Dawntrail Black Mage Advanced Guide for Level 51-100: Endgame Opener and Rotations Included!

Level by level, I explain how the tools of the Dawntrail Black Mage works, including Opener examples and rotations at every 10 levels! This culminates in an explanation of how to play Black Mage at max level going over the Opener, general rotation, 2 minute burst options and also going into the stat priority options of the job.
Dawntrail Black Mage starter guide for level 1-50: • Dawntrail Black Mage S...
If you want to go the extra mile, I also have a guide on 6 tips to help you master the Mage DPS Role:
• 6 Great Tips for Maste...
Other Relevant Subjects for further learning:
The Global Cooldown and more: • 10 More Mechanics in F...
Global Cooldown Short: • Crucial Mechanics to M...
Weaving Short: • Crucial Mechanics to M...
Slidecasting Short: • Crucial Mechanics to M...
Discord Community Server, come hang out:
/ discord
You can also support me on Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/caetsuchaiji
Twitter: / caetsuchaijich
Music Used:
FFXIV Dawntrail - Starless Skyline
#ffxiv #dawntrail
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:41 Level 51-60 Blizzard 4 and Fire 4
05:09 Level 60 Summary
06:21 Level 61-70 Triplecast and Polyglots
09:01 Level 70 Summary
10:00 Level 71-80 Despair, Umbral Soul and Xenoglossy
11:44 Level 80 Summary
12:18 Level 81-90 Amplifier and Paradox
14:23 Level 90 Summary
14:47 Level 91-100 Astral Soul
16:58 Level 100 Opener
18:38 Level 100 General Rotation and Two Minute Burst
21:16 AoE Adjustments
21:34 Stat Priorities
23:33 Fun Fact

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Here are all the significant changes to the game since the release of this guide: 7.01 Patch Notes: Umbral Soul, which previously was a level 76 spell, has been moved down to level 35. You need to be in Umbral Ice to use it, and it simply increases your Umbral Ice state by 1, and recovers MP as if you cast an Ice Spell to do so - so like casting Blizzard 1 but with no target. When running between fights, use Transpose to switch to Umbral Ice and then repeatedly use Umbral Soul. When downtime presents itself in a fight, you can do this too. At level 58, where Umbral Hearts are introduced, Umbral Soul is upgraded to also grant you one Umbral Heart per use. This does not change how you use it.

[@ZGaMeR2k3]

Wow, thanks for writing this! I was looking up umbral soul in the video and was wondering how to use it but you already explained how to use it after the update today! :) Thanks for your skill and rotation videos by the way, I'm a lvl 54 Black mage at the moment and I only know how to play because of your videos. Thanks again and keep it up! Your channel is an amazing resource for all (new and old) black mages out there!

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

@ZGaMeR2k3 I'm glad you found it helpful! Thank you! 😄

[@user-ss9me7se5q]

*SONG* 21 Job guides in dawntrail to goooo, 21 job guides in dawntrail! Made a black-mage guide thats the best! 20 job guides in dawntrail to go.... :P ---- Thanks for the video again m8!

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

21 kinds of jobs on the wall, 21 kinds of jobs! Take one down, guide it around 20 kinds of jobs on the wall! 🤣

[@user-ss9me7se5q]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh Yeah your rhryme is better :P

[@ForbidenNinja]

Great stuff, TY for the guide!

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

I'm glad to hear that you found it helpful! Thank you! :D

[@crystaldiamanda2137]

I love your guides. Cannot wait to see scholar, summoner and pictomancer :)

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear that! 😄

[@SummonerGER]

So one Lvl 100 opener i experimented with (even though it feels awful), was Fire 3, High Thunder (Weave Ley Lines + Amplifier), 2x Fire 4, Xenoglossy (Weave Triplecast), Fire 4, Flare (to get max my gauge) and Flare Star, followed by Mana Font and then our normal fire/ice rotation That got me very similar results to doing a normal Ice opener at least I got to 1% on Stone, Sky, Sea lvl 100 Extreme Trials with that Flare opener, only using EW food as a fresh 690 ilvl and no potion ( Also i just realized after watching your gameplay in the background while you explain stuff, that i very often forget to Transpose before Fire 3ing when i have a free cast, for some extra potency... That alone might've been enough to beat Stone, Sky, Sea back then :'D )

