FFXIV: Dawntrail Pictomancer 1 to 100 Leveling Skills Guide

[@WeskAlber]

I mean, buffing every other job is technically a nerf!

[@dragonriderabens9761]

well, you're not wrong XD

[@maccasbasement2027]

yeah but buffing everything is bad. It leads to powercreep

[@sirlenemodesto2665]

Did any of your opinions on the jobs change after getting to actually play with them properly and on dawntrail content wesk?

[@sirlenemodesto2665]

Well besides Viper's current asassination attempt that is

[@TheSkewedReality]

​@@maccasbasement2027 how so? PvP runs on a separate skill system. If you mean old content becomes easier, it's always been that way. For instance running syrcus tower on launch vs now is trivial. It's not the buffing or changing of jobs that changed it, it's been how gear has been synced down.

[@JayShay]

"you have a lot of time to FORGET to paint it" truer words have never been spoken

[@iPlayOnSpica]

Something Wesk didn't mention but is useful to perceive how the job works at lvl 100: PCT is a checklist job, not a cooldown job. What I mean is, the order in which you do things is completely up to you, as long as you properly setup and execute your 2 min burst, but you also cycle your Muses between bursts to prevent capping their charges. During your burst, you are free to change the order you cast things for movement. The Hammer combo does not interact with your Hyperphantasia circle, which is super useful knowledge for movement heavy burst windows: you get up to 3 gcds outside your circle before you get back inside and cast your Comet/Subtractive/Star Prism.

[@desubysnusnu]

Truly love how Picto and Viper feels so different than other jobs.

[@strf90105]

@@desubysnusnu viper feels like reaper, but it's all enshroud

[@desubysnusnu]

@@strf90105 it felt unique before the rework 😭

[@Sketchblopp]

As an irl pictomancer I really have to thank you a lot for this "from this .. to this" part of this video. ♥ (And as in game pictomancer for the guide in general. Was wondering about a good timing for Holy in White and Rainbow Drip.)

[@MysticLuka]

This is super late but Holy in white is only worth using if you really need to move. Technically, on single target using it at all is a dps loss, but it's a VERY tiny dps loss (because it doesn't generate resources like your usual 3 part combo does). Rainbow drip is only used as a prepul spell to start your opener at ~4 sec on the countdown, and also when you have the instant cast version after using up your Starry muse charges

[@Sketchblopp]

@@MysticLuka Thank you!

[@falxblade1352]

0:19 an absolutely legendary take

[@desubysnusnu]

based af

[@ElPrezAU]

You love to see it. :)

[@Deode-d4h]

You would think this is a black mage guide considering the amount of heat he just dropped.

[@xArchStanton11x]

Ive been religiously checking youtube everyday for this guide lol (take your time with the guides of course). Thanks wesky

[@NoQvod]

This. I've been checking for this guide since day 1

[@nick_as_tolliver]

I love your guides, and your tone of voice as you walk us through jobs. I discovered you in Endwalker when I first returned to the game. Stepped away again for most of the updates prior to Dawntrail, but now that I've returned again, am so glad to rediscover you! Thank you for the great content

[@Genesisxx]

You're my hero Wesk! I've been waiting for your picto guide, because your guides are always the easiest to understand with how my brain works 😭

[@ArceusShaymin]

Fun fact: Swiftcasting a Motif spell gives you a - not just possible, but *comfortable* - triple-weave window. If your internet is absolutely insane, you might even manage a quad-weave. I like using Swift in the opener/2 minute on Wing Motif to triple-weave Starry Muse, Wing Muse, and MotA. This frees up a lot of brain space for if a section has movement during that time, since that's pretty much all of the weaving out of the way up front so I can move around all I want without having to think too hard about the opener. That's what I like about PCT - it's a very freeform job. Outside of the opener/burst (and even within it to an extent) you have a LOT of freedom to do flex to whatever the fight asks of you. Heavy downtime/no movement required? Paint! Need movement right now? Holy/Coment/Hammer have you covered (and Tempera in case you fucked up), and if you somehow ripped all of those already, you can Swift a Subtractive spell since it's on a 40 second cooldown now. The dark spells are even *juuuust* short enough that you can move and not clip a GCD if you're slick with your slidecasting. All you need to do is make sure you have all your biggest buttons ready for when the 2 minute rolls around again.

