At the time of writing this guide, I'm a Level 58 BLM/WHM on the Midgardsormr
server. I played during beta, although not that much. I don't claim to be an
expert of the class, but I'm writing this guide for two reasons. One,
honestly, I see a lot of bad players who don't know how to play their class,
and this is my contribution to curbing that. Two, there's many things I've
learned playing through the game I wish I'd known on my way through leveling up
to where I am now. This guide's short and sweet, and is designed to teach
someone in thirty minutes how to play a reasonably effective Black Mage.
The Ever-Short Table of Contents:
I. The Basics
a. Why Should I Play a Black Mage?
b. What Difficulties Should I Be Aware Of?
II. Designing Your Black Mage
a. Race
b. Hometown
c. Selecting a Subjob
III. Types of Magic
IV. How To Fight
a. Resistances
b. Magic Bursts
c. Timing Ancient Magic Bursts
d. Aggro Management
V. Leveling
a. Early Leveling (1-20)
b. Intermediate Leveling (21-30)
c. Advanced Leveling (31-50)
VI. Spell and Skill Listing
a. Magic Spells by Level
b. Job Skills by Level
c. Which Spells Should I Get?
VII. Contact Info
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I - The Basics
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The Basics - Why Should I Play a Black Mage?
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If you like blowing things up, pretty sparkles, and watching large chunks of HP
slip away from monsters, Black Mage might be the class for you. Black Mages
are an almost purely damage dealing class. They make things blow up, and do it
well. Only Rangers can reasonably, sustainably match a Black Mage in damage,
and Rangers do so at a high price (litterally) as well as a lack of many
support functions within the Black Mage and his or her subclass. Black Mage is
an exciting, explosive way to go.
The Basics - What Difficulties Should I Be Aware Of?
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Black Mages have low HP and armor, this makes them extremely vulnerable if
caught unprepared by even a much weaker monster. Soloing is also a much more
time consuming process for a Black Mage, however, they can accomplish more than
most classes can by themselves (which really isn't much, by later levels).
Money will also be a major problem until you reach the 50s. Store bought
spells are extremely expensive, and you need a lot of them. Fortunately, once
you hit 50, your spells are dropped, and this creates a surplus due to a
minimal demand. But, Black Mages are very welcome in any group, and this is a
strength.
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II - Designing your Black Mage
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Designing your Black Mage - Race
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From worst to best -
Elvann: Too little MP to work with, worst evasion, lowest int.
Galka: Worst MP, way to little to be an effective BLM. Some will claim RSE
(Race Specific Armor) counter-balances this, which it *can* to an extent, but
you still have to get to the early 30s to use that armor. And then, you're
screwed when you want to wear better armor...
Hume: Best non-taru MP, best non-taru INT, decent evasion. ~25% more HP than a
taru.
Mithra: Same as Hume, but better evasion. Slightly lower magic resistance, but
probably worth the evasion.
Tarutaru: Absolutely the best race for BLMs. Highest evasion besides Mithra,
40% or so more MP than Hume/Mithras, and easily the highest INT (resists and
spell damage).
Version 1.3 correction: By resists I meant how much YOU will be resisted, not
how much you will resist other spells. Some people had confusion and mailed me
about this.
In summary, playing a Galka or an Elvann BLM is worthless unless you just feel
like being original (hell, they're only even on here for completeness' sake,
either are a joke as a BLM). Humes and Mithra are so similar it doesn't matter
much which you pick. They're definitely not Taru, but the extra HP (and thus
survivability) is kinda nice. Tarutaru are hands down the best BLM race, to
the point that I've had people tell me they were blowing off other BLMs so they
could take me instead, based of my race.
Designing your Black Mage - Hometown
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You really can do what you want here. Kingdoms determine two things; rings and
conquest. Rings is a simple thing, if you start in the hometown of your race,
you'll get a pretty nifty +stats ring that's Lv1 usable. Conquest is where you
get points (CP) for killing monsters that you can trade for items later. The
items you get are based on your kingdom.
