WHM Guide
for Intermediate to Advanced

Introduction
The White Mage job traces its roots back to the original Final Fantasy 1, and it has always been the best healing job in the Final Fantasy series. Why pick White Mage for FFXI? You have more power at your fingertips than any other job at keeping other players alive, with Benediction, higher level Cures, Curagas, and Regens, and less non-healing responsibilities than a Red Mage. You have the ultimate mobility of any job in the game, with all the Teleport spells at your beckoning call, and with the Black Mage sub you can simply warp back home. Raise II and Raise III your friends in their time of need, while Stona, Flash, and early access to Erase are very important spells. But the ultimate perk of this job is Reraise III. You can enjoy the risks of the game, then just pop back up if you ever do die with an exp loss of only 240. And don't forget, it's one of the easier jobs to get parties with!

Factor of race
Race is not much of a factor for White Mages. Elvaan and Galka just need to invest in an astral ring or two, until they can use their RSE. Otherwise, every race is basically equal.

Subjob selection
The two subjobs that are needed for exp are Black Mage and Summoner. A Black Mage sub gives you Warp, Escape, Sleep, Sleepga, Bind, Tractor, Elemental Seal, Conserve MP, and a MP boost. The Summoner sub gives you Auto-Refresh at level 50, which is its main attraction, but you also get avatar-pull, Aerial Armor, and a huge MP boost especially when combined with the Magician's Earring.

Other subjobs you may be interested in using include Red Mage for Phalanx, Dispel, Sleep, and Enthunder while soloing; Bard for Madrigal and Ballad during skillup; Thief for Treasure Hunter, Flee, and Sneak Attack while farming; Ninja for Utsusemi and Dual Wield if soloing or in dangerous situations; and Warrior's Provoke and Beastmaster's Charm for quick-pulls at NMs.

Gear
Early on, look for +MP, Convert HP>MP, and MND. MND affects Cure potency slightly, and it will help enfeebling accuracy, potency, and duration. When you approach mid-levels, MND tends to lose its importance, as Cure potency maxes out and you rely on Red Mages or Ninjas to do most enfeebling. At high levels, look for gear with Refresh Effect, +MP regeneration while resting, +Cure%, +MP, and -Enmity. The White Mage is a very inexpensive job, and you should take advantage of this by not spending huge sums of money for an extra 5MP or 1MND. Some high level White Mages choose to go all out on MND gear, which is a viable option, as you do get a sizeable bonus to Cure V, Stoneskin, and enfeebles. Dream gear includes pieces of the Cleric's set, Zenith set, Blessed set, and Noble's set.

A glance at AF:
41-Weapon: Defeat a NM Shadow in Valkurm Dunes.
52-Feet: Collect Yagudo Holy Water from Yagudo Abbots in Castle Oztroja.
54-Head: Garlaige Citadel coffer
56-Pants: Crawler's Nest coffer
58-Body: Collect a Tavnazian Bell from Dark Stalkers in Eldieme Necropolis, then defeat a NM Shadow in Fei'yin.
60-Hands: Beadeaux coffer, then defeat NM Dark Spark in Castle Zvahl Baileys.

Abilities
Benediction is an extremely handy ability. It recovers the full HP of every party member within a medium area of effect, about the same range as Protectra I or Curaga I. It does add enormous hate, second only to Invincible, but it can be used in conjunction with Invincible for safety. Hate varies with the amount of HP recovered on the people who have accrued hate at the time, plus a large base amount of hate. As you reach the 60s, you can actually pull off a Benediction without getting a monster's attention, if the tank has enough hate saved up.

Divine Seal can be used every 10 minutes, and it should be. It saves MP, which is a white mage goal, especially when used with curagas. At 50 you get a job trait called Divine Veil, which allows you to do Divine Seal with any -na spell to create an AOE -na spell (works with Erase, too).

Elemental Seal is a Black Mage ability that can be used every 10 minutes, but a White Mage will often have this with a level 15 or higher Black Mage sub. This will ensure your next enfeeble lands. For instance, you can use it in conjunction with Sleep if you get a link or aggro.

Spells
Cures: The most commonly used spells for a White Mage are the Cure spells. Cures generate hate, but the formula is unknown. You must simply learn from experience how much hate a Cure will generate. Your goal of course is not to get hate yourself as White Mage, and the way to do this is to go very light on Cures until hate is planted squarely on the tank. For the most part, you do not have to keep every character healed to full at all times. That is the trick to being a healer. Allow players to go ahead and take some damage and generate hate of their own before you cure them. Cure V has a different hate formula, according to PlayOnline, but no one knows exactly what the formula is.

