The Beast Within -- A Guide to Blue Mage

The Beast Within – A Guide to Blue Mage

Greetings! The Blue Mage community is one of the most active job communities as of late, and of course this ends up leading to a lot of questions, many of which have answers already. To help combat this, and to help people that are new to the job, I bring you The Beast Within, a comprehensive guide to all things Blue Mage. It should leave very few questions unanswered, however if there is anything that I overlook, leave a post or send me a PM.

Table of Contents
I. Introduction to Blue Mage
II. What can I do as a Blue Mage?
III. Spells
IV. Traits
V. Equipment
VI. Sub Jobs
VII. Conclusion

Section I - Introduction to Blue Mage

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Employing the legendary arts of The Immortals, we are formidable fighter-mages who employ elegant and devastating swordplay for close combat, while decimating their enemies both close up and from afar with fell magic mastered from our opponents. Blue Mage is an enormously versatile job. We’re capable of dealing damage, taking damage, and even patching up our comrades if the need arises.

Your success at these roles will come largely from both your equipment as well as your ability to utilize that equipment appropriately. Blue Mage is not a job for the faint of heart, as it requires a level of dedication and mastery that not many other jobs demand.

To begin your journey as a Blue Mage, seek a man named Waoud in Aht Urghan Whitegate.

Job Abilities

[Level 1] Azure Lore (1:00:00) - For 30 seconds, causes all physical blue magic spells to act as if they are under the effects of 350TP (without consuming any of your actual TP). Some magical spells have their multiplier increased. Azure Lore will also allow all physical spells cast during its duration to skillchain as well as all magical spells to magic burst. Mirage Bazubands +2/Luhlaza Bazubands/+1/+2/+3 enhance the duration of Azure Lore by 10 seconds.

[Level 25] Burst Affinity (2:00) - Allows your next magical blue magic spell to magic burst. That is to say, without Burst Affinity, you can not magic burst your spells. The effect lasts for 30 seconds, or until you cast your next offensive magical blue magic spell. Aside from allowing your spell to magic burst, it will also enhance its damage by doubling its WSC modifiers. Mavi Basmak +2/Hashishin Basmak/+1 enhance this further, offering an additional +10% WSC for a total of +110% WSC. Assimilator's Shalwar/+1/+2/+3 also enhance Burst Affinity, giving any magical damage spell cast while under its effect an additional 10/12/14/16 base damage.

[Level 40] Chain Affinity (2:00) - Allows your next physical blue magic spell to skillchain. Just like your magical spells, physical blue magic is incapable of skillchaining unless under the influence of Chain Affinity. You may use this to either skillchain off of one of your own weaponskills, someone else's weaponskill, or someone else's Chain Affinity-augmented physical blue magic spell. Chain Affinity further enhances the power of the spell as well by doubling its WSC modifiers. Mavi Kavuk +2/Hashishin Kavuk/+1 augment Chain Affinity further to introduce a base damage bonus of +20. Assimilator's Charuqs/+1/+2/+3 also enhance Chain Affinity by giving any physical damage spell cast while under its effect an additional 20/20/22/24 base damage.

[Level 75(Merit)] Diffusion (10:00)- Causes the next supporting blue magic spell that you cast within 60 seconds to become AoE, affecting any members of your party that are within 9' of you. Each merit of Diffusion (after the first) increases the duration of buffs cast under its effects by 5%, for a total of +20% buff duration. Mirage Charuqs +2/Luhlaza Charuqs/+1/+2/+3 further enhance Diffusion by adding an additional 5% buff duration per merit that you have into Diffusion. This leads to a total of +45% buff duration if you are 5/5 in Diffusion while wearing Mirage Charuqs +2 or any reforged version.

[Level 75(Merit)] Convergence (10:00) - Causes the next magical spell that you cast to be greatly enhanced, and if it's AoE it will be reduced to a single target. For every merit that you put into Convergence, you will enhance the initial +5% magic damage and +5 magic accuracy by an additional +5% magic damage and +5 magic accuracy, for a total of +25% magic damage and +25 magic accuracy. Mirage Keffiyeh +2/Luhlaza Keffiyeh/+1/+2/+3 enhances Convergence further by increasing the magic damage bonus by 2% for each merit that you have into Convergence for a total of an additional +10% damage. It is also very likely that it adds an additional +2 magic accuracy per merit, however I've not tested it.

[Level 83] Efflux (3:00) - This job ability will greatly enhance the next physical blue magic spell that you cast within 60 seconds. It adds the effect of 1000TP to the spell (without consuming any of your actual TP) as well as multiplies the spell's base damage by 1.5x. Mavi Tayt +2/Hashishin Tayt/+1 further enhance the TP bonus of the spell by +150/650/700 and Rosmerta's Cape enhances the TP bonus of the spell by +250.

[Level 95] Unbridled Learning (5:00) - Upon use, gives access to the following spells for up to 60 seconds, you may only cast one of them before the effect wears off: Thunderbolt, Harden Shell, Absolute Terror, Gates of Hades, Tourbillion, Pyric Bulwark, Bilgestorm, Bloodrake, Blistering Roar, Droning Whirlwind, Carcharian Verve, Uproot, Crashing Thunder, Polar Roar, Mighty Guard, Cruel Joke, Tearing Gas, and Cesspool.

[Level 96] Unbridled Wisdom (1:00:00) - For 60 seconds, allows unrestricted access to Unbridled Learning spells and sets all of their recast times to 0. Also resets the timer of Unbridled Learning.

Merits

Group 1
Chain Affinity Recast - Reduces the recast time of Chain Affinity by 4 seconds per merit.
Burst Affinity Recast - Reduces the recast time of Burst Affinity by 4 seconds per merit.
Physical Potency - Increases the accuracy of physical blue magic spells by 2 per merit and physical blue magic attack by 4/256 per merit.
Magical Accuracy - Increases the accuracy of magical blue magic spells by 2 per merit.
Monster Correlation - Increases the potency of positive monster correlation by 1.

Group 2
Convergence - Unlocks Convergence and increases its effects with each additional merit.
Diffusion - Unlocks Diffusion and increases the duration of buffs cast while under its influence by 5% per merit.
Enchainment - Adds a TP bonus to spells cast while under the effects of Chain Affinity, +10TP per merit. This is enhanced further by Mirage Jubbah +2, which adds an additional +5TP per merit.
Assimilation - Increases your available blue magic set points by 1 per merit. This is enhanced by Mirage Shalwar +2, adding +3% Magic Critial Hit rate per merit.

In most circumstances, you'll want 5/5 Physical Potency and 5/5 Magical Accuracy for group 1 merits, while putting 5/5 Assimilation and 5/5 in Diffusion for group two. One merit into Convergence may have situational value, but 99/100 times you will not have any major benefit. The long recast time limits the utility of this option as well as its impact on damage output. Given the various buffs that BLU can extend to the rest of one's party via Diffusion (most notably Mighty Guard), as well as the duration bonus that further merits provide, it is generally the better option. Burst Affinity merits may likewise warrant consideration for nuking-oriented situations, but BLU's dependence on a 1:40~2:00 cooldown to magic burst limits our ability to contribute in any meaningful way to begin with outside of AoE situations. Feel free to manipulate one's merits as needed given the current ease in obtaining merit points.

Job Points & Gifts

Azure Lore Effect - Increases the damage of physical blue magic spells while under the effects of Azure Lore. Each point increases damage by 1. (Maximum: 20)
Unbridled Wisdom Effect - Enhances the potency of Conserve MP while under the effects of Unbridled Wisdom. Each point increases potency by 3. (Maximum: 20)
Blue Magic Point Bonus - Increases the maximum number of blue magic points. Increases blue magic points by 1. (Maximum: 20)
Burst Affinity Bonus - Increases blue magic spell damage while under the effects of Burst Affinity. Each point increases damage by 2. (Maximum: 20)
Chain Affinity Effect – Increases physical blue magic skillchain damage while under the effects of Chain Affinity. Each point increases skillchain damage by 1%. (Maximum: 20)
Physical Blue Magic Effect Accuracy – Increases the accuracy of the additional effects of physical blue magic. Each point increases additional effect accuracy by 1%. (Maximum: 20)
Unbridled Learning Effect – Increases the damage dealt by blue magic usable under the effects of Unbridled Learning. Each point increases damage by 1%. (Maximum: 20)
Unbridled Learning Effect 2 – Increases the effect duration of blue magic usable under the effects of Unbridled Learning that affects party members. Each point increases duration by 1%. (Maximum: 20)
Efflux Effect – Increases the TP bonus from physical blue magic spells while under the effect of Efflux. Each point increases TP bonus by 10. (Maximum: 20)
Magic Accuracy Bonus – Increases magic accuracy. Each point increases magic accuracy by 1. (Maximum: 20)

Gift	Effect	Job Points
Physical Defense Bonus	Increases physical defence by 5.	5
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 5%.	5
Physical Attack Bonus	Increases physical and ranged attack by 10.	10
Physical Evasion Bonus	Increases physical evasion by 5.	20
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 7%.	25
Physical Accuracy Bonus	Increases physical and ranged accuracy by 5.	30
Magic Defense Bonus	Increases magic defense by 5.	45
Superior 1	Enables the player to equip items marked as Superior 1 (Su1).	50
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 9%.	55
Magic Attack Bonus	Increases magic attack by 5.	60
Magic Evasion Bonus	Increases magic evasion by 4.	80
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 11%.	95
Superior 2	Enables the player to equip items marked as Superior 2 (Su2).	100
Job Trait Bonus	Increases job traits gained from equipped blue magic by 1. Does not affect Gilfinder, Double Attack, or Auto Refresh.	100
Magic Accuracy Bonus	Increases magic accuracy by 5.	125
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 13%.	145
Blue Magic Skill Bonus	Increases blue magic skill by 5.	150
Physical Defense Bonus	Increases physical defense by 15.	180
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 15%.	205
Physical Attack Bonus	Increases physical and ranged attack by 15.	210
Physical Evasion Bonus	Increases physical evasion by 8.	245
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 17%.	275
Physical Accuracy Bonus	Increases physical and ranged accuracy by 8.	280
Magic Defense Bonus	Increases magic defense by 8.	320
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 19%.	355
Magic Attack Bonus	Increases magic attack by 8.	360
Magic Evasion Bonus	Increases magic evasion by 8.	405
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 21%.	445
Magic Accuracy Bonus	Increases magic accuracy by 8.	450
Blue Magic Skill Bonus	Increases blue magic skill by 8.	500
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 23%.	545
Blue Magic Effect	Attributes that affect the potency of blue magic spells are considered to be 5% higher when casting blue magic spells.	550
Physical Defense Bonus	Increases physical defense by 20.	605
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 25%.	655
Physical Attack Bonus	Increases physical and ranged attack by 20.	660
Physical Evasion Bonus	Increases physical evasion by 10.	720
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 27%.	775
Physical Accuracy Bonus	Increases physical and ranged accuracy by 10.	780
Magic Defense Bonus	Increases magic defense bonus by 10.	845
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 29%.	905
Magic Attack Bonus	Increases magic attack bonus by 10.	910
Magic Evasion Bonus	Increases magic evasion bonus by 10.	980
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 31%.	1045
Magic Accuracy Bonus	Increases magic accuracy bonus by 10.	1050
Blue Magic Skill Bonus	Increases blue magic skill by 10.	1125
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 33%.	1195
Job Trait Bonus	Increases job traits gained from equipped blue magic by 1. Does not affect Gilfinder, Double Attack, or Auto Refresh.	1200
Physical Defense Bonus	Increases physical defense by 25.	1280
Capacity Point Bonus	Increases acquired capacity points by 35%.	1355
Physical Attack Bonus	Increases physical and ranged attack by 25.	1360
Physical Evasion Bonus	Increases physical evasion by 13.	1445
Physical Accuracy Bonus	Increases physical and ranged accuracy by 13.	1530
Magic Defense Bonus	Increases magic defense by 13.	1620
Magic Attack Bonus	Increases magic attack by 13.	1710
Magic Evasion Bonus	Increases magic evasion bonus by 13.	1805
Magic Accuracy Bonus	Increases magic accuracy by 13.	1900
Blue Magic Skill Bonus	Increases blue magic skill by 13.	2000
★Master!	Grants the designation "Master Magus." Decreases the recast time of one-hour abilities by 15 minutes.	2100

Gift	Cumulative Bonus
Capacity Point Bonus	320%
Physical Defense Bonus	70
Physical Attack Bonus	70
Physical Evasion Bonus	36
Physical Accuracy Bonus	36
Magic Defense Bonus	36
Magic Attack Bonus	36
Magic Evasion Bonus	36
Magic Accuracy Bonus	36
Blue Magic Skill	36
Superior Equipment	Enables the player to equip items marked as Superior 1 (Su1) or Superior 2 (Su2).
Job Trait Bonus	Increases job traits gained from equipped blue magic by 2. Does not affect Gilfinder, Double Attack, or Auto Refresh.
Blue Magic Effect	Attributes that affect the potency of blue magic spells are considered to be 5% higher when casting blue magic spells.
★Master!	Grants the designation "Master Magus." Decreases the recast time of one-hour abilities by 15 minutes.

JSE Equipment
As with all jobs, Blue Mage has a full suite of job specific armors. A lot of our pieces end up being useful for niche things, while some are all around very powerful and always worth having... and still some are largely worthless and not worth investing in.

Artifact Equipment
Reforged Artifact armor gains a set bonus at +2 and +3 that increases Accuracy, Ranged Accuracy, and Magic Accuracy by 15/30/45/60 for 2/3/4/5 pieces. In addition to triggering this set bonus with other pieces of Assimilator's armor, you can also trigger it with Regal Earring, which shares the same set bonus and makes some otherwise lukewarm pieces more useful.

ItemSet 386032	ItemSet 386033	ItemSet 386034	ItemSet 386035

Head Piece
General upgradability rating: 7/10
NQ: Decent starting nuke piece.
+1: Improves on the NQ, still a decent beginner nuking head.
+2: The +2 elevates this piece with the introduction of its set bonus.
+3: Becomes the best pure magic accuracy headpiece, especially when coupled with Regal Earring.

Body Piece
General upgradability rating: 10/10
NQ: Necessary for a good Blue Magic Skill set, also a good beginner idle piece.
+1: Same as the NQ, but a bit better.
+2: The +2 Jubbah adds a very important stat: Weaponskill Damage. Unless you already have augmented Nyame armor, that elevates this piece to a must have weaponskill piece for Savage Blade, Expiacion, and Black Halo. It's also the best body piece for physical blue magic.
+3: The Weaponskill Damage bonus is doubled, and this body piece becomes the best for the three previously mentioned weaponskills until you have R25 Nyame armor.

Hand Piece
General upgradability rating: 1/10
NQ: Functionally identical to even an upgraded pair of Magus bazubands. Their only purpose is to increase your chance to learn blue magic.
+1: Little bit better than NQ.
+2: Little bit better than +1.
+3: See the pattern? It isn't worth spending millions of gil or any omen job cards to upgrade these just for an incrimental increase in learning chance. Once you know all of your spells, these are completely worthless.

Leg Piece
General upgradability rating: 5/10
NQ: Excellent spell interruption rate down pants. They also boost the potency of spells cast while under the effect of Burst Affinity.
+1: Functionally similar to the NQ, slightly bigger boost to Burst Affinity.
+2: In addition to a small increase in SIRD, this upgrade adds a magic burst damage bonus.
+3: Another small increase to SIRD, MBB, and Burst Affinity potency. They also become very competetive for magic accuracy, the second best if coupled with Regal Earring and Assimilator's Keffiyeh +2 or +3.

