Community Black Mage Guide

This article is a community collaborative guide.
Please keep in mind that guides are works of opinion.
The editing of collaborative guides should keep the overall direction and general opinions the same.
If major changes are required or equipment sets are being altered, please utilize the "Discussion" tab or Discord.

File:Black Mage.jpg

"Ohoho!"

General Information

Roles

Black Mages are essential for end-game Sortie and extremely helpful for endgame content including Dynamis Divergence and Odyssey Sheol Gaol. BLM is primarily a damage dealer but can save parties in a pinch with a combination of its potent Breakga/Sleepga and Mana Wall to serve as a damage sponge while the rest of the party gets things under control. As a Black Mage, successfully magic bursting (and having the party aligned and able to create the requisite skillchains) is critically important to your damage output. Black mage is one of the most powerful damage dealers in the game when used correctly in the right situations with proper planning and execution.

Black Mage should be expected to:

Deal elemental damage
- Switching between bursting or free nuking sets.
- Know the elemental weaknesses of the foe.
- Magic Burst, whether solo or coordinating with a group.
- Understanding the gist of magic accuracy and magic damage, detailed in a section below.

Support
- Elemental Debuffs - especially Burn for increasing magic damage for the party - and Impact are powerful
- Competent curing is very helpful in a pinch, especially if you're running SCH or WHM as a subjob.
- Crowd control with Sleepga, Bind, Stun, and Breakga.
  - /SCH provides the potential for Dispelga as well.

Be frontline or backline
- BLM can and should WS to SC in various situations.
- BLM has Mana Wall, and can use it well.
- BLM has the ability to generate TP without meleeing via Occult Acumen
- BLM has access to AoE WSs and Spells.
- It is often not appropriate to run just because you have hate.

Abilities and Traits

Job Traits
Lvl.	Name
10, 30, 50, 70, 84, 91	Magic Attack Bonus
15, 30, 45, 60, 75	Clear Mind
20, 76, 86	Conserve MP
45, 58, 71, 84, 97	Mag. Burst Bonus
50, 60, 70, 80, 90	Elemental Celerity
85, 95	Occult Acumen

Job Ability
Lvl.	Name	Noteworthy Equipment
1	Manafont	File:Src. Coat +2 icon.png Sorcerer's Coat +2
15	Elemental Seal	File:Laevateinn (Level 75) icon.png Laevateinn (Level 75)
76	Mana Wall	File:Goetia Sabots +2 icon.png Goetia Sabots +2File:Goetia Sabots +2 description.png \| Taranus's CapeFile:Taranus's Cape description.png
85	Cascade
87	Enmity Douse
95	Manawell
96	Subtle Sorcery

Mana Wall

Mana Wall should not be ignored - when geared properly, you can be a tanking god for 5 minutes and potentially allow your party to recover or get away safe. The way this ability works, damage against you is halved (after you master, it's reduced by 70%!) and then converted to MP damage instead; this is obviously stupidly powerful with your MP pool but it stacks with other Mana Wall gear and your -Damage Taken gear as well.

Mana Wall caps at 95% potency, meaning that incoming damage is reduced by 95% THEN converted to MP damage.

By default Mana Wall's ability provides 50% reduction
When mastered with JP, additional 20% reduction
Taranus's Cape from Ambuscade provides another 10% reduction
Wicce Sabots +3 provides 25% reduction
Archmage's Staff Path C provides 20% reduction - as you can see, the SU4 staff suffices as the additional Mana Wall reduction from the SU5 staff is wasted on the cap.

When using Mana Wall, you should ensure your set also has capped -Damage Taken as those stats are accounted for before the conversion to MP damage is calculated. It's also nice to use gear such as Archmage's Staff and Ethereal Earring to convert damage to MP, effectively lowering the "damage" even more so.

As an example borrowed from a very helpful reddit post:

The Sortie G Boss, Triboulex, uses an ultimate move called "Setting the Stage" that deals 30,000 damage divided among all party members in range. With only the BLM in range, that 30,000 damage is reduced:

-DT reduces that 30k damage by ~50% to 15,000
Mana Wall gear reduces that 15k damage by 95% to 750 damage
That 750 damage is converted to -750 MP
If using Archmage's Staff and Ethereal Earring, you receive 7% of that damage back, returning 52 MP so effectively from the entire attack you only took 698 MP damage.

There are big negatives that prevent Mana Wall to be used to fully tank - namely you shed enmity extremely quickly with Mana Wall active, and it's especially tough to hold enemies unless you're super tanking (meaning no other party members are attacking enemies and pulling enmity). It's recommended to use specific +enmity sets for spells like Stun to pull away NMs and keep your party safe in times of emergency.

Status effects can also still affect you, and Mana Wall is a buff that CAN be dispelled.

Merits

Merit Points
Name	Description	Level	Notes
Group 1
Elemental Seal Recast	Shorten recast time by 20 seconds.	0/5	Situationally useful if you're using your Mythic Staff to boost damage, but not worth the loss in potency from the other Merit options.
Fire Magic Potency	Increase the potency of Fire spells by 2.	X/5	Recommend 5/5 if you're the BLM for Sortie, as you'll be using Fire spells on a majority of the targets there.
Ice Magic Potency	Increase the potency of Ice spells by 2.	X/5	Recommend 5/5 either Ice or Earth merits (or a combination of both) if you're the BLM for Sortie, as you'll be using these spells to combat the Sortie B and F bosses.
Wind Magic Potency	Increase the potency of Wind spells by 2.	X/5
Earth Magic Potency	Increase the potency of Earth spells by 2.	X/5	Recommend 5/5 either Ice or Earth merits (or a combination of both) if you're the BLM for Sortie, as you'll be using these spells to combat the Sortie B and F bosses.
Lightning Magic Potency	Increase the potency of Lightning spells by 2.	X/5
Water Magic Potency	Increase the potency of Water spells by 2.	X/5
Group 2
Ancient Magic Magic Attack Bonus	Increase Ancient Magic magic attack damage by 3.	0/5
Ancient Magic Magic Burst Damage	Increase Ancient Magic magic burst damage by 3%.	0/5
Elemental Magic Magic Accuracy	Increase Elemental Magic Accuracy by 5.	0/5	You could make a case for this situationally, but it should be very niche.
Elemental Magic Debuff Duration	Increase Elemental Magic debuff duration by 12 seconds.	5/5	See next note.
Elemental Magic Debuff Effect	Increase Elemental Magic debuff potency by 2 and damage over time by 1.	5/5	Increasing the chance of Burn sending you to the next INT tier makes this the most important merit category.
Aspir Absorption Amount	Increase the amount of MP absorbed by Aspir by 4%.	0/5	It be nice, but not at the cost of increasing your Burn potency and duration.

Support Jobs

Scholar

Probably the most useful support job overall for Black Mage. Especially when you hit ML10, where you get Ebullience to boost damage for your bursts. Parsimony allows for greater MP management, Alacrity allows for more rapid -ja accumulation or recast spells such as Death or Comet for targets weak to our limited dark nukes, and Manifestation allows you to cast Klimaform to your party members and cast single target spells like Aspir as AOEs.

Dark Arts reduces the cost of, casting time, and recast time of your nukes. It also will improve your C+ Enfeebling Skill to a B+.
On the flip side Light Arts provides a healing skill you actually need. Meaning you stand a better chance at removing Doom with Cursna. More powerful cures aren't a terrible thing either.

Sublimation provides you great MP recovery that could make or break killing a tough Sortie or Odyssey boss, arguably more useful to have a burst of MP accessible than having Refresh cast on you.

White Mage

An important sub for not only the White Mage line of spells, especially the eventual Curaga III at ML10, but for Weapon Skills. As this is generally the preferred sub for gaining access to Earth Crusher and Cataclysm.

