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Red mages have always had a very strong legacy in Vana’diel, often renowned for their ability to deal damage, heal, support, and debuff.
It’s of little wonder that they proudly don the title “jack of all trades”.
Red Mages still have a very strong presence in parties in the current era, and with all the various ways that a red mage can operate, it can be difficult to pick a particular trust.
This list aims to order some of the better choices by what they do best.
5. Rainemard
Rainemard is often considered the most overpowered trust to use while leveling up.
He takes a special spot on this list because of his ability to completely demolish enemies with his insanely powerful en-spells that almost feel unfair to use!
He’ll often out-damage players just by swinging his sword, even if they’re using weapon skills and spells as often as they can.
He can cast Haste spells, but only seems to cast them on himself, making him something of a wind up and go trust. This, however, is welcome when leveling, due to the monotony of killing monsters over and over.
Rainemard also has access to debuffing spells in the form of Distract and Frazzle, as well as a few weapon skills—namely Savage Blade—that are immensely helpful in speeding up combat.
Unfortunately, his power fizzles out once players cap their levels.
Then it’s better to look towards the other red mages on this list.
4. Arciela
Arciela is capable of dealing damage, supporting, and debuffing. She deserves a mention here due to her rather varied yet situational toolkit.
She’s capable of using a weaponskill that applies AoE amnesia, something that barely any trust can do.
And she can use a weaponskill that applies a strong attack, defense, magic attack, and magic defense bonus on the entire party!
Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to particularly excel at anything due to her abilities gating her. Arciela’s only form of healing is via Illustrious Aid, which while strong, is a weaponskill she’ll rarely use.
And her ability to use support is locked behind Bellatrix of Light, similar to her ability to debuff which is locked behind Bellatrix of Shadows.
In addition to this, she only seems to buff herself, further limiting her support aspects to just her weaponskills.
However, she has a passive 25/tick regain, and will melee attack. So she’s able to weaponskill rather frequently.
3. Arciela II
Arciela returns in an enhanced, more offensive form.
She has a bit more going for her this time around, starting with a new weaponskill that inflicts AoE paralysis.
She also has many weaponskills with varied skillchain properties, meaning she’s able to create some crazy multi-step skillchains with other players and trusts in the party, massively improving party DPS.
If that wasn’t enough, she’s also able to magic burst with tier V elemental magic! She also possesses a very strong fast cast trait, so she’s always finishing a spell shortly after casting it.
She retains her gated buffing and debuffing magic mechanic, but gains access to Flurry, Addle, and Dispel, in addition to all her spells in her initial form.
Unfortunately, she loses her only healing ability, making her a red mage without any capability to heal – save for her Naakual’s Vengeance attack, which will fully heal her when she’s at low health.
She’s best classified as a more offense-focused red mage, capable of debuffing.
2. Koru-Moru
Koru-Moru ramps up the red mage game for his ability to provide lots of support in addition to backup healing with cures.
He’ll also remain where he’s summoned, often keeping him out of danger.
He has access to Flurry II and Haste II, which he’ll cast on specific jobs that require them.
He’ll also frequently cast Phalanx II on targets for some damage mitigation, and won’t hesitate to use any of his debuffs such as Distract and Slow.
Plus he’s also capable of quickly casting Dispel to remove those annoying enemy buffs, and will also buff his allies with Protect and Shell.
Koru-Moru is even smart enough to only cast refresh on players that actually use their MP! Now we’re talking.
He does one have weakness, though:
He can quickly be put out of luck if he takes damage shortly after he uses Convert, which his AI will compel him to do so when he’s at very low MP.
1. King of Hearts
King of Hearts has become the very popular go-to red mage for many FFXI players.
He’s able to remove debuffs, deal damage, and heal! He’s also the only red mage on this list to have access to Composure, making his buffs last substantially longer than any other red mage trust.
This works very well with his Phalanx, Refresh, and Haste II spells, though he only uses Phalanx on the player with the highest enmity.
He’s also capable of behaving like a white mage, casting cure when players fall under 50% HP. In addition to using –Na spells, he can even cast Erase.
And most of the time he’ll prioritize the removal of debuffs over anything else, purging them near-instantly.
For damage, he’s got some tricks up his sleeve.
He’ll occasionally use weaponskills. And when the Liquefaction, Fusion, or Light skillchain is made on an enemy, he’ll attempt to magic burst it with a beefy Firaga IV.
Interestingly, he’ll also randomly level up in the middle of a fight, which rejuvenates his HP and MP a bit – and gives him access to the Bludgeon weaponskill, which is pretty powerful in its own right.
His only real weakness is that he suffers from an AI fault.
He always begins a fight by casting Dia, even if an enemy is somehow immune to the spell. This means he can end up in a situation where he’ll be casting Dia endlessly, not bothering to do anything else.