Foot Piece
General upgradability rating: 5/10
NQ: Only useful for physical blue magic when used with Chain Affinity.
+1: Similar to the NQ, but they're also a decent beginner TP piece.
+2: Bigger boosts for physical spells, even without Chain Affinity. Notably, they will also provide a little bit of extra magic accuracy for additional effects when coupled with Assimilator's Jubbah (which you will likely be doing most of the time).
+3: Same as the +2 but embiggened.

Relic Equipment
Relic armor doesn't have a set bonus gimmick, unlike Artifact and Empyrean. That said, the stats on Relic armor tend to be higher in general than Artifact gear without the set bonus, and equal to at least +2 Empyrean armor for the most part. Some pieces are useful as a result of this. They also have a more interesting, albeit invisible (why SE...) benefit that carries over from augmented Relic +2 armor: job ability enhancements.
Relic armor doesn't have a set bonus gimmick, unlike Artifact and Empyrean. That said, the stats on Relic armor tend to be higher in general than Artifact gear without the set bonus, and equal to at least +2 Empyrean armor for the most part. Some pieces are useful as a result of this. They also have a more interesting, albeit invisible (why SE...) benefit that carries over from augmented Relic +2 armor: job ability enhancements. Due to their stat advantage, relic pieces also tend to be good for high WSC weaponskills like Requiescat and Realmrazer.

ItemSet 386036	ItemSet 386037	ItemSet 386038	ItemSet 386039

Head Piece
General upgradability rating: 5/10
NQ: You'll want this for blue magic skill and, ever so rarely, breath damage. Boosts damage when using a damaging magical blue magic spell with Convergence, but you'll never do that.
+1: As usual with these +1 pieces, it's a nice boost over the NQ and not much else.
+2: Bumps up the blue magic skill bonus a bit more and adds in some magic accuracy. Not bad.
+3: The keffiyeh's final form maximizes its skill bonus and bumps the magic accuracy bonus up a touch.

Body Piece
General upgradability rating: 8/10
General upgradability rating: 7/10
NQ: This will be your Fast Cast body going forward. It is also a great starter idle and TP piece. The augment boosts Enchainment, giving blue magic spells cast with Chain Affinity an additional TP bonus, but you'll never use this for that.
+1: Small boost to all of the relevant stats.
+2: Further increases to the stats that we care about here, the Fast Cast is almost at its maximum here.
+3: One last point of fast cast as well as an extra point of Refresh. Whether the cost of admission is worth it to you to bring this up from +2 is a personal decision. No one would judge you if you didn't want to spend all that gil on effectively just 1% Fast Cast and a bit of magic accuracy.

Hand Piece
General upgradability rating: 1/10
NQ: Mostly worthless. Can be used for Subtle Blow but otherwise, meh. Extends Azure Lore duration but... Azure Lore is awful. Maybe keep a pair of NQ or +1 for that in case you ever need it, I guess.
+1: Still bad, don't bother unless you're real bored, seriously.
+2: <thigh>...
+3: I hope you didn't waste time or gil upgrading these.

Leg Piece
General upgradability rating: 7/10
General upgradability rating: 10/10
NQ: The beginnings of a great nuking piece. Nice starter piece for that. The augment is more or less worthless, adding a magic critical hit rate effect to Assimilation.
+1: A little stronger than before for nukes. By now you probably have at least Jhakri though, so they'll be shelved for a little bit.
+2: These just got even more interesting. At +2 your Shalwar gain a Weaponskill Damage bonus, making them an excellent choice for Savage Blade, Expiacion, and Black Halo. Their magic attributes are also entering a league of their own.
+3: Double the weaponskill damage! These are now your best weaponskill pants for the above mentioned weaponskills until you get R25 Nyame flanchard, and they are the strongest magical blue magic pants you can currently get. The combination of these two things also mean they're best for Sanguine Blade...!

Foot Piece
NQ: Blue magic skill again, and also arguably the most important pieces of Relic to have as they boost the duration of your Diffusion'd buff spells considerably. Same effect as Mirage Charuqs +2 for now.
+1: Just a bit more skill, sadly the augment doesn't get any better with upgrades.
+2: Bit more skill and not a whole lot else.
+3: Another piece where I can't really recommend going from +2 to +3, honestly. You lose a couple points of skill but honestly, that isn't a big deal.

Empyrean Equipment
-
Empyrean armor has a set bonus similar to Artifact gear, while also having some job ability enhancements similar to Relic armor. The set bonus for Blue Mage gives a tiny, tiny chance (which increases by tiny, tiny amounts with each piece equipped) to triple your WSC (stat modifier) on blue magic. It's not very good and can never be relied upon; fun when you see a capped damage nuke but it's just a party trick. It's also the most recent set to receive a +2 and +3 upgrade, meaning the stats in general are a bit better than the other two sets.

ItemSet 386040	ItemSet 386041	ItemSet 386042	ItemSet 395244

Head Piece
General upgradability rating: 10/10
NQ: Decent starting TP piece. Gives a WSC bonus to physical blue magic when cast under the effects of Chain Affinity.
+1: Nice little boost to all of the basic stats here, and a small additional boost for Chain Affinity. Still a decent TP piece, higher accuracy than most of the other pieces you will probably have at this point.
+2: Suddenly weaponskill damage, and a lot of it at that. You may remember that AF and Relic only received +5% WSD at +2, but the empyrean head gets a whole 8%. This head is your best weaponskill piece for Savage Blade, Expiacion, and Black Halo until R20 Nyame helm.
+3:

Body Piece
General upgradability rating: 10/10
NQ: This will be your best precast piece for blue magic spells going forward. Not a bad idle piece either, and eventually it will become one of the best.
+1: Not much to see here aside from a boost to the casting speed reduction for blue magic. Still worthwhile.
+2: Hot diggity that's an idle body alright. Aside from the increase to casting speed reduction, you also get an extra point of Refresh and -13% Damage Taken. If you want to split hairs, Nyame/Malignance are defensively stronger bodies for idle, but neither of those have any refresh on them. By the time this thing is +3 it should match or exceed those two pieces for defenses, too. If that isn't enough, they added a ton of magic attack and magic accuracy to it. Geez.
+3:

Hand Piece
General upgradability rating: 10/10
NQ: Similar to the body, these are the best gloves to wear for boosting the recast time reduction for blue magic spells. They're otherwise pretty uninspired for now.
+1: As with the body, you get a small increase to the recast time reduction for blue magic here. Get em.
+2: Continuing on with the trend of big boosts, these puppies also gain a huge amount of -Damage Taken as well as an enormous amount of magic accuracy and magic attack. These suckers are thus some of your best hands for magic damage and magic accuracy.
+3:

Leg Piece
General upgradability rating: 10/10
NQ: One of your de facto blue magic skill pieces. They also give you an additional TP bonus on physical blue magic cast while under the effect of Efflux.
+1: More skill and more TP bonus for your Efflux enhanced spells. Cheap and effective upgrade.
+2: Another huge chunk of -damage taken, magic attack, and magic accuracy. When combined with the blue magic skill, these become the best magic accuracy pants you can equip while also providing that chunk of damage reduction.
+3:

Foot Piece
General upgradability rating: 8/10
NQ: These are and will continue to be a decent nuke piece, particularly when used while under the effect of Burst Affinity which will gain a WSC bonus from these boots.
+1: A little more WSC boost for Burst Affinity as well as a pretty decent boost to magic attack and magic accuracy over the NQ. Can't complain.
+2: Not as exciting as the other four pieces, admittedly... but for nukes, they gain the usual chunk of magic attack and magic accuracy while also getting a clean +10% magic burst bonus, which is cool since you'll always be using these with Burst Affinity anyway. They're essentially your best overall nuking feet now, ever so slightly edging out even a set bonus enhanced pair of Amalric Nails +1.
+3

Earring
BLU ended up with a fantastic Empyrean earring from Sortie. At any upgrade level it provides a prodigious amount of physical and magical accuracy. It's a decent TP earring in general at +1 and +2 particularly when you aren't using Tizona. NQ, +1, and +2 are all best in slot for magic accuracy and spells that use both accuracy and magic accuracy such as Sudden Lunge.

Section II - What can I do as a Blue Mage?

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This is a question that has a rather broad answer to it, however it pops up with decent frequency. Blue Mage can fill many roles while being capable of performing them effectively. The most common role that you’ll be taking up is that of a damage dealer, as it is not only our most powerful role, it’s also the one that you’ll most likely need to be filling in most groups. If the need ever arises, however, you can always offer your services as a tank, or even the main healer of a party. Let’s take a basic look at these roles:

1)Damage Dealer
Blue Mage has plenty of tools at its disposal for dishing out punishment. While it cannot measure up to many other jobs in raw output, we can cover a variety of damage types (slashing and blunt via Swords and Clubs most notably, piercing being far more limited via blue magic with magic damage coming from a variety of sources) and bring a range of utility that most other jobs in the game can not come close to matching.

Most of the time, you’ll be looking at dealing physical damage, and your swords will be the primary source of damage while your physical blue magic very rarely supplements them. While physical magic has seen some significant improvements since Seekers of Adoulin launched, including large base damage and blue magic attack buffs via sword skill and attack score on your main handed weapon, weaponskill damage and autoattack damage has likewise been multiplied many times and dwarfs the damage that a physical blue magic spell can do in almost every single scenario. In addition to being numerically inferior, every time you cast a spell, you impose a 2 second delay on yourself in addition to the casting time of the spell. This adds up quickly, making spell spamming a less profitable venture than it may seem. Throwing out a powerful spell such as Thrashing Assault or Sinker Drill with Efflux may occasionally be worthwhile (especially if it aligns with a monster's weakness), especially if you need to kill a little time before your aftermath wears off.

Your main damage will be coming from one of two things: Chant du Cygne or Expiacion. Unless you have a Tizona, Expiacion is going to be much more niche however, but there may be situations where a Darkness skillchain will do more damage (especially when boosted by a Thibron in your offhand) and it is still worthy of consideration. Savage Blade is also a fine contentder for non-REMA BLUs, particularly with Naegling or Kaja Sword.

Every once in a while, you may also want to use a Club to deal blunt damage, whether to exploit a weakness or to avoid a resistance. Black Halo and Judgment are both strong weaponskills for this weapon, Black Halo being particularly potent when paired with Maxentius or Kaja Rod. Realmrazer can be decent as well, but you're best off sticking to Black Halo unless it's for skillchain purposes.

The general idea of dealing physical damage on Blue Mage centers around three major facets: our wide array of powerful offensive traits, our utilitarian stock of support tools, and access to some relatively powerful weaponskills via the versatile Sword weapon class. In most circumstances, you'll want to pile on as many strong DD traits as you can while maintaining as many of your powerful supports spells as you can depending on what will help you or your group clear a fight as fast and efficiently as possible. Winds of Promyvion, White Wind, Nature's Meditation, Diamondhide, Barrier Tusk, Cocoon, Occultation, Tenebral Crush, Scouring Spate, Mighty Guard... these are some of your most powerful utility spells for self preservation and party support, and oftentimes they are more potent than what other jobs can provide. Traits will include other useful spells already (Sudden Lunge for Store TP for example). Proper spell sets depending on what you're doing and who you're doing it with can significantly improve the experience of yourself and your comrades.

Keeping up Nature's Meditation as often as possible is going to be more of an advantage for you than a disadvantage, especially if you have a high amount of fast cast to soften the blow of casting times. Additionally, keeping up a defense down such as Tenebral Crush or Sweeping Gouge (if your alliance does not have something like Angon or if Angon is down; Tenebral Crush is as strong as Angon but not always as reliable, Sweeping Gouge is weaker) can be a major asset to the damage output of your entire team.

If you have a need to, setting Cocoon, Occultation, Magic Barrier, Saline Coat, and/or Barrier Tusk can be a great set of assets that take pressure off of your healer. They're strong tools that will increase your survivability considerably when used properly and will do a lot to close up the defensive gap between, say, a Blue Mage and a Monk. We can't reduce TP feed the way they can (and sadly Reaving Wind is often unreliable or fully resisted), but we can reduce the damage we take on a personal level considerably. Other defensive support spells such as White Wind or Magic Fruit should be used more sparingly, only when the situation is grave.

Magic damage is a bit unique for Blue Mage. Your strongest source of single target magic damage will sadly be from your sword or club in the form of Sanguine Blade or Flash Nova, the former being the superior choice in almost every situation in the game currently. Burst Affinity is a very outdated mechanic that brings our already most meager ability to try to toss out magic bursts down to an unusable level. If for some reason you are cast into the role of a long range magic damage dealer, your best spells will be Rail Cannon, Everyone's Grudge, and Retinal Glare. The first two are our pound-for-pound strongest magical single target spells, and the third is a low recast, high utility spell that does not so great damage but is quite cheap and provides a sustainable Flash effect on the enemy.

Where Blue Mage does shine above the rest, though, is AoE damage. Unlike our black magic wielding contemporaries, Blue Magic does not get a damage penalty for hitting multiple targets, so outside of events where AoE damage is explicitly reduced (examples being Ambuscade and Odyssey), Blue Mage can often be cream of the crop when it comes to burning down a room full of enemies with spells like Entomb, Spectral Floe, and Anvil Lightning at our fingertips. Subduction is also a very important spell here: it costs practically nothing, but with enough magic damage+ and a strong nuke set, it can deal 5-8k damage in a wide AoE with almost no recast time, making it essentially a powerful AoE magic autoattack that also happens to reduce enemy movement speed by an extraordinary amount. Wowie.

The last thing that I'll mention here is Diffusion. With max merits and your relic boots, you will be able to toss out a nearly 6 minute long Mighty Guard to your entire party. This enables you, as the Blue Mage, to cap your attack delay reduction without the need of any outside haste buffs at all, and gives your whole team a nice boost to their survivability. If this doesn't tickle your fancy, or there's lots of BLUs, you have a wide array of other spells to choose from as well. Erratic Flutter, Barrier Tusk, Saline Coat, Magic Barrier... the list goes on. Mighty Guard will take up 9/10 of your Diffusions, but hey, those other spells can sometimes be even more useful if used correctly.

2)Tank
You're not going to be doing this much, maybe not at all, but Blue Mage can serve as a functional tank if the need arises. You can't bypass physical and magical damage reduction caps like a PLD or RUN, but you can buff your survivability with spells like Occultation and Cocoon enough to get through many of the tougher fights in the game, and that counts for something. BLU has access to plenty of magic evasion, status ailment resistance, and dt- gear, and you can provide potent self healing when needed.

For enmity control, BLU has way more up its sleeve than just about any other job out there. AoE spells that generate large, static amounts of hate (Jettatura, Soporific, Sheep Song, Geist Wall), buffs that can help you keep things attention without having to touch them (Fantod, Exuviation, Erratic Flutter, et al), and if you really, really needed to, a Diffused spell such as Exuviation provides an enormous spike to enmity even in today's world, giving you plenty of options to choose from. Enmity gear is a bit more of a problem, however.

