Pictomancer Melding, Stat Priority, and Consumables — Dawntrail 7.1

Pictomancer has a very similar stat priority to most other casters, which is good news for those looking to have a uniform set that they can use across the other jobs. Due to this, it's possible to use a lot of the sets Pictomancer will end up using with Red Mage and Summoner sets that prioritize low levels of Spell Speed (SpS). The stat priority for Pictomancer is as follows:

1. Weapon Damage
2. Intelligence/Vitality
3. Critical Hit
4. Determination ≥ Direct Hit
5. Spell Speed

Weapon damage has an outsized impact on the amount of DPS the Pictomancer can put out over the course of a fight. As such, this stat ends up being prioritized over all others when it comes to gearing decisions. Next comes Intelligence, which is the main stat for all casting classes in FFXIV, Pictomancer included. Vitality is also just as important, giving the user more HP to draw from during a fight, but this generally will come with taking gear with a higher INT stat due to higher item level (ilvl) gear having higher INT values, so this generally isn't something you have to actively pay attention to.

In regards to substats, Critical Hit is the stat we'll prioritize the most from these. In general, when using leveling gear, melding Crit is a safe bet, so long as the stat itself won't be overcapped. The game will indicate this to you by showing a red number and text warning you that you're exceeding the amount of Crit that a piece of gear can have on it. Next, Determination (Det) and Direct Hit (DH) are both roughly equally as valuable.

Using a gear planner such as Etro can help you see when you'd benefit more from one of the other. FFXIV stats work on a tiering system, meaning that you only gain the next level of benefit when you hit a specific threshold, so any stats between two are wasted. For example, if needing to make a decision between Det or DH, you can check Etro to see which stat is closest to hitting its next tier with your current gear and melds and meld the one that will put you at the next tier of that stat.

Lastly comes Spell Speed. Pictomancer doesn't gain much use from SpS, and the sets using it actually come out a few percent short of those that use a 2.48 to 2.5 GCD speed, so where possible, you should take no more SpS than what is necessary to reach a 2.48 GCD and forego any more in favor of the other substats.

If a stat is not listed here, it's because it's entirely useless to Pictomancer; don't meld them on your gear!

As of the time of writing, the best food to use for Pictomancer is Vegetable Soup. The best potion to use will always be the highest grade of Intelligence potion, as this is the main stat for casting classes, including Pictomancer. At this time, that is the Grade 1 Gemdraught of Intelligence.