Red Mage

Job Overview
Red Mages are called the Jack of All Trades by many, and this is an accurate description. Red Mages have the ability to cast white magic, black magic, and fight with swords and daggers. Though their healing, nuking, and fighting skills aren't as good as those of the specialists, White Mages, Black Mages, Paladins, and Thieves, they are still competent. Their real strengths lie in their enhancing and enfeebling skills when within a party, and leveraging their many "trades" against their enemies when outside of one.

Strengths

 * Ability to use both White Magic and Black Magic as well as melee weaponry at user's discretion.
 * Most powerful user of Enfeebling and Enhancing Magic in the game.
 * One of two jobs with the ability to Dispel enemy buffs, making Red Mage an essential part of nearly every party.
 * The spell Phalanx, when used in conjunction with a Red Mage's repertoire of Enhancing and Enfeebling magic spells, allows him or her to solo a great deal of enemies, making this job one of the game's most effective soloing choices in the game&mdash;known to be able to take enemies checked as Tough, even at the highest levels.
 * The only job that can use "enspells," magic that temporarily adds an elemental effect to your weapon. For example, Enthunder will add additional Lightning damage to your melee attacks every time you successfully hit an enemy. Red Mage Weapons at higher levels can take full advantage of this damage (Buzzard Tuck, Enhancing Sword)
 * The only job to learn the Job Trait Fast Cast. When coupled with the Fast Cast-enhancing effect of the Artifact Head pieces Warlock's Chapeau or Warlock's Chapeau +1, this can place the Red Mage at a distinct advantage over other mages in terms of pure casting time.
 * The only job that can learn the spell Refresh, which recharges MP just like Regen recharges HP, This makes the Red Mage a support powerhouse.
 * At Level 75, Ninja subjob can make a Red Mage one of the most effective tanks and kiters in the game, as well. Both Utsusemi Ninjutsu, combined with Stoneskin and Phalanx, can create a mage that is effectively "unkillable" if properly used.
 * Red Mages who sub Dark Knight at Level 75 are capable of using the Black Magic Stun. When coupled with Chainspell, this creates a way to repeatedly stun enemies capable of fast ability use, creating enough of a delay to ensure victory. Currently, a "Chainstun" strategy is one of the only known effective ways to defeat certain types of high-level boss enemies (Suzaku, Dynamis Lord), placing the Red Mage in an enviable position at endgame.

Weaknesses

 * Magic and Melee abilities fall short of more specialized jobs.
 * Generally becomes more of a support/healing mage in higher-level EXP parties, due to the addition of Refresh and Haste.
 * A Red Mage's ability to Refresh is often demanded from any job that has MP. This can lead to tension in a party with many magic users, due to the impractical nature of keeping Refresh active on so many people. For example: a party consisting of a Paladin tank, with two damage-dealing Dark Knights and two other mages (not including the Red Mage him- or herself). This tension can only be managed with cooperation from said magic users, which can be aggravating at times to recieve; the addition of Haste, and requests for its use as well, only exacerbates the problem. Many Red Mages use ordering sequences to ensure that the entire party is on the same page.
 * Before Level 40 (when the ability to Convert is gained), Red Mages are placed at a distinct disadvantage when recovering MP while healing in proportion to other mage jobs (who gain higher levels of Clear Mind earlier on, or have other traits like Auto Refresh to help them). This can force Red Mages into alternate ways of recovering MP. through Juices or Cookies or other such means.

Abilities
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Job Abilities

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Job Traits

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Spell List
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Magic Skill Ratings

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Information
As you can see from the charts on the left, a Red Mage's fighting proficiencies are mediocre at best. Even so, making full use of both Swords and Daggers will be beneficial to the Red Mage as well as his party in most situations. As for the Red Mage's magic abilities, Enfeebling Magic is without a doubt the Red Mage's forte. In a party, it is usually the Red Mage's responsibility to cast spells such as Paralyze, Slow, and Silence to cripple and limit enemies' abilities.


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Artifact Equipment
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Artifact Set

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Artifact Set +1

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Relic Set

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Red Mage Guides

 * Understanding Red Mage En-Spell Damage Calculations
 * Red Mage: Guide to Races and Subjob Selection

Screenshot Hume RDM in AF