On Healing Hands - A Comprehensive WHM Guide

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2010-06-21
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On Healing Hands - A Comprehensive WHM Guide
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 Ragnarok.Ghishlain
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:16:04  
Note: The guide will not be updated at this time due to personal real life commitments. My completely biased opinion is that this guide is still an incredible resources for any WHM, aspiring or not, and the majority of the theory presented in this guide will most likely remain appropriate for many years to come. Item sets have not been updated since August 17, 2013.

On Healing Hands - A Comprehensive WHM Guide



Part 1 - Introduction - “So… I hear you enjoy healing!”
Part 2 - Job Traits and Abilities - “Wait… I can do that…?”
Part 3 - Sub Job Selection and Merits - “I put on my wizard’s hat, no wait!”
Part 4 - Spells and Equipment - “Ooooh… shiny!”
4a) Healing Magic - “Making sure a DD only cares about flattening things”
4b) Enhancing Magic - “Proccing Haste, huh?”
4c) Divine Magic - “I got a laser… that was blessed by the heavens!”
4d) Enfeebling Magic - ~ Insert malicious grin here ~
4e) Miscellaneous Spells and Gear Sets - “What’s that in your Gobbie bag?”
Part 5 - Tips and Tricks to playing White Mage - “Nuances? What’s a nuance?”
5a) White Mage Spellcast - “Can you PLEASE stop blinking?!”
Part 6 - Applying Mace to Face - “Stop! It’s Hammer Time!”
6a) The Right Tools - “Preparation Time”
6b) Weapon Selection - "Do I use Meat Tenderizer A or B?"
6c) Wardrobe of Mass Destruction - "I think the title says it all"
6d) Nuances of Smashing Face - "How many hands do you think I have???"
6e) White Mage Melee Spellcast - “Smashing Supporting!”

Part 1 - Introduction - “So… I hear you enjoy healing!”


White Mages are masters and mistresses of the healing arts. No class in the game can heal as quickly, efficiently, and effectively as a White Mage. With defensive job abilities and traits, the most powerful Cures, several status recovering methods, and a wide variety of enhancing magic - it is difficult to compete with a White Mage on the defensive scale. If fast paced spike heals and a challenge to keep your allies alive and unhindered in even the most desperate of situations is your cup of tea, than White Mage is for you.

White Mages is one of those classes where you are more dependent on your knowledge and your wits than you are in your gear. Does this mean gear is less important for a White Mage? Not at all, but a lack of gear can be made up with quick reflexes and prior knowledge to an encounter. It doesn’t matter if you have the best gear in the world if you do not realize that one of your party members is petrified thanks to a Rock Smash from an opposing troll or if your entire offensive line is paralyzed thanks to a potent Roar from a tiger. Not only are there reactive measures, there are also preventative measures a White Mage can employ. You see that notorious monster readying a highly damaging Area of Effect attack? Prepare that Curaga IV and watch as your parties HP goes from red back to white in an instant.

Where a White Mage truly shines is in large scale melees with huge spike numbers. White Mages are capable of revitalizing your entire front line by themselves, and with a little support can keep up that scale of healing indefinitely.

In this guide, you will find a comprehensive review of many of the spells and abilities White Mages bring to table. Included in this review are optimized gear sets as well as good and easier to acquire alternatives for some equipment.

As a disclaimer, the majority of this guide is written from my own personal experience and knowledge as playing a White Mage as my only job for the majority of my FFXI career. There are different playstyles and some may be more suitable for an individual than others. I wish to present this guide in a way where it can provide players with insight and knowledge that may otherwise be hard to find or located in an obscure part of cyberspace. How an individual wishes to apply this knowledge afterwards, it is up to them. I hope you enjoy this guide!

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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:16:19  

Part 2 - Job Traits and Abilities - “Wait… I can do that…?”


Job Abilities and Traits are skills that are native to a class. For a White Mage, this generally means many defensive buffs, free healing abilities, or abilities that augment their restorative spells. Here is a list of what to expect as a level 99 White Mage:

Section Contents

Job Traits

Auto Regen is a trait only granted to White Mages. As the name implies, it grants a fairly low native Regen effect to the player. This effect is certainly not game breaking, but it’s a nice a touch to have for a White Mage.

Tier 1Level 251 HP/tick
Tier 2Level 762 HP/tick


Clear Mind increases the amount of MP a player recovers while /healing. This trait was useful in the early days where maximizing MP recovery was important to a mage while leveling. This trait is not so important in the current state of the game thanks to the incredible amount of Refresh gear, spells, and abilities that are available as well as the fast paced nature of the fights.

Tier 1Level 20+3 MP while Healing
Tier 2Level 35+6 MP while Healing
Tier 3Level 50+9 MP while Healing; +1 MP/tick cumulative
Tier 4Level 65+12 MP while Healing; +1 MP/tick cumulative
Tier 5Level 80+15 MP while Healing; +2 MP/tick cumulative
Tier 6Level 96+18 MP while Healing; +3 MP/tick cumulative



Divine Benison grants a significant fast cast bonus and enmity reduction to all -na spells and Erases. Though the description of the trait states it quickens casting for status ailment recovery magic, Divine Benison does NOT grant its’ bonus to Sacrifice or Esuna. Overall, this trait is incredibly useful, especially in situations where a White Mage may need to cast Cursna repeatedly due to Doom.

Tier 1Level 5010% Fast Cast; 5% enmity reduction
Tier 2Level 6020% Fast Cast; 10% enmity reduction
Tier 3Level 7030% Fast Cast; 15% enmity reduction
Tier 4Level 8040% Fast Cast; 20% enmity reduction
Tier 5Level 9050% Fast Cast; 25% enmity reduction

Orison Pantaloons +1 / +210% Fast Cast; 5% enmity reduction
Yagrush (level 80)10% Fast Cast; -% enmity reduction
Yagrush (level 85)15% Fast Cast; -% enmity reduction
Yagrush (level 90+)20% Fast Cast; -% enmity reduction


Divine Veil turns single target -na or Erase spell into an area of effect spell while under the effect of Divine Seal. Very useful if not for the fact that Divine Seal itself is on a ten minute recast, making Divine Veil very limiting to an extent. Divine Veil is also augmented with select pieces of gear, the most valuable one being Yagrush.

Tier 1Level 50

orison cap +1Grants the Divine Veil effect without Divine Seal 5% of the time
orison cap +2Grants the Divine Veil effect without Divine Seal 10% of the time
Yagrush (all incarnations)Grants the Divine Veil effect without Divine Seal


Magic Defense Bonus (MDB) is the primary class trait of a White Mage. No other class in the game is as natively resilient to magical damage as a White Mage. Each point of MDB reduces the Magic Attack Bonus (MAB) of magic damage calculation. This trait combined with a potent Shellra V and MDT equipment allows a White Mage to withstand even the most destructive magic damage. A welcome addition to the already tank like characteristics a White Mage can showcase.

Tier 1Level 1010 Magic Defense Bonus
Tier 2Level 3012 Magic Defense Bonus
Tier 3Level 5014 Magic Defense Bonus
Tier 4Level 7016 Magic Defense Bonus
Tier 5Level 8118 Magic Defense Bonus
Tier 6Level 9120 Magic Defense Bonus



Tranquil Heart reduces the enmity generated by Healing Magic and overall is great way mechanism from having angry monsters turn their attention to the tasty treat that is a White Mage. There is only one tier to this trait, but the potency of the trait increases as the Healing Magic Skill of the player rises. Assuming a linear increase, every twenty points of Healing Magic Skill decreases your enmity generated by 1% and caps at 25% at 500 Healing Magic Skill.

Tranquil Heart stacks multiplicative with -enmity gear and merits and allows the White Mage to break the -50 enmity cap (for a total of 62.5% enmity reduction if both types of -enmity is capped).

Tier 1Level 211% enmity reduction for every 20 points of Healing Magic Skill; Caps at 25%


Shield Defense Bonus most likely grants a certain percentage extra reduction when blocking with a shield. However, a White Mage should be block with their shield so infrequently that this trait is negligible at best. While meleeing, one will most likely be dual wielding. While supporting, one will most likely be wearing a PDT set that includes either an Earth Staff or a Terra’s Staff. It was a nice thought from Square-Enix, but overall a useless trait for White Mages.

Tier 1Level 85??




Job Abilities

Afflatus Misery is the White Mages front line ‘stance’. Afflatus Misery brings some interesting supporting methods to a White Mage, but if unfortunately falls flat compared to the ridiculousness that Afflatus Solace brings to the table. Nonetheless, Afflatus Misery does have its’ moments and is not completely useless, it is just difficult to use.

The most effective time to have Afflatus Misery up is when taking light to medium damage area of effect attacks that also apply enfeebling effects. This allows a White Mage to stay up front with the front line damage dealers and heal effectively with Cura while removing afflictions with Esuna. Some monsters of interest that fall into this category include Cerberus, Gwynn Ap Nudd, and Gears. Your mileage will vary depending on the size of your HP pool. Obviously, the more HP, the more damage the White Mage can withstand. Finding the balance is the key to using Afflatus Misery effectively.

Unfortunately, Afflatus Misery itself lacks in its’ primary purpose of giving a strong support stance that White Mages can maintain while meleeing on the front line. The accuracy bonus granted from missing while Auspice is up is counter intuitive to a degree and the enlight effect is not very potent.

Do note that activating Afflatus Solace will overwrite Afflatus Misery.

Level 4000:01:00 Recast02:00:00 Duration



Afflatus Solace is the bread and butter of a White Mage curing build (among other utilities it provides). This Job Ability grants a 30 second Stoneskin buff to any target hit by a White Mages single target Cures. The Stoneskin can absorb 25% (or more depending if you are wearing Orison Bliaud +1 or +2 when the Cure is cast) of the total amount Cured. This effectively gives White Mages a 25%+ potency boost that stacks multiplicatively with the rest of their Curing gear and allows any front line damage dealer to temporarily exceed their maximum HP cap thanks to the Stoneskin effect.

The benefits of Afflatus Solace does not end there. Afflatus Solace allows Sacrifice to transfer at least seven enfeebling effects including those that can normally only be removed with Erase. When Afflatus Solace is active, it grants a 5 MDB bonus against spells of the same element as the current applied Barspells. Finally, Afflatus Solace charges a “battery” for each cure used that makes a White Mages Holy or Holy II spell significantly more potent. Unfortunately, Afflatus Solace is that it does not grant its’ Stoneskin effect on Curaga or Cura spells.

Overall, this is the defining Job Ability for White Mages. This Job Ability brings so much potential to the table that a White Mage would be crazy not to have this Job Ability active while they are supporting their party members from the backlines.

Do note that activating Afflatus Misery will overwrite Afflatus Solace.

Level 4000:01:00 Recast02:00:00 Duration

orison bliaud +1Increases the absorb amount of Stoneskin from 25% to 30%; Adds 5 MDB against spells of the applied Barspell element
orison bliaud +2Increases the absorb amount of Stoneskin from 25% to 35%; Adds 10 MDB against spells of the applied Barspell element


Benediction is White Mages SP / 2hr / 1hr ability. When used, it heals every party member in the immediate vicinity to full HP and cures the majority of their status ailments. Very useful in clutch situations where you need to both clear an extremely debilitating ailment (or several ailments) and cure everyone to full at the same time. This SP has lost a bit of its luster due to the spike Cures that White Mages can throw out. Don’t discount this SP either, however; when used appropriately, this SP can save a party from imminent death.

Level 101:00:00 Recast



Devotion is one of two Group 2 Merit Job Abilities White Mages get access to upon reaching level 75. Devotion takes 25% of the White Mages current’s HP and restores that amount in MP to a member of their party. Each extra merit point increases the amount of MP restored while maintaining the 25% cost of the White Mage’s current HP.

As one might expect, the higher the White Mage’s HP, the more effective this job ability will cure. I would recommend keeping at least one point in this Merit as there are enough instances where you may need to Devotion a fellow mage to maintain their MP pool. Two White Mages in the same party can effectively restore each other as Devotion cannot target the user of the job ability. Alternatively, this can be useful for a Scholar who has all their job abilities on recast and used up all their MP thanks to casting Embrava. The more HP a White Mage has at the time of use, the more MP restored in a single usage. As such, some White Mages like to put on as much HP+ gear as they can muster and healing themselves up to full before using Devotion on a fellow caster.

Level 7500:10:00 Recast

Tier 13 MeritsGrants the White Mage the use of Devotion
Tier 24 MeritsIncreases MP restore amount by 5%
Tier 35 MeritsIncreases MP restore amount by 10%
Tier 45 MeritsIncreases MP restore amount by 15%
Tier 55 MeritsIncreases MP restore amount by 20%

cleric's cap +2 Increases MP restored to 10% per merit instead of 5%



Divine Caress is one of the most useful Job Abilities in a White Mages arsenal right now. Divine Caress works in two stages. When a White Mage first uses it, the White Mage is granted a buff. When the White Mage casts a -na spell and removes an appropriate enfeeble with that -na spell, it grants a buff to the recipient that prevents them from being afflicted by that same status ailment for either a number of times or until three minutes have elapsed. The base number of enfeeble prevention is one with each piece of "enhance Divine Caress" adding more preventions. "Enhance Divine Caress" must be worn when the -na is casted, not at the activation of the job ability. Paralyze effect of Ice Spikes becoming meddlesome? Divine Caress will protect you from that!

But that is not where the fun ends with his job ability. If a White Mage hits multiple targets with their -na (thanks to Accession or Divine Seal) and removes the respective enfeeble from multiple players, each character will get a Divine Caress buff as well. This is incredibly useful in a variety of fights. Cerberus’ Ululation become problematic- Paralyna the entire party and watch as next several Ululatons become ineffectual. Curse effect of Nerve Gas putting everyone at dangerous HP levels? Cursna them all away and just worry about the damage portion of Nerve Gas. Divine Caress is not useful in all fights but has the potential to trivialize certain NMs.

