FFXIV Dancer L60+ Rotation for leveling

So you’re a fresh Dancer and plopped into this world without a clue. Fear not! Our Dancer L60 & Leveling Rotation guide should help you get into the basic meat of things!

If you’re looking for a list of skills, check our Dancer General Guide, or preferably… your own skill list. Dancer enters the world with the following number of actions, all of which we will account for:

FIFTEEN Job actions
SIX Role actions

L60+ Dancer Leveling Rotation: Navigation
L60 Rotation Summary | L60 Skills explained | L60+ skills, and rotation effect.

Dancer L60 Rotation Summary

Here we discuss the single target rotation, AoE rotation, and cooldown usage of Dancer. If you need a skill by skill explanation and protips, it’s in the next section.

REMEMBER TO ALWAYS DESIGNATE A DANCE PARTNER!!!!

L60 Dancer Single Target Rotation

It would help to imagine Dancer’s L60 rotation as short combos that give you procs. Your skills have a “priority” system to put it SIMPLY.

Your basic rotation loop looks something like this:

Cascade > Fountain until you get any procs.
Reverse Cascade and Fountainfall used ASAP, hoping for a Fourfold Feather.
Have Feathers? Use Fan Dance in between GCD’s.
Standard Step is up? Use it. It’s a huge nuke +Damage up buff.

But when thinking of it in a priority system it looks like this:

Standard Step
OGCD Fan Dances
Reverse Cascade and Fountainfall procs
Cascade into Fountain basic combo spam.

L60 Dancer AoE Rotation

This is essentially a mirror of the single target rotation, just using different skills.

Your basic AoE rotation loop looks something like this:

Windmill > Bladeshower praying for procs.
Rising Windmill and BLOODshower used ASAP hoping for Fourfold Feather.
Have Feathers? Use Fan Dance II in between GCD’s.
Standard Step is up? Use it. It’s a huge nuke +Damage up buff.

AoE rotation priority thought process:

Standard Step
OGCD Fan Dance II
Rising Windmill & Blood Shower procs
Windmill into Bladeshower basic AoE combo spam.

It all seems a little weird at first but it’s quite intuitive after a little while.

Go to top

Dancer L60 skill by skill explanation and binding tips

Here, we bind your actions and help you understand them
IN THE ORDER THEY APPEAR.

Job ActionsRole Actions

If you need it, we have a skill table at Dancer General Guide.

Cascade – Your basic attack. For all intents and purposes is the “1” binding. You’ll be pressing this a lot. It combos into two possible branches so keep that into consideration. Part of your ‘dance step’ binds too.

Fountain – Your basic combo link from cascade. “2” binding. Part of your ‘dance step’ binds too.

Windmill – An AoE mirror of your basic attack. It’s the first skill in your AoE combo. This also has two possible branches. Part of your ‘dance step’ binds too. While I would usually recommend this to your defaul ‘AoE’ buttons, there are dance steps to consider (read the next skill).

Standard Step (short cooldown) – Heavy single target attack. Transforms your basic combos (Cascade, Fountain, Windmill, and Blade Shower) into “Dance Steps”. Meaning you should be very comfortable pressing any of these 4 skills in any order as your dances will use these skills as “steps” like a rhythm game. Also gives a damage up buff!

Reverse Cascade – a chance to combo from your basic combo Cascade, which has a chance to gain you a Fourfold Feather.

Blood Shower – the continuation of your AoE combo from Windmill. The final part of possible dance step binds.

Fan Dance – Use up a Fourfold Feather to deal single target damage. You can think of it as a “possible endpoint for your chance based combo”.

En Avant (short cooldown) – A dashing movement skill that does no damage. Bind it comfortably!

Curing Waltz (cooldown) – Double AoE cure centered around you and your dance partner. Very useful, and shouldn’t be hard to press.

Shield Samba (long cooldown) – Magic AoE dampening effect for your party. Very useful in raids, but it’s long cooldown suggest a further keybinding.

Closed Position (short cooldown) – designate a party member as your dance partner. You wont change this up very often mid-fight unless you’re a tryhard of the highest level (aligning dance partners to DPS cooldowns). Shouldn’t be too hard to click though, as you should redesignate a dance partner in the untimely death of your current one.

I’ll loosely discuss these Ranged DPS Role Actions in relation to Dancer.

Second Wind (Long cooldown): A heavy self-heal that can literally save your life in raids. I would bind it somewhere in the “6-7” tier. Not pressed too often, but should never be out of reach.

Peloton: A luxury skill that’s useful to walk faster out of combat in dungeons, towns, or the world map. Clicking this is fine.

Arm’s Length (Long cooldown): A very niche skill for Dancer, clicking this should be fine as you will very rarely find Raids wherein this is useful, and even then only a minimal amount of times in a fight.

Head Graze: Can be very useful in dungeons and some raids, tho very rarely still. It’s good to get used to this, and you may need to find space in your binding for it. But, almost every other class can interrupt too… It’s a tough call. Maybe click on it until your group needs it badly.

Leg Graze, Foot Graze: Are barely used outside of soloing. I wouldn’t put a specific Binding to these that you would be hassled for. Clicking would suffice.

Go to top

Dancer L60+ How new skills affect rotation

I’ll add to this very soon.

Go to top

WELL THATS IT FOR NOW. I’ll definitely be adding information. Good luck wrangling your Fresh L60+ Dancer Leveling Rotation!!!!

FFXIV Red Mage Leveling Guide

Level up your Red MAGE (RDM) ASAP! Setting up – Early Rotations – Gear Checks and more!

If you’ve found yourself here, you’re likely leveling up a Red Mage. You’ve found the right place. Hopefully, our Red Mage Leveling Guide helps you out – especially with setting up and the early L50+ rotation!

Red Mage Leveling Guide Navigation:
Page 1: Unlocking, L50 Skills & Rotation, L50 Gear, Class Quest List
Page 2: Leveling RDM 50 to 60 (Basic info for now)
Page 3: Leveling RDM 60 to 70 (Basic info for now)

For those who jumped right into this page, we will add a little blurb about unlocking Red Mage, if you haven’t already.

Unlocking Red Mage (RDM) Job

Quest Name: Taking the Red
Quest Location: Ul’dah – Steps of Thal (Merchant Strip) (X:14, Y:12)
NPC Name: Distraught Lass

You will be rewarded with the Soul of the Red Mage, your main hand weapon (Mythrite Rapier), and a free coffer of 115 left side gear (Red Attire Coffer)! Equip them as soon you have them!

Since Red Mage starts at level 50, there are a few things you have to “catch up to”… Namely, your Skills, Rotation, and to a lesser extent, Gear.

Fresh Level 50 Red Mage Rotation & Skills

RDM Rotation Summary

Red Mage is all about generating Black and White mana “equally”, then subsequently dumping it using our melee combo. We use Dualcast on every “long spell”, which is Verthunder or Veraero.

It’s also HEAVILY influenced by procs.

In the next tab we go into the nitty gritty, and talk about EVERY SKILL you’ve unlocked just now.

L50 RDM Single Target Rotation

L50 RDM Basic Single Target Rotation

Gaining Mana Phase

Jolt (L2) (DUALCAST ON).
Verthunder (L4) or Veraero (L10), use what boosts your LOWER mana (DUALCAST OFF).
===
Proc triggered? Verfire (L26) or Verstone (L30), Use that (DUALCAST ON).
No Proc? Jolt (DUALCAST ON).
===
Verthunder (L4) or Veraero (L10), Use what boosts your LOWER mana (DUALCAST OFF).
Repeat from here (Either Jolt, or Proc Triggered)

It may seem a little odd reading it – but try it out first, it makes a lot of sense after a few cycles. After the gaining mana phase, it’s melee time.

80+ Black and White Mana? Melee Phase

Corps-a-corps (L6) (optional – to dash close to them)
Riposte (L1) (Melee Combo A)
Zwerchau (L35) (Melee Combo B)
Redoublement (L50) (Melee Combo C)
Displacement (L40) (Optional – backflips out)
(Go back to gaining mana phase)

Also, use Fleche (L45) whenever able.

L50 RDM Basic AoE Rotation

For 2 Enemies: Use Single target rotation on one of them.

For 3 Enemies: Scatter (L18) spam is “ok”, but generates colored mana slowly. I would replace all Jolts with Scatter, and try to use as many Dualcasts on Veraero and Verthunder. Any procs gained should be saved for when 1/2 guys remain.

For 4+ Enemies: Scatter spamming seems best. While mana charges slowly, you’ll do far more damage.

At 52 (might as well give you an idea now), Moulinet is an AoE melee attack which uses your Black and White mana – so don’t worry, you have an AoE rotation for both ends.

L50 RDM Misc (Cooldowns, Utility)

L50 RDM Misc skills (Cooldowns, Utility)

Acceleration (L50): ENSURES that the next spell you cast will trigger its proc. Obvious uses, use as often as possible.

Fleche (L45): An off-GCD nuke to be used as often as possible.

Tether (L15): Binds enemies, largely useless.

L50 RDM Role Actions

TL;DR – for general usage:
Lucid Dreaming > Diversion > Swiftcast at 32

Caster role actions are pretty slim pickings…

For a more detailed write-up check out our Caster DPS Role Actions Guide.

Fresh level 50 Red Mage: Gear Check

The free gear you get from completing the Red Mage quest is item level 115. All things considered this ain’t so bad. HOWEVER, it is missing the right-side accessories, and belt.

Ignore this section if you plan to sully yourself in PotD forever.

I want better than 115 item level!

There are only 2 possible item level upgrades from 115, and 4 possible sources:

120 gear from World of Darkness (hassle if you don’t have it already)
120 Ironworks gear from “old tomestone” (not too bad to obtain!)
130 Dreadwyrm gear from Final Coil (hassle if you don’t have it already)
130 Augmented Ironworks gear (needs Carbontwine and Carboncoat…)

While I imagine many people have these lying around – I can only faithfully vouch for only ONE of these tiers – 120 Ironworks from older tomestone gear is easy to obtain, and can be fairly worth it as they’re shared between many classes.

And, if you happen to get Carboncoat and Carbontwine from WoD (queue up that Alliance Raid!), great!

If you read the clicky above, you can FILL UP THE BLANKS with the left table, or TRYHARD AND UPGRADE with the right table. I will not be listing Dreadwyrm or WoD gear in these tables, due to their difficulty to obtain for people who weren’t there at the time.

L50 RDM Basic GearL50 RDM Better Gear

L50 Red Mage Gear – Basic of the Basic (i115)
Weapon	Mythrite Rapier	FREE from coffer
Head	Red Hat	FREE from coffer
Chest	Red Bilaud	FREE from coffer
Hands	Red Gloves	FREE from coffer
Belt	HQ Rainbow of Casting	Crafting / Market
Legs	Red Gaskins	FREE from coffer
Boots	Red Boots	FREE from coffer
Earring	HQ Mythrite Earrings of Casting	Crafting / Market
Neck	HQ Rainbow Ribbon of Casting	Crafting / Market
Wrist	HQ Mythrite Bangle of Casting	Crafting / Market
Ring	HQ Agate Ring of Casting	Crafting / Market
Ring	HQ Agate Ring of Casting	Crafting / Market

L50 Red Mage Gear – Tomestone (i120+)
Weapon	Ironworks Magitek Degen	Tomestone
Head	Ironworks Hood of Casting	Tomestone
Chest	Ironworks Doublet of Casting	Tomestone
Hands	Ironworks Gloves of Casting	Tomestone
Belt	Ironworks Belt of Casting	Tomestone
Legs	Ironworks Breeches of Casting	Tomestone
Boots	Ironworks Boots of Casting	Tomestone
Earring	Ironworks Earrings of Casting	Tomestone
Neck	Ironworks Choker of Casting	Tomestone
Wrist	Ironworks Bracelet of Casting	Tomestone
Ring	Ironworks Ring of Casting	Tomestone
Ring	(Cannot use 2 of the same!)	–

Purchased from Auriana – Mor Dhona (X: 22.7, Y: 6.6)
For the other ring, use one from the other tab, Dreadwyrm, or Augmented Ironworks.

Red Mage Class Quests: Where!?

It happens to everyone, don’t worry. We will be listing the relevant chunks per tier on the respective page of this leveling guide as well, for easy reference.

Red Mage Job Quests 50 to 60

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	X	Y	ISSUER	REWARDS
50	Taking the Red	Ul’dah -Steps of Thal – Merchant Strip	14	12	Distraught Lass	Soul of the Red Mage; Mythrite Rapier, Red Attire Coffer
50	The Crimson Duelist	Central Thanalan	20	21	X’rhun Tia
52	A Rewarding Struggle	Eastern Thanalan	12	22	X’rhun Tia
54	Tracking the Cabal	Western Thanalan	12	13	X’rhun Tia
56	A Vermillion Vendetta	Western La Noscea	28	28	X’rhun Tia
58	On Lambard’s Trail	Western La Noscea	28	26	X’rhun Tia
60	Stained in Scarlet	Northern Thanalan	20	21	X’rhun Tia	Manafication

Red Mage Job Quests 60 to 70

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	X	Y	ISSUER	REWARDS
60	The Color of Her Hair	Mor Dhona	23	8	X’rhun Tia
63	Traced in Blood	Idyllshire	6	5	X’rhun Tia
65	Nightkin	Idyllshire	6	5	X’rhun Tia
68	Child of Lilith	Idyllshire	6	5	X’rhun Tia
70	With Heart and Steel	The Pillars	11	11	X’rhun Tia	Verholy, Duelist’s Attire Coffer

I’m sure you’re itching to level up – and I hope you took the above preparations to heart! Just continue onwards with the links just above!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook!

Pages: 123

FFXIV Astrologian Leveling Guide

Level up your Astrologian (AST) ASAP! Setting up – Early Rotations – Gear Checks and more!

Praise the stars! If you’re here, then you wanna level up an Astrologian! The heavens guided you true then – cause your Astrologian Leveling Guide will help you out! Especially with setting up from L30 so you won’t get overwhelmed!

Astrologian Leveling Guide Navigation:
Page 1: Unlocking, L30 Skills & Rotation, L30 Gear, Class Quest List
Page 2: Leveling AST 30 to 50 (Basic info for now)
Page 3: Leveling AST 50 to 60 (Basic info for now)
Page 4: Leveling AST 60 to 70 (Basic info for now)

For those who jumped right into this page, we will add a little blurb about unlocking Astrologian, if you haven’t already.

Unlocking Astrologian (AST) Job

Quest Name: Stairway to the Heavens
Quest Location: The Pillars (X:15, Y:10)
NPC Name: Jannequinard

You will be rewarded with the Soul of the Astrologian, your main hand weapon (Star Globe), and a free coffer of 30 left side gear (Velveteen Cowl and Velveteen Tights)! Equip them as soon you have them!

Since Astrologian starts at level 30 (unlocked when you get another character to level 50), there are a few things you have to “catch up to”… Namely, your Skills, Rotation, and to a lesser extent, Gear.

GET A DPS CHOCOBO IF YOU PLAN TO SOLO.

Fresh Level 30 Astrologian Rotation & Skills

Thankfully, there aren’t too many skills unlocked by L30 so you won’t be overwhelmed.

AST Playstyle Summary

The heart of the cards… You gotta have faith when playing AST as it’s one of the classes more heavily affected by RNG!

Card management is a whole ‘nother layer placed on top of the already many list of things healers have to worry about – a daunting yet rewarding prospect! Inversely, mismanage your cards and you will suffer.

Astrologians just “feel” different… their unique cooldowns… how you can (and force) “stars to align” to maximize their effects… It’s unexplainable at this early stage but if this sounds amazing to you – continue forth!

L30 AST Dungeon and Group Basics

L30 AST Healing Basics

ALWAYS CHECK YOUR STANCE IF IT’S ON: At level 30 you only have Diurnal Stance – which adds a Heal over Time to some spells, as well as increasing all your healing potency, while reducing enmity.

Benefic (L2) is your basic, low mana low potency heal. Benefic II (L26) costs a lot more but heals for more as well. Use accordingly.

Essential Dignity (L15) is used to “fix” desperate situations. It quickly heals up any low life party member!

Use Draw (L30) as often as possible, so it goes on cooldown faster. The more buffs you can provide your team the better your runs will be!

L30 Ultra BASIC card usage notes:
Bole (green) on tanks (increased defense)
Balance (red) on highest DPS.
Arrow (light blue) on “class that benefits from reduced GCD”, or best DPS.
Spear (dark blue) on “class that benefits from crit”, or best DPS .
Spire (yellow) regenerates TP – very narrow use.
Ewer (bright blue) regenerates mana, usually use on self.

Helios (L10) is your basic AoE heal.

Ascend (L2) to ressurect fallen allies.

DPSING IN DUNGEONS:
open with Combust (L4) on each enemy.
Malefic (L1) when you’re not healing.

L30 AST Soloing Basics

Combust (L4) on enemies who will last more than 12~ seconds.
Malefic (L1) Spam.

ASTROLOGIANS DPS IS SO LAUGHABLY BAD EARLY ON THAT YOU MUST MUST MUST GET A DPS CHOCOBO IF YOU PLAN TO SOLO

Use Draw OUTSIDE combat (it’s usually not worth the GCD). Balance > Spear > Arrow is what you’re looking for.

THERE IS NO AOE TO SPEAK OF. Simply “Combust all guys” is your best bet.

L30 AST Misc (Cooldowns, Utility)

L30 AST Misc skills (Cooldowns, Utility)

We may have touched on these lightly in the boxes above – but i’ll be listing all of these skills here again.

Lightspeed (L6) is a POWERFUL cooldown which increases healing potency, reduces MP used, and decreases cast time. Godly.

Ascend (L12) to resurrect allies during combat. Usually paired with the Role Action Swiftcast, or in utter desperation – Lightspeed.

Essential Dignity (L15) is an ULTRA off GCD heal that gets better the lower the targets HP is. This is one of the best heals in the game! More noticeable during raids – but this pulls its weight in ANY content.

Draw (L30) is your best friend, and I cannot fit all there is to know about it here. You will learn more and more about draw and its related skills as you journey as an Astrologian!

Undraw (L30) removes currently active card. Only used to throw away unwanted cards to speed up the cooldown of Draw.

L30 AST Role Actions

Long story short, for general purposes:
Protect > Swiftcast > Lucid Dreaming > Any

For a detailed write up: check out Healer Role Actions Guide.

Fresh level 30 Astrologian: Gear Check

The free gear you get from completing the Astrologian quest is, ultimately, lacking. You only get a chest and leg armor, while lacking Helm, Belt, Gloves, Boots – and the entire 5 right-side accessories. If you plan to maximize your options in leveling – you wanna shore this up ASAP.

Ignore this section if you’re one of those pure PotD types.

ODDLY SOME OF THE HEALER GEAR AT THIS LEVEL IS 31.
You may as well level up once before upgrading.

L30 AST Basic of the Basic gear
Slot	Item	Note
Weapon	Star Globe	Free from coffer
Head	Velveteen Cowl	Free from coffer
Body	Velveteen Cowl	Free from coffer
Hands	HQ Velveteen Dress Gloves	Market board / WVR
Belt	HQ Velveteen Sash	Market board / WVR
Legs	Velveteen Tights	Free from coffer
Boots	HQ Velveteen Dress Shoes	Market board / WVR
Earring	HQ Malachite Earring	Market board / GSM
Neck	HQ Malachite Choker	Market board / GSM
Wrist	HQ Malachite Bracelet	Market board / GSM
Ring	HQ Malachite Ring	Market board / GSM
Ring	HQ Malachite Ring	Market board / GSM

OPTIONAL MELDING: Savage Might > Savage Aim > Heaven’s Eye > Quicktongue. Personally, I only melded the accessories (and I used them all the way to L50!)

Astrologian Class Quests: Where!?

It happens to everyone, don’t worry. We will be listing the relevant chunks per tier on the respective page of this leveling guide as well, for easy reference.

Astrologian Job Quests 30 to 50

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
			X	Y
30	Fortune Favors the Bole	South Shroud	25	23	Leveva
35	Hanging in the Balance	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard
40	A Lesson in Patience	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard
40	Slings and Arrows	The Pillars	15	10	Leveva
45	Ewer Right	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard
50	Loved by the Sun	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard
50	Spearheading Initiatives	The Pillars	15	10	Leveva	Astrologian’s Attire Coffer

Astrologian Job Quests 50 to 60

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
			X	Y
50	Sharlayan Ascending	Coerthas Central Highlands	26	30	Jannequinard
52	Empty Nest	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard
54	Conviction	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard
56	Feather in the Cap	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard
58	Trumped	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard
60	The Hands of Fate	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard	Welkin Attire Coffer

Astrologian Job Quests 60 to 70

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
			X	Y
60	East Meets West	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard
63	Ride Like the Wind	The Pillars	15	10	Leveva
65	Come Rain or Shine	The Pillars	15	10	Jannequinard
68	Behind Door Number Two	Kugane	13	13	Kyokuho
70	Foxfire	Kugane	13	13	Kyokuho	Constellation Attire Coffer

Astrologian Leveling Guide Navigation:
Page 1: Unlocking, L30 Skills & Rotation, L30 Gear, Class Quest List
Page 2: Leveling AST 30 to 50 (Basic info for now)
Page 3: Leveling AST 50 to 60 (Basic info for now)
Page 4: Leveling AST 60 to 70 (Basic info for now)

I’m sure you’re itching to level up – and I hope you took the above preparations to heart! Just continue onwards with the links just above!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook!

Pages: 1234

FFXIV Machinist Leveling

Level up your Machinist (MCH)! Setting up – Early Rotations – Gear Checks and more!

If you’ve found yourself here, you’re likely leveling up a Machinist. You’ve found the right place. Hopefully, our Machinist Leveling Guide helps you out – especially with setting up and the early L30+ rotation!

Machinist Leveling Guide Navigation:
Page 1: Unlocking, L30 Skills & Rotation, L30 Gear, Class Quest List
Page 2: Leveling MCH 30 to 50 (Basic info for now)
Page 3: Leveling MCH 50 to 60 (Basic info for now)
Page 4: Leveling MCH 60 to 70 (Basic info for now)

For those who jumped right into this page, we will add a little blurb about unlocking Machinist, if you haven’t already.

Unlocking Machinist (MCH) Job

Quest Name: Savior of Skysteel
Quest Location: Foundation (X:8, Y:10)
NPC Name: Stephanivien

You will be rewarded with the Soul of the Machinist, your main hand weapon (Steel-barreled Carbine), and a free coffer of 30 left side gear (Toadskin Jacket and Toadskin Brais)! Equip them as soon you have them!

Continue doing any and all quests in the chain. You should get the Hotshot skill before proceeding.

Since Machinist starts at level 30 (provided you have a level 50 character), there are a few things you have to “catch up to”… Namely, your Skills, Rotation, and to a lesser extent, Gear.

Fresh Level 30 Machinist Rotation & Skills

Thankfully, there aren’t too many skills unlocked by L30 so you won’t be overwhelmed.

MCH Rotation Summary

The MCH “rotation” or if we can even call it that, is all about bullets, procs, RNG, and frustration.

Reload and Quick Reload add bullets into your gun that “surely” proc your next combo in the chain. If you’re doing it “raw”, your combo is reduced to a chance.

You must be very keen of procs, and maximizing the use of every bullet!

It’s useless to go into detail this early at L30. In the next tabs, we will mention ALL AVAILABLE SKILLS and the context wherein they’re used.

L30 MCH Single Target Rotation

Use Reload (L4) and Quick Reload (L26) as often as possible. Be mindful never to go above 5 bullets.

Is Hotshot (L30) buff up? If no, use Hotshot, if yes, proceed.

Split Shot (L1) Proc or bullet? Proceed. If not, spam Split Shot (L1)
Slug Shot (L2).

If you have Reassemble (L10), use it only on your strongest skill (in this case, Slug Shot with Ammo.

Heartbreak (L6) when the enemy is at low life.

L30 MCH Basic AoE Rotation

L30 MCH AoE Rotation

DO NOT USE YOUR AOE ON 2 TARGETS. A case can be made for using spread shot on 2 guys IF YOU HAVE AMMO – but I don’t think it’s ultimately worth it.

Spread Shot (L18) spam on 3+ targets. Obviously with 4 or more targets, Spread Shot becomes beastly – but be wary of the TP costs.

Remember to still keep Hotshot (L30) up.

L30 MCH Misc (Cooldowns, Utility)

L30 MCH Utility Skills

Reload (L4) and Quick Reload (L26), just a reminder, gives bullets which increase potency on most skills, and ensures proccing the combo chain.

Reassemble (L10) ensures your next weapon skill is a critical strike – always save it for your strongest shot.

Blank (L15) is a decent pushback, you can interrupt skills with it. Careful using it in dungeons – you don’t wanna loosen up piled enemies.

Rapid Fire (L30) speeds up your GCD considerably for 3 skills. Useful in the near future with Wildfire (L30). For now, it’s a generic DPS cooldown.

L30 MCH Role Actions

Long story short a basic solo setup is:
Invigorate > Second Wind > Peloton > Any

For a detailed guide check out our Ranged DPS Role Actions guide.

