Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better!: RDM Guide

I honestly don't know if trusts can Immunobreak.

According to the testing using trusts linked above, they found that neither Threnody, Rayke, nor Skillchains had any effect on Koru-Moru's or Kupipi's Slow or Paralyze AI.

I also did my own testing with a lvl 127 Apex Leech and even with a Soul Voice + Earth Threnody II with +7 songs (-390 Earth magic evasion down), Koru-Moru never used Slow II. According to the trust testing linked, Joachim requires more magic accuracy to make him cast Elegy compared to Koru-Moru and his Slow II AI. If Koru-Moru's Slow II magic accuracy was based on elemental resistance ranks like Joachim's Elegy then he should have been casting it without issue. This leads me to believe that Koru-Moru's Slow is based on negative status ranks.


Does anyone have any proof regarding this claim? Just going by the linked blog and my testing it would seem that it would not happen after a Threnody wearing since negative status ranks are unaffected by it.

My statement wasn't meant to be a strict mechanics statement (hence the "stuff like that" part), it was to explain a scenario where a trust decides it can cast a spell, but then gets denied. In my hurry I wrote threnody, should maybe have written Frazzle and meva down/macc up bubbles instead. I'll amend the post.

Point is, I definitely have seen Cherukiki land Immunobreaks with silence and para before, but the situations where she casts the spells are definitely not that many, unless on weak mobs or when buffs/debuffs make her think she can.

I'm not able to self-SC very well so wondered if anyone had any tips?

Here's the gearset for TPing I'm using:
ItemSet 397204

(Still working on the last malignance piece, though this seems decently close too since headpiece has some STP.)

I haven't made a cape yet because I'm not sure if I should focus on DA10 or STP10.

My total STP atm is 61, and DA is 6.
I'm still working on enhancing set, and I usually use Cornelia with trusts. In battle (as long as I don't miss attacks) with temper 2, I'm sometimes able to get 1000tp before a SC ends, but it's kind of like a 30% chance if lucky.

My dualwield is at 7, wondering if that needs to go up too to 12? Also I'd use thibron instead of kaja knife but (and this is me being very silly probably to say this but) I barely noticed a difference between using a knife vs thibron.

Happy to mention anything else if you'd like more info, but yeah would be great to get some advice.

Oh and another extra question I had was: is it practical to partially make a CDC hybrid set for TP? Since CDC uses a lot of multi-attack and crit?

Asking because I'm working on different WS sets but for now I could build an early crit/multi-attack one for CDC if some of my TP gear has DA/TA/Crit etc. I'm sure a dedicated pure WS set like in the guide is better but just wondered.

When at capped haste (which with trusts currently would equate to Cornelia+Self Haste2, or otherwise can be a mix of marches and Haste2), you need a full value of 11 Dual Wield versus the 7 you have. With the lower number you have you will end up swinging slower than you should, ie building TP too slow.

You probably can get away with it when there's a Corsair in your party giving you Samurai's Roll, so may not always notice the issue when in a party- But the truth is get some of those key numbers in proper value and your DPS will shoot up.

A common solution in modern RDM gearing for Dual Wield at capped haste is to remove all Dual Wield from other slots and make an Ambuscade Cape with 20acc/atk/ 30 DEX/ 10 Dual Wield. It is one off ideal, but in years of doing that myself I've yet to ever feel like I "noticed" it.^^

This is what I use for Dual wield that is different than you.
I use a dual wield sucellos with dex acc and attack also.

head="Malignance Chapeau"
neck="Combatant's Torque"
ear1="Suppanomimi"
ear2="Eabani Earring"
waist="Reiki Yotai"
legs="Carmine Cuisses +1"
ring1="Chirich Ring +1"
ring2="Chirich Ring +1"

so you're overcapping? When you don't have ideal Haste, I'm sure it helps, but that's a massive detriment to TP gain when at proper capped Haste (having too much DW)

As said, capping the DW you need will be the key, the closer to delay cap you can get the more valuable each % that is, but even with capped delay imo it can get a bit tricky to go beyond a 3-4 step and then you start wanting SAM rolls STP steroid shot, as otherwise you're relying on your TA swings to carry you to 1k, still are but with SAM roll you need less of them to occur to reach the goal line

