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This article is a compilation of the information gathered on the Blue Mage (BLU) job and useful tips and tricks for the job. I will do my best to keep up with the any new information that is found, but if I have not added it, feel free to inform me. The article will link to information on the job within FFXIclopedia. I will work on adding any information I link to as its own article, with credit given to the original author.
The Blue Mage Quest
This quest is considered the easiest of the Treasures of Aht Urhgan quests. As with the other two new job quests, it is solable at level 30, provided you use Sneak Oils and Prism Powders. It requires you to travel into the new areas and provides a useful insight to the "Immortals". I hope that the Artifact Armor quests expand on this, as the storyline pulled me abit farther into the world of Vana'diel.
Blue Mage Spells
- Blue Magic
- Blue Mage Spell List at Allakhazam
- Blue Mage Spell Acquisition Guide at Allakhazam
- Blue Mage Spell Guide at KillingIfrit
- Learning Spells from Too Weak Monsters (Confirmed)
- Level Gap Myth
- Confirmed: You can learn abilities with high level pt member.
- ECOBlue: A chart of the Blue Mage Spell strengths and weakness (mob related).
These guides are all useful in learning to understand the Blue Mage job. Blue Mage is unlike any of the current jobs in Final Fantasy XI. Your spells are limited not only by your MP and level, but by "Set Points". Each Blue Magic has a number of set points it requires to be set. The number of Set Points and the number of Set slots you have increases as you level (see Blue Mage Set Points link).
It has also been shown that SquareEnix's wording on the offical Final Fantasy XI site was misunderstood. Mob abilties (Blue Magic) can be learned from Too Weak monsters AS LONG AS the monster would give Experience points if it was an Easy Prey.
All Blue Magic will cost you a certain amount of Magic Points. Blue Magic functions differently than any other magic in the game. Physical Blue Magic skills are based off of your weapon skill. This requires the Blue Mage to use his/her sword and keep the skill close to cap to allow for maximum accuracy. Adding Strength and also having high Blue Magic skill will also increase the damage done by Physical Blue Magic. Magical Blue Magic is based on INT/MND and Blue Magic skill.
Blue Mage Spells Information
Magical Blue Magic damage TESTED: thread on Blue Magic Magical damage and how to increase it.
This section is a slight tutorial on how the Blue Magic works and what the different icons beside the Blue Magic names mean. This is a working guide. I will try to add the information as soon as I can. I'm still missing some information on these spells. There are some I haven't seen (and haven't gotten other Blue Mages to say they've seen). I'm working with others to try to get the rest of the information. [pre]
Box Type Spell Type Elemental Association Gray with Border Physical Unknown Red w/o Border Magical Fire Blue w/o Border Magical Ice Yellow w/o Border Magical Earth Purple w/o Border Magical Thunder Green w/o Border Magical Wind White w/o Border Magical Light Black w/o Border Magical Dark
Physical Blue Magic attacks act like a weaponskill. Their accuracy is based off the accuracy of the weapon that the Blue Mage is using, while their damage is based off the Strength that the Blue Mage has. Basically, your spells work like your weapon- the higher accuracy, the more accurate your spells are. However, the stat "Attack" will not affect these.
Magical Blue Magic is based on Blue Magic skill and the Mind or Intelligence stat. Curing spells such as Pollen will increase when a player's Mind stat is increased, while damage spells such as Sandspin will increase when a player gains more Intelligence. Elemental Staves will also help Blue Magic.
Blue Magic Day Alignment
This section will be dedicated to threads and information on any Blue Magic spell that has a day alignment that increases potency. All of Blue Mage's healing spells are just like Cures. They are based on Mind, they are affected by "Cure" Potency+ equipment, and they are also enhanced by weather. The same holds true for all "magical" Blue Magic.
Blue Magic Physical Bonuses
Physical Blue Magic Damage (Tested): While the information didn't agree with my testing, I cannot produce sufficent proof to deny any information in this thread. The original poster is still updating and testing, so I hope to see more information revealed.
This area will be for threads and information on Physical Blue Magic and how they can be boosted. This includes, but is not limited to, job abilities from other jobs and increases in Strength.
