Standard EXP Party Guide - Black Mage

CAUTION!

This article is only a guide. Information expressed in a guide is usually more opinion than fact and should be taken as such. Guides are written by players, based upon their experiences, successes and mistakes, and are meant to aid other players. However, there may be differing opinions than those expressed in a guide. Strategies and information in guides may not work for everyone.

Black Mages, are you tired of burning or soloing your exp? This guide is for you. Playing as a black mage in a standard party can be a literal blast. The black mage is a heavy damage dealing job with a touch of utility that can fit well into a standard experience points party. However, like thief, the black mage is a bit technical and requires their party members to cooperate with them to perform well.

Party leaders, are you bored of the "unga bunga" and want a fresh take on how to destroy mobs? Consider inviting a Black Mage alongside 2 other melee into your exp party! This guide is also for you to help you understand the perks of inviting a black mage.

Please be advised: This guide in no way states that standard groups are better/worse than other types of groups. Only that a standard group of play is viable in leveling up your black mage. Play how you like! Have fun!

Party Preparation

Spells spells spells. Unlike melee who rely on their armor and weapons for dealing damage, black mages should be up to date on all of their spells to perform well in an exp party. The higher level a spell is, the higher base damage it has. Many scrolls can be bought from NPCs in towns. Some scrolls require you to do a quest to obtain them. And some scrolls are a drop from monsters. You can find all the scrolls on the auction house for sale as well. As you level up you will notice that scrolls become more and more expensive. You will need to start making gil to keep up with the costs. Common ways of making gil are farming low level mobs for valuable drops/crystals to sell on the auction house, crafting, and fishing.

In addition to scrolls consider buying food. Like melee, black mages will perform better in combat if they are eating food. You want to aim for foods that give +INT, usually fruit pies.

Equipment-wise, you want to stack as much INT as you can find/afford. INT impacts the damage and accuracy of your spells. The basic formula is the higher your INT is compared the mob's the more damage you do. At later levels you want to obtain a set of elemental staves. They are expensive but they add even more damage and accuracy to all of your spells. The Dark staff is incredibly useful in boosting your MP regeneration while resting. Consider first buying a dark and then ice staff. The light staff is not as necessary for the black mage compared to the summoner, red mage, and white mage. Save that one for last.

For a sub job for standard parties, red mage is highly recommended. Fast cast will help you be able to double magic burst. More on that later.

Load up the TParty or HXUI addons! You want to be able to see your melee's TP.

Party Composition

The standard party consists of a tank, 3 damage dealers, a healer, and a support. You will be working with the other 2 damage dealers (usually melee front line jobs but rangers can work as well) to dish out the damage and kill mobs quick.

• Note: Unless there is a THF or BRD in the party, make sure 1 of the 3 frontline is ok with pulling. Some melee do not want to pull.

Unfortunately black mages are a bit misunderstood and don't get as many party invites as the other DPS. Many black mages either solo or mana burn to gain levels. It will most likely fall on the black mage to be the party leader and invite folks if they want to standard party. Funny enough, black mages can certainly rival, even beat, the other DPS jobs on the charts if black mages have a skillchain to burst on in their party.

Horizon is an active server and usually there are many people seeking parties at all level ranges, especially during (NA) prime time. If you want to learn more about how to put an exp party together check out: EXP Party Leader Guide

Coordinating with the Melee

Coordinating with the melee requires a bit of research. But the RnD is worth the DPS!

As a black mage your main job in the party will be to magic burst after the 2 other melee do a skillchain. Black mage DPS will be mediocre if they don't have a skill chain to burst off of. You will need to communicate with your party mates to make a skill chain. Also make use of the TParty or HXUI addons! You want to be able to see your melee's TP. That way you will know when they are going to chain.

Pretty much any two melee can skill chain with each other. You just need to figure out what weapons your melee are using and what chains with what.

• Ex strategizing: "WAR are you using Great Axe or Axe?", "DRK are you using Scythe or Great Sword?", "OK Great. Can DRK open for WAR please?" , "Vorpal Scythe > Sturmwind => Reverberation." , "I'll burst Waterga II off that."

Make sure your melee can see each other's TP by using TParty/HXUI so they know when to chain with each other. Some folks like to use a macro that announces how much TP they have or when chain is starting for coordination as well.

