Red Mage PvP Guide for FFXIV

As with every job, Red Mage's PvP kit was fully reworked in patch 6.1 with the release of Crystalline Conflict. This rework gave Red Mage a new stance mechanic, where it can swap between two stances, White Shift and Black Shift, both of which grant its abilities unique effects depending on your current stance. Wtih plenty of crowd control, high damage, and self-sustain, Red Mage is extremely versatile and an excellent choice for Crystalline Conflict matches.

This page will focus solely on Crystalline Conflict, so while portions of it may apply to other PvP game modes, its intended purpose is that of Crystalline Conflict.

Strengths

• High single-target burst
• Able to swap between strong utility and strong damage between shifts
• Strong Crowd Control

Weaknesses

• Mediocre filler actions with cast times in between melee combos
• On-demand decision making with Shifts can make it harder to excel at
• Often desires a team to follow up properly for maximum benefit on its abilities

The core of Red Mage gameplay in PvP revolves around swapping between White Shift and Black Shift as needed for the different effects they grant your abilities. Abilities used while in White Shift are generally defensive and have strong sustain capabilities, while abilities used in Black Shift are aggressive and deal heavy damage. The abilities affected by White Shift and Black Shift are Enchanted Riposte, Enchanted Zwerchhau, Enchanted Redoublement, Verholy or Verflare, Resolution, and Magick Barrier or Frazzle. Your shift will also affect your limit break, Southern Cross.

Red Mage's default GCD is a spell cast that procs Dualcast and combos into a different spell, both of which deal equal potency. Your basic spell combo will change spells depending on what shift you are in, but it will not have any effect on what they do. While in White Shift you will cast Verstone and Dualcast Veraero III, and in Black Shift you will cast Verfire and Dualcast Verthunder III. You will be using these spells when your other GCDs are not available.

Your melee combo is your biggest source of damage and consists of Enchanted Riposte, Enchanted Zwerchhau, Enchanted Redoublement, and Verholy or Verflare. The three weaponskills deal damage to a single target with different additional effects depending on your shift, while the finishers deal targeted AoE damage with a different potency and additional effects depending on your shift. The melee combo has a cooldown of 20 seconds, beginning when you first use Enchanted Riposte.

Resolution is a line AoE which deals high damage and has additional effects based on your shift. It has a cooldown of 20 seconds.

Magick Barrier and Frazzle are two different abilities that share a cooldown and are available depending on your current shift.

Red Mage has two abilities whose effects are the same regardless of what shift they are in, those being Corps-a-corps and Displacement. Corps-a-corps is a gap closer which deals damage and also afflicts the enemy hit by Monomachy, which lasts for 7 seconds and increases your damage dealt to the target by 10% while reducing damage taken from them by 10%. Displacement will move you away from your target, damaging them as well as granting you the Manafication buff, which lasts for 10 seconds and will increase the damage of your next spell cast by 20%. It is important to note the distinction here as this buff will not work on the weaponskills that are part of your melee combo. Both Corps-a-corps and Displacement have two charges and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Red Mage's limit break is Southern Cross. When used, Southern Cross creates a cross-shaped AoE beneath the targeted teammate or enemy, healing teammates and damaging enemies. Anyone standing in the center of the cross will receive both instances of damage or healing, doubling its effectiveness. When used in White Shift the cure potency is doubled, while Black Shift doubles the damage potency. Southern Cross has a charge time of 90 seconds.

White Shift primarily focuses defensive effects. Beginning with your melee combo, each hit of Enchanted Riposte, Enchanted Zwerchhau, and Enchanted Redoublement will create a 6,000 potency barrier around you that lasts for 10 seconds. Verholy deals AOE damage and heals you and any teammates near the target.

Resolution will gain a Silence effect while under White Shift, preventing enemies from using any abilities other than Purify for 2 seconds.

White Shift will also grant access to Magick Barrier. Magick Barrier lasts for 10 seconds and reduces damage taken by self and nearby teammates by 10% while also increasing HP recovered from healing actions by 10%.

As mentioned above, White Shift will double the cure potency of Southern Cross.

Black Shift primarily focuses offensive effects. Beginning with your melee combo, each hit of Enchanted Riposte, Enchanted Zwerchhau, and Enchanted Redoublement will afflict enemies with a damage over time affect on top of the initial potency. Verflare deals heavy AOE damage, with a higher potency than Verholy to make up for the lack of a healing effect.

Resolution will gain a Bind effect while under Black Shift, preventing enemies from moving for 3 seconds.

Black Shift will also grant access to Frazzle. Frazzle lasts for 10 seconds and increases damage taken by enemies hit 10% while also decreasing their HP recovered from healing actions by 10%.

As mentioned above, Black Shift will double the damage potency of Southern Cross.

The most important part of playing Red Mage in PvP is knowing when to take advantage of the different abilities each shift gives you. Changing your shift can be done quickly and learning to fluently swap shifts in between GCDs to maximize the additional effects added will allow you to make the most of your kit and be a better Red Mage player. White Shift effects will often give you much needed utility during combat, allowing you to stay alive for longer in a team fight or healer your teammates to keep them alive. The Silence effect from Resolution also allows you to give your teammates a chance to jump on enemies while they are silence or to retreat if they are running low on health. Black Shift, on the other hand, often allows you to maximize the advantage your team already has in a team fight by dealing heavier damage. The Bind effect from Resolution can also be useful for trapping enemies who are retreating, allowing your team to finish them off before they can get away.

As stated previously, Red Mage's primary damage comes in the form of its melee combo. While the White Shift melee combo will give you often-useful shields, your heaviest damage comes from the Black Shift melee combo. Note that you can swap shifts in between melee combo hits, allowing you to take advantage of both effects from different weaponskills where needed. By using Resolution to either Silence your enemies or Bind them if you know they do not have Guard or other defensive abilities available, you can Corps-a-corps to enemies to start a melee combo with the Monochamy buff active leaving your opponent with less options to counter you. After you use your three melee hits, using Displacement before Verholy or Verflare allows you to not only make distance between yourself and your opponent but also buff the damage dealt by your finisher.

1. Resolution
2. Corps-a-corps
3. Enchanted Riposte
4. Enchanted Zwerchhau
5. Enchanted Redoublement
6. Displacement
7. Verflare