Otherwise, /WHM gives access to the same enfeebles as /RDM, sans Gravity with more party support. In the form of Barspells, Cuaraga, Haste, -na spells, etc.

Red Mage

A handy support job for Haste, Flurry, Refresh, Barspells, Silence, Paralyze, Slow, Gravity, Convert, and extra Fast Cast (and by extension extra spell recast).

Red Mage as a support job feels like a middle ground between the offerings of White Mage and Scholar. However, Convert and Refresh are overshadowed by Dark Arts, Parsimony, and Sublimation of /SCH. Meaning you generally would sub this if you needed the remaining tools it offers over you other subs.

Samurai

/SAM is situationally very useful when you'll be spending a significant amount of time in melee, including for soloing. BLM can and should step up to weapon skill and with /SAM, you can pretty consistently self-SC and then magic burst a spell or two (especially recommended for MLing!). This is especially fun with AM3 on Laevateinn where you can three step your own Light or Dark SCs thanks to Hasso.

While it may seem counter intuitive to cast with Hasso on given the 50% penalty to casting and recasting. You are only likely getting one burst off anyway without a quick magic proc, and Elemental Celerity helps you to counter the penalty with a desisted Hasso Fast Cast set leveraging it.

Understanding Magic

Magic Accuracy

Outside of minor edits please use the discussion page for the guide to discuss any major edits or corrections.

When it comes to being a BLM it is more an exercise in what you know about the foe and what you know about mechanics than just going boom-booms. It is easier for a DD to flub their way through than for you to. So let's go over the rigamarole so that we might all suck less.

While melee combat skills provide a corresponding boost to accuracy and attack at a rate of less than 1:1. Magic skill+ are a 1:1 skill to accuracy gain, but provide no extra attack.

To determine your magic accuracy total. Add up your elemental skill, magic accuracy skill, magic accuracy+, merits, gifts, food, buffs, debuffs, and then factor in dINT. Which is in the section below.

A Mastered BLM with a Master Level of 0 will sit at 512 before any equipment or dINT.

Adding an Mpaca's Staff R0 would add 40 Magic Accuracy and 255 skill for 807.

Your hit rate is simply your magic accuracy against the magic evasion of your foe. Magical hit rate caps at 95%. Meaning 5% of the time a player will otherwise be resisted.

If your magic hit rate is 50% or more then magic accuracy +1 is equivalent to hit rate +1%.
If your magic hit rate is less than 50% then magic accuracy +1 is equivalent to hit rate +0.5%.
- Any Magic accuracy that raises you to the 50% mark then returns to being 1:1.
  - E.g. Your hit rate is 40% and you gain 40 magic accuracy. Your hit rate becomes 70%.

However, the magic evasion of the foe is not actually simple. It is a factor of the foe's magic evasion stat, dINT, the resistance tier of the corresponding element of the foe, and level correction where applicable.

Thus, there is no single magic accuracy number to cap hit rate for a foe as there would be a physical accuracy.}}

INT also plays a role in the magic accuracy of all nukes and INT based enfeebles. The magic accuracy bonus of INT depends on two things:

dINT, the difference of INT between caster and foe.
Magic Hit Rate, which we covered, but factors in here.

dINT and Magic Accuracy+
dINT	<-70	-70 ~ -31	-30 ~ -11	-10 ~ +10	+11 ~ +30	+31 ~ +70	>+70
MAcc+ Per INT	0	0.25	0.5	1	0.5	0.25	0
Range Total	+0	+10	+10	+20	+10	+10	+0
MAcc+ Total	+0	+0-10	+10-20	+20-40	+40-50	+50-60	+60

So, INT has a sweet spot from -10 to +10, but also a no-no spot, and that spot is 70+. Which by that age you don't expect much anyway.

Ba-dum-tss

Once your dINT has been calculated to Magic Accuracy it affects your magic hit rate in the same way:

Example: Your magic hit rate is 65%.

While dINT is +30, and you gain 19 INT.

Your hit rate is now 69%. Nice.

While dINT is -38 and you gain 19 INT.

Your hit rate is now 72%.

Example: Your magic hit rate is 45%.

While dINT is -50 and you gain 20 INT.

Your hit rate is now 47%.

While dINT is -10 and you gain 20 INT.

Your hit rate is now 60%.

WAR (E.g. Crawler, Funguar, Wivre, Bat, etc) is the most common job in the game, and it is the second lowest tier of native INT, where PLD (E.g. Beetle, Crab, etc) is the lowest ranking of INT.

Expect the INT of an opponent to be higher or lower based on their job.

Foe INT is tiered as (highest to lowest):

BLM
SMN
DRK, COR, SCH, THF, RDM
BRD, BLU, NIN, RUN
BST, PUP, RNG, SAM, WHM
DNC, DRG, WAR
MNK, PLD

Random Examples of Endgame INT
Foe	Level	Job	INT
Ongo V0	134	RUN?	345
Ongo V20	134	RUN?	425
Apex Soldier Lugcrawler	136	WAR	261
Apex Blazer Elytra	136	PLD	241
Apex Helm Elytra	138	PLD	251
Apex Soldier Lugcrawler	136	WAR	261
Apex Rumble Lugcrawler	138	WAR	284
Apex Soldier Lugcrawler	136	WAR	261
Locus Wivre	136	WAR	256
Apex Water Ele	133	BLM	354
Locus Colibri	135	RDM	340
Triboulex	145	DRK/BLM	504
Apex Archaic Cogs	147	RNG	390
Mireu	150	WAR?	474

The Resistance of a foe is the final and most important piece of the puzzle. Not only for magic accuracy, but for damage. Though we will only cover the accuracy portion of that here, just like with INT.

Low Resistance Resistance Ranks High Resistance
150%	130%	115%	100%	85%	70%	60%	50%	40%	30%	25%	20%	15%	10%	5%

First, let me just summarize the resist page here in terms of accuracy. Foes have individual resistances to all elements, and these values are tiered out in the table above. A neutral resistance tier is 100%, where as weakness would be anything above that, and vice versa for resitance.
Any foe with a resistance status of 50% forces a resist. Resists will be either a 1/2 (-50%), 1/4 (-75%), or 1/8th (-87.5%). So a Skeleton for example, has a dark resistance tier of 50%. This means any dark based spell which lands is not going to either be full damage or full duration.

Now, there are two things players can do to change the resistance, Rayke and Skillchains.

Rayke reduces the resistance tier to the corresponding element by a tier per rune.

E.g. a foe has a 30% resistance tier to an element, and three runes of that element are Rayked. The reistance tier is now 60% for the duration of Rayke, which is a big deal.

Skillchains will temporarily lower the resistance tier of the damage of the skillchain by one tier for the window of it.

Magic bursting also adds a speculated +100 accuracy to a spell.
See the Resist#Modifying Resistance Rank for more explanation on how a SC damage type is determined.

It is the lowest resistance tier, but this can change depending on other steps involved.

This becomes very applicable with NMs, which can tend to have different resistance values from ordinary foes of the same family or even other NMs. For example, no tier 3 Odyssey NM in Sheol Gaol has a weakness above 30% unless their aura is on which then changes it to 100% iirc. With their neutral elements being 25% and their opposing element at the lowest 5% tier.
This means if you fight a foe like Ongo then the magic defense down from Vidohunir will not land outside of when the aura is on. Same for defense down effect from a weapon skill against Xevioso. In fact to finish that thought, they will only really stand a chance to land against Mboze unless Rayke is used.

Further, as a BLM you can uniquely bypass some of the hindrance of Resist tiers while under Subtle Sorcery. It will bypass the forced resists from a tier 50% or less, but will not solve the next component of elemental resistance tiers.

Second, the remaining factor to resistance to account for is the magic accuracy requirements imposed by resistance tiers. Which is not actually on the wiki currently. Not because I am some rumored gate keeper, but because neither I nor anyone else have gotten around to it, and it involves deciphering Japanese testing through google Translate. Not the easiest for sure, but what is clear is that as resistance tiers go lower and resistance to an element goes higher. It imposes a greater magic accuracy requirement to cap hit rate.

Here is the testing I am referring to, and one which corroborates the INT magic accuracy/Ongo testing from Lutes blog cited at the bottom references on both of those pages.

The red text is confirmed, and the black is theorized.
This testing lines up with the observable effective magic accuracy required for Ongo, 1,365.

Since you are magic bursting, yes, the resistance rank changes from 30% to 40% for the burst window, and changes the accuracy required to 1,222 before counting the +100 from bursting.

Accuracy requirements jump steeply below the 30% tier. The table lacks it for Ongo, but I can make an educated guess based on the data there. Which means you need an effective magic accuracy of ~1,710 to land Burn on Ongo, given it's 25% tier to fire.

Now the testing doesn't go past the 20% tier, but it doesn't need to with how steep it gets. So when it comes to nuking, SC dmg, or enfeebling any iLvl foe around the lowest tiers, forget about it unless you throw the kitchen sink at the foe. Which generally isn't practical.

Fortunately, there is a lower magic accuracy requirement for the higher resistance tiers. Let's tie this together with a practical example using a level 139 Apex Draugar. Which has a resistance tiers of 130%, 70%, and 50%. Spells would cap hit rate at the following:

1,102
1,204
1,295

Due to the forced resist, if you casted sleep. Then you will either not land the spell or it will land for a reduced time.

What is cool about all of this this is that outside of anything that lowers your macc or boosts the magic evasion of the foe, you can better figure out or fine tune a set to cap hit rate.

Estimated Magic Accuracy Requirements
Level	30%	40%	50%	60%	70%	85%	100%	115%	130%	150%
124	1,005	892	831	814	778	756	755	753	736	729
125	1,041	925	862	843	828	784	779	775	758	750
126	1,078	958	893	872	852	812	804	797	780	772
127	1,114	991	924	901	863	840	829	818	801	793
128	1,154	1,024	955	930	891	868	854	840	823	814
129	1,185	1,057	986	959	920	896	879	862	844	835
130	1,219	1,090	1,017	988	948	924	904	883	869	856
131	1,257	1,123	1,048	1,017	977	952	928	905	889	878
132	1,293	1,156	1,079	1,046	1,005	980	953	926	911	899
133	1,329	1,189	1,110	1,075	1,034	1,008	978	948	933	920
134	1,365	1,222	1,141	1,104	1,060	1,036	1,003	970	955	941
135	1,402	1,255	1,172	1,133	1,089	1,064	1,028	991	977	962
136	1,438	1,288	1,203	1,162	1,118	1,092	1,052	1,013	999	984
137	1,475	1,321	1,234	1,191	1,147	1,120	1,077	1,034	1,021	1,005
138	1,510	1,354	1,265	1,220	1,175	1,148	1,102	1,056	1,043	1,026
139	1,547	1,387	1,296	1,249	1,204	1,176	1,127	1,078	1,065	1,047
140	1,582	1,420	1,327	1,278	1,232	1,204	1,152	1,099	1,087	1,068
141	1,618	1,453	1,358	1,307	1,260	1,232	1,176	1,121	1,109	1,090
142	1,654	1,486	1,389	1,336	1,288	1,260	1,201	1,142	1,131	1,111
143	1,690	1,519	1,420	1,365	1,317	1,288	1,226	1,164	1,153	1,132
144	1,726	1,552	1,451	1,394	1,345	1,316	1,251	1,186	1,175	1,153
145	1,762	1,585	1,482	1,423	1,374	1,344	1,276	1,207	1,197	1,174
146	1,798	1,618	1,513	1,452	1,402	1,372	1,300	1,229	1,219	1,196
147	1,834	1,651	1,544	1,481	1,430	1,400	1,325	1,250	1,241	1,217
148	1,870	1,684	1,575	1,510	1,459	1,428	1,350	1,272	1,263	1,238
149	1,906	1,717	1,606	1,539	1,487	1,456	1,375	1,294	1,285	1,259
150	1,943	1,750	1,637	1,568	1,515	1,484	1,400	1,315	1,307	1,280

Values in the table are based off of: [1].
- Resistance Ranks are linear per level while the various ranks for that level are exponential increases as resistance increases.
- Final table data is credited to Thefoxdanger.
  - There was not enough data collected for the 20% and 25% ranks, but it is safe to say the curve gets steep.
  - Keep in mind, the table is estimated values built off of another table of very well estimated values. Expect that you may possibly be off by ~10 magic accuracy at a given time.

Practical implications of the write up:

Gear enfeebles like sleep or break with a focus in magic accuracy and enfeebling skill.
Magic Hit Rate caps at 95%, and a miss is simply a reist, which has various values.
The value of macc from INT depends on dINT. It can be as large as +1 or as low as +0.
Resistance Ranks aka Resistance Tiers dramatically impact magic accuracy.

Corresponding pages:

Affinity

Affinity, also referred to as "Elemental Magic Attack Bonus", adds damage in a separate multiplier term from all standard forms of Magic Attack Bonus.

The base value for this term when no Affinity gear is present = 1.0.

For each stat on gear with Elemental affinity listed:

Damage affinity +1: Affinity = 1.1
Damage affinity +2: Affinity = 1.15
Damage affinity +3: Affinity = 1.20
Damage affinity +4: Affinity = 1.25
Damage affinity +5: Affinity = 1.30
Damage affinity +6: Affinity = 1.35

Elemental Magic Attack Bonus from gear is additive with this term. This statistic is found on gear such as Pixie Hairpin +1 and Weatherspoon Ring.

For example, equipping Pixie Hairpin +1 (28%) and Archon Ring (5%) would make this term = 1.33 for damage.
Orpheus's Sash uniquely grants this stat for all elements. See its page for details.

Equipment usable by BLM that provides Elemental Magic Attack Bonus include:

Ngqoqwanb provides 15% elemental affinity.
Ossa Grip provides 2% elemental affinity when the user has Ice Spikes active.
Marin Staff and Marin Staff +1 provide 10% and 11% elemental affinity, respectively.
Kaikias' Cape provides 4% elemental affinity.
Quanpur Necklace provides 5% elemental affinity.
Weatherspoon Ring and Weatherspoon Ring +1 provide 10% and 11% elemental affinity, respectively.
Pixie Hairpin +1 provides 28% elemental affinity.
Archon Ring provides 5% elemental affinity.
Orpheus's Sash provides a range of 1-15% elemental affinity bonus for all elements dependent on distance from the target, for a maximum of 15% elemental affinity if the target is within 1.93' from the player.

Reminder that spells like Comet, Impact, Aspir, and Death are darkness elemental magic and ARE enhanced by equipment that boosts darkness elemental affinity!

Cumulative Magic aka -ja Spells

Cumulative Magic, usually just called "-ja" spells, are a very important part of playing BLM and raising the entire party's damage for a specific element.

Each time a cumulative magic spell is cast, a hidden debuff is placed on the monster which makes the monster take 5% additional damage from damage of that element for 60 seconds. Each successive cast of the same cumulative magic spell on the same target (from any player) will increase this elemental damage boost by an additional 5% of base damage; however, the window is not extended and will end 60 seconds after the first cumulative magic spell hit the monster even if another matching spell is cast, unless you use Empyrean legs (Extends the window all the way to 110 seconds duration if using Wicce Chausses +3).