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

It makes sense it would give you similar results! 😊 The unfortunate reality is that if you replace the flare and flare star with F4 and despair, you gain 10 potency 😰 While it would be a "slower" opener, given it adds a GCD to it, if you replace the despair here with flare, you could then do flare star (since that should bring you to 7 astral soul stacks) and then continue the rotation, however this would also impact where you place triple casts i suppose, and it might get extremely tight on time then! 😅 And yes the F3 trick could give you a bit extra! 😁

[@SummonerGER]

​@@CaetsuChaijiCh oh true, i didn't even pay too close attention at the potencies there 🤣 At least now i know for sure F4 + Despair is always gonna outdo Flare + Flare Star 😅 It just.. feels bad to cast more F4 and Despair, when you end up not even getting the juicy Flare Star. But on the other hand, i believe the "optimal opener" is always gonna depend on the length of the fight, if you wanna minmax (or the mechanics of the fight, like the with Valigarmanda EX at the start, where you cant Ley Lines on pull, because you have to move very early. There it felt alot better to open "slower" with ice and "delay" fire a little until i can place Ley Lines) And sometimes it might not even matter if i do extra F4's before Despair on the opener, because (in theory at least) you could very well end up spending exactly those F4 GCDs you didn't do on your opener, with more F4's at the end of a fight instead. BLM is such a love/hate relationship for me, where it feels awkward for a while until you really learn a fight, and then it feels amazing to play :'D Thanks for the input btw!

[@Marcomax742]

Thank you for the guide. I was hoping to level Black Mage before the changes but didn't get a chance. I've been spending the bulk of DT level the job and it's been really fun. Even finding work arounds when I'm low on MP between dungeon pulls. I know a lot of the changes have been controversial and they're still working out the kinks with the new MP system, but I think there's something here worth building on. They've already anounced a few changes to BLM with easier MP management at lower levels and increased potencies. But I wanted to get your opinion on two other pieces of criticism that have been swirling around. 1: Any Fire spell in AF should provide stacks of Astral Soul. 2: Any Spell cast in UI should restore MP

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

I feel that if *any* fire spell should grant astral soul, then flare star might need to work differently. And I don't think 6 works as the peak of its power. I also think there may be reason to say it has to be a spell that costs mp, otherwise Firestarter is going to be crazy! Any spell giving mp in UI i feel kind of defeats the purpose of umbral ice. Players that want this, I feel, mainly envision themselves casting xenoglossy every time. Couple that with the astral soul thing you mentioned, and incidentally it is very easy and totally possible to get six astral soul stacks without umbral hearts making blizzard 4 pointless 😅 That is of course just my perspective, and I understand a lot of players asking these things are doing so because they want flexibility. I just see that that flexibility is likely going to be used to make other parts of the toolkit obsolete 😕 With that said, I am glad to hear you are taking the changes in stride! I've also had fun relearning the job with the changes! 😊

[@raarasunai4896]

It ends. With BIG BANG ATTACK! Also a good thing to note, one of the announcements today said that Umbral Soul will be getting a level reduction in 7.01. No indication of how much, but the wording implies it will be learned at a lower level post-patch

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Indeed very true! I will mention it in a pinned comment when we actually have it! 😁

[@dillon268]

They did not say how they are changing BLM they just said they will address the issues but it would make sense to add a level reduction to umbral soul… or revert the dumb rework (jk it won’t happen)

[@raarasunai4896]

@@dillon268 I personally like the rework, other than the loss of Ice Paradox. I know my opinion on the matter is a rather unpopular one, but I stick by it.

