Red Mage Guide by Feauce

Introduction
To begin with, I think it's fair to introduce myself. I've been playing for about two years as of this writing, and even before that time, I knew I wanted to be a Red Mage. Some of my favorite characters in previous games had been Red Mages, and the job expresses all the versatility and ability that I was looking for in a main job.

Some of the things that I believe in very strongly in reference to this job and FFXI in general are job excellence, experimentation (within reason), and courtesy. By job excellence, I mean having the best gear and spells (as applicable) to your level, within reason, as best as you are able. I'll get into experimentation later, and courtesy should be self-explanatory.

Race Selection
The races available are Hume, Elvaan, Mithra, Galka, and Tarutaru. Among these, if any were a "best" choice for Red Mage, it would be either Hume or Mithra given their average stats. Elvaan and Tarutaru have their benefits as well, however, I personally believe that Galkas are too melee-oriented in their racial setup to make the best Red Mages. That being said, FFXI is designed so that any race can be any job, so if you want to play a Galka Red Mage, have at and have fun.

Job Abilities & Traits
Now let's get into the basic stuff, your Job Traits and Job Abilities. Job Traits are passive abilities that are always active, Job Abilities are active abilities that you select and use, and have a recast timer before they can be used again. As Red Mages, we don't get too many of either one, and in fact only have two Job Abilities, but don't get too distraught. Those traits and abilities are envied by every mage job in FFXI.

Job Traits
Resist Petrify: We get this ability starting at RDM10, and it continues to improve as we increase in level. Improvements hit at RDM30, RDM50, and RDM70. Like all Resist traits, its effectiveness is debatable. Any time you see "Resist!" at the beginning of your resist line, that's this trait activating.

Magic Attack Bonus: Starting at RDM20 this trait increases our damage output from elemental spells and elemental-type weapon skills by 20%, and this bonus increases to 24% at RDM40.

Magic Defense Bonus:

Clear Mind:

Fast Cast: