The Beast Within -- A Guide To Blue Mage

Looks like BLU's got an immense amount of love (all jobs did really!) from this update. Gonna be a lot of information to sift through and pick apart.

BLU equipment dump:

Nibiru Sword
DMG:133 Delay:236 STR+5 DEX+5 Accuracy+7 Sword skill +242 Parrying skill +242 Magic Accuracy skill +188 "Double Attack"+2%

Blurred Sword
DMG:135 Delay:268 Accuracy+15 Sword skill +242 Parrying skill +242 Magic Accuracy skill +188 Additional effect: Haste

Blurred Sword +1
DMG:115 Delay:250 Accuracy+20 Sword skill +242 Parrying skill +242 Magic Accuracy skill +188 Occasionally attacks twice Additional effect: Haste

Nibiru Cudgel
DMG:123 Delay:216 INT+11 MND+11 Magic Accuracy+7 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+16 Magic Damage+124 Club skill +242 Parrying skill +242 Magic Accuracy skill +215 "Cure" potency +10%

Blurred Rod
DMG:175 Delay:288 INT+6 MND+6 Magic Accuracy+15 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+16 Magic Damage+124 Club skill +242 Parrying skill +242 Magic Accuracy skill +215 Additional effect: Haste

Blurred Rod +1
DMG:149 Delay:280 INT+6 MND+6 Magic Accuracy+20 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+16 Magic Damage+124 Club skill +242 Parrying skill +242 Magic Accuracy skill +215 Occasionally attacks twice Additional effect: Haste

Despair Helm
DEF:113 HP+38 STR+21 DEX+21 VIT+20 AGI+20 INT+20 MND+20 CHR+20 Accuracy+20 Attack+20 Evasion+36 Magic Evasion+53 "Magic Def. Bonus"+2 Haste+8% Pet: Accuracy+20 Ranged Accuracy+20 Attack+20 Ranged Attack+20

Rawhide Mask
DEF:100 HP+36 MP+23 STR+18 DEX+26 VIT+18 AGI+26 INT+18 MND+18 CHR+19 Attack+18 Evasion+44 Magic Evasion+53 "Magic Def. Bonus"+2 Haste+8% "Refresh"+1

Psycloth Tiara
DEF:94 HP+36 MP+32 STR+18 DEX+18 VIT+18 AGI+18 INT+26 MND+26 CHR+23 Evasion+36 Magic Evasion+75 "Magic Def. Bonus"+5 Summoning magic skill +15 Haste+6% Enmity-6 Avatar: "Magic Atk. Bonus"+20

Despair Mail
DEF:143 HP+121 STR+30 DEX+29 VIT+30 AGI+23 INT+23 MND+23 CHR+23 Accuracy+23 Evasion+44 Magic Evasion+64 "Magic Def. Bonus"+5 Haste+4% Pet: "Double Attack"+3%

Rawhide Vest
DEF:130 HP+59 MP+44 STR+30 DEX+35 VIT+26 AGI+30 INT+25 MND+25 CHR+25 Accuracy+15 Attack+15 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+25 Evasion+49 Magic Evasion+64 "Magic Def. Bonus"+6 Haste+4% "Triple Attack"+2%

Psycloth Vest
DEF:123 HP+54 MP+59 STR+21 DEX+21 VIT+21 AGI+21 INT+32 MND+29 CHR+29 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+25 Evasion+41 Magic Evasion+80 "Magic Def. Bonus"+6 Dark magic skill +21 Haste+3% Enmity-7

Enforcer's Harness
DEF:135 HP+63 STR+25 DEX+42 VIT+24 AGI+28 INT+21 MND+21 CHR+21 Evasion+55 Magic Evasion+69 "Magic Def. Bonus"+6 Haste+4% Critical hit rate +4% Critical hit damage +5% Sphere: Critical hit rate +4%

Onca Suit
Cannot equip leggear DEF:428 HP+164 MP+88 STR+93 DEX+76 VIT+102 AGI+70 INT+51 MND+60 CHR+65 Accuracy+124 Attack+147 Evasion+149 Magic Evasion+252 "Magic Def. Bonus"+12 Haste+16% "Double Attack"+10% "Resist Stun"+90 Damage taken -10% Enchantment: Meteor