The total damage boost caps at 25%.

For example, assuming an initial casting damage of 1000 for Firaja, casting Firaja repeatedly within 60 seconds will result in damage of 1000, 1050, 1100, etc. Other fire damage, such as Fire IV or Wildfire, will also receive this damage boost (+5%, +10%, etc.) while in effect.

Firaja makes the target take 5% additional damage per cast
Blizzaja makes the target take 5% additional damage per cast
Thundaja makes the target take 5% additional damage per cast
Aeroja makes the target take 5% additional damage per cast
Stoneja makes the target take 5% additional damage per cast
Waterja makes the target take 5% additional damage per cast
Comet makes the target take 5% additional damage per cast

Technically speaking, you only need to have your Empyrean legs equipped on the first cast of Cumulative Magic, but since the Wicce Chausses +3 are BIS for both Free Nuking and Magic Bursting, you don't have to worry much about swapping.

Death

Death is a spell with very different mechanics that are worth knowing more about.

Death has a chance to instantly KO the enemy, though this does not affect NMs. If your enemy is not killed, the damage formula is:

(Current MP×3 + Magic Damage)×(MAB/MDB)×(Affinity)×(Day/Weather)
- Note that the Magic Damage in the above formula is capped to 32

You need at least 1 MP to cast Death, and using it expends all of your current MP, even if you have Manafont or Manawell up.

Part of the trick to using Death properly is to build specific sets that ensure that you have the highest possible MP prior to use - this is why you'll see BLMs in specific Idle sets that maximize MP, and cast Death using a specific Precast set that retains as much MP as possible so that your MP isn't cut before you even cast the spell.

Meteor

Unfortunately, the coolest and most visually spectacular spell that Square-Enix added to the game has very limited use in endgame.

Meteor is unique in the fact that it's a non-elemental elemental magic spell - meaning that it uses your elemental magic skill to calculate its damage, but it is typeless and cannot be resisted. It does require you to use Elemental Seal before casting, so consider it on a 10-minute cooldown. It also takes eons to cast - consider building a precast set for this spell that crams in as much Quick Magic gear as you can.

Unlike other nukes, elemental magic skill contributes directly to Meteor base damage, and the damage is independent of the enemy's INT.
- Meteor's base damage can be approximated as: (1+MAB/100)*floor(INT + Elemental Magic Skill/6)*3.5

Meteor is however worth discussing for at least one specific use-case: the Sortie D & H bosses.

If the fight with either of the Sortie D & H bosses go awry, they use a special ability called Vivisection - this is a full dispel on the party that also removes the NM's elemental weakness, meaning that all of your other spells do pitiful damage... with the exception of Meteor, as it's typeless damage! If the boss is low health and gets off Vivisection, consider using Meteor - it could save the run or at least dramatically save time for the fight to recover!

Impact

Impact is a very special spell that can only be cast if you're wearing one of two particular and difficult to acquire pieces of equipment - these cloaks must remain equipped both for the precast and midcast periods:

Twilight Cloak
Crepuscular Cloak - 119 version so has much higher MACC and stats

Impact is an ALL STATS DOWN debuff on the target that deals dark damage and lowers an enemy's Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Agility, Intelligence, Mind, and Charisma.

Each of the target's base stats is reduced by 20% of the value at the time of cast.
- Stat values are snapshotted on cast, so Impact will have the highest potency if applied before other reductions such as Elemental Debuffs, namely Burn.

As you might imagine, this can be incredibly potent and can dramatically raise damage against certain NMs, in particular the Sortie C and G bosses.

Impact's maximum duration is 3 minutes, though if resisted the duration will be cut drastically. Since this is an elemental magic spell, a combination of elemental magic skill and magic accuracy is highly encouraged to ensure that this great spell lasts as long as possible against foes with high magic evasion. It's worth coordinating with a Red Mage in your party to have them cast Frazzle III on the enemy first before using Impact.

Equipment

Weapons


File:Eminent Staff icon.png Eminent Staff	An iLvl 117 staff acquired from any Sparks Vendor for 7,000 Sparks.
File:Homestead Staff icon.png Homestead Staff366px link=	An iLvl 119 staff acquired from Craggy Bluff in Eastern Adoulin for 3,000 Bayld.
File:Kaladanda icon.png Kaladanda366px link=	The JSE weapon crafted by Oboro in Port Jeuno. Though easily acquired, probably not worth the gil investment as better staffs are easier to get with less effort.
Xoanon	The final stage of the Ambuscade Staff, certainly not worth the investment for just BLM, but if you already have it, it will serve your BLM until you get a better weapon.
File:Lathi icon.png Lathi	Either drops from Yilan, a Geas Fete NM in Escha - Ru'Aun, or purchased using Domain Invasion point from Zurim in Norg, this staff will be a staple in your collection for a long time especially when starting out. Easily acquired after two or three days worth of bonuses from Domain Invasion runs. Path A: MP +80, INT +20, Magic Attack Bonus +20 Path B: MP +80, Magic Accuracy +20, Fast Cast +5% Path C: INT +15, Magic Attack Bonus +15, Magic Accuracy +15 Path D: Magic Accuracy +20, Enfeebling Magic Skill +15, Dark Magic Skill +15
Reikikon	Drops from Kouryu, a fairly difficult Geas Fete NM in Escha - Ru'Aun. Unrealistic that you'll get this while gearing up BLM as a first job, but if you have it it's excellent until beaten out by a Keraunos with ideal augs.
File:Keraunos icon.png Keraunos366px link= {{#replace:INT +17, MAB/MAcc +20\|,\| }}	Alluvion Skirmish weapon - you can pick this up upon doing Intermediate ROEs too and it's a very worthy upgrade. Augments are random from the Adoulin Inventor's Coalition so your luck on getting nice augments may vary.
Grioavolr	Obtained from Geas Fete NM Bashmu from Reisenjima, or in exchange for 800 Domain Invasion Points. Not as good as Marin Staff +1 in most situations, unless you get really really lucky on augments from Oseem. You can also try to augment this during Dark Matter Augment campaigns, where theoretically you can break the normal stat limits and get a very powerful staff if you're lucky. Possible Oseem Augments include: Magic Attack Bonus +1~30, Magic Accuracy +1~30, INT +1~20, Magic Burst Bonus +1~10%
File:Marin Staff +1 icon.png Marin Staff +1 {{#replace:R15) INT/MND +10, Acc/MAcc +40, MAB +40\|,\| }}	Best pre-REMA staff and pretty easily achievable thru Unity Accolade NM Vedrfolnir. Shoot for this to have a capable weapon for endgame BLM.
File:Contemplator +1 icon.png Contemplator +1	While this staff is tied to Tumult Curator, it is still one of the best staves to have in your arsenal especially when you are getting heavily resisted. It's Magic Accuracy is one of the highest in the game, especially for Enfeebling Magic, all wrapped up in a nice little package. Rank 15 Augments: Magic Accuracy +70, Enfeebling Magic Skill +20, MND +10
Mpaca's Staff {{#replace:R30) Acc/MAcc +15, MAB +30, INT +5\|,\| }}	You're able to purchase the R0, unaugmented staff after clearing the Odyssey Sheol Gaol NM, Arebati. After killing Arebati V5+, you'll acquire RP that you can then spend to augment this staff. Even after acquiring REMA weapons, Mpaca's Staff can be a great balanced weapon for bursting Death.
Hvergelmir366px link= {{#replace:R15) DMG: +10, "Myrkr" potency +10%, MP +30\|,\| }}	Empyrean Staff. Best staff for Death and a great all-around option for Fast Cast/faster recast on spells.
Khatvanga366px link= {{#replace:R15) DMG: +8, "Shattersoul: damage +10%, Acc/MAcc +30\|,\| }}	Aeonic Staff. Fantastic staff for Occult Acumen sets and for weaponskills that favor TP bonus such as Cataclysm and Earth Crusher. Useful for strats that utilize Death as you can cast in Occult Acumen set, use Myrkr to recover MP, and do it all over again.
Laevateinn (Level 119 III)366px link= {{#replace:R15) DMG: +26, Vidohunir: Damage +15%, Acc/MAcc +30\|,\| }}	Mythic Staff. Second best damage option and competitive while you have AM2 active. Best magic accuracy in the game. Vidohunir can do big damage against darkness weak enemies, so it's absolutely worth building a set for when using Laev.
File:Opashoro (Level 119 III) icon.png Opashoro366px link=	Prime Staff. Absolutely the apex for damage output for the mage jobs that can use it. Aftermath is more easily achievable and consistent than with Laevateinn and greatly improves damage output.

