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Job Overview[] |
Strengths and Weaknesses[]
Strengths[]
- Easily solo into mid-twenties levels, and to 70+ on Goblin's pets.
- Blue Magic spells can damage, enfeeble, and/or enhance.
- Highly customizable to your play style, can play as healer, tank, Damage-dealer, etc.
- The only job in the game capable of effectively subbing every other job for at least one purpose or another.
- A- sword skill which makes them good melee.
- Stat bonuses from set spells effectively act as up to 20 additional low-level accessory slots.
- Spells can be set to adjust stats to balance any race.
- Can skillchain and Magic Burst on its own.
- Able to solo Heraldic Imps at Lv74+ as /NIN for chains.
- Multiple stunning spells including Head Butt. This spell has a much faster recast time than a BLM/DRK's Stun spell.
- Can open (or close) any skillchain with physical spells (when Chain Affinity is active), making them a very flexible skillchain partner.
Weaknesses[]
- Acquiring Blue Magic is time consuming and can take multiple attempts.
- Can not Magic Burst or Skillchain using Blue Magic until higher levels.
- Dependence on MP can make it slightly difficult to get party invites at mid to high levels.
- Reliant upon a NIN or BST sub for some T-VT soloing
- Often forced to sub Ninja in parties, trading in effectiveness for survivability.
- With a low evasion skill (capped @ 230 with AF feet at 75) and a high recast on Stoneskin, BLU is not recommended for long haul fights against sleep/stun resistant mobs.
Race Selection[]
Final Fantasy XI allows players to choose between five different races, each with its own strengths and weaknesses in terms of stats. While certain races' stats are better matched to some jobs more than others, the differences are never so profound as to prevent any race from playing any particular job (except for Elvaans and Black Mage). All players can excel at any job they so choose, provided they have the skill and the equipment; the race selection is mostly an aesthetic decision.
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Tips & Tricks for Acquiring Lower Level Blue Magic[]
- A capped Blue Magic level can increase your chances at learning blue magic.
- The Magus Jubbah body armor can allow you to learn magic easier, as well as at slightly lower levels than without it.
- The AF hands will also increase your chances of learning spells.
- Wearing less armor will not help you learn spells faster. Allowing yourself to be hit more by the enemy will give it TP (see TP info) to use the spell or ability faster. On mobs at your level, defense is important, you need to feed TP with spells or damage and be able to survive the fight. On low level mobs, use hand 2 hand attacks, low damage spells or sub WHM to feed TP with Dia.
- Knocking the mob down to below 25% HP may cause it to use abilities more frequently (at 100% TP instead of 300%). This does not apply to all mob types.
- Using a White Mage subjob can be helpful even after you have learned Pollen. The extra mind will increase your healing capabilities as well as mana, and in case you forgot to set up your Blue Magic before leveling, having another way to cure can save you a run back from your homepoint. This also comes in handy for times when you wish to change your magic set-up while out in the field.
- Spamming Dia using a White Mage or Red Mage as a subjob when attempting to learn spells can be helpful. This is even more helpful at higher levels when you need to do less damage to mobs with primary melee or spells. This will help feed TP to the mob allowing it to cast spells and use abilities sooner. Be careful using this at lower levels on mobs who use damaging spells, since you will need to wear more armor and have good defense to survive the attacks while waiting for the spell to be used.
- Leveling your Blue Mage with a friend playing the same job can be very beneficial - not to mention it breaks the tedium! You can alternate mana regen downtime and still learn the skills.
- Learning from easy prey mobs is the safest route when learning alone. You need to be able to sustain damage while you wait for the spell to be used.
- Carry a stack of echo drops and antidotes for obtaining Queasyshroom. You should also have antidotes for when you fight crawlers for Cocoon. Dying to a poison right after your adversary uses its special move can be highly frustrating.
- For certain monster families such as Yagudo (which teaches Feather Storm), choose a target that will get quick TP gain like Yagudo Initiates or Orc Grapplers.
- Using a Wax Sword +1 if you can swing the gil is useful for times when another monster that aggros or links comes along. Being able to take that one out while your target "teacher" gains TP is a great way to get exp.
- You can learn Blue Magic in a party or alliance without attacking the enemy. Once the enemy is defeated and you are near the party, you can learn it.
Support Job Options[]
The choices listed here are by no means the only ones available, although they are the most common. Feel free to try out whatever combination suits your fancy.
- Ninja
- This typical sub provides Utsusemi for increased survivability in parties and learning spells. Melee is the strongest aspect of the Blue Mage with a high sword skill. Keeping your DEX and ACC up will allow you do deal steady strong damage with Ninja as a sub job. You should not miss with your hits if properly geared. Neglecting the Blue Mage's Melee is a common mistake by Blue Mages learning the job. AGI is not increased with the Ninja sub. Damage per sword strike is typically higher as well. Although it helps physically, Ninja as a subjob doesn't add much to the Mage portion of Blue Mage, giving no additional MP or otherwise useful traits, abilities, or spells others can offer.
- Thief
- This sub provides Sneak Attack and Trick Attack which stack with physical Blue Magic for added damage and enmity mitigation, best used with spells like Death Scissors, Sickle Slash, Vertical Cleave, and Disseverment. Treasure Hunter is great for farming and Flee rounds out the package. Thief adds a little AGI to your stats, but at higher levels DEX is equal between Ninja and Thief subs. Melee damage is lower per hit with the Thief as the sub, but SATA can make up for it during fights. Thief is not as viable for soloing. The benefits of the slight evasion increase as a sub isn't as potent during soloing but rather for parties where SATA can be used at higher levels.
