On the Cheap: Black Mage 75

Last updated: 28th July 2009.

A good friend of mine, Ringthree has a little mini-series over on his blog called "On the Cheap: (insert job here)." Essentially, he breaks down a job's gear options for the player that has just reached the endgame for that particular job, and the guides are, in his words, "a guide on how to be a good (something) in the quickest and most efficient way possible."

Until recently, Ringthree has been purely melee. He has since picked up White Mage and is now leveling Black Mage, and I've taken up interest following him simply because he goes through the questions every up-and-coming Black Mage goes through- questions I've long since taken for granted.

These are his past guides, if you feel like thumbing through them:

On the Cheap: Monk
On the Cheap: Samurai
On the Cheap: Ninja (this one feels like a paradox in itself.)
On the Cheap: Dragoon

So, paying tribute to Ringthree, I present to you my On the Cheap- Black Mage!



Before I start, Ringthree had made some rules about his series, which I'll reiterate here.

1. First, you can’t be dumb. I've had my fair share of silly questions, and while I'm more than happy to answer silly questions, it just gets aggravating when it becomes clear you are talking to a brick wall, like the person that insisted on casting Aero IV with an Ice Staff equipped.

2. You need to be an end-game player. The assumption is that you have main storyline content done, have sky access, completed CoP and ToAU. If you're not up to this stage, make it one of your priorities.

3. You need to be able to do at least some end-game events. That's not to say you're in a full-time HNM LS, but you should at least have access to an LS that does some end-game content, so you become an "end-game player" and not a "player with a job at 75."

4. Despite the name of his series, you will be expected to spend a decent amount of gil to get the gear you need. Not everything needs to be HQ, but I will suggest HQ pieces where I think the money is well worth it. Remember, this is "On the Cheap," not "On the Gimp."

With that aside, Black Mage is fortunate in that functionally, much of your gear can simply be bought. Of course, there are several end-game RA/EX items that will further enhance your play, but for the most part, you can build a very solid foundation with just the almighty AH.

With that in mind, I've provided options for gear that are financially quite easy to obtain, as well as providing further enhancements through event rewards.

There are at least eight main sets I think about when it comes to gearing up a Black Mage:

1. A standing set.
2. A nuking set.
3. An enfeebling set.
4. An elemental build set.
5. A Stoneskin set.
6. A Dark magic set.
7. A resting set.
8. An elemental debuff set.
   

I've intentionally left out a Sorcerer's Ring set here because the overall set is rather costly, and I wouldn't really focus on a Sorcerer's Ring build until you have these basics tied down.

Because of all these sets, it's a little difficult for me to talk about gear when I sort them into their equipment slots, so I'll first get the basic slots out of the way, before breaking up the rest in terms of their sets.

General

These are the slots that pretty much stay the same, no matter what you use, so I'll just address them now and leave it at that.

Weapons- When I say BLM weapons, the first thing that should immediately come to mind are your almighty Elemental Staves. At absolute bare minimum, you should have an Earth, Ice, Thunder, Wind, Fire and Dark staff. However, to really shine as a Black Mage, you will need to get the HQ versions.

Simply put, HQ staves are hands-down, the most powerful weapons a BLM has in his arsenal, surpassing both BLM relic and mythic weapons because of their hidden boosts to both damage (+15%) and accuracy (+30MAcc). That being said, you won’t need to get all eight HQ staves. At the very least, get your Jupiter’s Staff and Aquilo’s Staff first, followed by a Pluto’s Staff for more reliable sleeps. You can pick up the rest as you see fit.

Grips- I would personally just stick with a Bugard leather strap +1 for the 1 INT, seeing as how it is the only grip that has any INT on it. I wouldn’t consider the elemental grips.

Ammo- This one’s easy- Phantom tathlum. Tarus can use a Sweet Sachet to get the same effect, but the tathlum has 10MP over the Satchet, and isn't too pricey, either.

Rings- As a BLM, you really only have INT to worry about as far as stats go. As such, you can function perfectly well with two Snow Rings. If you’re considering going to magery full-time, Tamas Ring is hands down the best ring for a mage out there. Snow Rings can be a little pricey though, and Diamond Rings provide a much more affordable alternative with just a little bit of damage lost.

