Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better!: RDM Guide

-stun only lands on fodder, shall we invite a BLU for dyna-d for a unrilable (acc and macc check 95% cap) to surpress mijin gakure or go for a heavy DD who can just oneshot the NIN befor he drops to lethal HP?

-tp reset uneffective, short durations and spread out across multiple spells, blocks valuable spells points and slots, holds you in recast limbo and hurts DPS. SMN is better at tp reset, MNK and maybe NIN too are better at denying TP. if -en spells work RDM is king in TP denial.

-AoE wind damage proofed to be sufficient for pre odyssey endgame content and in odyssey AoE damage is nerfed anyway.

-erase/ga and AoE cures again can be done by multiple other jobs like WHM, SCH, DNC and lately PLD: BLU is not the job of choice for erase/ga or AoE cure duty.

-10+ blink shadows are nice to have but when ever shadow tanking is essential you'll be asked to sub /NIN for utsusemi.

-breakga and speelga is nice but BLM has it too and can cast in from safe distance. also i believe RDM can AoE most of his crowd control spell with /SCH and it needs a lot of targets for sleepga/breakga to beat RDMs superior duration.

-burn and drown, cute but again BLM has it, too. MDB down isn't unique to BLU either, i think some staff WS has it as additional effect, either way none of those will secure you a party slot.

-counter is MNK terriroty and while BLU can get close to or even cap it MNK probably can do it more easily with less gear sacrifices and they come with a much higher HP pool and TP mitigation. if you want counter you want MNK.

-high defense is nice to have but unfortunately for BLU it's coupled with a rather low HP pool and other jobs can get similar or higher defense with bigger HP pools, PLD, RUN or any heavy armor DD job that subs /BLU for example, defense alone will also not secure you a party slot.

-native dualwield is another nice to have and can be considered a advantage over RDM but it is far from uniuqe to BLU and it doesn't turn BLU into a top DD and therefor doesn't secure him a party slot either.

-doomga, finally something i believe is unique to BLU, unfortunately i read it's less effective in shoel C, the zone PPL seem to prefer for point farming but maybe that changed in the last couple of months? outside of odyssey is rather niche as it competes with the other unbridled spells on a long cooldown.


i don't think i've seen a single shout asking for BLU since RDM and MNK buffs.

You're replying to a comment from almost 7 months ago.

The initial post was listing things BLU can do that RDM can't. Don't just bring in every other job when it was specifically about BLU's qualities over RDM. You can't compare one job to eight at once.

1. I've landed Sudden Lunge consistently on content up to Gaol T2. Also, any well-geared BLU can one-shot Dyna-D trash mobs.

2. SMN is the king of TP reset, that's accurate. MNK easily caps Subtle Blow at 75%, but BLU (and honestly any DD pretty much) can hit 50% easily and also reach 75% if you really hate yourself and make Zomorrodnegar. Again, comparing BLU to not-RDM.

3. I don't really know what this point was supposed to be originally, so I'm not getting into it.

4. Having an erase-ga and extremely potent Curaga on a DD is a very valuable thing. No, BLU isn't SCH or WHM at healing and status removal, but the utility should not be understated. Also, you're comparing BLU to not-RDM again.

5. Yes, when shadows are relied upon for content, /NIN is the way to go, that's true.

6. BLU's sleepga and breakga are just native spells they can set, compared to RDM needing to sub /SCH or /BLM to have them, at which point they're no longer being a DD.

7. Yes, BLM's Burns and Drowns are stronger, but only barely. Also, BLM isn't RDM.

8. Yes, MNK is the counter king. BLU gets more viability with it than jobs outside of MNK thanks to Orcish Counterstance, but they won't beat MNK. MNK, however, is not RDM.

9. No, BLU is not a heavy armor DD or a tank. They do, however, get some of the most effective defensive spells and traits in the entire game.

10. You're correct that native DW does not turn a job into a top DD. BLU, however, is easily near the top of the 1hander camp.

11. A decent amount of mobs are susceptible to it in Sheol C, but no, you should not build your setup around it. It's nice to have on a utility DD like BLU, though.

