AoE Spark Farming On GEO

So my Geo is only 20 at the moment, but I was curious if -ra spells work well for 500+ damage RoE spam. What kind of damage do -ra spells do? Is the recast bearable?

You can definitely get some nice numbers with an MAB gear set, and the recast time on the tier 1 -ra spells is only 5 seconds.

To make the most of a mob's HP, try and aim for your spell damage to be around the 500-600 mark. If you're in Abyssea, pull a single mob and see how much damage you do. If you do at least 500 then you can slap on some utility atmas like Minikin Monstrosity, and maybe 1-2 Regens (Mounted Champion/Vicisstude) so you dont have to cure as much.

If not, experiment a bit to your preferences :)

Your mileage will vary depending on gear, but the 500+ ROE spam is definitely doable on Geo with tier 1 -ra spells. Also, if the recast on the aoe spells isn't short enough for your liking, you have any of the other 6 elements to choose from to alternate spells.

How does GEO handle large train pulls? I ask because of the lack of natural enhancing skill to /rdm (phalanx + stoneskin).

That depends on where you're farming sparks, I guess. Indi-regen, whm trusts, and damage-mitigating gear may help, but you'll generally want to avoid anything that breaks phalanx consistently if you're planning on doing huge pulls. On a side note, don't forget to use weapon skills in a pinch if you're using staff. Spirit Taker is useful and Cataclysm is now way more powerful than most people give it credit for, especially at 3000 tp.

Wouldn't it be easier just to do it as RDM/BLM?

Would it? I honestly don't know what kind of numbers RDM can pull /blm with -aga. I would just think it'd be easier on geo with its higher native elemental magic skill and things like indi-acumen to boost your numbers if needed.

RDM itself would have an extremely easy time handling a large train. But my issue when on RDM is once I get to anything over 10-15 mobs my numbers dip below 500. I know this can be resolved with better nuking gear, however RDM is not a job I'd like to spend a lot of time upgrading with its current state of usefulness.

I was hoping to speed up the farming process, but I'm leery of pulling 30+ mobs on a GEO.

I can do about 40 mobs per cast as RDM without dipping down below ~550. My gear is nothing special. Hagondes, Tamaxchi, Genbu shield, 2x PDT rings, 2x nuking earrings, Flume belt, and Shadow mantle.

Red Mage is at least as useful as GEO and more or less shares the same nuking gear. If you're leveling GEO, it would be nice to have a decent set to level into.