Big up the down Red Mage!

[ReloadPsi]

I just played through FF1 with a party of two fighters and two red mages, and it was the easiest game I ever played. Why? Because my two mages didn't spend 90% of the game stood in the back row hitting for 1 damage while I saved magic for when I really needed it!

Sure, they can't learn Nuke, Fade, XXXX or Zap!, but why does that matter when you can rarely afford to use those spells anyway? Chaos went down in a couple of rounds and it might even have been quicker if I hadn't wasted time casting Fast and Tmpr...

So in conclusion, I think the Black and White mages kinda suck. What's the point when they're only useful in 10% of the battles, as opposed to Red Mages, who are useful in nearly all of them, especially when they have nearly as much HP as the Fighter? Hooray for Red Magic!

[Captain Maxx Power]

And this, my friends, is why Red Mages will always be the greatest class of them all.

[ReloadPsi]

On a side note, I had one learn Black Magic and one learn only White Magic, with some minor exceptions like (I think) Levels 5 and 7 where they could only learn one or two abilities, so I had a few crossovers for that reason.

So my White Red Mage still stood at the bottom row to be a supportive character, just like when I used to actually use a White Mage *shudder*.

[Garn the Red]

Yah, but with the redmages you cant warp. YOu have to walk everywhere!(or fly in the airship.)

[ReloadPsi]

I wouldn't know, I never used the Warp spell; didn't understand it.

[Garn the Red]

It baseicaly got you out of dungeons without having to walk u all the way back up.

[ReloadPsi]

Exit does that too. And Red Wizards (albeit not mages) can learn Exit, but by the time you have Exit, you're getting warped out after killing the boss anyway.

[Garn the Red]

Warp also gets you back to the last inn you stayed at.

[ReloadPsi]

Ah well. It's a small price to pay for having a character who's not such a weak link during the random encounters, eh?

[Garn the Red]

Good point the trade off seems even. I would just miss the big spells. Also the extra spell points.

[Black Mage FF1]

I just played through FF1 with a party of two fighters and two red mages, and it was the easiest game I ever played. Why? Because my two mages didn't spend 90% of the game stood in the back row hitting for 1 damage while I saved magic for when I really needed it!

Sure, they can't learn Nuke, Fade, XXXX or Zap!, but why does that matter when you can rarely afford to use those spells anyway? Chaos went down in a couple of rounds and it might even have been quicker if I hadn't wasted time casting Fast and Tmpr...

So in conclusion, I think the Black and White mages kinda suck. What's the point when they're only useful in 10% of the battles, as opposed to Red Mages, who are useful in nearly all of them, especially when they have nearly as much HP as the Fighter? Hooray for Red Magic!

Kinda suck? lol thats being too nice. Black Mages and White Mages suck ass.

Nuke,Fade,XXXX etc....all overrated. By time you get them you can already go and easily finish the game. And most likely you can only cast them like once or twice. Depending if you overleveled or not.

[Garn the Red]

Kinda suck? lol thats being too nice. Black Mages and White Mages suck ass.


Then Why is that your name?

[Sylvie]

Kinda suck? lol thats being too nice. Black Mages and White Mages suck ass.


Then Why is that your name?

I'm curious, too.

[ReloadPsi]

There's one occasion where Black Mages kick ass: When they happen to include Tsuyoshi Sekito and Kenichiro Fukui. Plus, the Black Mage does at least look totally awesome :)

Shame they didn't do such a good job of FF1's battle theme... Not nearly metal enough considering it was the first track of the first album. Ah well, Matoya's Cave was a kickass bluesy piece so it's forgiven.

[Zeromus_X]

As a side note, INT has no effect on magic damage in the NES version, so Red, Black, White, and Purple mages cast all spells just as crappily. But of course, we don't really need to cast crappy spells. We need buffs and debuffs. And swords. And pirate-ness.

[Sefie1999AD]

Yep, two Fighters and two Red Mages is a very good party. I tend to use a more defensive approach, though, so instead of having two Red Mages, I usually have a Red Mage and a White Mage. That way you'll get better healing spells and Dia/Harm spells too. Red Mage will help you as an additional healer, and he still has enough black magic to destroy large groups of enemies. And the spells Haste and Temper. Besides, by the time you get all those spell-casting items, it doesn't really matter any more that Red Mage has less MP than Black Mage.

[Paul]

red mage is the only class i've never used in this game. seems kind of boring. i liked the extremism of all the characters in this game. tank, damage dealer, healer, nuker. or sometimes i swap the damage dealer for the agility of thief (although the THF in DoS can't run from battles very easily).

red mage is like a catch all class. i like my characters to be polarised and have to rely on each other to survive.

[Captain Maxx Power]

As a side note, INT has no effect on magic damage in the NES version, so Red, Black, White, and Purple mages cast all spells just as crappily. But of course, we don't really need to cast crappy spells. We need buffs and debuffs. And swords. And pirate-ness.

Couldn't agree more.

[Crossblades]

Yah, but with the redmages you cant warp. YOu have to walk everywhere!(or fly in the airship.)


They can't cast Flare or Holy either:(

[DanteV9]

Of course Red Mages rocks. I mean, LOOK AT THEM! Awesome outfit.

[Mr. Graves]

Sounds like an interesting party, which I should try on FF Origins sometime. The only drawback might be that tons of fighting would be needed to keep all of the best equipment for the party, which can get tedious.

[Sunny Day Suicide]

They have a pimp suit on. That's always cool.