[@ArceusShaymin]

Also shoutouts to the PCT designers for putting not only both Mog Muses and MotA, but ALSO Hammer Time AND the Dark Palette spells in by level 60! Palace of the Dead might actually be super fun with this job! VPR could've learned a thing or two on that front...

[@AC-mp6xe]

@@ArceusShayminExactly my thoughts , PCT is my all time favorite job

[@Bladehound83]

@@ArceusShaymin I've been watching streamers using picto in PotD. It's really goddamn strong. The only thing keeping it from being objectively better than MCH is that it has cast times.

[@Traminer]

Have been waiting for your guide to start lvling PICT!

[@GeriAttric]

I was waiting for this one, thank you Mr. Alber!

[@TheSadJamaicanDude]

You have helped me with every job I play with these guides. Thanks!

[@Paeoniaes]

Thank you so much for your job guides! I wasn't sure how to play Pictomancer when I first started leveling. The brief tutorial from the job quest was okay but didn't explain much. And I was waiting for your in-depth guide. xD You are an awesome teacher! Thank you for explaining each ability and spells in a way where it's much easier to understand! I'm definitely coming back for the Viper guide.

[@ProfessM]

Thumbs up for the message at the start and your nice art.

[@estherahn5882]

Wesk, thank you so much for this guide! Your job guides are so extremely helpful and easy to understand!

[@misterc1099]

I've been holding off on getting pictomancer until this channel updated. Silly me i missed the date by 3 weeks! But thats how much I trust this channel in being a clear and concise guide

[@spriddlez]

I'm a veteran... but I'll be honest.. without WeskAlber I wouldn't know how any job worked 😅 Ty for helping my head wrap around skill interactions

[@TheFrantic5]

Motif preperation is now the most obvious argument against chain-pulling.

[@Deode-d4h]

What is chain pulling? Is it different from wall to wall?

[@daniellucas5522]

@@Deode-d4h Chain pulling is where you take the last few mobs from one pull into the next without finishing them off. W2W is just pulling everything available in an area before killing them. Most of the time it's impossible to chain pull and W2W because of the wall, but sometimes only a specific mob needs to die for the wall to open.

[@Deode-d4h]

@@daniellucas5522 Thanks for the info. I think I'll just stick to w2w, or one pack at a time if someone wants the scenic route. It's simpler that way.

[@Rayhaku808]

Thanks for this. I primarily play tank and always W2W but there are actually exceptions. All of which are in ARR. Due to Healers kits and Tanks kits not having much, and a lotta newbie DPS not doing too much. Better off just finishing the last mob if I have a PCT in my party.

[@Janfey]

Came to check if this was out and it was, only 31 minutes ago. Couldn't be better timing.

[@TheRismint]

Thanks again for another stellar guide! I thought I understood the job well enough, but you've taught me some crucial things that I overlooked, such as aoe only being worth it on 4+ targets, and Hammer Stamp having that guaranteed Direct Crit.

[@iblank7]

i'm doing my part to help with the algorithm. great guide as always!

[@melissab6938]

I was so confused when I unlocked picto. Thank you so much for this! I think I still need to experiment to understand fully, but I feel so much more comfortable (and all my buttons are where they should be).

[@iPlayOnSpica]

Who else is thankful PCT got untouched in 7.05? 😂 Tangent aside, your guides and your efforts that go into them are appreciated!

[@cynthiacheung4140]

Thank you. This is the only guide which I understand what picto is doing!

[@daniellucas5522]

While this is the one class guide I don't need due to picto being really intuitive (might peep at what you use hyperphantasia on prior to unlocking comet just to be sure), I'll always like and comment a WeskAlber levelling skills guide. Thank you for your service to this community.