I apologize for derailing the thread further, but somebody was wrong on the internet and I have the self-control of a toddler left alone with ice cream.

as you mentioned it's a old discussion so it's not like we are slide tackeling into a vivid conversation, i wasn't the initial necro bump either, we are just rekindling it - still on topic (RDM) but in a different direction (compared to other jobs like BLU or NIN).

the "everything you can do i can do better" was primarly directed at BLU and to a extend NIN , that's where BLU came into the discussion. now if BLU has a perk over RDM then that's nice but if a different job can do it even better then it is worth mentioning so.
i don't think my points were all that wrong.

there sure are things BLU can do that RDM can not, they can for example almost kill themselfs twice in a row (although it's just a cry for help really and if you want to get the job done you bring a NIN) but i believe the statement of "all you can do..." isn't that farfetched considering the past couple of years RDM has been dominating both solo and party play compared to BLU.

#BLUPDATE

Updated some gear sets to include Nyame and changed some weapon descriptions to better fit their common uses. Also added a small blurb about ilvl "Magic Accuracy Skill" under the magic accuracy section. Will eventually add Crepuscular Cloak to relevant sections once it's in the database.
Please let me know if you find any errors or if any improvements can be made.

Dunno if it's really worth mentioning in the guide with regards to Stymie, but just skimming through reminded me of how annoyed I get every time I try to Stymie Silence a Volte Erudite and get job traited.

The mage Mamool ambuscade also comes to mind, but I still love doing that one on RDM. I do mention this fact under the different types of resists in the magic accuracy section but I suppose I could also add a few examples of when it can fail under the job abilities section.

-Added Crepuscular Cloak/Knife to relevant sections (if you know of any good use cases for the knife please let me know)
-Added "Resist!" blurb to Stymie description
-Added M. lvl gear changes for Phalanx/II and Frazzle/Distract III
-Added M. lvl benefits to /SCH and /WHM subjob section
-Corrected Healing magic skill total error in Cursna set

You might want to include a regen potency set. We'll get Regen 3 from /SCH or /WHM evetually and our self duration is pretty good

Does anyone have advice for an offhand for Excalibur? I came back and I was using Sequence as my sub for higher offhand damage and store TP. I'm sure there is a better option.

I don't suppose anyone has come up with a decent use for the +10 chance to block from Excal Augments, for Odyssey boss fights? Possibly something really stupid like https://www.ffxiah.com/item/16201/genesis-shield

You can use the TP Bonus sword and spam Savage Blade or make Skill Chains doing Knights of Round > Savage > Knights of Round (or close with CDC which ever does more damage for you). You'll also use it for Naegling. Ternion Dagger +1 is a solid option even if its not augmented, but you should still try to get it augmented.



Defensively Sacro Bulwark is still the best option, offensively there isn't much I'm aware of. Ammurapi has 13 MND to help Savage and KOTR damage (not to mention you'll already have or need one), the shield you listed is good too. You can also use the Sacro Bulwark and swap out a different piece for better offensive stats.

Edit: Keep forgetting Gleti's Knife exists. This is more of a CDC off hand but it is better than non-augmented Ternion for Savage/KOTR or if you're attack starved.

If you are multi-stepping double light, Gleti's knife, crepuscular knife, ternion dagger +1 are going to be BIS imo. Just from the fact that only 1 of your 3-4 WS will benefit from the TP bonus offhand. 2 if you can reliably 5 step. Savage => CDC => KoR => Savage => (KoR, CDC).

With just haste buffs, (aka brd + Haste II), I can generally reliably 4 step. 5 steps can happen, but it's inconsistent. Sam Roll changes that, and you might be able to get away with it. But what are you getting max haste + sam roll on that you aren't sharing damage with another DD.

For shields:
genmei shield => +15 acc/atk, moderately good defensive stats
sacro bulwark => all defensive stats
Ammurapi shield => +13 MND for Savage, good macc/matk for bursting on your SCs if you so desire
forfend +1, Deliverance +1 Super amounts of acc if you augment either. Not sure where you'd need that much.
Evalach +1 Mix of all the stats, good HP/MP, moderate defense, acc, macc, atk, matk.

Your block rate will be floored on any Odyssey boss, for the record. Block rate+ does nothing if you can't reach the shield skill threshold to not have your block rate floored. It unfortunately does not work like Parry/Inquatarta.

I was not looking at blocking as defensive at all. More the -DT/def stats

Edit: realized after posting that Lowen was talking more to OP than to me about block rates. Yeah, PLD struggles to get off the floor of block rates, little chance RDM will be able to on anything that matters.