Curagas: It's advisable not to use Curagas during battle, unless the party has been put to AOE Sleep. If you do use a Curaga during battle, I would advise waiting until you are in the 30s or higher level, and waiting until towards the end of the battle. As you approach higher levels, you can use Curagas earlier in battle if needed. However, it is often better to concentrate your Cures on the tank, and allow the damage dealers' wounds to be healed by Regens or other support healers in your party. After a battle where many party members suffer damage, once the monster is dead, a Curaga is a wonderfully MP-efficient way to heal the party, especially in conjunction with Divine Seal.

Regen: It's a White Mage's responsibility to the party to conserve MP, and Regen is the best way to do this. Regen the tank during battle, Regen the puller before he pulls, Regen everyone you can as often as MP permits.

Protectra and Shellra: The moment these wear off, run up and reapply them to the party. Some White Mages believe Shellra can be ignored if there is no threat of magic-casting enemies attacking. However, the formula is unknown whether Shell reduces damage from monster TP moves, so if you have the MP, go ahead and use Shellra.

Raises: If you do choose to be a White Mage, you are probably already a person who enjoys being generous. You should try your best to Raise people whenever they ask, because no one likes to be K.O.'d. The only time you aren't expected to Raise someone is if you are busy or the dead player is in a different zone. Even then, this is your chance to be kind to people, and they would very much appreciate if you so choose to travel the world to Raise them.

Reraise: Reraise before you enter any zone where you find aggro, or any area you are unfamiliar with. This of course includes exp spots. Reraise, and do not be ashamed, and do not feel bad that you have to rest a bit more to make up the MP. It's your duty to your party that you have Reraise on, whether your party understands this or not. Take note that Reraise wears off anytime you or a party member Teleports, Escapes, or Warps you, or if you lose connection and come back dead.

Haste: When you first get Haste at level 40, it does use up quite a bit of MP. Always Haste the tank, because that gives the tank an edge in holding hate. Not only does it make them swing their weapons faster, but it reduces recast delay on Flash and Utsusemi (and all magic of any type), which are key to a tank's hate-holding ability. If you have a damage dealer who is slower at gaining TP, Haste them as well. By level 50+, try to keep every frontline fighter Hasted at all times. Occasionally you will come across a melee that simply does too much damage. In this case, you reserve the right to not Haste them, but you may want to explain to them why. A Red Mage gets Haste at level 48 and can share in the Hasting duties. Haste generally lasts 3 minutes, but it can vary. As you become familiar with your party's killing speed, you can settle into a Haste rhythm.

Enfeebles: Red Mages and Ninjas are simply better enfeeblers than a White Mage, so it's best to let them do the enfeebling. However, Dia is a spell that lands 100% of the time, so a White Mage can handle it. Slow, Paralyze, and sometimes Silence, are spells that a white mage can try to land. But if you fail at landing them after several tries, it's best you do not continue trying. Elemental staves and MND gear help you land enfeebles. Keep in mind that Bio II overwrites Dia II which overwrites Bio which overwrites Dia/Diaga, no matter which spell is cast first. If you use a Black Mage sub and are casting Burn, Shock, Choke, Rasp, Frost, or Drown, remember that if you cast spells of opposing elements, they will not stack. ...Fire <-> Water <-> Thunder <-> Earth <-> Wind <-> Ice <-> Fire... Also if you have the Black Mage subjob, you can use Elemental Seal every 10 minutes when there is an enfeeble that you really need to land, like Silence on casting monsters, or Burn to let a Black or Red Mage hurry and nuke for chain#4.

Banish and Holy: Use your highest Banish when fighting undead, as it lowers the undead's defense. If you are striving for a chain 4 or 5, you may hit the enemy with a strong Banish if MP permits, especially after a transfixion, fusion, or light skillchain. Holy is a very fast spell, but it isn't worth the MP unless you need it for its quickness.

