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who is the best rdm solo player, in your opinion? avesta pioneered solo rdm, rog refined it, and so many others put their own twist on it. it doesn't matter if your nomination is based on originality, style, knowledge, practicality, or skill with a keyboard. go ahead and state your reasoning if you want to, but more importantly, cast your vote!

rog's rdm/sch zerg on zipacna (and his playstyle in general) redefined kite-nuke solo efficiency. for me at least.

xeniths melee seems slower than kite strategies... is it really worth gearing and meriting so specifically?

they may be slow but damn they are hair raisingly awesome!

I've personally never met a better soloist than Rog, he made me feel like crap about my ability, and I tend to win.

Speaking of Rog, where is he? I haven't seen him post in awhile which seems weird I guess.

As for my pick, I stick with Avesta because he has the best skills of any RDM. He is a master tactician who plays on the PS2 which has to be very challenging in itself. All the copycats can't touch him.

I'll pick Xenith as a runner-up because I really enjoy watching a melee solo approach. It was because of Xenith that gave me the idea to try it for myself watching his solo videos like the scorp KS30 fight.

There are two reasons to solo: need and bragging rights.

They're not mutually exclusive, but frankly, most anyone who records and publicly shares their exploits is leaning more toward the latter. Just posting about it is a lesser form of bragging, and sometimes it leads into the inevitable POIDH goading for proof.

On some level, the solos were all pretty much the same, bind/pin and DoT/nuke. Some would up it a notch and demand a phalanx of reraise items to just spam DoTs and repeatedly die. Others involved zoning a mob repeatedly, which could get it stolen from you or even MPK unsuspecting people.

I have two beefs with the braggarts. The first being that it's basically been a glowing neon sign against RDMs for the advancement of the job. Here are, 3 cap increases in, and quite possibly suffering because people got the impression RDM was "too strong" without considering other jobs could also solo, sometimes better in both speed and safety. You will very rarely see people bitching about a NIN/DNC, though (aside from maybe them killing a mob they were looking to). The second beef is the simple assumption that if they can do it, anyone else can. Gear varies. Connection quality varies. Platform use varies. There's some element of luck when it comes to resists and TP moves. In Rog's (Who got banned, Shadow) case, he admitted to using 12% movement speed hacks, and pinning itself is a debate against bug/exploit or working as intended.

Regardless of motivation, not everyone who solos posts here or documents it. Some blur the line and consider multi-boxing soloing. Some can only solo if they can pin. Some are averse to the idea in general. Lots goes on that we'll never see as we're never everywhere 24/7. And honestly, what some might consider a rough solo would be easy peasy for someone else for varying reasons. sh*t, as they say, is situational.

Edited, Mar 15th 2011 12:49am by Seriha

I'd kinda lump fun in with need. If you're not having fun playing a game, why play?

This on so many levels. RDM is imo the most thankless job in the game. No one ever commends you on your Slow being capped, or your Para being capped, no one ever thanks you for buffing the party with Dia, or Haste, or Refresh. Healers seldom get the credit they deserve. We are seldom wow'd at when we drop a nuke, or a WS (although sometimes some people are shocked when they see numbers we can put out because they think RDM sucks so bad at it). Really all RDM has to have a WOW factor is its soloing, WoE, and ease of capping in campaign.

It is a thankless and non-glory job. It doesn't surprise me when people just solo for fame, because you can heal/buff bot for ever without notice (unless a buff drops for a few seconds and you get spammed to reapply it yesterday).

*Just to explain WoE. With the way it works it really shows RDM's who play the job in a universal way how much they really contribute. Whenever I do WoE I am usually #1 unless there is a BLU or DNC present, who can do the same amount of "point" earning and make it a tight run for the top.

Edited, Mar 15th 2011 11:24am by rdmcandie

Exactly, there is no way to showboat unless you're soloing. I'm still conflicted about returning to RDM just because how often we are taken advantage of. That moron SAM who can't even manage his hate and keeps dying or becoming a HP sink earns more respect than the RDM who enfeebles and provides support. I remember this particular incident a long time(2004) ago when a LS mate(PLD) who felt that RDM shouldn't have any type of priority for W legs. I rejected his claims and fought hard to remain next on the list for them. He was basically claiming that all RDM would use it for was A) town gear and B) soloing, which wasn't helping the LS cause. I explained that even if I needed/wanted it just to keep up with his dumbass to refresh him on kited stuff, W. legs were indeed valid for a RDM to own. I wasn't about to touch the issue that I could kite better than him on his PLD. It was at that time it finally clicked in my head how others think of our class. We were "Refresh whores" and the job known to be "broken" for soloing certain NMs.