Other more situational rings you may want to look into are a Balrahn’s Ring for Assault/Salvage, and an Omega Ring to round off your Enfeebling set.

Now that the basics have been taken care of, I’m going to move onto the various sets:

Standing set

Popularized by Kaeko, the idea behind the standing set is to reap as much benefit out of your idle times, while waiting for cooldowns to reset, as well as giving you the best chance at survival if you pulled hate and need to survive long enough for the tank to get the mob back.

At the very least, you should have a Black Cloak for Auto-Refresh, and couple that with an Earth Staff for the -20% damage reduction. If you want to enhance your standing set even further, you can look into a Cheviot Cape and a Sorcerer’s Earring for the damage down effects, although these last two pieces are more debatable. Bear in mind that because a BLM's DEF is so weak, you are looking for gear that applies a direct percentage mitigation to the damage you take instead of focusing on your DEF rating.

For those fortunate to have Herald's gaiters, macro your gaiters into your standing set too. Also take note that because the movement speed does not kick in until the blinking animation has been completed, you will also want to macro your gaiters into pretty much every other macro except your nuking ones.

Nuking set

This is usually the first thing people focus on when it comes to gearing up a Black Mage. After all, your main purpose in any group is (usually) to deal damage. As a general rule, you want to focus on Magic Attack Bonus first, then INT. This, of course assumes you have sufficient skill so your nukes are not resisted. Thus, you may want to consider a hybrid of this nuking set and an elemental set until you complete your Elemental skill merits.

Much of the Nuking set focuses on INT where Magic Attack Bonus is not available. As with many of your other spells, INT determines their effectiveness, so you can easily take parts of this set and use them in any of the other sets where I have not mentioned anything.

Head: The biggest damage boost comes from a Selenian cap with INT+4 and MAB+2 augmented. Alternatives include a Yigit turban or Demon Helm +1. Which will do more damage does depend on your other stats, so experiment to see which you prefer. Personally, I hate how either looks and I love pointy hats, so I stick with my Wizard’s Petasos +1. ^^

Body: Your body piece is easy- get an Igqira weskit. Long gone are the days where these used to cost an arm and a leg to get, so there really is no excuse not to have one. Alternatively, if you have completed A Crystalline Prophecy, a Royal Redingote (with "Magic Attack Bonus +4" Augmented) surpasses the Igqira weskit and even comes very close to a Genie Weskit, at least in terms of damage.

Neck: Your neckpiece should be an Elemental Torque for the resist rates. Once you are comfortable with your resist rates, you can choose to opt for additional damage with a Prudence Torque. I personally wouldn’t trade the Elemental Torque for any of the other neckpieces that give intelligence. An Uggalepih Pendant rounds off your basic nuking neckpieces.

Ear: As a BLM75, there is no excuse not to have a Moldavite earring. Your other ear slot can be taken up by an Abyssal Earring for the INT. If you don't have access to an Abyssal earring, or if you chose a different Divine Might earring, go with either a Cunning, Morion, or Phantom Earring. Elvaan and Galka mages can try for their RSE earrings, the Desamilion's Earring or Gayanji's Earring respectively, both available from the ENM Automaton Assault.

Hands: If you don’t want to shell out the cash for a pair of Zenith Mitts (or can’t get the abjuration), you can use Vicious mufflers instead, although bear in mind that if you eventually want to use a Sorcerer’s Ring, it will be considerably harder to activate with the mufflers. If you don’t mind losing a little bit of damage, you can opt to use Yigit gages instead, which also doubles up as a Stoneskin piece. The difference is really quite minimal, so it may be something to consider if you are short on storage space.

Back: The cape that will add the most damage to your nukes (that is also free) is a Gleeman's Cape, obtained from Einherjar. Unfortunately, this does not come without its drawbacks, so most people stick with a Rainbow Cape/Prism Cape. If you're into ZNM, you can try for a Solitaire Cape, but it is very narrow in its use, and doesn't even make up for some of the earlier listed capes in terms of damage.

Waist: A Penitent’s Rope is rather pricey, but is well worth the money from BLM60 onwards. If you are looking for an upgrade in damage, you have a Sorcerer’s Belt to look towards, although bear in mind you may still need the Rope for Stoneskin, not to mention that the Belt usually has a decent queue. In addition, get your elemental obis- the damage bonus from a Hyorin and Rairin obi are too good to pass up, especially with SCHs around to fix the weather for you.

