For the purposes of this thread, I am omitting Black and White mages from possible choices. The four choices will be Red Mage, Blue Mage, Green Mage, and Time Mage. Which do you believe is the best mage class and why?
Definitions for each class are listed below to help members that may not be familiar with them all.
Red Mage
A jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. The red mage can use both white and black magic and deal decent physical damage. They are typically much more useful at lower levels than at higher levels, simply because they can never be as powerful as any single class they mimick. They can wear heavy armor but not the heaviest, cast spells... but not the top level ones. Even so, they are the only mage class of these four that can actually cast typical black/white magic spells.
Blue Mage
A mage class that has access to neither black or white magic but can cast the magic of beasts. Either by being hit by a beast's attack or by absorbing it from them, a blue mage can learn extremely powerful and varied magical attacks. Often time these spells carry multiple effects and are among some of the strongest in the game. Blue mages have also been known to have the ability to control beasts... but this does not appear to be a power of everyone in the class. They are of average physical strength.
Green Mage
A green mage cannot directly attack enemies with spells but instead use status effecting spells to weaken enemies and buff allies. Protect and poison, shell and silence, decoy and drain all are spells that fall into a green mage's realm of expertise. They are also some of the most physically powerful mages around and are usually equipped with a mace or other blunt weapon.
Time Mage
These special mages do not cast typical spells. Instead they cast spells that alter the reality of time and space itself. Haste, slow, stop, float, reflect, gravity, invisible, and x-zone... they're all time mage spells. Very few spells can directly damage or kill an enemy but a time mage's magic is usually the difference between life and death in battle. They are typically incredibly weak physically but have extremely high magical statistics.
Definitions for each class are listed below to help members that may not be familiar with them all.
Red Mage
A jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. The red mage can use both white and black magic and deal decent physical damage. They are typically much more useful at lower levels than at higher levels, simply because they can never be as powerful as any single class they mimick. They can wear heavy armor but not the heaviest, cast spells... but not the top level ones. Even so, they are the only mage class of these four that can actually cast typical black/white magic spells.
Blue Mage
A mage class that has access to neither black or white magic but can cast the magic of beasts. Either by being hit by a beast's attack or by absorbing it from them, a blue mage can learn extremely powerful and varied magical attacks. Often time these spells carry multiple effects and are among some of the strongest in the game. Blue mages have also been known to have the ability to control beasts... but this does not appear to be a power of everyone in the class. They are of average physical strength.
Green Mage
A green mage cannot directly attack enemies with spells but instead use status effecting spells to weaken enemies and buff allies. Protect and poison, shell and silence, decoy and drain all are spells that fall into a green mage's realm of expertise. They are also some of the most physically powerful mages around and are usually equipped with a mace or other blunt weapon.
Time Mage
These special mages do not cast typical spells. Instead they cast spells that alter the reality of time and space itself. Haste, slow, stop, float, reflect, gravity, invisible, and x-zone... they're all time mage spells. Very few spells can directly damage or kill an enemy but a time mage's magic is usually the difference between life and death in battle. They are typically incredibly weak physically but have extremely high magical statistics.