The other aspect to a decent tank: party support. I don't have to remind you that BLU has access to a wide range of support spells that can benefit the entire group. In a specialized sense, however, nothing that BLU offers the team can match the short(ish) term benefits of abilities like Rampart, Valiance, and One for All. That said, spells like Diamondhide and White Wind can be game changers, especially in a situation where your BLU is your tank (probably means you're lowman with limited job selection), and should be taken seriously in these scenarios.

I was a very big BLU tanking advocate, and I used to occassionally tank endgame on BLU even at 75, but it cannot be ignored that the game's ecosystem has changed over the years. The two defined tank jobs do what they do best, as it should be, but BLU can still stand in in a pinch and should not be underestimated when it comes to being able to fill a tank role. Just keep the potential limitations of the job compared to a defined tank into account.

3)Healer
Like tanking, you aren't going to be knocking the socks off of a dedicated healer, but BLU has enough tools in its kit to heal well enough for a large variety of content in the game.

First off, the heals. Magic Fruit and White Wind are extremely potent healing spells, and can be as strong or even stronger than their White Magic foils. Properly built, you'll have no trouble keeping people standing under normal circumstances. Status removal is much more tricky. You do get an invaluable tool in Winds of Promyvion, letting you cast an AoE erase spell on demand which can be very useful in many, many situations. For -na spells, though, you have to rely on /SCH. Addendum: White will give you almost the entire range of status removal spells and will let you keep up with, say, a RDM in this regard, but it can be very tiring to keep up with the status spam on some NMs out there.

For other support spells, we have the staples like Diamondhide, Mighty Guard, debuffs like Scouring Spate to reduce enemy damage output, or offensive debuffs like Tenebral Crush to help push out more damage. Plenty of options and not lacking severely compared to other jobs that you'd expect to see in a healing role. In a tight situation where you don't have another choice, a good BLU can get the job done. Just don't expect to do it often.

4)Proccer
Proccing is the bane of Blue Mage's existence. In its first incarnation in Abyssea, it was next to unbearable in some cases with spells like Blitzhrahl and 1000 Needles being required on certain Vana'Diel days. This was alleviated to a large degree in a version update which cut the number of Blue Magic proc spells in half, allowing much more leniency in our ability to set useful things and removing notorious problem spells like the aforementioned 1000 Needles. However, things got worse after that.

Voidwatch instituted a new, even broader proc system. At its inception, you had no way of knowing which specific school of magic that the enemy was weak to, and we had only a rudimentary list of proc spells available. As such, Blue Mage was effectively entirely limited to setting elemental spells out the wazoo, some of which being heavily resisted thus providing severe problems in terms of ability to proc with them. Once again this was partially alleviated over time as our understanding of the Voidwatch proc system ripened and we developed comprehensive lists of proc spells. SE also did their part by implementing Atmacites that allowed the holder to see exact proc specifications, including element and type, i.e. Water Blue Magic rather than just water magic. The issue has yet to be completely alleviated however; Blue Mage still has an immense amount of proc spells that it has to take care of, so many that it is physically impossible to set them all at once.

Fortunately, there's ways around this. Generally speaking, unless you're in a poor Voidwatch group, you need only worry about High and Extreme vulnerabilities. You also need only set two or three elements at a time, allowing you to maintain at minimum Dual Wield II, Store TP, and Frightful Roar. The efficiency of subbing WAR and setting only a few elements at a time in addition to DD traits and support spells greatly oversteps subbing BLM and setting only proc spells over time. So while the shackles still exist, they aren't as tight as they could be.

Abyssea Proc Spells

Voidwatch Proc Spells

5)Cleaver
No job in the game currently has the same level of AoE magic damage as a Blue Mage. With proper magic sets, a BLU can single-handedly wipe out an army of enemies. This style of grinding has become even more popular as of late, owing to our colossally powerful new spells and the large amount of job points needed for BLU. The general premise behind this form of combat is simple. Your job is to gather as many enemies as possible and blow them to smithereens. The actual mechanics of this are sometimes more complex, however. More often than not, you will be solo cleaving, meaning that you will be the primary puller, healer, and killer. Luckily, you’re playing the most versatile job in the game, and can fill each of those roles with aplomb. For solo situations, you will want to set a good mix of AoE magic damage spells that correlate to the element(s) that your targets are weak to, defensive spells/traits, and a reliable source of healing and MP generation. Exact spellsets are discussed in greater detail in the spellset section. Another practical application that technically counts as cleaving comes from Odyssey Sheol. Many monster families (as a general but not ultimate rule, any monster that doesn't have SDT toward Darkness element) can be afflicted with Doom via Cruel Joke. This can speed up your Odyssey farms considerably, just remember to keep things petrified with Entomb and asleep after that, and don't move far from the doomed monsters or else the debuff will drop.

Step 1: Buff yourself with all of the defensive abilities you have chosen for yourself. A particularly important spell to keep active is Carcharian Verve, as the aquaveil effect from this spell is huge in being able to complete your casting while being smacked by multiple enemies.

Step 2: Gather the mobs.

Step 3: Make sure you’ll hit them all with your nukes, and start going to town. Particularly effective spells to be using for damage are those that also apply negative debuffs on enemies, such as the petrify from Entomb, terror from Spectral Floe, or massive gravity from Subduction.

Step 4: Recover from your pull while silently judging the poor souls unable to visit such swift destruction upon their foes.

Step 5: Rinse and repeat until you have your 2100 JP gift and you never want to cleave again.

In party situations, your role may change. If you have a dedicated gatherer, your job is to kill things and keep your puller alive. The same powerful spells will be used, but there will be a much smaller danger to you personally, and you can instead focus on simply dealing damage. This setup becomes particularly effective when multiple Blue Mages get together, as the speed at which enemies are dispatched greatly increases. Altogether, this style of grinding is very simple once you get the hang of it, but it will require suitable gear.

Section III - Spells

To Top

Blue Mage has access to a staggering array of spells that fill many different utilities, from damage, to enfeebles, to healing spells, to defensive buffs; we have a spell that can do just about anything that you would ever want to do. While we’re limited in how many of these spells that we can use at any given time, we can put together spell sets that fit the situations we’re in and optimize our potential however we may need to.

In this section, I’ll give an in-depth list of spells as well as a list of spell sets that you will be using the most. Experimentation is encouraged, but keep in mind that diverging too far from the general structure of these spell sets will likely see a decrease in performance, so before you remove a job trait or a buff spell, make sure to see why they’re included in the spell set.

---The Spell List---

I warn you, this could be a bit daunting to take in. For most, the only important pieces of information that I’ll be including here will be the modifiers, MP cost, recast times, and durations. The other information is included for those who wish to calculate their own damage, or who are just curious. I'd also like to point out that this list only contains spells that I have data for, if they aren't here already it means I don't care enough to get the data for them. Here’s how things will be formatted:

Spell Name – D Cap, Modifiers, fTP, notes about additional effects and other parts of the spell
MP Cost, Recast Time, Duration (If Applicable)

Physical:

Spoiler Alert! Click to view.

Foot Kick - D Cap 9, 10% STR 10% DEX, fTP 1.0
5MP, 6.5 seconds

Power Attack - D Cap 11, 30% VIT, fTP 1.125
5MP, 7.25 seconds

Sprout Smack - D Cap 11, 30% VIT, fTP 1.5 [Slow: 15% for 3:00]
6MP, 7.25 seconds

Wild Oats - D Cap 11, 30% AGI, fTP 1.8359375
9MP, 7.25 seconds

Queasyshroom - D Cap 15, 20% INT, fTP 1.75 [Poison: 3/tic for 1:30 ~ 3:00]
20MP, 15 seconds

Battle Dance - D Cap 17, 30% STR, fTP 2.0
12MP, 10 seconds

Head Butt - D Cap 17, 20% STR 20% INT, fTP 1.75(0) 2.125(150), 2.25(300), 2.375(350)
12MP, 10 seconds

Feather Storm - D Cap 17, 30% AGI, fTP 2.0 [Poison: 1/tic for 1:30]
12MP, 10 seconds

Helldive - D Cap 19, 30% AGI, fTP 1.25(0) 1.625(150) 2(300) 2.125(350)
16MP, 11.25 seconds

Bludgeon - D Cap 21, 30% CHR, fTP 1.0
16MP, 11.75 seconds

Claw Cyclone - D Cap 23, 30% DEX, fTP 1.4375
24MP, 19.75 seconds

Screwdriver - D Cap 27, 20% STR 20% MND, fTP 1.375
21MP, 14 seconds

Grand Slam - D Cap 33, 30% VIT, fTP 1.0
24MP, 14.25 seconds

Smite of Rage - D Cap 35, 20% STR 20% DEX, fTP 1.5(0) 2.25(150) 2.5(300) 2.53125(350)
28MP, 13 seconds

Pinecone Bomb - D Cap 37, 20% STR 20% AGI, fTP 2.25 [Sleep: 0:10 ~ 1:00]
48MP, 26.5 seconds

Jet Stream - D Cap 39, 30% AGI, fTP 1.125
47MP, 23 seconds

Uppercut - D Cap 39, 35% STR, fTP 1.5
31MP, 17.75 seconds

Terror Touch - D Cap 41, 20% DEX 20% INT, fTP 1.5 [Attack Down: 15% (38/256) for 1:00]
62MP, 21 seconds

Mandibular Bite - D Cap 45, 20% STR 20% INT, fTP 2.0
38MP, 19.25 seconds

Sickle Slash - D Cap 49, 50% DEX, fTP 1.5
41MP, 20.5 seconds
**SPELLS BEYOND THIS POINT HAVE NO REACHABLE D CAP**

Death Scissors - 60% STR, fTP 1.5(0) 2.75(150) 3.25(300) 3.296875(350)
51MP, 24.5 seconds

Dimensional Death - 50% STR, fTP 2.25
48MP, 23.75 seconds

Spiral Spin - 30% AGI, fTP 2.0 [Accuracy Down: -15 for 0:45 ~ 1:00]
39MP, 45 seconds

Seedspray - 30% DEX, fTP 0.875 [Defense Down: -8% (20/256) for 1:30 ~ 2:00]
61MP, 35 seconds

Body Slam - 40% VIT, fTP 1.5
74MP, 27.75 seconds

Spinal Cleave - 30% STR, fTP 3.0
61MP, 28.5 seconds

Frenetic Rip - 20% STR 20% DEX, fTP 1.359375(0) 2.0703125(150) 2.359375(300) 2.609375(350) [Attack bonus]
61MP, 28.5 seconds

Frypan - 20% STR 20% MND, fTP 1.7734375
65MP, 26 seconds

Hydro Shot - 30% AGI, fTP 1.25 [Enmity Down effect is miniscule, so small that the damage done by the spell often overtakes the decrease]
55MP, 26 seconds

Tail Slap - 20% STR 50% VIT, fTP 1.625
77MP, 28.5 seconds

Hysteric Barrage - 30% DEX, fTP 1.25(0) 1.625(150) 1.75(300) 1.875(350)
61MP, 28.5 seconds

Asuran Claws - 10% STR 10% DEX, fTP 0.625
81MP, 60 seconds

Cannonball - 50% STR 50% VIT, fTP 1.75(0) 2.125(150) 2.75(300) 2.875(350) [Uses Defense rather than Attack to calculate damage.]
66MP, 28.5 seconds

Disseverment - 20% STR 20% DEX, fTP 1.5 [Poison: level/5+3 for 3:00]
74MP, 32.75 seconds

Sub-zero Smash - 60% VIT, fTP 2.0 [Paralyze: 10% for 3:00]
44MP, 30 seconds

Ram Charge - 30% STR 50% MND, fTP 1.0(0) 1.375(150) 1.75(300) 1.875(350)
79MP, 34.75 seconds

Vertical Cleave - 50% STR, fTP 3.0
86MP, 37.25 seconds

Final Sting - fTP 1.0 [Damage varies with HP, will never deal more than 66% of a monster's HP in damage.]
88MP, 11 seconds

Goblin Rush - 30% STR 30% DEX, fTP 1.25 [+35% Attack bonus]
76MP, 25.5 seconds

Vanity Dive - 50% DEX, fTP 3.0(0) 4.0(150) 4.5(300) 4.75(350) [+66% Attack bonus]
58MP, 40 seconds

Benthic Typhoon - 60% AGI, fTP 4.0(0) 4.5(150) 5.0(300) 5.25(350) [Defense Down: -10% (25/256) for 1:00. Magic Defense Down: -10 for 1:00]
56MP, 55 seconds

Whirl of Rage - 30% STR 30% MND, fTP 3.0(0) 3.5(150) 4.0(300) 4.25(350) [Additional Effect: Stun]
73MP, 30 seconds

Quad. Continuum - 32% STR 32% VIT, fTP 1.25(0) 1.5(150) 1.75(300) 2.0(350) [Attack bonus]
91MP, 31.75 seconds

Empty Thrash - 50% STR, fTP 2.0
33MP, 40.75 seconds

Delta Thrust - 20% STR 50% VIT, fTP 1.09375 [Plague: -10TP and -6MP/tic for 0:40 ~ 1:00]
28MP, 15 seconds

Heavy Strike - 50% STR, fTP 2.5(0) 3.5(150) 4(300) ???(350) [Scores a critical hit 100% of the time. Possesses a penalty of -100 Accuracy]
32MP, 30 seconds

Sudden Lunge - 40% AGI, fTP 1.5(0) 2.5(150) 3.0(300) ???(350) [Boasts an incredibly potent stun effect.]
18MP, 12 seconds

Quadrastrike - 30% STR, fTP 1.1875 [Roughly 33% Critical Hit Rate at 150% TP]
98MP, 42.5 seconds

Tourbillion - 25% STR 25% MND, fTP 4.0 [Defense Down: -33% (85/256) for 1:30 ~ 2:00]
108MP, You are only able to cast this spell while under the effect of Unbridled Learning

Amorphic Spikes - 20% DEX 20% INT, fTP 1.0(0) 1.375(150) ???(300) ???(350) [Attack bonus]
79MP, 58.25 seconds

Barbed Crescent - 50% DEX, fTP 2.0 [Accuracy Down: -30 for 2:00]
52MP, 22 seconds

Bilgestorm - ???% ???, fTP ??? [Defense Down: -25% (64/256) for 0:30 ~ 1:00. Attack Down: -25% (64/256) for 0:30 ~ 1:00. Accuracy Down: -??? for 0:30 - 1:00]
122MP, You are only able to cast this spell while under the effect of Unbridled Learning

Bloodrake – 30% STR 30% MND, fTP 1.0(0) 1.125 1.375(150) ???(300) ???(350) [Additional Effect: Damage done is converted to HP for the user]
99MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Paralyzing Triad - 30% STR 30% DEX, fTP 1.125(0) 1.375(150) 1.625(300) ???(350) [Paralyze: 20% for 1:00.]
33MP, 15 seconds

Glutinous Dart - 50% STR 50% VIT, fTP 1.0(0) 2.0(150) ???(300) ???(350) [Can be cast from a long range (20.5').]
16MP, 6 seconds

Thrashing Assault - 32% STR 32% DEX, fTP 1.25(0) 1.5(150) 1.75(300) 2.0(350)
119MP, 60 seconds

Sinker Drill - 50% STR 50% VIT, fTP 1.0(0) ???(150) ???(300) ???(350)
91MP, 20 seconds

Sweeping Gouge – 30% VIT, fTP 1.0 [Additional effect: 15.625% Defense down (40/256) for 1:30(0) 2:00(150) 2:15(300) ???(350)]
29MP, 120 seconds

Saurian Slide – ???, fTP 1.0(0) ???(150) ???(300) ???(350) [Additional Effect: 25% attack down for 0:40~1:00]
109MP, 35 seconds

Magical:

Spoiler Alert! Click to view.