Legs: If you are short on money, Errant slops are your best option here. Later on, once you have saved up enough, you can upgrade them to Mahatma slops, which are second only to Morrigan's slops. Jet seraweels are another upgrade option, although I prefer the extra INT from Mahatma. If you can, also try to get ahold of a pair of Sorcerer's tonban to boost your damage when the condition is right (day of the week matches your nuke).

Feet: The best feet out there for damage are Yigit crackows, obtained by trading 20,000 Assault Points from Lebros Cavern. Fortunately, Demolition Duty happens to be one Assault a BLM is pretty useful for, if you decide to spam one Assault until you get the points. If for some reason you cannot do this, Cobra Unit crackows perform almost as well although personally, I find it less troublesome to just go and get Yigit.

Enfeebling set

As a Black Mage, nuking and blowing mobs up is not your only responsibiliy- thanks to four available Sleeps (two of them AoE!), Bind and Gravity (through /RDM), crowd control duties also frequently fall under a BLM's repetoire. That's not to mention the importance of landing your debuffs when it comes to soloing things- resists can mean the difference between you walking away safely, or facing the floor (if you're Taru.)

One thing to note- recent research into magic accuracy has shown a link between INT, MAcc and magic skill, which is a relationship I'll be referring back to every now and then. In short, as long as your INT is below the mob's INT+10, 1 INT = 1 MAcc = 1 Skill. After your INT exceed's the mob's INT+10, it becomes 2 INT = 1 MAcc = 1 Skill. You can read more about the test here.

Head: Igqira tiaras are both cheap and provide a very substantial boost to your Enfeebling magic skill, so there is little excuse not to have one.

Neck: At the very least, you should have a Spider Torque, although an Enfeebling torque is obviously preferred.

Body: Your Wizard’s coat serves you nicely here. If you can, upgrade your coat to a Wizard’s coat +1 for the extra 2 Enfeebling skill. Once you get used to low-manning Apollyon Northwest, the Ancient Beastcoin cost should be negligible.

Hands: If you can snag yourself a pair of Oracle gloves from ZNM, they will be the best overall piece for the slot. Long ago, you could carry around some Master Caster’s Bracelets, although nowadays these are probably not worth the slot, unless you happen to do a lot of {sea} activities.

Rings: Special mention goes to an Omega Ring for this slot if you want to use it. The combination of Magic Accuracy and 3 INT gives it an effective MAcc of +4.5~+6, while a single Snow Ring comparatively gives MAcc +2.5~+5. It's up to you to decide whether the extra accuracy is worth it to you or not.

Legs: Unfortunately, Igqira Lappas are a little bit pricey, due to requiring a drop from Megalobugard. if you can get ahold of them, Nashira Seraweels perform just a little bit behind the Lappas in terms of accuracy.

Feet: Which are better- Goliard clogs or Avocat pigaches? Either will be fine, although recent research on magic accuracy shows that Goliard clogs make the overall better choice, since in the worst case scenario, they are just as effective as Avocat pigaches, while in the best case scenario, they provide an extra 3 MAcc due to INT's role in MAcc.

Elemental set

An elemental set is something to look into once you start getting into HNM fights, where resist rates become a very real factor. You may have heard about the 320/120 rule, which is basically an eyeballed benchmark to reach (320 Elemental Magic skill + Magic Accuracy, 120INT). Ideally, you want to hit the 320 mark first, then maximize your INT after that. There are many, many options out there for a BLM to boost his/her Elemental Magic skill or Magic Accuracy, so match and mix from the options below depending on what’s available to you.

Head: You really should be aiming towards a Sorcerer’s Petasos for this slot. In the meantime, you can try to settle with an Elite Beret (+1) or Oracle’s cap until you get your Petasos. Of course, this argument is pointless if you ultimately decide to use your Black Cloak as part of your Elemental set (see below).

Neck: This one’s easy- like your nuking set, get an Elemental torque.