- White Mage
- Provides slightly increased MP and gives you a whole line of defensive spells to play with including cures and Protect. Divine Seal is also compatible with Blue Magic cures to give some spells an extra boost. Magic Fruit is equal to that of a Cure III and can be pushed to and beyond Cure V status with VIT and Cure Potency+ equipment. The Key Stat increases for Blue Mage are some MP and significant MND. It can also be used when soloing or trying to learn spells by using Dia to feed enemies low damage while building its ability to cast magic and use abilities, or to remove your weapon and feed it TP through a null Hand-to-Hand attack.
- Samurai
- While apparently not as common as some other subs, the destructive capacity of Chain Affinity and Burst Affinity combined with Store TP and Meditate can make this more than a viable sub, particularly 60+. Third Eye will also help if used before a chain to help out should you pull hate (Because you will), until the tank can get the mob's attention back.
- Warrior
- Makes a viable tank in low-mid levels by use of Cocoon, self cures and Metallic Body coupled with the Job Ability Provoke. Berserk, Double Attack and Warcry add to the Blue Mages sword damage, making this one of the most powerful support jobs available for direct physical damage. Defender adds 25% extra defense to the Blue Mage which enhances the damage of the spell Cannonball. The Key Stat increases for Blue Mage are some STR and VIT.
- Black Mage
- For the spellcaster in you, this provides the best boost to offensive Blue Magics with Magic Attack Bonus and a significant INT bonus. Conserve MP and Clear Mind help with retaining some more MP for fights, as well as save room in your spell slot for more useful spells. Elemental Seal stacks with Elemental Blue Magic, helping land keep sleep or enfeebling spells. Damage Spikes spells help when you're pulling hate and soloing. Warp, Drain, Aspir, and Escape can all come in handy as well. The Key Stat increases for Blue Mage are significant INT and MP.
- Red Mage
- Jack of all trades meets jack of all trades (in a sense). This provides a combination of the advantages of Black and White Mage subs. Fast Cast is also a very beautiful thing to have, not so much for the casting times, but for the recast times. These include Magic Attack Bonus, Clear Mind, Conserve MP, Magic Defense Bonus, Damage Spikes, Protect and extra cures, as well as the godly Phalanx (although not as potent as when RDM is main job). The En- line of magic helps increase Damage over Time with your sword. The Key Stat increases for Blue Mage are average MND, INT and MP with minor boosts in all other categories.
- Paladin
- This defensive sub provides some of the advantages a White Mage provides as well as some other extras. Defense Bonus, Protect, Shell, Cures and Sentinel are great bonuses whenever you take damage and is really nice when learning blue magic spells. Since Blue Mages can use Shields but do not have native skill in them this can really add to your defensive reputation, even if it's halved. A really nice bonus is Auto Refresh at 70 which can free up space for other spells. The Key Stat increases for Blue Mage are significant VIT and MND as well as Minor MP and STR.
- Dark Knight
- On the other side of the coin this provides an extra offensive touch to your sword and spells with Attack Bonus and Last Resort. Stun does land on non-NMs despite halved skill in Dark Magic. Souleater stacks with physical Blue Magic spells to give an added punch to them, though, if you spend time chain-nuking it could be suicide. The Key Stat increases for Blue Mage are significant STR and INT with minor MP.
- Beastmaster
- Obviously the ideal soloing sub job. Highly beneficial in area's with charmable monsters while learning BLU magic. You can heal MP while your pet fights the <t> monster you're attempting to learn from. Using the "Ghetto Leave" method ensures you gain experience as well while attempting to learn (Note: as of the September 2007 update, there is no longer an EXP penalty on any pet, as long as you stick to Even Match, Decent Challenge, Easy Prey, or Too Weak pets). BLUs Powerhouse assortment of spells guarantees you will be able to finish off most Tough Monsters as well. Consider equipping as many +CHR spells as possible to increase your Charm Success Rate. By doing this you can nearly match much of the CHR of a main job BST, and bring +CHR gear as well. Sadly Monster Signa isn't equippable by BLU, so +CHR spells is almost a must. Happy Hunting.
- Dancer
- Not a bad sub choice for Campaign at level 75 and spell learning in the early to mid levels. Drain Samba and Curing Waltz increase survivability while blood tanking mobs in combination with Cocoon or Reactor Cool, which has been shown to increase exp and allied notes gain over blink tanking. This combination also saves MP from casting Magic Fruit, which per cast can consume over 10% of 75 Blu's max MP if Conserve MP does not proc. This MP can be effectively redirected into recasts of defensive buffs or stuns. The main downside of this combination is it eliminates the overall effectiveness of Chain Affinity, being that a significant amount of TP will be allocated towards healing, and is therefore not favorable from a damage dealing standpoint, especially after level 40. However, since Chain Affinity rests at a 2-minute cool-down and it generally only takes about one minute to acquire 100% TP, there is nothing stopping you from going half-and-half with your TP (except that most spells don't get useful damage bonuses until 150-200 TP, and by that time Chain Affinity is generally up or almost up, especially with recast merits or even just decent acc vs the mob). Main stat boots are CHR and DEX.