**D cap can be assumed to be unreachable if not listed.**

Sandspin - D Cap 13, 1.0dINT, 20% INT, fTP 1 [Accuracy Down: -25 for 3:00]
10MP, 9.75 seconds

Cursed Sphere - D Cap 30, 1.0dINT, 30% INT, fTP 1.5
36MP, 19.5 seconds

Blastbomb - D Cap 30, 1.0dINT, 20% INT, fTP 1.375
36MP, 15 seconds

Blood Drain – [skill x .11] x 3 Drains HP
10MP, 90 seconds

Bomb Toss - D Cap 40, 1.0dINT, 20% INT, fTP 1.625
42MP, 24.5 seconds

Death Ray - D Cap 51, 1.0dINT, 20% INT 10% MND, fTP 1.625
49MP, 29.25 seconds

Digest – [skill x .11] x 5 Drains HP
20MP, 90 seconds

Mysterious Light - D Cap 57, 1.0dCHR, 30% CHR, fTP 0.96875 [Gravity: -10 Evasion for 0:30 ~ 2:00]
73MP, 24.5 seconds

MP Drainkiss – Variable MP drain (Similar to Aspir) Cannot affect undead or enemies without MP.
20MP, 90 seconds

Blood Saber – AoE HP drain [skill x .11] x 3.5
25MP, 90 seconds

Blitzstrahl - D Cap 61, 1.0dINT, 30% INT 10% MND, fTP 1.5625 [Boasts a potent stun]
70MP, 29.25 seconds

Ice Break - D Cap 67, 1.0dINT, 30% INT, fTP 2.25
142MP, 33.75 seconds

Self-Destruct – Go boom. AoE damage based on HP at the time of casting.
100MP, 21 seconds

Maelstrom - 1.5dINT, 30% INT 10% MND, fTP 2.375 [STR Down: -20 for 1:00.]
162MP, 39 seconds

Eyes on Me - 1.5dCHR, 40% CHR, fTP 2.625
112MP, 29.25 seconds

1000 Needles Deals 1000 damage split evenly among nearby enemies.
350MP, 56 seconds

Corrosive Ooze - 2.0dINT, 20% INT, fTP 2.171875 [Defense Down: 5% (13/256) for 1:00 ~ 1:30. Attack Down: 5% (13/256) for 1:00 ~ 1:30. Suppresses enmity gain.]
55MP, 30 seconds

Firespit - 1.5dINT, 20% INT 20% MND, fTP 3
121MP, 43 seconds

Regurgitation - 2.0dINT, 30% MND, fTP 1.875 [Suppresses enmity gain. Damage dealt from behind is multiplied by 1.25]
69MP, 24 seconds

Mind Blast - 1.5dMND, 30% MND, fTP 2.07421875 [Paralyze: 20% for 1:30]
82MP, 30 seconds

Magic Hammer - D Cap 35, 1.0dMND, 30% MND, fTP 1 [Converts damage dealt to MP if the target has MP.]
40MP, 180 seconds

Acrid Stream - 2.0dINT, 30% MND, fTP 2.296875 [Magic Defense Down: -10 for 2:00]
89MP, 23 seconds

Leafstorm - 2.0dINT, 30% STR, fTP 2.75
132MP, 62 seconds

Blazing Bound - 2.0dINT, 30% STR, fTP 3 [Uses Magic Defense Bonus in place of Magic Attack Bonus to calculate damage done. This essentially negates the effects of Weakness.]
113MP, 30 seconds

Osmosis – HP and status buff drain [skill x .11] x 7
47MP, 120 seconds

Thermal Pulse - 2.0dINT, 40% VIT, fTP 4 [Blind: -25 for 0:30 ~ 1:00]
151MP, 70 seconds

Charged Whisker - 2.0dINT, 50% DEX, fTP 4.5
183MP, 85 seconds

Everyone's Grudge - 2.0dINT, 40% MND, fTP 5
185MP, 70 seconds

Water Bomb - 1.5dINT, 20% INT 10% MND, fTP 2 [Silence lasts 1:30 ~ 2:00]
67MP, 32 seconds

Dark Orb - 2.0dINT, 40% INT, fTP 4.5
153MP, 72 seconds

Thunderbolt - 2.0dINT, 30% INT 20% MND, fTP 4
138MP, you are only able to cast this spell while under the effect of Unbridled Learning

Gates of Hades - 1.0dINT, 20% STR 20% DEX, fTP 5 [Burn: 22HP/tic and -47INT for 1:30]
156MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effect of Unbridled Learning

Droning Whirlwind – 2.0dINT, NO WSC, fTP 4.0 [Additional Effect: Full Dispel]
224MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Tempestuous Upheaval - 2.0dINT, 30% AGI, fTP 3.796875
133MP, 12 seconds

Rending Deluge - 2.0dINT, 20% STR 20% VIT, fTP 3.5 [Dispels one beneficial effect]
118MP, 35 seconds

Embalming Earth - 2.0dINT, 30% VIT, fTP 3 [Slow: -25% for 3:00.]
57MP, 24 seconds

Foul Waters - 2.0dINT, 20% STR 20% MND, fTP 2.25 [Drown: 31HP/tic and -65STR for 3:00.]
76MP, 60 seconds

Retinal Glare - 2.0dINT, 30% INT 10% MND, fTP 2.75 [Flash: Lasts for 0:15.]
26MP, 45 seconds

Subduction - 2.0dINT, 10% STR 10% VIT, fTP 2.0 [Gravity: -76% Movement Speed for 1:30.]
27MP, 5 seconds

Rail Cannon - 2.0dINT, 40% MND, fTP 6.0
200MP, 3 minutes

Diffusion Ray - 2.0dINT, 40% MND, fTP 5.0
238MP, 45 seconds

Uproot – 2.0dINT, 40% VIT, fTP 4.0 [Additional Effect: Removes debuffs from the caster]
88MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Crashing Thunder – 2.0dINT, 30% AGI, fTP 6.50
172MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Polar Roar – 2.0dINT, 20% STR 20% INT, fTP 5.0. [Additional Effect: Bind]
126MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Molting Plumage – 2.0dINT, 30% AGI, fTP 4.0
146MP, 25 seconds

Nectarous Deluge – 2.0dINT, 30% MND, fTP 3.0 [Additional Effect: 80HP/3 seconds Poison]
97MP, 45 seconds

Atramentous Libations – AoE HP drain [skill x .11] x 9
164MP, 180 seconds

Searing Tempest – 2.0dINT, 80% STR, fTP 4.0 [Additional Effect: Burn (-30/3 seconds, - 63INT)]
116MP, 60 seconds

Blinding Fulgor – 2.0dINT, 30% STR 30% DEX 30% AGI, fTP 4.0 [ Additional Effect: Flash]
116MP, 60 seconds

Spectral Floe – 2.0dINT, 80% INT, fTP 4.0 [Additional Effect: Terror]
116 MP, 60 seconds

Scouring Spate – 2.0dINT, 80% MND, fTP 4.0 [ Additional Effect: 20% attack down for 3:00.]
116MP, 60 seconds

Anvil Lightning – 2.0dINT, 80% DEX, fTP 4.0 [Additional Effect: Stun]
116MP, 60 seconds

Silent Storm – 2.0dINT, 80% AGI, fTP 4.0 [Additional Effect: Silence for 5:00.]
116MP, 60 seconds

Entomb – 2.0dINT, 80% VIT, fTP 4.0 [Additional Effect: Petrify for 1:00.]
116MP, 60 seconds

Tenebral Crush – 2.0dINT, 30% INT 30% MND 30% VIT, fTP 4.0 [Additional Effect: 20% Defense Down]
116MP, 60 seconds

Palling Salvo – 2.0dINT, 60% AGI, fTP 5.0 [Additional Effect: 15HP/3 seconds Bio, -10% attack down]
175MP, 45 seconds

Cesspool - ?.?dINT, ??% ???, fTP ?.? [Additional Effect: 100TP/tic 5MP/tic Plague for 1:00.]
166MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Tearing Gust - ?.?dINT, ??% ???, fTP ?.? [Additional Effect: Magic Defense Bonus -30 for 1:00.]
202MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Breaths:

Spoiler Alert! Click to view.

Debuffs

Spoiler Alert! Click to view.

Filamented Hold - 25% Slow for 1:30
38MP, 20 seconds

Cimicine Discharge - 19.5% Slow for 1:30
32MP, 20 seconds

Demoralizing Roar – 20% attack down
46MP, 25 seconds

Venom Shell - 6/tic Poison for 3:00
86MP, 45 seconds

Light of Penance - -100 Accuracy Blind for 0:30, -10 TP
53MP, 60 seconds

Sandspray - -25 Accuracy Blind for 1:00 ~ 2:00
43MP, 90 seconds

Auroral Drape - -60 Accuracy Blind for 0:40 ~ 1:00, Silence for 0:40 ~ 1:00
51MP, 60 seconds

Frightful Roar - -10% (25/256) Defense Down for 3:00
32MP, 20 seconds

Enervation - -10% (26/256) Defense Down for 0:30, -8 Magic Defense for 0:30
48MP, 60 seconds

Infrasonics - -20 Evasion for 1:00
42MP, 120 seconds

Lowing - -5TP and -3MP/tic for 0:40 ~ 1:00
66MP, 56 seconds

Cold Wave - 23/tic and -49 AGI for 0:30 [Level/2 for AGI Down; (AGI Down - 3)/2 for the DoT]
37MP, 60 seconds

Awful Eye - -43 STR for 0:30 [Level dependent]
32MP, 60 seconds

Sheep Song - Sleep for 0:40 ~ 1:00
22MP, 60 seconds

Soporific - Sleep for 1:30
38MP, 90 seconds

Yawn - AoE light sleep for 1:15 ~ 1:30 on enemies facing you
55MP, 60 seconds

Dream Flower – Dark AoE sleep for 1:30 ~ 2:00
68MP, 45 seconds

Chaotic Eye - Silence for 0:05 ~ 2:00
13MP, 10 seconds

Sound Blast – INT down (-10INT, decays 1 INT every ~0:10) for 1:30~1:40 [Technical duration is 3:00, but it wears off when the INT down hits 0]
25MP, 30 seconds

Blank Gaze – Gaze Light Dispel
25MP, 10 seconds

Stinking Gas – VIT down
37MP, 60 seconds

Geist Wall – AoE darkness dispel
35MP, 30 seconds

Jettatura – Gaze terror
37MP, 120 seconds

Feather Tickle – Reduces an enemy’s TP by a random amount between 0 and 1500.
48, 26 seconds

Temporal Shift – AoE stun
48MP, 56 seconds

Actinic Burst – AoE flash
24mp, 60 seconds

Reaving Wind – Reduce TP of all enemies in range by 1000. Amount reduced does not depend on the monster's current TP, save that TP values cannot go below 0.
84MP, 26 seconds

Mortal Ray - 1:00 Doom. Must remain within melee range of affected monsters or it will be dispelled.
267MP, 150 seconds

Absolute Terror – AoE terror
29MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Blistering Roar – AoE terror
43MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Cruel Joke - AoE 1:00 Doom. Must remain within melee range of affected monsters or it will be dispelled.
187MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Buffs and Heals:

Spoiler Alert! Click to view.

Pollen – Restores HP to only the caster. Roughly the same as the healing magic spell Cure, MND being the most effective modifier while VIT is a less effective secondary modifier. It is affected by cure potency. Soft caps at 36HP healed.
8MP, 5 seconds

Metallic Body – Applies a stoneskin effect that absorbs damage equal to skill*0.375 + 12.5. Caps at 200 damage absorbed (500 skill).
19MP, 60 seconds, 5 minutes

Cocoon – Applies a 50% defense bonus.
10MP, 60 seconds, 90 seconds

Healing Breeze – Restores HP to the caster and all party members within 10’. Roughly the same as the healing magic spells Curaga and Curaga II, MND being the most effective modifier while VIT is a less effective secondary modifier. It is affected by cure potency. Soft caps at 180HP healed.
55MP, 15 seconds

Wild Carrot – Restores HP to a party member. Roughly the same as cure III. MND is the most effective modifier while VIT is a less effective secondary modifier. Affected by cure potency. Soft cap at 180 HP.
37MP, 6 seconds

Refueling – Applies a 10% magical haste effect.
29MP, 30 seconds, 5 minutes

Feather Barrier – Applies a buff of +20 evasion.
29MP, 120 seconds, 30 seconds

Magic Fruit – Restores HP to the caster or target party member. It is roughly equivalent to the healing magic spells Cure IV and Cure V, MND being the most effective modifier while VIT is a less effective secondary modifier where 1 MND = 1.5HP and 1 VIT = 0.5 HP, it is also affected by healing magic skill and cure potency. Soft caps at 550 HP healed, hard caps at 610 HP. Not affected by day/weather effects.
72MP, 6 seconds

Memento Mori – Applies a buff of +20 magic attack bonus.
46MP, 120 seconds, 30 seconds

Voracious Trunk – Steals one beneficial effect from an enemy.
72MP, 56 seconds

Zephyr Mantle – Applies a blink effect that absorbs a maximum of 4 attacks.
31MP, 60 seconds, 5 minutes

Diamondhide – Applies a stoneskin effect to the caster and all party members within 10’ that absorbs damage equal to skill*0.6 + 20. Caps at 320 damage absorbed (500 skill).
99MP, 90 seconds, 5 minutes

Warm-Up – Applies a buff of +10 accuracy and +10 evasion.
59MP, 120 seconds, 3 minutes

Amplification – Applies a buff of +10 magic attack bonus and +10 magic defense bonus.
48MP, 120 seconds, 90 seconds

Triumphant Roar – Applies a buff of +15% attack (38/256).
36MP, 90 seconds, 1 minute

Saline Coat – Applies a buff of +50 magic defense bonus that decays over time to a minimum potency of +8 magic defense bonus. 50 -> 37 -> 27 -> 20 -> 15 -> 11 -> 8.
66MP, 60 seconds, 90 seconds~2 minutes

Reactor Cool – Applies and ice spikes effect as well as a buff of +12% defense.
28MP, 60 seconds, 2 minutes

Exuviation – Restores approximately 80 HP and removes a single status ailment that could normally be removes by the healing magic spell Erase.
40MP, 60 seconds

Plasma Charge – Gain the effect of lighting spikes
24MP, 60 seconds

Plenilune Embrace - Restores HP to the caster or target party member as well as bestowing a buff of 1%~15% attack and 1~15 magic attack bonus depending on the moon phase. It is roughly equivalent to the healing magic spells Cure IV and Cure V, MND being the most effective modifier while VIT is a less effective secondary modifier where 1 MND = 1.5HP and 1 VIT = 0.5 HP, it is also affected by healing magic skill and cure potency, its HP healed being identical to the amount of HP healed by Magic Fruit +100 (+1 extra per every 1% of cure potency). Soft caps at 650 HP healed, hard caps at 710 HP.
106MP, 10 seconds, 90 seconds

Regeneration – Applies a regen effect of 10HP/tic. Restores a total of 300HP by the end of its duration.
36MP, 60 seconds, 90 seconds

Animating Wail – Applies a 15% magical haste buff.
53MP, 45 seconds, 5 minutes

Battery Charge – Applies a refresh effect of 3MP/tic. Restores a net total of 250MP by the end of its duration.
50MP, 75 seconds, 5 minutes

Magic Barrier – Applies a magic shield that absorbs magic damage equal to your current blue magic skill.
29MP, 60 seconds, 5 minutes

Fantod – Applies a boost effect that enhances your attack by 2.7%~29.7% and your magic attack by 2~20. Stacks up to 10 times, each stack increasing the buff exponentially.
12MP, 10 seconds, 3 minutes or until your next attack or magic attack

Occultation – Applies a blink effect that absorbs attacks based on your blue magic skill. Every 50 skill = 1 shadow.
138MP, 90 seconds, 5 minutes

Winds of Promyvion – Removes one detrimental status effect from the caster and party members within 10’. Will only remove status effects that can be removed by the healing magic spell Erase.
36MP, 20 seconds

Barrier Tusk – Applies a Phalanx effect that reduces damage by 15%. This damage reduction is multiplicative and passes the 50% damage reduction cap, maxing your damage reduction out at 57.5%.
41MP, 60 seconds, 1 minute

White Wind - Restores HP to the caster and all party members within 10’. HP healed is equal to floor(MaxHP/7)*2 and is affected by cure potency.
145MP, 20 seconds

Orcish Counterstance – Applies a buff of +10% counter rate and increases the damage of counterattacks by 50%.
18MP, 60 seconds, 120 seconds

Harden Shell – Applies a 100% defense bonus.
20MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effect of Unbridled Learning, 90 seconds

Pyric Bulwark – Applies a physical shield that absorbs the next physical attack directed at you.
50MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effect of Unbridled Learning, 5 minutes

Nature's Meditation - Applies a buff of +20% attack (52/256).
38MP, 60 seconds, 90 seconds

Carcharian Verve – 20% attack buff, +20 MAB, both effects last for one minute. Aquaveil effect lasts for 30 minutes
65MP. You are only able to cast this spell while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.