That is definitely what I was looking for. I was coming up with +42 to chance of succesful block stat. That sounded either really good broken or bad broken.


3-4 step is very possible. Ternion seems like a good place to start, though Gleti's looks like they made a functional Mandau for my offhand. Definitely some wishes coming true.

I seem to be hitting a lot better with CDC and KoR than I used to so I figured I'd scrutinize what I'm doing. I usually 3 step with KoR > SB > KoR or Empy Arrow > SB > CDC because it gets you to the 1.5x SC damage for closing light quickly. But I can easily see the value of the longer chain with those 2 WSs starting to improve.

I guess the other question I have is does Empyreal Arrow ever catch up to KoR damage when you get Nyame?

Empyreal Arrow apparently has a pretty decent attack buff to it. It's got the same ftp as KoR at 3000 tp, but weaker modifiers, so I don't think it will ever outdamage KoR from a max damage perspective, but it should hit higher damage consistently if you aren't attack capped.

I mean, only if you WS solely at 2750+ TP, as its ftp is pretty crap at lower than that.

So potentially Sequence and TP bonus sword for shenanigans

Req > SB > EA > CDC for Radiance?

Sequence doesn't affect ranged WSs, so that'd be 1250 TP Bonus, which would only be 3.125 fTP on Empyreal Arrow, so at best it'd be equal with KoR even with the doubled ranged attack unless you saved TP since EA has significantly worse mods for RDM.

True, but Ullr + beryllium arrow has 255 base damage. R15 Excalibur only 173, so Excalibur has a lot of gap to catch up first with those better WSC.

I'm curious what everyone is doing to grind mastery levels on RDM.

I'm currently killing fish/crabs/bats in Dho gates. Doing Seraph Blade with the suggested nq set + Jhakri head, Warder's Charm aug'd, and /DNC for skillchain bonus. I pull with Innundation and have my THF friend open with Evisceration. The Seraph at max tp hits for 45k~, the Distortion hits for high 80s, and anything left can be cleaned up with an appropriate tier of Blizzard. Trusts are Star for Mab and Joachim for march.

I played with Apex Wanderers and Gears on day 1, but I didn't like the Ice(?) Wanderers being able to resist Distract and Restoral seems a little obnoxious. I know very little about the camps in Ra'kaznar so any insight would be appreciated

I just joined full parties as either the healer (usually) or as a DD (less usually).

I just Savage Blade hounds @ Ra'Kaz Inner. It's not bad solo but if you can get a skillchain going it's quick CP/EP.

I keep pulling people from my shell with no mastery level out so I can sync to them for optimal EP.

Apex umbrils and bats in Inner Ra'kaz. Umbrils take big damage from seraph and enfire.

I am guessing Telchine 4/5, Bolelabunga, R19 Bunzi's Sabots is the go-to set? Or would we sacrifice Regen+ Potency from Telchine pieces (body gets +12 duration though) for Lethargy +1 pieces, to lengthen duration? Obviously not there yet, just getting an idea of the ideal set to have ready.

Best per tick would be the 4/5 Telchine + bunzi's feet with bolelabunga granting I believe 41 HP/tick. (This is 105% extra potency over no bonuses).

You still have Ammurapi Shield, JSE neck,Embla Sash, and I think Ambus cape would win for duration over Ghostfyre here. (75% extra duration).
Edit:
ItemSet 382694

Regen III would give 42/tic (20 base + 19 in armor, multiplied by 1.1 by club to 42.9, rounded down to 42).

Right now you can get Regen II to 34/tic with that set, which I think is worth the effort to make the set as it is.

However, keep in mind that Regen II/III only have 60 second base durations (+12 with Telchine body), so duration is hurt badly whenever you don't have Enhancing Duration merits on. Duration is still decent on self, but casting it on others without merits feels like we're back in the 75 days.

Club is confusing, but wiki gives weird numbers and also says that it calculates it's bonus before any potency increases. I'm honestly not sure what it's bonus is.

Edit: The wiki says that it gives +3 HP/tick on Regen III, but also says that the bonus is applied before any potency, and 10% of 20 is 2...

Edit2: RDM does get +20 seconds from JP too, so base duration if you don't have merits would be 92 seconds. Duration on others in max potency would be 161 seconds, which is under 3 minutes, which definitely sucks. Duration with duration merits would end up being 213 seconds or 3.75 minutes.