Sadly, Claustrum is not even worthy of an honorable mention - the Relic Staff isn't even remotely competitive for casting magic, though it is a very high accuracy melee option if you are looking for an extremely niche melee build. Probably not worth the investment for any real purpose in-game.

Ambuscade Capes Recommended Priority List

WIP:

Free Nuking/Magic Bursting: INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, Magic Attack Bonus +10
Fast Cast/MP/Idle: MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, Fast Cast +10%, Damage Taken -5%
Occult Acumen: INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, Store TP +10
Vidohunir/WS: INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, Weapon Skill Damage +10%
Melee TP: DEX +20, Acc +30, Atk +20, Store TP +10
Midcast Death: MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, Magic Attack Bonus +10
Stun/Enmity: Macc +30, Mdmg +20, Enmity +10

Recommended JSE Armor Priority List

Artifact Armor

Spaekona's Attire Set
Item	Upgrade?	Notes
File:Spae. Petasos +3 icon.png Spae. Petasos +3366px link=	No
File:Spaekona's Coat +3 icon.png Spaekona's Coat +3366px link=	Yes #1	Absolutely essential for Free Nuking and MP management: Converts 2% of elemental magic damage dealt to MP. Get ASAP
File:Spae. Gloves +3 icon.png Spae. Gloves +3366px link=	Yes #3	Nice piece for both its magic accuracy and elemental magic skill, used for Elemental Debuffs like Burn and for Impact
File:Spae. Tonban +3 icon.png Spae. Tonban +3366px link=	Yes #2	Drain/Aspir set
File:Spae. Sabots +3 icon.png Spae. Sabots +3366px link=	Maybe	Magic Bursting until replaced by Empyrean boots and/or Agwu

Relic Armor

Archmage's Attire Set
Item	Upgrade?	Notes
Arch. Petasos +3	No	Cannot find a reason to pick this up - even if you do use Ancient Magic, the benefits from its MB bonus are outweighed by gear that provides Magic Burst Bonus II. Save your time and gil.
Arch. Coat +3366px link=	Yes #3	Great for extending Manafont duration and for Idle Refresh until you get the Empyrean +3 chest or Shamash Robe
Arch. Gloves +3	Maybe	Magic Bursting piece before you get Empyrean +3 and/or Agwu's
Arch. Tonban +3366px link=	Yes #1	Get ASAP to enhance Burn and Elemental Debuff spells. Also a decent Magic Bursting piece until you get Empyrean +3
Arch. Sabots +3366px link=	Yes #2	Get ASAP to enhance Burn and Elemental Debuff spells. Also used for Aspir spells

Empyrean Armor

Wicce Attire Set
Item	Upgrade?	Notes
File:Wicce Petasos +3 icon.png Wicce Petasos +3366px link=	Yes #5	Great for Free Nuking and for DT
File:Wicce Coat +3 icon.png Wicce Coat +3366px link=	Yes #2	Essential for Magic Bursting and Idle Refresh sets (debatable between this and Shamash)
File:Wicce Gloves +3 icon.png Wicce Gloves +3366px link=	Yes #4	Great for Free Nuking and for DT. Magic Critical Hit is a nice added bonus, but not as good as it sounds as a default "magic crit" only adds +10 Magic Attack Bonus when it procs, so this piece would make a 13% chance for an extra 23 MAB.
File:Wicce Chausses +3 icon.png Wicce Chausses +3366px link=	Yes #1	Essential for Magic Bursting and for Cumulative Magic (-ja spells)
File:Wicce Sabots +3 icon.png Wicce Sabots +3366px link=	Yes #3	Essential for Mana Wall use and for DT. Great for Magic Bursting until you replace with high augment Agwu's.

Note that ALL of the Empyrean Armor +3 is BIS for Free Nuking not only because of the stats on them but also because of the Empyrean Armor Proc wherein when Conserve MP is proc'd, extra damage is calculated based on double of the MP conserved.

Other Essential BLM Gear

Hachirin-no-Obi

Hachirin-no-Obi is absolutely essential and it's highly recommended to have your Gearswap LUA automatically equip it while nuking when the weather conditions are met. It's a tremendous damage boost and should be paired with Klimaform either you cast as /SCH or cast by a SCH in your party.

Weather Damage bonuses are as follows:

+10% bonus for the element matching the day
+10% bonus for the element matching single weather
- +20% when both single weather and Iridescence procs
+20% bonus for the element matching single weather and day
- +30% when both single weather and Iridescence procs
+25% bonus for the element matching double weather
- +35% when both double weather and Iridescence procs
+35% bonus for the element matching double weather and day
- +45% when both double weather and Iridescence procs
The element that is weak to the day/weather can suffer the same percentage as above as a penalty
- e.g. can get -10% during weather.

Grips


Alber Strap	Drops from Warder of Courage, Geas Fete NM - great Magic Attack Bonus
Thrace Strap	Drops from Yakshi, a Geas Fete NM - useful if you're chasing maximum Conserve MP for Empyrean Armor Procs.
Khonsu	Best Magic Accuracy and comes with bonus DT. Definitely a contender if you don't have REMA and MACC is an issue.
Enki Strap	Drops from Glassy Gorger in Omen - probably the best overall grip.

Gearsets

WIP to create new sets and recommendations for subjobs, Ambuscade capes, and other sets. Edits welcome but should not be unilaterally deleted without replacements in place.

Precast Sets

Note: BLMs receive the Elemental Celerity trait, which provides 30% faster casting (38% when mastered) for specifically elemental magic. However, this does NOT grant faster recast after you're done casting this spell. If you'd like to take advantage of this, you can only have 42 Fast Cast in your Elemental Magic Precast set and fill in the other slots with -DT and Magic Evasion gear.

