White Mage is a classic figure in the Final Fantasy series and, in FFXIV, it is one of the first healing jobs players have access to. It’s popular, when compared with the other options available, because of how simple it is. However, White Mage is more than capable of dealing with end-game content, offering massive healing to keep their party alive.
The White Mage’s kit might please those players who are looking for a more traditional experience as a healer. So, in this guide, players can have a general idea about the job, its key features, as well as some important pieces of information for when they reach level 90. For detailed descriptions of each skill, visit the FFXIV official page for the White Mage.
How to unlock the White Mage job in FFXIV
Players who want to play as a healer and are thinking about unlocking the White Mage job must first go through a couple of steps. First, they need to have the Conjurer class at level 30. Only then are they able to accept the quest Seer Folly from E-Sumi-Yan in Old Gridania at X: 6.0 Y: 10.6. By completing this quest, players not only receive their Soul of the White Mage stone but also their first White Mage skill, Presence of Mind.
An introduction to White Mage
White Mage is one of the traditional classes in the Final Fantasy series that has been part of FFXIV since the beginning. When compared to the other healers, it’s evident that White Mage is a more simple job to play, turning it into a solid pick for players that want to learn how to play the class. On the other hand, it demands a specific approach when it comes to dealing with incoming damage as well as MP management.
As a healer, White Mage comes with a kit focused on direct healing instead of mitigation. In practical terms, this means that White Mage has more skills to recover HP instead of creating massive shields. Since White Mage can’t offer shield protection to their party, they end up taking all of the damage that must be recovered by the strong healing this job has to offer. But the party must be healthy to receive the attack first. So, one of the main responsibilities of healers that are running White Mage is to pay attention to their party’s HP and to learn how potent the healing skills are. Doing so allows players to be prepared to keep a party member alive without overhealing.
White Mage is a caster, which means that most actions are GCDs and players must stay in the same place until the action is completed. Because of this, White Mage requires players to have a good sense of positioning. They need to study a fight to know a good spot to stay so they can cast a skill if needed without taking damage.
While most healing as a White Mage is done directly, the job has a great healing-over-time skill called Regen, as well as some powerful group healing too. But since not every situation is perfect and some decisions must be made on the fly, White Mage also comes with good oGCD skills to instantly help teammates and save their lives.
Players can also cause a substantial amount of damage playing White Mage. Besides Holy, a powerful AoE that stuns enemies, the job has the single-target damage spell Glare III, Dia, a damage-over-time skill that causes damage, Assize, an instant-cast oGCD that also causes damage to enemies around the players, and Afflatus Misery, a strong AoE attack that hits the first target with a potency of 1,240, causing 50 percent less damage to nearby enemies.
White Mages have some tools to help with MP management, such as Thin Air, which removes the MP cost of the player’s next action. They also have Lucid Dreaming to recover MP. With both of these tools in their arsenal, MP management becomes a bit easier to handle.
FFXIV Level 90 White Mage skill rotation and opener
White Mage’s opener is pretty straightforward and takes advantage of the fact that the whole party is already full HP to focus on causing damage. The list of skills and actions White Mage must use as an opener is as follows:
- Tincture of Mind (-3 seconds)
- Glare III (-1.5 seconds)
- Dia
- Glare III
- Glare III
- Presence of Mind
- Glare III
- Assize
- Glare III
This opener is pretty efficient and it works great for players that need to deal with high ping since they don’t need to double-weave skills. Besides this, this opener is capable of taking advantage of the other buffs used at the beginning of the fight.
White Mage doesn’t have a strict skill rotation post-opener. Players must focus on using healing skills when needed. Otherwise, it’s fundamental to use damage skills. For all healers, dealing damage is as important as healing. More specifically for White Mage, players must prioritize the following damage skills during a fight:
- Afflatus Misery
- Glare III
- Dia
Leaving a stack of Afflatus Misery sitting for too long might mean losing damage. If players don’t have a stack, then they should cast Glare III. Now, in case Dia’s DoT is about to fall, then it must be prioritized.
For a full explanation of the level 90 White Mage rotation, check out our White Mage Rotation Guide.
White Mage healing priorities in FFXIV
White Mage has a kit filled with healing skills, either GCDs or oGCDs. Understanding when each one should be used is important to effectively heal the party while avoiding wasting MP and spending too much time without causing damage.
At the top of the list of priorities is all the oGCDs White Mage has access to. This category consists of Tetragrammaton, Assize, Liturgy of the Bell, and Asylum. While the last three are group healing skills, the first one is a solid option to use when potent single-target healing is needed. Although Benediction would fall into this category, because this skill recovers the target’s full HP, it should be saved for dire situations.
The next group of spells players should focus on are the GCD skills with no cost of MP. Abilities such as Afflatus Solace and Afflatus Indulgence are the only ones in this category. Using them is also important to generate a Blood Lily.
If all the skills from the two aforementioned groups have already been used, players should go for the GCD skills that cost MP. Among them, the strongest are Heal II for a single-target and Heal III for multiple targets. Regen is a healing-over-time, so even though it’s a strong healing skill, it must be used only if there is enough time for the skill to tick and heal the party members. Medica II is a potent AoE healing spell White Mage has that not only heals players but also grants them Regen for a short period.
Besides all these skills, White Mage also has some other utility spells that players should try to use to make their lives easier. Aquaveil and Divine Benison are two single-target shields that White Mage can give to another player. They have a short cooldown and Divine Benison has two charges which justifies always using at least one shield. Temperance is a special skill that increases the White Mage’s healing potency as well as reduces the damage taken by the party. This skill has a two-minute cooldown, so it should be used in situations of consecutive attacks. During a fight, players should look for situations to use Plenary Indulgence, which increases the healing received from spells such as Medica II, Cure II, and Afflatus Rapture.
The White Mage Healing Gauge
Part of playing White Mage, especially at level 90, is keeping track of the Healing Gauge. As a player engages in combat, the gauge starts to fill. After 20 seconds, one Lilly is created. This process only occurs during combat and the gauge stops filling if players have three unused Lilies. One Lily is consumed when the player casts either Afflatus Solace or Afflatus Rapture.
Spending Lilies has a secondary effect. For each Lily spent, players earn one stack of Blood Lily. Once they have three, players can use Afflatus Misery. Because this is such a powerful skill, it’s important to avoid sitting on Lilies which could be turned into stacks of Blood Lily.
White Mage food, pots, gear - current for Patch 6.5
When players are preparing to face end-game content, they should look for the best options of food, pots, and gear to assist in completing the fights. When it comes to food, Caviar Canapes is the way to go for White Mage, while for pots players should use Grade 8 Tincture of Mind.
Now, for gear, the BiS – as described in Etro.gg – is a mix of pieces from the Ascension and Credendum sets, which are only obtainable as rewards for beating raid bosses. However, if players are beginning their end-game journey should focus on using pieces of equipment following the stats priority for White Mage, which is:
- Mind
- Piety
- Crit
- Direct Hit/Determination
- Spell Speed