Despair Finger Gauntlets
DEF:99 HP+57 STR+15 DEX+34 VIT+34 AGI+8 INT+16 MND+31 CHR+21 Accuracy+18 Attack+18 Evasion+22 Magic Evasion+43 "Magic Def. Bonus"+2 Haste+5% Wyvern: HP+150

Rawhide Gloves
DEF:90 HP+25 STR+13 DEX+41 VIT+34 AGI+7 INT+14 MND+32 CHR+19 Accuracy+20 Magic Accuracy+20 Evasion+24 Magic Evasion+37 "Magic Def. Bonus"+2 Blue Magic skill +10 Haste+5% Spell interruption rate down 15%

Psycloth Manillas
DEF:81 HP+22 MP+14 STR+6 DEX+28 VIT+25 AGI+5 INT+25 MND+33 CHR+19 Magic Accuracy+17 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+17 Evasion+22 Magic Evasion+37 "Magic Def. Bonus"+3 Elemental magic skill +20 Haste+3% Avatar: Magic Accuracy+20

Shrieker's Cuffs
DEF:89 HP+22 MP+59 STR+6 DEX+28 VIT+25 AGI+5 INT+19 MND+33 CHR+19 Evasion+22 Magic Evasion+57 "Magic Def. Bonus"+3 Haste+3% "Conserve MP"+7 "Resist Silence"+25

Despair Cuisses
DEF:126 HP+50 STR+34 VIT+21 AGI+17 INT+29 MND+16 CHR+16 Attack+23 Evasion+27 Magic Evasion+80 "Magic Def. Bonus"+4 Haste+6% Enmity+4 Pet: Attack+23 Ranged Attack+23

Rawhide Trousers
DEF:112 HP+47 STR+33 VIT+16 AGI+24 INT+30 MND+17 CHR+11 Magic Accuracy+20 Evasion+38 Magic Evasion+69 "Magic Def. Bonus"+5 Enhancing magic skill +10 Haste+6% "Tactical Parry"+15

Psycloth Lappas
DEF:101 HP+43 MP+29 STR+25 VIT+12 AGI+17 INT+40 MND+30 CHR+19 Magic Accuracy+20 Evasion+27 Magic Evasion+107 "Magic Def. Bonus"+6 Enfeebling magic skill +18 Haste+5% Pet: Damage taken -4%

Doyen Pants
DEF:108 HP+43 MP+32 STR+23 VIT+10 AGI+19 INT+34 MND+29 CHR+29 Evasion+38 Magic Evasion+107 "Magic Def. Bonus"+6 Haste+5% "Cure" spellcasting time -15% "Stoneskin" spellcasting time -10% Song spellcasting time -6%

Despair Greaves
DEF:82 HP+15 STR+19 DEX+16 VIT+15 AGI+33 MND+11 CHR+28 Accuracy+17 Evasion+52 Magic Evasion+80 "Magic Def. Bonus"+3 Haste+4% "Double Attack"+2% Pet: Accuracy+17 Ranged Accuracy+17

Rawhide Boots
DEF:73 HP+13 STR+18 DEX+24 VIT+12 AGI+37 MND+18 CHR+30 Accuracy+23 Evasion+72 Magic Evasion+69 "Magic Def. Bonus"+5 Haste+4% "Dual Wield"+3 "Waltz" potency +8%

Psycloth Shoes
DEF:66 HP+13 MP+74 STR+10 DEX+11 VIT+10 AGI+33 INT+17 MND+19 CHR+34 Evasion+55 Magic Evasion+107 "Magic Def. Bonus"+5 Haste+3% Avatar: Accuracy+20 Attack+20 "Double Attack"+3%

Dampener's Torque
HP+25 Accuracy+5 Attack+5 Magic damage taken -4%

Subtlety Spectacles
DEF:9 HP+20 Accuracy+15 "Subtle Blow"+4

Purity Ring
Magic Evasion+10 Potency of "Cursna" effects received +7 Magic damage taken -4% "Holy Water"+7%

Warden's Ring
Enemy critical hit rate -5% "Death" resistance +10 Physical damage taken -3%

Thaumaturge's Cape
MP+25 Enmity-10 "Conserve MP"+4

Eschan Stone
DEF:9 HP+20 MP+20 Accuracy+15 Ranged Accuracy+15 Attack+15 Ranged Attack+15 Magic Accuracy+7 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+7

Mendicant's Earring
DEF:4 MP+30 "Conserve MP"+2 "Cure" potency +5% "Cure" spellcasting time -5%

Infused Earring
AGI+4 Evasion+10 "Regen"+1

Calamitous Earring
HP+15 MP+15 Element: Wind+10 "Conserve MP"+4

Hermetic Earring
Magic Accuracy+7 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+3

Skipped a couple pieces like racc/pet gear and the new exp/cp rings. Bear in mind that much, if not all of the armor will be augmentable and as such our thoughts on those pieces will change dramatically as information flows in. Should be interesting given that, from what I understand, we might be able to augment them along multiple paths simultaneously.