Body: I'm going to mention the Black Cloak here, in the event you feel that you absolutely must have the elemental skill. Bear in mind that the Cloak only adds +3 more Elemental skill and 4 INT over the Weskit (so an effective +5~+7 Magic Accuracy), not to mention takes away your ability to wear a hat, so the tradeoff is pretty steep. I'm not so sure I'd be willing to do it with a Demon's cloak either, but the option is there if you need a last resort.

Hands: Nothing beats Wizard’s gloves. Nothing, except Wizard’s gloves +1.

Back: You can go for a Merciful Cape, although be warned that the drop rate on Ix’MNK is close to abysmal.

Legs: Your option here is a Druid's Slops. Most of the time though, this tends to be overkill if you already have your purple hat.

Feet: Numerist pumps go here. Like Druid Slops, these tend to be overkill.

Stoneskin set

Due to the increasing amount of solo or lowman fights BLMs are called for, having a maximized Stoneskin is very important for increasing your survivability. For the record, a BLM’s Enhancing Magic cap is 200, so you will need to reach 114MND to cap your Stoneskin. Obviously, the gear you will need to accomplish this will vary according to your race.

Weapon: A Kirin’s pole is the easiest way to get the MND boost you’ll need for the weapon slot, and shouldn't be too hard to buy from sky linkshells that don't really need them now. If you have the means to add MND elsewhere, you can stick to a Water/Neptune’s Staff instead.

Head: The head portion is interesting because all three feasible slots also serve another role elsewhere. The biggest boost to your MND is a Goliard’s chapeau, which also fits into your resting set. If you find that you don’t actually need all 5MND, a Yigit turban works as a nuking piece and a Stoneskin piece. Later on down the road, you can shift towards a Zenith crown (+1) if you’re looking to find a piece that will also help activate a Sorcerer’s Ring.

Neck: There are several neckpieces that all provide decent boosts to your MND, such as a Promise Badge. However, I must stress that the absolute best item to have here, hands down, is a Stone gorget. Not only does it add 30hp to your Stoneskin (the next time you see an effective MND+30 on a neckpiece, let me know), it also allows you to surpass the Stoneskin cap of 350hp, so your Stoneskin now absorbs 380hp instead. In short, get one.

Body: All hail the mighty Errant houppelande.

Feet: Errant pigaches give you MND in the feet slot, but take note that they also take away HP in the event you want to work towards a Sorcerer's Ring set later on.

Dark Magic set

Two of your most important spells happen to be Dark Magic- Drain and Aspir. Drain is the most efficient damaging spell in your entire arsenal, damage/MP-wise, while Aspir shouldn't need much explanation other than these spells actually need to land in order to be useful.

Neither INT nor Magic Attack Bonus plays much of a role (if any!) in Drain or Aspir's potency. Thus, because Drain and Aspir are so good, but are restricted by a 1-minute cooldown, you can slot in Haste gear to lower their recasts, which may also come in handy when coupled with Stun.

However, there is one threshold you ought to aim for with your Dark Magic, and that is a total of 291 skill. Reaching this level lets your Bio II do an additional 1 dmg/tick, which can add up over longer solo fights. As a BLM75's natural Dark Magic skill caps at 269, you don't actually need that much +Dark Magic skill gear to satisfy this requirement, but I'll provide the options below.

Head: If you can get ahold of a Nashira turban, use it for the mix in both magic accuracy and haste. A much less troublesome alternative would be a Walahra turbun, purely for lowering the recast timer.

Neck: No brainer here- get a Dark Torque.

Ear: There isn't much to say here, other than good for you if you picked an Abyssal earring. Depending on prices, you may want to pick up a Dark earring as well.

Body: The undisputed champion here is a Nashira manteel, with magic accuracy, Dark Magic skill and Haste, all tied in one package! Alas, if the manteel is out of your reach, a Goliard saio will at least help with recasts.

Hands: Nothing beats Sorcerer’s gloves. Nothing, except Sorcerer's gloves +1.

Back: Your Merciful cape from the Elemental set also doubles up here as part of your Dark Magic set.

Waist: Going along the lines of reducing recasts, feel free to put in a Swift Belt here to lower Drain/Aspir timers if you can afford the space.

Legs: At last, one easy one to fulfill- use your Wizard’s tonban. The tonban alone more than makes up for half the difference you need to reach 291 Dark Magic skill.