Precast

Capped FC

Impatiens
Merlinic Hood
- Oseem Aug - FC 6%+
Zendik Robe
Merlinic Dastanas
- Oseem Aug - FC 6%+
Agwu's Slops
Merlinic Crackows
- Oseem Aug - FC 6%+
Voltsurge Torque
Malignance Earring
Loquac. Earring
Weather. Ring +1
Lebeche Ring
Shinjutsu-no-Obi +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, Fast Cast +10%

Notes:

If you chose another Adoulin ring, can replace with Kishar ring

Impact Precast

Impatiens
Crepuscular Cloak
Merlinic Dastanas
- Oseem Aug - FC 6%+
Agwu's Slops
Merlinic Crackows
- Oseem Aug - FC 6%+
Voltsurge Torque
Malignance Earring
Loquac. Earring
Weather. Ring +1
Lebeche Ring
Shinjutsu-no-Obi +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, Fast Cast +10%

Notes:

If you chose another Adoulin ring, can replace with Kishar ring

Death Precast


File:Amalric Coif +1 icon.png			File:Loquac. Earring icon.pngFile:Loquac. Earring description.png
File:Ros. Jaseran +1 icon.png	File:Agwu's Gages description.png	File:Mephitas's Ring +1 icon.png
File:Taranus's Cape description.png	File:Shinjutsu-no-Obi +1 icon.png	File:Psycloth Lappas icon.png	File:Amalric Nails +1 icon.png

Sapience Orb
Amalric Coif +1
- R15 - MP +80
Ros. Jaseran +1
- R15
Agwu's Gages
Psycloth Lappas
- Path D - MP +80, FC +7%
Amalric Nails +1
- R15 Path A or B - MP +80
Voltsurge Torque
Malignance Earring
Loquac. Earring
Mephitas's Ring +1
- R15
Lebeche Ring
Shinjutsu-no-Obi +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, Fast Cast +10%

Midcast Sets

For all Free Nuking/Magic Bursting sets, the Wicce Earring +2 is BIS as long as it has 9 or higher INT in its augment. However, this isn't included in the below sets due to its extreme rarity. If you're lucky enough to get the drop and then the necessary augment, use the JSE+2 in your right ear and the Malignance Earring in your left ear.

Midcast Free Nuking Sets

Free Nuke

Sroda Tathlum
Wicce Petasos +3
Spaekona's Coat +3
Wicce Gloves +3
Wicce Chausses +3
Wicce Sabots +3
Src. Stole +2
- R25
Malignance Earring
Regal Earring
Freke Ring
Metamor. Ring +1
- R15
Acuity Belt +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Notes:

-Ja spells, or "Cumulative Magic" are fantastic to raise damage of a specific element against the target. You should always endeavor to keep its effects active against the target, and using Empyrean legs keeps the effect window active for longer.

Free Nuke - Comet

Sroda Tathlum
Pixie Hairpin +1
Spaekona's Coat +3
Wicce Gloves +3
Wicce Chausses +3
Wicce Sabots +3
Src. Stole +2
- R25
Malignance Earring
Regal Earring
Archon Ring
Metamor. Ring +1
- R15
Acuity Belt +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Notes:

Many people don't know that Comet is a -ja spell, or "Cumulative Magic", where each use will increase darkness elemental magic damage against its target.
This has particularly great use in Sortie basement NMs for darkness-weak NMs and to increase the damage from your COR's Leaden Salutes.

Free Nuke - Death

Ghastly Tathlum +1
- R15
Pixie Hairpin +1
Amalric Doublet +1
- Path A R15 - MP +80, Macc +20, MAB +20
Amalric Gages +1
- Path A R15 - MP +80, Macc +20, MAB +20
Amalric Slops +1
- Path A R15 - MP +80, Macc +20, MAB +20
Wicce Sabots +3
Src. Stole +2
- R25
Barkaro. Earring
Regal Earring
Archon Ring
Mephitas's Ring +1
- R15
Shinjutsu-no-Obi +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Free Nuke - Meteor

Ghastly Tathlum +1
- R15
Wicce Petasos +3
Arch. Coat +3
Arch. Gloves +3
Wicce Chausses +3
Arch. Sabots +3
Src. Stole +2
- R25
Ilmr Earring
Regal Earring
Freke Ring
Metamor. Ring +1
- R15
Acuity Belt +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Notes:

Meteor is calculated a bit differently and weighs elemental magic skill heavily (see section above)
Amalric Gages +1 Path C are better here, but Path A is better for Death so takes priority.
Spaekona's Gloves +3 work great here too if you don't want to bother making Relic hands purely for a niche purpose like Meteor.
Agwu's Slops are very marginally barely better at R30, but you really can't go wrong.

Midcast Magic Bursting Sets

Magic Burst Damage and the Merit category for AM2 bonus caps at 40%. The Magic Burst Bonus trait, Job Point category, Gifts, and Magic Burst Bonus II are not subject to this cap.

Starter Magic Bursting Sets

Magic Bursting - Beginner

Elder's Grip +1
Floestone
Jhakri Coronal +2
Witching Robe
- SR Augs - MACC/MAB +15
Helios Gloves
- Inventor's Coalition Augs - INT/MAB/ConserveMP
Mallquis Trews +2
Jhakri Pigaches +2
Mizu. Kubikazari
Friomisi Earring
Barkaro. Earring
Mujin Band
Locus Ring
Hachirin-no-Obi
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Notes:

First real benchmark to aim for, assuming you can grind up in Ambuscade for a nice cape and pieces of armor.
If you lack access to the Avatar Prime fights, you can use Witchstone instead
Archmage's Gloves +1 (Relic Hands) are certainly better, but since you don't really need the +3 for endgame up to you if you want to invest to making these.

Magic Bursting - Intermediate

Elder's Grip +1
Ombre Tathlum +1
Merlinic Hood
- Magic Burst Damage 1-11%
Amalric Doublet
- Path A
Amalric Gages
- Path D
Merlinic Shalwar
- Magic Burst Damage 1-11%
Merlinic Crackows
- Magic Burst Damage 1-11%
Mizu. Kubikazari
Friomisi Earring
Barkaro. Earring
Mujin Band
Shiva Ring +1
Refoccilation Stone
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Notes:

Once you start feeling comfortable doing harder content, this is a decent "intermediate" touchpoint.
Even if you cannot yet conquer the Geas Fete fights the Merlinic gear drops from, you CAN grind up Domain Invasion and acquire these pieces with DI points.

Magic Bursting - HQ

Enki Strap
Ghastly Tathlum +1
- R15
Merlinic Hood
- Magic Burst Damage 1-11%
Amalric Doublet +1
- Path A
Amalric Gages +1
- Path D
Merlinic Shalwar
- Magic Burst Damage 1-11%
Merlinic Crackows
- Magic Burst Damage 1-11%
Src. Stole +1
- R15
Friomisi Earring
Barkaro. Earring
Mujin Band
Metamor. Ring +1
- R15
Acuity Belt +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Notes:

This is where your gear options start opening up with Omen, UNM, and Geas Fete progress. Investing gil to get the +1 Amalric gear will be a huge upgrade and will come in handy for a few other sets like Myrkr and Death.
For your neck slot, feel free to keep your Mizu equipped if you don't want to shell out the gil for the +1 and instead want to save up for the +2 that you'll be using later on.

Magic Bursting - HQ2

Enki Strap
Ghastly Tathlum +1
- R15
Ea Hat +1
Wicce Coat +2
Amalric Gages +1
- Path D
Wicce Chausses +2
Merlinic Crackows
- Magic Burst Damage 1-11%
Src. Stole +2
- R15
Malignance Earring
Barkaro. Earring
Freke Ring
Metamor. Ring +1
- R15
Acuity Belt +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Notes:

Once you start learning Sortie and accumulating galli, you'll finally be able to grind and upgrade your most important pieces of gear - Empyrean Armor. The +2 is a huge upgrade and will be great until you accumulate the galli and starstones to upgrade your gear all the way up to +3.
The JSE+2 neck is very important but extremely costly to purchase and to augment.