Flash: This strong temporary blinding spell has several good uses, which strengthen as your divine magic skill nears its cap. One use is for soloing, you can Flash a monster to reapply Stoneskin, reducing the chances of getting interrupted. Another use is for monsters that use TP moves that are susceptible to missing. If you predict the skeleton is about to use Hell Slash, after a multi-hit weapon skill like Asuran Fists maybe, throw a Flash on it to cause it to miss its upcoming weapon skill. Or if a monster starts to use a TP move that takes time, like weapon's Whirl of Rage, use Flash quickly to lower its TP accuracy. Another important use is if your Ninja is trying to cast Utsusemi or your Paladin is trying to cast a Cure, but they can't afford to be interrupted, you can give a Flash to ensure they perform their spell. Lastly, if you see a fellow mage or even melee being aggroed, and you feel confident enough in yourself and your party, you can use Flash to temporarily blind the enemy, giving yourself time to use Stoneskin, and giving your PT members time to use Sleep. Flash will not stack, so if you see your Paladin use it, wait 15-20 seconds before trying a Flash of your own. You must, however, keep in mind that Flash adds a large amount of aggro, roughly equivalent to a Cure V, maybe a bit less. Be wary when using this spell. Be sure your tank has secured a good amount of hate. Flash does not guarantee the monster will miss, but it greatly enhances the odds.

Barspells: There are two kinds of barspells. Bar-element which reduces accuracy and potency of elemental spells and abilities, and bar-enfeeble which reduces the duration. Barstonra is great for worms and scorpions. Barwatera is used for crabs, fish, and crawlers. Baraera is used for flies and bunnies. Barfira is used for goblins and bombs. Become familiar with what elemental properties exist with different move types, like Paralyze=ice, or Stun=lightning. Experiment with different bar-spells to find if the results make the spell worth casting. Keep your finger on a bar-element spell when you are fighting monsters that do ancient or slow-castingtime magic. You might find much less application for the bar-enfeeble type spells. Occasionally during a BCNM or NM battle or Dynamis, you may use a spell like Barsleepra or Barpetra. But the rest of the bar-enfeeble spells are often pointless, since you are simply expected to cast the appropriate -na spell immediately. Many white mages will use bar-enfeeble spells in conjunction with their appropriate bar-element spells in an attempt to nullify any enfeebling a monster can accomplish.

Stoneskin/Blink/Aquaveil: Anytime you expect you might be taking hits, all three of these are great to have. Stoneskin nullifies physical and magical damage up to a certain amount. That amount has been reported as MNDx3, but it seems to be around 200-350hp. Blink puts up 2 "images" which cause enemy attacks to miss, but strong enemies can still hit you through Blink. If an enemy hits you through Blink, it does not remove an image; you retain it for a chance to evade the next attack. Aquaveil makes a noticeable difference in spell interruption rate, and it's important to have this on when soloing or whenever you are the one taking the hits.

Sneak/Invisible/Deodorize: First of all, Deodorize is totally useless, period. It does not prevent anything from aggroing you, and it does not prevent HP-aggro from undead. It only prevents monsters which have already aggroed you from tracking your location by scent. And it only works with a certain handful of monsters that even use scent to track, and you must get out of its sound or sight tracking range, depending on how it senses you. Deodorize simply never gets any good usage. As for Sneak and Invisible, if you need both, always cast Sneak before Invisible. If you cast Invisible then Sneak, the casting of Sneak will remove your Invisible. Any spell, job ability, or item used will remove Invisible except Invisible itself and prism powders, meaning you can cast a fresh Invisible or prism powder over an old one. You must remove your Sneak before reapplying Sneak or it will have no effect. For safety purposes, try to find a safe place away from sound-aggroing monsters before reapplying Sneak, but you can reapply Invisible right in front of monsters as long as it doesn't wear off in mid-cast. Always keep your eye out for magic-aggroing monsters when you do your casting. And remember that these spells are party-only.

Teleports: Get all of the Teleport spells as soon as you can. This is another way to be generous to friends, by giving them free rides around the world. You can also make some gil by Teleporting strangers. A Teleport spell is nice when you are stuck in an area or far from a town. Teleport yourself to Altepa, where Rabao is a short walk away. This is a good way to advertise yourself to parties, because it's always convenient to have someone with Teleport spells in the group. There is a trick you should know if someone needs a Teleport but you don't actually want to go to the crag or gate crystal with them. Simply stand next to a zoneline and begin your Teleport spell, then the instant the Teleport spell hits your party member(s), zone out. You won't go with them!

-na spells and Erase: Try to be familiar with monsters. Know what enfeebles they can inflict on your party. Be fast with your -na spells and your party will be very pleased. You may even want to macro them if you are fighting something that spams enfeebles.

Final note on spells: Always be up to date on spells. The only spells you might never use are Barpoisonra, Barparalyzra, Barblindra, Barsilencera, Barvira, and Deodorize, but I still suggest you purchase every spell so that you are never embarassed if the time comes that your party asks you to use them. Also, Protect III and Shell III are quite expensive and not really worth the gil, so you can do without them by simply using Protectra III and Shellra III instead. Some spells are party-only: Curaga, Barspells, Protectra, Shellra, Regen, Erase, Sneak, Invisible, Deodorize, and Teleports.

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RIP Shiloh - I'll never forget ya

Tips for EXP
Status ailments: Before you ever venture out, go to your CONFIG menu, to the FONT COLOR section. Edit the color of Status ailments on others and on yourself to a color that will stand out. This way when someone is Poisoned, for instance, you will see it in the text even if you missed the graphic of it happening on the screen.
The Orcish Cursmaker casts Poison.
Shiloh is poisoned.
Some status ailments don't show up in the text box. For instance, if the monster uses Ice Spikes, your melees will likely become Paralyzed. If you aren't familiar with a monster's abilities, be sure to ask the party if they are being enfeebled by anything.

Items you should bring: For food, be sure to have something that gives +MP regeneration while resting, like roast mushrooms or cookies. Have a few juices on hand for when your MP gets very low. There are several medicines you should always carry, like a stack of echo drops, a stack of silent oils, and a stack of prism powders. Even mages will need oils and powders quite often. It's advisable to carry a warp cudgel, a Scroll of Instant Warp and a Scroll of Instant Reraise. There will definitely be times these come in handy.

Looking for parties: This is one area that causes many people to pick White Mages. They are in demand from the start. Level 1-40 is swift for a White Mage. When Red Mages get Convert and Refresh, they become heavy competition. White Mages get a slight boost from Raise II, but not until Raise III at level 70 does a White Mage start getting invites as readily as low levels. Although White Mages have their ups and downs, finding parties is always quite easy compared to most other jobs.

The pull: If the puller pulls behind you with a ranged attack but misses, the monster may hit you if it runs near you. Be sure to have your puller say if the ranged attack misses, and either stand up before the monster arrives, or have your tank provoke before it has a chance to hit you. Try to rest in a spot that is not near the pulling paths. If you ever have to pull with an avatar from your subjob, either use Release or simply allow your avatar to die for a successful pull.

SA/TA: Try not to do anything to cause aggro if your party does Sneak Attack / Trick Attack to start the battle, until after SA/TA has been performed. Some things cause more aggro than you might expect. Resting your MP near a monster, eating a piece of food, casting a Paralyze, or using Regen. If you can, try to see to it that the initial Provoker is fully healed and has Regen and Protect before the monster arrives.

Magic: Always remember your Haste duties. If you see "Shiloh's Haste effect wears off," Hasting Shiloh is now an extremely high priority. If you are late Hasting Shiloh, you will be late Hasting the rest of the damage dealers as well. Use Regen III, II, and even I as much as you possibly can. Be swift at removing status ailments. Make sure someone in your party has Reraise on--usually it will be you.

Macros: When you reach level 51, create these macros:
/equip Main "Light Staff"
and
/equip Main "Dark Staff"
add the various other items later on, like Errant Houppelande and Hierarch Belt.

Your spell list: Since a mage has so many spells, it is important that you organize your spell list so that the spells needed in an emergency are quick to get to. Your spell list can be toggled through quickly by using the left and right buttons on your keyboard. Each time you hit right, it will toggle to the next set of 12 spells. Place your Cure spells at the top of the first page. Stoneskin, Blink, and Aquaveil can go at the top of the second page. Sneak and Invisible can go at the top of the third page. If you go to the first spell in your list and hit the up button, you will go to the bottom of your list. There you can place spells like Haste, Enfeebles, Flash, and Sleep. You might also want to place Warp in an easy to get to spot on your spell list, but be sure not to accidentally hit it.

