Easy Pictomancer Guide | FFXIV Dawntrail

Easy Pictomancer Guide is a Disciple of Magic job in Final Fantasy XIV. It is available as part of the Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail expansion, and unlocks upon acquiring the expansion, having a disciple of war or magic at level 80 and clearing its initial Job quest in Gridania. The job begins at level 80 and has no associated class.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:19 - The Three Canvases
0:23 - How To Moogle Blast
0:58 - How To Bonk
1:11 - Starry Sky
1:39 - Recap
1:48 - More Buttons!
2:33 - Pictomancer Rotation/Opener
3:13 - My Thoughts
Where to unlock Pictomancer in FFXIV
Pictomancer unlocks via a quest in Old Gridania. Before you head there, you’ll want to make sure you have met the following prerequisites:
You have one combat job at level 80 or higher.
You own the Dawntrail expansion.
Once you meet those two requirements, head over to Old Gridania and talk to the Cheerless Hearer NPC at the location below to accept the quest “The Joy of Pictomancy.”

[@pozziellen]

The party DON’T have to stay inside Starry Muse circle to get the 5% damage buff.

[@Alpacalips]

Ahh i see. I read the description which says this: “Render a star streaming sky over a magicked landscape, increasing damage dealt by self and nearby party members by 5%.” So i assumed it was referring to the circle itself as “the landscape” but you’re probably right

[@KazumiKiguma]

@@AlpacalipsThe circle is the additional Inspiration effect for the Picto alone. The biggest proof of this is that you get Starry Sky before the Inspiration trait, and it doesn't leave a circle but everyone nearby still gets a damage buff.

[@LucasBernardesRosa]

There's actually more wrong in here because he rushed the guide before even lvl90. Like, dude didn't even mentioned Comet in Black. And it's not just a lvl80 guide because the buff doesn't have the ground circle at lvl80.

[@psychomoon7185]

​@LucasBernardesRosa Its a "beginners guide" obviously is ment to help people pick up the job

[@Kamedouken]

@@LucasBernardesRosayo chill it’s just a beginner video I’m an actual raider and thought this was a good video cause I had no idea what picto was. Nice guy, nicely filmed, good video. Whyre you hating

[@SonOfYourFather]

What an awesome video, I’m amazed you managed to explain a class so effectively in just a few minutes when I’ve spent hours on longer guides just to come out as confused as I went in! Thanks for the great guide!

[@RicardoHernandez-ih1fp]

I have seen a lot of post about picto and most of them have made it seemed extremely overwhelming, but this made it easy to understand and actually exciting and fun!

[@Winter_RainVT]

They gave us a caster with flexible combos and not just a 5000 string stagnant combo like RDM that they just keep adding a final button to. I approve. Oh and it has an omnidirectional dash/gap closer. that's pretty sick.

[@Alpacalips]

I love the dash we got! I hope they give one to every job in 8.0

[@rockyoumonkeys]

@@Alpacalips This is what I said after Dancer, who has a similar dash. Hasn't happened yet.

[@Yokai_Yuri]

​@@Alpacalips hmm yes and no. Jobs must have something that makes them unique.

[@Xialoh]

@@Yokai_Yuri And there's no reason that something needs to be a dash.

[@grahastwink]

this made picto seem so much easier for me, thank youuu

[@Alpacalips]

Thanks!!

[@DrakeWurrum]

I posted this elsewhere, so I'll share it here. Playing with Picto at first, I couldn't really figure out how to structure the rotation at first relative to how other jobs are played... But then I finally managed to simplify it after getting used to the long cast times. There's plenty more "structure" to it than at first glance. The "Moogle buttons" are oGCD charges that hit hard - so keep it from capping, and try to otherwise save it for raid buffs. The "Hammer button" is your odd-minute burst. Use it on cooldown. The "shooting stars" button is obviously your 2-minute. Use it on cooldown, line up with party/raid buffs. All 3 buttons come with the caveat of needing to be prepared in advance by "painting" - don't wait to get the canvas painted or else your cooldowns drift. So "painting" is as much filler as your basic 1-2-3. You don't ever want to realize "Oh crap I need to paint the canvas" during the raid buff window. White Paint shouldn't be spammed, but it also hits for less than the CMYK buttons. Save it for when movement is needed or when you're about to overcap, but otherwise save it for turning into Black Paint (to use during raid buffs) CMYK combo (Anybody else notice the Y and M are BACKWARDS in the combo?!) shouldn't be spammed, but you also don't want to cap it. Only use it if it's about to cap or you're in raid buff window.

