granted RDM is the ultimate multi-tasker job, but they have certain limits.
(e.g.) Meleeing- duoing wise it's fab. as rdm/blm and Beka as blu/whm we can easily take on T-VT mobs without too much of hassle. Even get a chain 3-4 if we play our cards right.
As far as partying goes though, once I hit 51, between switching staves for appropriate enfeebs/MB's/emergency healing..etc i can't really see that as an option. Gear seems to change quite a bit, and landing hits on IT mobs in a party is a bit more complicated. Food wise we need to be concentrating on INT and MND food, but without ACC/STR food the chances of you hitting a mob are incresingly diminished.
Now, believe me, i held onto meleeing on RDM for as long as humanly possible, but once my MP couldn't keep up with the party's pulling speed/ my job duties in the party; even with Convert/Refresh constantly going, it's a hindrance to the party.
Now as far as what Kire said, like 10 pages back... a RDM has to be on par. They have a hundred things to do at once, and mostly, they can all be done. They aren't excluded to being a Refresh whore, casting enfeebs and healing. I MB every chance I get. MB's are what keep me awake in the back row of a party. >.>
And they aren't a waste of MP if you time them carefully. It's unrealistic to think you'll get to burst every skillchain, but I am confident to say i can pull of a decent - really good MB every other skillchain.
If Convert is up and everyone in my Refresh cycle is good. I'll nuke as much as i can, and get as many MB's as I can. (<3 Convert).. and Hasting, as far as I'm concerned, should be taken care of by a whm unless otherwise specified within that party situation.
It takes alot of patience and tolerance for other people to be a good RDM.. if someone sees a Crawler throw up Cocoon, for example, and it isn't Dispeled before the mob is finished casting, there is a birage(sp?) of "Dispel?" within the party chat... Yes, we saw that it threw up Cocoon, but it takes more then .001 seconds from the time the text hits the screen to the time the spell is actually cast....
RDM's as a whole I think are somewhat generalized as the party's everyman.. which is true in a sense. But in the same respect you can't fully replace any other mage job in a party. You can't outcure a WHM, and you can't outnuke a BLM..(unless they're bad.. then you probably could) Each job plays a role in the party that the other can't replace, doesn't matter how much multi-tasking potential you have. RDM has specific jobs traits/requirments just like any other job in the game. As a RDM I am required for spefic things to amke a party work. I can "fill in" for a lacking member, like a WHM or BLM.. but I couldn't replace them completely.
Backing off my rant, if you do it right, a RDM should have no problem keeping Refresh cycle, casting enfeebs/dispeling, EMERGENCY Healing, and bursting skillchains. And that's my two cents.. >.>
In fact I took less dmg than a Pld and did more dmg to the mob (nuking, no melee) I guess it's all situational but Uzor said it best with the swiss army knife analogy