Melee do have their preferred heavy hitting weapon skills. But usually they are happy to open or close a chain as long as they get to use their heavy hitting weapon skills. It's more fun to have a buddy to skillchain with rather than spamming weapon skills! If partying with a THF or melee that uses /THF, they probably want to close a chain.

Some tips on your melee party mates:

• Starting at 23 WARs like to use Sturmwind with Great Axe. This goes all the way till level 60 when they get Raging Rush. Sturmwind can either open Detonation, Impaction or Induration. Sturmwind closes Reverberation and Fragmentation. Once WARs Hit 60 they want to start using Raging Rush which can open or close Fragmentation, and closes Induration. Raging Rush also opens Impaction. Some DRKs roll with Great Axe at lower levels too.
• Axe wielding WARs and BSTS have a few options before they get Rampage at 55. Raging Axe closes Detonation, or opens Gravitation. At 33 Avalanche Axe opens Fragmentation and Impaction. Avalanche Axe also closes Induration. At 49 Spinning Axe opens Fusion and Liquefaction, and can close Distortion or Liquefaction. Once WARs and BSTs get Rampage they can close Disortion, or open Detonation Reverberation and Liquefaction.
• Starting at 49 DRKs who use scythe like to use Vorpal Scythe. Vorpal Scythe opens Distortion, Detonation, Scission, Reverberation, and Liquefaction. Vopral Scythe can close Scission. Some DRKs roll with Great Axe as well for Sturmwind. Starting at 60 DRKs REALLY want to use Guillotine on scythe. Guillotine opens Fragmentation and Impaction, and closes Induration.
• Great Sword wielding DRKs are versatile. They can open or close nearly any chain. However at level 55 they really want to use Crescent Moon which closes Distortion and opens Reverberation, Liquefaction, and Detonation. At 60 Great Sword wielding DRKs prefer to use Sickle Moon which shares the same properties as Crescent moon and also closes Fusion and Impaction.
• Similar to Great Sword DRKs SAMs are versatile. However they tend to like Tachi: Enpi. Which opens and closes Distortion and Scission. Enpi opens Reverberation, Scission, and Liquefaction. When SAMs hit 60 they prefer to use Yukikaze, which opens Fragmentation/Impaction, and closes Detonation.
• THFs want to close Distortion or Scission with Wasp Sting or Viper Bite. At lower levels you may need to nudge them to close Detonation with Gust Slash though if the other melee can't open Distortion. At lower levels you may also need to nudge them to open Reverberation if partying with a GA WAR or DRK to close. Starting at 60 THFs are really happy to close Detonation and Distortion with Dancing Edge.
• MNKs like to use Combo and starting at 41 Raging Fists. Both are good to close Fusion and Impaction, or open Detonation. Starting at 60 Monks like to use Howling Fist. Howling Fists opens Distortion, Reverberation, Liquefaction, and Detonation. Howling Fists closes Fusion and Impaction.
• DRGs are usually happy to open Distortion or Reverberation with Double Thrust until they hit 49. Then they REALLY want to use Penta Thrust. Penta Thrust opens Detonation or closes Gravitation. At 55 DRGs get Vorpal Thrust which opens Distortion and Induration. Coax them into opening! The overall party DPS is worth it! At 60 DRGs get Skewer which opens Distortion, Detonation, Reverberation, Liquefaction and closes Impaction.
• RNGs shouldn't have any issues opening Distortion/Reverberation or Fusion until 55 when they get Sidewinder. Sidewinder will open Impaction and Gravitation. It's good for closing Fragmentation or Detonation if you have a melee that can't open Frag.
• If you are partying with a Summoner you can consider including avatars in skillchains. They could chain with the tank when they get TP or can do a 3 step with the other melee. If you have a PLD tank, Red Lotus Blad > Burning Strike makes Fusion. Avatars also make decent Magic Bursts so that's fun too if your party prefers the bursting to the chaining.

Ideally you want to find a chain that you can burst your highest level spell off of, but your damage output shouldn't suffer too much if you are able to double burst something lower tier. Some versatile weapon-wielding melee will say, "I can use either weapon" when you ask about what they can use for SCing. Use that to your advantage to figure out a chain that you can burst your highest level nuke off of.