Note that one person may only have one Divine Caress buff at a time. Removing a second enfeeble with Divine Caress will not grant the target two Divine Caress buffs.

Level 8300:01:00 Recast00:01:00 Duration or until first -na cast

Orison Mitts +1 / +2Increases the number of time Divine Caress can “absorb” an Enfeeble by 2 before it wears off
mending capeIncreases the number of time Divine Caress can “absorb” an Enfeeble by 1 before it wears off



Divine Seal is the first Job Ability a White Mage acquires while leveling. While active, the next Cure a White Mage casts will double in potency. This potency bonus stacks with Cure Potency gear resulting in some pretty spectacular numbers. At level 50, Divine Seal can also be used to turn a single target -na or Erase spell into an area of effect spell due to the Job Trait Divine Veil. When combined with Orison Pantaloons +2 and maximum cure potency, this can effectively turn your Cure into a super Cure bomb while not expending any MP at all. Alternatively, Divine Seal with a -na while under the effect of Divine Caress can result in a fairly potent status prevention mechanism. Finally, when running low on MP, Divine Seal with a low tier Curaga can instantly bring your front line damager dealers to full while refunding the entire cost of the spell thanks to Orison Pantaloons +2. Due to its ten minute recast, Divine Seal will not be used very often, but has enough utility to see play frequently enough. A White Mage should always be mindful of an appropriate time to use Divine Seal.

Level 1500:10:00 Recast00:01:00 Duration or until a spell is casted



Martyr is one of two Group 2 Merit Job Abilities White Mages get access to upon reaching level 75. Martyr takes 25% of the White Mages current’s HP and restores double that amount of HP to a member of their party. Each extra merit point increases the amount of HP restored while maintaining the 25% cost of the White Mage’s current HP.

As one might expect, the higher the White Mage’s HP, the more effective this job ability will cure. I would recommend keeping at least one point in this Merit as it makes a great “O SNAP” heal and can keep a party member alive in a pinch. As one would expect, your mileage will vary depending on your race selection with Galkas getting the most out of this job ability.

Level 7500:10:00 Recast

Tier 13 MeritsGrants the White Mage the use of Martyr
Tier 24 MeritsIncreases cured amount by 5%
Tier 34 MeritsIncreases cured amount by 10%
Tier 44 MeritsIncreases cured amount by 15%
Tier 54 MeritsIncreases cured amount by 20%

cleric's mitts +2 Increases cured amount by 10% per merit instead of 5%



Sacrosanctity is a White Mages ultimate one time use Magic Shield. This job ability gives the White Mage and party members around them a shield that reduces the next magic hit by 75% after MDT calculations. With that said, there need to be a bit of preparation to use this. Sometimes, it is hard to predict when a NM will use its next super spell, and if you are not close enough to your party members when it begins to cast its’ super nuke, you might not be able to get to them in time to use Sacrosanctity. That where lies the catch-22 of the Job Ability. How close does a White Mage have to be to use Sacrosanctity without putting themselves at risk- A dead White Mage does no one any good. Striking that balance is difficult, but not impossible.

You will find, however, that sometime it is better to just cast a Curaga after a heavy nuke or magical damage goes through. Most of the time, your front line damage dealers should have some semblance of a MDT set to mitigate the damage of those severally damaging spells where you can easily cure them. This is not to say Sacrosanctity is not useful. You see the SP animation from Paramount Botulus? Run up to your party and pop that Sacrosanctity and watch as your party laughs in the face of death… and watch as the rest of your alliance drop ^^;… It’s not a perfect tool, but it’s a good tool for a White Mage to have.

Level 9500:10:00 Recast00:01:00 Duration or until first magic damage is inflicted
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 Ragnarok.Ghishlain
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:16:40  

Part 3 - Sub Job Selection and Merits - “I put on my wizard’s hat, no wait!”



Section Contents

Sub Job Selection

One of the defining features of Final Fantasy XI is its’ diverse job system. Though there are many potential job combinations, there are a few notable sub job selections that make for efficient White Mage supporting.

Scholar is the most commonly used sub job and should be a White Mage’s go to for almost any situation. 10% cast speed reduction; 10% recast reduction; 10% reduced MP cost; Sublimation; Conserve MP; Accession, Penury, and Celerity Stratagems; B+ in Enfeebling and Enhancing magic; the list of benefits of using Scholar as your sub job is substantial. The big item on the list is that it makes White Mage into an efficient healer with the means of netting 0 MP Cures and even allowing a White Mage to Aspir on occasion if the situation allows for it. Accession can allow the caster to -ga their -nas for quick removal of status ailments in an alliance centric event and apply Divine Caress to all afflicted party members easily. If you are not sure what to expect in an upcoming event, Scholar as a sub job will almost never let you down.

Red Mage is the next most important sub job for White Mage, which isn’t saying too much as the times a White Mage will sub Red Mage is very few and far in between. There are not many ample opportunities to select this sub job as your support, but when you can, you will be grateful. Refresh; Fast Cast; Convert; Dispel; Sleep and Sleep II; Red Mage covers a different line of supporting compared to Scholar. In some instances where you may not have access to too much Refresh gear or having constantly low HP, Red Mage will help a White Mage circumvent MP issues that may be problematic to maintain with a Scholar support job. In some cases, Dispel is a paramount spell to have and needing to enter Dark Arts and spend a charge on Addendum is not worth the effort. Judge wisely, as each individual player’s play style will dictate if they can handle a certain situation or not.

Black Mage is generally used as the lazy man’s way to head from easy event to easy event. When there are no MP issues at all and the content a White Mage is participating is simple, going Black Mage as your sub job is certainly convenient. Warp and Warp II, Stun, and Sleepga are the primary choices to sub Black Mage. I would recommend Black Mage as a sub for any event where you have access to a high supply of MP, whether it be through Atmas, Temp Items, or Ballads and Refresh II from a Red Mage. Though you do get access to Stun, if any event truly calls for a dedicated stunner, it may be better for the group to bring a dedicated stunner and not rely on a White Mage who might have too many other priorities on their plate to stun in a timely fashion. Sleepga has its' place in specific instances, White Mages should make note of when they can use this spell, such as sleeping the horde of Moogles on the final mission for A Moogle Kupo d'Etat.



Merit Selection

Like selecting a support job, selecting what merits for a White Mage defines what kind of White Mage you will be. Though there is a limited amount of Merits one can put into each category, there are only a few efficient choices to have in the White Mage category. In the other more general categories, the merits you choose will entirely depend on which job or jobs the player defines as their “career” choice. This section is making merit selections based on the desire to be the best White Mage possible, so take the advice in this section with a grain of salt.


HP and MP Merits
  • 15/15 MP Merits


From a mage standpoint, the more MP the better. It allows one to cast more spells before running out of steam. Of course, this category is completely dependant on your race as well. A TaruTaru may opt to go with HP merits even as a career White Mage because of their naturally low HP. You can even argue that you only need HP merits once a White Mage has a sufficient Idle set. Overall, I personally operate fairly well with an 800 MP pool - always remember that it’s not how much MP you have, it’s about how efficient you are with it. In this particular category, I feel your decision will be based on play style.


Attribute Merits
  • 12/12 MND

  • 12/12 VIT*


*Only for the most extreme and hardcore of Career White Mages

Mind is the primary stat for White Mages and it affects cure power, enfeebling potency, and spell accuracy. In total, 12/12 MND will give you about 6 healing power, 12 more dMND, and 6% spell accuracy. The biggest component to this is the spell accuracy as 6% is a fairly substantial boost, and in any high tier event where a White Mage may be doubling on enfeebling duty and healing, that 6% will go a long way in making things stick. The second recommended stat is Vitality only for the fact that Vitality is used in the healing power calculation, and makes the White Mage slightly more durable. To be perfectly fair, the second recommended stat is negligible at best and should only be used for the most hardcore of career White Mages. It would be better to pick a stat that is more useful for one of your other jobs if you are dedicated to maximizing several jobs.


Combat Merits
  • 4/4 Evasion

  • 4/4 Shield

  • 8/8 Club

  • 8/8 Staff


There is not too much to say in this category. Unless you are planning to go down the extreme route of melee, this category offers little to a support White Mage. Evasion means little as White Mage evasion is so poor anyway the extra 8 evasion will not help. Shield is hardly useful as wearing an Earth or Terra’s Staff is much more conducive to one’s survival. Club and Staff are both melee attributes and should only be raised if you are planning to go down that route as a White Mage. Overall, save the merits in this category for other jobs of interest to you.


Magic Merits
  • 8/8 Enhancing Magic

  • 8/8 Enfeebling Magic

  • 8/8 Healing Magic


For a career White Mage, maxing out these three magic categories of your four magic types are your best options. Though you have access to Divine as well, the bonuses you get from having 16 extra Divine skill is negligible compared to the other three. If you are only capable of maxing out one or two magic types, I would prioritize your decision based on the order above. Enhancing Magic is the most important because it’ll allow a White Mage to cap out their Boost potency while increasing their bar- spells as well. Enfeebling is next as it is a solid 16% more magic accuracy that - something that can be argued is more important than Enhancing. However, in the current meta of the game, Enfeebling does very little in any high end zerg scenario, which currently dominates a vast majority of the game. I would lean towards Enhancing personally, but Enfeebling still has its’ charm depending on what kind of content you wish to participate in. Finally, Healing Magic skill affects the power of your cures and the rate you can remove doom with Cursna. A nice and small upgrade, but nowhere near as useful as meriting Enhancing or Enfeebling.


Other Merits
  • Spell Interruption Rate 5/5

  • Enemy Critical Hit Rate 5/5


It goes without saying that a mage is impotent if it has the inability to cast spells. Spell Interruption Rate help with that concern to a degree, and should be the first merit a White Mage gets from this category. To help reduce that further, when a mob is on top of a White Mage, it helps if they cannot crit said White Mage as often, hence why the second recommended merit is Enemy Critical Hit Rate reduction. Overall though, this category may be better suited for melee merits, as the way the game is at the moment, there are very few occasions where a White Mage would pull hate barring any instant death attack that wipes out all the front line damage dealers. Because of this, it is entirely possible for a White Mage to skip over this category entirely and use the merits that assist in a different class.


Group 1 Merits
  • Bar Spell Effect 5/5

  • Cure Cast Time 5/5


Bar Spell Effect provides a nice boost to one’s bar spells. Each merit adds 2 points of elemental resist and adds 2 points of MDB for a total of 10 each at maximum merits. This provides a buff to a White Mages Bar-element spells that cannot be replicated in other pieces of gear very easily and is a must have for any White Mage.

The second set of Group 1 merits a White Mage should set is Cure Cast Time. Given how quick the game has become, faster and faster cures become more and more of a necessity. This can especially hold true when your front liners can be two effectively two shotted in Legion, meaning they need to be topped off at any given time. However, take into account that White Mage has access to enough variety of Fast Cast gear that it is entirely possible to reach 77%+ Fast Cast without these merits. As such, if you feel your gear is enough to maintain a fast speed, I would recommend altering one’s Cure Cast Time Merits into Regen Merits. The added Regen can be useful in keeping a front liner ready and on occasion can even prevent them from falling flat on their back to two consecutive Area of Effects hitting them. Regen merits is also useful for low man events as they tend to have lower damage scales in these, such as Salvage.

Unfortunately, Banish merits mean little to a White Mage. With Banish III and Cleric’s Mitts +2, you’re looking at a solid amount of resistance being negated on any undead mob. The extra damage can help slightly, but a White Mage will be Banishing so infrequently anyway that you may as well shy away from these merits. Likewise, Divine Seal doesn’t help too much. If a White Mage needs to use Divine Seal on recast all the time, something is up with the current strategy. Divine Seal is best used as an “O SNAP” super heal or another way to remove a bunch of status effects.


Group 2 Merits
  • Shellra V 5/5

  • Protectra V 1/5*

  • Martyr 1/5*

  • Devotion 1/5*


*Select based on personal play style and preferences

First thing to note, you may notice that the sums of this category doesn’t add up to a full 10. The remaining two points can be used how a White Mage wishes depending on their play style.

The absolute critical merit in this category is Shellra V. The base merit of Shellra V provides 24% -MDT while full merited with Cleric’s Pantaloons +2 provides an immense 29% -MDT. Combine with the potency bonus received by wearing either Sheltered Ring or Brachyura Earring for a whopping 31% -MDT. Needing only 19% -MDT to cap the remainder of one’s MDT is incredible for any survival and allows for the White Mage to feasibly stay well protected from magic damage while maintain a solid idle set. For front line damage dealers, this also means they can build sets with a limited amount of -MDT and go to town in a still semi decent TP set while smashing face. Shellra V 5/5 is the best merit to maximize in this category.

Following this, I would recommend one point in the remaining three merits of this category. Each provides a decent benefit. Protectra V provides a reasonable defense boost to your party in a convenient package. Martyr provides a perfect emergency button for a one time use heal. Even if the White Mage only has 1,000 HP at the time, that is still a free 500 HP heal which can prevent the next blow from killing your ally. Devotion finally fits in as a great MP restoration tool in a pinch, though with the massive amount of Refresh on gear in this day and age, this Job Ability has lost quite a bit of lustre since its’ inception back at the level 75 cap.

So, where does one put the remaining two merits? I would not put more than one merit into Martyr, so that leaves Devotion and Protectra V. Given the copious amount of Refresh available on gear, Devotion is not as useful, but can still work in a pinch. If you’re in a MP intensive event, having Devotion readily available is not a bad thing, and would work as a 3/5. Otherwise, Protectra V 3/5 will add a miniscule amount of Defense. It’s not really much, but every little bit helps. Merits are not too hard to come back so play around with those last two merits until you find something satisfactory for your play style. This ideology can be applied to all five merits that do not relate to Shellra V, and a player should choose their merits depending on what events they participate in and how important certain JAs or spells are to them.
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:16:43  

Part 4 – Spells and Equipment – “Ooooh… shiny!”