[@shinywhimsicott3047]

​@@raarasunai4896I also like the rework (other than the loss of ice paradox) so you're not alone either

[@7Stark]

​@raarasunai4896 the only good thing about the rework was integrating sharpcast into paradox, which is the same reason they removed the enochian button. The Astral Soul mechanics are ass.

[@FubukiShiromiya]

Great guide! Would it make sense to use an ether single target to get another despair if you aren’t using a tincture?

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

If you can make sure you swiftcast so the ether is weaved properly then I can at least only imagine it is beneficial! 😊

[@FubukiShiromiya]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh thanks! I’ll give it a try!

[@Glennkabob]

They really gotta look at the potencies for blizzard 2 and fire 2 (and their upgrades), forgoing those spells for a umbral ice 1 freeze, transposing, casting flare twice, casting flare star, and transposing back is being considered to be more effective assuming you put instant cast spells before each transpose, I don’t know how that translates to lower levels or if it even does more potency per second in aoe

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

The key is that it still requires you to instant cast basically all of it for it to be a gain. Given that it is a specific circumstance I don't see an issue with leaving that as a beneficial strategy (it's like a vestige of non standard!) But on that note, I do think fire 2 and blizzard 2 deserves more potency!

[@Glennkabob]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh I really wish the calculation for the aoe potency per second was easier to clear confusion, but I'm still divided since on paper against a target, taking 6 seconds to do 200 potency to all targets vs taking 4 seconds to do 240 potency to the first target and 144 to the remaining targets...I dunno, this is nothing to mention of flare star's potency weirdness

[@prismriver659]

They tend to not touch BLM potencies per skill, and instead alter the damage modifier in Enochian. Enochian buff is not listed on the potencies so it can make it look kind of weird! But the damage does need a bit of work heh

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

@prismriver659 actually part of the reason for the problems with fire 2 and blizzard 2 going into dawntrail is that they nerfed both high fire 2 and high blizzard 2 from 140 potency to 100 potency! So while you are right they tend to not touch them, they have made exceptions! 😅 I believe blizzard 2 and fire 2 were also straight 100 potency before dawntrail while we are on the subject!

[@Glennkabob]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh they also nerfed Flare’s potency, while individually on tooltips flare was buffed, they took away Enhanced Flare which took Flare from I think 200 potency to 280 potency in Endwalker, now it is a flat 240 potency (ignoring fall off to other targets)

[@LarenzW]

Saved, now waiting on the AST guide😊

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Yay! 😄

[@KingEatable]

oh yeah, astro would be better then a new warrior guide XD i didnt think about that, i was thinking about my mains

[@citriosis]

​@@KingEatableAren't we all? Though I feel like I have an important guide and a less important guide to wait for (DRG and RPR respectively) lol

[@ThalesAstro]

Just a quick tough. In the end of the single target rotations, would it not be better to just go flare and flare star instead of despair and being halfway in the flare star gauge? Potency wise it would be better

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Flare taking a full extra second to cast I believe is the thing that makes the difference that makes it not worth it 😰 The important thing to keep in mind is potency per second in this case 🤔😅

[@caffiend81]

I have tried moving heaven and earth to get a 2nd Flare Star in the F3 opener and I couldn't figure it out (at least not in a way that wasn't a potency loss). I really wish SE would design around the F3 opener but they seem to be hard set on designing around the B3 opener.

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

I guess what it would take ultimately is if flare did enough damage on single target to make it not a loss! 😅 But that's so specific!

[@falcon43302]

Mana pots? Not sure how much Dawntrail pots give. Haven’t leveled my DoH yet

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

@falcon43302 some ethers give enough for one F4 cast, so if you could manage to do the manafont part of the opener without using paradox at all, so you have 7 F4s, this can be possible with Firestarter used cleverly. Then you can use ether into another F4 perhaps after the final despair letting you use astral soul again. Not sure where to get the instant casts for it from though, maybe a xenoglossy? Unfortunately, ether shares cooldown with tinctures, which are far more impactful. So this wouldn't be worth the effort 😅

[@thenameisgibz3343]

Thanks for the upload! One thing I’m confused about is why do you wait to cast ley lines before triple cast. Because ley lines is supposed to help reduce cast time while triple cast makes it instant. In other words wouldnt it be better to cast it after triple cast on cool down so it can last longer and speed up the fire 4s in the general rotation?