Check out this chart to see how certain weapons skills chain with each other.

The Magic Burst

So you're tracking the melee's TP because you are using TParty or HXUI, right? You now see that they are both at 1000+. Get ready. Stand up if you are resting. Do not ask the melee to wait for your spells. Follow them in their chain. When you see the first melee weapon skill, start casting your hardest hitting nuke that will burst off of the incoming skill chain. -GA nukes are highly recommended! Your party should not be camping by close mobs that will aggro/link/get caught in the -GA so you should be safe to -GA.

You should be finishing your nuke soon after the 2nd melee uses a weaponskill and the skillchain goes off for a magic burst. It may take some practice with your party mates to get the timing right. If you are partying with a THF or a melee that is /THF closing the chain, consider giving an extra second or two to before casting for SATA setup.

Note: The window for magic bursting begins right after the 2nd melee uses their weaponskill. You do not need to wait for the skillchain animation to finish before you can burst. You can burst while the animation is occurring. Ideally you actually WANT to be bursting during the skillchain animation. More on that in the next section.

Congratulations! Enjoy watching the mob's HP drop during the skillchain magic burst combo.

Note: The example magic burst pictures are against an incredibly tough enemy at level 55

The Double Magic Burst

There is about a 10 second window for magic bursting. It begins right after the 2nd melee uses their weapon skill. Before the skillchain animation finishes. This means you can pull off a 2nd burst. As soon as you are finishing your first bursting nuke, immediately start casting another bursting nuke for the skillchain. Usually the combo is a single nuke followed by a -GA or vice versa, whatever is stronger at your level. Subbing Red Mage gives you fast cast which will nearly guarantee you being able to burst a 2nd nuke. Enjoy watching even more of the mob's HP drop. This will take some practice but it's very satisfying to pull off.

At around level 51 with elemental staves, black mages can double burst for over 1K damage after a skill chain.

• Note: Starting at around level 57 spells start taking more time to cast. It may be harder to pull off a double magic burst. Try using a lower tier spell to be able keep the double bursting up. EX: Blizzaga II > Blizzard or Blizzaga. Blizzaga II > Blizzard II may be trickier with the timing but it's possible.

If you're starting the SC MB combo around 60-70% of the mob's HP it should finish the mob off or at least make it close to being dead.

If your group starts a chain and double burst combo at the start of a fight, the tank may lose hate. Wait a bit for the tank to get some hate.

Or have blink (and later stoneskin) up before the combo and you can act like a mini tank for a few seconds while the real tank works to get hate back or until the mob dies. You can even start casting blink while you are taking hate to put on more shadows after the first blink ends.

At 45 you get stun which you can cast while you are taking threat and the mob is almost dead. Stun will give you a bit more time to free nuke and/or cast drain to finish off the mob. If you are partying with a thief you should not have to worry about getting too much threat.

Additional Battle Tactics

• Drain is your bread and butter. You should be casting it at least once a fight. Ideally as soon as the tank provokes. Quest for the drain scroll or buy it off the auction house soon as you hit 12. Drain scales super well and at higher levels you will be doing a lot of damage with it for only 21 MP. At later levels you may need to hold off from casting drain until the tank gets a bit more threat because of how much damage drain does.

• Aspir is great for mobs that have MP. Luckily mobs that BLM excels at (Crabs, Beetles) have MP for you to Aspir. Pick this spell up ASAP when you hit 25 as well.

• Cast an elemental debuff and poison on the mob at the beginning of the fight. Frost (Building TP) or choke (Incoming Skillchain) are good choices for the melee. Refrain from using Bio. Dia is much better to use as it lowers defense. Usually the healer or support have dia covered. If partying with a RDM you might want to coordinate who's casting poison(II). You want to save your heavy nuking towards the end of a fight or for magic bursting.
  • At higher levels, elemental debuffs/poison may not be worth casting if your melee are geared and mobs are dying quick. Adjust as needed to save mp for the big spells.

• Ideally melee should skillchain before the mob's HP is below 40%. If they chain too late, your group will miss out on the full damage potential before the mob goes down.

• Sometimes your group may "Save" TP if the mob's HP gets too low. That way you can start the chain at the beginning of the next fight for a huge amount of damage in quick succession. While melee are saving TP you can free nuke to finish off the mob.