Aggro: People who switch from a melee job to a mage job will probably experience magic-aggro a few times before they learn their lesson. Elementals and arcana are magic-aggroing monsters. They will attack you the moment you start casting a spell, whether or not you finish casting it. Some monsters have true-sight and true-sound, like Ash Dragon and Orcish Overlord. Sneak and Invisible do not work for these. Be very careful and try to stay near a Provoker while traveling to your exp camp. If you ever get aggro on the way to camp or during exp, immediately let the party know. Here are several survival tips. You can attempt to Flash the monster and apply Blink or Stoneskin, or Flash the monster and Sleep it. You may want to use Elemental Seal before Sleep. If these options don't work, try to stand still and Cure yourself. Hopefully someone can save you before your MP runs out. Try to limit your aggro to 1 monster. Consider using Escape, if your Black Mage sub is level 29 and you are in a dungeon. But it's frowned upon if you Warp, leaving your party behind. Your last option is to find a safe place to die, where you can successfully Reraise afterwards. Concerning HP-aggro from undead type monsters, it is your responsibility to cure anyone whose HP is in the yellow or lower, if they run the risk of aggroing by low HP.

Final note on EXP tips: Last but not least, remember, there are times when it's best to not Cure at all, or give a tiny Cure. Waiting until hate is squarely planted on the tank is a wise choice. And there will probably be other people in your party assisting with the curing, so you can often just give a Cure III instead of a Cure IV. MP efficiency and balance of hate are the keys to being a White Mage, and the only way you can truly master these is by practice.

At level 70+
Maat: There are many different strategies at fighting Maat, but the main goal is to Cure yourself for a certain amount of HP--keep Curing yourself as long as you possibly can. The amount of HP people have reported Curing themselves for has varied from 4000 to 6000. It's best to not attack Maat with a weapon, since that will cause him to gain TP at a faster rate. Timing is important--try to Cure yourself such that you do not get hit while at 15% to 85% of your spellcasting. This usually means that you start casting Cure just as he hits you. You have Flash at your disposal if the situation sours, however Maat is so resistant to Flash it will only stick for about 1-2seconds. A Vile Elixir +1 recovers half of your HP & MP, and it, along with two yagudo drinks, are a wonderful investment to ensure you defeat Maat.

Your role in Dynamis: Create a macro like /target Shiloh. /target macro all the tanks in your immediate alliance. Your job is to keep them alive. Everything else like keeping melee alive and keeping people Hasted are a secondary objective. Bring venom/poison potions because you are the one expected to perform the curaga when your party gets slept. You will have to click off your Stoneskin to wake up while Poisoned. And you should always have echo drops in your inventory. Use Barfira when facing Ninja NMs, bar-element when facing Summoner NMs with their avatar out, and if you are facing Monk NMs be ready for Hundred Fists with Cure V and Benediction. Always, always, always have Reraise on. When it comes time to do Raises, Haste yourself first to reduce recast time, then start the Raises. Raise the Red Mage or Bard first, the tank next, then the people with MP, and last the melee without MP. However, if there are any White Mages who don't have Reraise on, Raise them before you do anything else. You will sometimes find you have to give a Raise I or II, and in this case, ask who is willing to accept it, but try not to waste too much time.

Your role at NMs: Flash and Dia are your two best pulling tools; Flash is faster but Dia is longer range. You can sub Warrior or Beastmaster for instapull. Keep your tank alive, have Reraise on, Stoneskin and Blink yourself, and keep people Regened and Hasted.

Your role at Gods: You will usually be outside the alliance. Have your /target Tank macro set. Have Reraise on. Be familiar with status ailments like Byakko's Paralyze, and Barwatera on Genbu for instance if you are in the alliance. For Kirin, create Barstonra and /ma Erase Tank macros.

Soloing: Buff yourself as much as you can, Protect, Shell, Stoneskin, Blink, Aquaveil, Haste, and Reraise. Your main damage will be Hexa Strike, so it's important you skillup to get it--it enables you to defeat most Easy Prey. When Stoneskin and Blink wear off, use Flash to temporarily blind the enemy, and recast Stoneskin. Sometimes you will need to Sleep the enemy to recast your buffs. Another option is you can begin casting Stoneskin and click it off just before it is reapplied, similar to a Ninja's Utsusemi strategy. Spirit Taker is nice to have for longer battles because it recovers MP and does damage simultaneously. But always be aware of the nearest zoneline to scamper off to when things get ugly. Reraise III is your best friend.

Merit Points: A White Mage has many choices about what stats they want to boost with merit points. You earn a new merit point every 10,000exp. Some merit categories require 3 merit points per boost, like MND. Other categories require 1 point for the first boost, 2 points for the second boost, and so on, like Regen. It is all a matter of taste. Pick where you place your merit points based on your own playing style. Here are some merit categories that might interest White Mages:

You may add 5 merit increases spread across this category.
Regen: +1hp/tick per increase.
Cure: -4% spellcasting time per increase.
Banish: +2 damage and +2 seconds of defense down per increase.
Barspells: Enhance potency and magic defense by 2 per increase.
Divine Seal: -20seconds recast per increase.