Erratic Flutter - Applies a 30% (307/1024) magical haste buff.
92MP, 45 seconds, 5 minutes

Restoral - Restores HP to the caster. Affected by MND, VIT, and blue magic skill. Maximum 1040 HP healed.
127MP, 10 seconds

Mighty Guard – Grants the caster 15% magic haste, 15% defense, 15 MDB, and 30 regen/tick. Only usable while under the effects of Unbridled Learning.
299MP, 3 minutes.

---Spell Sets---
Now you may be asking yourself, "how does one make use of these awesome spells?" Well I have an answer for you. Below are a few templates for spell sets that you'll use in most situations. These are not do or die configurations in the slightest, in fact I strongly encourage you to adjust them to fit your individual needs based on the situation.

Click the spoilers to see each set.

Basic DD Spec

Intermediate DD Spec

Advanced DD Spec

Zahak Reborn (Expert DD Spec)

Dynamis Spec

AoE Spec

Omen AoE Spec

--Useful Self Skillchains--

With Chain Affinity, you can easily create self skillchains to enhance your damage. Here are the better ones that you should be looking to use whenever you're attempting a skillchain.

Level	Skillchain	Elements	Skill Combination
		Useful WS + Spell Skillchains
40	Fusion	Fire/Light	Red Lotus Blade -> Jet Stream
48	Gravitation	Darkness/Earth	Red Lotus Blade -> Sickle Slash
60	Fusion	Fire/Light	Red Lotus Blade -> Dimensional Death
60	Gravitation	Darkness/Earth	Red Lotus Blade -> Death Scissors
70	Light	Fire/Thunder/Wind/Light	Savage Blade -> Cannonball
72	Distortion	Ice/Water	Savage Blade -> Disseverment
75	Darkness	Ice/Water/Earth/Darkness	Expiacion -> Vertical Cleave
81	Light	Fire/Thunder/Wind/Light	Savage Blade -> Goblin Rush
83	Darkness	Ice/Water/Earth/Darkness	Expiacion -> Benthic Typhoon
85	Distortion	Ice/Water	Savage Blade -> Quad. Continuum
85	Fusion	Fire/Light	Chant du Cygne -> Goblin Rush
85	Darkness	Ice/Water/Earth/Darkness	Chant du Cygne -> Benthic Typhoon
96	Darkness	Ice/Water/Earth/Darkness	Requiescat -> Quad. Continuum
97	Light*	Fire/Thunder/Wind/Light	Chant du Cygne -> Tourbillion
98	Darkness	Ice/Water/Earth/Darkness	Expiacion -> Amorphic Spikes
98	Darkness	Ice/Water/Earth/Darkness	Chant du Cygne -> Amorphic Spikes
99	Light*	Fire/Thunder/Wind/Light	Chant du Cygne -> Bilgestorm
99	Darkness	Ice/Water/Earth/Darkness	Chant du Cygne -> Bloodrake
99	Darkness	Ice/Water/Earth/Darkness	Chant du Cygne -> Paralyzing Triad
99	Light	Fire/Thunder/Wind/Light	Savage Blade -> Thrashing Assault
99	Darkness	Ice/Water/Earth/Darkness	Chant du Cygne -> Sinker Drill
		Useful WS + WS Skillchains
33	Scission->Liquefaction->∞	Earth->Fire->∞	Burning Blade -> Shining Blade -> ...
85	Light	Fire/Thunder/Wind/Light	Chant du Cygne -> Chant du Cygne
90	Darkness	Ice/Water/Earth/Darkness	Requiescat -> Expiacion

*Can result in a double Light/Darkness.

Section IV - Traits

To Top

Blue Mage only gets two permanent native job traits, and both of those come from merits. All of the other job traits that you receive naturally will come from different combinations of spells that you have set. No Blue Mage job traits gained through setting spells can stack with sub job traits, but they will overwrite sub job traits if stronger (but keep in mind, outside of unique examples like Crit Attack Bonus, Blue Mage traits can not exceed the potency of a native job's traits and is subject to a "cap" of whatever the highest possible trait level is for the other job, i.e., BLU can only set up to Counter II because there is no Counter III). The following is a list of these job traits and what spells you need in order to obtain them.

Every tier of each trait requires 8 points to attain. Traits without a value given for higher than the first tier cannot be upgraded past tier I.

A NOTE ON TRAITS: If you have spent 100 Job Points on BLU, you have unlocked a Job Point Gift that increases the level of all of your set traits by 1 (besides Double Attack, Triple Attack, Gilfinder, Treasure Hunter, and Auto Refresh). You receive a second Gift at 1200 Job Points that replicates this effect, enhancing the effect of any eligible traits by an additional tier, meaning that you will always have at least tier three (if it goes that high) of any given trait. These bonuses are exceptionally powerful. To put it into perspective, the 1200 gift allows you to obtain DWIII with only 4 set points, Attack Bonus 3 with only 5, Accuracy Bonus 3 with only 5, and Store TP 3 with only 5. The list goes on and on. Not only do these gifts open new doors in terms of damage output, they will also allow you to set more utility spells as well. These gifts allow you to play Blue Mage at the peak of its performance, and I highly recommend working on attaining them if you want the most from the job.

Key: Trait Name - [Effect and potency of each tier of the trait.][Spell that can be used to make this trait (Number of points that this spell gives toward the trait)]

Offensive:
Attack Bonus – [Increases physical attack. I: +10, II: +22, III: +35, IV: +48, V: +60, VI: +72][Battle Dance (4), Uppercut (4), Death Scissors (4), Spinal Cleave (4), Temporal Shift (4), Thermal Pulse (4), Embalming Earth (8), Searing Tempest (8)]

Magic Attack Bonus – [Increases magic attack. I: +20, II: +24, III: +28, IV: +32, V: +36, VI: +40][Cursed Sphere (4), Sound Blast (4), Eyes On Me (4), Memento Mori (4), Heat Breath (4), Reactor Cool (4), Magic Hammer (4), Dream Flower (4), Subduction (8), Spectral Floe (8)]

Accuracy Bonus – [Increases physical accuracy. I: +10, II: +22, III: +35, IV: +48, V: +60, VI: +72][Dimensional Death (4), Frenetic Rip (4), Disseverment (4), Vanity Dive (4), Nature's Meditation (8), Anvil Lightning (8)]

Magic Accuracy Bonus – [Increases magical accuracy. I: +10, II: +22, III: +35] [Tenebral Crush (8)]

Dual Wield – [Allows the wielding of two one handed weapons and decreases combined weapon delay. I: -10%, II: -15%, III: -25%, IV: -30%, V: -35%][Animating Wail (4), Blazing Bound (4), Quad. Continuum (4), Delta Thrust (4), Mortal Ray (4), Barbed Crescent (4), Molting Plumage (8)]

Let's take a minute to talk about attack delay, and why understanding Dual Wield is important. Please click the spoiler to make sure that you are gearing yourself correctly.

Spoiler Alert! Click to view.

When it comes to Dual Wield, a lot of people believe that the more the merrier and you should shove it in everywhere it can fit. In some situations, that's actually quite true, but in many, it's completely wrong. Keep in mind that Dual Wield lowers your TP/hit in addition to the beneficial effect of lowering your attack delay; this is because base TP/hit is derived from your weapon's delay, and dual wield imposes a modifier onto that delay, lowering it and thus also lowering your base TP/hit.

Delay reduction caps at -80% of base delay, taking into account weapon delay, dual wield, and Haste. As soon as you hit that delay reduction cap, you can't attack any faster, however dual wield will continue lowering your base delay and, in turn, your base TP/hit. That's why it is absolutely imperative to understand the breakpoints for delay reduction and how to determine when you have enough dual wield.

So, let's actually calculate our delay.

In order to properly calculate delay, you'll need to know the values of your sources of haste and dual wield. Keep in mind that the percentage values are approximate since XI works on a fractional system, but the percentages are all that the average person will need.

Magic Haste - Caps at 43.75%
Types of Magic Haste - Victory March (~9-17%), Advancing March (~7-14%), Refueling (10%), Erratic Flutter (30%), Haste (15%), Haste II (30%), Embrava (up to 25%), Indi/Geo Haste(29.9%~40.9%), Mighty Guard (15%)

Job Ability Haste - Caps at 25%
Types of Job Ability Haste - Haste Samba (5% from sub, 10% from merited Haste Samba from a main DNC), Hasso (10%, two handed only), Desperate Blows (25% with 5/5 merits, two handed only)

Gear Haste - Caps at 25% (256/1024 to be precise, meaning you need 26% from gear to fully cap)

Delay Calculation Formula
So, now that we know the types and values of haste in the game, let's figure out our delay.

Let's look at a situation in which we have zero magical haste, capped gear haste, and Dual Wield 5 trait without any DW on gear.

256/1024 + 35% Dual Wield. Those are our values right now.

With our Dual Wield value, we subtract the % of dual wield from 1. This looks like (1-.35), which leaves us with .65.

For our gear haste, we take the value we have and subtract it from 1024. This looks like 1024-256, which gives us 768.

We then take those two values and multiply them together. This looks like 768 x .65, which gives us 499.2. However, because of SE's flooring during calculations, this is floored to 499, essentially just dropping the decimal.

Divide this new value by 1024. So, 499/1024 = 0.487, or 48.7% delay remaining, with a delay reduction of 51.3%. This means that, in order to cap delay reduction, we need to reduce an additional 28.7%.

Let’s try a new example. This time, we have Erratic Flutter (30% magical haste), capped gear haste, Dual Wield 5 and 10% additional DW from gear.

Now we have 256/1024 + 300/1024 + 45% DW

(1-.45) = .55
1024 – 256 – 300 = 468
468 x .55 = 257.4 (Floors to 257)
257/1024 = .251, or 25.1% delay remaining, with 74.9% delay reduction.

When it comes to delay reduction, you want to get as close to capping as you can without going over and without sacrificing large amounts of beneficial stats.

With Erratic Flutter, Mighty Guard, capped gear haste, and Dual Wield III (i.e., a standard 1200JP BLU), you need 11% extra dual wield from gear. Typically this means using Suppanomimi and either Adhemar Jacket +1 or Shetal Stone. You can also take an extra tier of dual wield via Molting Plumage in place of the jacket/stone for little to no appreciable difference in delay.

Critical Attack Bonus - [Increases critical hit damage. I: +5%, II: +8%, III: +11%][Sinker Drill (8)]

Store TP – [Increases the amount of TP gained with each attack based on multiplying base TP gain by store TP. I: +10, II: +15, III: +20, IV: +25, V: +30][Sickle Slash (4), Tail Slap (4), Fantod (4), Sudden Lunge (4), Diffusion Ray (8)]

Double Attack/Triple Attack – [Eight points will create Double Attack, which increases the chance of swinging twice by 7%. Sixteen points will create Triple Attack, which increases the chance of swinging thrice by 5%. 24 points garners no additional benefit.][Acrid Stream (4), Demoralizing Roar (4), Empty Thrash (4), Heavy Strike (4), Thrashing Assault (8)]

Skillchain Bonus – [Increases skillchain damage. I: +8%, II: +12%, III: +16%, IV: +20%, V: +23%][Goblin Rush (6), Benthic Typhoon (6), Quadrastrike (6), Paralyzing Triad (8)]

Magic Burst Bonus – [Increases magic burst damage. I: +5%, II: +7%, III: +9%, IV: +11%, V: +13%]][Leafstorm (6), Cimicine Discharge (6), Reaving Wind (6), Rail Cannon (8)]

Rapid Shot – [Adds a chance of reducing ranged attack aiming delay by 50%, 65%, or 80%.][Feather Storm (4), Jet Stream (4), Hydro Shot (4)]

Zanshin – [Adds a 15% chance of swinging again after a missed, shadow absorbed, or countered hit which will also confer an accuracy bonus of +34 to the Zanshin attack. Does not work while dual wielding.][Final Sting (4), Whirl of Rage (4)]

Defensive:
Defense Bonus – [Increases physical defense. I: +10, II +22, III: +35, IV: +48, V: +60, VI: +72][Grand Slam (4), Terror Touch (4), Saline Coat (4), Vertical Cleave (4), Atramentous Libations (8), Entomb (8)]

Magic Defense Bonus - [Increases magical defense. I: +10, II: +12, III: +14, IV: +16, V: +18][Magnetite Cloud (4), Ice Break (4), Osmosis (4), Rending Deluge (8), Scouring Spate (8)]
Magic Evasion Bonus – [Increases magic evasion. I: +10, II: +22, III: +35] [Blinding Fulgor (8)]

Evasion Bonus – [Increases physical evasion. I: +10, II: +22, III: +35, IV: +48, V: +60][Screwdriver (4), Hysteric Barrage (4), Occultation (4), Tempestuous Upheaval (8), Silent Storm (8)]

Counter – [Adds a chance to counter single target melee attacks, negating the damage done to the defender and dealing damage to the attacker; the defender's counter attack must pass an accuracy check to occur, or else the attacker's attack will succeed. I: +10%, II: +12%][Enervation (4), Asuran Claws (4), Dark Orb (4), O. Counterstance (4)]

Auto Regen – [Causes a gradual HP recovery. I: 1 HP/3 sec., II: 2 HP/3 sec][Sheep Song (4), Healing Breeze (4), White Wind (4)]

Beast Killer – [Grants a chance to intimidate Beasts. I: +8%, II: +10%][Wild Oats (4), Sprout Smack (4), Seedspray (4), 1000 Needles (4), Nectarous Deluge (8)]