Now that I have returned to the game, I might just watch your videos Xenith and leave RDM retired for everything else. I don't need to explain my reasons as you guys already know.

And, as expected, all you've got so far are the usual Alla suspects + Kaeko and Avesta. Hardly revelatory. My point is that you're not going to find out who they are, because the majority don't need approval from these forums to do what they do, and as such remain essentially unknown to the community. And as for Avesta, Kaeko, Rog... the only accomplishments one can really attribute to them is a willingness to spend their time making videos, writing blogs, or bragging incessantly about their exploits, respectively. With a few exceptions (mostly concerning Kaeko's enmity testing, which isn't really related to the topic at hand), all they've done is broadcast to the masses the sort of things that are common knowledge amongst most soloers. If you want to commend them for that, then by all means go for it, but as is you're just overreaching.

..jealous of what, exactly? I prefer to spend my time online actually playing the game, as opposed to telling everyone how good I am at it on various forums; I was merely pointing out the futility of the OP's stated goal.

Read harder; I'm not trying to diminish anyone's accomplishments. The only point I'm making here is that the few names brought up in this thread are but a small percentage of the players capable of soloing on their level, and most prefer to remain anonymous rather than spend their time grovelling for approval from the likes of you, therefore making the OP's question an exercise in futility.

As for me? When people /check me in town and see my completed sets of +2 armor, my full complement of Magian Staves, or my Kannagi, and refuse to believe me when I tell them I don't even have a LS, that all of my gear came from solo/duoing? The fact that 95% of players simply cannot believe it's possible is enough for me, thanks.

It is completely different, actually.

-RDM has access to much better nuke gear than melee gear.
-RDM's weapon choices, outside Relic/Mythic/Empyrean, pale in comparison to Magian DMG staves.
-Meleeing feeds exponentially more TP than nuking, making a large number of targets unfeasible or downright impossible.

The only time that meleeing is superior is when you're killing trash mobs, or fighting something that takes zero magical damage. Given that these mobs are quite rare, it's niche at best, redundant/counterproductive at worst.

I am quite sick of your nonsense on this subject; there's a reason why everyone uses /nin or /sch and nukes. If you were a PLD you'd probably advocate using Staff or something equally retarded. Would be right up your alley, troll, get to it.



Yep, you jealous. As for Rog and Xenith... no offense intended Xenith, but forcing a square peg into a round hole isn't my idea of a good time. And Rog? Don't make me laugh. You said it yourself best here:



And what about you, sir troll? From everything I'm led to believe from your multitude of posts here, you're a gimpsh*t RDM who thinks /DNC is useful (lol) and tries his best to avoid the 'Mage' in 'Red Mage'. Enough said.

Did I upset you? You have a soft spot for being put in your place and told to shut up. I honestly could give 2 sh*ts if you think I am gimp...big @#%^ing deal. I stopped caring about gear grinds a long long time ago, and decided I would have fun with the game instead of slaving away to get a couple % more on a parse. Imagine that playing a game for fun.

As for being jealous of you, don't make me laugh, look at you. All bent out of shape because someone asked who this community thinks the best RDM soloer is. All bent out of shape because people picked Rog, Xenith and Kaeko. All bent out of shape because people don't want to play just like you and the other 9000 RDM's around. I can't think of a valid reason to be jealous of someone who gets their knickers twisted up over a harmless question.

You so mad and I don't know why, but it is going to be fun watching you explode over nothing.

Edited, Mar 16th 2011 12:47am by rdmcandie

I'm just curious, is silence free game in PvP with you? If so, I really, really hate the battle of the echo drops. :P

Then stop posting stupid sh*t. Honestly why do you care who people think the best soloer is? Why do you care how people choose to play the game? You can call me a troll yet come in here and start ragging on an innocent OPINION question then rag on me for how I choose to play (which isn't even relevant to the thread topic). I find more satisfaction standing in my MH chatting in LS then I do farming gear, so what. My gear race died with ToAU and I have no ambition to start again, especially considering that there is still 9 more levels of gear, and a potential plethora of endgame related stuff. But if a couple more % on a parse turns your crank then by all means enjoy it.

Also lolumad.