Also holy ***new KIs, excuse me while I go finish my Tizona.

Notable pieces at a glance even without augments:

Niburu Sword (Potentially better than Bura)
Niburu Cudgel
Blurred Rod +1
Rawhide Mask (Idle)
Rawhide Vest (Possibly TP)
Enforcer's Harness (CDC)
Onca Suit (lol)
Rawhide Gloves (Blue magic)
Medicant's Earring (cures)

Just a quick cursory runthrough of the list. Augments could make some of these (and unlisted pieces) better.


Also 5% extra WSC on blue magic is interesting. 550 points sucks though.

Since I didn't see it mentioned - 2 new JP categories for BLU are Efflux Effect (TP bonus +10 per point) and Magic Accuracy Bonus (+1 macc per point)

New Gifts:

245 - Physical Evasion Bonus +8
275 - Capacity Point Bonus +17%
280 - Physical Accuracy Bonus +8
320 - Magic Defense Bonus +8
355 - Capacity Point Bonus +19%
360 - Magic Attack Bonus +8
405 - Magic Evasion Bonus +8
445 - Capacity Point Bonus +21%
450 - Magic Accuracy Bonus +8
500 - Blue Magic Skill Bonus +8
545 - Capacity Point Bonus +23%
550 - Blue Magic Effect (noted above)

Preliminary gear notes, minimal assumptions regarding augments:

Blurred Rod +1 should be pretty legit as a melee/hybrid club. Will almost certainly be a competitive nuking weapon if it's augmentable.

Swords will depend on augments, probably useful. Shame about the high delay on Blurred +1 but whatever.

Rawhide Mask gives you an ilevel idle refresh head if you don't have Spurrina Coif, and is potentially a viable toggled TP piece if you're dying for MP... but seriously, Tizona just got stupid easy to obtain. On a related note, I'm strongly considering ditching Ethereal Earring now.

Gut says Rawhide Vest is at least the new Qaaxo Harness and might also replace non-DW Taeon in TP sets, maybe also WS. We'll see. Enforcer's Harness is also a potentially solid CDC piece.

Rawhide Gloves should be a straight upgrade in several sets and are our first upgrade in hands slot blue magic skill in what, 3 years? RIP my Khepri Wristbands, certainly took long enough.

Several armor pieces are contenders for new physical spell gear, maybe WS gear as well. TP will depend on augments.

Eschan Stone is a neat Sudden Lunge waist, decent amounts of accuracy and macc on the same piece.

Mendicant's Earring gives BLU its first curepot earring... you'll want to reaugment another Telchine piece to curepot received if you had max augments previously.

It's too bad I literally just spent the last 100 days doing mythic stuff and I finished last week... I still have a bit of alex to do so hopefully the price will drop some and make finishing it a little easier but I have to admit I'm a little pissed that this adjustment came now. All this stuff was just artificial time barriers but still.

I'm certainly not surprised by the timing, and relieving the daily barrier is admittedly a welcome change at this stage. I'll probably start running Salvage twice a day now when I can, doing assaults and whatnot in between. Price drop should improve purchasing power as well. Guess I should make getting my beastking titles a bigger priority now too...

I don't disagree, it should have been done before, perhaps years ago but maybe in stages. I don't like arbitrary waits but these have been around for what, 7 years already. I just have awful timing and it's going to bug me for a while.

They already adjusted beast kings. They repop once an hour IIRC but it could be less. Always up now so you shouldn't need to worry about that.

Didn't know about that. Guessing they're soloable?

It'd be incredibly difficult for you to die with any ilvl gear on. You'd have to actively try.

Troll can still be a bit of a douchebucket

How come you don't use molting plumage to get another tier of dual wield? or are you just capped delay without it?

