Quote Originally Posted by DocFrance
Yes, a Red Mage can fight, use White Magic, and use Black Magic modestly well. However, his weakness is that he can only do one of those three things in one turn. Furthermore, if you thought a Black Mage was useless after his MP runs dry, try the Red Mage. He'll be your only decent healer, and you'll have to balance using his White and Black magicks. CUR2, FIR2, and LIT2 all share the same level, correct? Your healer won't be as efficient if you had opted for a BM and a WM, and you'll be sucking up Heal Potions (and thus money) faster than a wino with a bottle of cough syrup. Yes, the BM usually doesn't do a whole lot of damage with his magic. However, he can attack multiple targets very easily, and can inflict a decent amount of damage to each; something the BB can never do. A F/?/WM/BM party will have a much easier time fighting 9 Red Sahagins than a F/?/BB/RM party.

Yes a Red Mage can only do one of those in a single turn but that is all he needs. Useally when I use a FT/TH/BB/RM party the only time I ever need to heal is when I am walking through dungeons. I hardly need to heal in battle. But even if he needed to, it doesnt matter. You can use up one turn to heal with Cur2. Then he can go back to attacking. Yes CUR2, FIR2 AND LIT2 are all in the same lvl but out of those 3 spells LIT2 is basically crap. You will hardly need it (unless you lvl up in the ocean, which you shouldnt do). The only time you will need LIT2 is when you enter Krakens area and by that time you will/should have the zeus gauntlet and LIT3. But hell if you are so worried about being able to heal and cast spells at the same time then why not take 2 red mages? 2 Red Mages will do better then a Bm/Wm. Yes a BB cant kill a group of enemies in one turn (unless he useses items that cast spells). But that doesnt really matter because after the FT/TH/BB/Rm are done attacking there arent many enemies left standing. Hell during boss fights is the BM FIR2 gonna help out? Or is the BB attack? And heal potions do not cost that much. 60G isnt a lot of money. You can buy just 5-10 and be fine in just about any dungeon in the begining, and at the end you can buy however many you need since money isnt an issue any more. I will admit though that the Wm is MORE usefull then the Bm. AT least the Wm can attack alittle and cast Life/Life2. To Linus J. I never said to take a BB over a fighter. I am saying that the BB is usefull. What I did say though is to take a Rm instead of a Bm.