I suggest Windurst because Windurst has a lot of caster CP gear later on
(although none early-on, annoyingly). You also get a good caster ring, if
you're a Mithra or Taru. But it really doesn't matter, you can always play
Bastok, sell your CP gear for cash, and buy Windurst gear with that.
Designing your Black Mage - Selecting a Subjob
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There's very few subjobs that compliment a Black Mage. Anything melee oriented
is bad, period, among other reasons because nearly all melee classes have no
MP. Don't bother asking, no. I'll list the viable combinations I know of here:
BLM/DRK - Some MP, pretty good INT. Not the best choice, but not awful.
BLM/THF - I know I said no melees, but subbing thief has some decent rewards.
Thieves actually get moderately high INT (higher than any class except BLM,
RDM, SMN, DRK). Taru have enough MP that you can get away with the MP loss in
some situations. A group trying to get quest or cash items might really
appreciate your Treasure Hunter class abilities.
BLM/BRD - Bards are pretty damn cool, but bard is pretty nerfed as a sub. Plus
you'll have to get to 50 as a BLM to be able to play mana regen song. Also,
the int is iffy, and you don't get much MP at all.
BLM/RDM - Great INT, extra magic atk boost. MP is a little less than other
caster classes. Spells are an issue though: You'll get some spells later than
you would if you subbed WHM, and miss some important ones entirely. It limits
your solo survivability too. (Did I forget to mention you get Blink also?
Huge plus.)
BLM/SMN - Awesome INT, great MP boost, and auto-refresh later on. However,
summons really kinda.. suck, especially since, as american players, we don't
really have access to the better summons. And not having spells like Cure,
Raise, and Blink is a pain in the ass. Still, it may be worth it for the MP,
especially if you choose a non-taru race.
BLM/WHM - Really the best and most common choice. INT isn't too great, but you
get a pretty good MP boost, as well as magic defense. Most of all, you get a
wonderful selection of spells to back up your black magery. Depending on your
level, a BLM/WHM can go so far as to act as the main healer of your group.
This is one of the best choices, and the most respected. And yes, you get
Blink, and you get it earliest this way.
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III - Types of Magic
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Types of Magic - Damage
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These are your nukes. These will fall under Elemental Magic. Not much else to
say, make stuff go boom.
Types of Magic - Area Effect Damage
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These are the same as normal nukes but hit all monsters in a certain radius.
In addition, they do higher damage than their equivalent, standard nukes, but
at a much higher MP cost. Damage also seems to be reduced among higher numbers
of targets. A spell doing 250 to a single target might only do 160 each to 7
targets.
Types of Magic - Buff
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We don't really get buffs, at least from our base class. These are simply
enhancing spells. The only ones we get are Blaze/Ice/Thunder Spikes, which are
pretty useless. I wouldn't bother buying them.
Types of Magic - Debuff
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These weaken enemies. Black Mages get Bio and Blind, which reduce enemies'
damage and accuracy.
Black Mages also get a wide variety of "damage over time" debuff spells. I
used to have these in their own section, but the damage done is so minimal that
they really belong in the debuff section. I've updated it because my data was
a bit erroneous before. Bio is generally the most useful and widely used of
these spells. The stat debuffs (Shock, Rasp, Choke, Frost, Burn, and Drown)
are useful depending on your character and stage of the game. Most of these
aren't that useful (Frost, Drown, Burn, Choke) Most people prefer Rasp, with
the school of thought that Dex affects melee damage the most (I probably agree).
Shock is useful because it lowers MND, which your spells resist off of. This
doesn't matter much at lower levels (particularily if you're a Taru), but if
you're getting resisted (as happens a lot more at higher levels), it's a good
idea to use Shock. It's a small MP cost to reduce your resists.
Types of Magic - Crowd Control
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Black mages can often avert dangerous situations of multiple monsters attacking
through their crowd control spells. Bind holds enemies in place, while Sleep
spells (such as Sleep, Sleep II, Sleepga, etc) can immobilize them entirely.
Types of Magic - Teleportation
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Black Mages can return themselves to their home point (Warp), others to their
respective home points (Warp II), or evacuate parties to the entrance of a
Dungeon (Escape). Warp and Warp II are really convenience things, but as
difficult as running away can be in FFXI, Escape is an invaluable tool.