[@Kafaldsbylur]

> Anybody else notice the Y and M are BACKWARDS in the combo?! Yes! I noticed on day one of Early access and it irks me intensely considering it's a complete non-issue. (My theory is that the Aetherhue I and II buffs looked better as Green+Yellow and Blue+Magenta)

[@DrakeWurrum]

@@Kafaldsbylur - I choose to decide that RGB goes clockwise and CMYK goes counter-clockwise. (If you look up the images of RGB using 3 colored dots with CMY in the overlap between the dots, it makes sense)

[@Moonlight__vibes]

I played the job for a little while earlier & I was so lost, so many cool animations and I’m trying to puzzle 🧩 them up, this guide made things so much easier! Thank you 🙏

[@estgervone734]

I want to correct that the landscape buff is not everyone leylines but it's our leylines. Everyone outside the circle will still get the buff. We still need to stand in the circle because we get 5 stacks of hyperfantasia buff. Attacking with holy, black comet, star prism, and our three basic combos inside the circle will reduce the hyperfantasia buff. You will also notice the leylines will also pulse when we do those skills. When the buff ends, we will be able to cast star prism without cooldowns

[@JenniferDification]

I read all the descriptions (and was thuroughly confused) and filled my bar but had no idea how to do the big hits. Thank you for making it all make sense.

[@Athreous]

Thank you so much for the guide, made the rotation make a lot more sense to me!

[@damianjay24]

Thank you!!!! Only guide that made sense to me. Amen

[@markosmartong434]

You've made the easiest most understandable explanation of this job out of the several videos I viewed!

[@Alpacalips]

Thanks! That’s the goal. I’ll probably make one for each class so subscribe for those!

[@wampa7376]

You should always be weaving your creature motifs between GCDs. Always use Swiftcast for Wing and Maw motifs since the GCD is 4 seconds, so you have plenty of time to weave Mog of the Ages or Retribution of the Madeen during it.

[@crazylove610]

Thank you! This is the first guide that has made sense! I'm gonna go try it out now!

[@Alpacalips]

Glad I could help!

[@matthewvaldez2682]

thanks alot for this. i was feeling very overwhelmed

[@ivanhellsing007]

Straight to the point. Cool.

[@ellawheeler4713]

I love these quick guides very well done ♥

[@restlesstoaster]

Really like the way you’ve presented this new class! Nice and simplified! New subscriber here 👍🏼

[@almabjohnson4876]

This is super helpful, thank you!

[@Trent110000]

Swiftcast for painting the Wings is clutch

[@deddjay]

Was gonna say exactly this. It's not like we have a revive spell, so using swift for painting during the opener seemed best.

[@swyngman8165]

A-MAZING guide. Thank you

[@Oktobyr]

I was trying to find a guide to see how to play PCT and came here to find out essentially "do whatever makes you happy." I feel like PCT is going to be what any stressful day needs. Smash glowy buttons, do things, enjoy life, don't sweat the details. Just needs a coconut with an umbrella and we're set!

[@Shakada]

BEST explain!! thanks very much!!!!!! now i understand how to play!.

[@aw685]

Thank you!

[@Artahe]

The only question I have is, when inside the circle of joy, is it better to use the subtractive palette combo or the regular combo?

[@ayakoch.5394]

Love the video and also need to know the song used. I need it to play while bonking with my hammer!

[@Katazo98]

It was Shadowbringers I say when the classes started to feel the same since that when they got rid of what made some Healer classes Unique like Scholar had an AoE Esuna, or Astrologian Cards that grant mana regen and Haste.