Level Name Stacks 1 Foot Kick Yes 4 Sprout Smack Yes 4 Wild Oats Yes 4 Power Attack Yes 8 Queasyshroom No 12 Battle Dance Yes 12 Feather Storm No 12 Head Butt Yes
What I found odd was that Wild Oats stacked while Feather Storm did not. Both appear to be ranged attacks.
Next I did tests with Souleater, basing a work or not work on HP loss and damage. Here are my results.
Level Name Stacks 1 Foot Kick Yes 4 Sprout Smack Yes 4 Wild Oats Yes 4 Power Attack Yes 8 Queasyshroom No 12 Battle Dance Yes 12 Feather Storm No 12 Head Butt Yes
Notice that the same abilities that stacked with Sneak Attack stack with Souleater. I was hoping this would be the case. Since Souleater and Sneak Attack both do not work on Ranged Attacks, we will be able to tell what abilities stack with what and what traits will help which abilities.
Blue Mage Subjobs
/WAR: Started at level 10, the Warrior subjob allows the Blue Mage to become a tank. If you are going to use this combo, I would suggest several things. First, bring multiple types of food. Depending on the mob, defense food may or may not be needed. When it is not needed, you will be able to use attack food. This will increase your damage and allow you to keep hate. Make sure you use your attack Blue Magic. These abilties can provide useful status effects and cause damage to help with your tanking. I would also ask you to bring juice. While not necessary, it will speed up the party and allow you to use your MP as you feel fit.
/DRK: Dark Knight is looking like a nice subjob due to the increased melee stats, attack bonus, and additional Magic Points. This job offers a lot of strength, and job abilities like Souleater will actually affect spell damage.
/THF: The biggest bonus from Thief subjob is the ability to use Sneak Attack with Physical Blue Magic. Thief is appearing to be a very nice subjob for Blue Mage. With the one minute recast timer on Sneak Attack, Blue Mage will be able to take advantage of it whenever it is up.
/NIN: Many people are already seen Ninja as a viable subjob. I felt that Ninja would be a nice subjob for Blue Mage because it feels like it goes well with the story (in my opinion). For the actual helpful aspects, you will gain an offhand weapon at level 20 and Utsusemi: Ichi at level 24. Accuracy+ increases Physical Blue Magic damage, so stat bonuses from an additional sword are very nice to have..
/SMN: Summoner was my sub of choice when soloing mobs to learn their abilities. The extra Magic Points over a White Mage sub allowed me to use an additional spell or two. Summoner as a sub also provides a boost to both the INT and MND stats.
/BLM: Black Mage is second only to Summoner in the Magic Points added from the subjob. You will also receive an increased INT stat. Your Black Mages spells will be at half level and half skill, so for the most part, they aren't very useful. Elemental Seal stacks with all Blue Magic. This would provide a useful bonus in certain situations.
/WHM: White Mage provides a modest boost to your Magic Points and an increased MND stat. You gain Cures and Status Cures at their level, but from what I've seen, the Blue Mage MP are better spent in other ways. Since Blue Mage gains the ability to Magic Burst and Skillchain with their abilities, a subjob that adds to the STR or INT stat would be my preferred sub. As with Black Mage, the White Mage ability Divine Seal stacks with curing Blue Magic. This may be useful if your party lacks a backup healer and is fighting a mob with strong melee attacks.
/RDM: Red Mage is like Dark Knight in the fact that it also provides a boost to the magical and melee abilities of the Blue mage. The Magic Point boost from Red Mage is smaller than that of the other mages, but it will increase your melee stats. I feel that Dark Knight would provide better boosts to a melee heavy Blue Mage, while Red Mage would be better for those who are heavier on casting, but still enjoy to melee (more casting would require more resting, unless you have Refresh and Juices). The actual melee boosts from Red Mage are only stat boosts. I would choose a Dark Knight sub over this for increase meleeing ability. Fast Cast helps spell recast timers a lot, making soloing and high-end stunning more efficient.
/BRD: Bard is a nice subjob to have at low levels. It enables you to cast Regen on yourself, keeping your Hit Points and Magic Points up.