You may add 4 merit increases spread across this category.
MND: +1MND per increase.

You may add 7 merit increases spread across this category.
HP: +10HP per increase.
MP: +10MP per increase.

You may add 6 merit increases spread across this category.
Healing magic: +2 skill levels per increase.
Divine magic: +2 skill levels per increase.
Enhancing magic: +2 skill levels per increase.
Enfeebling magic: +2 skill levels per increase.

You may add 9 merit increases spread across this category.
Club skill: +2 skill levels per increase.
Staff skill: +2 skill levels per increase.

You may add 6 merit increases spread across this category.
Enmity: -1 enmity per increase.
Spell interruption: -2% interruption rate per increase.

Weapon Skills
Your most important skills for Club are Hexa Strike (Fusion) for the biggest damage, and Black Halo (Fragmentation) which are sometimes used for Light skillchains, but Brainshaker is nice for a quick stun. Seraph Strike has been reported as doing good damage on elementals, and Judgment can do decent damage if you have 300% TP saved up. As for Staff, you have Retribution (Gravitation) and the lovely Spirit Taker which converts about 50-200 damage into 50-200MP for you! Since a White Mage has to skillup to obtain these high level weapon skills, here is an example of where you can skillup:

1-100: Davoi-Orcish Beastriders, Orcish Impalers, Orcish Nightraiders, Orcish Brawlers (monsters around level 37).
100-135: Crawler's Nest-Soldier Crawler, Hornfly, Blazer Beetle, Mushussu (monsters around level 50).
135-195: Kuftal Tunnel-Robber Crabs or join coffer key parties like Beadeaux-Sapphire Quadav, Platinum Quadav, Darksteel Quadav, Ancient Quadav (monsters around level 65).
195-205: Boyahda Tree-Robber Crabs (monster around level 68).
205-253: Boyahda Tree-Steelshell (monster around level 75).
253-256: Ru'Aun Gardens-Light Elemental (monster around level 78).
Of course, this is just an example--there are dozens of possible locations. It is possible to reach level 256 club and level 230 staff solo, but for safety you may want to join skillup parties.

Club Weapon Skills: Random Damage Multiplier; Hidden Damage Factors:
10-Shining Strike: 0.875, 1.75, 2.50; Your MND, Your INT vs. Target's INT, Target's Light Element resistance.
40-Seraph Strike: 0.875, 2.00, 3.00; Your STR, Your MND, Your INT vs. Target's INT, Targets's Light Element resistance.
70-Brainshaker: 1.00; Your STR vs. Your Target's VIT.
100-Starlight: N/A.
125-Moonlight: N/A.
150-Skullbreaker: 1.00; Your STR vs. Target's VIT.
175-True Strike: 1.00; Your STR vs. Target's VIT.
200-Judgment: 2.00, 2.50, 4.00; Your MND, Your STR vs. Target's VIT.
220-Hexa Strike: 6.00; Your STR vs. Target's VIT.
230-Black Halo: 1.50, 2.50, 3.00; Your MND, Your STR vs. Target's VIT.

Staff Weapon Skills: Random Damage Multiplier; Hidden Damage Factors:
10-Heavy Swing: 1.00, 1.25, 2.25; Your STR vs. Target's VIT.
40-Rock Crusher: 1.00, 2.00, 2.50; Your INT vs. Target's INT, Target's Earth Element resistance.
70-Earth Crusher (AoE): 1.00, 2.25, 3.50, Your STR, Your INT vs. Target's INT, Target's Earth Element resistance.
100-Starburst: 0.875, 1.625, 2.00; Either your MND vs. Target's Light Element resistance, or Your INT vs. Target's Dark Element resistance (random), and Your INT vs. Target's INT.
150-Sunburst: 0.875, 2.00, 3.125; Either your MND vs. Target's Light Element resistance, or Your INT vs. Target's Dark Element resistance (random), and Your INT vs. Target's INT.
175-Shell Crusher: 1.00; Your STR vs. Target's VIT.
200-Full Swing: 1.00, 3.00, 5.00; Your STR vs. Target's VIT.
215-Spirit Taker: 1.00, 1.50, 2.00; Your INT, Your MND, Your STR vs. Target's VIT.
230-Retribution: 2.00, 2.50, 3.00; Your MND, Your STR vs Your Target's INT.