Fresh level 30 Machinist: Gear Check

The free gear you get from completing the Machinist quest is, ultimately, lacking. You only get a chest and leg armor, while lacking Helm, Belt, Gloves, Boots – and the entire 5 right-side accessories. If you plan to maximize your options in leveling – you wanna shore this up ASAP.

Ignore this section if you’re one of those pure PotD types.

FOR THE ACCESSORIES: Fluorite Tier, OPTIONALLY melded with Heaven’s Eye > Savage Aim > Savage Might. You can meld your other gear, too, if you like.

L30 MCH Basic of the Basic gear
Slot	Item	Note
Weapon	Steel-barreled Carbine	Free from coffer
Head	HQ Steel Sallet	Market board / ARM
Body	Toadskin Jacket	Free from coffer
Hands	HQ Toadskin Armguards	Market board / LTW
Belt	HQ Toadskin Belt	Market board / LTW
Legs	Toadskin Brais	Free from coffer
Boots	HQ Toadskin Leg Guards	Market board / LTW
Earring	HQ Fluorite Earring	Market board / GSM
Neck	HQ Fluorite Choker	Market board / GSM
Wrist	HQ Fluorite Bracelet	Market board / GSM
Ring	HQ Fluorite Ring	Market board / GSM
Ring	HQ Fluorite Ring	Market board / GSM

Machinist Class Quests: Where!?

It happens to everyone, don’t worry. We will be listing the relevant chunks per tier on the respective page of this leveling guide as well, for easy reference.

Machinist Job Quests 30 to 50

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
			X	Y
30	Master of Marksmanship	Outer La Noscea	20	18	Rostnsthal
35	Always the Last Place You Look	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
40	Rook Before You Reap	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
40	Securing the Locks	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
45	A Suppressive Strategy	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
45	Blood on the Sands	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
50	Rage against the Machinists	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
50	The Power of a Tourney	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien	Junior Machinist’s Armor Coffer

Machinist Job Quests 50 to 60

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
			X	Y
50	A Joye-less Celebration	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
52	Pushing the Brume	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
54	A Joye-ful Reunion	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
56	Wheels of Justice	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
58	Taking the Fall	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
58	Rusted Steel	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
60	Rise of the Machinists	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien	Machinist’s Armor Coffer

Machinist Job Quests 60 to 70

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
			X	Y
60	The Machinist’s Choice	Foundation	8	10	Stephanivien
63	The Hrunting Heist	Foundation	12	12	Hilda
65	Release the Hounds	Foundation	12	12	Hilda
68	Snouts Down, Tails Up	Foundation	12	12	Hilda
70	The Mongrel and the Knight	Foundation	12	12	Hilda	Gunner’s Armor Coffer

I’m sure you’re itching to level up – and I hope you took the above preparations to heart! Just continue onwards with the links just above!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook!

Pages: 1234

FFXIV Dark Knight Leveling Guide

Level up your Dark Knight (DRK) ASAP! Setting up – Early Rotations – Gear Checks and more!

If you’ve found yourself here, you’re likely leveling up a Dark Knight. You’ve found the right place. Hopefully, our Dark Knight Leveling Guide helps you out – especially with setting up and the early L30+ rotation!

Dark Knight Leveling Guide Navigation:
Page 1: Unlocking, L30 Skills & Rotation, L30 Gear, Class Quest List
Page 2: Leveling DRK 30 to 50 (Basic info for now)
Page 3: Leveling DRK 50 to 60 (Basic info for now)
Page 4: Leveling DRK 60 to 70 (Basic info for now)

For those who jumped right into this page, we will add a little blurb about unlocking Dark Knight, if you haven’t already.

Unlocking Dark Knight (DRK) Job

Quest Name: Our End
Quest Location: The Pillars (X:13, Y:9)
NPC Name: Ishgardian Citizen

You will be rewarded with the Soul of the Dark Knight, your main hand weapon (Steel Claymore), and a free coffer of 30 left side gear (Steel Cuirass and Padded Velveteen Trousers). Equip them as soon you have them!

Since Dark Knight starts at level 30 (although unlocked if you have a level 50 character), there are a few things you have to “catch up to”… Namely, your Skills, Rotation, and to a lesser extent, Gear.

Fresh Level 30 Dark Knight Rotation & Skills

Thankfully, there aren’t too many skills unlocked by L30 so you won’t be overwhelmed.

DRK Rotation Summary

The DRK rotation is all about mana management. While it doesn’t fully show yet at this low level, traces of it are seen.

Grit is your tank stance, which reduces damage and increases enmity.
Darkside is a substance that STOP MANA REGEN but increases damage.
Blood Weapon converts damage to MP, but cannot be used with Grit.

It’s useless to go into detail this early at L30, but at least the above gives you an idea of the “shuffling” and “tradeoffs” of the various DRK “stances”.
In the next tabs, we will mention ALL AVAILABLE SKILLS and the context wherein they’re used.

L30 DRK Tanking Basics

This should be your basic flowchart when inside dungeons.

Do I need Grit (L30) ? (Probably yes)
Is Darkside (L30) on? (It probably should be)
Unmend (L15) Ranged pulling skill (Optional)
Unleash (L6) x2: AoE Bonus Enmity
– (More experienced tanks can ditch one or both of these Unleashes)

Single Target rotation on one enemy

Hard Slash (L1)
Spinning Slash (L4): Bonus Enmity.
Power Slash (L26): Bonus Enmity.
You can do this once per enemy in the pack.

After the enemy group is “near death” and the risk to you is lower, start asking yourself these questions:

I should have full or near full mana by the next enemy group…
Can I SAFELY off Grit (L30)?
Should I use Hard Slash (L1) > Syphon Strike (L10) to regain mana?
Can/should I save Blood Weapon (L18) for the next pile?

After the enemies die, make sure to OFF Darkside to regain any lacking mana before the next pull.

L30 DRK Single Target Rotation

L30 DRK Basic Single Target Rotation

It feels a bit strange discussing a single target rotation in the context of a tank (I guess for soloing and “last enemies in a pack”). It seems redundant after the above tab but here it is.

Can I SAFELY off Grit (L30)?
Is Darkside (L30) on? Can I Darkside?
Is Blood Weapon (L18) available? Can I maximize the mana gained?

Hard Slash (L1)
Spinning Slash (L4): Bonus Enmity.
Power Slash (L26): Bonus Enmity.

I desperately need mana!

Is Blood Weapon (L18) available?
Hard Slash (L1)
Syphon Strike (L10) Regains mana on hit!

L30 DRK Basic AoE Rotation

It’s pretty bad. You cannot contribute any meaningful AoE damage this early on.

4 Enemies or less: Use single target rotation on one of them.

5 or more: Unleash (L6) spam.

Sadly, even FOUR targets isn’t enough for Unleash to outrun your single target rotation.

L30 DRK Misc (Cooldowns, Utility)

L30 DRK Misc skills (Cooldowns, Utility)

Grit (L30): Tank stance which increases toughness and enmity produced.

Darkside (L30): Increases damage but SHUTS OFF mana regen.

Blood Weapon (L18): CANNOT BE USED WITH GRIT. Increases damage, converts damage to MP, reduces TP cost of skills and increases “skill speed”. Quite a huge buff, which you should maximize each time it’s up.

Unmend (L15): Ranged pulling skill.

Unleash (L6): AoE enmity generating skill with weak damage.

L30 DRK Role Actions

Long story short, for general use:
Provoke > Low Blow > Rampart > Any

For more detailed info, check our Tank Role Actions Guide.

Fresh level 30 Dark Knight: Gear Check

The free gear you get from completing the Dark Knight quest is, ultimately, lacking. You only get a chest and leg armor, while lacking Helm, Belt, Gloves, Boots - and the entire 5 right-side accessories. If you plan to maximize your options in leveling - you wanna shore this up ASAP.

Ignore this section if you’re one of those pure PotD types.

FOR THE ACCESSORIES either:

Sunstone Tier + MELDING VITALITY I, OR
Sphene Tier + MELDING STRENGTH I.

Personally, I prefer Sunstone, with or without VIT I melded.

L30 DRK Basic of the Basic gear
Slot	Item	Note
Weapon	Steel Claymore	Free from coffer
Head	HQ Steel Celata	Marketboard / ARM
Body	Steel Cuirass	Free from coffer
Hands	HQ Steel Gauntlet	Marketboard / ARM
Belt	HQ Steel Plate Belt	Marketboard / ARM
Legs	Padded Velveteen Trousers	Free from coffer
Boots	HQ Steel Sabatons	Marketboard / ARM
Earring	HQ Sunstone Earrings	Marketboard / GSM
Neck	HQ Sunstone Choker	Marketboard / GSM
Wrist	HQ Sunstone Bracelet	Marketboard / GSM
Ring	HQ Sunstone Ring	Marketboard / GSM
Ring	HQ Sunstone Ring	Marketboard / GSM

Dark Knight Class Quests: Where!?

