White Mage Guide by Fredjan

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Introduction
Hello, I'm currently a level 80 White Mage on the Asura server. I'll share my views on races, support jobs, gear, spells, and merits. This doesn't cover anything else, like meleeing for fun.

Races
Hume: Most rounded race. You won't have the best HP, MP, or MND, etc., but it's good overall. I'm a hume myself. Elvaan: Elvaans have the highest MND of any race, but not the highest MP. Tarutaru: Tarutarus don't have the highest MND but their MP is the highest out of any race. Mithra: Mithras have the same MP as Humes, but not as much MND. Galka: Galkas have the lowest MP pool, not sure about their MND.

Long story short, any race can make a fine White Mage. Some have advantages, some have disadvantages, making it more challenging. In the end, however, it's more rewarding to overcome the challenges early on.
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Scholar
Without a doubt the most beneficial support job for White Mage. You obtain Light Arts and Dark Arts at level 20, along with Penury and Parsimony strategems. At level 50, you obtain the Celerity and Alacrity strategems. You also obtain a 2nd charge at level 60, and you only get up to 2 charges. At level 70, you obtain Sublimation, which has its benefits. It's based on Max HP, and prevents you from being slept when it's charging (it's considered a DoT effect on you). You can be slept, but it'll wake you up if Stoneskin isn't up. Heavily recommended to use when you don't have a Red Mage. With a Red Mage, however, I'd recommend taking their Refresh, as 3mp/tic is more worthwhile than 2. At level 80, you gain Accession and Manifestation. Scholar also has the Conserve MP job trait.

Light Arts is MP cost-10%, and casting time-10%. Penury reduces MP cost by 50%. Celerity reduces casting time by 50%.

Accession makes the following WHM spells AoE: Cures (up to 4, not recommended with Curagas in the picture), status healing spells, Blink, Stoneskin, Aquaveil, Regen spells, Protect spells, Shell spells (not recommended with the -ra versions usable), Sneak/Invisible/Deodorize, etc. Accession does not work with Haste.

With Dark Arts you can also use Aspir on mobs with MP and get worthwhile returns (In Dynamis, I've filled up my MP using Manifestation + Aspir; yes, on White Mage. It was simply put, amazing). You also have access to Dispel under Addendum: Black later on.

Red Mage
Only appealing after level 79, it has Convert at 80 and Refresh at 82. Some view this as the best support job at this time with the cap currently being 80, however I strongly disagree. Red Mage support job essentially offers nothing but Convert at 80 level cap. Fast Cast is cute, but it isn't worth the support job choice, and a /Scholar can cast much faster with Celerity, making it redundant. Refresh at 82 is situationally nice to have though. However, with a Red Mage, you'd want Refresh II by then. Red Mage used to offer Dispel on its own, but Scholar offers that as well. All in all, the support job's main benefit is Convert, and it's something I view as a last resort for MP, not a necessity.

Black Mage
Not something I'd recommend. It used to have Conserve MP on its own at /BLM20, but like Red Mage with Dispel, Scholar also has this. At this time, Black Mage support job is only useful for Elemental Seal if one'd need it that badly for something, as well as Sleepga.

Summoner
Like Black Mage, not something I'd recommend. It does have Auto-Refresh at /SMN25 and the highest MP boost of any support job, but that's it. You could situationally use avatar blood pact: wards for cute stuff, but all in all it's not really worth the hassle in my view.

Summary
Once I tried Scholar, I didn't go back.

Spell List
White Mage Spell List

Gear
Instead of listing every item known to us that White Mage can equip, I will give a general idea of what to go for. The following stats are important:

MP, Enmity- (caps at -50), MND, Cure potency (50% cap), MP recovered while healing. Stats like HP have use for more than just HP (Devotion, Martyr, etc). VIT and Healing Skill barely improve cures, so don't gear for those.

MP is important, but it shouldn't be the stat you focus on in cure sets at higher levels. Enmity- has a much higher importance, as does even MND on Cure V+. You should always wear any cure potency gear you have for cures. Healing magic skill gear should never be worn, nor should it be merited. It has such a minimal impact on cures, and it only helps them prevent from being interrupted. It may help Cursna remove Doom, but there's no real evidence to support that.

MP recovered while healing is important, and it's worth it to carry as much as you can reasonably carry. The more gear you have for it, the faster you recover your MP.

Cure potency, like I said, should be a first priority obtaining and putting to use for all cures. When I leveled White Mage, the first cure potency staff was a Light Staff. Now there's some available as early as in the late 20s. Here's a list, taken from the cure potency page, with the stuff WHM can't equip not on the list.


 * {|class=sortable width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"

