FFXIV: How to play Black Mage in Crystalline Conflict

Black Mage is among the most popular FFXIV jobs to play in Crystalline Conflict. Now sprouting a buff from the newest PvP update, it is at its most powerful in a while. If you’re hoping to get into Crystalline Conflict or figure out how Black Mage fits into the mix, get ready for a job as scary in PvP as it is in other content. Here’s how to play Black Mage in Crystalline Conflict.

FFXIV Black Mage Crystalline Conflict guide: Spreading destructive magics to all

The biggest difference between Black Mage in PvP vs regular content is you are no longer slow. Ley Lines? Gone. No need for them. Rotating Fire and Ice for MP is not necessary anymore; you can instead pick between the two or stick to whichever you prefer. You’re still not a Summoner or Red Mage, so you will have cast times, but they’re all less than two seconds now. You can much more reliably move around and still cast spells.

When it comes to your role in the match, you are still very much a Black Mage, and very much a DPS. In other words, you are a glass cannon. You’re fragile but do damage capable of pure nightmare levels. Compared to your other mages, you have the unique mechanic of being able to stack either Fire or Blizzard and spread it to everyone on the opposite team for more damage or slowing support. Combine that with the infamous Black Mage Limit Break of nightmares, and there is a reason everyone bewares a Black Mage.

Abilities Overview

Before tackling the other abilities, we must first break down the basic rotation of Fire and Blizzard.

Fire deals 4,000 potency damage and then turns into Fire IV for the next spell, which does 6,000 potency. After casting Fire IV, the final spell of the chain is Flare, dealing 12,000 potency to target and 8,000 for all opponents near it. Each Fire spell casted grants a stack of Astral Warmth for 15 seconds to the opponent player.

Blizzard‘s chain is identical to Fire. 4,000 potency followed by 6,000 for Blizzard IV and finally Freeze at 12,000, which also has an Area of Effect for 8,000 to all nearby enemies. Using any Ice spell will afflict the target with Umbral Freeze for 15 seconds.

You have 30 seconds to use another spell while in the chain or you’ll restart from the base spell. If you’re under Astral Fire or Umbral Ice, the next opposite spell is instacast (i.e. Fire is instacast if you’re under Umbral Ice and vice versa). Astral Warmth and Umbral Freeze cannot be active on the same target at once.

The rest of Black Mage’s abilities:

• Burst: Deals lightning damage to nearby enemies with 16,000 potency, while also creating a shield of the same potency for 10 seconds.
• Paradox: Deals 8,000 damage and increases target’s stack of Astral Warmth or Umbral Freeze to the maximum three stacks.
• Aetherial Manipulation: Instantly travel to a party member or opponent’s side. Grants a ten second Swiftcast buff, ensuring the spell is instacasted. Has two charges.
• Superflare: Deals damage to nearby enemies for each stack of Astral Warmth or Umbral Freeze they have. It’s 3,000 per stack, for a maximum of 9,000 potency. Astral Warmth stacks change to Burn, and Umbral Freeze change to Heavy, Bind, or Deep Freeze depending on the number of stacks.
• Night Wing: Afflicts target and all nearby enemies with Half-asleep. In three seconds, this status turns into Sleep for three seconds. During those three seconds, targets struck with an attack take an additional 8,000 damage if hit.

Related: FFXIV Patch 6.48: The PvP rebalancing in depth

Limit Break: Soul Resonance. Grants six stacks of instacast for either Fire or Ice, which upgrade to Flare and Blizzard until the stacks run out. In addition, the icon for Soul Resonance changes to grant you a single cast of Foul. Foul deals 16,000 potency damage to target and all near it.

During Soul Resonance, you get the Apocatastasis buff. It grants a 10% damage reduction defense buff for the first 15 seconds of the Limit Break. In addition, Superflare’s recast timer reduces by 15 seconds.

The Limit Break charges at a rate of once per minute.

Breaking down the basic playstyle

Black Mage is built around using the Fire and Ice rotations to spread pain to everyone on the opposite team. Each time you cast a Fire or Ice spell, the targeted opponent is afflicted with a single stack of Astral Warmth or Umbral Freeze. These are harmless debuffs until you use Superflare, at which point they turn into not harmless debuffs. At three stacks, Astral Warmth inflicts 12 seconds of Burn damage over time. Umbral Freeze, on the other hand, changes its debuff based on the stack. At one stack it’s Heavy, at two it’s Bind, and at three Deep Freeze, rendering the enemy essentially stunned. Each debuff only lasts two seconds.

Each time you use the final spell in the chain- Flare or Freeze- anyone near the opponent hit by it also gets a stack of the respective debuff. This means if the opposing team spends enough time gathered up, you can quickly cast off multiple rounds and get everyone at max stacks, then let it off with Superflare. Failing that, Black Mage’s Limit Break is effectively the burst damage phase. Three of your casts will get everyone at max, meaning you can get full stacks of debuff twice on top of a powerful single attack that AoEs. All of this will hopefully allow you to deal big damage and keep the opposing team hurting.

How to play Black Mage in Crystalline Conflict: Playstyle tips and tricks

If you want to focus down a specific target quickly, you have multiple tools to do so. Cast Fire/Ice followed by Paradox, then do Night Wing and Aetherial Manipulation. If the other player doesn’t catch the Half-asleep in time, you can instantly cast for big damage. In a pinch and without Aetherial Manipulation, Paradox also works as an instacast spell to finish an opponent off.

If there is a Melee on you, always ensure they say hello to Burst if it’s off cooldown and catch them for extra damage while protecting yourself. Aetherial Manipulation + Burst works very well for this. In general, Burst is good to use if you’re getting targeted, or as preparation for approaching the fray. Aetherial Manipulation is also great to run away from targets quickly.

I recommend keeping your distance from the action and using Burst before you use your Limit Break. This will stack with the Apocatastasis buff to ensure you have the best chance to survive your entire Limit Break. The Limit Break’s ominous purple aura is a signal to the other team to kill you on sight. The less they notice or see you casting spells in the corner, the better off you are. Your only close range attack is Burst, after all.

Because you are the Black Mage, you will be targeted. A lot. It’s very common for either you or the Dragoon to be marked as the first target to kill, as you’re arguably the two most dangerous jobs of all. Do not stray from having your team near you for support, because you’re going to need all of it you can get.

Black Mage’s Limit Break stacks very well with the Limit Breaks of Dragoon or Summoner to try and wipe out the entire other team at once if they’re all together. Take advantage of this if you’re in the middle of fighting for crystal dominance and one of the other is executing it.

This summarizes the tips and tricks on Black Mage in Crystalline Conflict. May the destruction you wrought bring you infinite satisfaction- and victories.