Spells are the backbone of any mage and White Mage is no exception to this rule. White Mage brings a wide array of restorative magic to the table. No one can cure as consistently high and remove status ailments as quickly and repeatedly as a White Mage. Along with their curative prowess, White Mages also sports an array of enhancing spells to either protect their party members from harm or make them more capable at dispatching their foes. They additionally have a compliment of enfeebling magic to support their part. Of course, a White Mage isn’t a White Mages without their divine powers.

In this section, I will be outlining the different spells a White Mage may be casting and what situations they may be useful to cast. It is hard to find a spell in a White Mage’s repertoire that is not useful – it’s just a matter of knowing when to cast these spells and how to prevent oneself from being unavailable to cure at an inopportune time.

To compliment this section, I will also be listing gear set (or sets) for each spell that a White Mage may employ as well as a few alternative pieces of gear that may be of interested.


Healing Magic - “Making sure a DD only cares about flattening things”


The main reason to bring any White Mage to any event. High powered, single target cures; a variety of useful area of effect cures; fast status recovery; and four different raises. All of these spells fall into this category. Having the highest native Healing Magic skill (A+) in the game also signifies the role that a White Mage is expected to fulfill. Let’s examine some of these spells.

Section Contents
Cure
Single target Cures comes in six tiers for White Mage. The Cure formulas can be found on the BG Wiki. In general, the Cure power can be determined with the following formula:

Power = floor(MND÷2) + floor(VIT÷4) + Healing Magic Skill

Note: Power caps at 700

Thankfully, there are some nice people in the game who have made some convenient Cure calculators for the math-phobic! You can find a specific cure calculator here or a more general FFXI calculator (which includes a Cure calculator!) here.

The more power a White Mage has, the more powerful their cure is. However, how much HP a cure restores is dependent on the spell tier and your Power. Refer to the cure formula link above for a more detailed explanation.

Tier 1Level 18 MP
Tier 2Level 1124 MP
Tier 3Level 2146 MP
Tier 4Level 4188 MP
Tier 5Level 61135 MP
Tier 6Level 80227 MP


This is considered one of the most important sets for a White Mage, period. You aren’t really a good healer if you aren’t maximizing your healing sets. Of course, all new White Mages need to start somewhere, so here is a progressive list of gear player’s should be aiming for.

~ New Player ~
~ Mid Tier ~
A new set that first time White Mages should be aiming for involving some new SoA content and older content that is relatively easy to farm49% potency set with some Healing Magic Skill and Mind. This set is designed for those wanting to get prepared for Fracture Boss runs in trying to maximize their slots while leaving space open for other utilitarian options.


Once a player acquires 50% potency with both orison bliaud +2 and orison pantaloons +2 equipped, the upgrades a player can go for will be small bonuses here and there. This doesn’t mean to stop improving one’s set, but it means that a player can start focusing on other sets or start to optimize their healing sets for their play style or participated events. The malleability of cure sets are immense with a few variations found below:

~ Optimal ~
~ -50 Enmity ~
~ Max MND ~
Optimized for 50% potency, 96 Healing Magic Skill, 46 MND, and 3 VIT

Note: Bokwus Gloves can be augmented with +10 MND; Genbu's Shield augmented with Cure Potency +5%

Extremely optimal and not for the faint of heart, look at alternatives for Iaso mitra as this items can be very expensive. Look to acquire other items such as Marduk's tiara +1.

Cure Values (Hume WHM/SCH no merits)
Cure III: 480
Cure IV: 901
Cure V: 1,126
50% potency, 53 Healing Magic Skill, 44 MND, and 3 VIT. -50 Enmity

Note: Bokwus Gloves can be augmented with +10 MND

For those worried about their enmity generation, in long and drawn out fights.

Cure Values (Hume WHM/SCH no merits)
Cure III: 469
Cure IV: 879
Cure V: 1,108
50% potency, 35 Healing Magic Skill, and 107 MND

Note: Bokwus Gloves can be augmented with +10 MND

Specialized Mind based curing set. Mind affects more spells than Healing Magic Skill does, so this makes a good set for anyone looking to save inventory by using a large variety of multi-spell equipment.

Cure Values (Hume WHM/SCH no merits)
Cure III: 472
Cure IV: 886
Cure V: 1,114


A few things to note about the Cure spell:
  • orison bliaud +2 will not surpass Heka's kalasiris as a potency body until a White Mage reaches 39% Cure Potency

  • The “Cureskin” granted from Afflatus Solace is based on the maximum amount your Cure can restore regardless of how much HP the Cure actually restored

  • The MP refund from orison pantaloons +2 is one of the most efficient MP pieces given to the White Mage arsenal - use it and abuse it!

  • On average, a White Mage is looking to gain about half the cost of a spell in MP with capped Cure potency for tiers 1 to 4

  • The MP refunded from orison pantaloons +2 is based on the HP restored, therefore a White Mage is most efficient using the appropriate Cure tier to top of their target without overhealing

  • Though enmity has been an issue before, thanks to the Job Trait Tranquil Heart, it is not as important to have -enmity gear in one’s gear choices

  • Enmity generated by Cures I - IV are dependent on the amount cured; however, enmity generated from Cure V and VI have static values, thus making them 'safer' cures in a high enmity situation

  • The amount cured for Cure V is significantly less compared to its’ MP cost when you look at the ratio between HP per MP on all the tiers below tier 5 - one can potentially compensate by adding more Conserve MP gear to their sets after they cap potency

  • Cure VI should never be used in any situation except in Abyssea, and even than, used sparingly - Cure VI’s HP per MP ratio is too low to be of any use outside of high HP instant restorations; likewise, Cure V's should be the emergency cure and should be used only in the most dire of situations as a White Mage's MP efficiency suffers once they start to use Cure V and beyond



Gearing for your single target cures is dependent on your desires. The only stipulation I would put on any Cure set is to hit that 50% potency threshold. Beyond that, a White Mage can still reach incredibly high Cure numbers just on Mind gear alone, and Mind is much more useful of a stat for overall support than Healing Magic Skill. As such, it may be more space efficient to use Mind gear over Skill gear. Likewise, if a White Mage participates in long and drawn out fights, it may be more prudent to slot in Enmity- gear.


Curaga
Curagas, unlike their Cure count parts, revolve around the old cure formulas. That means a lower hard cap and Mind being the most important stat over Skill. As such, the most ideal Curaga set is a set that caps Cure Potency and stacks Mind in every other slot. Bear in mind that Curagas cannot get a Stoneskin effect with Afflatus Solace up, therefore making Orison Bliaud +2 essentially useless for these spells. However, Orison Pantaloons +2 are affected by the cure and can result in 0 MP cost Curagas if enough targets are hit with a powerful enough cure.

~ Max Mind Set ~
~ -50 Enmity ~
Note: Bokwus Equipment can be augmented with +10 MNDNote: Bokwus Equipment can be augmented with +10 MND

-50 Enmity for those concerned about hate generation while spamming back to back Curagas.


As stated earlier, Curagas use the old Cure formulas which had low hard caps that were incredibly difficult to surpass. The only exception to this rule is Curaga IV and V, which can have their numbers boosted by stacking MND. For lower tiers, it would be more prudent for a White Mage to stack Conserve MP instead of Mind to maximize the efficiency of their Curagas.

Tier 1Level 1660 MP
Tier 2Level 31120 MP
Tier 3Level 51180 MP
Tier 4Level 71260 MP
Tier 5Level 91380 MP


Curaga enmity generation is fairly high due to the fact the hate generated is dependent on how powerful the Curaga is. As such, be wary about opening up with a Curaga in a non-zerg situation. Some -enmity gear may be appropriate in non-essential equipment slots to mitigate this risk, depending on the content the White Mage is participating in.

Much like Cure VI, Curaga V is hardly worth the MP to cast and I highly recommend keeping away from that spell. Focus more on making the lower tiers efficient, especially Curaga IV as that spell can hit some high numbers. 1,000 healed over five targets will generally top off all your front line damage dealers and result in 250 MP restored thanks to your AF3+2 pants. Take note that if a White Mage pops a Penury charge, their Curagas will almost always cost 0 MP.


Cura
This healing spell is the black sheep of the cure family. This spell is centred around the caster and hits all party members who are within 10 Yalms of the caster. Because of the nature of the spell, it can be potentially very dangerous to use, and at the same time, can also be one of the best spells possible to use in very select instances. Cura’s hard cap is very low but also has a very low MP cost as well. What makes Cura interesting is that it is enhanced by Afflatus Misery, namely by how much damage the White Mage has taken in their last hit of damage. It does not take very much damage to cap out the “Misery” potency of this spell - my own observations being that Cura III seems to cap out when the White Mage has taken around 250 damage.

Cura is similar to Curaga in that the hard cap for the spell is very low. Due to the low MP cost but high recast time of the Cura tiers, it is best to pair a 50% potency set with a Haste set to maximize how often a White Mage can cast Cura. Since Cura always hits the White Mage, Potency of “Cure” Effect Received gear may become a deciding factor for this spell as well, as it can boost the amount of HP restored to the White Mage and thus netting more MP restored overall due to Orison Pantaloons +2.

Mileage with Cura is dependent on how risky a White Mage likes to play. Even at a non-boosted rate, a White Mage in a four person party can get the majority of their MP back in a single casting of Cura regardless of tier. Of course, some mobs you never want to get close to and this is where knowledge of the game plays an important role for a White Mage.


Tier 1Level 4030 MP
Tier 2Level 8345 MP
Tier 3Level 9660 MP



Alternative Potency Equipment - This section will be focussing on potency pieces as those are the most important pieces a White Mage should be aspiring for. Though Power pieces are important, capping potency is even more important.


-na + Erase
These spells remove debilitating effects from allies in your group and one of the most important aspects of a White Mage. Your damage dealers cannot kill efficiently if they are paralyzed, blinded, or have their stats reduce. Plague is the bane of any damage dealers existence and bio can greatly reduce the damage output. Curse can cause the next powerful attack to wipe your front line off the field. As such, it is imperative for a White Mage to pay attention to their allies and the foes and know what effects they need to remove quickly, as this can be the difference between life or death in an event. Combined with the Job Trait Divine Benison, White Mages has the fastest cast and recasts for any -na and Erase spell possible.

Unfortunately for White Mages, the most ideal -na and Erase set revolves around owning an extremely expensive piece of gear. The benefit is apparent in the current meta of massive Area of Effect status ailments, and if one is a career White Mage at heart, they will be making an effort to build this item.


This gear set maximizes Haste and Fast Cast to minimize the recast timer of your -nas and Erases. orison mitts +2 are used as you are capping Haste in other slots and Divine Caress with either Yagrush equipped or Accession/Divine Seal active has the potential to make your damage dealers immune to most enfeebling effects on the next serveral passes. Bear in mind if you are a Yagrush owner, you will most likely only have to cast a -na spell once per rotation. Erase is another matter entirely, as some TP moves can be incredibly debilitating. An Arka II with Arbuda grip makes a very good substitute to Yagrush in regards to Recast. orison cap +1 / orison cap +2 can also provide a Divine Veil proc without activating Divine Seal at a 5% and 10% chance respectively.

Note that between Divine Benison and the pieces of equipment that provide a Divine Benison bonus, a White Mage’s recast is incredibly low. As such, it may be more prudent for a White Mage to stack Conserve MP gear versus Haste and Fast Gear. This gearing decision is completely based on the individual player’s style.

PoisonaLevel 68 MP
ParalynaLevel 912 MP
BlindnaLevel 1416 MP
SilenaLevel 1924 MP
CursnaLevel 2930 MP
EraseLevel 3218 MP
VirunaLevel 3448 MP
StonaLevel 3940 MP



Cursna versus Doom
Doom is its own can of worms, being one of the few spells that requires repeated casts to remove. Given the nature of Doom, it is imperative that Doom is removed as soon as possible from as many party members as possible. The “accuracy” of a White Mage’s Cursna is proportional to their Healing Magic Skill. As such, there are two dichotomies to gear for Cursna versus Doom:

Healing Magic Skill + Enhances Cursna effect
Haste and Fast Cast



Additionally, according to the Japanese wiki, each piece of gear increases the accuracy of Cursna removing Doom by 10% with HQ crafted pieces reported to have 15% accuracy. One theory suggested is that each piece of gear multiplies the base success chance (a function of one's healing skill) of Cursna removing doom. This value also stacks with gear that improves the effect of Cursna "Received", leading to a very high success rates it both are stacked to their fullest, but does require some coordination. Also be aware that if Doom is removed while Divine Caress is active, it will prevent the next X amount of Dooms from applying (depending on the gear used). Be forewarned that Divine Caress will still be consumed even if it doesn't remove Doom, so this strategy is a bit of a crap shoot but also incredibly beneficial.

Be advised that certain TP moves do have an en-doom effect that do not show up in the chat log. It is absolutely critical for a White Mage to be aware of these attacks so they can start to Cursna cycle as soon as possible.

Items that Enhance "Cursna" Effect


Esuna and Sacrifice
Esuna and Sacrifice are two unique status removal spells for White Mage. Sacrifice is augmented by Afflatus Solace while Esuna is augmented with Afflatus Misery. Though both have their unique uses, the gearing for both of them are very similar.

Esuna is a status removal effect that centers around the caster. It removes a single enfeebling effect that can be removed by most -na spells, with notable exceptions to Curse and Plague. Upon cast, Esuna also removes the same enfeebling effect that may be debilitating nearby party members. If afflicted with multiple enfeebling effects, Esuna randomly picks one of the removable effects. Esuna is bolstered by Afflatus Misery, allowing Esuna to remove two effects and allows the spell to also remove Curse, Plague, and any number of effects that Erase can remove. This is useful when combined with Cura for some front line healing and status removal at a low MP cost, especially in situations where a White Mage is buffed with many haste buffs.