Plantoid Killer – [Grants an 8% chance to intimidate Plantoids.][Power Attack (4), Mandibular Bite (4), Spiral Spin (4)]

Lizard Killer – [Grants an 8% chance to intimidate Lizards.][Foot Kick (4), Claw Cyclone (4), Ram Charge (4), Sweeping Gouge (8)]

Undead Killer - [Grants an 8% chance to intimidate Undead.][Bludgeon (4), Smite of Rage (4)]

Resist Gravity – [Grants a 10% chance to resist Gravity.][Feather Barrier (4), Regurgitation (4)]

Resist Sleep – [Grants a chance to resist Sleep. I: +10%, II: +15%][Pollen (4), Wild Carrot (4), Magic Fruit (4), Yawn (4), Exuviation (4)]

Resist Slow - [Currently not obtainable due to only having one four point spell available.][Refueling (4)]

Resist Silence - [Grants a 10% chance to resist Silence.][Foul Waters (8)]

Inquartata – [Grants a bonus to parrying chance. I: +10%(?), II: +13%.] [Saurian Slide (8)]

Tenacity – [Grants a slight resistance against status ailments. I: +5%, II: +7%, III: +9%] [Palling Salvo (8)]

Utility:
Max HP Boost – [Increases max HP. I: +30, II: +60, III: +120, IV: +180, V: +240, VI: +280][Flying Hip Press (4), Body Slam (4), Frypan (4), Barrier Tusk (4), Thunder Breath (4), Glutinous Dart (4), Restoral (8)]

Max MP Boost – [Increases max MP. I: +10, II: +20, III: +40, IV: +60][Metallic Body (4), Mysterious Light (4), Hecatomb Wave (4), Magic Barrier (4), Vapor Spray (4)]

Auto Refresh – [Causes a gradual MP recovery of 1MP/3 sec.][Stinking Gas (1), Frightful Roar (2), Self-Destruct (2), Cold Wave (1), Light of Penance (2), Voracious Trunk (3), Actinic Burst (4), Plasma Charge (4), Winds of Promy. (4)]

Fast Cast – [Decreases the casting time and recast time of spells. 0.5: 5%/2.5%, I: 10%/5%, II: 15%/7.5%, III: 20%/10%, IV: 25%/12.5%][Bad Breath (4), Sub-Zero Smash (4), Auroral Drape (4), Wind Breath (4), Erratic Flutter (8)]

Conserve MP – [Adds a chance to reduce the MP cost of spells, chance depends on the tier of trait. New MP cost varies randomly. I: 25%, II: 28%, III: 31%, IV: 34%, V: 37%][Chaotic Eye (4), Zephyr Mantle (4), Frost Breath (4), Firespit (4), Water Bomb (4), Retinal Glare (8)]

Clear Mind – [Increases the amount of MP recovered by resting. Each tier adds a number to the base hMP as well as some higher tiers adding additional points for tic increases. I: +3, II: +6, III: +9 (+1 cumulative), IV: +12, V: +15 (+2 cumulative), VI: +18 (+3 cumulative)][Poison Breath (4), Soporific (4), Venom Shell (4), Awful Eye (4), Filamented Hold (4), Maelstrom (4), Feather Tickle (4), Corrosive Ooze (4), Sandspray (4), Warm-Up (4), Lowing (4), Mind Blast (4)]

Gilfinder/Treasure Hunter – [Two spells creates Gilfinder, which raises the amount of gil found on gil-bearing enemies by about 50%. All three spells create Treasure Hunter, which raises the chances of finding loot on enemies.][Charged Whisker (6), Evryone. Grudge (6), Amorphic Spikes (6)]

"But guys, what spells do I really need?", I hear you ask, desperate to embrace your power. Well, fledgling Immortal, here is a list of our most important spells. You should absolutely go out and learn these before you play Blue Mage in any serious capacity. The following is a couple of lists of spells to learn and why you want them/when to use them. For more information regarding the fine details of spells and how they work, refer back to the "Spells" section for a comprehensive list of spells and their effects.

Absolutely Necessary
Mandatory. No excuses whatsoever.

Trait Spells
Delta Thrust (Dual Wield; Decent source of cheap physical damage without having to engage; Also applies a moderately potent Plague effect, can be useful for TP control)
Barbed Crescent (Dual Wield)
Molting Plumage (Dual Wield)
Heavy Strike (Double/Triple Attack; Decent source of cheap physical damage without having to engage)
Empty Thrash (Double/Triple Attack)
Thrashing Assault (Double/Triple Attack; Also one of your two most potent physical spells)
Sickle Slash (Store TP)
Tail Slap (Store TP)
Fantod (Store TP)
Diffusion Ray (Store TP; Also one of your most potent single target magic damage spells)
Sudden Lunge (Store TP; Also applies a heinously potent Stun effect which can lock non-resistant monsters down entirely)
Paralyzing Triad (Skillchain Bonus; Decent source of cheap physical damage without having to engage)
Sinker Drill (Critical Attack Bonus; Also one of your two most potent physical spells)

Debuffs/Useful Add. Effects
Acrid Stream (Magic defense down)
Blank Gaze (Dispel)
Dream Flower (AoE Dark Sleep)
Sheep Song (AoE Light Sleep; shorter duration but no positional requirements)
Yawn (AoE Light Sleep; longer duration but requires the monster to be looking at you)
Magic Hammer (MP Recovery)
Tourbillon (Most potent Defense down in the game, while also being AoE)
Sweeping Gouge (Defense Down; Weaker than Tenebral Crush but cheap to apply and not AoE)

Buffs and Heals
Cocoon (Defense boost)
Magic Barrier (Magic Stoneskin)
Occultation (Potent Blink)
Barrier Tusk (Phalanx effect that reduces damage by a direct percentage)
Saline Coat (Magic Defense boost)
Magic Fruit (Single target potent heal)
White Wind (AoE potent heal)
Regeneration (Weakish Regen)
Winds of Promy. (AoE Erase)
Battery Charge (Refresh)
Nat. Meditation (Attack boost)
Carcharian Verve (Aquaveil)
Erratic Flutter (Haste)
Mighty Guard (Haste, potent Regen, Defense boost, Magic Defense boost)

Utility
Glutinous Dart (Very long range physical attack)
Retinal Glare (Can maintain 100% uptime on Flash against non resistant enemies)

Damage
Subduction (Strong spammable AoE magic damage; Also applies an extremely potent Gravity)
Searing Tempest (AoE Fire damage; Attack Bonus; fairly potent Burn)
Blinding Fulgor (AoE Light damage; Magic Evasion Bonus; AoE Flash)
Spectral Floe (AoE Ice damage; Magic Attack Bonus; AoE Terror)
Scouring Spate (AoE Water damage; Magic Defense Bonus; Also applies a potent AoE Attack Down)
Anvil Lightning (AoE Lightning damage; Accuracy Bonus; AoE Stun)
Silent Storm (AoE Wind damage; Evasion Bonus; long duration AoE Silence)
Entomb (AoE Earth damage; Defense Bonus; long duration AoE Petrify)
Tenebral Crush (AoE Dark damage; Magic Accuracy Bonus; long duration potent AoE Defense Down)

Nice to Have
Can be important and highly beneficial, but not absolutely necessary right away; you will want all of them ASAP though

Trait Spells
Animating Wail (Dual Wield)
Quad. Continuum (Dual Wield)
Blazing Bound (Dual Wield)
Mortal Ray (Dual Wield)
Battle Dance (Attack Bonus)
Uppercut (Attack Bonus)
Spinal Cleave (Attack Bonus)
Temporal Shift (Attack Bonus; AoE Stun; can buy a little breathing room to land a sleep)
Thermal Pulse (Attack Bonus)
Embalming Earth (Attack Bonus; weak AoE Slow)
Sound Blast (Magic Attack Bonus; AoE decaying INT down, but most importantly can be used to tag mobs in an AoE for future hate generation or Treasure Hunter)
Memento Mori (Magic Attack Bonus; short duration Magic Attack boost)
Frenetic Rip (Accuracy Bonus)
Disseverment (Accuracy Bonus; long duration Poison)
Vanity Dive (Accuracy Bonus)
Goblin Rush (Skillchain Bonus)
Quadrastrike (Skillchain Bonus)
Benthic Typhoon (Skillchain Bonus; Conal Defense and Magic Defense Down; not very potent but does both at once)
Palling Salvo (Tenacity; Applies a weak Bio effect)
Amorphic Spikes (Treasure Hunter)
Charged Whisker (Treasure Hunter)

Debuffs/Useful Add. Effects
Whirl of Rage (AoE Stun; can buy a little breathing room to land a sleep)
Frightful Roar (AoE Defense Down; not as potent as other options but the effect application is visible)
Infrasonics (Evasion Down)
Actinic Burst (AoE Flash; can buy a little breathing room to land a sleep; good AoE enmity generation)
Thunderbolt (Potent AoE Stun)
Saurian Slide (Short duration but decently potent Attack Down)

Buffs and Healing
Diamondhide (AoE Stoneskin; Can be very nice for mitigating things like 10,000 needles and Astral Flow)
Amplification (Decent duration Magic Attack boost; Can be usefl when cleaving)
Restoral (Potent self-only heal, not often valuable enough to take over Magic Fruit; Max HP Boost)

Utility
MP Drainkiss (Aspir; when an enemy is light resistant and you need to recover more MP than refresh can handle)
Reaving Wind (Reduces enemy TP to 0; Doesn't work as often as it should, otherwise it'd be a critical spell)
Osmosis (Drain and absorbs one buff from the enemy, this effect cannot be resisted)

Damage
Evryone. Grudge (One of your strongest single target magical damage spells; Treasure Hunter)
Rail Cannon (One of your strongest single target magical damage spells)

Important note about spells: Obviously, BLU has a massive array of spells. Not every single one will serve a purpose. Some are so far in the past that the only reason you'd ever want them would be for completion's sake. You don't need to get every single spell we have. However, do not discount spells that are not 90+. Some of our absolute best spells are from lower levels and provide massive benefit to us, either in the form of utility, defenses, or powerful traits. My most sincere suggestion is to look into each and every single spell and see what it does, how many set points it costs, and what trait it gives and decide whether or not you find it worthwhile. The greatest strength of Blue Mage is our ability to adapt to any and every situation in the game. By avoiding some spells, you limit that ability and hinder your performance.

Section V - Equipment

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Blue Mage is a complex job that has many different spells that assume many different functions and roles. In order to support these spells, as well as your regular functions, you will require a large amount of gearsets. This is a very gear intensive job, and while some corners can be cut, every piece of gear that you remove will decrease your effectiveness, and that adds up. In this section, I will list models for gearsets of various levels. Use these gearsets to form a basic guideline on which pieces of gear that you will wear in each slot for each action. Each category features four tiers of gear, labeled Top, High, Mid, and Low. Additional instructions are provided underneath each subsection. Remember to keep in mind your maximum delay reduction cap of 80%.

--Weapons--

Note on REMA: Tizona more or less transforms BLU in both damage output potential and your ability to cast potent support spells like White Wind and Occultation more often. While REMA is not mandatory for BLU, having the Mythic sword is going to separate different BLUs into different power tiers.
Note on ALL Weapons: The placement of weapons is meant to express both the ease of access to the weapon, and the general strength of the weapon. Depending on where you are in your FFXI progress, you could find yourself able to pick up Endgame weapons as soon as you reach 99. Or, you may need to progress through the tiers more slowly. Make sure to read the summaries for all weapons to determine what you can or cannot access, and see if there are any shortcuts you could take to reach stronger weapons more quickly.

--REMA Weapons--

Tizona
Our Mythic weapon. A fully upgraded Tizona is an absolute behemoth. It retains its trademark utility with MP restoral and high magic accuracy, all while receiving a massive boost to DPS with the new augments. Combined with a TP Bonus Thibron in the offhand, Expiacion can reach extremely high damage. Whenever maintaining AM3 is reasonable and accuracy is not a concern, Tizona will reign supreme over all other main hand options. Blue Mage has a unique advantage when it comes to that, too, in that you will have access to an array of spells that will supplement your damage or perform other tasks while waiting for Aftermath to wear off if you misstep in your timing.

Almace
Our Empyrean weapon. A fully upgraded Almace is a force to be reckoned with. It gains the ability to deal triple damage on melee hits quite frequently with its aftermath. 70 DEX at max augment, combined with the 10% damage boost to CDC (which applies to all hits), makes this an extremely powerful option for when CDC is your primary weaponskill. While CDC lacks the per-WS damage of Expiacion or Savage Blade, in any situation where skillchains are prevalent and their damage is not negligible, Almace will shine, even beating Tizona+Thibron.

Sequence
Our Aeonic weapon. Sadly, Sequence has fallen to the wayside in the past few years, owed largely to the introduction of a few more powerful weapon options. While it does sport high base damage, 10 STP, and 500 TP Bonus, as well as the increase to skillchain potency and the ability to perform Ultimate Skillchains, it's not quite enough to keep the standing it once had. Unfortunately, BLU's multi-stepping and magic bursting potential are both locked behind Job Abilities, which keeps this weapon from shining in that department. The augments for Sequence also don't do it any favors, as Requiescat is one of our weaker WSs. The TP Bonus originally made Sequence extremely powerful when using Savage Blade, but with the introduction of Naegling, it's lost that niche, too. While Sequence is not a bad weapon by any means, it faces too many roadblocks for me to consider it a priority anymore.

--REMA Weapon In Disguise--

Naegling
One of our Ambuscade weapons. This sword should not be this good. Naegling provides large amounts of melee and magic stats, combined with a significant damage boost to one of our strongest Weapon Skills, and even a boost to attack for that WS based on the amount of our current buffs (which is rather easy to stack quite high for BLU). Pair this weapon with a TP Bonus Thibron in the offhand, and you can hit some extremely potent Savage Blades.

--Endgame Weapons--

Thibron
Obtained from the Trials of the Magians. This sword is what allows Tizona and Naegling to be so powerful. The extreme 1000 TP Bonus skyrockets WS damage when using either Expiacion or Savage Blade. The complete lack of ilvl bonuses does mean that this weapon won't always work in every situation. However, BLU is a particularly accurate job, and recent gear additions have allowed for high accuracy options with extremely minimal DPS trade-offs, so those situations have become more and more uncommon. If you are using WSs that scale well with overflow TP, you should do all you can to keep Thibron in the offhand.

Zantetsuken
Obtained from the Odin High-Tier Battlefield. This sword is simple, but powerful. High STR, accuracy, attack, and a more than healthy amount of multi-attack all combine to make this an excellent weapon. It makes for a perfect offhand for Almace, and can function as an offhand for Tizona or Naegling if you really can't get away with Thibron.

Maxentius
Our second Ambuscade weapon. While clubs are not our typical choice, this is worth the exception. Enormous base damage and great stats for both melee and magic situations; Maxentius is the absolute best choice for blunt damage. While Black Halo is not quite as powerful as Judgment, the bonus damage provided on the weapon more than makes up for any difference. Whether you're nuking or in need of blunt damage, this is a phenomenal option.

Bunzi's Rod
Obtained from Odyssey, after defeating Mboze. The absolute pinnacle of our magic damage options. The base weapon is already powerful enough, but augments allow for an additional 20 Magic Attack Bonus at max rank. There is no better option for nuking currently available.