It happens to everyone, don't worry. We will be listing the relevant chunks per tier on the respective page of this leveling guide as well, for easy reference.

Dark Knight Job Quests 30 to 50

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
			X	Y
30	Ishgardian Justice	Foundation	11	12	Fray
35	The Voice in the Abyss	Foundation	11	12	Fray
40	Heroic Reprise	Foundation	11	12	Fray
45	Declaration of Blood	Foundation	11	12	Fray
50	Our Answer	Foundation	11	12	Fray	Dark Knight’s Armor Coffer

Dark Knight Job Quests 50 to 60

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
			X	Y
50	The Wages of Mercy	Coerthas C.H.	13	16	Unflinching Temple Knight
52	The Knight and the Maiden Fair	Foundation	13	12	Sidurgu
54	Kindred Spirits	Foundation	13	12	Sidurgu
56	Original Sins	Foundation	13	12	Sidurgu
58	The Flame in the Abyss	Foundation	13	12	Sidurgu
60	Absolution	Foundation	13	12	Sidurgu	Chaos Armor Coffer

Dark Knight Job Quests 60 to 70

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
			X	Y
60	In Memories We Walked	Foundation	13	12	Sidurgu
63	The Widow and Her Love	Coerthas Western Highlands	32	36	Sidurgu
65	The Orphans and the Broken Blade	Dravanian Forelands	32	23	Sidurgu
68	We Can Never Go Home	The Churnign Mists	28	35	Myste
70	Our Compromise	Foundation	13	12	Sidurgu	Abyss Armor Coffer

I'm sure you're itching to level up - and I hope you took the above preparations to heart! Just continue onwards with the links just above!

Don't forget to like us on Facebook!

Pages: 1234

FFXIV Samurai Leveling Guide

Level up your Samurai ASAP! Setting up – Early Rotations – Gear Checks and more!

If you’ve found yourself here, you’re likely leveling up a Samurai. Welp! You’ve found the right place. Hopefully, our Samurai Leveling Guide helps you out – especially with setting up and the early L50+ rotation!

Samurai Leveling Guide – Navigation:
Page 1: Unlocking | L50 Skills & Rotation | L50 Gear | Class Quest List
Page 2: SAM Leveling 50 to 60 (Basic info for now)
Page 3: SAM Leveling 60 to 70 (Basic info for now)

For those who jumped right into this page, we will add a little blurb about unlocking Samurai, if you haven’t already.

Unlocking Samurai (SAM) Job

Quest Name: The Way of the Samurai
Quest Location: Ul’dah – Steps of Nald (X:9, Y:9)
NPC Name: Ul’dahn Citizen

You will be rewarded with the Soul of the Samurai, your main hand weapon (Mythrite Uchigatana), and a free coffer of 115 left side gear (Nameless Armor Coffer)! Equip them as soon you have them!

Since Samurai starts at level 50, there are a few things you have to “catch up on”. Namely, your Skills, Rotation, and to a lesser extent, Gear.

Fresh Level 50 Samurai Rotation & Skills

SAM Rotation Summary

Lemme tell you the absolute basics of the Samurai rotation. It revolves around generating any number of those three fancy orbs (called Sen – Samurai’s Primary Resource) “Getsu, Ka, and Setsu” then expending these using Iaijutsu. Depending on how many of these you have, Iaijutsu’s actual skill changes.

At 52 onwards (I might as well mention it now), you will gain a secondary resource called Kenki to expend on various utility skills. You can Kenki naturally as you do various weapon skills.

In the next tab we go into the nitty gritty, and talk about EVERY SKILL you’ve unlocked just now.

L50 Samurai Single Target Rotation

Samurais have “3 basic combo trees” since you need to gain three different types of Sen. This is a basic single target rotation.

L50 SAM Basic Single Target Rotation

Hakaze (L1)
Jinpu (L4) (Grants 10% Damage up buff)
Gekko (L30) (Gain Getsu!)

Hakaze (L1)
Shifu (L18) (Grants 10% “Offensive Speed” buff)
Kasha (L40) (Gain Ka!)

Hakaze (L1)
Yukikaze (L50) (Gain Setsu!)

Iaijutsu (L30) (3 Sen: Midare Satsugekka)

“Repeat”

Note: For long fights such as bosses (or anything more than a minute) using Iaijutsu on 1 Sen is Higanbana – a ONE MINUTE DoT!

Note: Try to keep up both the “Speed” buff from Shifu and the damage buff from Jinpu at all times. Remember that while the Samurai doesn’t care WHICH Sen you choose for Iaijutsu, choosing the wrong “path” might lead to dropping one of these powerful buffs.

Note: Personally, I start with the chain which leads up to the “speed bonus” buff – as it’s more “valuable” than 10% damage UNLESS you plan to open with 1 Sen Higanbana – then the 10% Damage buff is better.

L50 SAM Basic AoE Rotation

This is typically used on “3 or more guys”.

Fuga (L26) : This is a cone skill.
Mangetsu (L35) (Gain Getsu!) : Circular AoE centered on yourself.

Fuga (L26) : This is a cone skill.
Oka (L35) (Gain Setsu!) : Circular AoE centered on yourself.

Iaijutsu (L30) (2 Sen: Tenka Goken) : Large cone nuke.

Note: Against 2 guys, the “SPEED” wherein you gain sen is the upside here. You will be using Tenka Goken every 5th GCD. Using the AoE rotation against 2 enemies has a very very strong case, unlike most other classes whose clear breakpoint is usually at 3.

Note: The problem with this rotation is heavy TP use, and you will never actually trigger your buffs. This is the primary reason why the AoE rotation “sucks” against 2 enemies.

L50 SAM Misc (Cooldowns, Utility)

L50 SAM Misc skill rundown

Meikyo Shisui (L50): God… discussions on this can get complicated at max level but for now basically it allows you to “cheat” combos. If it isn’t obvious by now, the best use of this is to do combo finishers which grant you Sen! (Gekko – Kasha – Yukikaze > Midare!)

Third Eye (L6): Reduced your damage taken on the next hit by a tiny amount. This is connected to other skills later on, but try and practice it early and often.

Ageha (L10): Only usable on low life enemies. Grants a Kenki (more on this at L52…) bonus if its a “last hit”.

Enpi (L15): Is a ranged skill typical of most melee classes. Junk (for now…).

Iaijutsu (L30): Again, I might as well mention it here.
1 Sen: Higanbana – Long DoT, only used for long fights.
2 Sen: Tenko Goken – Large cone AoE.
3 Sen: Midare Satsugekka – Massive single target damage.

L50 SAM Role Actions

To summarize, for general purposes use:
Invigorate > Second Wind > Leg Sweep > Any

For more information about this, check our Melee DPS Role Actions Guide.

Fresh level 50 Samurai: Gear Check

The free gear you get from completing the Samurai quest is item level 115. All things considered this ain’t so bad. HOWEVER, it is missing the right-side accessories, and belt.

Ignore this section if you plan to sully yourself in PotD forever.

I want better than 115 item level!

There are only 2 possible item level upgrades from 115, and 4 possible sources:

120 gear from World of Darkness (hassle if you don’t have it already)
120 Ironworks gear from “old tomestone” (not too bad to obtain!)
130 Dreadwyrm gear from Final Coil (hassle if you don’t have it already)
130 Augmented Ironworks gear (needs Carbontwine and Carboncoat…)

While I imagine many people have these lying around – I can only faithfully vouch for only ONE of these tiers – 120 Ironworks from older tomestone gear is easy to obtain, and can be fairly worth it as they’re shared between many classes.

And, if you happen to get Carboncoat and Carbontwine from WoD (queue up that Alliance Raid!), great!