Sacrifice is the other status removal effect that targets another member of the White Mages party. This spell allows the White Mage to remove one enfeebling effect from the target that is normally removable with a -na spell. With Afflatus Solace activated, Sacrifice can remove at least 24 effects including those that can be removed with the Erase spell. This is incredibly handy for TP attacks or spells that can cause many stat down effects such as Impact. Do note that Sacrifice cannot remove effects that would disable the White Mage, such as petrification, silence, or doom.

Esuna and Sacrifice are also two of the only spells in the game that can remove super Curse, also known as ST-22 or Zombie. There are only a select few “strains” of super Curse that cannot be removed by these two spells. This means that a White Mage may be the only thing standing between imminent destruction and wiping a monster off the face of the planet. Like Doom, it is incredibly important for a White Mage to know what effects can cause Zombie and react appropriately to these debilitating moves.

Both Esuna and Sacrifice are high recast spells that are not affected by anything but the current active Afflatus job ability. As such, a gear set that revolves around high recast is the most appropriate gear set, with a few smatterings of Occasionally Quicken Spellcast pieces to allow a White Mage to cast the spells back to back.


Even though Divine Benison mentions it enhances the cast speed of status ailment removal spells, this Job Trait does not affect the cast times and recast of Sacrifice and Esuna.

EsunaLevel 6124 MP
SacrificeLevel 6518 MP



Raises
White Mages gain access to four forms of Raise including a Raise that only has a three minute weakness timer and grants a Reraise III buff on the target. Heaven forbid if you get into a wipe recovery mode, but it is times like those where a White Mage with enough Refresh can get up an entire party by themselves. Due to the heavy MP expenditure of these spells, it is best to combine these casts with Penury and a Conserve MP set to maximize their efficiency. One exception is Arise when it may be more prudent for a White Mage to stack recast gear so the two to three damage dealers that fell can recover in an expedient manner. Base your decision on the current situation.

RaiseLevel 25150 MP10% HP Restored; 50% EXP Refunded
Raise IILevel 56150 MP25% HP Restored; 75% EXP Refunded
Raise IIILevel 70150 MP50% HP Restored; 90% EXP Refunded
AriseLevel 99300 MP100% HP Restored; 90% EXP Refunded; 3 Minute Weakness
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:16:46  

Enhancing Magic - “Proccing Haste, huh?”


Spells in this category do one of two things. They can make their allies stronger and faster, increase their survivability, and overall try to shorten the length of a fight as much as possible. Or they can make the White Mage more durable in the face of a giant dragon smacking their face off. These are the spells that affect your party efficiency with some spells being absolutely essential.

A White Mage only has a C+ skill in Enhancing Magic. This can be augmented by Light Arts from the Scholar Sub Job and is incredibly useful to White Mages who are trying to hit that coveted 500 skill tier for Enhancing Magic.

Section Contents
Regen
A utility spell that grants the target a HP/tick buff that generally lasts for one minute. This spell is very useful in situations where a damage dealers life bar may be ping ponging back and forth a lot and a tick or two of Regen can keep a damage dealer from face planting. Regen excels in the HP per MP efficiency category due to its’ Heal over Time nature. Unfortunately, thanks to the prevalence of Cure potency gear and Orison Pantaloons +2, Regen has fallen into a niche use category for White Mage. This is not to say a White Mage cannot make use of it, as it is still a great spell to use in the early parts of a Salvage run and in some cases may be the only spell a White Mage needs to cast against certain fights. Regen’s efficiency also rises dramatically when combined with the power of Accession and hitting a party of five damage dealers at once.

I recommend complimenting Regen gear with Conserve MP gear as you generally will only be needing to Regen one target at any given instance or be using Accession to Regen an entire party.

Tier ILevel 2115 MP5 HP / tick; 75 second Duration
Tier IILevel 4436 MP12 HP / tick; 60 second Duration
Tier IIILevel 6664 MP20 HP / tick; 60 second Duration
Tier IVLevel 8682 MP30 HP / tick; 60 second Duration


Merits and Items that Enhance Regen Effect
Cleric's Briault / +1Increases the amount of HP restored per tick by the following:
Regen - +1 HP / tick
Regen II - +2 HP / tick
Regen III - +3 HP / tick
Regen IV - +4 HP / tick
cleric's briault +2Increases the amount of HP restored per tick by the following:
Regen - +2 HP / tick
Regen II - +3 HP / tick
Regen III - +5 HP / tick
Regen IV - +7 HP / tick
Marduk's tiara +1Increases the amount of HP restored per tick by the following:
Regen - +1 HP / tick
Regen II - +1 HP / tick
Regen III - +2 HP / tick
Regen IV - +3 HP / tick
orison mitts +1Increases the duration of Regen by 10 second
orison mitts +2Increases the duration of Regen by 15 seconds
Regen Effect MeritsIncreases the HP / tick by one per merit



Bar-element
A staple for any White Mage, these spells provides magic evasion against the appropriate element to themselves and any party member within 10 yalms of them. White Mages can protect their allies from the primary elements of the Elemental magic trees, but not against Light or Dark magic. The strength of a White Mages’ bar- spell is proportional the amount of Enhnacing Magic they have as well as any other equipment that increases that provides a bonus. Additionally, the duration of a bar-element is dependent on the Enhancing Skill of the White Mage as well.

Additionally, White Mages should be aware of the elemental properties of individual enfeebles as they may be able to stack both the Bar-status and Bar-element and increase the chances of resists against these spells dramatically.

Enfeebles and Their Elements

Only one Bar-elemental spell can be active at a time. Bar-elemental spells can be augmented to give bonus MDB against spells of that element with select equipment and merits.


BarstonraLevel 512 MP
BarwateraLevel 912 MP
BaraeraLevel 1312 MP
BarfiraLevel 1712 MP
BarblizzaraLevel 2112 MP
BarthundraLevel 2512 MP

Items, Skills, and Merits that Enhance Bar-elemental spells
Afflatus SolaceAdds 5 MDB against the same element of the bar- spell casted
Bar Spell Effect MeritAdds 2 points of resistance and 2 MDB to appropriate element for each point of merit
beneficusAdds 5 MDB to associated element of spell cast
cleric's pantaloons +2As listed on the tool tip, provides a +25 resistance bonus to the spell
Orison +2 Set BonusEach piece beyond the first provides a 2% chance to completely negate the damage of that element
orison bliaud +1Adds an additional 5 MDB against spells of the applied Barspell element while Afflatus Solace is active
orison bliaud +2Adds an additional 10 MDB against spells of the applied Barspell element while Afflatus Solace is active



Bar-status
Bar-status spells provides magical evasion against the specific enfeebling effect. Like its’ bar-element counterpart, this spell is centred around the caster and hits anyone within 10 yalms of them. At this time, there is no metric to determine how effective this is. One can naturally assume that more Enhancing Skill increases the potency of this effect. Unfortunately, on any on-par content, the Bar-status spell will not negate the effect. It might be useful for partial resists, but partial resists affect duration and in the majority of cases, it is better to remove the effect outright than to let it linger for a shorter duration. This makes Bar-status spells underwhelming in the grand scheme of things. The only expcetion to the rule is Baramnesra as there is no spell that actually removes this enfeeble and thus can be potentially useful against mobs that amnesia.

Like the Bar-elemental spells, a player can only have one Bar-status spell up at a time. Additionally, White Mages should be aware of the elemental properties of individual enfeebles as they may be able to stack both the Bar-status and Bar-element and increase the chances of resists against these spells dramatically.


It has been regarded that bar-status is incredibly potent in Player versus Player settings like Ballista, so do not discount it if you plan to use a White Mage in that regard.

BarsleepraLevel 714 MP
BarpoisonraLevel 1018 MP
BarparalyzraLevel 1222 MP
BarblindraLevel 1826 MP
BarsilencraLevel 2330 MP
BarviraLevel 3950 MP
BarpetraLevel 4340 MP
BaramnesraLevel 7860 MP



Boosts
A simple spell that grants the White Mage and those within 10 yalms of them a positive bonus to a particular stat. That stat cannot be cancelled by the player but can be dispelled enemy mobs. A player may only have one Boost active at a time, but the bonuses a Boost gives can be tremendous.

The minimum amount of stats a single casting of the spell can Boost is 5 and gains an additional stat point for every 10 Enhancing Magic Skill beyond 300. A Boost spell caps at 500 Enhancing Magic and every White Mage should be striving to reach this number. At this cap, a White Mage’s Boost can give +25 to a single stat, which has huge implications for any weapon skill, especially the merited weapon skills with 100% stat mods. If Enhancing is fully merited and a White Mage is sub jobbing Scholar, they should be able to hit at least 475 Enhancing with very little work.


Boost-VITLevel 8136 MP
Boost-MNDLevel 8436 MP
Boost-CHRLevel 8736 MP
Boost-AGILevel 9036 MP
Boost-STRLevel 9336 MP
Boost-INTLevel 9636 MP
Boost-DEXLevel 9936 MP



Haste
The bread and butter of any damage dealing buff. For 40 MP, this spell gives the target an additional 15% magic Haste. Simple, efficient, and highly effective. No gear or merits affect this spell.

In terms of gearing, it is best to gear this for Recast and Occasionally Quickens Spellcast as you will most likely need to cast Haste on multiple targets and in some instances, you may need to reapply Haste as soon as possible.

HasteLevel 4040 MP



Auspice
Another simple enhancing spell, this buff provides a Subtle Blow effect for the White Mage and all party members within 10 yalms. The base bonus is +10 Subtle Blow and can be boosted to +20 when equipped with orison duckbills +2. Be cautious when using this spell as the buff it provides overrides a Paladin’s En-light buff and a Dark Knight’s En-dark buff. This happens because Auspice also grants the effect of En-light to a White Mage while under the effects of Afflatus Misery, thus my reasoning is that En-Light, En-Dark, and Auspice are all considered the 'same' buff because of their similar effects (in some respects). Also, the spell loses its’ effectiveness in a zerg scenario because of the monumental TP feed that happens. Where Auspice excels is any low man or non-zerg content.

Because the only piece of gear that augments Auspice are the boots, it is recommended to use Conserve MP gear in every other slot, as you will not need to cast it more than once every three minutes.

AuspiceLevel 5530 MP


Items that Enhance Auspice
orison duckbills +2Provides a +10 bonus to Subtle Blow for a total of +20



Protectra and Shellra
Another bread and butter spell for any White Mage. The -ra spells are equiviant to their single target counterparts except they also hit all part members within 10 yalms of the caster. Protectra bolsters defense while Shellra provides a -MDT bonus.

Shellra V is one the most important spells to a White Mage’s spellbook. This spell, when fully merited, and augmented with specific equipment, can provide a total of -31% MDT bonus in a single casting, making it incredibly easy for a other front liners and the White Mage themselves to cap out their -MDT when facing down extreme magical damage.

Protectra V provides a solid defense buff. Because of these buffs have thirty minute duration, a White Mage need only to cast the buff once and the party can forget about the rest until they wear off or dispelled.

These spells are also a non-Enhnacing Magic dependant spell. As such, stacking Conserve MP on other slots can be beneficial if a White Mage is forced to reapply buffs in the middle of combat.


ProtectraLevel 79 MP
ShellraLevel 1718 MP
Protectra IILevel 2728 MP
Shellra IILevel 3737 MP
Protectra IIILevel 4746 MP
Shellra IIILevel 5756 MP
Protectra IVLevel 6365 MP
Shellra IVLevel 6875 MP
Protectra VLevel 75 (Merit)84 MP
Shellra VLevel 75 (Merit)93 MP


Items that Enhance Shellra and Protectra
cleric's pantaloons +2 Increases potency of Shellra V by 1/256 for each merit point
cleric's duckbills +2 Grants an additional 5 defense to Protectra V for each merit point



Stoneskin
Stoneskin shields your White Mage against damage. It has an HP value that will break once it is out of HP. Stoneskin caps at 350 HP, which a White Mage should be able to cap naked at level 99. There are pieces of gear that increases the amount of damage Stoneskin can absorb to a total of 445. Effectively, Stoneskin increases the White Mages HP by at least 350 while Stoneskin is up and it also allows for a White Mage to /heal while getting ticks of Sublimation. Stoneskin is also Accession-able, thus giving another layer of defense for your front liners before they engage in combat. Note that any gear that enhances the effect of Stoneskin does not transfer to the White Mages allies.

StoneskinLevel 2829 MP


Items that Enhance Stoneskin
earthcry earringIncreases Stoneskin potency by 10 HP
haven hoseIncreases Stoneskin potency by 20 HP
shedir seraweelsIncreases Stoneskin potency by 35 HP
siegel sashIncreases Stoneskin potency by 20 HP
stone gorget[td]Increases Stoneskin potency by 30 HP



Aquaveil and Blink
Two other self-defence enhancing spells that protect the White Mage. Blink provides two shadows, but unlike Utsusemi, only has a chance to block an oncoming attack. This spell has lost some of its charm in a time of true Area of Effect attacks and when White Mage have a difficult time pulling hate off the damage dealers.

Aquaveil provides a shield that protects the White Mage from casting interruption. There is gear that enhances the effect of Aquaveil, but it is unclear how. The common thought process of Aquaveil is that protects the caster from X amount of hits that interrupt their casting. However, much like Blink, Aquaveil is not effective anymore as the chances of a White Mage pulling hate of their damage dealers is next to none.

AquaveilLevel 1012 MP
BlinkLevel 1920 MP


Items that Enhance Aquaveil
emphatikos rope???
shedir seraweels???



