Oh, this topic is such good bait for karma trolls...how can I pass up such a good chance for a rate down? (heh)
There are so many things I could try to quote, but Allak won't let me quote them all...so I'll sum up some comments and impressions, and let people figure out who I dissing and who I'm praising...heh.
When I'm leveling any job that uses mana, I bring juice stuff along, and synth in slow points...try it, it works great.
Kazham: Pine Apple Juice (Water + Pine Apple x2)
Rabao: Melon Juice (Water + Thundermelon + Watermelon)
Pine Apples you can get from the vendor NPC on the docks behind the Kazham Airship Entry/Exit, and even better, you don't need a ticket, as she is just barely in range if you are on the dock to the side.
Melons you can get from that Goblin near the fishing hole, he sells both, and like the Mithra has unlimited supply.
Water Crystals are amoung the cheapest crystals on the AH, and both areas have an AH nearby.
As a PLD, WHM or any non-warp mana using job, I have to carry more with me at a time, but as BLM25+ (or ANY50/blm25+) when I run out I will often (with the party knowing ahead of time) warp back to town, grab the juice stuff, pick up supplies for others (ammo, juice stuff for them, etc) and grab a Rent-a-Chicken back while they go to the bathroom, grab a snack, whatever.
I seldom spam mana+ food, rather I use Juices and HealingMana foods (cookies are nice), and go for mana recovery (as a Tarutaru I already have a lot of mana).
With the "OMGWTFBBQ!!!11one!eleven!!! U n00b n0 ReFrEsH cost us teh UBER Chain XXXIV" crowd already screaming, I continue with a point that will be lost on a great majority of them.
When you are playing, the mages (especially the BLM) don't lean on their mana early on, because an Exp.Chain is a DECREASING INTERVAL TIMER BETWEEN "Dead Mob"S.
The melee's will kill the early mobs, taking longer, and smart BLMs will often toss a BLM enfeeble and a minor nuke, only really paying attention to the MBs.
When (as a BLM) I try to constantly nuke (even if I'm pacing myself to stay just -under- the OverHate line) I find my mana insufficient to get the later chains...but when I SIT MY <BLEEP> DOWN and rest after that nuke, and don't push my hate threshold anywhere -near- as close, when we start having less and less time, I start doing more and more nukes, and we get higher chains.
And yes, at the higher chains, I often pull hate, and take hits...if the mob is about to die, I will keep nuking, if not, I stop and let the tanks peal a little hate off.
As a BLM, my job is seldom to reach into my pants and pull out my tool and start slapping the mob around so everyone can see how special I am...that kind of hardcore nuking is for BCNM's and EMERGENCIES...or Manaburn Parties (but those are a completely different thing from a "normal" exp.pt).
My job, whether BLM, WHM, THF, or CourtJester, is to make the overall flow of exp as smooth and continuous as possible, and if that means doing my job from the shadows and getting no praise at all until I surpise people with my Level Up Animation, then that's what I need to do...the only time "I'm so good, I amaze myself" applies is -solo- stuff.
But as a BLM to make optimum use of Exp.Chains I...SIT MY LITTLE TARUTARU BUTT DOWN AND REST WHEN EVER I CAN...and that's with Ballad, and Juices...and I do the same as a WHM, resting the rest of the tic into the start of the fight to squeeze a little more mana out, and if the healths are good, I will often sit down just before the fight is over for an extra second that means a little more HMR.
But what about Red Mages, afterall that's what this whole thing is about, and RDM is my highest current job (50-51 depending on what day of the week it is).
I believe one especially insightful quote was:
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A RDMs job is to refresh. period. Face it, that's one of the only reason anyone wants you
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I guess whoever said this only plays in Manaburn Parties, where it doesn't bloody well matter what buffs a monster does or doesn't have, or how gimped it is or isn't.
You want to see how useful Enfeebles are? Try doing without them...even if the mob never buffs...not hitting as fast, not hitting as hard (or taking more damage per hit, those two don't stack), not hitting as accurately, not evading attacks as well, not casting magic, not able to swing at all sometimes...these things make a -very- noticable difference to certain people:
Paladins
Ninjas
Dark Knights
Dragoons
Samurai
Thieves
Warriors
Monks
Rangers
And that's the -immediate- list of people that notice the use of debuffs:
Dia(ga,2): Almost insignificant DoT, but has the interesting bonus of DEFENSE DOWN...which means any "hit the mob with something physical" job does MORE DAMAGE when it hits...doesn't stack with Bio.