[@koshi-dono]

It reduces recast time too.

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Indeed, ley lines reduces both the cast and recast time! 😊

[@thenameisgibz3343]

@@koshi-dono Oh didn’t know that

[@itsrin868]

sorry if you've said this already.. But do you ever use a regular fire 1 during level cap rotations? level 100

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Due to how it would immediately make it impossible to reach flare star in that astral fire state, you would never do so under normal circumstances. However if something got completely in the way of your rotation and you had to refresh it and had no other options, it might be better? I just think at that point you would probably already have switched to ice to try and recover from there anyway! 😅🤔

[@brysonhunter3703]

I'm so amused at the idea of a genuinely viable AOE rotation being to use two triplecasts, swiftcast, manafont, and an ether to go Flare Flare FlareStar Flare Flare Flare FlareStar. This is the true black mage experience, ascending to the throne of Maximum Explosions Wizard

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Explosions! MORE EXPLOSIONS!! *I SAID MORE EXPLOSIONS!!!*

[@clackjaw4017]

@brysonhunter3703 this is what I've been doing for days now. It's quite fun when you have all the cds ready. Then on the next Astral fire phase I hard cast 2 flares, use foul to weave swift cast then flare star.

[@chump5876]

Dumb question. Throwing the sc after final f4 into flare over despair into flare star not worth it because of the slower start? I assume that it wont work because of the timeing required to squeeze in the potion/ keep the F4 rolling for the opening dmg. Just curious if you tested that.

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

This particular example has been calculated in the black mage community specifically because of the desire to have that extra flare star, but no, using flare instead of despair in this way is a loss by comparison unfortunately! 😢

[@chump5876]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh that's a bit sad 😢. It makes it feel like blm doesn't have the same payoff other jobs have by being lvl 100. GNB Feels so nice at 100, same with war.

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

@chump5876 aside from the janky optimized opener I feel blm is nice! But yeah it is weird! 😅

[@falcon43302]

I know it’s not optimal, but l found that when your in your astral fire cast 2 Fire IV then Paradox then 2 Fire IV then Fire 3 proc then 2 Fire IV and finish with Despair and Flare Star. You lose your instant Fire 3 to go back into Astral Fire but this provides more flexibility for movement and weaving Xenoglossy or Thunder procs.

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Of course, ultimately you need to use paradox and fire starter for when you need to move, but also refresh astral fire, so you could get very weird with it depending on your needs! 😊

[@lp1spiritguidance577]

So the opener from endwalker really has been extended I’m assuming? After manafont that’s when the endwalker opener comes back in?

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Not sure. I feel like after manafont is a bit of its own opener, but I guess it's slightly similar? 😅

[@lp1spiritguidance577]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh the only way I could have solved it thinking on my own is starting in ice at this point

[@KingEatable]

WAR next?

[@xl0v3u1314x]

Make a Pictomancer guide please

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

I'm working on it! 😅

[@cyphi474]