Reraise
Grants the White Mage a buff that automatically applies a specific tier of Raise on them when they are incapacitated. The amount of EXP recovered and HP restored is exactly like the targetable spell that White Mages can cast. At this time, there is no Arise-Reraise spell. The buff itself lasts for one full hour, so the White Mage would only ever need to cast this spell once in any given time, thus this spell should be cast with Conserve MP gear.

ReraiseLevel 25150 MP10% HP Restored; 50% EXP Refunded
Reraise IILevel 56150 MP25% HP Restored; 75% EXP Refunded
Reraise IIILevel 70150 MP50% HP Restored; 90% EXP Refunded


Alternative Enhancing Pieces
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 Ragnarok.Ghishlain
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:16:49  

Divine Magic- “I got a laser… that was blessed by the heavens!”


A White Mage just isn’t really a White Mage without the power of their Divine Magic backing them, with a skill rating of A- in this category. This branch of magic comes with two utility spells that should see usage frequently enough to build sets for. Both Banish and Holy spells are the nuking spells of the White Mage tree, with both having some usage in very niche situations.

Section Contents
Repose
The one and only sleep spell that White Mage gets access to natively. Because this is a light based sleep, this sleep can be used on undead targets or any target that is highly resistant to Dark based magic. It can override Lullabies and Sleep I, but it cannot overwrite Sleep II and likewise, Sleep II cannot overwrite Repose. Additionally, Repose is not subjected to the “Resist Sleep” job trait, making it useful against mobs that may have that trait. It has also been reported that Repose gets high magic accuracy bonus, so with capped Divine Magic, a White Mage should be able to sleep anything in a crowd control situation. Repose acts as a White Mage Sleep II. As such, it may be more prudent for a White Mage to stack recast gear to apply Repose on multiple targets as quickly as possible.


ReposeLevel 4826 MP


Flash
This spell is a high enmity generating, high potency blind. Against anything worth its salt hitting a White Mage, it will do very little to help the White Mage due to their beyond bad evasion skill. However, for assisting front liners evade damaging two hours like Hundred Fist or Mighty Strikes, this is a great boon to them. You want to gear Flash that maximizes accuracy - Flash is doing no one any good if it doesn’t last more than one second on the target.

Note: Bokwus Equipment can be augmented with +10 MND and +13 Magic Accuracy

FlashLevel 4525 MP



Holy
The Holy spells are one of the best nukes in White Mage’s arsenal!.. which isn’t saying too much, honestly. Long recast and low damage rating that can be ‘charged’ by Afflatus Solace to make for some fairly potent damage. Each cure a White Mage casts is “recorded” to charge the Holy damage until about 1,300 HP has been recorded, resulting in maximum damage.

This is certainly not a go too spell for a White Mage, but in a pinch can nuke can save the day or in a high Refresh situation, can provide some additional damage output with little downtime or risk. One of the best factors of Holy is that it has an extremely short cast time (less than 1.5 seconds) allowing for a quick nuke between the White Mage’s supporting duties.

Building a set for Holy is another story entirely. Most nuking gear is designed with Scholar, Black Mage, and Red Mage in mind. As such, a lot of nuking gear has Intelligence but not Mind. There is also an issue of space as well, as White Mages should be spending their inventory on other, more important gear choices to their supporting role.

If a White Mage happens to have inventory space, here… is something I have concocted for use in this guide. I honestly don’t know what are good nuking options, as I don’t really nuke. Warning: Take with a grain of salt!

Note: Bokwus Equipment can be augmented with +10 MND and either +13 Magic Accuracy or +13 Magic Attack Bonus

Splattered on as much Magic Attack Bonus as I can find for a White Mage. If there are any better suggestions, please recommend!


HolyLevel 50100 MP
Holy IILevel 95150 MP



Banish
Like Holy, Banish is the other set of nuking spells White Mage gets access. Unlike Holy, someone casting Banish is generally not Banishing for damage (though it can bring out some fairly potent numbers), one is using Banish for the utility it provides. Banish spells damages the resistances that Undead mobs may have. This is an incredibly niche use of Banish, but knowledge of this effect also differentiates a new White Mage to a veteran White Mage. Good White Mages will know what mobs they need to be Banishing from the onset to provide a smooth fight for the rest of their party, even at the cost of some of their MP.

Note: Bokwus Equipment can be augmented with +10 MND and either +13 Magic Accuracy or +13 Magic Attack Bonus

I used the same set as the Holy set as you will still want to maximize your damage when you can. Banish cannot be boosted by Afflatus Solace, but instead is boosted by Afflatus Misery. Unfortunately, you need to be taking damage to improve Afflatus Misery, and chances are you will either (1) want to heal rather than fire a Banish or (2) be in Afflatus Solace stance anyway. As such, do not expect to see your numbers with Banish to be anywhere near as effective as Holy. Instead, use Banish as a utility spell for your front liners and think of the damage as an added bonus to that effect.

BanishLevel 515 MP50% Reduction in Resistances
BanishgaLevel 1541 MP70%??? Reduction in Resistances
Banish IILevel 3057 MP70% Reduction in Resistances
Banishga IILevel 40120 MP97%??? Reduction in Resistances
Banish IIILevel 6596 MP97% Reduction in Resistances


Items that Enhance Banish
cleric's mitts / cleric's mitts +1 / cleric's mitts +2Increases the amount of resistance reduction from Banish further. NQ Mitts reduces it by an additional 1/8. Unknown what other values increase it by.
fenian ringIncreases the amount of resistance reduction from Banish by an additional 1/8
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:16:52  

Enfeebling Magic - ~ Insert malicious grin here ~


Enfeebling Magic is at the crux of survivability for your non-zerg scenarios. Thanks to a myriad array of Magic Accuracy, it is entirely possible for White Mages to land Enfeebles on even the most staunch monsters in the game. Though a White Mage has a C- skill in Enfeebling Magic natively, that can be increases to a B+ rating thanks to Light Arts with a Scholar Sub Job. In any content where a White Mage may not need the immense benefits of the Scholar Sub Job, they should be able to carry around enough Magic Accuracy gear to Enfeeble anything of interest.

Section Contents
Potency Based Magic
Slow, Paralyze, and even potentially Addle are potency based Enfeebling spells in the White Mage repertoire. Potency based spells have their potency increased depending on the difference of the caster’s Mind stat versus their opponent’s Mind stat with potency capping at the caster have 50 more Mind than their target. Due to the relatively low skill level (even with Light Arts active), I find stacking skill and Magic Accuracy in an equal ratio to Mind is best for maximum effectiveness. White Mage has the highest Mind stat in the game and a lot of Magic Accuracy and Enfeebling gear already has quite a bit of Mind attached to it, thus it is not as hard as one may think to hit 170+ Mind while still maintaining a solid Magic Accuracy set. Also note that Mind adds about 0.5% of Magic Accuracy on your Mind based enfeebles (all White Magic enfeebles).

Note: Bokwus Equipment can be augmented with +10 MND and +13 Magic Accuracy

ParalyzeLevel 46 MP
SlowLevel 1315 MP
AddleLevel 9336 MP



Non-Potency Based Magic
Silence is a non-potency based Enfeeble. As one might guess, this means that no amount of Mind will actually add to the effect of Silence, instead you just want to layer as much Magic Accuracy as possible to make sure this Enfeeble lands as often as possible. Silence tends to have a random duration, so it’s important to stick Silence frequently and at the highest Magic Accuracy possible to prevent resists. This spell is incredibly useful on any trash mob that likes to hit that Chainspell two hour and can be silenced. Mileage on Silence is completely dependent on the mobs you’re fighting.

Note: Bokwus Equipment can be augmented with +10 MND and +13 Magic Accuracy

SilenceLevel 1516 MP



Dia
An important spell in a White Mage’s arsenal. On any high end target, this spell should ALWAYS be applied as it provides a Defense Down effect that is unique and stacks with other forms of Defense Down. Even if this spell hits for 0, the Defense Down effect is always applied, thus making it quite a unique spell. Note that Bio can overwrite Dia, but on any high end target that shouldn’t be an issue. If there is no Red Mage present, it is up to the White Mage to apply Dia II onto the target. One doesn’t really need to stack anything to make Dia effective, so it would be best to stack Conserve MP.

DiaLevel 37 MP
DiagaLevel 1812 MP
Dia IILevel 3630 MP


Alternative Enfeebling Pieces
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:16:54  

Miscellaneous Spells and Gearsets - “What’s that in your Gobbie bag?”


These few spells and equipment sets are what I dub as miscellaneous utilities. They don’t fit into any particular category yet are important enough to bear mentioning as a White Mage. The spells listed here are important to a White Mage’s spell book, though some people do choose to forgo them for one reason or another. In terms of some of the gearsets in this category, you would be considered totally gimpy if you didn’t have some of the important gear sets like an Idle set, PDT, MDT, and at least a good Cure cast set.


Section Contents
Teleport and Recall
These spells are unique to the White Mage spell book and are worth mentioning because they allow for some quick travel from destination to destination. These spells center around the White Mage and teleport all players around them to specific telepoints found throughout the world. All of these spells can be quested (after reaching a certain reputation or access to certain areas) and should be sought at by all White Mage for their convenience. I won’t go into much detail about their acquisition but I highly recommend any White Mage, regardless of mule or not, to get these spells.

Teleport-DemLevel 3675 MPKonschtat Highlands (I-6)
Teleport-HollaLevel 3675 MPLa Theine Plateau (K-8)
Teleport-MeaLevel 3675 MPTahrongi Canyon (I-6)
Teleport-AltepLevel 38100 MPEastern Altepa Desert (G-7)
Teleport-YhoatLevel 38100 MPYhoatar Jungle (F-9)
Teleport-VahzlLevel 42100 MPXarcabard (H-8)
Recall-JugnerLevel 53125 MPJugner Forest (S) (H-9)
Recall-MeriphLevel 53125 MPMeriphataud Mountain (S) (I-8)
Recall-PashhLevel 53125 MPPashhow Marshlands (S) (J-9)


Sneak + Invisible + Deodorize
A trio of utility spells designed to help the caster and their party navigate aggressive zones with ease (aside from a select few true-aggro mobs). Monsters either detect by sight or detect by sound primarily, though some can also aggro through magic casting or job ability usage, so be wary of that. Deorodize does nothing in the grand scheme of things as it prevents monsters from tracking by smell after you aggro them. Generally speaking, it’s best just not to aggro anything at all. Get these spells and use them as they are cheap and very important utility spells (especially if you have party members who are too cheap to buy Silent Oils or Prism Powders).

DeodorizeLevel 1510 MP
SneakLevel 2012 MP
InvisibleLevel 2515 MP



Idle Gear
A very important set for any Mage in general, Refresh gear gives a White Mage back 1 MP every three seconds for each points of Refresh gear. This gear should be equipped at any time the White Mage is, well, idling. With the right gear sets, it is possible for a White Mage to get up to 7 MP Refresh in any circumstances. Combine this set with pieces of MDT and/or PDT for maximum effectiveness.

Note: Nefer set provides a 3 tick Refresh for the two piece set; Oneiros Grip's latent is active when MP is less than 75%

Notable Refresh Equipment


MDT / PDT Sets
A very important set (or sets if inventory allowed) that keeps the White Mage from becoming a bloodstain on the ground. Both types of damage taken reductions cap at 50%. Thanks to the potency of Shellra V, it is very easy for a White Mage to cap both in a single set, though one may want to put several pieces of Magic Defense Bonus in the MDT set to further increase the potency of the set. It is best to pair this set with Refresh pieces for a nice hybrid utility set. Mix and match gear as needed for the optimal build that you want.

~Physical Damage Taken Set~
~Magical Damage Taken Set~
-50% Physical Damage Taken Down;

Note: Tutunui can be augmented with -11% PDT; Dark Ring can be augmented up to -6% PDT;

Alternatives: Earth / Terra Staff also makes a very cheap and not-so time consuming alternative; a second Dark Ring over Defending Ring; Black Earring can be augmented with -1% to -2% PDT.
-19% Magical Damage Taken combine with 31% MDT from Shellra V for 50% MDT; 18 Magic Defense Bonus

Note: Dark Ring can be augmented up to 6% MDT

Alternatives: A second Dark Ring over Defending Ring; merman's earring



Fast Cast Sets
As the game has progressively gotten faster and faster, it has become more and more important for Mages of all colours to adapt. One of the adaptations is to provide your spells quickly and effectively. Since Fast Cast values are generally not listed, it is up to the player to do a little research.

Fast Cast sets are commonly referred to as pre-cast sets while the sets that a player wishes to cast their spell in is known as their mid-cast set. The game can only swap gear so quickly, so it is important to give a small delay between one’s pre-cast set and one’s mid-cast set. The trouble is balancing this delay. For example, if a Cure casts too quickly, than the Cure that is cast does not get the benefit of all the potency gear as the game cannot gear swap quickly enough. It is important for the player’s themselves to determine what level of speed they want to maximize their casting speed without losing their effectiveness.

It should be noted that different types of Fast Cast style gear stacks. Fast Cast stacks additively with “Cure” Cast Time Down, Affinity Cast Time, and “Skill” cast time (Such as Healing Magic Skill or Enhancing Magic Skill) while cast time reduction from Light Arts stack multiplicatively. As such, your gearing choices may be different depending on your sub job selection.

Generic
50% Fast Cast Total

Curing
~New Player~
~Cure Cast Time Down~
~Generic Fast Cast~
40% Cure Cast Time Reduction with an additional 20% with Cure Cast Time Merits

A low-range set new level 99 White Mages can try to aim for when leaving Abyssea and needing to keep their casting times reasonably high.
Note: Genbu's Shield can be augmented with up to 8% Cure Cast Time Speed

81% “Cure” Spellcasting Reduction

Combine with 20% Cure Cast time merits for "instant" Cure Cast. Be warned that 80% is the fastest cast time possible and on top of that, 80% may be too fast for certain single target Cures. Once again, it is up to the player to make adjustments to their sets to allow for their sets enough time to swap into their Cure potency sets.
72% Light Healing Magic Cast Time Reduction

Due note that this is an incredibly specialized set that I am personally fond of because it gives quick Cure casts while not bogging a player’s inventory down with specific “Cure” Cast Time pieces.