Resting set

The next set I need to address will be your resting set. Usually, this is the set that doesn't get too much focus due to inventory issues, but also because an additional +1hMP doesn't really have much impact, so most of the time, extra hMP are bonuses slotted in here and there, usually with pieces that already have uses in another set. If you really want to dedicate the space to resting gear, full Yigit is one of the better options out there, although bear in mind that can still be surpassed.

Weapon: I should not have to say this here, but this is why people get a Dark Staff.

Head: You have several options here- a Goliard chapeau adds the most +hMP, although it’s only +1hMP over a Wizard’s petasos +1, or a Yigit turban. Yes, it's a sad day that BLMs can't wear a Mirror tiara.

Neck: To start, use your Grandiose Chain or Beak Necklace +1. If you really want to maximize this slot, you can try your luck at getting a Phi necklace through a chance appraisal from the Chief Sergeant Leujaoam Sanctum Assault, or a Gnole torque through Moblin Maze Mongers.

Ear: Be prepared to spend a lot of time in The Garden of Ru'Hmet to farm up a Relaxing earring. I personally wouldn’t bother with the other earrings that give +1hMP (and there are a lot of them!), although one to note is a Boroka earring that also doubles up as your nuking earring, if you don't have a +2INT earring or something better in that slot.

Body: The almighty Errant houppelande comes in here, especially since you can use the almighty houppelande for your Stoneskin as well. If you really want to maximize your hMP, you can aim for an Oracle’s Robe, although last I checked, it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to get your hands on.

Hands: Oracle’s gloves provide the best +hMP here. Bear in mind that if you have Zenith mitts, you may want to swap out the gloves as you rest to take advantage of the additional MP the Zenith mitts give you.

Back: For completeness's sake, I'm going to list the Invigorating cape here.

Waist: Your best option here is a Qiqirn sash +1, which thankfully is also quite affordable.

Legs: For those who are looking to maximize their hMP set, use either Yigit seraweels or Oracle's braconi here. Bear in mind though, that the gain is only +1hMP over Wizard's tonban +1, which also has its use in your Dark Magic set, so decide for yourself if the extra +1hMP is worth an extra inventory slot.

Feet: Use either your Goliard clogs, Avocat pigaches or Numerist pumps here, whichever you have.

Elemental Debuff set

The last set which sees little play is your Elemental debuff set. Your Elemental debuffs refer to the cycle of Rasp-Choke-Frost-Burn-Drown-Shock. The priorities here, however, is your INT, as INT determines the reduction in the enemy's stat, as well as your DoT.

• 1 - 39 INT = 1hp/tic (-5 stat)
• 40 - 69 INT = 2hp/tic (-7 stat)
• 70 - 99 INT = 3hp/tic (-9 stat)
• 100 - 149 INT = 4hp/tic (-11 stat)
• 150 - ??? INT = 5hp/tic (-13 stat)

As you can see, the magic number to reach is 150INT, which is quite substantial even for a Taru. I am not sure if the other races can reach the 150INT mark- if not, then at least aim for 100INT on your build. Supplement any extra slots with +Elemental skill gear to prevent resists. The overall set will resemble your nuking set, just replacing +MAB slots with +INT where available.

Neck: A Prudence torque again, is the winner here, but if you don't have one, you may want to consider one of the lesser INT neckpieces, in which case a Philomath Stole is by far the cheapest option.

Body: Switch your weskit out for your Errant houppelande.

Hands: This is where Yigit gages users get to save a slot and have nuking gloves that help their elemental debuffs, too.


And voila! It is done! It certainly took a lot longer and was much harder to write than I initially thought, but the above should give any upcoming BLM a very solid foundation to work towards. It is a lot of work to obtain everything, and admittedly I'm still trying to finish off bits and pieces here and there.

Further steps to take once you are comfortable with your gear would be to slowly upgrade the various pieces to their HQ components, as well as starting to plan/work towards a Sorcerer's Ring set. Unfortunately, the Ring set alone requires a fair amount of planning, so that is something I can talk about some other day. ^^; Then, there are always the "big three" to work towards- Herald's Gaiters, Novio Earring and Morrigan's Robe- good luck with those. ^^

As always, I do not claim this to be the end-all of all BLM gear guides- in fact, there are plenty floating around the various forums (with a bit of work), so if there are any questions and/or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment down below. ^^