/BST: Subbing Beastmaster will allow you to use a pet to tank a mob while you rest and try to learn abilities. A large amount of Blue Mages have been seen using this combo.
/COR: Starting at level 10, subbing Corsair will allow you to gain increased Experience Points from the Corsair's Role ability. Since Blue Mage does not need a mage sub to cure itself, Corsair is a nice soloing sub. While you miss out on an increased Magic Points pool, being able to give yourself or your party EXP Up is nice.
/PUP: The Automaton is nearly as strong as you are for the first couple of levels, and even up to level 10 will be a potent tank while you are soloing, thanks to certain Attachments - in particular, the Shock Absorber produces a 100HP Stoneskin for your Automaton at any level. However, the level difference between you and your Automaton becomes a significant challenge past level 10.
Testimonials for Subjobs
This section has been created for information that was gathered directly from players. If you have any information for this section, edit in your testimonial. Be sure to include your name and Blue Mage level.
Zalora - BLU75 /THF37 /NIN37
From an observational standpoint both of these subs are the top two used and are situational depending on your tastes with how you play the job.
/THF - DoT damage is better with SA & TA seperated. Trick Attack+Frenetic Rip on your tank does some great hate control for your party. Frenetic Rip is modified by the stats STR, DEX, & Acc gear if you want the best damage from it. Your bread and butter damage comes from Sneak Attack+Death Scissors. The stat you should focus on to allow max damage potential from it is STR since Death Scissors is insanely modified by a high hidden STR stat. This combo combined with Chain Affinity allows other players to blurt out the ever cliche phrase "BLU is overpowered!" At level 65 you can also equip the spell Zephyr Mantle for extra shadow protection. Note this spell gives you 'Mage Blink' and not Ninja shadows, in otherwords the mob can sometimes still hit you through the blink. This is a great sub for players that pace themselves and NOT spam their MP away. Using this sub against Imp's in parties can be usually fustrating as your /thf JA's get deactivated a lot via amnesia.
/NIN sub I noticed is good for learning spells, multi-spell spammers, solo skillchaining with weaponskill, and mainly soloing. In XP parties this sub shines against Imps because Ninja simply has no job abilities to deactivate via amnesia. Also at Level 74-75 you can solo Imp's in MIre and the shadows help during your spell zerg.
FnDragon - BLU75/THF37 After level 30, /THF is the way to go. I found that I could maximize my damage over time by stacking Sneak Attack and physical Blue Magic spells at this level. Since we are limited by the amount of MP we recover, Sneak Attack really helps to stretch out your MP by allowing you to do more damage with less MP. Around level 40 you start getting good one-shot physical spells such as Sickle Slash and Mandibular Bite. These stack very well with Sneak Attack and the Chain Affinity ability. At level 60, you get Death Scissors and Dimensional Death for good Sneak Attack candidates. Not to mention that you now have the ability to Trick Attack at level 60. Typically I would separate Trick Attack and use a multi-hit physical spell for good non-Sneak Attack damage on the party's tank. Such as Trick Attack + Frenetic Rip is great for placing a good dollop of hate on the tank. Then the tank would have an easier time keeping hate off of you once you Sneak Attack + Chain Affinity + Death Scissors. At level 65, the incredibly useful Zephyr Mantle is learned, which really makes it easier to deal with not having /NIN shadows.
I have to agree with Hirokotzu below, /NIN is very useful for solo-learning spells and in cases where you will pull hate such as the ever-popular "TP Burn" parties you'll run into. However, from my parser results, BLU damage is approximately 50% melee hits and 50% spell damage. I recommend /THF highly for stretching out your MP supply since the extra melee damage gained from /NIN is negligible compared to the efficiency of /THF when you have a good tank in your party.
Rirotiro - BLU26/NIN13
I'm finding /NIN subjob very handy in parties. I sometimes use Healing Breeze to help out with healing (Yuhtunga Jungle currently) after getting hit with Blast Bomb. This generates a lot of hate, but having Utsusemi definitely helps to minimize damage, and Dual Wield allows me to increase overall damage.
