elemental damage to an enemy
LV 60 -- Thunder II  Deals lightning elemental damage to an enemy
LV 65 -- Stone III  Deals earth elemental damage to an enemy
LV 67 -- Water III  Deals water elemental damage to an enemy
LV 69 -- Aero III  Deals wind elemental damage to an enemy
LV 71 -- Fire III  Deals fire elemental damage to an enemy
LV 73 -- Blizzard III  Deals ice elemental damage to an enemy
LV 75 -- Thunder III  Deals lightning elemental damage to an enemy

The best part about these spells is that I can use copy and paste to make the descriptions really easy.  That aside, you really should have them all.  You may not cast them much, but the extra damage from a magic burst is excellent to have.

Buff (WHM/RDM) Spells: The final class of magic usable by Reds is the buff.  The buff spells are mostly divided into two distinct catergories, En- spells and Bar- spells.  En- spells are exclusive to the Red mage class.  They are used to add elemental damage to your weapon swings.  Bar- spells come in two flavors.  The first is Bar- element.  These spells give you an additional 50 points to elemental resiatance of that type.  This will cause you to take less damage from attack spells of the corresponding type as well as granting you better resistance to negative status effects based on that elemtn type.  The second kind of Bar- spell is Bar- status.  These spells will not prevent you from taking the status effect they name, but rather will cause the duration of the effect to be greatly lessened.  The list is as follows:

LV 5 -- Barstone
LV 7 -- Barsleep
LV 9 -- Barwater
LV 10 -- Barpoison
LV 12 -- Barparalyze
LV 12 -- Aquaveil  Lessens the chance of having your casting interrupted
LV 13 -- Baraero
LV 15 -- Deodorize  Greatly lessens the chance of an enemy detecting you by smell
LV 16 -- Enthunder
LV 17 -- Barfire
LV 18 -- Enstone
LV 18 -- Barblind
LV 20 -- Blaze Spikes  When an enemy hits you, they will take fire elemental damage
LV 20 -- Enaero
LV 20 -- Sneak Greatly lessens the chance of an enemy detecting you by sound
LV 21 -- Barblizzard
LV 22 -- Enblizzard
LV 23 -- Blink  Creates a "shadow image" that will allow you to automatically dodge the next 1-3 attacks you take
LV 23 -- Barsilence
LV 24 -- Enfire
LV 25 -- Invisible  Greatly lessens the chance of an enemy detecting you by sight
LV 25 -- Barthunder
LV 27 -- Enwater
LV 33 -- Phalanx  Adds to both physical and magical damage -- exact effect as yet unknown to me
LV 34 -- Stoneskin  Creates a barrier that will absorb a given amount of damage, then disappear.  Damage absorbed varies with level, Enhancing Magic skill, and MND
LV 39 -- Barvirus
LV 40 -- Ice Spikes  When an enemy hits you, they will take ice elemental damage
LV 43 -- Barpetrify
LV 60 -- Shock Spikes  When an enemy hits you, they will take lightning elemental damage

Of these spells, Sneak / Invisible / Deodorize are invaluable.  They will allow you to complete quests and missions alone that other classes would have to take huge parties of higher level players to complete (you can slip through unnoticed where they would have to fight through).  The En- line is quite important for any RDM who wishes to do any melee'ing, as the En spells help to make up for a Red's lowered damage output.  The only Bar- spells worth getting are Barsleep and Barsilence.  Spikes spells are nice when soloing, but in the main, you should not be taking melee attacks often enough to merit the Spikes spells.  Phalanx and stoneskin are invaluable in certain circumstances, as is Blink.  Casting any one of these three will allow you to Convert (covered in Combat Tactics) or Chainspell without fear of dying.

Red Mages are given a whole ton of equipment selections.  We can wear much of the medium-high rate armor, use many Swords, Daggers, and other weapons, and have use for much of the jewelery out there.  With so many choices, this area will deal with what items to pursue and what items to shun.  Further, Red Mages get the largest spell count of any Mage type.  Being the poor person you probably are, there's no way to buy every last one without spending weeks farming for gil.  This section will deal with what spells you need, what you can hold off on, and what to avoid buying.

Of your character's 16 item slots, a Red Mage should really have at least 14 filled at all times (ranged weapon and ammo are the only exceptions).  Red Mages are also offered the ability to choose between a huge selection of armor, robes, belts, capes, and so forth, all of which can magnify your character's abilities or serve to round out a racial weakness.