"Did you know...".... Retrace has no range limitation? :) Anyway. You still want cast fireIIs in your aoe rotation. It gives you time to get another tripplecast for flares. Its not fastest way, but more sustained, since hardcasting flare, flare, flare star is...ugh. Btw, did you know Ultima weapon prototype in Dun Scaith has Flare Star attack? Two proximity AoEs? About that opener, i have already seen it in another video....but problem is it demands pretty high spellspeed as its very intensive. Any small hiccup and you wont get despair out in time. I tried it couple times, without potion, and its only just. Im worried with potion, which takes little bit of time, it wont be reliable. I'll wait if something else shows up, so far there isnt much to find. So i stick to classic blizzard opener. Example would be ex trial 1. I start with b3, thunder, amplifier, b4, following with f3, f4, tripplecast because its time to run for the first mechanic, two f4s on the move to the edge, thunder, paradox, last tripplecast on f4....and since its time to run back to the centre, tripplecast, f4, swiftcast, f4, despair and flare star. Xenoglossy where time allows. Then boss use slow raidwide, so i drop ley lines, convert and do my rotation up to last f4 and despair(using fireproc in middle instead of paradox and paradox later, depends how it aligns), which is time to make another run to the edge. Sometimes you can cast flare star before dash, sometimes after which is harder because another mechanic, but you have fresh fireproc as backup. You really cannot do any complicated opener there, you have to try fit between mechanics best you can.

[@sgtass1]

oh shit fuck dude, Im levelling black mage rn and this was what I needed, waiting for you to do a monk guide too

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

I'm glad to hear it, thank you! 😄

[@thenameisgibz3343]

Another question is when on AOE rotation and I cast triple cast for two flares and manafont for an extra flare. Should I proceed to cast another flare for 4 instant flares?

[@clackjaw4017]

For aoe what I do if I have every cd ready I will high blizzard 2, freeze, high thunder 4, Leylines and amp, high fire 2, triple cast, flare, flare, flare star, then triple cast manafont, flare flare flarestar. The damage is super fun.

[@thenameisgibz3343]

I’m level 73 so I haven’t unlocked those yet, but I’ll keep this mind when I do

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

You could swiftcast for a fourth flare but you could also just cast the fourth flare normally! 😊

[@thenameisgibz3343]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh Ahh ok. So let’s say I don’t have a swift cast. Would you recommend using another triple cast or save it until the next rotation

[@brysonhunter3703]

​@@thenameisgibz3343if this is pre-100, you're not left with anything to do after that fourth flare other than B2+Freeze, so if you triplecast to make that fourth flare instant you're effectively wasting the other two instant spells on b2 and freeze. Seems like you would gain more from just using your second triplecast charge on your NEXT AF state. If this is post-100, the presence of Flare Star means you're only wasting one of the three, but again you could just triplecast your next AF and get 2 instant flares and a flare star, which seems to me like more of a gain.

[@flameonboi]

Did you know Black Mage is the top of the DPS cha- Pictomancer: Look at me, I'm the new top DPS chart now. I'm not the biggest fan of those mana regen changes, but I hope they just return the old one or give us something to easily regen back when we're not in battle. Especially those under lvl 50.

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Well, a job doesn't need to be at the top to be fun! As long as it is strong enough that it isn't getting excluded or something! 😅 I do hope we get umbral soul or something at lower level!

[@flameonboi]

@CaetsuChaijiCh true! Pray they just bring back ice paradox. Hahaha. 🥲

[@koshi-dono]

​@@CaetsuChaijiChthat's true, job is not completely useless if you like it and just want to play it. But for efficiency... all you can do is damage, and your damage is significantly less than brainless pew-pew picto with buffs, heals and mobility. So why? For what reason I should prefer blm if not just for lulz? It's just sad tbh

[@brysonhunter3703]

@@koshi-dono idk about you but, regardless of relative in-game power level, I would pick BLM over PCT any day of the week because It feels cooler and more fun to hit my opponents with elemental evocations that shake the screen with their destructive power rather than like. Moogles and cartoon hammers. I don't need the damage numbers to be higher to feel that way. (But also i do think pictomancer is a bit overtuned lol)

[@zakrios7389]

Thought they got rid of paradox??

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Only ice paradox! Fire paradox got quite stacked to compensate!