Trying to find a Ruthless Stroke set. Tried this and damage with trusts didn't seem good at all. Anyone have something they're using?


main Mpu Gandring IV
sub Thibron
ranged Empty
ammo Crepuscular Pebble
head Nyame Helm R25B
neck Caro Necklace
ear1 Mache Earring +1A
ear2 Dominance Earring +1 R15
body Malignance Tabard
hands Nyame Gauntlets R25B
ring1 Epaminondas's Ring
ring2 Karieyh Ring +1
back Sucellos's Cape DEX Weapon Skill Damage
waist Kentarch Belt +1 R15
legs Nyame Flanchard R25B
feet Lethargy Houseaux +3

Set seems fine, maybe swap ammos since you aint using that pdl, and nyame mail, but depending on target you coulda just been low on atk with just trust buffs

with trusts and you're using PDL gear (Malignance Body).

STR/atk is stronger than DEX when you aren't attack capped generally.

Coiste Bodhar instead of crepuscular pebble
moonshade earring +250 TP bonus
Nyame mail will ALWAYS outperform malignance tabard
sailfi belt +1

Use your savage blade cape with trusts.

Edit: I'm also going to add, Ruthless really shines best when you are getting to atk cap. It is not amazing when you aren't getting there. Still very strong though due to the very nice skillchain properties though.

Thanks all, added dual wield up to 13, which is a fill above 11 but closer than 7 and it's quite a different.

Had a different question about Maxentius.

Would I benefit from putting MND into a cape than STR for Black Halo? Especially since the MND could possibly help it act as a somewhat partial healing cape? Or is the damage not noticeable and I should much rather stick to using my STR cape like I do for Naegling? I'm thinking MND would also probably work well for my Sanguine set if I build one once.

I use STR cape for Black Halo. I would make MND capes, but for cure potency and macc + wsd for magic WSs and frazzle/distract/para/slow.

Until you hit the point where the attack from STR isn't getting used, the MND being weighted higher for the physical WSs isn't going to obvious. Plus STR always helps STR:VIT.

I have 11 Sucellos's capes and 1 ghostfyre. You do not need that many probably ever and not that many until you hit the point where your gear would make having extra capes worthwhile.

-----
You can always build more with niche scenarios and WS in mind but I would cover these before worry about getting into the weeds.

I would get:
DEX acc/atk DW for tping in for now, you can get a store tp cape later when you can get to 11 dw and haste cap without issues. It's mostly earrings and belts.

STR acc/atk WSD for basically every physical WS

MND macc/mdmg WSD for magic WS and MND based enfeebles

MND eva/meva Cure Potency if you have trouble capping 50pdt and 50 cure potency without swapping weapons

INT macc/mdmg WSD or MAB depending on what you find yourself doing more, nuking or Aeolian Edge for AoE. Get the other when you have enough mats. Either can be used for Gravity.

Aurist's Cape +1 R15 for all of your enfeebles that don't use Enfeebling Magic effect to boost potency.

I would also generally recommend getting PDT for your resin because you won't find capping MDT with Shell to be difficult. Later you may be able to find use in using m.eva instead.

That Dual Wield % is for /nin right? So you'd need 10 more in gear if /dnc?

https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Attack_Speed#Dual_Wield_Cheatsheet

Unless you specifically go for enspell damage, you should use haste samba with /DNC and then you only need 9DW in gear.

Yeah you will see RDM/DNC outperform RDM/NIN in it's ability to self skillchain with haste samba up if your gear is not finished. You can still use enspell 2s for additional damage and to keep the buff slot for naegling bonus.

Box step and later building flourish are decent for damage. Violent Flourish lands very consistently with magic accuracy set. Healing Waltz is a godsend, not so much for you because you can just use remedy/panacea, but because your trusts(or not smart friends) can't.

If you're good at lua, you can set it up to know if you have haste samba active and to sub in different gear for dual wield %s. I have a cape that is only 9DW instead of 10 for that purpose. I got the idea directly from Nuance's gear guide and thought it was the coolest thing I'd seen in a long time.

If you get to the point that you'd be interested in that kind of thing, you can use an ambu needle to change your DW 10 cape into STP or something like Crit for CDC if you don't use a DW 10 cape anymore.

