For a party to be successful in FFXI they must have three vital jobs, a main healer,
a main tank, and a main damage dealer. The other three slots are not vital and are used
to aid the first three and make the party function more efficiently and gain more EXP per
hour. Except for main healing at higher levels Red Mages can’t do any of these roles very
effectively. However, because of their wide range of skills Red Mages are able to slip in
and easily fill many of these roles as a backup or in an emergency.
Windurst is the birthplace of magic and a pure mage city. Inhabited by the quirky
Taru and devilish Mithra, the citizens of Windhurst are some of the most cheerful of the
three nations even though their city was hit hardest during the war. Nearly everything in
this city revolves around magic, so you will be able to get your mage supplies very easily.
But this makes it a little harder to get some of your armor and weapons since very few
people chose to play a melee job here. During the low levels though it’s not a problem.
Another down is that Windhurst will have a large mage population so getting into parties
may take longer. Finally, most of the gear you can buy with your conquest points is not
very good for mages until to the higher levels, at which point they become very good.
Equipment like Tactician Magician and Combat Caster sets are very good and the EX
pieces like the Master Caster Bracelets are simply awesome.
San d’Oria is a land of tradition and honour. For hundreds of years it was the
greatest empire Vanadiel ever saw, and its citizens were forged into knights to protect
itself. Since the majority of San d’Oria is Elvaan there will be very few mage types
compared to the other nations, which means you will be in demand when it comes to
quests and missions. You will also be able to get most of your armour and weapons more
cheaply compared to the other cities because its high warrior population means a steady
supply. The downside is that your spells and mage equipment will be more scarce
because there is a low demand for them, which means you may have to buy them from
vendors or shop with a mule in another city. The gear from your conquest points is also a
problem. It will reflect San d’Oria’s history of medieval warfare and focuses exclusively on
melee stats and almost no mage stats. Pieces like the Royal Army cloak and Knights Belt
are very useful if you intend to melee, but the higher your rank becomes the fewer pieces
you will be able to use.
Bastok is a land of mines and technology. This has left Bastok as a somewhat
bleak place to live, but gives the inhabitants a tougher resilience and spirit then you’ll find
in the citizens of other nations. Bastok is very similar to San d’Oria because it is also
centered around fighters, though it is much more mage friendly then the land of the elves
since many Humes take up mage jobs. This means that you will have an easier time
getting your mage gear and spells here then you would in San d’oria. Another benefit is
that Bastok is a great place to make your home if you intend to take up Blacksmithing or
Goldsmithing because the mines create a steady supply of materials. Unfortunately, the
conquest gear you get is very bad for a red mage. In the very beginning things like the
Legionnaire and Centurion gear is good levelling, but after rank four there is nothing worth
getting for a red mage.
This race will have the toughest time being a Red Mage because everything that is
hard about an Elvaan goes double for a Galka. There MP and other stats are so low that
even with the best gear you will still hardly be functional. If you are an intelligent person
and have lots and LOTS of Gil to spend it’s doable. Your great HP and Vit will let you take
hits the best so get up in the enemies face and smack them around with out worrying
about the consequences. I would only recommend this for a person who wants an
extreme challenge though.
Most people don’t take this into account but it will play an important part in your
early levelling so I’ll give you some advice. First of all don’t make your decision based on
the rings. There are many other much better rings and will hardly have an impact while
you are low level. I’ve levelled a character in each of the three nations and each one has
about the same degree of difficulty. You should make your decision on other more
important factors like the location of your friends, conquest gear, and the personality of
each country.
Elvaan are big on strength but low on magic points and intelligence. Not a very
good start to your Red Mage Career. They will excel at the melee part of the Red Mage
job but that is not a very important aspect except for early on. As the levels go on your
weak mage stats will start to become more and more apparent. Many people say that you
can just fix these problems with equipment but unless it is race specific gear any other
race can use it and be better then you. Even Race specific gear can be a problem since
you will need to use it when you can equip much better equipment. In the hands of an
exceptional player with a WHOLE lot of cash they are still doable, but not exceptional. I
would only recommend this combination to those who like a challenge or are going to play
with a static party.
These little gnomes put the mage in Red Mage. Int and MP are your most
important stats and Taru have enough to choke a chocobo. Of course, because they are
brimming with all that Mana they have little room for HP as well as very low Vit. That can
be a real problem when you get convert and HP becomes more important. Since Convert
switches your HP and MP so you don’t have to rest as often, its useful for your HP to be
more then your MP. They also have much weaker melee stats so fighting is a bad idea
and will be very hard. That will limit you to the mage side of the job when playing which is
considered the most important. So if you like being a mage but like doing more then just
healing or nuking you will probably like Taru, though it will require more work.
I play as a Mithra and I have loved it. Your HP and MP are equal to that of a
Hume, but Mithra are a bit more refined then a Hume though in terms of your other
important stats. You will have a higher base Int and lower base Mnd then a Hume which is
good because Int is your most important stat next to MP. Also, Mnd boosting equipment is
easier and cheaper to raise then Int boosting equipment. The difference is small, only a
few points at higher levels but by them every point counts. Mithra also tend to do better at
meleeing with low delay weapons like daggers because of their high Dex. In the end
Mithra can be a better Red Mage if the player knows what they’re are doing but the
difference is very small. It really becomes a matter of aesthetics so if you really don’t like
being female or a catgirl you can play a Hume and be just as effective.
Humes are well rounded and very easy to play, so if you have no prior experience
with FFXI then you may want to choose Hume. Humes don’t need to worry about extreme
stat discrepancies like some of the other races and can play all of the roles of the Red
Mage and easily switch between them. The tradeoff to this is that all of your abilities will
only be average compared to other races, which will excel in a certain field like casting or
melee. That doesn’t mean you will be weak or have a hard time playing. You can still be
very effective with little extra effort. If you generally don’t like being tied down to one mode
of play Hume may be your race.