Red Mage Final Fantasy 14 Beginner’s Guide

Welcome to our Red Mage Final Fantasy 14 Beginner’s Guide; as the most versatile of the Jobs with an awesome class fantasy, we’re here to help you cast, slash, heal and revive your way through all the content there is to date, from unlocking the class, to raiding like a pro.

Unlocking Red Mage in Final Fantasy 14:

It’s hard to make use of a Red Mage Final Fantasy 14 Beginner’s Guide without having access to the Job itself, so lets talk about everything you need to unlock this Job for yourself.

Originally, you were required to own the Stormblood expansion, which is now included with the Free Trial of the game as of 2023. Now, there is only one unlock requirement: To be Level 50 on any Disciple of Magic or War Job.

After this, find your way to the Steps of Thal in Ul’Dah: There will be a blue quest located at X:14 Y:11.7, from the Distraught Lass. She will offer the quest ‘Taking the Red’, and allow you to unlock Red Mage, which will start at Level 50.

The Red Mage Final Fantasy 14 Playstyle:

In our Red Mage Final Fantasy 14 Beginner’s Guide, we believe its important that we help you decide if this job is right for you, so lets talk about the classes playstyle and help inform your decision:

Red Mage is a caster by name, but it is the very essence of a multitool, utilising casting high damage spells, and slicing enemies up with melee, and healing.

As a Magical Ranged DPS, Red Mage focuses on unleashing a rapid fire flurry of spells, casting 2 spells for every 2 second cast, allowing them to build up their coloured mana reserves and convert it this into a devastating combo of melee attacks for large damage. To help with this, Red Mage is given both a backflip, and a dash in, to keep them able to position where best on the battlefield they are suited.

Amongst your spells damage dealing spells and melee burst, you also will gain access to a fast casting heal, slow casting Raise for revival, and fast casting, proc based White and Blue mana single target spells, and melee attacks to use up your mana for devastating damage, making you able to truly able to be the fastest, most versatile party member to any team.

Red Mage’s Rotation and decision making:

One of the most commonly asked question about any Job is how the rotation works, and decision making. What kind of Red Mage Final Fantasy 14 Beginner’s Guide would we be if we didn’t answer that?

Job Mechanics:

On each cast, the Red Mage gets a ‘Dualcast’, making the next spell cast of any type ‘Instant’, meaning there is no channel time. This is the key to making them the fastest caster in the game.

Filling your Gauge:

Veraero, and Verthunder are single target, long cast spells which generate the two types of mana needed for your melee burst, and there is also ‘Jolt’, a fast casting single target spell that generates a small amount of both manas:

To match this, there is Veraero II and Verthunder II, fast casting area of affect spells which generate White and Blue mana respectively. There is also Scatter, in opposition to Jolt, a slow casting area of affect spell which generates both types of mana in a small amount.

The idea when fighting any boss is to use Jolt, a two second cast, and then dualcasting either Veraero or Thunder to reduce the 6 second cast to an instant. The best way to increase your meters is to alternate between Veraero and Verthunder each time, this way you never become imbalanced, a mechanic that slows down your generation of a mana colour if you have too much of one.

When dealing with trash, its handled in the opposite way: Veraero II or Verthunder II are both fast casting skills at around 2 seconds, and Scatter is the 6 second cast here. The idea of alternating remains the same, however.

Your Burst Window:

When your meter is at 50 of each mana, you can dash in for your single target melee combo, using Riposte first to dash in, and your three melee skills to do high burst damage. If you are able to build up to 100, you can use Engagement at the end of your first burst combo, before starting your second, and Disengaging out.

At Level 0, you can also use Moulinet three times for large amounts of AOE damage; The rule of 3 melee attacks is a good habit to get into for when you reach later levels and gain access to your finisher combo, as you need 3 melee attacks to trigger it. Your full single-target combo, or three Moulinets will do the trick!

We won’t be going into more detail than this, as this is a Red Mage Final Fantasy 14 Beginner’s Guide. For more complex strategies used in endgame raiding such as openers, slidecasting, cooldown timers and exact values, I strongly recommend looking into The Balance who are a team dedicated to breaking down all the most complex parts of Final Fantasy 14’s Jobs.

Red Mage Final Fantasy 14 Endgame Potential

As mentioned before, the utility provided by Red Mage as a job is insane, and when it comes to their potential in raiding, this can be almost tenfold. A good Red Mage will be able to relieve the work of resurrecting party members from the healer, and provide small bursts of healing in clutch situations to allow them the ability to focus on other things. It’s DPS rotation is consistent, though a little lower than some other classes, and the burst window is short enough that it’s hard to be interrupted allowing them the ability to be a little more greedy than other classes, especially with repositioning tools and the shorter cast times of spells.

Overall, If you’re looking for an easy to learn, powerful, and versatile class, Red Mage will take you far: So, go ahead, and don the Red.

FAQ:

Where can I unlock Red Mage?

Red Mage can be unlocked at the Steps of Thal in Ul’Dah. There will be a blue quest located at X:14 Y:11.7 called Taking the Red.

What level does Red Mage start at?

Red Mage will start at level 50, allowing you to start Heavensward with it, and jump straight into ARR endgame.

What type of Job is Red Mage?

Red Mage is a Ranged Caster DPS as its archetype, and takes Caster armour, however, it does make use of a Melee burst window.

Should I play Red Mage?

Yes, Red Mage is easily one of the best classes to pick up, as it is easy to learn and has an extremely vast repertoire of skills and spells.

Want to read more of our articles? We have plenty of news, reviews and guides here at Battle Shout, and we will have more Final Fantasy 14 content to come in the near future, so stay tuned!