Edit: NVM I'm blind

So ive just come back after a lengthy break and gearing up my blu again and ive got some Taeon pieces. I was wondering how much DW is too much on these atm, due to lack of TA augments, I have DW+5 on the head and legs and DW+2 on the feet.

Full set
ItemSet 253280

Could someone show me your augments on Nehushtan? I'm debating whether I should go for full MAB or both MAB and MACC.

I pseudo-soloed Gurfurlur yesterday on NIN/DNC. Had a SMN take care of the trash while I whaled away on the NM. He has a lot of life, uses HF, and another attack called Incessant Fists that's pretty similar to HF. Ut: San made this a non-issue. As BLU, I'd avoid magic when he Arcane Stomps but otherwise just beat him down.

Guys sanguine blade/nuking ombre tathlum+1 or ghastly+1?

If you want excellent nuking clubs, go with dual Gabaxorea path A instead. Guaranteed augments rather than random, and they will end up superior to perfectly augmented Nehushtans. Nehsuhtans are good options for the very niche situations in which you'd want to deal physical damage with clubs, however.


Sanguine scales very well with INT and MAB, so I would assume that Ombre would be superior. Don't quote me, however, as I am not particularly familiar with Sanguine's exact damage calculations, but I do know that Shiva +1 rings are suggested over Fenrir +1 because of the INT scaling, so I would recommend the Ombre.


The amount of DW needed all depends on what content you're doing and your current DW base trait.

With DW3, capped gear haste and Haste 2, you will need 32 additional DW to cap delay reduction. With DW3, capped gear haste, and capped magical haste, you will need 11 additional DW to cap delay reduction.

With DW4, capped gear haste and Haste 2, you will need 27 additional DW to cap delay reduction. With DW4, capped gear haste, and capped magical haste, you will need 6 additional DW to cap delay reduction.

With DW5, capped gear haste and Haste 2, you will need 22 additional DW to cap delay reduction. With DW5, capped gear haste, and capped magical haste, you will need 1 additional DW to cap delay reduction.

Just remember that going overboard with DW will actually hurt your TP gain if you go over the cap, so adjust your gear accordingly to what you are doing. For instance, when in party situations, I drop from DW5 to DW4 so that I am able to use Taeon Boots and not go over cap. I remain 2 DW under the cap, but it is superior to going over the cap, and I only lose a minor amount of delay.

Looks like Nibiru blade beats Uson for offhand. Assuming rank 15 path A is +15 acc +10 dex. Now just need to find the third augment on path B and second and third augment on D lol

Path B @ Rank 5 gives STP +1
Path D @ Rank 5 is HP +22, DA+1, FC +3

And it's more classy then Uson xd

For level 75~99 (at least until the spell sets in the OP take over), what would be the best spell sets?

Currently using:

Battle Dance
Uppercut
Headbutt
Screwdriver
Frenetic Rip
Hysteric Barrage
Disseverment
Chaotic Eye
Zephyr Mantle
Cocoon
Plasma Charge
Actinic Burst
Magic Fruit
Filamented Hold

Haven't really bothered equipping Refueling, since my Trust NPCs keep me Hasted.

Job Traits:

Auto Refresh
Accuracy Bonus
Attack Bonus
Conserve MP
Evasion Bonus


In short, given the spell set I posted, my two questions are:

1) Is there anything I should change immediately?

2) What spells are the next ones I should be equipping/removing? For instance, if Goblin Rush is worth using at level 81, and Vanity Drive is worth using at level 82 (etc), what spells are those going to replace?

Bonus Question: I think I have BLU PTSD. Every time I use Magic Fruit, Hysteric Barrage, Frenetic Rip, or Disseverment, I get excited for a split second because "AHMIGAWD I MIGHT LEARN IT THIS TIME!" ... then I realize "oh wait, I'm the one using it..."

How long does it take for that to wear off?

I really hate Opo-opos...

Level 80 is a really big level as you get innate Dual Wield and/or Innate Double attack. I'd recommend getting the spells for DW (Blazing Bound + Animating Wail) and then subbing War which will increase your damage by quite a bit.

Goblin Rush is a huge spell to set as it will allow you to close light with Savage blade, which is really strong.

Quadratic Continuum is another big spell that you should pick up.

Getting the four Double Attack spells will add to your power by giving you Triple attack, I believe you can get that at 92.

Other than that I don't know about any other spells that would make a huge impact on your leveling.

