Red Mage Job Guide: Endwalker Changes, Rework, and Skills
The Final Fantasy XIV Endwalkeredition is receiving some serious upgrades. This hybrid class is still very familiar. This class is still a ranged DPS with a few melee moves and some healing. Because of this versatility, most FFXIV groups will be happy to have you join the fray. Red Mage’s increased damage will allow it to climb up the endgame damage charts, perhaps due to its higher potencies. Let’s look at the Job in our EndwalkerRed Mage Guide!
Let’s start with the basics.
- Remember your ABCs. “Always be Casting” is the utility of a damage dealer. It helps to clear content quickly. This means that you should always use your weaving and double-weaving abilities. Your faster, more basic Global Cooldown skills will reset.
- Do not be afraid to seek help in difficult situations. Be even more willing to resurrect. A Red Mage with a well-targeted Verraise can save the day. While the support skill will not get you through Duty Roulettes as fast as DPS, it may just earn you some commendations.
- A glossary of terms such as weaving and oGCD can be found in the FFXIV glossary.
Note: The FFXIV Job Guides for Endwalker were created based on the preview of the expansion. We may make minor adjustments after the full release based on new information and changes to the game with Patch 6.0. If you are only interested in Endwalker Job updates, we have a feature that details all new ranged DPS capabilities and reworks.
Dualcast for Duelist Class
Red Mage’s core is all about Dualcast, an exclusive passive ability that can be used at any level and unique to the Job. Dualcast is activated after a Red Mage casts any spell that has a cast time. It appears as a purple icon with a buff at the top and lasts for 15 seconds before it expires. Dualcast will launch the spell instantly if you are using another spell that normallyhas a cast time.
This theoretically means that Red Mages can cast spells twice as fast than other casters. However, keep in mind the global cooldown timer for Dualcast spells. After using a Dualcasted magic spell, it’s during this GCD downtime that you’ll be able to cast your most off-global cooldown capabilities.
Let’s get to know all the GCD spells quickly.
Jolt (Lvl. 1) is your basic damage spell. It’s a magic missile-like weapon. It produces two points White Mana and two black mana for the Balance gauge — the only Red Mage Job resource. It becomes Jolt I at level 62. This does even more damage.
Verthunder (Lvl. While it does more damage than Jolt, it takes twice as long for the spell to cast. It generates six Black Mana, and zero White Mana. Just like Jolt II’s Verthunder III (Lvl. The 82 does more damage.
Veraero (Lvl. 10) / Veraero III (Lvl. Verthunder 82 is nearly identical, but it produces six White Mana and zero Black Mana.
Scatter (Lvl. 15) divides the difference between Jolt or the proc-only damaging skills. It’s also an area-of effect (AoE), attack. Dualcast can offset the super-long cast time of Scatter. It generates three White and Black Mana, instead of one. Impact (Lvl. The higher-damage version at Level 66 is 66. It is identical to Scatter.
Verthunder II (Lvl. 18) is similar in damage to Jolt, but does more damage and costs less mana (normal, not the black and white stuff on you Balance Gauge). This spell does not hit in an AoE, and generates seven Black Mana. It does not create White Mana. This skill is rarely used except for groups of “trash mobs”, which can be found in dungeons. It also serves to balance the Balance Gauge, if you have any combos that aren’t working.
Veraero II (Lvl. 22) is nearly identical to Verthunder II but generates seven White Mana (Lvl. This is a rare resource, except for clearing dungeon garbage. Ex cept when your White Mana is lower than your Black Mana.
Verfire Lvl. 26) is a baby version Verthunder III. It does slightly less damage and generates five points of Black Mana instead of six. It does require half the casting time. You can’t cast Verfire without the 30-second buff, Verfire Ready. There’s a 50% chance that you’ll trigger or “proc” Verfire Ready every time you cast Verthunder.
Verstone Lvl. Verfire is White Mana’s equivalent to Verstone. It can only be cast if you have Verstone Ready, which has a 50% chance of procing after casting Veraero.
Vercure – Lvl. 54) sounds exactly like it: A small healing spell that works in tight spots. It activates Dualcast. To activate Dualcast, you can use it on yourself and an ally at any time (noticeably during downtime when a boss may not be targetable).
Verraise (Lvl. 64) allows the Red Mage to revive fallen allies. They are also the non-healer Jobs which can revive fallen friends during a fight. You can also use Dualcast to enhance this skill.
This is what you might be seeing. To trigger Dualcast, you will need to cast a weaker, less powerful Red Mage spell — usually Jolt I. Dualcast allows you to skip the normal windup and cast a longer, more powerful spell. It can be either Verthunder II or Veraero I. Verfire and Verstone trigger these spells to get Dualcast back. Dualcast can be reinvested into another Verthunder or Veraero, without the need to resort to wimpy Jolt II.