A glance at the final weapon skills quests:
Know that to break the latency on your weapon of trials, you must gain 300 trial points against Easy Prey or stronger monsters. Solo weaponskill is worth 1 point, First tier weaponskill is worth 2 points, Second tier weaponskill is worth 3 points, and a Third tier weaponskill is worth 5 points. The way to know if you have broken your latency is when the latent effect on your weapon no longer adds to your stats what it says it adds. The club of trials will no longer give you the +10HP, +10MP, +10Earth, +10Fire, for example. And sadly you cannot make a Third tier skillchain with your staff until after you finally get Retribution.

Black Halo: NPC Kuroido-Moido in Windurst Port E-7, break latent on club of trials, defeat NM Pot in Ro'Maeve M-8.
Retribution: NPC Shantotto in Windurst Walls K-7, break latent on staff of trials, defeat NM Skeleton in Ifrit's Cauldron eastern entrance->F6->fall I-8->cave->H-7.


Conclusion
White Mage isn't a job for everyone, but it might be a job for you. Give it a try and see what you think. We'll be waiting for you at 75 :)

Written by: Whisp the Onion Head™

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RIP Shiloh - I'll never forget ya

/clap irl

Whisp that was amazing. Sure could have used that in the Brady Guide

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San d'Oria: Rank 10 ~ Bastok: Rank 10 ~ Windurst: Rank 10
Rise of Zilart: Ark Angels / Chains of Promathia: Completed / Treasures of Aht Urghan: TBA

Haha, I kept reading it waiting for the punchline. Then I started thinking "This is good stuff, why is Whisp making fun of this guy?" It's Monday i'm slow Good stuff though! :D

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I think you'd want to go with poison pots over venom pots unless you want to die.. pretty fast lol.

other than that..amazing summary /clap.

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Poison Pots are only 1HP/tick.

Your Auto-Regen trait will cancel out the 1HP/tick, you wont actually be losing any HP, so you wont wake up. Therefore you gotta use stronger poison.

Venom Pots are cheaper anyhow.

I thought that was just a myth, and it was stoneskin that stops it? What do I know though, i'm no mage. heh

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yea i use stoneskin to stop poison from going thru, its my only solution because i didn't have whm sub for a long time haha

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Job 10: 20
The mikey's have a plan. Djay isn't all powerful.

Wow, you didn't miss a thing. Nice job, Wisp :D

Regen juice + poison potion work fine tho. Not sure about whm sub, but I know I wake up even if i get a few hp every 3 sec

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Main: War75/Sam63/Blm71/Rng45
Sub: Nin37/Thf37/Whm37/Mnk30
Three nation: Done Zilart: Done CoP: Done

poison pot + auto regen still wakes you up

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For food I always used Marron Glace since I was elvaan and needed the large MP+.

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OMFG whisp VERY nice. :D

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**Life is a game,it's ment to be played**

RNG/NIN║RNG/NIN(Future Goal)║NIN/WAR(Future Goal)

Very nicely done!

Only thing I'd add to your spell list is Flash, very underrated for WHM use. In pts with a NIN tank, flashing between Utu recasts is very nice, and I love using Flash myself solo when I sub NIN (WHM/NIN at 74-75 is highly effective). Also, Flash, and not Banish/Holy, is the reason to keep Divine Magic somewhere near cap, as Flask barely lasts any time at all with a weak DM skill. Just have to be careful with hate issues, but Flash alone isnt really that bad in terms of hate, even if it is a main PLD hate tool.

Also, I'm personally torn over what is better solo weapons and WS, club and Hexa or staff and Spirit Taker. Yes, club and Hexa does more dmg, and clearly when going WHM/NIN club is almost always my preferred option, but I've often found that I have an easier time soloing certain mobs with a staff and ST. Usually mobs that hit kinda hard and require the extra MP ST gives (the EP weapons in Ro'Maeve that decide I have to fight it to save a Silent Oil are ones that come to mind). Maybe I just feel safer lol, always having the "save me" MP I need.

Anyway, well done Whisp. This is why you're regarded as one pof the leading WHMs on server.