[@flooft]

I loved that vidéo ! Thank you ! Is it really worth it to paint without the Instant Cast spell ?

[@MillieBoBilly]

Yes, because the moves you gain from painting do more than enough damage to compensate the time lost in casting it initially. Besides, even when you instant cast canvases, you still have to wait for the full gcd to be done before casting any other spells. That's why I recommend pairing swift with the wings canvas so you have the moogle wing and moogle beam available while you wait for the spells to come back. You can practically fit 4 off Global's within that window

[@flooft]

@@MillieBoBilly Yeah ok ! Thanks, canvas when the spell is ready ten ! Thanks !

[@rtbear674]

Pom > Starry > Hammer x3 > Swiftcast > Paint Wing > Wing activate > Beam I'm kind of confused with the performance of numbers though for something like boss fight. spikes very high, suddenly no damage. after buff end, just prep for the 3 again. unless you know there will be down time and can paint then.

[@N7Brook]

So I thought I am doing it wrong but it seems like its normal to don't do it in the "right" way

[@REMfakeplastictrees]

Tbh the only reason this feels different is because the 123 is one button and it feels fantastic. It’s still a “gain stack/points” “use stack/point” class but not making you go thru hoops for dmg feels great. If Tanks had this it would save so much space in hotbars

[@albertogreene8144]

Lvl 80 pic to here. When I cast starry muse I don’t see the “leylines” circle to stand in. But when I’m on other jobs I see them when other pics cast them. What am I doing wrong on pic please??

[@inverser361]

The leylines portion of it is unlocked at later levels, for now its just a party damage buff

[@GuruChaz]

Is this an easy to play class that is worthwhile in groups?

[@coffeencream5444]

I’m curious as to why we can’t go straight into hammer after casting the hammer motif Unless there is another weapon motif added, idk. The second action seems kinda pointless

[@Alpacalips]

I agree, the devs have some wiggle room for button bloat in the future. This might get patched out in 8.0

[@traugdor]

@@Alpacalips yeah it's almost like they wanted to make the job future-proof so that they could do more with it in later expansions.

[@ianperez6548]

This vid is so good, colorful simple and effective way to get the point across! I have started using Swiftcast only on the second Pom motiff. The Mog laster button is actually pressable while mostly everthing is not, saving me a few seconds!!

[@BrightNeonBrilliancy]

My question is, do we repaint our canvas mid battle or are the cast times not worth the dps loss? I'm honestly not sure.

[@Alpacalips]

@@BrightNeonBrilliancy considering that you can repaint a canvas during the cooldown, it will be pointless since you’ll still need to wait for the CD to finish. My suggestion to prioritize is: Canvas Attacks>Palette Attacks>Basic Attacks

[@spetsu1]

I just started leveling picto, but I never find a good time to paint the canvases during the fight since it always feels like a dps loss. Granted, I came in as a blm main, so if I wasn't casting and constantly dealing damage, I wasn't playing correctly.

[@jeffhourwang]

can u do this exact literal same thing for viper

[@Alpacalips]

Here’s my video on viper kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2m3eXaqrpx9jrM

[@craigtrish2011]

Why do people like you use 'literal' when it's not needed?? so annoying

[@KayoticK]

I absolutely love Picto! It was a little confusing at first, but I kept at it and eventually got the hang of it. It is easily my new main. I want to thank you for explaining a few things to me that I still didn't understand, but now do. (:

[@Valamist]

I started DT as a Viper, but quickly switched over to Picto once I unlocked it. It has seriously become one of my favorite jobs. I love the animations for a start, but 'rotation' is a breath of fresh air. It took me a while to work out when to long cast the canvas skills (Basically I make sure they are always there for when the CD runs out!) but I adore it. I hope it does not get nerfed as I have seen some say its OP.

[@christophermyers6372]

Getting Aion Painter vibes

[@Coolio_Ash]

Wait so i can. Just. Press buttons? I dont have to press buttons in an exact order with exact timing like a tryhard to not be blamed when the boss doesnt die?

