Have you been looking to become an FFXIV White Mage? Then the following guide will provide you with an insight into what you need to know. If you want to become the most iconic healer in the entire game, then there are a few facts you will need to know beforehand.
This guide will cover the following:
- About the FFXIV White Mage
- How Does the Gauge Work?
- White Mage Spells
- Abilities
- Additional Tips for Playing White Mage
About the FFXIV White Mage
The White Mage is a job that has been around since the inception of FFXIV. Firstly, you would need to reach level 30 Conjurer before you can begin. To start this, you’d head to the Old Gridania to find the Conjurer’s Guild.
The White Mage sports cloth armor, with canes used to enhance their magic-based skills; these skills revolve around healing, with the objective being to keep your team among the living. This does work a little differently compared to healers in games of a similar nature. Rather than ensuring that your team is keeping their health up, you will need to pay closer attention to the resources you are using, making sure you aren’t being wasteful with them when your party’s health is full already.
You won’t be expected to deal as much damage while playing as a healer compared to typical DPS characters, but you can still hold your own against most tanks in the game. With that in mind, focusing on Critical Hit and Determination can come in very handy before investing in Spell Speed and Direct Hit.
How Does the Gauge Work?
We know that the White Mage is an effective healer, but how exactly does the job work? There is a job gauge that you will need to be keeping an eye on. For every 30 seconds that passes in combat, you will receive a Lily. You can hold a maximum of three at a time, which can then be spent on Afflatus Solace (a single target heal) or an AoE Afflatus Rapture heal instead. You will get the Blood Lily once these Lilies have been used up. You can then use this to cast a potent damage spell known as Afflatus Misery, which can hit several enemies, though you can only use it once every 90 seconds.
White Mage Spells
You will have single-target damage spells known as Stone/Glare and Aero/Dia for attacking. The former has a casting time of 2.5 seconds and is available in its most potent form at level 72. Meanwhile, the latter has three forms and an instant cast with potentially high potency and unlocks its strongest version at level 72.
We then have Holy, an AoE spell that can stun enemies for up to four seconds and has a potency of 140. This is your go-to spell attack when you encounter several enemies at once. Then, of course, we have Afflatus Misery, as we mentioned earlier, which has a high potency of 900 and an instant casting time.
Moving onto defense, which will be a heavy focus given that you are a healer, you will be looking at the likes of Cure I, II, and III. This single-target spell increases potency from 450 to 700, going from the first to the second stage. In the later stage of Cure III, your potency will be 550, and you can use it on all nearby party members.
We also have Regen, an instant cast you should use on your tank. Medica I and II will provide you with an AoE heal and cure spell that applies healing over time. Afflatus Status is another single-target heal, which costs 1 Lily to cast and has a potency of 700. However, the Afflatus Rapture is an AoE heal that also costs 1 Lily, with a potency of 300. Finally, we have Raise, which, as you can probably guess, is a resurrection spell that you will need to wait eight seconds for so it can cast.
Abilities
As for the abilities, there are several that the White Mage can use. Firstly, you can reduce your spell casting and recast times by 20% using Presence of Mind. Your most powerful healing ability will be Benediction, which will restore the whole HP of your target. Asylum meanwhile heals party members who enter the dome that it creates, and Assize dishes out AoE damage while offering AoE healing at the same time.
Other abilities include Thin Air, which frees your spells of costing MP for 12 seconds. Tetragrammaton provides a single target heal with a 700 potency level, and Divine Benison provides a shield for its targeted party member. We also have Plenary Indulgence, which provides an extra heal for 10 seconds when using an AoE healing spell. If you want to add your healing magic potency, you can use Temperance, which also reduces the damage your party members receive. Swiftcast is very handy since it makes the next spell you cast instant, as is Rescue which teleports your targeted ally to your side.
Additional Tips for Playing White Mage
- While you are in combat, you will probably be in a situation where your tank absorbs most of the damage. If that is the case, you can use Regen on that character, which is your primary focus. You will also be rotating between your damage spells and global defensive cooldowns. You don’t have that many instantly casting spells, which is something to keep in mind.
- Furthermore, you have to keep in mind that the healing abilities are relatively unmatched in the White Mage, as they can focus better on rotation between attack and defense. This isn’t a common occurrence, though, so you will have to focus on your healing if your tank starts getting overwhelmed or the rest of your party is struggling. You will be dealing damage at some point, but it isn’t your primary objective and shouldn’t be expected for your job.
- Keep the Regen on your tank and use Dia on your target for damage over time, and you are onto a winning combination. Bringing in Divine Benison for your tank can also be very effective too, and swapping between Cure II and III for additional single target heals to AoE can help you out in the heat of battle. Dia is helpful, but if you are going up against mobs of enemies, try switching to Holy instead to get that stun advantage.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking to play as the FFXIV White Mage, you will be gaining access to a great healer. It is incredibly potent as a healer, but it also has a trait where it can deal damage at a decent enough rate. This is why many consider it to be the best healer in the game, though it lacks movement abilities and has casting times that may make you rethink your tactics in battle. Nevertheless, the White Mage is a strong healer choice and can be the difference-maker between living and dying for you and your party members.