Hirokotzu - BLU50/THF25
This Combination is VERY good, I can do 200-300 every Sneak Attack+ Mandibular Bite, which is very nice and hurts the monster bad. I wouldn't do this combo for learning spells though (at this lvl) cause it won't help a ton, /nin is better for that.
Wonderboylv - BLU62/WHM31
WHM continues to be one of the best soloing subs available. Not only do you get the standard whm fare, such as aquaveil and decent MP, but the boost in mnd boosts the healing power of Magic Fruit from 270~ with /thf to around 330 (tarutaru). Personally I'd save /nin until 74, and maybe sub in /rdm 66+ for phalanx.
Fretion - BLU27/BST13
I've found BST to be the best support job so far for soloing, and acquiring spells. Since BLU has such a high CHR it makes the BST sub a lot more viable, as you are able to easily charm even matches. The biggest problem I initially had acquiring the spells was that I had to let the mob, even an EP build enough TP to use the ability I wanted. The hardest part was NOT killing it. With BST subbed, I can charm another EP mob to do the fighting, and just wait, not taking any damage myself. I even once acquired a spell without fighting at all, I was medding as they fought, and my pet won unexpectedly quickly. I was quite surprised to see that I had learned the ability. Since then, I have leveled BLU to the mid 20's on 2 other characters just for fun, and acquired every spell well before I could use them, except, of course, the level 1's. And I managed to acquire all the level 1's AT level 1, using /BST.
Sosa - BLU19/WHM9
White Mage is an incredibly useful subjob from the early levels (even with Pollen,) as you benefit not only from Cure, but Protect starting from level 14. Protect stacks with both Cocoon and defense food, making you a virtual juggernaut at low levels. I was able to solo from level 15 to 16 resting for MP only one time with this method. In addition, you get the extended line of status curative -na spells, which are incredibly helpful while fighting alone. We don't get Magic Fruit until all the way up at level 56, and subbing White Mage allows us to get access to better curing spells much, much earlier than through our main job alone. Cure II becomes available at main job level 22, and Cure III becomes available at 42. Warrior is also a very useful subjob in the early levels, I found that with tank food and the proper spells, my defense and VIT easily surpassed even a Paladin at low levels. Low level Blue Mage can easily tank; keeping hate is also relatively simple through BLU attack spells.
Kazira - BLU75/NIN37 and /thief
I have dove deep into Blue mage for soem time learning it's abilities and how to apply them. As an elvaan have have high STR from the start and good Dex, but INT is low. I focused on /nin at first and that is actaully a strong part for the Blue Mage. Keep your dex high to improve your malee as well as have +ACC gear. This means you always hit and your spells will land. Blue Mage is 80% Malee, so use that. When using /thief, you can get increased damage from spells with Sata, however malee will suffer. Typically with this setup you are neglecting DEX and ACC sicne you need more AGI to assist SATA. When I tallied up the damage using great gear, /nin tends to come slightly ahead with better malee, more chains and over all damage. It depends on the enemies when you will want to use /THF. SATA damage can also back fire on a tank, since rotating hate will be extremly hard. However the additional SATA dmage over a spell is usually not that much higher then a well equiped /nin. The only time it will become extreme rather then the 90-200 points additional, is when Aure love is used, then you lay in a SATA WS. Be certain the tank is aware of it first, I have seen Blue mages removed from parties for shifting hate onto one person to much. It can end up deadly for a person in an NM or Sky fight. All in all both subs are good, nin typically the better long term sub. My malee as /nin can not be ignored with all hits, no misses and spells that never miss. With /thief your malee suffers alot,softer hits, you miss more often and 1/4-1/2 the malee damage total.
I see alot of blues having STR to high for their race, and dex to low. They tend have spells miss. It should land everytime even on IT+ mobs. For races other then Mithra, Dex should be slightly higher then the STR, this way every sword hit, hits, and every pysical spell lands. Elvaans can use gear to raise INT so every magical spell lands as well. Balance the job. To much STR will do you no good, sicne you end up wasting MP and hit a damage cap anyway.