[@domsquared]

Yessss, I've been waiting for this - you spoil us :) Thanks as always

[@HurrikanEagle]

As a tank, thank you for saying "and pls don't blow all y our stuff the moment the tank is grabbing aggro and running to the next pack". I don't have issues on DRK, because I can usually throw a flood in there. But as PLD, it can be a struggle. Bonus points if you say the same thing in your SMN (WHY ARE THE POPPING AKH MORN ON THE FIRST PACK!) and DNC videos, I'd love you even more than I already do.

[@Everlarke]

My favorite job. It feels like an actual caster while having unique utility and quick options via your motifs and your muses, while doing fantastic damage; not to mention, I absolutely love its visuals, from the elemental attacks (we can finally attack with water magic!) to the art we render! I'm looking forward to what they do with it in 8.0, like giving it another Weapon or Landscape Motif.

[@MystiInferno]

It's here, it's here, it's here!!!!

[@reykas_]

Yessss I was waiting with leveling picto until you made this video! Looking forward to it 😊

[@einwol]

Thank you. Such a great guide. So clear and concise!

[@NewbDragoon]

A nice time to re-up any of your Palettes is, counter-intuitively, DURING movement! At least with swiftcast, anyways. If you know you'll be doing a lot of moving, swiftcast a palette - you'll need to spend time moving anyways, so this gives you time to focus on that without it being "wasted" since you'll need to wait on the palette cooldown. This can be useful for fights without any "proper" downtime, or on fights where you know there's going to be a huge amount of movement (and thus you may wind up running out of holy in whites / hammer charges). Another great time to cast them is during gaze attacks. Since you'll need to face away at some point, you may as well face away and spend a bit of that small "downtime" preparing a palette. These are somewhat small optimizations, but being able to optimize in this way is what makes this my new favorite job - you can actually make decisions about when to use your abilities, and those decisions matter quite a lot!

[@Sketchblopp]

Thanks for the reminder! When it comes to casters, I have been playing SMN since Shadowbringers and I am often hesitating in using Swiftcast because "I might need it for a raise". (Ofc I use it for Slipstream when the fight runs smooth.) Picto doesn't have a raise, but the instinct to save it is still there...

[@haque3791]

Finally, the video that I have been waiting for.

[@davialmeida6566]

Commeting for engagement metrics.

[@Delaqua.Gaming]

Brillant guide as always. thank you

[@Keaton_Ambrose]

YESSS I've been waiting for this! Thanks boss

[@NotTheWheel]

These guides are always great - god bless Wesker you always make the best stuff keep at it 💙

[@andreadigney6247]

legit been waiting for this before picking up PCT

[@oTheDucky89o]

We need more guides! All hail WeskAlber

[@BeckyScottFairley]

I managed to get my skills set up thanks to this video. your way of explaining works well for my brain...not sure if I am feeling Pictomancer at the moment for my magic main but I am going to try it since I like it at least more than BLK.

[@Asmov]

BLM*?

[@ryebread7562]

Thank you for the video made things a lot easier to understand

[@Brawneteer]

Hell yeah PCT guide. What's the next one going to be? I'm gonna make the assumption that it'll be DRG, but be pleasantly surprised at literally anything else because content is content. Personal take though, hold off of BLM since they seem to like making changes 😂

[@FishSkeleton-]

I'm not sure if I'm going to pick up Picto. It's one of those jobs like Dancer and Ninja that I'm glad exist, and I like playing alongside of, but I don't think they necessarily fit my personal fantasy for my character well, or perhaps I don't think my character's aesthetics fit it too naturally. All the same, I'm really happy it got added. It's such a cool idea for a mage, and using a brush and palette for their weapon is downright inspired. If I could ask for just one change though, it would be decoupling those two things and making the palette its own offhand like Paladin shields, so we could pick our favorite of each and mix and match. Can't wait to see your updated guides for Astrologian and Monk, Wesk. Those two in particular kind of throw me after their alterations. Monk less so, but I feel like it's just different enough that I would like a more formal rundown, since I feel like I'm messing up a lot, like how I think(?) the new potencies mean Snap Punch and Demolish are better than Dragon Kick and Bootshine for Perfect Balance now, but Bootshine's critical damage bonus makes me unsure.