Do not be afraid to mix and match “Cure” Cast Time Pieces with Fast Cast Pieces as they stack additively. Use the gear you have to optimize your cure speeds than move onto other pieces of gear to round out sets or help with inventory issues.


Quicken Cast
12% Occasionally Quickens Spell Cast; Dalmatica +1 augmentable with 3% Occasionally Quickens Casting.

This type of gear allows for a caster to instantly cast their spell as well as have the Recast of that gear set to 0:00:00 upon cast. This type of gear is useful for any spell that doesn’t receive a bonus from gear in anyway shape or form, such as Sacrifice, Esuna, and Raise. Some White Mages choose to cast in this gear as part of their default pre-cast set, so if that suits your fancy, don’t hesitate to add these pieces into your sets.

Notable Fast Cast Equipment


Recast Gear
Recast gear is important for certain spells as you may need them off their recast cycle as soon as possible to help maintain certain buff cycles. The most predominate of this is a Mages’ Haste cycle when they have to Haste multiple players in succession. There are other instances where Recast cycle may be useful such as cycling Sacrifice on multiple party members. This type of gear can act as great filler for certain low-equipment dependent spells. As an aside, please be aware that recast from Haste stacks multiplicatively with recast from Fast Cast. Also note that equipment Haste caps at 25% (though most gear have values slightly below their listed number, thus why people aim for 26% gear Haste).

25% Gear Haste + 15% Haste Spell + 36% Fast Cast = 61.6% Recast Reduction

Notable Haste Equipment


Conserve MP
I personally consider MP efficiency one of the cornerstones of any Mage and being able to slot as much Conserve MP into a slot is one of those ways a Mage can achieve this goal. How much Conserve MP gear an individual wishes to carry is completely up to them, as Conserve MP gear can be quite inventory intensive, and as such not for the faint of heart.

There is no real easy way to advise if and how much gear a White Mage needs to carry, if at all. Pick up enough gear that makes you feel comfortable, or give yourself a rule of thumb such as “a piece must give Conserve MP +5 at least”. I personally used to carry around a full set of Conserve MP and have started to downsize my numbers to make space for other pieces of gear. Conserve MP is certainly very useful early on for an aspiring Career White Mage, but one soon has to make concessions to make space for other pieces of gear.

If one is truly intent on becoming a Career White Mage, my advice would be load up on Conserve MP early in your Career than start to phase out the pieces as you build efficiencies into one’s sets in a different manner.



Enmity Down
Note that Enmity- caps at 50, so what is listed above it WELL above the Enmity cap. Instead, the set below showcases some of the gear choices one may have access to if they wish to get some of the highest Enmity- values in a single slot.

Enmity- gear shines in fights where they are long and drawn out or the monster in particular has a hate reset type move that can shift enmity rapidly. As long as the White Mage's enmity remain below the enmity of every DD, there is no risk of the back line party taking hate.

However, in the early stages of White Mage gearing, there should not be a need for -enmity due to the fact that damage ratings with veteran players should be so high that the White Mage will have no risk at all and can cure with impunity. Do consider these gearing options later down the line when a White Mage needs less gear to cap potency and has more slots open for other types of equipment.



MP Recovered While Healing
Like Enmity- equipment, the proliferation of Refresh+ equipment and the increase in overall combat speed has made MP Recover While Healing gear less appealing overall. There will be instances where a White Mage may want to carry a select few pieces to help decrease their resting time in zones such as the early floors of Salvage.
Carrying this degree of gear for such a limited purpose can be quite inventory breaking. Instead, White Mages should focus on taking select pieces of gear that have high values for a single slot like the Numen Staff or Austerity Belt. Most White Mages will eventually want Chelona Boots +1 for the Fast Cast which is another good piece of HMP gear to boot.

It should be noted that one (1) point of Refresh is about equivalent of 3.333~ MP recovered while healing gear, so make appropriate choices with that in mind.

Like Enmity-, this category may change in the future depending on what kind of gear and events are introduced in the future.

Note: Wivre Hairpin augmented with +1 Refresh; Staerc Subligar augmented with +1 Refresh and +2 hMP


Miscellaneous Notable Items
flask of echo drops - Carry a stack wherever one goes. A silenced White Mage is a useless White Mage, and this status affect can easily be mitigated thanks to this consumable Medicine which can be purchased either on the Auction House or though some friendly neighbourhood NPCs throughout Vana’diel. Use ‘em, abuse ‘em, don’t leave home without them!

Tarutaru sash augmented with Treasure Hunter +1 - A sash that can be augmented with TH+1 via Gold Chest farming in Abyssea - La Theine. This Sash is very useful for White Mages who may not have the need for MP efficient subjobs but need a Treasure Hunter slave to follow. TH3 with /THF can help greatly for Empyrean Weapon drops or Dynamis currency.

Elemental Obis - Not as useful for a White Mage as it is for a Scholar who can give themselves permanent weather effects. However, if under the effect of Aurorastorm, carrying a korin obi around may not be a bad idea to give your Cures a free 10% boost that is multiplicative with the rest of your potency gear. Combine with items like Twilight cape and chatoyant staff for maximum effect during weather.

49% cure potency X 25% weather bonus X 35% "Cureskin" bonus = 151% increase in base Cure

Movement Speed - This type of equipment (namely herald's gaiters or Iaso boots) provide a nice increase in movement speed. This can have positive effects if a White Mage needs to kite big bad mobs around or if they need to keep up with a party of movement speed members who are zooming around Dynamis looking for Time Extensions. More utility than not, these convenient pieces of gear tend to also come with a substantial price tag. A cheaper alternative is acquiring a pair of desert boots as one can cast Sandstorm on themselves while subbed Scholar and have the same movement while the weather buff is active.
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:16:57  

Part 5 - Tips and Tricks to playing White Mage - “Nuances? What’s a nuance?”


This section will detail some subtle tricks, nuances, or just general knowledge that may be useful for new and veteran White Mages alike. Some ideas will be common sense while others may be some obscure mechanic that can be potentially shift one’s efficiency to entirely new levels. Let’s get started.

Content Sections
Pre-emptive Curing
Pre-emptive curing is the act of beginning cures in response to dangerous TP attacks or spells. It goes without saying that the less time a front line damage dealer is in the danger HP zone, the less likely they will to die. In the current age of incredibly fast cures, pre-emptive curing isn’t as necessary as it was before, but can still prove to be a valuable skill that differentiates good White Mages from incredible White Mages. The biggest risk of this tactic is if a White Mages gauge their timing too quickly and casts their cure before the actual attack or spell is initiated, causing a massive waste of MP and a few seconds of delay while the spell animation “wears off”. When it comes to pre-emptive curing, it is generally better to be slightly late than slightly early, so judge accordingly.

A different type of pre-emptive curing is more like preventative curing. In any high refresh situation, it may be possible to apply a layer of Stoneskin to individual members via Cure and Afflatus Solace. This effectively adds to that player's max HP for thirty seconds as the Stoneskin is dependent on your Cure amount, not what was actually cured. This tactic is best used in times of high refresh situations and used in moderation as it is still possible to consume all your MP as Orison Pantaloons +2 MP restoration effect will not be kicking in at this time.


MP Efficiency - Orison Pantaloons +1 / +2 and You
orison pantaloons +2 is a staple in ANY cure set and do not let anyone dissuade you otherwise. Bear in mind that the MP refund effect is based on your visible cure, so over curing for no reason will not net the White Mage any MP. As such, it is important to understand what tier of Cure or Curaga will top off your targets with minimal over healing to maximize the efficiency of this incredible piece of gear. Understanding your Curing power and understanding your party or alliance members HP is critical to your efficiency. Learn these values well.


Knowing is Half the Battle
One of the most important aspects of a White Mage is knowing thy enemy. Knowing what TP moves are debilitating and what range of damage to expect are crucial to determining your next few actions. Medium damaging TP attack? Use Curaga II to top everyone off. High Damaging TP attack? Curaga IV in advance. Mass AoE-Paralyze? Divine Caress + Divine Seal / Accession + Orison Mitts +2 + Paralyna. Mobs that like to use massive stat down effects? Haste yourself and be ready to hit that Sacrifice spell.

It is difficult to explain to a White Mage "how to play" because each monster (or monster family) has their own brand of attacks and situations that need to be addressed. As such, a White Mage needs to be knowledgeable and experienced before they can reach their peak efficiency with a particular monster or monster family.

A good general rule of thumb is that a dead party member is a useless party member. Keeping everyone alive should be a healer's number one priority, even if some of those party members are debilitated. Once the party is refreshed, removing effects from most debilitating to least is important. How that is defined, it is up to the player, however any effect that out right removes an allies ability to operate should be removed first (effects such as sleep, petrification, and even Doom can fit in this category). Next, ailments that put party members "at risk" (HP Down, Curse, Zombie) should be removed, and than ailments that hamper a player's ability should be removed (Paralyzed, Slow, Status Down effects).


Sleep
Sleep can be removed through any sort of curing effect as long as they can actually gain HP through a cure (even if cured for 0). What his means is that it’s impossible wake up a sleeping target if they are afflicted with Zombie, but still possible to wake them up if they are at max HP but cured.


Banish and Undead
Covered in quite a bit of detail in my Banish spell section, I reiterate them here. Banish encumbers Undead with a debuff that reduces their native resistance to damage types. For example, Skelton-type monsters have a piercing resistance of 50%. This resistance can be reduced with Banish with a reduction of 97% when using Banish III (thus reducing a Skeleton’s resistance to a mere 1.5% against piercing). Use this knowledge to your advantage to help your damage dealers bring more damage onto the table. This can be especially useful against Naraka-type mobs that one may encounter in higher tier events.


Divine Caress
I’ve touched on this before, and I shall again now. Being able to make a front line damage dealer immune to certain enfeebles for a set amount of attempts is incredibly potent, especially when one considers that the effect of Divine Caress can be Accessioned or Divine Sealed. Yes, this does require said targets to be afflicted in the first place, but if a White Mage can get around this hurdle, you may have completely neutered a particular TP attack or spell from a notorious monster.

Against certain types of monster, it would be possible to have Divine Caress active full time in preparation for this particular attack. Remember that Divine Caress specifically needs a -na type spell, so removing effects with Erase, Sacrifice, or Esuna will not consume the Divine Caress charge. Also bear in mind that only one preventative Divine Caress can be applied per target at a time.


Mind, Magic Accuracy, and Elemental Properties
Let us get a few (extremely generalized) mechanics out of the way:
  • More magic accuracy means less likely a spell will get resisted by the opposing monster

  • One (1) point of skill = one (1) point of magic accuracy

  • One (1) point of Mind = 0.5 points of magic accuracy (generally)

  • Resisting magic can affect the damage of a damage dealing spell or duration of a spell such as Slow or Paralyze



This is why, in some instances, Mind based equipment may be better overall for specific sets versus skill or magic accuracy equipment in the same slots. Mix and match and find gearing decisions that match your own gearing options or play styles.

Elemental weaknesses are another factor to consider. All spells have some sort of elemental property associated with it, and it is important for a Mage to understand these properties and how certain monsters may be affected by them. For example, Slow is an Earth based spell, therefore it is more likely to stick Thunder-based monsters while more likely to be resisted partially by Wind-based monsters or fully resisted by Earth-based monsters. Keep this in mind when Enfeebling as this may alter your current sets depending on what the White Mage is trying to enfeeble. There are exceptions (case in point, Cerberus and Cerberus Seether of Bhaflau Remnants II is NOT immune to Addle), but is a good rule-of-thumb to remember.

AddleFire
ParalyzeIce
SilenceWind
SlowEarth


Likewise, White Mages should be aware of what elements these enfeebles are as they can apply an appropriate Bar-element spell to help their party members resist these effects. Against higher level content, this may not be useful, but against monsters of similar level, this can help reduce the amount of enfeebling removal decently.

Zombie and You
Zombie (also affectionately called ST20 or Super Curse) is a status effect that prevents a player from recovering either HP or MP while they are afflicted. Though the symbol for this is the same as the “curse” symbol, the effect is entirely different. This particular status affect has several implications that a White Mage should be aware of.

  • Targets afflicted with Zombie cannot be healed, meaning that a White Mage cannot recover any MP when Curing them while equipped with Cleric’s Pantaloons +2 - be warned!

  • White Mages cannot recover MP while afflicted with Zombie. This means a White Mage cannot recover MP from the effects of Cleric’s Pantaloons +2 while healing targets who are not afflicted with Zombie.

  • While under the influence of Afflatus Solace, White Mage CAN remove the effects of Zombie from other players with their spell, Sacrifice. Bear in mind that this causes the White Mage to be afflicted with the effect - refer to above for the implications of this.

  • White Mages can remove the effect of Zombie from themselves with a combination of Afflatus Misery and Esuna. This can be an extremely potent way to remove Zombie from ALL afflicted party members if the situation is safe enough for a White Mage to approach the front lines.




Distances
Most damaging Area of Effect spells or attack can be avoided if a White Mage stands outside of 20 Yalms from the source of that spell or attack. Additionally, most spells in a White Mage’s arsenal can be casted as long as their intended target is within 20.5 Yalms of themselves. This does not give White Mages much maneuvering room, but is important for a back line job to consider when supporting their allies. The White Mage taking no damage or risk of being debilitated allows them to focus on their allies and keep them healthy and smashing face. There are a few notable exceptions such as a few Arch-Dynamis Lord attacks or Meteor, but overall, a White Mage can stay incredibly safe if they are between that 20 to 20.5 Yalm sweet spot.