Magic Bursting - BIS

Ghastly Tathlum +1
- R15
Ea Hat +1
Wicce Coat +3
Agwu's Gages
- R20+
Wicce Chausses +3
Agwu's Pigaches
- R25+
Src. Stole +2
- R25
Malignance Earring
Regal Earring
Freke Ring
Metamor. Ring +1
- R15
Acuity Belt +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Notes:

Wicce Earring +2 is better than Regal if you're lucky enough to have one drop

Magic Bursting - Death

Ghastly Tathlum +1
- R15
Pixie Hairpin +1
Wicce Coat +3
Agwu's Gages
- R20+
Wicce Chausses +3
Amalric Nails +1
- Path A R15 - MP +80, Macc +20
Src. Stole +2
- R25
Barkaro. Earring
Regal Earring
Archon Ring
Mephitas's Ring +1
- R15
Shinjutsu-no-Obi +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Midcast Other Sets

Burn & Elemental Debuff

Pemphredo Tathlum
Wicce Petasos +3
Spaekona's Coat +3
Spae. Gloves +3
Arch. Tonban +3
- Increases Elemental Magic debuff time and potency
Arch. Sabots +3
Src. Stole +2
- R25
Malignance Earring
Regal Earring
Stikini Ring +1
Stikini Ring +1
Acuity Belt +1
- R15
Aurist's Cape +1

Notes:

Landing Burn and other Elemental Magic Debuffs can be devastating for the enemy - do not neglect to take advantage of this when you can! When merited and using the Relic legs and feet, you can reduce your enemy's INT (or other base stat) by -63 and deal 30 HP/tick over the course of 180 seconds for a total of 1800 damage!

Occult Acumen

Seraphic Ampulla
Mall. Chapeau +2
Merlinic Jubbah
- Oseem Aug- Occult Acumen +10-11
Merlinic Dastanas
- Oseem Aug- Occult Acumen +10-11
Perdition Slops
Merlinic Crackows
- Oseem Aug- Occult Acument +10-11
Src. Stole +2
- R25
Dedition Earring
Telos Earring
Crepuscular Ring
Lehko's Ring
Oneiros Rope
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, STP +10

Notes:

Swapping to your Occult Acumen set in a pinch will get you a ton of TP from your Free Nukes - you can use this TP to setup Aftermath, or to use Myrkr to recover MP

Enfeebling Magic

Notes:

Primarily for using Break, Breakga, and Sleepga II

Midcast Impact

Notes:

Requires further testing, but the community has theorized that elemental magic skill disproportionately affects the effectiveness of Impact. Aim for maximum magic accuracy and elemental magic skill.
Impact can also be cast using the non-ilvl Twilight Cloak if you lack access to the Crep Cloak!
Impact is dark elemental so can be hard to land on certain mobs.

Drain/Aspir

Rubicundity
- Macc+10, Dark Magic Skill +10, CMP +7
Ammurapi Shield
Pemphredo Tathlum
Pixie Hairpin +1
Shango Robe
Merlinic Dastanas
- Oseem - Drain/Aspir Potency +10%+
Spae. Tonban +3
Agwu's Pigaches
- R19+
Erra Pendant
Hirudinea Earring
Wicce Earring +1
- Macc +10-15
Archon Ring
Evanescence Ring
Fucho-no-Obi
Aurist's Cape +1
- R15

Stun Max Enmity

Notes:

Useful for when Mana Wall is active and attempting to build enmity

Spell Interruption Rate Down

102% SIRD

Staunch Tathlum +1
Agwu's Cap
Ros. Jaseran +1
- R15
Wicce Gloves +3
Lengo Pants
- SR Augments
Agwu's Pigaches
- R25+
Src. Stole +2
- R25
Malignance Earring
Halasz Earring
Freke Ring
Metamor. Ring +1
- R15
Emphatikos Rope
Taranus's Cape
- INT+30, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Notes:

For when you really, really don't want to be interrupted.

Conserve MP Nuking

81% Conserve
MP Rate

Notes:

Fun set to maximize the damage variance from the Empyrean Armor Proc - this set bonus provides a damage buff double to the amount of MP that was conserved. With all Empyrean armor equipped, you have a 25% chance of the proc activating.
Under ideal circumstances, theoretically you can achieve an average of 56.25% damage buff approx 20% of the time

Banish Midcast

Mes'yohi Rod
Ammurapi Shield
Hydrocera
Ipoca Beret
Vanya Robe
- Path C R15 - MND +10
Wicce Gloves +3
Wicce Chausses +3
Medium's Sabots
- SR Augs - MND+10
Jokushu Chain
Saxnot Earring
Regal Earring
Weather. Ring +1
Fenian Ring
Sacro Cord
Taranus's Cape
- MND+30, Macc/Mdmg +20, MAB +10

Notes:

If you're /WHM and want to do as much light elemental damage as possible against undead targets. Focus on MND and Divine Magic Skill!

Idle Sets

Idle - Refresh

Refresh +14

Staunch Tathlum +1
Merlinic Hood
- DM Aug - Refresh +2
Shamash Robe
Merlinic Dastanas
- DM Aug - Refresh +2
Assid. Pants +1
- R15 - MP +20
Merlinic Crackows
- DM Aug - Refresh +2
Sibyl Scarf
Halasz Earring
Nehalennia Earring
Stikini Ring +1
Stikini Ring +1
Shinjutsu-no-Obi +1
Taranus's Cape
- MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, Fast Cast +10%

Idle - Death

Ghastly Tathlum +1
Wicce Petasos +3
Ros. Jaseran +1
- R15
Spae. Gloves +3
Amalric Slops +1
- R15 Path A - MP +80
Psycloth Boots
- R15 Path A - MP +50
Sanctity Necklace
Halasz Earring
Nehalennia Earring
Mephitas's Ring +1
- R15
Mephitas's Ring
Shinjutsu-no-Obi +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, Fast Cast +10%

Mana Wall Tanking

50% DT Cap
95% ManaWall Cap

Archmage's Staff
- Path C - MP +75, “Mana Wall” +20%, Damage Taken -12%
Oneiros Grip
Staunch Tathlum +1
Wicce Petasos +3
Wicce Coat +3
Wicce Gloves +3
Wicce Chausses +3
Wicce Sabots +3
Unmoving Collar +1
- DEF +30, HP +200
Hearty Earring
Ethereal Earring
Defending Ring
Supershear Ring
Plat. Mog. Belt
Taranus's Cape
- MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, Fast Cast +10%

Notes:

You can cap the Mana Wall stat using the SU4 weapon, so buying the SU5 weapon for the purposes of using it for MW is a total waste of gil.
Using a lua that locks all of your sets while Mana Wall is active is highly recommended

Melee & Weaponskill Sets

Melee TP

Amar Cluster
Nyame Helm
- Path B
Nyame Mail
- Path B
Nyame Gauntlets
- Path B
Nyame Flanchard
- Path B
Nyame Sollerets
- Path B
Combatant's Torque
Telos Earring
Crep. Earring
Chirich Ring +1
Lehko's Ring
Olseni Belt
Taranus's Cape
- DEX +20, Acc +30, Atk +20, Double Attack +10%, PDT -10%

Notes:

If you chose a different TVR ring from Lehko's, can substitute with Petrov Ring or another Chirich Ring +1, and importantly you should use Gazu Bracelets +1 fully augmented to cap haste.

Melee TP - Laev AM3

Max STP

Laevateinn (Level 119 III)
- R15
Bloodrain Strap
White Tathlum
Telchine Cap
- DEX/Acc/STP Augments
Wicce Coat +3
Wicce Gloves +3
Jhakri Slops +2
Battlecast Gaiters
Combatant's Torque
Telos Earring
Crep. Earring
Chirich Ring +1
Lehko's Ring
Patentia Sash
Taranus's Cape
- DEX +20, Acc +30, Atk +20, STP +10, PDT -10%

Notes:

With AM3, you'll want as much Accuracy and STP as you can muster. Other Telchine pieces can be used over the Wicce +3 pieces for more STP if you don't need as much accuracy as what's listed here.
If you chose a different TVR ring from Lehko's, substitute with Petrov Ring or another Chirich Ring +1, and importantly you should use Gazu Bracelets +1 fully augmented if you do not have Lehko's to cap haste.
The ambuscade back augment shows PDT -10% rather than DT -5% because shell grants varying levels of MDT-, up to 29% with Shell V. That means with Shell V, you only need MDT -21% to reach the MDT cap of -50%.