[@tsuruky88]

You have the best jobs guides. Thanks!

[@chaseh23]

THANK YOU WESK!!!

[@ShallieDragon]

Question: why isn't the Medine ability part of the opener? It seems like a pretty big hit. Is it better saved for later in the rotation?

[@WeskAlber]

@@ShallieDragon I think you missed the How to Activate part. Madeen is after a use of Fang, which is the 4th muse. You only get three charges at max. Better used for your later openers.

[@Everlarke]

You can't activate it during the opener.

[@OldSpaghettifactory89]

Checking this out to finally figure out whats proccing the free rainbow drip

[@SuperFanFiction]

Huh... color theory. R+G+B = White Fire in Red + Aero in Green + Water in Blue = Holy in White C+Y+M = Black Blizzard in Cyan + Stone in Yellow + Thunder in Magenta = Meteor in Black

[@LianaSunburster]

I could do with extra info on how to properly play, but this is the most fun I've had with a job since I pucked up DNC as my main, and this has since replaced that. The sheer joy i get from just thwacking giant creatures with a comically silly hammer is insane 😂

[@TheFrantic5]

Awesome, time to see if I guessed correctly on how to play this job.

[@Songfulfire]

The power of imagination is strong with this one.

[@dragonhearthx8369]

THANK YOU! Thank you for pointing out a healer pulling is bad. This week about 25% of the healers, i had, pulled before the tank. Then laughed it off when someone conplained.

[@corethunder3487]

fantastic work as always

[@Slydaa7]

I definitely need a second or third watch to grasp this job. Don't have this much trouble with other jobs.

[@sakanaPSD]

WE STAN YOU ARTIST

[@keiyangoshin3650]

Thank you for this guide! 👍 Hopefully with your help I will finally help me to make something of Pictomancer. 😂

[@hockey1973]

Guides by the GOAT. DT Edition.

[@MGlBlaze]

Always nice to see people coming out and saying "Hey AI art is kind of terrible actually. Like, fundamentally." Regarding bad pictomancers blowing their load mid-pull and ripping aggro away from the tank before the enemies are even all grouped up, I'm reminded of Summoners doing the same thing in Endwalker. They made me get in to the habit of pausing to hit each pack with a second GCD aoe hit before moving on to make sure I really had aggro.

[@just_d3spairity]

Because of how unlike BLM, PCT has such long recasts on all of its skills like the Motifs or Rainbow Drip, I like using Swiftcast to make things like Tempera Grassa happen without risking dropping ABC, or firing off Drip when the bad tank instant pulls with no warning. I also knew it was unoptimal but sometimes when shenanigans occur and I'm risking all my Muses overcapping but they're all ready I'll use swift to give myself the massive amount of weaving room 4-6s recast gives.

[@Lukanaya]

8:20 while it is true that using holy in white is a dps lost, it's only a .6% dps loss if you use all HiW stacks compared to a fight where you don't, according to the balance. it's a dps loss still, but it's not significant enough to where you have to worry about it

[@hsgregorius]

The best Picto guide! I've been checking since the Viper guide release 😂. Anyway, I'm kinda new to ffxiv, so what is that potion thing next to holy in white on the lvl 100 rotation?

[@Dendrago0]

That's a tincture :D You won't have to use them outside of high-end stuff, but it's a potion that gives a 30-second boost to your main damage attribute on a long cooldown They're insanely powerful for openers and later burst combos further into the fight, and are expected for things like Savage and even some Extremes with tight damage requirements

[@Warman225]

Yeeeesssss!! Was waiting for this!!

[@sc5the]

wow i love art too and comp sci nice wesk

[@HippeusOmega]

First of great guide, thank you! I did have a question, though. Should I follow this opener or more of the 7.05 one? I'm asking cause your opener seems like it's a lot easier where it flows a lot better. At least IMO, but they seem to have 2-3 different openers for Picto.

[@WeskAlber]

I was not aware they changed the opener. This one is fine, you'd want to look into updated openers for being optimal

[@IKMcGwee]

I did the 80-90 on launch, but i felt like i was missing something. Its the last magic dps i have to get to 100, so this will help!