Very neat idea. I think I can reach DW9 with carmine cuisses
+1 (6) and Gerdr Belt (3), though my problem is that carmine cuisses doesn't give as much gear haste as malignance trousers (3% difference) so I end up at 22.?%. Malignance also has 10STP which I'd put into a cape if I'm not adding DW to it so I may as well just go back to adding DW9 on the cape lol

You're going to 5/5 malignance almost always. You have the right of it

Any set ideas for healing?
I can see most of the sets have kaykaus +1 but it also recommends putting in some DT, so I wonder what kind of hybrid sets I could get away with.

I was initially thinking just head + arms for Kaykaus for the refresh / cure potencies, and then the rest going malignance, but open to other ideas or what others found useful.

ItemSet 352670

That is my basic cure set. It has 50 dt, it could have higher potency with more healing magic but I decided not dying was my preferred default.

I have sets for if I'm:
Curing myself
Daybreak and/or 10 pdt shield equipped
Weather
And the different combinations of them.

I personally prioritize DT first, conserve mp 2nd, and healing skill/power last. If I'm curing myself I allow myself to drop below 50 DT.

Tell me if you want any more sets. Kaykaus is all D path.

Personally, Bunzi's Robe is imo absolutely required for DT themed Cure potency sets. I don't really use Kaykaus set anymore just because it's a great way to get killed in Odyssey Gaol fights. It's just way too squishy.

It's not really just about DT anymore, you also need Defense, Evasion, Magic Defense Bonus, and Magic Evasion to ensure you live through some of the damage.

It's funny because as soon as I read your post I asked myself, why not Adamantite Armor instead for my toughest shield set? And it was quick to make.

I'm playing with my non-dw sets currently to see what I can do. I don't disagree that Kaykaus is squishy so it makes sense to redo my shield centric sets since that is all I will ever use in v25s. The only time I ever main healed as RDM was on Arebati on my first v20 clear with 1 KI. Much easier with 2 KI and a SCH.

For reference, here is what my current set looks like:

ItemSet 397301

A couple of notes:

• I heavily rely on aquaveil (love the spell) so I tend not to focus on SIRD

• RDM does have a shortfall of skill, so does need help getting to 500 for tranquil heart and cure soft cap.

• I personally feel that 3/4 good defense armors allows the use of 1/2 "sqishy" pieces without too much risk.

• Per the above point, Vanya clogs are great for the amount of healing magic skill they give.

• Tuisto is in the set specifically only to offset the HP loss from Mephitas's Ring

• Menelaus's Ring is only for skill (overcapped on CP already), could probably swap to something else and use skill earring or something.

• This is a gaol focused set, so daybreak is fine because you're not going to have weather generally.

• RDM can technically use raetic rod +1 but honestly, I hate it for non-WHM. Just feel like I'm always out of MP on any other job with it. Need a bit more CP if you go that route. RDM can't use it, lol, my bad.

I put these set together today for if you're not able to drop tp for datbreak.

ItemSet 397315
This one has enough item flexibility that it's easy to make better sets for weather swaps and self healing.

This one goes along with my toughest enagaed set that keeps ~2800HP in its FC and most sets so it doesn't ping pong. It has less meva but it has more mdb and defense. It also manages to keep both shadow ring and warder's charm.
ItemSet 397316

I really like the amount of conserve MP you have in that set.

Wow thanks all, really good stuff

RDM can use Raetic Rod? Is there a mistake in the item description?

Wow, I didn't even notice that. You're right. I'm not complaining in this case because as I said I've not found it useful on non-WHM jobs, but good catch.

Skillchains, magic bursts and negative status ranks.

In this entry I wanted to share some testing regarding a skillchain's interactions with negative status resistance ranks using hit rate testing. To do so, it is necessary to determine how much magic accuracy a magic burst grants a spell. I was unable to find any testing regarding the magic accuracy bonus granted to spells during a magic burst, and the magic burst page on BG only lists a theorized +100 magic accuracy bonus. Testing this requires a fairly high level target with a negative status rank that is high enough to easily distinguish between the next lowest rank, but not high enough to trigger Immunobreaks. Luckily, a previous test subject seemed to be a perfect fit with a dataset ready to go.