Melee Hybrid - Laev AM3

Balanced Acc/DT

Laevateinn (Level 119 III)
- R15
Bloodrain Strap
Amar Cluster
Wicce Petasos +3
Wicce Coat +3
Wicce Gloves +3
Wicce Chausses +3
Wicce Sabots +3
Combatant's Torque
Telos Earring
Crep. Earring
Chirich Ring +1
Lehko's Ring
Olseni Belt
Taranus's Cape
- DEX +20, Acc +30, Atk +20, STP +10, PDT -10%

Notes:

For when you're meleeing in risky or AOE-heavy situations and can sacrifice offense for survivability. You won't be doing any DPS when you're dead!
If you chose a different TVR ring from Lehko's, substitute with Petrov Ring or another Chirich Ring +1, and importantly you should use Gazu Bracelets +1 fully augmented if you do not have Lehko's to cap haste.
The ambuscade back augment shows PDT -10% rather than DT -5% because shell grants varying levels of MDT-, up to 29% with Shell V. That means with Shell V, you only need MDT -21% to reach the MDT cap of -50%.

Vidohunir

Laevateinn (Level 119 III)
- R15
Enki Strap
Ghastly Tathlum +1
- R15
Pixie Hairpin +1
Nyame Mail
- Path B
Nyame Gauntlets
- Path B
Nyame Flanchard
- Path B
Nyame Sollerets
- Path B
Src. Stole +2
- R25
Malignance Earring
Regal Earring
Epaminondas's Ring
Freke Ring
Orpheus's Sash
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmb +20, WSD +10%

Notes:

Other options if you have not yet RP'd your Nyame include the Jhakri Cuffs +2 and the Empyrean +3 equipment

Myrkr

Strobilus
Amalric Coif +1
- R15 - MP +80
Amalric Doublet +1
- R15 - MP +80
Spae. Gloves +3
Amalric Slops +1
- R15 Path A - MP +80
Psycloth Boots
- R15 Path A - MP +50
Dualism Collar +1
Nehalennia Earring
Moonshade Earring
- TP Bonus +250
Mephitas's Ring +1
- R15
Mephitas's Ring
Shinjutsu-no-Obi +1
- R15
Taranus's Cape
- MP +80, Macc/Mdmg +20, Fast Cast +10%

Notes:

The only stat modifier that helps Myrkr is maximum MP, but you'll want to be careful not to take a bit hit while you're in this set mid-cast.

Cataclysm

Sroda Tathlum
Pixie Hairpin +1
Nyame Mail
- Path B
Wicce Gloves +3
Nyame Flanchard
- Path B
Nyame Sollerets
- Path B
Saevus Pendant +1
Malignance Earring
Moonshade Earring
- TP Bonus +250
Archon Ring
Epaminondas's Ring
Orpheus's Sash
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmb +20, WSD +10%

Notes:

Dark elemental magic so affinity rules apply. For when you're using a subjob that unlocks Cataclysm access

Earth Crusher

Sroda Tathlum
Agwu's Cap
Nyame Mail
- Path B
Wicce Gloves +3
Nyame Flanchard
- Path B
Nyame Sollerets
- Path B
Quanpur Necklace
Malignance Earring
Moonshade Earring
- TP Bonus +250
Freke Ring
Epaminondas's Ring
Orpheus's Sash
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmb +20, WSD +10%

Notes:

Earth elemental magic so affinity rules apply.

Spiral Hell

Drepanum
Rigorous Grip +1
- R15 - STR +15, Atk +30
Oshasha's Treatise
Nyame Helm
- Path B
Nyame Mail
- Path B
Nyame Gauntlets
- Path B
Nyame Flanchard
- Path B
Nyame Sollerets
- Path B
Fotia Gorget
Ishvara Earring
Moonshade Earring
- TP Bonus +250
Ifrit Ring +1
Epaminondas's Ring
Fotia Belt
Taranus's Cape
- STR +30, Acc/Atk +20, WSD +10%

Shadow of Death

Pixquizpan +1
- R15 - DMG +36, Acc/Macc +40, MAB +50
Enki Strap
Oshasha's Treatise
Pixie Hairpin +1
Nyame Mail
- Path B
Nyame Gauntlets
- Path B
Nyame Flanchard
- Path B
Agwu's Pigaches
Saevus Pendant +1
Malignance Earring
Moonshade Earring
- TP Bonus +250
Archon Ring
Epaminondas's Ring
Orpheus's Sash
Taranus's Cape
- INT +30, Macc/Mdmg +20, WSD +10%

Notes: Must be subbed Warrior or Dark Knight in order to use this Weapon Skill.

Healing and Utility Sets

Curing

Capped
Cure Potency

Enhancing Magic

70+% Enhancing
Duration

Gada
- Oseem Aug - Enhancing Duration
Ammurapi Shield
Pemphredo Tathlum
Telchine Cap
- Enhancing magic duration +10
Telchine Chas.
- Enhancing magic duration +10
Telchine Gloves
- Enhancing magic duration +10
Telchine Braconi
- Enhancing magic duration +10
Telchine Pigaches
- Enhancing magic duration +10
Incanter's Torque
Calamitous Earring
Earthcry Earring
Stikini Ring +1
Stikini Ring +1
Embla Sash
Aurist's Cape +1
- R15

Tips and Tricks

Sortie

Black Mages are extremely valuable for Sortie endgame runs and on top of their usual role of Magic Bursting everything into smithereens, compiled below are a few tips for bringing the maximum utility to your team:

Most endgame Sortie groups split up at the beginning to accomplish objectives and receive Shard Key Items to gain access to Sortie's bosses. In just about all normal Sortie magic runs, the BLM will be solely responsible for accomplishing the A objectives:
- After buffing, run south from the start, pop Mana Wall, and round up 6 Acuex enemies. If you have a good Mana Wall set, you should be able to tank them with ease and lose minimal MP.
- Cast Firaja, Firaga III, and other AOE spells to get the 6 Acuex enemies down to 20% or so HP.
- Do not kill any enemies with AOE spells; instead, swap to single target Fire magic and kill them one by one.
- You should spawn chests containing Ra'Kaznar Shard A and Ra'Kaznar Metal A, as well as a bonus blue chest that has a chance to drop an Old Case.
- If you are lucky enough to see the roaming NM Obdella, you'll easily be able to tank it in your Mana Wall set and Free Nuke it to death for another chest.
After A objectives are done, many parties start the boss order with D. If so, keep going south and join the rest of the party at the D boss.
For all bosses, it's wise to save your SCH a strategem and use Manifestation and cast Klimaform on the entire party. Since Klimaform's duration and potency are set, you're better off using it and allowing your SCH to have a better strat economy.
Specific tips and tricks for each boss:
- D/H bosses change their elemental affinities, so you'll have to quickly cast the opposite element to proc the boss. However, if the boss uses Flaming Kick or Icy Grasp, you CAN and SHOULD land Burn on the boss to raise the rest of the party's damage. If you are unlucky enough to cause the boss to use Vivisection, you should Elemental Seal then Meteor to either finish off the boss or at least speed up the end of the fight.
- A/E bosses are pretty simple and you should just Burn and burst Fire or Earth spells (up to your party's preference)
- B/F bosses alternate between electric hands (use Earth magic) and wind hands (use Ice magic). Annoying if you lose stacks of your -ja magic when it alternates, just soldier through it.
- C/G bosses are susceptible to Impact if you have access to it, and it is extremely potent. Save Burn until after you land Impact as it'll overall lower more INT in that order. It's recommended to pop Elemental Seal if you have it up before using Impact on the G boss to ensure it lasts the maximum duration.