! align="center" style="background:#ffdead;" width="10%" | Level ! align="center" style="background:#ffdead;" width="20%" | Type ! align="center" style="background:#ffdead;" width="35%" | Name ! align="center" style="background:#ffdead;" width="35%" | Potency %
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 29
 * align="center" | Staff
 * align="center" | Melampus Staff
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +3%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 40
 * align="center" | Club
 * align="center" | Dia Wand
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +1%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 43
 * align="center" | Staff
 * align="center" | Ceres Spica
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +6%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 50
 * align="center" | Ring
 * align="center" | Medicine Ring
 * align="center" | Latent Effect: Cure Potency +10%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 51
 * align="center" | Staff
 * align="center" | Light Staff
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +10%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 51
 * align="center" | Staff
 * align="center" | Apollo's Staff
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +10%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 55
 * align="center" | Staff
 * align="center" | Healing Staff
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +10%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 55
 * align="center" | Staff
 * align="center" | Dryad Staff
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +10%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 59
 * align="center" | Body
 * align="center" | Restorer Cloak
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +3%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 61
 * align="center" | Throwing
 * align="center" | Healing Feather
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +15%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 62
 * align="center" | Club
 * align="center" | Asklepios
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +5%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 68
 * align="center" | Body
 * align="center" | Noble's Tunic
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +10%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 68
 * align="center" | Body
 * align="center" | Aristocrat's Coat
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +12%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 70
 * align="center" | Head
 * align="center" | Volunteer's Khud
 * align="center" | Besieged: Cure Potency +5%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 71
 * align="center" | Club
 * align="center" | Templar Mace
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +10%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 73
 * align="center" | Earring
 * align="center" | Roundel Earring
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +5%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 75
 * align="center" | Neck
 * align="center" | Fylgja Torque
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +2%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 75
 * align="center" | Neck
 * align="center" | Fylgja Torque +1
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +3%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 75
 * align="center" | Waist
 * align="center" | Lambda Sash
 * align="center" | Salvage: Cure Potency +3%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 79
 * align="center" | Hands
 * align="center" | Augur's Gloves
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +4%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 80
 * align="center" | Back
 * align="center" | Orison Cape
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +3%
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 80
 * align="center" | Hands, Feet
 * align="center" | Serpentes Armor Set
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +5%
 * }

There's things that can be augmented with Cure potency as well.
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! align="center" style="background:#ffdead;" width="10%" | Level ! align="center" style="background:#ffdead;" width="10%" | Type ! align="center" style="background:#ffdead;" width="25%" | Name ! align="center" style="background:#ffdead;" width="25%" | Potency % ! align="center" style="background:#ffdead;" width="35%" | Job
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 75
 * align="center" | Head
 * align="center" | Selenian Cap
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +3%
 * align="center" | WHM/BLM/RDM/BRD/SMN/SCH
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 75
 * align="center" | Legs
 * align="center" | Tatsumaki Sitagoromo
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +5%
 * align="center" | WHM/BLM/RDM/BRD/SMN/SCH
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 75
 * align="center" | Club
 * align="center" | Dweomer Maul
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +2-6%
 * align="center" | WHM
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 75
 * align="center" | Staff
 * align="center" | Teiwaz
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +15%
 * align="center" | WHM/BLM/RDM/BRD/SMN/SCH
 * - style="background:#e3e6ff;" valign="top"
 * align="center" | 80
 * align="center" | Staff
 * align="center" | Surya's Staff
 * align="center" | Cure Potency +17%
 * align="center" | WHM/BLM/RDM/BRD/SMN/SCH
 * }

There's many ways to obtain the 50% cure potency cap, as the max available totals up to 62-63%. Aim for the solution that works best for you.

Job Abilities

 * Benediction
 * Level: 1
 * Recast timer: 2:00:00
 * Uses: Completely restores HP of all targets in range and cures them of any status ailments, though there are exceptions. It also has a small chance of removing Doom, just like Cursna.
 * Divine Seal
 * Level: 15 (30 for people subbing White Mage)
 * Recast timer: 0:15:00
 * Uses: Doubles potency of your next cure based spell. If the next spell you cast is a status removal spell, it becomes an Area of Effect spell. It does not improve anything else.
 * Afflatus Solace
 * Level: 40 (WHM Exclusive)
 * Recast timer: 0:01:00
 * Duration: 2:00:00
 * Uses: A record is stored from each Cure spell you cast, including Benediction and Martyr. Cures done with Cura and Curaga aren't counted. It increases the amount of status ailments you can transfer to you using Sacrifice. It also grants a magic defense boost on a specific element when using a barspell. The magic defense bonus is applied to the element matching the barspell. Casting Cures 1-6 with Afflatus Solace up grants a stoneskin effect based on the amount the Cure would've done, even if it fills up the HP sooner than that. It is also boosted from Divine Seal. "Cureskin" seems to have a cap of 300. Also, the "recorded amount" from curing can be used to boost Holy damage up to 3.5-4x.
 * Afflatus Misery
 * Level: 40 (WHM Exclusive)
 * Recast timer: 0:01:00
 * Duration: 2:00:00
 * Uses: Improves spells based on most recent damage taken. It isn't "recorded" and "added up", only the most recent damage taken counts. This only directly improves Cura spells, as well as Banish spells. With it up, Esuna will remove up to 2 statuses, and while Auspice is up, grants an enlight effect to the White Mage only.

Merits
Group 1 Group 2
 * Divine Seal Recast (-20 seconds per upgrade)
 * Cure Cast Time (-4% cast time of all Cure spells per upgrade)
 * Bar Spell Effect (+2 potency of Bar spells, +2 Magic Defense Bonus per upgrade)
 * Banish Effect (+2 damage, +2 seconds duration of Defense Down effect per upgrade)
 * Regen Spell Effect (+1 HP/tick recovered per upgrade)
 * Martyr (-2 minutes 30 seconds recast per upgrade)
 * Devotion (-2 minutes 30 seconds recast per upgrade)
 * Protectra V (+2 defense per upgrade)
 * Shellra V (~-0.8% Magic Damage Taken per upgrade)

Recommendations
Group 1: I personally maxed Barspell effect and regen effect. Barspells when used right can help reduce a lot of magic damage saving a lot of MP. Regen has always been a way to save MP compared to cures. Banish merits are cute, but I barely cast Banish. Cure Cast time merits aren't something I feel necessary with Cure Clogs, other cure spellcasting time- gear, and /Scholar. I also don't feel meriting Divine Seal is necessary either.

Group 2: Ideally, it's best to max Devotion and Shellra V. Martyr is nice at times, and I personally feel Protectra V is a waste of merits. If it was actual physical damage reduction, yeah, it'd be more worth it. The difference between Protectra IV and Protectra V is very minimal.

More to come
I will update this after the level cap increases to 85. Until then, that's it for now.