Swords: Swords are the highest damaging weapons that Red Mages have ready access to.  They are used to deliver a single hard hit with moderate delay time between attacks.  This class of weapon is best for the Elvaan.  Since Elvaan hit a percentage harder than everyone else, simple math would suggest that starting with a higher base damage will end with a much higher final damage.  The initial progression of swords that work the best for a Red Mage are as follows:

LV 1 -- Bronze Sword
LV 9 -- Spatha
LV 11 -- Bee Spatha
LV 18 -- Longsword
LV 27 -- Gladius
LV 30 -- Centurion's Sword
LV 36 -- Holy Sword
LV 41 -- Fencing Degen
LV 48 -- Crimson Blade

Note that there are plenty of other blades you can use as a Red Mage, but most of the other blades aren't as effective as those listed here regardless of level -- eg, a Brass Xiphos isn't as good as a Bee Spatha, despite the Xiphos being a  LV13 weapon.

Daggers: Daggers are the opposite of swords, in most respects.  In comparison, they do little damage per hit, but hit much faster than a sword will.  These weapons are an excellent option for Red Mages due to your En- spells.  The dagger itself will do little damage, but you will be consistantly hitting for 10-12 points with your weapon enchantment.  Dagger progression is as follows:

LV 1 -- Bronze Dagger
LV 7 -- Beestinger / Blind Dagger
LV 9 -- Brass Dagger (skip this is you have a Beestinger)
LV 12 -- Spark Dagger
LV 18 -- Baselard
LV 20 -- Decurion's Dagger
LV 36 -- Mythril Baselard

If I missed one, let me know.  This was done from memory alone.

Other Weapons: Wands, Hand-to-Hand Weapons, and Staves all have some weapons usable by Red Mages as well.  Other weapons are not often taken for their ability in combat, however.  Wands and Staves are used by Reds only if they have significant stat boosts.  These weapons are used most by Taru Red Mages.  Hand-to-hand weapons can be used similarly to daggers (quick delivery of En- spell damage).  The best enhancing Wands are:

LV 1 -- Maple Wand
LV 9 -- Willow Wand
LV 18 -- Yew Wand
LV 28 -- Eremite's Wand
LV 32 -- Chestnut Wand
LV 48 -- Rose Wand
LV 50 -- Tactician Magician's Wand

Armour: As far as armor is concerned, always try to take the best.  Armor is, however, expendable -- spells, weapons and jewelery are more important to you, as you shouldn't take aggro much at all as a Red mage.  Armor sets to get are:

LV 1 -- Bronze (Harness style)
LV 7 -- Leather (Leather style)
LV 10 -- Scale Mail (Scale style)
LV 17 -- Lizard (Leather Style)
LV 21 -- Beetle (Harness Style)
LV 27 -- Brass Scale (Scale style)
LV 29 - 33 -- RSE Armor.  Check the stats on your race's armor to determine whether it will be helpful, and which pieces will help your playstyle
LV 30 -- Centurion Scale (Scale style)
LV 35 -- Padded (Harness style)
LV 37 -- Iron Scale (Scale style) OR
LV 38 -- Cuir (Leather Style)    Iron Scale and Cuir are identical armor sets seperated by one level -- take whichever parts you can find cheapest
LV 45 -- Carapace (Harness style)
LV 48 -- Steel Scale (Scale style)

Jewelry: Jewelery is among the most useful items you get.  Rings, Hairpins, Earrings, Belts, Capes, and Necklaces can all be used to enhance your MP or most-used stats.  There are too many good pieces to list here, so check your local Auction House.  I recommend always using a Hairpin instead of head armor, taking one -HP +MP Ring and one +INT or MND Ring, and always taking the best mage-oriented belt, cape, and necklace possible.

Probably the most important section in this guide, strategy.  Having a class as good as the Red Mage is meaningless if you don't know how to play it.

Before the Battle: Before battle begins, you only have a few lazy jobs.  Make sure your mana is high enough to provide for the next fight:
Levels 1-10:  You're probably soloing here, so strategy reflects that.  Make sure you have Protect on and make sure you have full mana, simple.

Levels 11-40:  Starting about here you should always be in a party.  As such, the buffing goes to the WHM to take care of.  Your job is to sit down and rest your mana -- you'll probably want between 75 and 100% mana before the enemy gets to you.  When your puller calls that they have an enemy, cast your En- spell of choice.  Cast Regen on your main tank right before the battle begins if you have it, it'll save the WHM some time and agro.