Theriden BLU75/NIN37/THF37
In my opinion, the whole THF sub is overrated with the exceptions of fights where feeding TP the mob would be a great disadvantage to the party/alliance as a whole (Ultima, Kirin, etc.) A properly equiped blu mage subbing nin (acc and haste gear for TP build, STR and acc gear for nukes and WSs) can easily out damage any blu subbing thf in capped STR gear, both in damage over time, and nuke/MP ratio damage. We all hear about how Blu's land SACA vertical cleave on IT mobs for 1.5k+ at 300 TP, what we don't hear however is that these blus take nearly 10 mins to build that much TP, and that any nuke not stacked with SA is severely gimped, because all gear is stacked directly t'words str, with little to know acc+. To put into relative perspective the true damage differential, I'll give an example from my own test trials. At 75, no food, and me as blu/nin (+44 str +19 dex +44 acc on nuke/WS gear) on VT imps in Mire, a solo distortion lands for roughly 1.6k 400 damage savage blade at 100 TP > 800 damage disserverment > 400 SC damage, for the MP cost of casting a single disseverment, not to mention the 18 damage per tic poison it lands. Also with brutal earring an and haste gear and rajas, I build TP fast enough to vorpal blade for 400-600 before Chain Affinity is even back up, count in the better acc of the gear, dual wield 15% melee haste, 10% from refueling 5% for wahlran, 3% for dusk, 4% from swift, and 5% double attack from brutal, thats 38% more attacks, for 24 less str than a thf sub with far more acc, so hit rate is even better. That amount of damage over time is not by any means ignorable. As thf sub (+68 str 22 dex +19 acc), SACA vertical cleave lands for 1.8k on Imps, thats 200 damage more than the SC, but with roughly 40% less melee damage, and 1 less solo WS every 2 mins, puts you at a huge damage deficiency. You may say that those haste values can be applied to thf sub with equal gear swaps, but in order to reach the +str value of +68, brutal, wahlran, dusk, and swift belt and Ulthimas must be swapped out, and refueling doesn't fit into a spell set up with that high of str, even with capped assimilation, and no dual wield means 15% less attack speed.
Donthitme BLU75/THF37/NIN37(/DNC37/WAR37)
After reading this part of the guide, I just had to stop and go OMG! ..... Seriously, don't people really use equip swap macros at all? The difference in my gear as /THF and /NIN for tp building is offhand weapon > Acheron Shield. Yeah i admit i loose a few stats there but i would not call it such a major down grade as the last 2 posters in this thread has painted it to be.
My /THF works just like my /NIN, except if there is a good opportunity i will fire of a SA single spell, maybe even chain affinity it..... but not always. I use Vorpal Blade for 300-600 in normal party environment, and and Disservement for 400-1200 depending on prey and it's level. Ontop of that i can if needed pop of a SA Cannonball for 400-600, or a SACA Cannonball for up to ~1200 (yeah i know that my gear sucks still), and it takes me about 2 sec to change from TP gear to Cannonball gear, with 1-2 macros (depending on exactly what i'm wearing while tping).
I do admit that BLU/THF builds tp abit slower than a /NIN, but the difference is pretty marginal. There is no need to have 100% tp when using SACA Cannonball(or Death Scissors). Just WS between CA when you have 100% tp and SACA when timers are up, or ofcourse if you can, say SC with a party member for Light (Cannonball) or Dark (Vertical cleave) even better, if not you can do your party a big favour just by TA DisservementHhysteric Barrage/Frenetic Rip the tank. Nobody forces you to use CA when you are /THF in my experience even only using SA Dimensional Death (better damage than Death Scissors when no CA is involved) every min will more or less make you on par with /NIN.
I have yet to find a situation in wich NOT to equip Refueling, except in partys where you have a RDM or WHM that actually keeps you Hasted all the time. Ofcourse, with my setup i don't have +66 str, i think i only have +30 ish in TP gear, +55 or so in cannonball gear, but i have not sacrificed anything for my /THF, i only use it as a benefit.
Thatsaid, i would never, ever show up for a merit party as /THF. /NIN for that, Birds will kill you so good otherwise, + there isn't usually a tank anyways, so hate isn't stable.... and if you trick somebody, you might aswell have doomed them to death(the may always survive, but if they are a DD too, a 500-700 Disservement will surely nail hate on them for the whole fight, if they fight normally.