The Balance Gauge: A Balancing Act
In addition to the obvious damage increase, zigzagging between Veraero / Verthunder and Verfire/ Verstone has the added benefit of filling your Balance Gauge quicker. At any one time, you can keep 100 White or Black Mana. You can also power up the powerful three-hit Red Mage melee combo Riposte (Lvl. 1), Zwerchhau (Lvl. 35), and Doublement (Lvl. 50
This combo can be performed at any time, but the damage will still be terrible. However, the skills can temporarily be Enchanted Riposte and Enchanted Zwerchhau if you have enough White and Black Mana. To get maximum damage from each hit, you must fill your Balance Gauge to half the level. You can perform all three hits of this combo and you will consume 50 points of White Mana and Black Mana. This will allow you to switch back between spells until your tank is full.
Moulinet is also available (Lvl. 52, which is Enchanted Moullet when you have 20 points either side of your Balance Gauge. To deal damage in AoE cones, the enchanted attack uses 20 points from each side of the Balance Gauge.
Reprise (Lvl. Enchanted Reprise 76 is possible when you have at most five White or Black Mana. Each spell costs five of each. This is a weak melee attack that transforms into an instant, powerful ranged spell when “enchanted.” When you are unable to get near a boss to perform a melee combo or have the time to channel a longer ability, such as e.g. When you run away. You should not use it if it isn’t enchanted, just like the other skills in this section.
Cut to the chase (with a Big Z shape)
Red Mage has a simple set of skills, as with many expansion Jobs. Although the caster appears complex on paper, it is essentially a flowchart listing what you can and cannot do at any one time. These can be identified on your hotbar as procs. They appear in the form of golden, dotted lines circling around skills Verstone, and Verfire. You cannot use Verstone and Verfire without a matching Veraero, or Verthunder. These skills will appear unusable and grayed.
Which spell should you use for Dualcast? Verthunder II or Veraero II? Use the one that matches your lower Balance Gauge. Choose Veraero if your White Mana level is lower than your Black Mana. Then fish for a Verstone proc. Verthunder or Verfire will work if your Black Mana falls below your White Mana.
Your Balance Gauge should be kept well balanced. Your gauge will become unbalanced if the difference between White Mana and Black Mana is greater than 30 points . This can be seen by the crystal at the top of your gauge changing from blue to white. Unbalanced gauges will result in you generating less of the smallerpools of mana per spell until the bars are repositioned to within 30 points.
A uneven gauge can be fine. In fact, it is a good thing. An unbalancedgauge is bad in the FFXIVsense. Weaker melee combos mean less damage.
Moment-to-Moment Magic
You won’t have to worry about opening up, setting up teamwide buffs or popping potions. The most common way to play a Red Mage is the one below.
Jolt II- Veraero III- Verstone if procs, Verstone if procs, Verthunder III- Verfire if procs, and back to Jolt II in the event that nothing procs.
After you have cast a spell using Dualcast and cooled down, you can weave Fleche (Lvl. 45) and Contre Six(Lvl. 56) — Two very basic Red Mage oGCD magicks that only deal damage with 45-second cooldowns. A partywide damage buff is Empower (Lvl. 58 The buff decays over time. However, you should time it so that at least some of it is available during your melee combo. This is the highest DPS Red Mage can have.
Note: In the next section, I will try to show how Red Mage works. You don’t have to care too much about the numbers, but you can look at the combinations.
You can use the oGCD skill Acceleration (Lvl. 50) whenever it’s off cooldown. 50 This gives you three procs Verstoneand/or Verfire for your next three Veraero or Verthunder casts. This means you can generate Black and White Mana faster and Verthunder/Veraero will do more damage per second.
While you are using Acceleration, it is important to maintain an even distribution of White and Black Mana. A Verstone or Verfire proc will be guaranteed if your Balance Gauge is equal or slightly different. This happens after you cast Verflare (Lvl. 68 or Verholy (Lvl. 70) if your Black Mana level is lower than your White Mana or vice versa.
TL;DR: Verflare > White Mana Verholy = Black Mana >White Mana
Let’s now look at how Acceleration can help you get off-kilter. Below, the numbers in parentheses indicate how much White Mana (the lower numbers) and Black Mana respectively each spell generates.
If you have nothing on your Balance Gauge at the start, these spells will add up to 24 White Mana or 25 Black Mana depending on how Endwalker has changed. You can then use Corp-a-corps to enter melee range (Lvl. 6 is the Red Mage gap closer. This will allow you to enter melee range of your target. Final, activate Manafication (Lvl. 50 on the Balance Gauge, bringing you up to 74
This is enough White and Black Mana for the Red Mage to use his signature finisher. 50 and go straight into your melee combo. There are two main reasons you should wait.
First, Manafication cannot be cast before combat. This removes the “prepull” advantage of beginning to hardcast Jolt I, Veraero or Verthunder within seconds of a fight. Second, Manafication doubles its damage buff. This makes your next six magical attacks in the next 15 seconds more powerful!
Manafication produces an even amount of White and Black Mana. As mentioned above, you have a 20% chance of proc Verstone or Verfire when you cast Verholy. a proc is guaranteed if your Balance Gauge is uneven (i.e. Verholy if you have a lower White Mana than your Black Mana. Verflare if your Black Mana exceeds your White Mana.