Levels 41+:  Leave buffs to the White.  This is a good time to check your mages and see who has/needs Refresh.  Make sure to keep yourself Refreshed first.  The Whitemage is second, the Blackmage is third, and Paladins are fourth.  Cast your En- spell of choice when your puller says they have an enemy incoming.  Finally, just before the battle, give your main tank Regen.

The First 30 Seconds:
Levels 1-10:  Lead the fight with whatever debuffs you have -- Blind, Dia, Paralyze, and Bio.  After that, save your mana and whack away at the enemy.  Cure yourself when necessary, but try to not get backed against a wall so that you have to cure constantly.  You should be Cure'ing preventatively throughout the whole fight to keep yourself in the yellow/orange HP range.

For higher levels, don't worry about draining your mana during this section, your JOB is to debuff.  Anyone who tells you otherwise should be directed to the dunce cap immediately.  If you are, for some stupid reason, your group's primary healer, you will need to cut down on the debuffs and stick to the big 3: Slow, Blind, and Paralyze.

Levels 10-40:  Your job here is to cast often and fast.  If the enemy you're fighting can cast spells, then lead with Silence.  Otherwise, always, always lead with Slow.  Slow is your best friend.  Slow is God.  Worship Slow.  Love Slow.  Offer to have Slow's children.  Then cast Slow.  If Slow is resisted by the enemy, make a mental note and move on, you'll recast in a moment or two.  The second spell you cast is Blind.  Always, always cast Blind, and you know where this is going.  Third in the sequence, cast Paralyze.  At this time, if your Slow spell was resisted, recast Slow.  If it was resisted a /second/ time, continue on.  Now, cast Dia II (or Dia, if you don't have II yet).  Follow Dia with Gravity (if you have it).  Finally, if Slow was resisted twice, re-cast Slow yet again.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS Re-cast debuffs that are resisted or wear off when you have a free moment, even if there's only 10-15 seconds left in the battle.  This goes doubly for Slow, Blind, and Paralyze -- those spells are the three best spells you have -- here's how I look at it.  You're going to cast each spell at least once, so the first-time mana cost is a write-off.  Say Blind is resisted -- re-casting Blind will cost you 8 MP.  However, throughout the duration of a nice fight, probably 1-3 minutes, I will guarantee that Blind spell causes your enemy to miss at least two times (this number is being extremely conservative) where they would have hit normally.  Now, those two hits will likely do an average of 50-70 damage apiece considering the level range.  Between those hits, your White (or yourself) will have to cast at least one Cure II spell, which costs 24 MP -- three times the MP cost that Blind carries.  Paralyze and especially Slow carry a much greater effect than Blind does -- by casting your debuffs repeatedly until they stick, you're not wasting mana, you're saving a ton of it.

Note that you should not wait to cast a buff immediately after it fails -- most debuffs, Slow and Paralyze especially, carry a re-cast timer with them.  If the spell is resisted, cast other things while you're waiting (other debuffs, attack spells, cure spells, or melee), then re-cast as soon as you have an opportune moment.

Levels 41+:  Again, cast often, cast a lot.  Do all the same debuffing as for levels 10-40, but this time you get to worry about Refresh, too.  Refresh should still be up by this time, but if anyone's goes down, recast it on them.  Help your WHM with some Cure'ing, maybe cast an elemental spell or two.  The bottom line is to throw conservation to the wind -- you have Convert and Refresh, your mana supply is basically 2.5x the base number.

The Second 30 Seconds:
Levels 1-10:  Just sit still and slug it out.  Cure yourself back to the high yellow or white every time your health drops into the orange.  If you wish to cast an elemental spell, try to gauge how much HP it will cost you (using 8 MP for a spell other than Cure is the same as losing 12-25 ish HP) relative to how much HP you need to kill the enemy.

For higher levels, you have two choices.  First is the purist mage route, second is the mage-melee route.  Both styles work well enough that the one you play is based on race and preference alone.  Taru should probably play purist mage, and Elvaan/Galka will probably lean toward mage-melee.

Purist Mage, Levels 11-40:  Stay back with the mages.  Basically, your job is simple enough -- chain cast Cure I on the main tank.  Renew their Regen spell whenever necessary, and watch the log window for debuffs wearing off.  Cast any debuffs necessary as soon as you can.

Purist Mage, Levels 41+:  Same as above, but as usual you have to worry about Refresh.  Keeping all Mages Refreshed is your first priority.  Your second priority is to keep your main damage-dealers Hasted.  Your Haste priority is SAM / DRK / DRG / RNG / NIN first, everyone else second..  After that, use Curative and Elemental spells in support caster roles.