[@MrOriginalDahudge]

You're still going to want to make sure you have your starry sky raid buff up for buff windows

[@yourroyaldorkness2814]

pictomancer is such a fun class!

[@WalterWhite-jz7ct]

Love Picto and the vid was well done, even if a little underdeveloped (This is more an "easy guide to lvl 80 Picto" but i digress) but don't kid yourself, there is ALWAYS a correct way to play any class... thats why we spend hours to perfect the opener and rota

[@Alpacalips]

@@WalterWhite-jz7ct thanks! The idea was to make a video to learn the fundamentals and basics of the class. I’ll leave the in depth guide to weskalber and the hardcore raiders.

[@awtodor]

BONK yep

[@SirStrikeFreedom]

What I love about this job is how simple yet fun it is. No crazy rotations. See something off cooldown? Use it. See your gauge is above 50? Use it? Otherwise mash one button until it is. Don't forget your Swiftcast

[@hissatsu31]

The opener is quite flexible, but yours is not good mate :)

[@PanterraSilverblade]

Kirby hammer

[@deliaseymour5578]

What I am getting from this is…. There are no mistakes, no wrong way to Pictomancer, just happy bonking accidents. You can add a moogle here, a bonk there, subtract and combo, and sprinkle some white Holy pain. But there’s no wrong way to Pictomancer, just happy times with your enemies lying in the masterpiece of their own corpse on the cold ground while you paint their tombstone and coffin to hide the evidence. UvU

[@marlougerona8479]

Yeah i agree, you wont see comment from others like "you doing it wrong" specially im a people pleaser i dont want my comrades to get mad at me..

[@deydraniasmith615]

Seriously? All jobs feel the same? Black Mage is so different from any job.

[@GoddessCynthia]

blegh, it's just so hard to find a way to be optimal without having a strict rotation. Stresses me out. Hopefully I can try my best to unlearn what the game has been telling me to do for the past two years lmao

[@craigtrish2011]

Then stop being ridiculous? its actually annoying how everyone only cares about being 'optimal'. Just play the damn game and stop being a try hard

[@GoddessCynthia]

@@craigtrish2011 ? I just don't want to be a detriment to my team? I want to not be the thing holding everyone back during raiding?

[@Kafaldsbylur]

@@GoddessCynthia The boss will still die if people do an acceptable but technically suboptimal damage. Until you hit enrages and your DPS is the clear reason why, panicking about optimal rotations is just an unnecessary stress

[@AnellornXIV]

Im main samurai and i feel like this job lacks of spells and feels too easy to play

[@Trinitas666]

Me simple brain, me like the bonk bonk.

[@cosmosnox6186]

I'll tell you guide for picto . Powerful burst opener lacks damage outside of it . Very lacking DPS in terms of damage outside of starry muse reconsider before throwing all your currency into a class that will outperform. Played 80-100 got geared somewhat I could and ended up 5-7 pos in raids..

[@adamstephens1548]

Picto takes timing skill cause without muses dmg is horrible

[@BaldingSasquatch]

every one of these videos is a dude speaking with a female character and they're all using their characters as if they're the ones talking like the format is the same every time and it's so lame

[@francisco7xj]

Horrible video. Wrong information about the actual rotation.

[@joalex79]

then say whats wrong with it

[@Alpacalips]

This is NOT a rotation guide, nor is it in depth guide. This is just a video explaining the basics of the job. For an optimized rotation, wait for Weskalber’s video

[@ryebread7562]

It’s a video just to get the basics down bud it’s not made to be a in-depth rotation guide

[@GuardianofAges2023]

Then make your own rotation video if you think you can do better. Geez, the game hasn't even been out a week and there's people like you that act like they know it all.

[@a_call_beyond3164]

Picto will be a game of timing, just like BLM. Especially in hard fights. You will have to figure out exactly when to paint your shit to not miss burst window and also provide your own buff for it. I'd argue it will be harder to play than BLM in savage content and extremes.