Edited, Mar 16th 2011 3:55pm by rdmcandie

Ah, because I would totally sub /BLU, melee, and wear a PDT variation in PvP.
Especially vs a mage.
Seriously.

Just from hearing you talk, I know (in regards to PvP):
-The 36 things I'd do to you while subbing /SCH
-The 46/47 things I'd do to you while subbing /BLM
-The first 20 things I'd do to you while subbing /NIN.

Yyou didn't state your opinion. You immediately came out and blasted the OP for asking a subjective question, and then followed suit by more or less calling us who replied close minded because we only chose people from the alla community.
You not once stated your opinion on the question. Only bagged on it for being asked and bagged on those who replied.



Right because the game mechanics themselves change because I happen to not participate. The game mechanics change because I choose not to play the Gear UP! version of FFXI. Id wager a good 25% of my post have been credible, and that isn't including the ones on RDD. (if you do the math that is 50% more informative posts than your entire post count.)

But is ok, you are in self destruct mode, so Ill take your petty insults with a smile, and continue to watch you blow up. But if I were you id go back to the SCH forums and rag on people who necro post threads, or argue about who's mostly useless 2 Hour is least useless. Or perhaps find someone who cares about you being a tireless advocate of efficiency. (give ya hint, it doesn't require RDM any more at all, period.)

But this is fun too. Mad? Umad.





Edited, Mar 16th 2011 6:27pm by rdmcandie

I'm just throwing this out there but you can /quarry Daedalus Wings >.>

Confirming DNC is a poor subjob choice for RDM in PvP...

or in almost any other situation.

Edited, Mar 17th 2011 2:25am by K1n371x

At its simplest, Utsusemi is an MP-less way of forcing a mage opponent to lose time, focus, and in most cases, MP.

Many mages work around it just fine.
Some still struggle against it like you cannot believe.
Some of them squeal.../BLU was red mage's fastest-possible sub for soloing:
Lindwurm @75cap
Lord of Onzozo @75cap
Crimson-toothed Pawberry @75cap
Voluptuous Vivian @80cap
Bune @80cap
Charybdis @80cap
Byakko @90cap
(my videos aren't good examples for killspeed; I was trying to record as many successful NM solos as my ever-improving gear would let me)

/BLU was red mage's ONLY subjob option for soloing:
Operation Desert Swarm @75
A Thief in Norg!? BC @75
ToAU 'Black Coffin' BC @75 (was also do-able with /WHM)
San'doria 7-2 @75 (was also do-able with /BLM)
San'doria 9-2 @80
Omega/Ultima @80
Shadows of the Mind ISNM @80

I only play for 1-3 weeks at a time, with 4-7 month breaks in between (I'm only 2 and a half months into this current break). But everytime I come back and recap my RDM, regardless how rusty I am, there's always something new to record. And there's always someone new I can dupe into entering Diorama Abdhaljs - Purgonorgo Isle.

I'm not a big fan of /nin either unless you're setup to melee. The only thing it's really good at is blinking a single non AoE spell such as a nuke, but that's hardly reason enough to sub it. In a situation between RDM vs RDM PvP, there needs to be ground rules otherwise it's going to be a draw. Any enfeebled RDM that isn't asleep should be kiting as they have no chance if para/slow/silence is plaguing them. Gravity is usually a difference maker too. I'm not sold on nuking other mages either unless it's a chainstun kill. That is unless you plan to be cheap and sleep and nuke. It's funny how difficult it is to face off against an equally competent RDM. It's too bad we can't enter a coliseum and challenge any player.

I like /BLM for PVP against /NIN for sleepga. Especially against RDM's. Sleepga Dispel then go in and melee the piss out of them. Unless they have a spell interrupt set they are generally fubar. /BLU is pretty good to for headbutt +knock back effect as it will stop casting. Magic DMG isn't a huge issue with native MDB, Shell V, and -MDT gear we can pretty much take several nukes.

RDM/BLU i think is the best for PVP, but /BLM, /NIN are equally as effective. /DNC has some merit (especially in RDM vs RDM or RDM vs BLU RDM vs NIN fights as it is really about MP longevity and removing enfeebles.)

Easiest way to beat a RDM is make them use convert first then lay on the hurt, they are really restricted in options at this point because they must choose to keep defending or try and kill you. Nuking RDM's in RDM v RDM generally lose because of how much MP they cost and how little damage they end up doing.