Bio(ga,2): Minor DoT, but as the interesting bouns of ATTACK DOWN...which means any "gets hit alot" job takes less damage when it gets hit...doesn't stack with Dia (darn it).
Blind: No damage at all, but a minor reduction in ACCURACY...which means the mob doesn't hit as OFTEN, which means the people taking damage don't take it as much.
Silence: No damage, but any actual -spell- ability is STOPPED because they can't cast...and anyone who's ever eaten from the plate of "<Bleep> that spell hurt" let alone "Double <Bleep>, that spell took me out" will say this is a useful thing against mage-type mobs.
...and of course, the "Golden Trio"...
Gravity: No damage, but slows a mob's movement and oh, btw, has a neat little side effect of EVASION DOWN...which means it doesn't dodge as well, which means attacks and WS's (especially from Rangers) hit more often, which means less wasted money (for Rangers) and MORE DAMAGE due to MORE HITS.
Paralyze: No damage, but occasionally ABORTS ANY ATTACK, melee, spell, TP Attack, non-tp Special Ability...doesn't matter what, if it's an -action- paralyze has a chance of stopping it cold.
Slow: No damage, but adds to the "delay" of anything the monster tries to do, making it ATTACK LESS OFTEN (including spells, TP's, non-tp Specials, etc).
...this doesn't even hit the "One Debuff To Rule Them All" in the RDM's **********
Dispel: No damage, but (unless resisted) will remove individual mob buffs (one buff lost per casting) in order from most recently cast to least recently cast (ie: reverse of the NPC's buff casting order).
Now in an "18 BLMs vs. ArchAngels" fight, yeah, debuffs aren't a big deal, but in any regular, mixed-person exp.pt, Debuffs make the fight easier, which means less effort involved on all parts, which means faster individual fights, which means higher chains, which means MORE EXP FOR YOU TOO.
Erase, one of the most -interesting- spells a WHM can use, is one of the few spells I -don't- pitch a fit over if a WHM doesn't have until 40...by 50 it's a problem, but I know it's hard to get the (on my server) million gil or so the silly thing costs.
You know what I do if the WHM in my PT has the skill, but hasn't gotten the gil?
I will help them farm seals (I often use mules for that), letting them have them, and then helping them with a BC40 so -they- can get that neat (and Holy <Bleep> expensive) scroll...an action that has surprised the heck out of numerous WHM's I've PT'ed with (most of whom wound up on my /flist for some strange reason...heh).
But Dispel? You know, the -offensive- version of that spell?
Stupid thing costs 60k+ from a Vendor in Rabao that I know of...and I stayed at 33 for a while (the PT I had been in was formed at 27 and didn't break up until I'd almost hit 34) until I had enough money to go buy it.
Oh, and Dispel works great against those funny buffs the mobs sometimes have...you know, the ones that add Magic Defense to the mobs and make your nukes look like they were coming from a RDM? (aka: Shell)
The -bad- thing about debuffs is until you've tried fighting without them, you don't realize how much you needed them...it's not like they put big numbers on the screen:
Jonesakagandalfthegray casts Blind.
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Goblin Smithy's Accuracy drops 15%.
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Ricktheranger uses Barrage.
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Goblin Smithy takes 125 damage.
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Shieldbasher casts Flash.
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Goblin Smithy's Accuracy drops 45%.
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Jonesakagandalfthegray casts Dia.
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Goblin Smithy takes 1 damage, and looses 10% Defense.
If the debuffs looked like -that- everyone would know how useful it was, because they would -see- the actual numbers...but we don't, so they generally blend in.
But when we -don't- cast them, -you- start to notice -real- quick...often screaming for me to Dispel the mob because you aren't hitting (or aren't hurting it) and it must have buffed, when in fact, it did nothing (as shown when we do cast the Dispel to humor you)...we've just been casting other stuff (refresh, haste, cureXYZ, etc) and haven't done our debuffs.
Lets see, what was another insightful comment...something about BLM's should be #2 if not #1 in the Refresh Cycle?
This one has already been "Slap-ga XXXIV"ed but hey, a little extra skillup to make sure the skill is capped never hurt anyone...heh.