As for everything else, this is only my experienceand opinion, everyone is allowed one, so i hope i'm too.
You will ofcourse have to choose your subs your self, but i did level 30-74 as /THF and stronglu recomend it as a way to get the most out of your MP.
Sagexsalvo BLU 58/NIN 27
I can't argue that /RDM, /THF are both great subs for blue if you're looking for increased spell support, or increased damage.
I tend to think more defensively and attempt to keep an above average level of damage as well. /NIN can allow you at level 24 (thanks to utsutsemi) to take on mobs that should be out of your league with little to no damage. Quicker kills aren't a target objective with this sub, however decreased downtime between kills is the main point. With a simple set up, I prep before each battle by casting utsutsemi, refueling (which is a MUST have once you hit lvl 48) and then metallic body which is a spell I've constantly used since lvl 8. With these buffs, I add a few spells to keep my opponent from hitting me. Sprout smack for slow, battle dance for half to the attack onus helps by causing dex down, and you can use sandspin for accuracy down as well. Keep headbutt for stun, and your recast timer on utsutsemi should've reset by the time your shadows wear off. Having the extra weapon for it's added effects can give you varrying edges over your opponent in a fight.
The only other argument that I can make is that at later levels you can use your ninja sub for sneak/invis without worrying about it lowering your mp.
Blue Mage Set Combo Traits
Blue Mage traits are gained differently than other jobs. Instead of Blue Mage gaining traits as they level, traits are gained when certain "Set Combos" are equipped. This allows a wide variety of traits to be given to the Blue Mage, based on the current situation.
Blue Mage Equipment
There is very little Blue Magic specific equipment in the game. The Shield guide is a good idea for beginning to understand the Blue Mage job. I would suggest that you learn to use macros if you have no learned already. For Healing based magic attacks, macro in MND. For attack magic, macro in INT. For Physical Blue Magic, macro in Strength and Dexterity.
Azure Lore Information
Name: Azure Lore
Level: 1
Cast: Instant
Duration: 0:00:30
Recast: 2:00:00
Effect: Enhances the effects of blue magic spells.
Azure Lore Rumors
Many people also wonder exactly what else Azure Lore does. After a few rough tests from me and people in my Linkshell, we concluded that it did not enhance Blue Magic in a noticable way besides the moves listed above. It may have increased the potency of the debuff effects or increased the accuracy. One thing this two-hour does is eliminate the "family" of each spell. This means any spell you use would be at full effectiveness. Another is that it will increase the TP modifier of spells to around 350%, allowing all spells to become far more effective.
Burst Affinity Information
Name: Burst Affinity
Level: 25
Cast: Instant
Duration: 0:00:30
Recast: 0:02:00
Effect: Makes it possible for your next "Magical" Blue Magic spell to be used in a Magic Burst.
Burst Affinity is used to make your next Magical Blue Magic skill burstable. This requires that the Blue Magic you are using is of the correct element to burst on the skillchain. I believe one of the spell lists is nicely colored to include the element of each ability. If this list isn't correct, I will add my own list under this section.
Chain Affinity Information
Name: Chain Affinity
Level: 40
Cast: Instant
Duration: 0:00:30
Recast: 0:02:00
Effect: Makes it possible for your next "Physical" Blue Magic spell to be used in a Skillchain.
Blue Mage Artifact Armor
Artifact Set
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Blue Mage PartiesThis section has been created for anyone who wishes to reccomend a Blue Mage party setup and EXP location. Be sure to include the level range, area, and jobs in the party. Blue Mage and Skillchains
As of right now, little is know about Blue Mage and their skillchains. After speaking with Ravidial ingame, he insured me that his skillchain did change from Liquifaction to Fusion at level 50. He also stated that no addition Job Traits or noticable change to Chain Affinity was present.
Frequently Asked QuestionsQ: How do I learn Blue Magic? Q: People said I could learn Blue Magic from Too Weak mobs, is this true? Q: How do I Set Blue Magic? Q: What do the Yellow Boxes in my Set window mean?
Miscellaneous InformationTheory on Blue Mage's Role in Parties: This link provides a discussion on how Blue Mages have performed in parties as certain roles. |