Types of Magic - Draining
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Not really sure what else to call these. Drain and Aspir... one steals HP, one
steals MP. Aspir is a nice way to supplement your MP when fighting mobs who
have it, drain is a nice way to still do damage and heal yourself at the same
time. Both, however, have long recast timers.
Types of Magic - Ancient
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"Ancient" magic (as most call it) is a set of spells from level 50 to 60.
These spells have extreme mana costs, long (19 second) cast times, and very
high damage. They also debuff the monster to the opposite element. For
example, casting Freeze will lower a monster's resistance to Fire. I should
probably note though, that the debuff has always been very minimal by my
experience. The Ancient spells are Freeze, Tornado, Quake, Burst, Flood, and
Flare
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IV - How to Fight
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How to Fight - Resistances
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Whereas early on you can just use your best nukes, once you hit 20 or so it
begins to become increasingly important to use spells which your foes are weak
against. For example, water enemies (crabs, pugils) tend to be weak against
Thunder. Here is a minor listing of monster resistances (no, I didn't make it
myself). However, this list is very incomplete, and doesn't include expansion
areas:
Please note that the more difficult to cast (higher level) elements are
generally more effective. Virtually nothing is weak to earth, and very little
is weak to water or air. In contrast, lots of creatures are weak versus Fire,
Ice, and Thunder. That said, buying spells like Water II is something you can
get away with skipping, whereas not buying Blizzard II (particularily since
most of the monsters in Crawler's Nest and Altepa are weak to Ice) is a serious
mistake.
How to Fight - Magic Bursts
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GameFaqs has a pretty good Renkei guide, I also reccomend the chart in Prima's
Official Strategy Guide. I won't plagarize their charts and all that, so just
examine those for the actual lists of which skills chain into what.
Renkei, or skillchains, are combinations of weaponskills done in a certain
order, which are typically followed by Magic Bursts. Magic Bursts are your
friend, because they allow your spells to do more damage for the same mana, as
well as (at least it seems like) be marginally less resistable. As far as
timing your Magic Burst (which some people have difficulty learning), it's
pretty simple, just start casting your spell right after your group member
prepares the follow-up attack. For example (note this "log" isn't quite
realistic because lag between your computer and the server really affects when
messages are shown).
Dragoon prepares Raiden Thrust.
Dragoon hits for 150 points of damage.
Paladin prepares Seraph Blade. (begin casting IMMEDIATELY)
Engrish begins to cast Waterga II.
Paladin hits for 120 points of damage.
Skillchain: Distortion
A Helm Beetle takes 30 points of damage.
Engrish casts Waterga II.
Magic Burst! A Helm Beetle takes 427 points of damage.
Waterga II hit for 427 points instead of 310 or so.
This can also be done multiple times in a complicated skillchain. Your window
to burst is increased after the first skillchain. Here is an example of a more
complicated skillchain:
Monk prepares Combo.
Monk hits for 80 damage.
Warrior prepares Raging Axe. (cast immediately)
Engrish begins to cast Aero.
Warrior hits for 100 damage.
Skillchain: Detonation
A Nasty Monster takes 15 points of damage.
Engrish casts Aero.
Magic Burst! A Nasty Monster takes 70 points of damage.
Thief prepares Viper Bite. (cast immediately)
Engrish begins to cast Stone II.
Thief hits for 200 points of damage.
Skillchain: Scission
A Nasty Monster takes 50 points of damage.
Engrish casts Stone II.
Magic Burst! A Nasty Monster takes 130 points of damage.
Note the multiple magic bursts. To be a skilled black mage, you should be able
to do this regularily. This timing scheme should work fine up until Ancient
Magic.
How to Fight - Timing Ancient Magic Bursts
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Now, Ancient magic is a bit trickier to burst, since it has a 19 second cast
time. Usually, you'll have 2 person skillchains, and what I suggest is this
macro:
/magic "Freeze"
/p Casting Freeze in 19 seconds.
/wait 6
/p Freeze landing in 13 seconds, start 2-man skillchain now!