L50 SAM Basic GearL50 SAM Better Gear

L50 Samurai Gear – Basic of the Basic (i115)
Weapon	Mythrite Uchigatana	FREE from coffer
Head	Nameless Hachigane	FREE from coffer
Chest	Nameless Togi	FREE from coffer
Hands	Nameless Tekko	FREE from coffer
Belt	HQ Archaeoskin Belt of Striking	Crafting / Market
Legs	Nameless Hakama	FREE from coffer
Boots	Nameless Kyahan	FREE from coffer
Earring	HQ Mythrite Earrings of Slaying	Crafting / Market
Neck	HQ Rainbow Ribbon of Slaying	Crafting / Market
Wrist	HQ Mythrite Bangle of Slaying	Crafting / Market
Ring	HQ Agate Ring of Slaying	Crafting / Market
Ring	HQ Agate Ring of Slaying	Crafting / Market

L50 Samurai Gear – Tomestone (i120+)
Weapon	Ironworks Magitek Samurai Blade	Tomestone
Head	Ironworks Visor of Striking	Tomestone
Chest	Ironworks Cuirass of Striking	Tomestone
Hands	Ironworks Armguards of Striking	Tomestone
Belt	Ironworks Belt of Striking	Tomestone
Legs	Ironworks Hose of Striking	Tomestone
Boots	Ironworks Sollerets of Striking	Tomestone
Earring	Ironworks Earrings of Slaying	Tomestone
Neck	Ironworks Choker of Slaying	Tomestone
Wrist	Ironworks Bracelet of Slaying	Tomestone
Ring	Ironworks Ring of Slaying	Tomestone
Ring	(Cannot use 2 of the same!)	–

Purchased from Auriana – Mor Dhona (X: 22.7, Y: 6.6)
For the other ring, use one from the other tab, Dreadwyrm, or Augmented Ironworks.

Samurai Class Quests: Where!?

It happens to everyone, dont worry. If you’re lost we have reminders on the relevant pages AS YOU LEVEL UP, but we may as well put the entire list here… for reasons.

Samurai Job Quests 50 to 60

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	X	Y	ISSUER	REWARDS
50	Master Musosai	Ul’dah – Steps of Thal	9	12	Musosai
52	The Sands of Debt	Ul’dah – Steps of Nald	12	10	Musosai
54	Blood on the Deck	Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks	11	11	Musosai
56	A Fraudster in the Forest	New Gridania	12	13	Musosai
58	Tears in the Snow	Foundation	14	13	Musosai
60	The Face of True Evil	Foundation	14	12	Momozigo	Meditate

Samurai Job Quests 60 to 70

LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	COORDS		ISSUER	REWARDS
LVL	QUEST	LOCATION	X	Y	ISSUER	REWARDS
60	A Dignified Visitor	Ul’dah – Steps of Nald	12	10	Momozigo
63	Trials of the Sekiseigumi	Ul’dah – Steps of Nald	12	10	Momozigo
65	Matsuba Mayhem	Kugane	14	8	Makoto
68	The Hunt for Ugetsu	Kugane	14	8	Makoto
70	The Battle on Bekko	Kugane	14	8	Makoto	Hisatsu: Guren; Myochin Armor Coffer

Well, hopefully this page helped you out in setting up your Samurai so your leveling process will come along much more smoothly. Proceed to the next pages with the links above!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook!

Pages: 123

FFXIV 3.3 Astrologian (AST) Best in Slot (BiS) Gear

3.3 UPDATED! AST Best in slot guide! “Always play the hand ‘yer DEALT!”. AST Lore buy order, Melding, Pages & Normals, more!

So the cosmos have guided you home – back home to the grind for gear! If you’re looking AST BiS for 3.3 you’ve found well! Here, you can find three options for the AST BiS…

Note: It goes without saying that -Diurnal will be almost identical to WHM BiS, Nocturnal will be almost identical to SCH BiS. So if you follow that “Classic mindset” you can check those out. However, in this page I will be talking about the DET focused set.

3.3 Notes: Aside from filler gear, the only thing that affects BiS is Relic – Sphere of the Last Heir. While melding may depend on your main stance, PIE is always a good idea, followed by DET if you adhere to this pages’ ideology.

Navigation: Astrologian BiS
AST BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order (&Pages) | Crafted TBA

3.3 Astrologian Best-in-Slot

AST	Item	Meld 1	Meld 2	Pie	Det	Crit	SS	N
Weapon	Prototype Midal Metal Astrometer	PIE V	PIE V	112	118
Offhand	-			-	-	-	-
Helm	Midan Horn of Healing	PIE V	PIE V	72	66		-
Body	Augmented Hailstorm Coat of Healing	DET V	DET V	117	99	-	-
Hand	Augmented Hailstorm Gloves of Healing	DET V	DET V	51	24	69	-	ANY
Belt	Midan Belt of Healing	DET V	-	54	46	-	-
Legs	Midan Trousers of Healing	PIE V	PIE V	104	-	112	-
Boots	Midan Boots of Healing	DET V	CRIT V	72	58	12	-
Neck	Augmented Primal Choker of Healing	PIE V	-	49	49	-	-
Earring	Augmented Primal Earrings of Healing	DET V	-	54	46	-	-
Wrist	Augmented Primal Bracelet of Healing	DET V	-	54	12	-	36	ANY
Ring	Midan Ring of Healing	DET V	-	54	46	-	-
Ring	Augmented Primal Ring of Healing	DET V	-	-	12	36	51
Food	Frozen Spirits	-	-	26	11	-	-
Stats	Totals from items ->			819	587	229	87
	Totals w base, melds, gear ->			1080	805	583	441

AST BiS Discussion

Again if you follow the classic Diurnal=WHM, Nocturnal=SCH you can check their respective BiS pages with the only chain being the weapon.

Diurnal: Augmented Hailstorm Astrometer
Nocturnal: Prototype Midan Metal Astrometer

Click on the tabs below – “Determination?” and “Gear Discussion”

Why DeterminationGear Options & Discussion

This page isn’t just about being cute and different. The set offers power and consistency beyond the usual AST setups.

I don’t like crit stacked Nocturnal AST. Let’s get that out of the way. Hoping for a crit shield is never ever a habit you should form, or better yet, never a situation you find yourself in often (It’s likely a tank or healer error if that’s the case). I’m not too sold on SS stacked Diurnal, either. The base stance bonus is much larger than you’d think.

Piety is still the most important stat for either sect, though, and this set reflects that. Without Assize or Energy Drain, AST’s only have ONE MAIN REPLENISHER OF MANA – Lumineferous Aether (+Celestial Opposition Extension, which should always be used). More Piety means less reliance on Ewer, and in effect more cards meant for raid efficiency – given how Royal Road on Ewer is the amazing AoE effect.

Why Determination? DET DIRECTLY COUNTERS AST’s downside which is “slightly weaker heals”. Yes, I understand crit does this too – but not as consistently as DET does. The problem with AST is the RNG reliant gameplay, and I DO NOT want to compound that with crit! So this set takes care of both the “weak” and “random” weakpoints of AST.

But still, after all that following either WHM BiS or SCH BiS is A-OK and I’m sure its A8S clearable. The power level of both setups definitely have their ups and downs.

There’s some discussion here, but the core remains… after all, the set is full of linear power – boasting 800+ DET and 1000+ Piety. Damn.

Melding Strategy can be changed if you’re the “DPS-er” in your healing duo. A lot of healers may tell you that CRIT is the most important stat for DPSing – this is false. Accuracy and Piety are the most stable DPS stats Since our set is packed in Piety – you can Meld accuracy to your hearts content!

Flex slots? There’s only a small bit of wiggle room in gear choices:

Augmented Hailstorm Bottoms of Healing: Is a legit swap for more DET, but sadly comes with SS which has indeterminate usefulness… depends on which stance you main and your co-healer class/dynamic. You do lose a hefty chunk of Piety, though.

Bracelet -another mindless swap. SS or Crit. Retains Piety. No loss in DET.
Gloves – Same story, the list above use one of each variant.

AST Lore Tomestone Buy Order

The tome spending strat below is to obtain BiS fastest:

Weapon: good “filler” until you down A8S. Meld PIE I guess.
- Be mindful you need to time it with Hypercharged Tomestone
Body: Obvious second buy as any comparable Ilvl is from A8S
Hand: is “Equal to Midan”, but I guess just pick this up to save pages.
Ring > Earrings > Neck > Bracelet (is Equal to Midan)

ANYTHING ELSE IS OPTIONAL: Legs > Helm > Boots completing left (if you’re investing in fillers, left comes first).

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

Click on the expandables below to see how you should spend pages, and which Midas Normal parts to get first –

Midan Savage Pages

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES

The below spending strategy is purely to obtain BiS fastest:

A5S: Ring > Bracelet (equal to BiS) > Any
A6S: Belt > Boots > Helm > Illuminati Dark Gobcoat x 4 > Any
A7S: Pants > Illuminati Taut Gobtwine x 2 > Any
A8S: Weapon > Any (Gobdip is okay and just wait for Weapon drop)

Midan Normal Parts

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

“what should AST’s pick up in Midas normal”! Is something I get asked often so here it is. This is a general thing, and people might have varying levels of gear or goals but as a catch-all good enough recommendation:

	M1N	M2N	M3N	M4N
Week 1	chain	lens	spring	spring
Week 2	bolt	lens	spring	spring
Week 3	pedal	pedal	crank	crank
Week 4	bolt	bolt	any	any (shaft)

Why avoid chest? Yes it has massive DET, but alas, this early on in the tier (and it’s gonna be replaced by Lore Chest very very quickly) PIE would be the smarter choice. Bolts -> Midan Ring > Midan Bracelet > Any

W5 and up – ANY.