• Make use of Blink and Stoneskin to ensure your survival if you find yourself taking a lot of threat. Even more so if you are a Tarutaru. Or ask melee if they can hold off on the chain for a little longer.

• Elemental Seal is great to ensure your next nuke will do full damage. It's nice for free nuking to deal a large chunk of damage when mobs are at around 25% HP left to finish them.

• When ES is not up consider what your highest spells are, what game day it is, what weather there is (if any), and the mob's elemental weakness for what spells to cast when you are free nuking. Don't forget the -GAs.

• AGAIN, make use of the TParty or HXUI addons! You want to be able to see your melee's TP. That way you will know when they are going to chain.

• Use a Recast/Timers addon. It's helpful to know when your next drain is up.

• Make use of the points addon or any addon that will track how long you have until the next exp chain ends. If time is running out to make the next chain, that is your queue to chain-nuke to help the party get to the next chain! Cast your hardest hitting spells to finish the mob off. Usually this is happening when mobs are almost dead so the tank should have most of the threat by then. You may take threat but the mob should go down before it's an issue.

• Another helpful addon to consider using is Deeps. This will help track your DPS compared to the other melee. You should at least be on par with the other DPS if you are up to date on your spells and are (double) magic bursting on the skillchains with your highest nukes. If you are falling behind, that is your queue to start free nuking more towards the end of fights to catch up. Deeps doesn't track DoTs though so consider that extra damage as well.

• This is a more advanced tactic but tanks can participate in a 3 step chain if they are up for it. PLDs may be using club for starlight/MP gain however so it depends. Tanks won't always have the TP. But when they do, your party can set up a 3 step so you can burst one spell on the first skillchain, and burst another spell on the second. The window for bursting closes as soon as another weapon skill is used on a mob so you won't be able to double burst on the first chain. But you can potentially double burst on the 2nd chain. This will take some practice but it is fun for the whole group to pull off. Note that you cannot create a level 1 chain after you've made a level 2. You can however create a level 1 chain after another level 1 chain.
  • Ex: DRK uses Vorpal Scyth, WAR closes with Sturmwind to make Reverberation. You burst Waterga 2 off that. PLD then uses Flat Blade to make Impaction. You then burst Thunder 2 and potentially double burst Thundaga off Impaction.
  • Ex2: PLD uses Circle Blade (Or NIN uses Blade: Teki), MNK closes with Raging Fists to make Impaction. You Burst Thunder 2 off that. THF then SATA Dancing Edge to make Detonation. You then Burst Aeroga II.

Pacing

As a black mage, your main thing is to be magic bursting after the melee do a skill chain. Outside of that you have a bit of freedom to be resting or free nuking or debuffing or whatever. Unlike melee who are consistently dealing damage with their weapon swings and weapon skills, black mages deal damage in big chunks that will catch up to, and has potential to, overcome the melee DPS. Save the heavy nuking for magic bursts and towards the end of a fight when it's fine to get threat if the mob dies before it becomes a problem.

At the beginning of a fight you are most likely resting MP, casting drain/aspir, and DoTs. If you nuke too hard too early, the tank will lose threat and you can die. It should be fine though if the tank loses hate to you when the mob is almost dead and you're free nuking to finish it off (have blink/stoneskin on).

MP is important but don't waste too much time resting. You do not need to always rest to full MP. Especially if you're on exp chain 3-5. Missing out on a tick of MP is worth the damage of a magic burst and/or free nuking/draining to keep the exp chain going. If you are running out of MP consider nixing the DoTs until you catch up on MP.

Consider Manafont if you are running out of MP and time for the EXP chain is running out.

The best time to cast a big non-magic bursting spell is when the tank provokes, flashes, sentinels, or yonins mid-fight. Or when the mob has about 30% or less HP, you know you may take some threat for going all out, but the mob will be dead before it's a problem.

You'll start building a sense of what your threat threshold is as you party. Depending on your party set up and skill you may be able to get away with even more free nuking. Honestly whatever you think you can get away with to keep the exp chain going (Don't forget blink and stoneskin.) As you experiment to test your limits (within reason), you'll see yourself topping the Deeps chart.