--Advanced Weapons--

Sakpata's Sword
Obtained from Odyssey, after defeating Kalunga. While I would not recommend this weapon for general melee purposes, it still provides some great benefits. The -DT and boost to Phalanx make for excellent defensive boosts when /RDM, and it even has respectable magic stats for nuking. Swapping Maxentius out for this leads to a slight drop in magic damage, but a sizeable boost to defense and the ability to use Sanguine Blade.

Zomorrodnegar
The HQ2 version of our Dynamis Divergence weapon. Honestly, this weapon struggles to find a place in our repertoire. While the three paths available do offer some nice bonuses, none of them really shine. Path B does allow us to hit the cap of 75 Subtle Blow, but at the cost of ignoring our exceptional REMA options and Naegling. Path C could see some use as a macro piece for activating Chain Affinity and Burst Affinity, but the extremely steep price tag on the weapon, as well as the increasing irrelevance of physical spells, does not make that an attractive option. Overall, I do not recommend this weapon, but I wanted to include it in the list of our options in order to discuss its shortcomings.

Hepatizon Sapara +1
Crafted through Goldsmithing or purchasable from the Auction House. These swords are genuinely amazing. Everything they offer matches Savage perfectly. With their price having fallen drastically since their release, you can likely pick up a pair for anywhere from 500k-1m total. If you have that money to spare, these are exceptional weapons and will last all the way to Naegling for all your Savage Blade needs.

Tanmogayi +1
Obtained from the Unity NM Sarama, and augmented using Lustreless Wings. Even at its base form, this is a great sword. It makes an excellent mainhand weapon to pair with a Colada. When fully augmented, it gets even better, offering an extremely high base damage, some crit rate, and a massive amount of accuracy, making it a great option for CDC.

Colada
Obtained from Ironside in Reisenjima, or purchased from Zurim using 800 Domain Invasion points. The base Colada may not look like much, but the augments available for it are quite powerful. Augments of +15-20 DMG, +10-15 DEX or STR, +15-25 ACC/ATK, and +3-4 of either Crit rate, DA, WSD, or STP, make for some fantastic weapons. With Domain Invasion making it so easy to pick up, it gets even more attractive. Eight days of capping daily points per copy is not an insignificant investment, but the reward is worth it as you work on improvements in other areas. As far as augments go, understand going in that you could luck out and build perfect ones in 20 stones or spend over a thousand on each. Highly debatable on whether or not the effort required is worth the reward, particularly with the introduction of Naegling and the exceptional REMA options we have.

--Intermediate Weapons--

Nibiru Cudgel
Obtained from Kamohoalii in Escha - Zi'Tah. Excellent nuking clubs. Two of these augmented along Path B will easily last you all the way to Maxentius and Bunzi's Rod.

Iris
Obtained from Yilan in Escha - Ru'Aun, or purchased from Zurim using 200 Domain Invasion points. Upon release, I was rather critical of this sword. The augment paths available did not match or exceed weapons that were easier to acquire, aside from the niche Blue Magic skill path, which remains the highest value available. However, with the introduction of Domain Invasion, it's now an exceptionally easy to obtain weapon and has become a far more attractive option because of this. Just a couple days of capping DI points gets you a significant upgrade over starter weapons that can hold you over until you can nab some further improvements.

--Starter Weapons--

Eminent Scimitar
Purchased for 7,000 Sparks. This serves as quite a powerful sword, and it's remarkably easy to get, requiring only some time spent doing Eminence. When your TP is below 100 (this includes during a Weaponskill), you will unlock the latent that gives this sword a respectable D of 128 as well as granting a few more points of accuracy and attack. This is an excellent weapon to pick up for beginner BLUs looking to get started.

Homestead Blade
Purchased for 3,000 Bayld from the Peacekeepers' Coalition. This is nice to pair up with an Eminent Scimitar, but doesn't replace it due to having less accuracy, higher delay, and one less point of base damage. This makes for a great starter offhand, though.

Idle Sets
The general idea of an idle set is to minimize your damage taken while possibly adding in some other useful things that may benefit you while you're just standing around, such as Refresh and Regen. Typically you will want to try to put the piece of equipment with the highest Damage Taken/Physical Damage Taken-% and Magic Evasion in each slot that you have available until you hit the -50% Damage Taken cap (you can never have too much Magic Evasion, for the most part). You can sacrifice some rigidity to add in stats like Refresh and Regen after that.

ItemSet 250766
*Purely a defensive idle set focusing on defense and magic evasion.
**Carmine Cuisses (+1) or Shneddick Ring (replace Shadow Ring) for movement speed.

ItemSet 385967
*Focuses on Regen and capping DT with as much magic evasion as possible.
**Carmine Cuisses (+1) or Shneddick Ring (replace Chirich Ring +1) for movement speed.

ItemSet 385968
*Refresh oriented idle set while also capping DT and keeping as much magic evasion as possible.
**Herculean armor with a Refresh +1 or Refresh +2 augment can replace any of the armor pieces besides the body. If you end up dropping PDT as a result, switch your cape to a PDT Resin augmented Rosemerta's cape.
***If you aren't a citizen of Windurst, fall back on an augmented Loricate Torque +1, Bathy Choker +1, or Warder's charm.
****Carmine Cuisses (+1) or Shneddick Ring (replace Stikini Ring +1) for movement speed.

TP Sets
These sets will be divided into several tiers, these tiers are based on how difficult I believe the gear would be to obtain for the average or newer player. Typically, if you have the higher tier piece from a higher tier set, you should always use it. The exceptions to this rule would be Dual Wield pieces.

Also, take into consideration that the addition or subtraction of buffs, such as attack, accuracy, or haste from outside sources will play a large role in determining which pieces of gear are better than others. If you expect to be undercapped on accuracy, you will want to make some swaps from the higher accuracy TP sets. A good accuracy value to aim for for most content, before buffs, is going to be around 1200~1250, scaling up as you get into harder events like Dynamis - Divergence and Odyssey.

If you have any questions regarding lower end gear, augments, or other such queries, please ask in this thread. In general, all +1 items are interchangeable with their normal quality counterparts.

ItemSet 385979
*This is a set that sacrifices as little offense as possible in exchange for maximum defense. You will likely be using this a majority of the time in any mid to high item level content.
**Gleti and Nyame pieces can replace Malignance ones if you are missing some.
***Rosmerta's should be augmented with whichever augments match your mainhand weapon from the sets above in addition to -10% PDT.

Tizona TP Sets
For these, I generally assume that if you have a 119-III Tizona that you can get at least the high or medium tier sets, but I have included lower tier options for completion's sake. A second Chirich Ring +1 may or may not be beneficial for you depending on your multiattack rate. Epona's Ring can be substituted in regardless. Petrov Ring is also good.

ItemSet 385970
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Accuracy, and Store TP.
**Samnuha Tights need to have max augments to be better than augmented Herculan Trousers.
***Aim for at least 3% Triple Attack on Herculean Boots, but try to max them out at 4%. If you get some lucky Quadruple Attack augments with a high enough number, those should usually be better.
****If you don't have Adhemar Jacket(+1), you will have to swap your belt out for Reiki Yotai or Shetal Stone.

ItemSet 385971
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Accuracy, and Store TP.
**Aim for at least 3% Triple Attack on Herculean pieces, but try to max them out at 4%. If you get some lucky Quadruple Attack augments with a high enough number, those should usually be better.
***Reiki Yotai would be better than Shetal Stone. If you have Adhemar Jacket +1, switch to Sailfi Belt +1.

ItemSet 385972
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Accuracy, and Store TP.
**Aim for at least 3% Triple Attack on Herculean pieces, but try to max them out at 4%. If you get some lucky Quadruple Attack augments with a high enough number, those should usually be better.

Standard TP Sets
ItemSet 385973
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Accuracy, and Double Attack.
**Adhemar augmented along Path A. Head can go path D for a little bit of PDT and HP, Hands can go path D for some Subtle Blow.
***Samnuha Tights need to have max augments to be better than augmented Herculan Trousers.
****Aim for at least 3% Triple Attack on Herculean Boots, but try to max them out at 4%. If you get some lucky Quadruple Attack augments with a high enough number, those should usually be better.
****If you don't have Adhemar Jacket(+1), you will have to swap your belt out for Reiki Yotai or Shetal Stone.

ItemSet 385974
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Accuracy, and Double Attack.
**Aim for at least 3% Triple Attack on Herculean pieces, but try to max them out at 4%. If you get some lucky Quadruple Attack augments with a high enough number, those should usually be better.
***If you have Adhemar Jacket(+1), you will have to swap your belt out for Sailfi Belt +1 or Windbuffet Belt(+1).

ItemSet 385975
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Accuracy, and Double Attack.
**Adhemar augmented along Path A. Head can go path D for a little bit of PDT and HP, Hands can go path D for some Subtle Blow.
***Aim for as much Triple Attack as you can get on Taeon Tights.
****Carmine Greaves augmented along Path B.
*****If you don't have Adhemar Jacket(+1), you will have to swap your belt out for Reiki Yotai or Shetal Stone.

ItemSet 385976
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Accuracy, and Double Attack.
**Aim for as much Triple Attack as you can get on Taeon pieces.
***Aim for as much Double Attack, Store TP, Weaponskill Damage, Attack, and/or Accuracy as you can get on Colada.

ItemSet 385977
*This is a completely barebones set for fresh players. Aim to upgrade the gear in this set as soon as possible.

ItemSet 385978
*A general accuracy set. Mix and match pieces from this set until you reach the required accuracy level for whatever content you're doing.
**Rosmerta's should be augmented with whichever augments match your mainhand weapon from the sets above.
***Hurch'lan Sash is a fine substitute for the waist slot.
****Falcon Eye also works for the ammo slot.
*****Cessance Earring is fine to replace Telos earring.
******Both Carmine pieces need to be worn together for the extra accuracy from the set bonus. Augment both pieces along Path B.
*******For maximum accuracy, augment Adhemar along path A.

Weaponskill Sets
These sets all work with their pieces of gear acting independently, for the most part. Each set contains the strongest to least strongest piece of gear for each slot, strongest being in set High and least strong being in set Beginner. Changing a higher tier piece of gear to one of the lower tier ones will typically not be dependent on any other pieces of gear in the set.

Savage Blade Sets
ItemSet 385987
*To be used when your attack is capped.
**Rosmerta's should be augmented with STR, Attack/Accuracy, and Weaponskill Damage.
***Moonshade should be augmented with TP Bonus +250.
****Nyame must be augmented.

ItemSet 385988
*To be used when your attack is uncapped.
**Rosmerta's should be augmented with STR, Attack/Accuracy, and Weaponskill Damage.
***Moonshade should be augmented with TP Bonus +250.
****Nyame must be augmented.

ItemSet 384205
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with STR, Attack/Accuracy, and Weaponskill Damage.
**Moonshade should be augmented with TP Bonus +250.
***Herculean must be augmented with as much STR, MND, and Weaponskill Damage as you can get.
****+2 Artifact body and Relic pants would also acceptable.

ItemSet 385989
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with STR, Attack/Accuracy, and Weaponskill Damage.
**Moonshade should be augmented with TP Bonus +250.
***Herculean must be augmented with as much STR, MND, and Weaponskill Damage as you can get.

ItemSet 385990
*This is a completely barebones set for fresh players. Aim to upgrade the gear in this set as soon as possible.

Expiacion Sets
Note that for these sets, there will not be as much low end gear listed. This is because Expiacion should not really be used unless you have Tizona. As such, it is assumed that you are capable of getting the things listed in these sets with relative ease. In the event that you need to use it for a skillchain prior to that, just use your Savage Blade set.

ItemSet 385991
*To be used when your attack is capped.
**Rosmerta's should be augmented with STR, Attack/Accuracy, and Weaponskill Damage.
***Moonshade should be augmented with TP Bonus +250.
****Nyame must be augmented.

ItemSet 385992
*To be used when your attack is uncapped.
**Rosmerta's should be augmented with STR, Attack/Accuracy, and Weaponskill Damage.
***Moonshade should be augmented with TP Bonus +250.
****Nyame must be augmented.

ItemSet 384206
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with STR, Attack/Accuracy, and Weaponskill Damage.
**Moonshade should be augmented with TP Bonus +250.
***Herculean must be augmented with as much STR, DEX, INT, and Weaponskill Damage as you can get.

ItemSet 385993
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with STR, Attack/Accuracy, and Weaponskill Damage.
**Moonshade should be augmented with TP Bonus +250.
***Herculean must be augmented with as much STR, DEX, INT, and Weaponskill Damage as you can get.
****+2 Artifact body and Relic pants would also acceptable.

Chant du Cygne Sets
ItemSet 385982
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Attack/Accuracy, and Critical Hit Rate.
**Adhemar augmented along path A.

ItemSet 385981
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Attack/Accuracy, and Critical Hit Rate.
**Adhemar augmented along path A.
***Samnuha tights need to have max augments to beat augmented Herculean Trousers.
****Herculean pieces should be augmented with critical hit damage and DEX, as much of each as you can get.

ItemSet 385980
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Attack/Accuracy, and Critical Hit Rate.
**Adhemar augmented along path A.
***Samnuha tights need to have max augments to beat augmented Herculean Trousers.
****Herculean pieces should be augmented with critical hit damage and DEX, as much of each as you can get.
*****Moonshade should be augmented with TP Bonus +250.

ItemSet 385983
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with DEX, Attack/Accuracy, and Critical Hit Rate.
**Taeon should be augmented with as much DEX and Critical Hit Rate as you can get.
***Samnuha tights need to have max augments to beat augmented Herculean Trousers.

ItemSet 385985
*This is a completely barebones set for fresh players. Aim to upgrade the gear in this set as soon as possible.

Requiescat Sets
ItemSet 386015
*Rosmerta’s should be augmented with MND, Attack, and Double Attack.
**Moonshade should be augmented with TP Bonus +250.

ItemSet 386016
*Rosmerta’s should be augmented with MND, Attack, and Double Attack.

ItemSet 386017

Sanguine Blade Sets
ItemSet 386018
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with INT, Magic Attack Bonus, and Magic Damage.
**Ghastly Tathlum must have maximum augments.

ItemSet 386019
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with INT, Magic Attack Bonus, and Magic Damage.
**Amalric nails should be augmented along Path D.

ItemSet 386020

ItemSet 386021

A note on Voracious Resurgence rings:
You should not choose a ring based on any singular job. However, I will list the benefits (or lack thereof) for BLU.

Lehko's Ring (DEX+10 "Store TP"+10 Haste+10% Critical hit rate +10%): Best ring for CDC. Best ring for Tizona TP sets, and largely for TP sets in general though it's debatable for non-Tizona sets. Not much else to be said on it. It's a good mix of everything you'd want from a TP ring with a little sugar sprinkled on top.

Cornelia's Ring (Weapon Skill Accuracy+10 Weapon Skill damage +10%): Best ring for Savage Blade, Expiacion, Black Halo when attack is uncapped or barely capped. Honestly not as massive a difference as you might think for some of these weaponskills due to the swath of strong options that we have for WS rings nowadays. That said it is a strong ring. Useful for many jobs and many weaponskills.

Ephramad's Ring (STR+10 DEX+10 AGI+10 Accuracy+20 Attack+20 Ranged Accuracy+20 Ranged Attack+20 Physical damage limit +10%): This one is more interesting than Cornelia's in my opinion. Aside from the obvious fact that it trounces every other ring option for every weaponskill as long as your attack is capped (needs to be overcapped to actually use the 10% PDL), it has a ton of base stats (for us, what matters is STR DEX ATK ACC) which actually also makes it a compelling choice even when attack isn't capped, especially for Expiacion which double dips on STR and DEX. If I were to choose a WS ring this would probably be it.