Click the above!!!

AST Crafted Gear Viability

So we can quickly update all BiS pages, I wont discuss every detail just yet. But of course, the above will fulfill 90% of your needs. I usually update this later on…

Navigation: Astrologian BiS
AST BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order (&Pages) | Crafted TBA

Let the stars guide your looting and robot dismantling – and GL gearing up your AST for BiS in 3.3!

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

Pages: 12

FFXIV 3.3 White Mage (WHM) Best in Slot (BiS) Gear

3.3 UPDATED! WHM Best in slot guide! “Screw Ballad”. WHM Lore buy order, Melding, Pages & Normals, more!

So you haven’t been disheartened by Manipulator & Co! You’re back for more Robots in 3.3! If you’re trying to find the WHM BiS for 3.3 you’ve come to the right place! (Or a valid data point at the very least!)

3.3 Notes: The only relevant changes to BiS are the possibility to use the relic – Cane of the White Tsar. Stats? Well, you can’t go wrong with PIE. SS and ACC are also good, too.

Navigation: White Mage BiS
WHM BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order (&Pages) | Crafted TBA

3.3 White Mage Best-in-Slot

WHM	Item	Meld 1	Meld 2	Pie	SS	Det	Crit
Weapon	Prototype Midan Metal Cane	PIE V	PIE V	112	0	0	123
Offhand	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Helm	Midan Horn of Healing	PIE V	PIE V	72	0	66	0
Body	Augmented Hailstorm Coat of Healing	SS V	SS V	117	24	75	0
Hand	Midan Gloves of Healing	SS V	DET V	72	60	12	0
Belt	Midan Belt of Healing	SS V	-	54	12	34	0
Legs	Midan Trousers of Healing	PIE V	PIE V	104	0	0	112
Boots	Augmented Hailstorm Boots of Healing	PIE V	PIE V	72	69	0	0
Neck	Midan Neckband of Healing	SS V	-	54	48	0	0
Earring	Augmented Primal Earrings of Healing	SS V	-	54	12	34	0
Wrist	Augmented Primal Bracelet of Healing	SS V	-	54	48	0	0
Ring	Midan Ring of Healing	SS V	-	54	12	34	0
Ring	Augmented Primal Ring of Healing	PIE V	-	11	51	0	36
Food	Hot Chocolate	-	-	30	16	0	0
Stats	Totals from items ->	-	-	860	352	255	271
	Totals with base ->	-	-	1121	706	473	625

WHM BiS Discussion

Weapon? Honestly I don’t know if the 5 ilvls of Midan beats out Augmented or Relic. Personally, I’d be more than happy with the latter. I really don’t like crit, as you may know.

Why so much Piety? Piety is the most STABLE WHM STAT. Legit, it is the ONLY STAT that directly helps you in progression. Again, as most healers already know if you’re maxed out on iLvl, secondary stats don’t really matter. However, for pure power and the steps of reaching this point – Piety is the sole stat that will universally help you to reach “godhood”. The only reason you’d drop PIE is for niche reasons like absolute speed-running.

But I wanna deeps! Of all the healers, WHM has the poorest DPS efficiency with stifling mana costs and no sure-hit skills. As such PIE is still needed to an extent. What’s the best DPS stat? Crit fanboys will tell you crit, but that’s untrue. It’s ACCURACY!

There’s not much to discuss about this tiers WHM BiS. All slots have Piety except the ring, and there’s no suitable substitute.

Boots? Don’t really matter. You can use either boots and still be happy. It’s a direct tradeoff of SS or DET.

Lessen Piety? The easiest substitutes would be switching the pants and chest (Using: Midan Chest of Healing and Augmented Hailstorm Legs). You can also replace any and all PIE melds to SS, DET or ACC. It’s better to have too much mana and adjust your build, rather than too little and regret.

To anyone that doubts PIE, I cleared A4S with zero ballad using sac strat far below ilvl 210. That includes many solo-healing phases.

If you’re a fan of Crit, or put massive importance to any other substat than PIE (SS and DET are good for me, but it’s a far second from Piety) then this isn’t the BiS list for you.

WHM Lore Tomestone Buy Order

The below spending strategy is purely to obtain BiS fastest:

Weapon: is a legit “filler” until you down A8S. The stats are great!
Chest: Bought first since midan is A8S.
Boots: And this is next since A6S is midan.
Ring > Wrist > Earring (Ordering a bit irrelevant, but Ring first is value)

ANYTHING ELSE IS OPTIONAL: Legs, Helm, Gloves, Belt purely for the stats, then the “other accessories” Neck, Ring (Unupgraded).

Using up Pages and Midas Normal Parts

Click on the expandables below to see how you should spend pages, and which Midas Normal parts to get first –

Midan Savage Pages

The below spending strategy is purely to obtain BiS fastest:

A5S: Ring > Neck > Any
A6S: Helm > Hand > Belt > Illuminati Dark Gobcoat x 3 > Any
A7S: Pants > Illuminati Taut Gobtwine x 2 > Any
A8S: Weapon > Any (Gobdip could be a good choice and wait for the cane)

Midan Normal Parts

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

“what should WHM’s pick up in Midas normal”! Is something I get asked often so here it is

This is a general thing, and people might have varying levels of gear or goals but as a catch-all good enough recommendation:

Week	M1N	M2N	M3N	M4N
W1	pedal	lens	spring	spring
W2	pedal	lens	spring	spring
W3	chain	bolt	crank	crank
W4	bolt	bolt	any	any

W5 and up – ANY.

This avoids the chest (sucky stats), and rushes the legs (great stats). allowing you to get the Weapon > Chest from Lore at week 5 – covering all major body pieces. It also fills most body pieces by week 3.

Click the above!!!

WHM Crafted Gear Viability

In order to facilitate the speedy update of all BiS pages, I will not discuss every detail just yet. But of course, the info here will encompass 90% of your needs. I usually update this later on…

Navigation: White Mage BiS
WHM BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order | Crafted TBA

Well, good luck on gearing your White Mage for 3.3, and I hope the robots drop the loot you need!

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

Pages: 12345

FFXIV 3.2 Scholar (SCH) Best in Slot (BiS) Gear

3.2 UPDATED! SCH Best in slot guide! “Sorry I was Cleric”. SCH Lore buy order, Melding, Pages & Normals, more!

So you’re back with Eos and Selene for Transformers II?! I suppose you’re here for the SCH BiS for 3.2 – if so you’ve found something useful! Shoutout of thanks to my co-healer: Giggly Giggles!

Quicknotes: Healers don’t care about ACC cap, so I’ll be writing the BiS for those first. I will try to put up a preliminary BiS for all other classes.

Navigation: Scholar BiS
SCH BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order (&Pages) | Crafted TBA

3.2 Scholar Best-in-Slot

SCH	Item	Meld 1	Meld 2	Crit	Pie	Det	SS	Notes
Weapon	Prototype Midan Metal Codex	PIE V	PIE V	123	112	0	0
Offhand	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Helm	Augmented Hailstorm Crown of Healing	CRIT V	CRIT IV	69	72	0	0
Body	Midan Coat of Healing (ANY)	CRIT V	CRIT V	102	0	0	112	ANY
Hand	Augmented Hailstorm Gloves of Healing	PIE V	PIE V	69	72	0	0
Belt	Augmented Hailstorm Belt of Healing	PIE V	-	51	49	0	0
Legs	Midan Trousers of Healing	PIE V	PIE V	112	104	0	0
Boots	Midan Boots of Healing	CRIT V	CRIT V	24	72	46	0
Neck	Augmented Primal Choker of Healing	CRIT V	-	12	38	49	0
Earring	Midan Earrings of Healing (ANY)	CRIT V	-	48	0	0	51	ANY
Wrist	Midan Bracelet of Healing	PIE V	-	51	49	0	0
Ring	Midan Ring of Healing	CRIT V	-	12	54	34	0
Ring	Augmented Primal Ring of Healing	CRIT V	-	48	0	0	51
Food	Bakes Pipira Pira	-	-	37	0	0	0
Stats	Totals from items ->			758	622	129	214
	Totals w base, melds, gear ->			1112	883	347	568

>>> MELDS CAN BE CHANGED TO ACC V IN ALL SLOTS <<<

SCH BiS Discussion

Crit > Pie > Det > SS is pretty clear cut for most Scholars out there. Sadly, the gear we’re given in this patch forces quite a bit of SS on us.