My general refresh order (in a PT of: RDM, WHM, BLM, PLD, DRK, SMN...to put in six mana using jobs).
(1)RDM, (2)PLD, (3/4/5/6) Varies but is often WHM, then SMN or BLM depending on who's intelligently using more mana in general, then the DRK.
Why on earth would I do that?
RMD First:
- One, that string just cost me (40x6) 240 mana, so I would like a little of that back.
- Two, in a battle spammy environment, having my icon go away tells me everyone else's is about to go away (in what ever order I last cast it) so at my first oportunity I will renew the Refresh Cycle.
PLD Second:
- One, he has the lowest level of mana second to the DRK (although I've seen DRKs with more mana than the PLD) and is the most -heavilly- dependant on it...Flash, Cure(Self).
- Two, these plus Provoke and Shield Bash are his main hate holders (his damage sucks like a gaping chest wound) and if he's doing his job will probably bleed mana like a Ranger or Ninja bleeds gil...so he needs it.
WHM Third:
- Generally, they will rest as they can, but it's not dependable (one crit and they need to stand back up) so keeping them refreshed is a smart idea...and in the heat of battle I find it easier to hold to a pattern when possible allowing me to devote more active attention to other things.
Everyone Else:
- With them, order varies depending on who seems to be:
(A) Using the most mana.
(B) Making intelligent use of their mana.
If the SMN is doing the pulling (and in places with Links and Sound Aggro this is actually playing -intelligent-) keeping a Refresh on them is a good thing, and depending on what else is going on, they will get stuck into the cycle when ever they are back in range, sometimes even ahead of myself if the PT's mana is good and they know I'm aware of the Buffs going down...but if the SMN has Carby Mitts (and/or other maint.cost.down items) I might not sweat them as much, hitting them when I can.
If the BLM is playing -smart- and practicing mana conservation so they have mana for the latter parts of the chain, I will hit them regularly, allowing for a slight increase in his abilities (it's only 150 mana afterall) mostly aimed at his ability to nuke the he11 out of the last few monsters for extra chainage...if they are going nuke happy and constantly pulling hate off the tanks, always going with their biggest (and most expensive) spells reguardless of the mob's elemental strengths and weaknesses (throwing Thunder?? against strong earth types and saying "well that's my best spell" when an Aero?? would do as much for a lot less, and a Blizzard?? would do more than both for less than the Thunder?? did) then I will ask them to play smarter, and failing that, will let them run out of mana to slow them down if talking to them won't fix it.
If the DRK is pimp-slapping the mob with absorbs (making it much easier to kill) and using his other spells (drain, aspir, etc) intelligently, and the SMN and BLM are either on the <bleep> list or don't need it as often (good mana conservation practices) I may even hit the DRK #4 on the list.
Oh, and on the "hitting chains" bit, you know something a PT of intelligent players did, in Kazham(Yhoater) of all places?
We were 29-30, and pulling Gobbies...but we would put a VT or T (to the highest person) Mandy in the lineup, and the mages would REST the majority of the third fight (which had plenty of time) to get their mana back up so we could quickly kill a Goblin (and build some TP after the opening skill chain since we didn't SC on that Mandy) and go pull another...the puller actually leaving while we were still fighting, and as soon as the mob went splat, would pull another Gobbie, and we would keep nuking/debuffing/swinging to finish with a SC(MB) for Chain 5 (or six sometimes) and then rest full.
And that was without Refresh beyond us bringing juice stuff.
It's called "Playing Smarter, Not Harder" and so far, up through L50 and the HNM's I've been on smarter definately seems better than harder, although convincing people of that is often as hard as keeping dead horses in their glue bottles where they belong...heh.
Another comment I recall, something to the effect of RDM's who don't rest are generally melee's who are wanting that 300% so they can look good and neglecting their mage duties, or something like that.
Oh, Puh-<bleep>ing-lease...as a RDM, from the moment I got Refresh, the only time I could -sit- was when someone was AFK or we were out of mobs.
Let me see, if I stop wasting my time and mana with those stupid, pointless, useless, waste-of-time/mana debuffs (don't you ever bloody well start hollering for a Dispel after telling me debuffs are a waste of mana), I would have a lot less to do...but I open with 3-4 debuffs, a haste or two, and I still have a Refresh Cycle to maintain...I never stop casting during a fight, and often during the "resting portion" between pulls where you get a tic or two, I'm usually maintaining the Refresh Cycle.