[@zakrios7389]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh huh? I mean the actual action paradox was removed..I’m confused on what you mean by ice and fire paradox

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Paradox, the action, was not removed. Commonly, we referred to paradox by ice or fire paradox because it functioned differently depending on whether you were in umbral ice or astral fire. Ice paradox has been removed, because paradox no longer works, at all, in umbral ice. Fire paradox got quite stacked, because it is now instant (which used to be something only ice paradox had), and it guarantees Firestarter instead of only having a chance. 😊

[@zakrios7389]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh you are correct..I was doing roulettes and didn’t realize I was under level 90..derp

[@BorgWolf359]

BM is OK but I think they should rename this job to Pyromancer! We are using more fire spells & less ice & lightening spells! It no longer feels good to play anymore!

[@Volcannon]

It's funny that youtube gave me this video despite the fact that you use keyboard, rather than a controller. Goes to show the state of google/youtube these days.

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Well unless you specifically looked for a controller guide, I don't see why the advice in the video couldn't be useful for you 😅

[@Volcannon]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh Right? I wish the search could be more useful, but alas, it seems either no-one has posted a video for it or google is just THAT incompetent.

[@KARADTZ]

Transpose into picto

[@pxprimary3790]

Just looking at that hotbar reminds me why I could never get into and enjoy this game. Having upwards of 36+ individual icons/buttons for playing some classes is just stupid. If they designed it properly (or re-designed) you could have the exact same classes with less than half the horrible UI and button bloat

[@ayauetoazumi6824]

Blm doesn't have many spells he just has random stuff on his bars all bunched together example he has return and sleep on his bars it's just the way he has it set up

[@skittlesindadum1625]

Back to Minecraft for you. It's really not that hard fam

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

While there are a lot of buttons, you can see in the demonstrations that I rely on about less than half of them to actively attack, and the rest are situational! 😊

[@pxprimary3790]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh Oh I know ;) I play FF way way back at launch, and off and on a few times since. One of the major reasons I finally "gave up" on it was the UI and all the buttons required for classes. Sure, you only need half of them for most fights... but half of 36 is still a lot. They need to evolve and improve the UI and general combat experience. More contextual abilities. Best example I have is feral druids in WoW. used to be that you had to have unique buttons for abilities when in stealth, abilities when behind, abilities when in normal form, abilities when in bear, cat, human, etc. Now, the bars change based on what "stance" you're in. Abilities do "backstab" damage if you're behind, otherwise they just do normal damage... stuff like that. Same functionality.... far fewer buttons!

[@ayauetoazumi6824]

@@pxprimary3790 so you want it dumbed down to wow standards haha play viper it literally gives you a glowie line to follow

[@jamesrickman6497]

It's a shame the class has been cut off non-standard and became so easy to play. They really need to stop removing complexity from everything and then top-loading (hah, get it) the fights

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

I know some players that enjoyed non standard loads that suggest the way you are forced to play it at max level, while less complex, is harder than non standard 😊

[@jamesrickman6497]

@@CaetsuChaijiCh I respectfully disagree. It's just more punishing but that doesn't make it harder

[@Pincsi01]

Harder definitely doesn't always mean more challenging in an engaging way. It can be harder in a tedious way that's unpleasant. ..Which is what I'm seeing here, particularly for ultimates. TOP was bad enough already, but without the tools of non-standard it's just a no, screw that. lvl70 ult blm in ew had a pretty bad rep, but it was actually quite alright, but until the umbral soul level reduction it's comedically unplayable right now

[@bulletzzz3]

As a BLM idk if the class feels boring or I just wanna try something new like picto for a bit 😅

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

With all the new stuff it wouldn't be surprising if you were more excited about different jobs!

[@fulgerion]

okay this is way too many different button pressing. There has got to be another way that have a better rhythm. This is far too complicated and clunky. as a BLM main, I'm quitting the class now LOL. This is overkill.

[@CaetsuChaijiCh]

Well, I mean... Mages are known to have a lot of spells, and you need separate buttons for each spell! ^^'

[@letherobr3178]

you change to Pictomancer, you welcome

[@leoli1589]

Calling this an advanced guide is a bit of a clickbait.