The small squirrel-like Carbuncle is a creature of light. It has a red jewel 'headstone' on its forehead, which accounts for its name. The glowing stone is believed to be a lucky charm, as it brings good fortune to its possessor. The ruby however isn't the only shiny thing about the Carbuncle. It has a glowing attribute to its skin, as it looks very much like a mirror.
The Carbuncle is the only Final Fantasy XI Avatar you get to have when you start as a FFXI Summoner.
It leads you to the other FFXI Avatars. Then you have to defeat them one by one before you can summon them. This does not mean that you HAVE to start with only a FFXI Carbuncle at your side. You can level high and defeat some of the FFXI Avatars before you switch to a Summoner job.
The role of a Carbuncle is pretty limited in FFXI fights. It has almost no aggressive intent so usually you'll have a Carbuncle casting protective and healing spells on the party instead of attacking. So the role is pretty much of a support medic who takes care of the party members. However, when you are looking to fight to acquire other FFXI Avatars at level 20 fights, the Carbuncle can be your best friend. It will do the tanking for you and die many a times during the process.
| Skill | Level | MP | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healing Ruby | 1 | 6 | Heals (8 HP + level x 2) a single partied target |
| Poison Nails | 5 | 11 | Damages target through infliction of poison |
| Shining Ruby | 24 | 44 | Physical and magical resistance boost for party mates in the targeted area |
| Glittering Ruby | 44 | 62 | Effects a random enhancement of one attribute of party members within the area of effect. |
| Healing Ruby II | 65 | 108 | Heals party members in the area with the effect 28 HP+ level x 4 |
| Searing Light | 2 HR | * | Causes enormous AOE light elemental damage |
*The 2HR damage requires at least double the MP of your current level to be implement, and it drains all the available MP