A more stable evolution and one I prefer more (as noted in the table above) is to change up the Body and Earring to –

Augmented Hailstorm Coat of Healing
Augmented Primal Earrings of Healing
Lose Crit (BAD), Lose SS (GOOD)
Gain DET (GOOD), Gain Piety (GOOD)

So as we see from the above, the swaps result in 2 GOODS vs 1 BAD 1 GOOD, which is a gain IF YOU DON’T WANNA STACK CRIT LIKE A MADMAN. (In this case the tradeoff is justifiable, man!)

Accuracy Melds? Are totally legit. It’s the premiere DPS stat for healers (Piety probably second…), then of course CRIT for SCH. Given this factoid Melding Accuracy in all gear is OK, and probably gonna be a popular choice.

I know it’s massively unpopular – but I myself highly value DET on SCH. If this belief is more widespread than I think, please comment so I can add a tab for that.

SCH Lore Tomestone Buy Order

Weapon: Is a decent “filler”, and gives the most bang for buck…
- But you have to time it with the Hypercharged Tomestone, so you’ll likely go further down the list before actually buying weapon.
Helm: Getting leftside first, with the hardest to obtain being top priority.
Hand: –
Belt: This marks the end of left-side.
Ring: Since we’re likely stuck with a 210~
Neck: Marks the end of all Lore buyable BiS.

Everything ELSE IS OPTIONAL! The next best things are Body, Earring for the swap mentioned above. After than Complete Leftside > Rightside.

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

The boxes below are expandable on click!!!

Midan Savage Pages

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES

This strategy purely outlines the “speediest BiS” getting:

A5S: Ring > Bracelet > Earring
A6S: Boots > Illuminati Dark Gobcoat x 3 > Any
A7S: Legs > Illuminati Taut Gobtwine x 3 > Any
A8S: Weapon > Body > Any (Gobdip is OK and just wait for the Codex)

Midan Normal Parts

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

“what should SCH’s pick up in Midas normal”! Is something I get asked often so here it is…

This is a general thing, and people might have varying levels of gear or goals but as a catch-all good enough recommendation:

SCH	M1N	M2N	M3N	M4N
Week 1	pedal	pedal	spring	spring
Week 2	chain	bolt	spring	spring
mega	value	ends	week	2
Week 3	bolt	lens	lens	shaft
Week 4	bolt	bolt	crank	shaft

W2 is the end of “value”, W5 and up – ANY. This method obtains all the Crit gear. For BOLTS -> Neckband first. Not much else to say here.

Click the boxes above to expand!!

SCH Crafted Gear Viability

So I can quickly work on all BiS pages, I’ll come back to discuss every detail on the second pass. But of course, 90% of your informational needs are here already.

Navigation: Scholar BiS
SCH BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order (&Pages) | Crafted TBA

GL decking our your Scholar for BiS! I hope deez gob bots drop the loot you need!

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

Pages: 12345

FFXIV 3.2 Black Mage (BLM) Best in Slot (BiS) Gear

3.2 UPDATED! BLM Best in slot guide! “Lose Eno delete acct”. BLM Lore buy order, Melding, Pages & Normals, more!

Come back to prove that magic beats machinery in 3.2? Thanks for checking out out 3.2 BLM BiS! If it was a little unclear to anyone last time – it’s damn certain NOW: Spell Speed is king. Shoutout to our BLM Bazu Zhilei.

Quicknotes: SS is the undoubted emperor of stats for Black Mages – if you disagree, this is not the BiS for you.

Navigation: Black Mage BiS
BLM BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order | Crafted TBA

3.2 Black Mage Best-in-Slot

BLM	BLM BiS	Meld 1	Meld 2	Acc	SS	Crit	Det
Weapon	Midan Metal Rod	CRIT V	CRIT V	-	123	24	83
Offhand	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Helm	Midan Horn of Casting	ACC V	ACC V	24	69	48	-
Body	Midan Coat of Casting	SS V	SS V	-	102	112	-
Hand	Augmented Hailstorm Gloves of Casting	SS V	SS V	69	24	48	-
Belt	Midan Belt of Casting	SS V	-	-	48	-	49
Legs	Augmented Hailstorm Bottoms of Casting	ACC V	ACC V	24	112	-	75
Boots	Augmented Hailstorm Boots of Casting	SS V	SS IV	-	69	69	-
Neck	Augmented Primal Choker of Casting	SS V	-	51	12	-	34
Earring	Augmented Primal Earrings of Casting	SS V	-	-	48	-	49
Wrist	Midan Bracelets of Casting	ACC V	-	12	51	-	34
Ring	Midan Ring of Casting	SS V	-	51	12	-	34
Ring	Augmented Primal Ring of Casting	ACC V	-	12	51	36	-
Food	Marron Glace	-	-	11	37	-	-
Stats	Totals from gear			254	758	337	358
	Grand total			608	1112	691	576

BLM BiS Discussion

1100+ Spell Speed – I can end the discussion with that.

So why not crit? So here’s how it works SS works better the more of it you have – hands down. In an extreme example, you only need a few points of SS to decrease cast time from 0.2 to 0.1 – that’s a 100% DPS increase (in this unrealistic but easy to understand scenario).

But crit works better when stacked, too? Yes it does, but not as good as SS with for BLM – since they have an infinite resource it’s all about getting as many fire cycles as you can in a fight or phase, NOT about getting the most damage per skill you do.

SS also increases your safety by a large margin – a stat that CRIT simply cannot emulate in any way shape or form. KEEPING your ENO, squeezing MORE from LEYLINES, moving out of danger AoE faster – there’s countless immeasurable bonuses SS grants to any BLM.

As for the gear there’s very little to discuss in this patch. Does it have SS? Wear it. None? Accuracy. It was a brainless process to reach this point.

Accuracy Cap? You need 6x ACC V’s to cap – 7 without food.

Creme Brulee vs Marron Glace? Is honestly a non-issue. You have to meld an extra ACCV to cover for the loss of Marron Glace. It’s maybe… MAYBE better by around 0.0004%. maybe. But the cost? Secretly, many of us care about how expensive Creme Brulee can be :)

At this point I’m just reaching into the void for more discussion points. Unupgraded Ring, while tempting – is likely a DPS loss. but again, if you’re an SS freak go for it… it’s another “Decimal” change, man.

BLM Lore Tomestone Buy Order

The lore tomestone spending order is to get BiS fastest:

Weapon: is priority but you may not have the hypercharged tome. Just go down the list for a bit while you wait.
Legs: By order of Midan depth
Gloves (Need accuracy?) Boots (Has better DPS).
Ring > Choker (Accuracy) > Earring (DPS).

ANYTHING ELSE IS OPTIONAL: left-side fillers should be prioritized (Chest, Head, Belt) then Bracelet, Ring (230).

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

Click on the expandables below to see how you should spend pages, and which Midas Normal parts to get first –

Midan Savage Pages

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES

The goal with this listed strat is to gain BiS fastest

A5S: Belt > Ring > Bracelet > Any
A6S: Head > Illuminati Dark Gobcoat x 3 > Any
A7S: Illuminati Taut Gobtwine x 3 > Any
A8S: Weapon > Body > Any (Gobdip and wait for Staff is OK)

Midan Normal Parts

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

“what should BLM’s pick up in Midas normal”! Is a common question, so here it is! This is a general thing, and people might have varying levels of gear or goals but as a catch-all good enough recommendation:

BLM	M1N	M2N	M3N	M4N
Week 1	chain	lens	lens	shaft
Week 2	bolt	pedal	crank	shaft
Week 3	bolt	pedal	crank	shaft
Week 4	bolt	bolt	ANY	shaft

Getting pants is our priority with lore so we avoid it here. Shaft, while stats aren’t bad – it’s more of a concession to Midan Chest BiS and us having to use a filler for quite some time. This takes care of most left-side pieces to assist in survivability. Bolts? Ring > Earring > Any. Week5+ ANY.

Click the above!!!

BLM Crafted Gear Viability

To be updated later on to make all other BiS pages. 90% of info you’re here for is here already anyways.

Navigation: Black Mage BiS
BLM BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order | Crafted TBA

With 1000+ SS I hope it also increases the speed in which you acquire your Black Mage BiS in 3.2! GL with it!

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

Pages: 12345