I've been a 99 blu for so long now i can't fully remember what spells I used now.

Winds of Promy for that AoE erase, Benthic Typhoon which does decent damage and applies def and m def down.

I'd would get the DW spells and the DA spells as soon as you can.

Animating Wail
Mortal Ray
Barbed Crescent
Delta Thrust
Quad Continuum
Blazing Bound

DA spells are.

Heavy Strike
Empty Trash
Acrid Stream
Demoralising Roar

A lot of spells on your list are going to get replaced by the time you are 99. Occultation will replace Zephyr Mantle, Water bomb will replace Chaotic eye, Sudden Lunge will replace Headbutt 9 of the spells you have set now just wont be used anymore in your normal DD set.

Fantod and Sudden Lunge make STPI and they have low set points get those as soon as you can.

Obviously you will want to get every spell anyway even the ones you just wont use.

I will say, I was one of those, "Which spells should I prioritize?" BLU's out there in the mid levels (trying to get the minimum). Once I just sucked it up and just got them around the level I could use them, life was much easier. I understand limited playing time (I get a couple hours or so a night a few days a week, that's about it), but the flexibility to make changes as you see fit will be well worth it.

This is a great page for job traits: https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Blue_Mage_Job_Traits

Plus, learning a spell is like getting a rare drop, so bonus joy! :)

Honestly, with the double exp campaign, kupofried's trust, qultada's trust, and the new exp ring you can use every 2 hours, there's just not much reason why you shouldn't have your BLU at 99. It really shouldn't take more than an evening or 2 to cap your levels, and that's if you're doing it the old-fashioned solo way.

I'd just prioritize getting to 99 and get the spells afterward, but that's just me...

this. XP is so fast that unless learning spells is what is keeping you interested in leveling the job there is no reason to not go back for them later. you're fine with what you have until 99.

Honestly, I've mostly enjoyed leveling up solo on mobs that can give me spells, especially useful spells. Plus it's kinda rewarding having some progression to the job (even if the XP is super fast now), instead of instantly being a 99 BLU.

So I do get a lot of enjoyment out of spell hunting. I'm even pleased with my current mostly terrible gear choices I made by digging through my storage slips. Genbu's Shield, Fortitude Torque, Boxer's Mantle... nostalgia awesomeness! The most disappointing part of BLU so far has been hitting 70 and realizing BLU can't equip Joyeuse or Seiryu's Sword.

I'll give /WAR a go once I get the Dual Wield - haven't even bothered with /NIN either to be honest, simply because there aren't any weapons worth getting at this level that don't require too much effort. Been using whatever I can find on AH or RoE NPC, but nothing very good. I don't have any need for Utsusemi yet, because I can just cycle in and out Trust WHMs between battles. It's probably a laughable choice, but I've been subbing RDM for Dia, Phalanx, Fast Cast and cheap cures to wake my Trust NPCs should they get slept.

As for Goblin Rush, what spell should that be replacing? I'm leaning towards Filamented Hold, as I rarely bother with it. I really like Chaotic Eye as well, found it very useful against Poroggos and Imps. Water Bomb worries me a bit, as it's AoE, and probably more expensive MP wise (not sure on this though!).

The best thing about being 99 is that it gives you access to ilvl gear which makes it worlds easier to live long enough to learn spells. Honestly, though, keep doing whatever is fun for you, and the resources other people mentioned like the traits list and the blue magic hunting grounds are very useful. BLU is fun but you have to make it yours or you'll probably get bored with it.

As for goblin rush, I would replace filamented hold, which is a spell i very rarely ever even set, let alone use.

I spend almost all of my time meleeing, so i very very rarely cast spells, but when i do, my most useful ones are ones that have a lower MP cost and inflict debuffs, so i can't really give insight as to the magical side of things. I almost exclusively use spells to SC when i'm solo.

If I have previously cleared Nyzul Isle (I have a Runic Key), how much do I need to do to go back in and get the blue Mage weapon? Can I just enter at Floor 95 and be done with it?

And can this be achieved solo? I'm not worried about the bosses, but I'm not sure how Nyzul works these days. Can I even enter solo? How likely would it be to get screwed over by lamps?

Enter at floor 96 as a BLU, kill floor 100 boss and weapon is 100%. Easily doable as a BLU. Unless of course you get royally screwed on lamps.