The target: level 139 Disheveled Naraka in Ra'Kaznar Inner Court. Paralysis rank C(40%). Monster stats found here. MND determined to be 294 during previous testing.

The test: Create a darkness skillchain on the Naraka (Requiescat>CDC) and cast Paralyze within the magic burst window with a specified amount of magic accuracy and record the results. No testing on Firesday/Iceday. Ice Magic Accuracy merits were removed for this testing. Enemy level verified by casting Fire and finding the ones that took the least amount of damage. The results of my previous testing with the Naraka will be used as a baseline. The difference in magic accuracy needed to achieve a similar hit rate will be used to determine how much magic accuracy is granted to a spell during a magic burst and also if skillchains affect negative status ranks. I will spare everyone some of the brute forcing I did and just post the final data set.

*Note* While writing this I realized that I forgot to include Paralyze's -10 magic accuracy penalty (tested via automaton scanner method) under the magic accuracy totals in my previous test because I am dumb. For this monster, an estimated 1387 magic accuracy is needed to reach 95% hit rate at rank C(40%). This means that the real magic accuracy total was 1359. 1387-1359=28 which is the difference in magic accuracy. 1 magic accuracy=1% magic hit rate above 50% hit rate so--> 95-28=67% magic hit rate which is relatively close to the results previously obtained. I will edit my previous post to accurately reflect this total.

Relevant Stats:
M lvl 34 RDM/NIN
510 Enfeebling Magic Skill
Job Point Gifts: Magic Accuracy +70
Job Points: Magic Accuracy +20
5/5 Magic Accuracy Merits: Magic Accuracy +25

Paralyze Equipment:
Main: Murgleis R15-Magic Accuracy Skill +255, Magic Accuracy +70
Sub: Crocea Mors-Magic Accuracy +50
Range: Ullr-Magic Accuracy +40
Head: Ayanmo Zucchetto +2-Magic Accuracy +44
Left Ear: Dignitary's Earring-Magic Accuracy +10
Right Ear: Crepuscular Earring-Magic Accuracy +10
Body: Vitiation Tabard +3-Magic Accuracy +40
Hands: Malignance Gloves-Magic Accuracy +50
Left Ring: Crepuscular Ring-Magic Accuracy +10
Right Ring: Kishar Ring-Magic Accuracy +5
Waist: Acuity Belt +1 R15 (first place unity)-Magic Accuracy +15
Legs: Ayanmo Cosciales +2-Magic Accuracy +45
Feet: Malignance Boots-Magic Accuracy +50
All other slots empty
MND:133+161=294 (no Gain-MND used), Target MND=294, 294-294=0 dMND magic accuracy bonus
Paralyze Magic Accuracy Penalty= -10
Total Magic Accuracy:1309

Baseline Test Data w/ 1359 Magic Accuracy:
Full Duration: 99 (61.875%)
Partial Resist: 45 (28.125)
Full Resist: 16 (10%)

Magic Bursted Paralyze Data w/ 1309 Magic Accuracy:
Full Duration: 100 (62.5%)
Partial Resist: 41 (25.625%)
Full Resist: 19 (11.875%)

As can be seen in the data above, a similar hit rate was achieved with -50 magic accuracy during magic burst. Referencing this magic accuracy table, if skillchains affected negative status ranks then we would only need 1295 magic accuracy to reach 95% hit rate at rank C-(50%). The above result indicates a few things:

1. Skillchains do not affect negative status ranks. If they did, hit rate would be at 95% with 1309 magic accuracy.
2. The hit rates documented above seem to corroborate automaton scanner testing of a magic accuracy penalty when casting Paralyze.
3. While the above sample size is too small to give an exact value, it is estimated that the magic accuracy bonus granted to spells relying on negative status ranks during a magic burst is around +50.


I used Sequence in the main hand for some extra Store TP along with a standard TP set for making skillchains.

During this testing I found an interesting detail. Whenever Paralyze would land for full duration it would always be accompanied by the "Magic Burst!" message in the log. Whenever Paralyze was partially resisted the log would always display just the normal spell landing message. This made it possible to determine spell duration at the time of cast. It seems like only spells that land for full duration get tagged with the "Magic Burst!" log message for whatever reason.

I'm particularly shocked at the message thing you found out and posted at the end of your test XD