Oh, and for people that think Convert is "at will" or at worst "2 minute recast"...MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-snort-choke-cough...thanks, I haven't had such a good laugh in a long time.
Convert is a 10 minute recast job ability...so I can't just use it "whenever my mana is low".
Most PT's I've been in (smooth or otherwise) everyone else has slowly decreasing mana bars, while I'm dropping like a rock and having to fight to keep mana long enough to keep killing 'till my Convert is back.
Best PT I've been in was an all JP 5 person static that knew their job and had their moves down past science into art...the only reason we didn't get past chain5/6 was we would run out of stuff to kill (the other mobs weren't close enough to keep the chain going) and would then stop and rest if needed...I explained the situation in auto-translator and they replied with UNDERSTOOD's and adjusted their fight speed so I was just reaching the end of my reserves when Convert came back around...oh, and the WHM and BLM each picked one of the debuffs I was throwing, and did those to ease my mana drain to maintain steady chain 5/6 for several hours...but the only time I got to sit down and -rest- my mana back was when someone had to go to the bathroom or something similar.
Another point I remember reading was about hollering for Healz or VoKeZ or Refresh PLZ.
When my icon goes away, at the next oportunity (I am casting almost non-stop most parties) I will restart the cycle...I have my spell name (in auto-translate) and the target in /p so it will show up through the spam (I love the "HOLD" option in the chat filters)...watch for it, when the person ahead of you in the RC shows up, yours CANNOT be cast for several moments no matter how desperately you think your ability to sire or bear children will be retarded without that Refresh.
Oh, and on a note, against Anticans, -especially- the magic using kind, I will often find myself having to -spam- Silence and Dispel on the silly things to keep the PT from falling over dead...if this means the RC is broken, deal with it, as the only one who can keep you BLM's from looking like underskilled RDM's in the nuke-department, and the best bet for keeping everyone from being char-broiled, I occasionally have more important things to do than Refresh...oh, and mine is also usually down if yours is, so quit whining.
That being said, I don't mind a ctrl+p "Don't forget the Refreshes" especially after one of those 'Oh <Bleep>' fights (such as a PLD+BLM NPC surprise tag-team), but ctrl+2 "OMGWTFBBQ REFRESH NOWZZZZ <callXXXIV>" every time your icon goes away is so going to wind up with me /blisting you to keep my chat window clear and my headset from blowing my eardrums out.
Spell falls on me, "casting time" + "recasting time" + "however long it took me to finish that spell" = "How when yours will be recast"...so unless I'm not doing anything (emergency cure on someone, MB...the only reason for a RDM to nuke in PT, trying to silence that silly mage, etc) your spell -will- go down for a few moments before it goes back up.
And often, rather than count to X and then try the spell, if I'm not busy I hit F(whatever) and my Refresh Macro (/ma "Refresh <t>) before it can actually go by a second or two, just to make sure it goes up as -soon- as it possibly can...if you see:
Sensubean: {Refresh} => Iamthebaddest
Sensubean: {Refresh} => Iamthebaddest
Sensubean: {Refresh} => Iamthebaddest
Sensubean: {Refresh} => Iamthebaddest
* Sensubean starts casting Refresh on Iamthebaddest.
...you hollering for Refresh is -so- not going to put you -higher- on my refresh priority.
Oh, and as a note, I've hit people with Refresh before their spell expired...and it does -not- extend the duration, the old one expired and I was without Refresh when I should have had over 100 points to go on the second...dunno if this was fixed, but I am -not- going to cast on top of an old one, as that is a waste of time and mana.
Go back and level a job without the option of Refresh (use a mule if you have to) to get back into the habit (one you should have had before you left Valky unless you were PL'ed through it) of "husbanding" your mana...it's a marriage, and if you don't take care of your spouse, they will leave you when you least expect it and most need them...so relearn (or learn if you fell into the trap of "Got PL, Don't Need Brains") mana conservation, and stop thinking that Regen(Mana) is the end-all be-all of fixing your spell casting limits.
There are other things I could comment on in this troll-bate thread, but I'll stop here (all this troll teasing has gotten me hungry...heh).
Galantdramon
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Sensubean on Midguardsormr