Front Line Supporting - When to Take Risks
White Mage has several tools at their disposal that allows them to stand with their front line damage dealers and support them more effectively than standing in a back line position. Notable instances of this include most Cerberus-type monsters, T5 VWNM Gwynn Ap Nudd, and any sort of Gear / Gear Trio from Salvage.

A good indicator for any front line supporting is against any enemy that fires area of effect spells that range between 200 to 500 damage rather frequently and cannot feasibly debilitate the White Mage fully with their effects. These types of monsters allow a White Mage to ride Afflatus Misery for both Esuna and Cura, maximizing White Mage’s recovery speeds and MP efficiency. Another advantage to this strategy is that each Cura or Curaga used is also hitting a damaged White Mage, thus making it even more efficient of a cure when combined with Cleric’s Pantaloons +2.

Usefulness of front line supporting is completely dependent on the White Mage’s comfort level. Doing this sort of risk taking is not for the faint of heart at times and can end up causing the White Mage to lay face first on the ground. As such, it is up to the individual playing to determine when is a good time to take a hit to the face and when it is best to sit back and cure from afar.


Inventory Management
Like any other job in the game, having a variety of gear sets is very important to a successful White Mage. Thanks to limited space, it is up to the individual White Mages to determine what they feel are absolutely essential and what they deem as useful or situational useful. Here is a hierarchy of gear sets to consider when building a White Mage:

With all these sets to build, a White Mage can find their inventory quickly bursting at the seams. It is up to the individual player to determine what they deem necessary in the overall scope of things.

Determining when a piece is good for multiple sets can help inventory management. For example, Nares Trews makes an excellent Enfeebling Potency piece AND Enfeebling Accuracy piece as it will still provide 7 magic accuracy. Likewise, Marduk’s Tiara +1 can act as both a Cure Potency piece, Regen piece, and a decently potent Divine Magic accuracy or nuking piece. It is important to understand what kind of concessions a White Mage makes when selecting these types of gear.


Math for the Math Geeks in all of Us
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:16:59  

White Mage Spellcast - “Can you PLEASE stop blinking?!”

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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:17:02  

Part 6 - Applying Mace to Face - “Stop! It's Hammer Time!”




For all aspiring White Mages looking to smash face and take names, this section is for you! However, be warned that going down this route is not for the faint of heart. The route of a White Mage DD is long and arduous, with very little rewards and potentially even less opportunity to be effective. It takes an monumental amount of gear to be truly successful and respected as a White Mage damage dealer. Still, if pushing the class to the extreme is your desire, nothing can feel as fulfilling or satisfying as taking a hammer and applying it to the face of your enemies.

This section will not go into much detail about the basics of combat. Instead, it will focus more on important tactics, equipment, and other miscellaneous details.

Motenten's DPS spreadsheet is a great place to gauge your smashing prowess and is an incredible resource of any damage dealer (regardless of class). His spreadsheet can be found here. It even has a nice White Mage section for all of us hammering White Mages! It is recommended to download the respective spreadsheet and edit it in an Excel style program. Open Office is a free document editing software that can open the spreadsheet.

WHITE MAGE DAMAGE DEALING IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!! PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS ONE MAY FACE WHEN WALKING DOWN THE ROUTE OF THE HAMMER!! THOSE WITH EXTREMELLY HIGH EXPECTATIONS WITH LITTLE WORK NEED NOT APPLY!



Without further ado, let's get started.


The Right Tools - "Preparation time!"



Section Contents

Sub Job Selection

Ninja is the life blood sub job of any melee White Mage. The terms "Whinja", "Winja", or "Whmja" are all coined from this sub job selection. 25% Dual Wield and Utsusemi - this sub job may only provide two tools but both are those tools are incredibly potent. Dual Wield is one of the most powerful increasers in damage dealing potential. Utsusemi adds another layer of defense to a White Mages already potent tools. A variety of fast cast and haste equipment as well as both the Haste and Aquaveil spells allow for a White Mage to reapply shadows repeatedly and effortlessly. Combine with a White Mages enfeebles and Stoneskin and a White Mage can mitigate a huge chunk of damage being thrown their way.

Dancer provides an acceptable sub job for those looking to get the benefit of Dual Wield while still able to get small bonuses like Accuracy Bonus (or the ability to proc mobs in Dynamis). Haste Samba can partially reduce the difference in Dual Wield tiers, but comes are at a fairly steep TP cost for most non-Kraken Club White Mages who may also be casting quite a bit of magic to support their party.

Red Mage provides both Phalanx and Refresh to those White Mages looking to tank a number of foes at once. This happens most frequently when a White Mage tries to solo Cataclysm burn mobs in mass quantities. The addition of Magic Attack Bonus helps this strategy as well.

Merit Selection

Strength or Dexterity or Mind stat merits? Answering this question is matter of what OTHER goals the player wishes to complete on other jobs they have acquired. The break down of these merits are as follows:

12/12 Strength - Provides about 2 to 3 fSTR for overall damage, 9 attack, and 12 strength for mods on the majority of WHM Weapon Skills

12/12 Dexterity - Provides 9 accuracy (no dDEX critical hit increase on any target worth its salt)

12/12 Mind - Provides about 6 magic accuracy, 12 mind for dMND potency spells, and 12 mind for mods on the vast majority of WHM Weapon Skills

The question to ask here is what content does one participate in on other jobs. If one has a powerful damage dealer they bring to events frequently, going STR + DEX is the choice for you as it gives a substantial boost to your performance on that job. Going this route for White Mage DD isn't necessarily bad either, just do not expect to get full returns on the dexterity as white mages dexterity values are natively low and lack any sort of dexterity gear. This makes it almost impossible for White Mages to make use of the crit bonus provided by dDEX as White Mages will most like have negative difference on any target worth its' salt.

For a more career centric White Mage, STR + MND would be the best way to go. This maximizes a White Mages support abilities while adding mods to almost every single Weapon Skill in their arsenal. This slightly alleviate the loss of magic accuracy since a White Mage cannot equip an appropriate elemental or Magian stave. On targets that White Mages should generally be fighting, the accuracy the dexterity merits will provide will be negligible.


Food

Red Curry Buns are the staple food choice for the majority of damage dealers and White Mage is no exception to this rule. These 30 minute buns give a significant attack and STR buff - both something White Mages natively lack. This is compounded by the fact that White Mages also have no gear that provides significant attack stats or any job abilities natively that can boost their damage output. Unfortunately, White Mages sub job selection is generally restricted to anything that can Dual Wield, and neither of those jobs have any job abilities that significantly boost their damage. As such, Red Curry Buns are incredibly important to any White Mage looking to make a dent in the monsters life.


Sole Sushi provides a niche use for those lowman groups where the party is fighting something that is highly evasive but non-threatening. In groups where White Mages are meleeing things for end game events, they will most like be riding Accuracy buffs with the rest of their DDs and can afford to eat a Red Curry Bun instead.

Marinara Pizza is a nice hybrid food that provides White Mages with both attack and accuracy bonuses. Though neither stat are increased as significantly as their specialized food counterparts, Marinara Pizza is best used in areas where the increased accuracy will boost your accuracy to between 90%-95% accuracy without going over that threshold. This allows a player to maximize both aspects of the Pizza.

Tavnazian Taco is a defense boosting food and is used when a White Mage is super tanking an angry mob of baddies. This tends to happen when White Mages are trying to Cataclysm burn their way through large quantities of monsters. Because Cataclysm is a magic-based Weapon Skill, it is dependant on stats and not on the attack values. As such, this is the perfect food for a White Mage to reduce the damage taken from the mob they are building.

Bison Steak is a three hour food that boosts attack and strength. Though not as significant as Red Curry Buns, this food is useful for melee White Mages who participate in Dynamis frequently. This food is generally cheaper than using four Red Curry Buns and lasts the entire duration of the player's run. In general, great for long events with low risk.

Hedgehog Pie is another three hour food that boosts both STR and attack. It gives the same amount of attack and strength as a Bison Steak but also boosts mind and accuracy as well. This item also is a frequent drop from the Gobbie Box, and thus there is generally stock of it on the Auction House.

Miscellaneous Supplies

Shihei for those who use the Ninja subjob frequently. Because of White Mages abysmal evasion, if a White Mage is looking to mitigate damage from a single target, they need not look no further than spamming Utsusemi. The ninja tool for Utsusemi are Shiheis and a White Mage looking to seriously evade damage out of a mob should not leave home without these wooden figures.
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:17:04  

Weapon Selection - "Do I use Meat Tenderizer A or B?"



Section Contents

Main Hand Weapons

174 Damage, Accuracy +20 - the biggest, baddest beat stick of all time. I think this more or less says it all. However, consider the rarity of a specific item needed to craft this, I wouldn't hold one's breath for this for some time.


The Delve club that can be purchased for 30K Plasm after defeating the T4 or T5 NM in Foret de Hennetiel, at this time this is the most attainable Club and gives the most bang for ones buck in reward/effort ratio.

Formerly the pinnacle of White Mage excellent in smashing face, this weapon has taken a back seat compared to the Clubs released in Seekers of Adoulin. Refrain from building until more information is released regarding updated Relic weapons.

A decent damage, low delay club that provides good DPS, accuracy, attack, and haste for the cheap, this weapon is a good starting point for any new White Mage in the scene. Can also be purchased on the cheap. The HQ version isn't too expensive and provides a good off hand weapon as well once a White Mage acquires a better weapon.


Off Hand Weapons

If you happen to have TWO of these...well... have fun!

Low delay, high damage, many support stats to help a White Mage perform their job more efficiently while smashing face. This is the premium club in current Seekers of Adoulin content for a White Mages smashing tendencies.

The pinnacle of TP generation for any class that can equip, this multi-hitting weapon can generate a impressive amount of TP for the White Mage. Given that a White Mage's MP is directly tired to their TP (thanks to Mystic Boon), this weapon will always have a niche use in any White Mage arsenal. Be aware of the incredibly steep price tag associated with this weapon if a player does not wish to farm the item.

Provides a nice mix of stats that is inexpensive and useful for a White Mage.


White Mage will always be lacking in the attack department, and this weapon can make up for some of that lose. Unfortunately, given the time and money investment needed to build one of these, it may be better for the White Mage to settle with a Sasah Wand.


Like its STR counterpart, this weapon is useful to White Mages thanks to only having a B+ rating in Clubs and very low native DEX. Thankfully, this weapon is much simpler to build due to an abundance of Thunder Weather in a variety of locales and the rather inexpensive Geodes associated with the weapon. Unfortunately, the club itself has some extremely niche uses and should really only built by the most dedicated of White Mages looking to hit highly evasive targets.


Two Handed Weapons

Highest damage base damage staff in the game for White Mage, provides Intelligence to boot to help boost those Shattersoul numbers. An incredible nuking weapon as well, this weapon can be augmented with Intelligence and Magic Attack Bonus, giving it great potential as a Cataclysm piece too.


An easy to acquire Staff that drops from Gamayun of Abyssea - Grauberg, this weapon provides a decent amount of damage and a little bit of Haste to boot.

Perfect for any Cataclysm build. The 15% boost to Shadow Damage makes this an invaluable tool for any White Mage cleave, especially when combined with the Atmas of Abyssea.
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:17:06  

Wardrobe of Mass Destruction - "I think the title says it all"



Section Contents
TP Sets
One of the most important sets for any melee, these sets are designed to get a player to 100% TP as quickly and efficiently as possible while outputting as much damage as possible in each melee hit. Thankfully, there are quite a few pieces of Job Specific Equipment that White Mages can wear that grants Haste, making it easy to start building a TP set initially.

~New Player~
~Mid Ranged Aspirations~
~Non-KClub High End Set~
KClub ~Optimal~



Realmrazer
Realmrazer is the bread and butter weapon skill White Mages go to in order to inflict pain upon their opponents. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for any serious White Mage melee to 5/5 Merit this Weapon Skill. Though it has a slightly lesser fTP than Hexa Strike, it makes up for that by the significant stat mod it brings to the table. It is very easy for a White Mage to hit in excess of 200 Mind with the right gear sets. This leads to a significant WSD value alone. If one is unsure what equipment to put into a slot, they cannot go wrong with just using their mind equipment.

~New Player~
~Mid Ranged~
~Optimal~
Note: Bokwus equipment augmented with +10 Attack, +10 DEX, and +15 AccuracyNote: Bokwus equipment augmented with +10 Attack, +10 DEX, and +15 Accuracy

  • 73% ~ 85% MND Mod

  • 7-Hit Weapon Skill

  • 0.59375 fTP (fTP transfers across all hits)

  • Fusion / Impacation




Hexa Strike
Hexa Strike was the go to Weapon Skill of White Mage fame that has been dethroned with the addition of Realmrazer in the game. This doesn't make Hexa Strike any less significant, however. As a critical Weapon Skill, this should be any White Mage's tool to cause havoc in the realm of Abyssea.


~New Player~
~Mid Ranged~
~Optimal~

  • 20% STR / 20% MND

  • 6-Hit Weapon Skill

  • 1.0 fTP

  • Fusion




Mystic Boon
Mystic Boon is the White Mage Mythic Weapon Skill and staple to any White Mage melee. Any aspiring White Mage melee who does not have this Weapon Skill should go out and unlock it as soon as possible. Make that floor 100 Nyzul climb, beg your friends to help, unlock this Weapon Skill - you WILL NOT regret that decision.

The Weapon Skill does not deal a lot of damage unlike Realmrazer or Hexa Strike. However, the White Mage restore MP equal to the damage dealt to the target, making it an invaluable tool to any White Mage melee and reduces their downtime to almost nothing.