Mage-Melee, Levels 11-40:  If you've not already done so, cast your En- spell of choice and engage the enemy.  Help to Cure the main tank whenever they take a big hit.  Make absolutely damn sure that every one of your Mages has Refresh on at all times (assuming you can cast it), as this is the second reason for your existence.  Supplement your attacks with the occasional offensive spell whenever you get bored, just try not to do too much, too fast -- pulling agro is NOT a good idea.

Mage-Melee, Levels 41+:  As with pure mage, your main job is to Refresh, Regen, and Haste everyone who needs it.  After that, though, refrain from Cure'ing unless you're really needed to save the tank's life.  Instead, Haste yourself and melee, casting the occasional elemental spell for added effect.

Finishing off the Battle: Basically, continue whatever you were doing in the second thirty seconds.  When your group gets ready to do a skillchain, ready your casting macro that will fire your Magic Burst spell.  As well, watch your log window carefully and re-cast any debuff that wears off as quickly as possible.  Keep your mages Refreshed, your tanks Regen'ed, and your damage-dealers Hasted.

Usage of Abilities (Chainspell & Convert): Chainspell and Convert are incredibly powerful abilities, but they're often misused.  This section will outline exactly when to Convert and exactly when to Chainspell, as using them improperly could easily result in your death and dismemberment at the hands of an irate (or opportunistic) enemy.

Chainspell:  The first abilitiy you begin with, Chainspell actually doesn't have much of any use until level 40.  The reasoning behind this is simple -- As with most 2 hour abilities, Chainspell is something you use when in dire straights.  2 Hour abilities are designed to be used at the end of a grueling battle to greatly extend the chances of survival.  If it becomes clear in the early stages of a battle that you can't win, your group should already be running.  As such, 2 Hours aren't generally used until the last stages of a battle.  The problem is, by that late in the battle you should have already used all your mana chain-healing the tank.  Chainspell only allows you to cast instantly, it doesn't allow you to cast without mana.  As such, until you hit level 40, the only use of Chainspell is showing off when you're about to level.  My favorite macro looks like this:
/p He's going nuclear!  Get down!
/ja "Chainspell" <me>
This macro is designed to be used at the very beginning of a fight in which you know you're going to level up -- remember, when you level, you automatically get full HP and MP, so there's absolutely no reason not to waste all your MP in a blaze of elemental glory.  Follow that macro up with as many of your favorite/most powerful elemental magic spells as possible for maximum effect.

Convert:  Undeniably one of the best abilities in the game, Convert will instantly switch your HP and MP.  For example, if you're down to 5 / 500 MP but still have 1000 / 1000 HP you can use Convert, which will instantly give you 500 / 500 MP and 5 / 1000 HP.  This doesn't come without risks, obviously, as you're left with a palty 5 HP, a breath away from death.

Usually in a battle you try to convserve mana to reduce downtime -- cast enough to get the job done without any risk, but don't waste mana on unnecessary casting.  If the battle turns a little south, however, you can decide to really do your part by readjusting your pace to use all your mana by the end of the battle.  You can then basically eliminate downtime for yourself by Convert'ing after the enemy is dead and hitting yourself with a few of your best Cure spell, leaving you with full health and only 100 or so mana below full.

When the Proverbial "Cat" Hits the Fan: If everything goes hideously wrong, however, you'll end up in a situation where both you and your White are out of mana and the enemy still isn't close to death.  At this time, you need to use BOTH abilities.  First step -- use Chainspell.  You need to be able to heal yourself quickly here, since your Hate count will skyrocket momentarily.  As soon as chainspell activates, instantly use Convert to regain your MP.  Now, even if the tank is a hair away from death, CURE YOURSELF FIRST.  That may not seem like a good idea if your tank is going to die, but trust me, it is -- if you Cure the tank and pull agro, you're going to die since you have no HP left from the Convert.  If, however, you Cure yourself first, you will be able to survive a couple hits when you pull agro, which I guarantee you will do unless you have the world's best tank.  After you are at approx. half health, Cure the tank until they're at full.  If you still have mana at this point, Cure yourself one more time, then launch the best attack spell you have at the enemy repeatedly, Cure'ing the tank as necessary.  Remember as well, that since you've Chainspelled, you can do everything described above in a 15 second period.

With that, the first version of this guide is finished.  Feedback is greatly appreciated, as are suggestions on other things to include and sections I skipped. For further information about the Red Mage job head to the Red Mage's Tower forum.

See you in Vana’diel....

Top