[@desubysnusnu]

The only issue i have with this job is that Comet in black looks more like Comet in purple

[@OpXarxa]

So... the algorythm might have decided to hate you. Your new job guide videos(and only those; I was still seeing your other videos) have not been showing up in my subscription list at all; I only saw this video existed by it getting reccomended after watching a different xiv video. Glad to know you've started on them though, I'm almost done leveling the older jobs and if picto and viper are anything like reaper and sage, I *will* need a guide to make sense of them

[@WeskAlber]

And you were checking kzbin.infosubscriptions correct?

[@OpXarxa]

@@WeskAlber yup, I know the frontpage algorythm is a mess, that's nothing new not the first time there's videos missing from it, just caught my attention that *only* these guides were consistently missing from your entire output

[@WeskAlber]

@@OpXarxa Is AST there?

[@OpXarxa]

​@@WeskAlber just checked sub feed again and scrolled down to 3 days ago, ast video 2 days ago isn't there. This was literally right after clicking on your channel link and seeing it there, too. definitely wonky algorythm, though can't say if it's universal or it's just on my end for ignoring too many xiv guides that show up in my reccomendations.

[@GarnetDust24]

I really wanted to hate picto after what they did to black mage but it’s genuinely a fun class to play.

[@jereXIX]

Finally, I can play PCT :)

[@BHS289]

Sending extra motivation to Wesk for when they have to completely re-record the Viper vid ;-;

[@wolffster25]

What did you name the art piece in the intro? And what was your inspiration if any?

[@Justminish]

Love your Videos

[@sneakydoggo5989]

Am I anywhere near close to dawntrail? No Do I have an active plan to play as Pictomancer? Not really Do I even own dawntrail? No Do I still watch this entire video? Absolutely, No questions asked

[@coolrocksounds]

Don't dally, shilly shally.

[@Seth6097]

Joined a party with wesk today 😁😁

[@OmniVirusHS]

Drip the Rainbow, Taste the Rainbow.

[@EinsiJo]

Would you say it's worth it using swiftcast in the opener to paint wing motif faster?

[@Castersvarog]

Tbh you’d be better of using it else where, it just gets the cast out sooner but the rotation won’t change, you’re still waiting 3 seconds. It’s great for weaving though

[@Shakzor1]

better use it when you gotta use it for movement. You still got the GCD, so you'd just wait anyways

[@adribones]

Wesk is the Chad.

[@CenKyne]

I feel like picto is what black mage should have been, biggest booms in the game while chargin ya laser, opposite of machine gun summoner

[@lemontonk]

w wesk art

[@Rayhaku808]

Did you pick Decisive Battle BGM because O6 is Walmart PCT?

[@WeskAlber]

"Walmart PCT" That's literally the fight in FF6 based around Relm

[@zoraprime886]

What medicine/meal are you using in your rotation

[@WeskAlber]

The best ones available at a given time

[@miaryoku]

yay!!

[@chrispysaid]

Pictomancer is job like Summoner

[@dragonhearthx8369]

You losing that 2nd mog hurt me. Even though i know its an example.

[@JMChatman]

Iiiiits happening!

[@JNexTV]

Are you redoing the Viper guide because of the changes?

[@aidanmillow566]

He added in the notes for that video that he likely would.

[@valeriethistlewind]

lesbian seal of approval, thanks for all ur hard work over the years

[@DevilSeiji]

\o/

[@holmesholmes.8784]

and it is still not nerfed, how is the blm going ?

[@greendayfan1041]

i hate how they give you jobs at high levels. i get they want you to be able to play the new job at the start of the expansion, but its hell on new players.

[@WeskAlber]

@@greendayfan1041 people complained that level 30 for hw jobs was too low

[@greendayfan1041]

@@WeskAlber ya i get why, but it feels like iv bought a level skip whenever i try to pick up the expansion jobs. part of the point of leveling in mmo's is to learn how to play the new job. i wish the jobs just came with an optional level skip or some thing instead.