Keep in mind however that black mage cannot reach the top without the help of the melee skillchains. It's a team effort to produce the total dps for destroying mobs.

Utility

On top of DPS black mages offer their party utility:

• If the puller gets a link or aggro, or if a party member gets aggro on the way to camp, the black mage has sleep, bind, sleepga, sleep 2, and sleepga 2 for crowd control. You can guarantee the spells will land by first using elemental seal.

• At 25 BLM gets tractor which is handy if someone dies near aggro. Pull them to a spot they can safely raise at.

• At 29 if things get really tricky and the party is in a dungeon, escape comes in handy to safely warp everyone outside.

• At level 40+ your party members will love you for Warp 2 after an exp party is over.

• Subbing RDM gives you access to cures and regen. BLM can toss out a cure/regen here and there to support the party as needed.

• Subbing RDM gives you access to sneak(40) and invisible(50). Your party members will love you for helping them save some gil and/or their life by tossing them sneak and invis on the way to camp.

• At 45 BLM gets stun. Stun is helpful if you are partying with a NIN and shadows are down or if another party member takes hate and starts getting beat on. It's also fun for when you are going all out with blink/stoneskin on and finishing off the mob. Give the tank a little break!

• At 64 RDM sub gives you Dispel which is VERY handy against certain mobs if you are partying without a RDM or BRD (SMN is the support).

A Word on Ancient Magic

It is the opinion of this guide's author that magic bursting ancient magic is not worth the MP cost and asking your melee to wait on you. Ancient Magic MB damage numbers are pretty but DPS/exp will be more consistent if the black mage follows the melee in their skillchains and double bursts with single target and -GAs nukes.

Challenging the Meta

Some players may be skeptical of including a black mage into exp parties for whatever reasons. Here are some ideas that are debunked.

It's faster DPS if melee just spam Weapon Skills Untrue. The DPS from the damage caused by the skillchain and the (double) magic burst coming from the Black mage will more than make up the DPS loss of a melee who waits a few seconds for their skillchain buddy to get TP. However! If a melee is SAM or /SAM, they can free weapon skill, while their skillchain buddy is still building TP, no problem.

Black mages spells/Magic Bursting get resisted too much for it to be worthwhile Horizon has made era+ adjustments to magic bursting with increased accuracy and magic attack bonus as well as reducing enmity from magic bursting. Enough to get consistent high DPS on higher than average mobs than you "should" be exping on. A decently geared standard party that has a SC MB combo with a BLM bursting can get consistent exp chain 5 on mobs 12 levels higher than the party with little issue.

Black mage can't keep up with melee DPS Not true. If black mages have a skill chain to burst on, they can rival melee DPS no problem. Make sure to talk to your melee to coordinate a SC. The author of this guide can attest they have been able to (double) burst whenever melee do a chain with little issue in MP management. Just don't be bursting with ancient magic. The MP cost and the time it takes to cast AM/delaying the melee on their chain is not worth the damage. Horizon devs have reported era+ changes to black mage traits. Suspected to be clear mind, conserve MP, and hMP changes. Testing to be done in the future to confirm. PAFO.

Black mage can't sky party Not true. Black mage can hold their own in sky parties. A decently geared standard party that eats food with a SC and MB combo can actually start exping in sky at 62 (lower than the meta standard) with no issues for consistent exp chain 5s. Flamingos are pretty weak mobs overall. Black mages can burst about 1-1.1K Thundaga II/Blizzaga II on Impaction/Distortion chains (more damage if they are double bursting another spell.)

Conclusion

Black mage fits well into the standard exp party. All you need to do is coordinate a skillchain for them to burst on. The DPS they provide their parties, along with their utility brings them to the table with the other DPS choices for your exp party.

Yet again, a decently geared, food eating, party that has 2 melee skillchaining with a black mage bursting can take on mobs 12 levels higher than the party for consistent exp chains 5+

Exhibit A, Level 55 standard party with a blm double bursting off 2 melee skillchaining

This guide was created by Grayson on Horizon while leveling black mage via standard parties. If you're bored of manaburning and soloing, try out a standard group. It's fun!

Please be advised: This guide in no way states that standard groups are better/worse than other types of groups. Only that a standard group of play is viable in leveling up your black mage. Play how you like! Have fun!