Hopefully it'll end up something like:
(Engrish) Casting Freeze in 19 seconds.
Engrish begins to cast Freeze.
Melee hits The Cactaur.
Melee hits The Cactaur.
(Engrish) Freeze landing in 13 seconds, start 2-man skillchain now!
(Ranger) Starting skillchain in 1 sec.
Ranger prepares Piercing Arrow.
Ranger hits for 250 points of damage.
Paladin prepares Seraph Blade.
Paladin hits for 150 points of damage.
Skillchain: Distortion
The Cactaur takes 60 points of damage.
Engrish casts Freeze.
Magic Burst! The Cactaur takes 990 points of damage.
Freeze hit for 990 instead of 740 or so.
Of course, this timing is variable. Try your macro once, see how melees
respond, and if they're landing too fast or slow, then change your second
message (the skillchain start) appropriately. Not everyone does their
weaponskills the same.
How to Fight - Aggro Management
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I admit, I feel weird writing about this because I'm not too good at aggro
control myself. But then again, there are some *seriously* bad Black Mages out
there when it comes to aggro management. Essentially, it comes down these
points:
1) Choose your tank wisely. Try to group with Paladins whenever possible, it's
hard to nuke much without a Paladin tank's aggro.
2) Know your tanks' aggro. If you're not lucky enough to have a Paladin tank,
don't fire away like you do. Try to let the tanks, er, tank, even if that
means slower killing.
3) Refrain from pissing things off in other ways. Don't fire off a heal unless
you really need to, let the WHM handle that.
4) Blink is your friend. Once you're high enough to cast Blink from a subjob
(Lv38 BLM / Lv 19 WHM) you should pretty much always have it on. Blink is your
insurance in case you do overaggro. Careful though, casting Blink after you've
engaged a monster will stack more aggro on you (although, not so much).
5) Try to stay away from the mob. This can avoid AE attacks and spells, but
also gives your tank a couple seconds to notice the monster's newfound love for
his small mage friend; hopefully, your tank will have a provoke or Flash or
something up.
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V - Leveling
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Early Leveling
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I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail here. Just zap stuff and melee.
To get spells off while in melee range (attacks by enemies interrupts
spellcasting), start casting the moment you see their animation for their
attack start, with the time it takes the message for the spell being activated
to go to the server, your spell should go off uninterrupted.
You will also probably want to macro your spells. Go to your big menu ( - key
on the numpad), scroll to Macros, then edit them. To make a spellcasting
macro, in the main macro window, type: /magic "spellname" . If you want to
target yourself, do /magic "spellname" .
The best enemies for you to fight are worms (permanently held in place, no fear
of melee attacks), and ones where you can use your terrain to your advantage.
This goes back into starting at Windurst. The Horuhoto (I hope I spelled that
right) ruins are really the best place for leveling from 5-10 as a BLM.
There's several entrances to the Horuhoto ruins around Sarubaruta. In some of
these, there are platforms you can stand on and rain magical death upon your
foes as they try to walk around the platforms to you, leaving them decimated by
the time they finally reach you.
Once you hit 10 or so, you can go to Tahrongi Canyon (exit NE from East
Sarubaruta) and group there, and perhaps the Maze of Shakhrami. You'll really
want to group at this point - FFXI absolutely isn't a soloing game (unless you
play a BST, but that's something else). The Maze is full of worms, so you can
make 100% mage groups.
At 15 or 16, you'll want to go to Valkurm and start working on collecting items
for the Subjob quest. To get to Selbina and Valkurm, go east from Tahrongi
into Bururimu, then south to Mhaura port. Please note, this walk is anything
but safe. Take the boat to Selbina, makes sure to set your home point, and
head out looking for a group.
I'm not going to detail the subjob quest, you can get that elsewhere. Simply
put, kill Clippers for a Crab Apron, kill Damselflies for the Worm, and kill
Ghouls for a Magicked Skull. Turn these in to an NPC by the water in Selbina
at Level 18, and you'll gain the ability to have a Subjob.
Beyond this, I'd stay in Valkurm fighting Pugils until 20.