~New Player~
~Mid Ranged~
~Optimal~

  • 30% STR / 50% MND

  • 1.0 fTP @ 100% TP; 1.5 fTP @200% TP; 2.0 @300% TP

  • Converts Damage Dealt to MP




Randgrith
Randgrith is usable to those who poses the legendary club, Mjollnir. This weapon skill grants two effects upon use. It provides an accuracy bonus aftermath for the White Mage and also reduces the evasion of the target they hit (though apparently the added effects are apparently bugged). Like most relic Weapon Skills, they are not worth using outside of niche uses. As it stands, if a player is riding Rangrith for the Aftermath, you will most likely want an accuracy set to go with it.

~Mid Ranged~
~Optimal~
~Accuracy~

  • 40% STR / 40% MND

  • 2.75 fTP

  • Light / Fragmentation

  • Aftermath Grants +20 Accuracy (20s @ 100% TP; 40s @200% TP; 60s @300% TP)

  • Reduces Target's Evasion by 32




Shattersoul
Shattersoul is the other merit Weapon Skill that White Mages have access to. A White Mage should only merit this Weapon Skill if they have nothing better to merit. Even when the Weapon Skill is meritted 1/5, it can still bring a significant amount of damage on the table. Even though a lot of White Mage gear has Intelligence, Intelligence gear does very little for a White Mage overall. As such, White Mages looking to build a specific Shattersoul set will most likely need to bring extra gear with them to optimize their damage output with this Weapon Skill. As such, it might not be easier for a White Mage to use Club and Shield versus Shattersoul despite melee staffs having a slightly higher damage rating versus clubs.

[/td]
~Mid Ranged~
~Optimal~
Note: Bokwus equpiment augmented with +10 INT

  • 73% ~ 85% INT

  • 1.375 fTP

  • Gravitation / Induration

  • Reduces Target's Magic Defense Bonus by 10




Cataclysm
Cataclysm is a White Mages only cleaving tool, but it is an effective tool at that. This Weapon Skill causes darkness damage to everyone around the target. Because this is a magical Weapon Skill, making use of Magic Attack Bonus gear as well as the stat mods will maximize your damage output. This is a great tool to farm gold or blue chests in Abyssea because of the Atmas a White Mage can equip to significantly boost their damage.

[/td]
~Mid Ranged~
~Optimal~
Note: Bokwus equpiment augmented with +10 INT

  • 30% STR / 30% INT

  • Magical Weapon Skill

  • 2.75 fTP @ 100% TP; 4.0 fTP @200% TP; 5.0 @300% TP

  • Compession / Reverberation

  • Area of Effect Damage around the Target




Spirit Taker
Spirit Taker is the staff equivalent of Mystic Boon, but is learned natively upon reaching 215 Staff Skill. Because of the higher damage rating on staffs, this weapon can potentially deal more damage versus a single wielding White Mage. The Weapon Skill does have a Mind mod and thus can geared for easily as a White Mage.

[/td]
~Mid Ranged~
~Optimal~

  • 50% MND / 50% INT

  • 1.0 fTP @ 100% TP; 1.5 fTP @200% TP; 2.0 @300% TP

  • Converts Damage Dealt to MP

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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:17:08  

Nuances of Smashing Face - "How many hands do you think I have???"



Melee Curing Sets
Melee Cure Sets present an interesting challenge to build because the lack of either Arka IV or the Tefnut Wand + Genbu's Shield combination, which can account for a huge chunk of a White Mage cure potency. Thankfully, White Mage gets access to enough pieces to make up for that deficit, but with certain concessions to be made. Here is a list of different gear sets (in optimal configuration) you might need to consider while in melee healing mode.

Afflatus Solace Up
Afflatus Solace Down
Solo
Curaga



Importance of Mystic Boon
Mystic Boon is one of the defining Weapon Skills of a White Mage. It's the Mythic Wepon Skill and for good reason. This is one of the most important tools in a melee White Mages toolbox because it allows the White Mage to replenish their MP on the fly during chain pulls or even when fighting an extraordinary durable enemy.

Knowing when to Mystic Boon is a completely different issue entirely. When supporting a party as melee support, a player should have a threshold of MP that they want to be above. This threshold of MP will be different depending on each player and even dependent on the types of mobs the party is facing together. Ideally speaking, you want to keep MP high enough to pop off a few high level cures on emergency as needed. In some fights, this may mean using Mystic Boon as your ONLY Weapon Skill to maintain the MP needed to fully support your team.

This will be a defining point for a good White Mage melee in a party environment. They will know when they need to sit on TP and MP for a large TP attack or they will know when to unload Weapon Skill after Weapon Skill to help their party kill faster. They know when other support can pick up the slack and they will know when they will need to have their finger over that Curaga IV macro to revitalize the team.


Kraken Club - Is It Really Necessary?
A Kraken Club provides White Mages with the means to generate very quickly. This is incredibly useful in old content where accuracy isn`t necessarily floored versus content in Seekers of Adoulin. A Kraken Club, thus, is an incredibly beneficial tool for those who wish to partake in smashing goodness in pre-SoA content but falls drastically short in Seekers areas due its native lack of Club "skill".

Do you really need a Kraken Club in this day and age of Final Fantasy XI? Not at all. Is it useful to have and fun to play around with though? Definitely!


Balancing Swinging and Supporting
Balancing swinging and supporting is a tough nut to crack for a melee White Mage. If a White Mage is casting, they are not swinging and using their MP. In the same token, a White Mage who is not swinging is also not generating TP, thus extending the length of time before their next Weapon Skill. The balance is finding when a White Mage needs to enter full support mode and when they can go all out to get TP to either Realmrazer or Mystic Boon. They have to answer a few important questions themselves. Does that Damage Dealer absolutely need that heal right now? Can I afford to not haste one target briefly so I can get to my next 100% TP sooner? Is Boost-STR really that needed for fodder mob?

These are the kind of question a White Mage needs to ask with each action. A melee White Mage in a support environment has to act like a finely tuned machine. They need to understand what they and their party is capable of doing and understand when to change gears in their strategy.


Aquaveil
As a front line healer, Aquaveil is almost mandatory to have to prevent as many interrupts as possible. A White Mage isn't healing effectively if they are getting interrupted frequently. Thankfully, Aquaveil lasts for a fairly long duration and can seemingly absorb quite a few hits before dissipating, making it an invaluable tool for preventing interrupts. This is especially useful in scenarios where a White Mage may pull hate through hate resets when partied with other people. This is also an invaluable tool for any Shadow tanking White Mage as a player will certainly not have the skill levels needed to prevent interrupts when casting Utsusemi.


The Spirit of the Lone Wolf
White Mage has an assortment of tools that allows them to solo effectively, albeit slowly. Between having a potent Weapon Skill that can restore MP and the most efficient Cures in the game, White Mage has access to some of the best out right survival tools for any fight. Combine with fully merrited and augmented Shellra V, super Bar-element spells, and a variety of enfeeble negating abilities makes for a tough nut to crack. Combine with Shadows from /NIN and a White Mages relatively easy access to Fast Cast and Haste gear can lead to some pretty potent defensive mechanisms. For those who are inclined, White Mage soloing can be extremely fun and extremely rewarding, even if time consuming and patience grating.
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:17:10  

White Mage Spellcast - “Smashing Supporting!”

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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:17:12  
Reserved 15
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By Siren.Kalilla 2013-03-02 22:25:55  
That's a lot of reserved posts :x
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:28:05  
Siren.Kalilla said: »
That's a lot of reserved posts :x

I think I put it quite well in my GW at one point in time "I suck at making concise posts" >>; I honestly don't know if I'll need 15 reserved posts, lol... but it's there just in case... Prepare for the wall of texts...
 
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By Siren.Kalilla 2013-03-02 22:29:25  
Well I look forward to reading what you have to say, I love reading WHM stuff.
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By Ramuh.Austar 2013-03-02 22:33:16  
Just something I saw, but a PDT magian club and genbu's offers more PDT than Staff does. Also has a chance at shield blocks, which may not seem like a big deal, but it's better than nothing. Not that I recommend going out of your way to make a PDT club just for that, though.
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:33:27  
lol! To be fair, I actually dunno how many posts there are per page, but the thought of reserving the entire first page had crossed my mind ^^;... but I opted against that.

I hope you all enjoy this, there's a lot of content in it, and it's only about 75% done...

Ramuh.Austar said: »
Just something I saw, but a PDT magian club and genbu's offers more PDT than Staff does. Also has a chance at shield blocks, which may not seem like a big deal, but it's better than nothing. Not that I recommend going out of your way to make a PDT club just for that, though.

I have thought that myself actually (I do own a PDT club .-.), but I figure for most WHMs, that would be a bit out of their way, and if they have as much gear as I do, they're quite inventory starved... lol. Still, thank you for the suggestion!
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By Bismarck.Ihina 2013-03-02 22:33:35  
Quote:
The only down side to Afflatus Solace is that it does not grant its’ Stoneskin effect on Curaga or Cura spells.

'Down side' implies that you've loss ground, or you've potentially loss ground. Since neither of the alternative to Afflatus Solace, that being neutral or Afflatus Misery, offers cureskin to curaga/cura, the fact that Afflatus Solace doesn't provide cureskin to curaga/cura is not considered a 'down side'.

/blm gives you sleepga also, which can be hugely important.

No reason to have protectra V

I still can't think of a reason to have martyr. People say it's for a quick emergency cure, but that's only good if you've panicked, which you shouldn't, or you're out of MP, which means you're dead anyways.

Around the cure section, your stated that mnd is more important than healing magic skill. Also, I'm not seeing anything about the special static enmity of cure5/6, though I'm not all the way through yet. I think something should be mentioned while you're talking about the cure 5/6 spells themselves.

Curagas don't have any special static enmity associated with them, so they can potentially generate tons of hate. Some -enm gear might be a good idea for curagas.
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By Siren.Kalilla 2013-03-02 22:34:05  
Ramuh.Austar said: »
Just something I saw, but a PDT magian club and genbu's offers more PDT than Staff does. Also has a chance at shield blocks, which may not seem like a big deal, but it's better than nothing. Not that I recommend going out of your way to make a PDT club just for that, though.
It's still something worth mentioning though, some people might go out of their way to make it.
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By Bahamut.Raenryong 2013-03-02 22:36:39  
Well written so far. The three tiers of sets for Healing Magic for instance there is a very powerful way of helping people who are reading in my opinion and I think you should use it on the other sets too.

EDIT: and if you really want to go all of the way, record yourself healing something challenging (ie not with too many other healers) so that a newer WHM can *** your priority order (who do I heal first? Status effects or healing first? etc) and reaction speeds etc. Some people learn better from watching than reading, and even if this is not the case it can be very useful to see it in action.
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By Siren.Kalilla 2013-03-02 22:40:39  
Bahamut.Raenryong said: »
Well written so far. The three tiers of sets for Healing Magic for instance there is a very powerful way of helping people who are reading in my opinion and I think you should use it on the other sets too.

EDIT: and if you really want to go all of the way, record yourself healing something challenging (ie not with too many other healers) so that a newer WHM can *** your priority order (who do I heal first? Status effects or healing first? etc) and reaction speeds etc. Some people learn better from watching than reading, and even if this is not the case it can be very useful to see it in action.
If they're good at video editing it could make for a great learning tool if they pause it and go about what they're thinking at that moment then resume, etc.
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By Ragnarok.Ghishlain 2013-03-02 22:41:30  
Bismarck.Ihina said: »
Quote:
The only down side to Afflatus Solace is that it does not grant its’ Stoneskin effect on Curaga or Cura spells.

'Down side' implies that you've loss ground, or you've potentially loss ground. Since neither of the alternative to Afflatus Solace, that being neutral or Afflatus Misery, offers cureskin to curaga/cura, the fact that Afflatus Solace doesn't provide cureskin to curaga/cura is not considered a 'down side'.

/blm gives you sleepga also, which can be hugely important.

Shall adjust accordingly shortly, thanks ^^

Bahamut.Raenryong said: »
Well written so far. The three tiers of sets for Healing Magic for instance there is a very powerful way of helping people who are reading in my opinion and I think you should use it on the other sets too.

EDIT: and if you really want to go all of the way, record yourself healing something challenging (ie not with too many other healers) so that a newer WHM can *** your priority order (who do I heal first? Status effects or healing first? etc) and reaction speeds etc. Some people learn better from watching than reading, and even if this is not the case it can be very useful to see it in action.

I do have a Legion - Hall of Mul recording... but I don't think that'd be a fair assessment of this >>;, lol. Actually, I do have a Cerberus Seether tutorial posted on my channel that might work too.

Siren.Kalilla said: »
Ramuh.Austar said: »
Just something I saw, but a PDT magian club and genbu's offers more PDT than Staff does. Also has a chance at shield blocks, which may not seem like a big deal, but it's better than nothing. Not that I recommend going out of your way to make a PDT club just for that, though.
It's still something worth mentioning though, some people might go out of their way to make it.

Hurm, I guess I better make that edit too ~Keeps posting more guide for now~
 
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 Ramuh.Austar
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By Ramuh.Austar 2013-03-02 22:44:01  
Ragnarok.Ghishlain said: »
I have thought that myself actually (I do own a PDT club .-.), but I figure for most WHMs, that would be a bit out of their way, and if they have as much gear as I do, they're quite inventory starved... lol. Still, thank you for the suggestion!
Well I use a PDT sword and shield on my 75 solo RDM, and put shield skill in non-pdt slots (barring ceremonial solos.) Which is why I thought I'd mention it.
The PDT club is also a cheap and quick way at a decent melee weapon, though.
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 Asura.Rucks
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By Asura.Rucks 2013-03-02 22:48:32  
1. Cast Cure
2. Wait for recast
3. Cast Cure again.
4. ???
5. Profit.
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