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75 WHM 75 SMN 75RNG 69WAR 37 BLM
retired for now- Lyndis = Karlyne <3

I told Whisp that last night :P

BTW: Hi Lyndis^^

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San d'Oria: Rank 10 ~ Bastok: Rank 10 ~ Windurst: Rank 10
Rise of Zilart: Ark Angels / Chains of Promathia: Completed / Treasures of Aht Urghan: TBA

hehe not to take away from whisps post, but since it's sort of 'on topic' and whisp is the whm exp. I figured I'd post it here instead of starting a new thread.

Whisp (and any other whms reading this) what is your opinion on aklepios/shield combo vs. light/apollos staff? Apologies if this has been discussed before. I do like having +55mp (even though i'm taking -5% cure potency) with astral aspis and asklepios, however the minute I have to rest you best believe i'm going to toss on my plutos, thus making the extra mp only worth it for the first 10 minutes of any fight.

I guess asklepios is pretty pointless except for just to bling, however I'd love to be able to find a way to use it, surely +55mp has got to be more beneficial to a whm than +1/+2 to every stat and an extra +5% cure potency, or am I just fooling myself?

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wish i had this much time on my hands...
o wait i do

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Great Job Whisp.

Everyone should write one of these for their respective jobs so I can read them :D

you should make a job guide topic thing like teh IRL boards but Job Guides

That's what I was gonna say. Flash is really a lifesaver, WHM casting a quick Flash helps a lot when my Utsusemi: Ichi is being interrupted, not so with WHMs that keep curing me as my casting keeps getting iterrupted till I die or lose hate.

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Awesome. Kept very simple and still covered all the points. /highfive

Being whm also I cannot leave this thread without making a few of my own disagreements.
a) Shellra is always necessary, because almost every mob type in the game has some sort of JA or TP move that is elemental. Having shellra and the corresponding bar-element spell will reduce that damage in most cases. without shell, bar-element spells may as well have not been cast.

b) the few spells that were noted as not worth buying i believe are worth buying. the only -truly- useless spell is deodorize. the bar-debuff spells, while extremely situational, will all find themselves a use once in a while. i keep barparalze and barblizzara up on the tank party constantly when we do hakutaku, because the activation rate of the paralyze will be decreased. without these two spells, basically every single thing the tank tries to do will get paralyzed. barpoisonra will often decrease the amount of HP loss per tick when hit with a nasty poison. barblindra will decrease the duration your pt members get blinded for (good to use when exping in king ranperres tomb) which is good, because unlike the other status cures which have a recast of 5 seconds, Blindna has a 10 second recast which really blows. i will agree that barvira and barsilencra dont really have any use at all. if you dont have echo drops to get rid of silence asap then you are probably screwed.

c) lyndis got it. flash in exp is good

other small notes for curious creatures: haste lasts for 3 minutes. bar-element spells last 2 minutes. i'm not 100% sure but i believe bar-enfeeble spells last 5 minutes. it could be 10 though. protectra and shellra last 30 minutes unless someone is below the level at which you learn the spell, in which case it will last less time. reraise lasts for 90 minutes. in dynamis when raising lots of people, keep yourself hasted to decrease recast timers on Raise 3 and 2. when you are in a weakened state all recast timers are greatly increased (sometimes doubled.)

cant think of any more tidbits


very, very well written. i would love to think all whms have read this. /props

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http://www.joiningofsix.com

75 White Mage
75 Ninja

Yea, I came on here just now to add Flash. Gonna edit it in.

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RIP Shiloh - I'll never forget ya

Honestly, I don't think Asklepios is worth carrying around. The light staff provides more Cure%. The benefit of asklepios with a MP shield, is for +max MP. But when I'm in situations where I need to cure, I rarely get the chance to rest to full to make use of that max MP. Theoretically you could wear Asklepios and Astral Shield until you use up your first 50 or whatever MP, then switch to light staff, but I don't think it's worth the inventory space or gil.

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RIP Shiloh - I'll never forget ya

in response to cherie's post, I have never seen evidence that shell reduces damage of anything but actual black magic. I have taken note that the Crawler's Poison breath attack will do the exact same damage whether or not shell is on, which leads me to believe it doesnt affect any mob TP move (all TP moves are elemental in nature, as is just about everything in this game).

the bar-enfeeble spells may come in handy in certain situations, but i have never seen such a situation. for hakutaku, i suggest using paralyna rather than barparalyze, since you will be able to paralyna everyone before it wears off, but i guess to each his own.

reraise lasts 1 hour, which is equal to every other protectra/shellra timer since those are 30min.

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RIP Shiloh - I'll never forget ya