Intermediate Leveling
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The options at this point are pretty limited. You'll probably want to start
either in Qufim Island (north of Jueno, exit from Port Jueno), or Korroloka
Tunnel (off of the Zehrun Mines in Bastok). Qufim is the most popular
typically, and as such, the most crowded, but it's really your best bet until
at least the mid-late twenties. At this point you can try the surrounding
areas of Jueno, namely, Batallia Downs, Saromogue Champaign, Rolanberry Fields,
and Delkuft's Tower (I'm sure I misspelled some of those).
Contrary to popular rumor, at least on Midgardsormr, Batallia Downs is not a
good leveling area. In fact, it sucks, things aren't worth the exp, and are
very dangerous. Bomb Tosses, monsters that will always outrun you, etc. I
really reccomend against it. As much as I know I'm contributing to the
overcrowding of Qufim, I'd stay there and hunt Acrophies.
Advanced Leveling
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Please take this to heart when I say that Altepa is haven to all those 30+.
There's Davoi, Oztroja, and Beadeaux, but they really aren't worth the trouble.
Lots of link pulls... it's a mess. Altepa is your friend, full of nice spread
out beetles and mostly unaggressive critters, and is eassily accessible through
the Korroloka Tunnel. You can ride Altepa and its surrounding areas (West
Altepa, Quicksand Caves) all the way to 50 if you really want to.
Of course, places get crowded. Good alternate areas are Garliage Citadel for
low 30s and upper 40s, and of course the ever-popular Crawlers Nest works for
35-50 (although nowhere near as fast).
Post 50 Leveling
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It gets kinda specific after here. By my experience, you can ride Garlaige
(beetles/bats) until 53 or so, or CN up through 56 (Knight Crawlers, Nest
Beetles). Kuftal Tunnel, off of Altepa, is good from about 52-55, and then the
best place seems to be Boyahda from 54-57. The exp really drops off at 58-59
though, so you'll want to move. The only place I've tried is Cape Teriggan
(56+) through Kuftal, but I'm also told that the Valley of Sorrows is good at
58 or so. This is really where I have to leave off, I don't know beyond here.
=/
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VI - Spell and Skill Listing
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Magic Spells by Level
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Lv Magic MP Effect
1 Stone 9 Earth DD
3 Poison 5 Water DOT
4 Blind 5 Accuracy down debuff
5 Water 13 Water DD
7 Bind 8 Immobilizes an enemy
9 Aero 18 Wind DD
10 Bio 22 Darkness DOT and ATK down
10 Blaze Spikes 8 Deals fire damage to attackers
12 Drain 21 Drains HP and restores your own
13 Fire 24 Fire DD
15 Stonega 37 Earth area effect DD
16 Shock 25 Lightning DOT and MND down
17 Blizzard 30 Ice DD
17 Warp 100 Teleport self to Home Point
18 Rasp 25 Earth DOT and DEX down
19 Waterga 47 Water area effect DD
20 Choke 25 Wind DOT and VIT down
20 Ice Spikes 16 Deals ice damage to attackers
20 Sleep 19 Puts target to sleep
21 Thunder 37 Lightning DD
22 Frost 25 Ice DOT and AGI down
23 Aeroga 57 Wind area effect DD
24 Burn 25 Fire DOT and INT down
24 Poisonga 44 Area effect darkness DOT
25 Aspir 10 Drains MP and restores your own
25 Tractor 26 Summons a corpse to your location
26 Stone II 43 Earth DD
27 Drown 25 Water DOT and STR down
28 Firaga 71 Fire area effect DD
29 Escape 125 Teleports the party out of dungeons
30 Shock Spikes 24 Deals lightning damage to attackers
30 Water II 51 Water DD
31 Sleepga 38 Area effect Sleep spell
32 Blizzaga 82 Ice area effect DD
34 Aero II 59 Wind DD
35 Bio II 66 Darkness DOT and ATK down
36 Thunderga 95 Thunder area effect DD
38 Fire II 68 Fire DD
40 Stonega II 109 Earth area effect DD
40 Warp II 150 Sends target to his/her Home Point
41 Sleep II 29 Puts target to sleep