Medada's Ring (INT+10 Magic Accuracy+20 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+10 "Fast Cast" +10%): Best ring for Fast Cast (and thus also spell recast), excellent choice for magic accuracy, and the best ring for a vast majority of BLU's main damaging spells. It's great for several side sets like Reaving Wind due to combining MACC and a huge chunk of Fast Cast. Honestly out of all of the utility rings this one may look like the most banal but it is, in my opinion, the most widely useful and practical of them if you aren't choosing a ring solely for damage. Several, if not all, jobs are pretty starved for Fast Cast and that 10% FC can come in handy on those, too.

Fickblix's Ring ("Double Attack"+10 "Subtle Blow"+10 Pet: Accuracy+20 Ranged Accuracy+20 Magic Accuracy+20 Damage+10%): So it isn't useless for BLU. It's awful for Tizona TP sets but would be great for other weapons. It also would be really good for a Subtle Blow set (BLU actually has to sacrifice a bit to cap SB in a reasonable way). That said most of the stats on here aren't useful for BLU at all. I would say, however, that the ring has applications for jobs besides pet jobs and it isn't horrible. 10% DA and 10SB is nothing to sneeze at. It just doesn't synergize well with BLU's best weapon and for the most part Lehko's ring is a much stronger TP ring.

Gurebu-Orebu's Ring (MND+10 Magic Evasion+20 All status ailment resistance +20 "Regen"+2 "Refresh"+2): Alright so it's unique. Not many rings out there have Magic Evasion on them (and none have this much of it), and no other ring has universal status ailment resistance. However, comma, That's all it does. The Regen and Refresh+2 are milquetoast and not a good reason to choose one of these rings. MND+10 is a pretty common sword and club WS modifier but it isn't enough on its own to make it usable for any of those. If you really have no reason to pick any other ring (you do), then sure I guess. But these defensive ones are pretty underwhelming compared to the others.

Ragelise's Ring (DEF:20 VIT+10 Potency of "Cure" effects received +10% Damage taken -10%): It is. That's about all I can say about it. It's a better defending ring, a much better defending ring, but quite frankly I find it extremely difficult to justify choosing this over just about any of the others. We don't really need a ring with DT on it very often these days and the additional stats, while not worthless, aren't particularly compelling.

Blue Magic Sets
These sets work similar to the weaponskill sets. Replacing one piece of gear will not require others to be replaced along with it to gain the full benefit (generally). Physical spell sets are general use sets; optimizations can be made in order to maximize the damage of certain spells; swapping in Spiral Ring for STR/VIT and STR/INT spells is a good example.

Physical Magic Sets
For all physical spells, Assimilator's Charuqs +3 are best in slot if Chain Affinity is active.

ItemSet 337124
*Herculean augmented with STR and acc/att. You need high values to make them best-in-slot.
**Kuwunga Earring is best when latent is active.
***Rosmerta’s STR/acc/atk.

ItemSet 337125
*Herculean augmented with STR and acc/att. You need high values to make them best-in-slot.

ItemSet 337126
*Adhemar augmented along path B.

Magical Magic Sets
I do not recommend Jhakri pieces as primary nuking options if you can avoid it because of the massive detriment to your spell recasts. There are situations in which your recast does not matter, but for situations where it does, that large hit to your sustained damage is a huge deterring factor. Another issue with the set is the large hit to defenses, and since you're usually cleaving on BLU, that can easily become a problem. Using Jhakri for nukes is fine, and it will unfortunately be your best nuking set for a while, but you need to understand the drawbacks of the set.

ItemSet 386009
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with INT, Magic Attack Bonus, and Magic Damage.
**Cohort's cloak needs to be fully augmented.
***Ghastly Tathlum +1 needs to be fully augmented.
****Metamorph Ring +1 needs to be fully augmented.
*****Hashishin +2 pieces are exchangable with Amalric +1 for the time being.

ItemSet 386010
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with INT, Magic Attack Bonus, and Magic Damage.
**Amalric pieces should be augmented along Path D.

ItemSet 386011
*Rosmerta's should be augmented with INT, Magic Attack Bonus, and Magic Damage.

ItemSet 386012
*Cornflower Cape augments are nice to have but not needed for this set.

ItemSet 386013
*This is a completely barebones set for fresh players. Aim to upgrade the gear in this set as soon as possible.

Cure Potency Sets
ItemSet 337111
*Carmine path B.
**Telchine augmented with MND and 7% cure potency
***Medium’s sabots assume max augments
****Rosmerta’s MND/Cure potency

ItemSet 337112
*Telchine augmented with a total of +11% cure potency received. This allows you to exactly hit the 30% cure potency received cap. If you find yourself using waltzes consistently, Asklepian Ring is also a solid choice, but take into consideration that you will need 2% more cure potency received from Telchine in order to cap.
**Rosmerta’s MND/Cure potency

ItemSet 348471
*The arguable highest potency possible for White Wind, but at a steep price.
**Telchine pieces with 50 HP and 8 cure potency.

ItemSet 379049
*Slightly modified White Wind set that trades a miniscule loss in potency for extreme savings.
**Telchine pieces with 50 HP and 8 cure potency.

Magic Accuracy Sets
Magic Accuracy sets have gotten so good for BLU that swapping out pieces specifically for physical add. effect spells (such as Sudden Lunge) is largely unecessary. If you do find that you are having difficulty physically landing your spells, swapping things like the ammo and belt slot first is the most economical way to go about it. Generally speaking, you want to equip the piece of armor in each slot that has the highest magic accuracy, with exceptions for survivability and recast as noted below. As such, there are no lower end sets listed here. Just equip whatever piece has the most magic accuracy that you have.

ItemSet 386022
*Metamorph Ring +1, Aurist's Cape +1, and Acuity Belt +1 must have maximum augments.
**Sakpata's Sword and Bunzi's Rod are interchangable, assuming they have the same augment levels.

ItemSet 386025
*This set is mostly useful for spells like Dream Flower where you want to get the spell off while things are potentially beating on you. You lose a tiny amount of magic accuracy here in order to maximize survivability.
**Rosmerta's should be augmented with Magic Accuracy and -Physical Damage Taken.
***Metamorph Ring +1 and Acuity Belt +1 must have maximum augments.
****Sakpata's Sword and Bunzi's Rod are interchangable, assuming they have the same augment levels.

ItemSet 386024
*This set is for Reaving Wind and Feather Tickle. In the event that you're using these spells (there are prevalent Mboze strategies that utilize these spells, for example) you want to minimize the recast time while also being able to reliably land the spell.
**Metamorph Ring +1, Aurist's Cape +1, and Acuity Belt +1 must have maximum augments.
***Sakpata's Sword is not interchangable in this set due to the 10% Fast Cast.

Utility Sets

ItemSet 386029
*For spells like Occultation and Magic Barrier. You'll basically never be casting in all of these pieces simultaneously, though.

ItemSet 386030
*For any situation in which you want to feed the enemy as little TP as possible. If you have a WHM providing you with Auspice, you only need 25 Subtle Blow from gear to cap.
**Adhemar hands Path D, head path is irrelevant.
***Zomorrodnegar augmented along path B.
****Sarissaphoroi belt offers 5 less Subtle Blow in exchange for some DA/TA.
*****This set is not intended to be used as a whole, but rather is meant to show possible options available.

ItemSet 337128
*Gleti's equipment makes it extremely easy to cap PDT, with the full set bringing 35% PDT just on their own. The remaining 15% can be easily obtained through the use of only a couple accessories. The remaining slots should be focused on additional HP, defense, VIT, or magic evasion if status ailments are a concern.
**I've included far more PDT than necessary in this set, solely to demonstrate some options you have in gearing.

ItemSet 337129
*Once you reach the cap of -50% Magic Damage Taken, then put Magic Defense Bonus and magic evasion in remaining slots.
** With Shell 5, you only need 21% MDT in gear. This set puts you at 21% and contains a large amount of Magic Defense Bonus, magic evasion, and additional HP.

ItemSet 379682
*This set would typically see the most use in a solo cleaving situation, such as farming Omen for Detritus or even Odyssey for Lustreless items and segments, or really any time you will be pulling a bunch of monsters. Best used in tandem with Mambo from a BRD in higher level content.
**While Malignance and Nyame offer the most raw evasion in each respective slot, you could also opt to use Gleti’s equipment for a very slight drop in evasion in exchange for a significant increase to defense.
***This set overcaps PDT by 8%, allowing you to change out the Gelatinous Ring +1 or Malignance Tights for Shneddick Ring or Carmine Cuisses +1 respectively, if you need the movement speed.

ItemSet 386031
*You cap Fast Cast at 80%, meaning you do not need every piece in this set to cap as long as you have Fast Cast set via your spells.
**Rosmerta's should be augmented with Fast Cast.
***Leyline Gloves are assumed to be augmented.
****You could take Carmine Mask +1 down Path D for more Fast Cast, though that shouldn't be necessary.
*****If you're casting Blue Magic, Hashishin Mintan +2 and Hashishin Bazubands +2 are superior in their respective slots.
******Other swaps can be made depending on your means. Augmented Taeon armor offers very little protection but can be augmented with Fast Cast, Herculean armor can be augmented with Fast Cast as well. If you don't want to make a cape specifically for Fast Cast, you can also use Swith Cape +1.

Section VI - Sub Jobs

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Support jobs are a point of contention for just about any job. With recent gear additions, and in no small part to the advent of Master Levels, choosing the correct sub job has become a bit more of a case-by-case thing even for BLU, which used to be pretty straightforward. Read on to discover which sub jobs you may choose depending on the scenario.

/WAR: Your best offensive sub job if you need lots of attack. Berserk (and to a much lesser degree, Warcry) provide a large percent-based attack boost that can help shore up your ratio against high defense enemies. Typically, this is going to be applicable against most level 125+ enemies (Odyssey Sheol B and C on mid and higher floors, Omen, Dynamis Divergence Wave 2 and 3, etc.) without a significant number of attack buffs and debuffs (if you don't have a GEO giving Fury and Frailty, you probably aren't capping attack). You also get 10% Double Attack (12% at Master Level 5 and above), Aggressor (a temporary, minor accuracy steroid) and some limited amount of utility from Provoke.

/DRG: Your best offensive sub job whenever you have enough attack to make use of this sub job's defining characteristic: Weapon Skill Damage Bonus. By default you get +7% weaponskill damage, and at Master Level 30 and above it gets upgraded to +10% weaponskill damage. This may not seem like very much with today's deluge of WSD equipment, but it is a much stronger form of weaponskill damage bonus than what you get from your gear: it is applied at the very end of the weaponskill damage calculation. Ultimately this means that, as long as you get more damage out of the 7%/10% bonus weaponskill damage than you would get from raising your ratio via Berserk, /DRG will usually be the better subjob. Since we deal so much weaponskill damage these days, that isn't as difficult as it sounds. That said, if you're running without a GEO, BRD, and/or COR, you may still want to use /WAR. In addition to that very potent trait, you also get the utility of High Jump (sheds 25% of your enmity on use) and Super Jump at Master Level 5 and above (sheds ALL of your enmity on use) which can be great for improving your survival odds against tougher enemies.

/RDM: One of your better defensive sub jobs, particularly when you're fighting numerous enemies that hit for less than a couple hundred damage each such as when you're AoE farming in Escha, and it is even effective in Omen. Your primary tools afforded by this sub job are Phalanx, Stoneskin, Fast Cast II, and Aquaveil. If you plan to engage enemies and don't have a RDM in your party or a trust that can cast it, you also have access to Dia II. Phalanx will reduce the damage you take from weak to mid strength foes tremendously when properly geared; a set of augmented Taeon armor provides an extra flat 15 damage reduction per hit to Phalanx, and a set of lucky augments on Dark Matter'd Herculean armor brings that up to 25. You can also get an additional +5 from Sakpata's Sword. Stoneskin will afford you temporary protection from the hopefully single digit damage that you'll now be taking, while Aquaveil will help prevent interruptions that go through it (however, the Aquaveil spell from /RDM is approximately three times weaker at base value compared to Carcharian Verve, so try to use the latter whenever possible).

/RUN: Another defensive sub job, this one affords additional magic evasion to one or two elements at a time as well as a potent magic damage reduction to the element(s) matching your runes via Vallation and Valiance at Master Level 5 and above. Furthermore, you can boost your resistance against status ailments matching the element of your rune(s) via Pflug as well as a boosted resistance to all status ailments via the Tenacity trait, and give yourself a pretty sizeable Evasion and Accuracy boost with Swordplay. If that wasn't enough, you also gain access to Inquartata, which will give you a flat 7% chance to parry on top of your usual parry rate (this 7% is agnostic of skill checks and enemy level). You also get access to the Flash spell, and after we hit Master Level 45, you'll have access to the Foil spell for self cast AoE enmity generation.

/NIN: Our last purely defensive sub job. This one has fallen out of favor considerably due to the potency of spells such as Occultation, Cocoon, Mighty Guard, and Barrier Tusk affording us a large amount of self-preservation without needing Utsusemi in most situations. Free access to Dual Wield III lets you save some spell slots and spell points but ultimately doesn't matter very much. There is some minor utility in the fact that you get Subtle Blow III from /NIN, which is actually one of BLU's only and best sources of the trait, but overall that doesn't change much for you since you can cap Subtle Blow easily via just Auspice and some equipment swaps. Finally, you get cheap access to Sneak and Invisible via Monomi and Tonko which also can not be detected by magic aggro enemies.

/DNC: Another very situational and mostly unused subjob. You do get some cool things like Haste Samba, Box Step, Quickstep, and Stutter Step as well as access to status removal via Divine Waltz and free, quick to apply Sneak and Invisible via Spectral Jig. At Master Level 30 and above you also have access to Chocobo Jig for a nice little movement speed boost and at Master Level 5 and above you have access to Building Flourish which you can use to spend Finishing Moves on buffing your next Weaponskill. Overall not a horrible kit, and I'd say in some lowman scenarios it is actually worth considering going /DNC to provide a little extra support via steps, Samba, and giving yourself an occassional beefed up weaponskill with Flourish.

/SCH: Finally, our last situational sub job. Especially after hitting Master Level 5 and gaining access to an additional, faster charging stratagem and the Stona spell, /SCH provides you with enough tools when under the effects of Light Arts and Addendum: White to serve as the party's healer via the full suite of status removal spells and Raise when combined with your own potent spells such as Winds of Promy., White Wind, and Magic Fruit. You won't be doing this very often, but it's a pretty underrated way to support your party whenever you don't need a dedicated healer like WHM, and with Tizona you will have a very hard time bottoming out on MP even in cure intensive situations. Another notable mention is that you get access to weather spells which lets you give yourself Aurorastorm to boost your cures or other elemental storms to boost your magic damage output when AoE burning.

Section VII - Conclusion

Hopefully this guide has been educational for you, and I’ve helped you on your way to becoming a successful BLU. I basically stole the idea from Sylow and his awesome DNC guide, so thanks buddy <3.

Any questions, comments, or concerns may be left below or sent to me via PM. I’ll update this with information that I find relevant to the guide as time goes on. MAY THE BLUE BE WIFF YOU, DAWG.

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