[Garn the Red]

A Feather in the hat. A Freakin Feather.

[aquatius]

Red mages suck.

[Fireblade13]

TOO MANY ONE LINERS!

I'm not a big fan of the BM as the RM gets all the buff spells anyway and he can still do some nice dsamge using Thundara in the Water temple. White mages rock though as they have massive HP and allow for constant healing. I played a 4 Fighter party and got all the way to chaos. But without any buffers or serious healing Chaos owned me. All i had was cure and healing staff lol. Ojh well i also had difficulty on the Lava dungeon as i didn't have the healing items and the damage was starting to actually hurt. I lost my first guy in the volcano :sob:

[LoKuS]

The party i used was knight, monk, thief and red mage. i cant wait till they make a red mage a main character in a final fantasy.

[boys from the dwarf]

red wizards have all the useful spells of the black and white mage as well as some decent spells. they lack the great healing of the white mage and the holy spell and dont have black mages nuke but they are still good.

a party of a white mage,black mage, red mage and a fighter would be a good one.

[Lavarn]

I just played through FF1 with a party of two fighters and two red mages, and it was the easiest game I ever played. Why? Because my two mages didn't spend 90% of the game stood in the back row hitting for 1 damage while I saved magic for when I really needed it!

Two fighters, two red mages - this is certainly a strong party. I've experimented with two fighters, white mage, black mage...with the idea that if I can ever get away with putting two weak mages in the same party, it would be with two fighters. Two red mages instead would be a lot easier to keep alive though, and that may more than compensate for the disadvantage of having fewer spells and few high level spells. Red mages are undeniably the strongest character in the beginning (even better than fighters until level 5), but they are also arguably the weakest character later on. So I wonder if this party would be strong enough in the later stages of the game.

[ljkkjlcm9]

If always believed two fighters, two red mages to be the best/easiest party for this game. The upper level spells suck, especially in the NES version, and in the DoS version, you can get items to cast basically everything useful anyways.

Of course, I'm also a fan of, one fighter, three dead people

THE JACKEL

[Sefie1999AD]

If always believed two fighters, two red mages to be the best/easiest party for this game. The upper level spells suck, especially in the NES version, and in the DoS version, you can get items to cast basically everything useful anyways.

Of course, I'm also a fan of, one fighter, three dead people

THE JACKAL

I think having 2-4 Fighters and the rest as Red Mages will quite easily become one of the best parties because of its high attack power, good defence and having some spells (except for 4 Fighters until they become Knights).

[Dragonfire]

2Fi/2RM is a great party... but in FF1 it doesnt really matter.... If you take the time and want the challenge you beat it with solo theif, BB, or even White Mage.

The simplistic and archaic battle system (dont mistake me i love FF1) of FF1 makes ATK power better than everything else. It's not like FF3 where variety of classes is necessary

[Carl the Llama]

I think im going to try a all fighter team... the only thing that concerns me is the fact that they have no magic to kill those blob things (where a BLM would) any thoughts on this?

[abrojtm]

I did Fi Fi Fi WM before and the only thing that was any trouble was just farming for Gil to get equipment. The game was a breeze other than that.

[eestlinc]

I think im going to try a all fighter team... the only thing that concerns me is the fact that they have no magic to kill those blob things (where a BLM would) any thoughts on this?
run away, or just sit there and hit them over and over until they die.

[ReloadPsi]

Besides, Fighters are that likely to get critical hits that they'll do several armour piercing shots for normal damage anyway. Don't worry about it.

Worry about healing when you fight the final boss.

Why has this topic's name been changed from "Big up the Red Mage!" to "Big up the down Red Mage!"?

[feioncastor]

I just played through FF1 with a party of two fighters and two red mages, and it was the easiest game I ever played. Why? Because my two mages didn't spend 90% of the game stood in the back row hitting for 1 damage while I saved magic for when I really needed it!

Sure, they can't learn Nuke, Fade, XXXX or Zap!, but why does that matter when you can rarely afford to use those spells anyway? Chaos went down in a couple of rounds and it might even have been quicker if I hadn't wasted time casting Fast and Tmpr...

So in conclusion, I think the Black and White mages kinda suck. What's the point when they're only useful in 10% of the battles, as opposed to Red Mages, who are useful in nearly all of them, especially when they have nearly as much HP as the Fighter? Hooray for Red Magic!
Well, sure, it's easier. But it's not as much fun. Strategizing is a lot of fun. When you have a fighter, a Black Belt, a White Mage and Black Mage, you really have to plan out your fights, especially boss battles. It's just more fun.

You're right, though. It is easier the way you've described. I just don't think it's as much fun.

Can the Red Mage/Wizard learn the lv 4 Black Magic "Fast"?

[Lavarn]

I think im going to try a all fighter team... the only thing that concerns me is the fact that they have no magic to kill those blob things (where a BLM would) any thoughts on this?

Just run from SCUM - they hardly give any exp anyway. The battles I would be more concerned about with 4 fighters are large numbers of undead monsters with paralyze. With a mage in the party, you can usually get off a FIR2 or HRM2 and take them all out in one shot. That said, while I'd probably prefer the 2 fighters, 2 red mage party (mentioned in the original post) over 4 fighters, I still think 4 fighters is one of the strongest parties in the game.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Why has this topic's name been changed from "Big up the Red Mage!" to "Big up the down Red Mage!"?Indeed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_the_Down_Staircase)!

[Lawr]

And this, my friends, is why Red Mages will always be the greatest class of them all.

PARADOX ORTHODOX