42 Blizzard II 77 Ice DD
43 Poison II 38 Water DOT
44 Waterga II 123 Water area effect DD
45 Stun 25 Momentarily stuns a target
46 Thunder II 86 Thunder DD
48 Aeroga II 138 Wind area effect DD
50 Freeze 307 Ice ancient magic DD, Fire debuff
51 Stone III 95 Earth DD
52 Tornado 322 Wind ancient magic DD, Ice debuff
53 Firaga II 158 Fire area effect DD
54 Quake 337 Earth ancient magic DD, Wind debuff
55 Water III 104 Water DD
56 Burst 352 Lightning ancient magic DD, Earth debuff
57 Blizzaga II 175 Ice area effect DD
58 Flood 368 Water ancient magic DD, Thunder debuff
59 Aero III 115 Wind DD
60 Flare 383 Fire ancient magic DD, Water debuff
61 Thundaga II 193 Lightning area effect DD
62 Fire III 113 Fire DD
63 Stonega III 211 Earth area effect DD
64 Blizzard III 120 Ice DD
65 Waterga III 231 Water area effect DD
67 Aeroga III 252 Wind area effect DD
68 Stone IV 138 Stone DD
69 Firaga III 277 Fire area effect DD
70 Water IV 144 Water DD
71 Blizzaga III 299 Ice area effect DD
72 Aero IV 150 Wind DD
73 Fire IV 157 Fire DD
73 Thundaga III 322 Lightning area effect DD
74 Blizzard IV 164 Ice DD
75 Thunder IV 171 Lightning DD
Data acquired from: http://www.pbase.com/maxyi/
And because everyone asks, no, there is no Meteo, Ultima, Meteor, etc.
However, "Meteor" is actually coded, just not available (in fact, I think the
MP cost is currently one). Maybe in the future? Then again, spells like
Poison V, Flare II, and Aeroga V (571 MP!), and Summon Fenrir are also coded.
I guess we'll see!
Job Skills by Level
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Lv Skill Timer Effect
1 Manafont 2:00:00 All spells cost 0 for 1 minute
10 Magic Atk Up Passive Increases spell damage
15 Elemental Seal 0:10:00 Makes next spell very difficult to resist
15 Clear Mind Passive Increases MP regen while healing
20 Conserve MP Passive Randomly cuts MP cost of spells
30 Magic Atk Up Passive Increases spell damage
50 Magic Atk Up Passive Increases spell damage
Which Spells Should I Get?
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As mentioned earlier, be sure to get the less resistable element attack spells.
Get Escape by level 30 if you want to be worth anything... Escape is one of
the most valuable spells a BLM has, since running away with a group is very
difficult in FFXI. Don't bother with the DOT spells except for the Bio line,
they're just a drain of money... if you REALLY want to toy with them, just buy
the first one, it's a lot cheaper. Area effect spells are fun but definitely
NOT necessary to be an effective BLM. Tractor is probably a good idea also,
and it's not expensive. Damage shields are useless (except while farming,
maybe), don't bother. Warp II is probably a good spell to get, while not
necessary, but it saves groupmates time. Lastly, ancient magics, I'd buy them.
Particularily Freeze, Burst, and Flare (the three best elements). They're
great for a lot of things. Good luck getting a copy of Flare, though.
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VII - Contact Info
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Okay, before contacting me, read this. I don't want to be contacted over how I
mispelled a word in section 3 paragraph 2 or whatever. I really don't care! =)
I really don't want to be contacted for most things honestly. Once, I wrote
another guide, and it just meant a spam filled e-mail box with hundreds of
inane questions. So, if you REALLY want to contact me, message me as Engrish
on Midgardsormr, or email my POL box at chibiendy@pol.com, but if it's a flame
or anal criticism, don't bother. =) Good comments and positive, constructive,
helpful comments are appreciated. Also as a note, I will immediately delete
any messages with attachments.
You may also e-mail me to ask to put my guide on your website. This guide
should otherwise ONLY be found on GameFAQs, IGN's FAQ section,
ffxi.horizonseye.com, www.tehfluff.org, or dlh.net.
