My Review of the Conjurer

So ever since closed beta I've been playing Conjurer as my main class. It is the closest thing I could get to Black Mage / White Mage that I so loved in FFXI. Some things are a hit and some are a miss but overall it is an extremely fun class and I'm enjoying every minute of playing him.

When I first started off as a Conjurer leveling felt a little clunky. I had low HP, MP, and low armor. I also started out in Gridania where poison is a common occurrence, and dying from it is just as common. I was frustrated at first but once I hit Conjurer rank 4 I got cure. This spell changed the entire class around for me. I was now able to beat enemies down with the use of spirit dart (a spell that does lower damage but costs no MP) and then heal up with Cure and continue on my way.

Conjurer is a Disciple of Magic and thus uses MP. Final Fantasy 14 is different this time around as there is no way to regen MP naturally. At first during low levels it is a bit frustrating running out of MP and needing to run back to the nearest Aetheryte crystal to regen your MP. This is pretty much solved once you reach rank 10 and get an ability called “Radiance”. This is a weapon skill that uses TP, it gives back MP proportionate to the amount of damage it does. At level 10 this was giving me back about 60-70 MP every time, it pretty much makes running out of MP a thing of the past.

In FFXIV they have made the combat system very fast paced, this includes the magic system as well. In FFXI you had to cast a long spell that would be interrupted with just 1 hit from the enemy, in FFXIV however, the spells are much shorter and it is much more difficult to get interrupted. Just like attacking with a weapon or using Spirit Dart, magic uses stamina too, although in much greater quantities.

After level 10 Conjurer becomes a power house of pwnage, I easily and quickly destroyed anything in my level range. In the beginning they are a little slow to level but they soon start leveling just as quick or possibly faster than the other classes. The only downside is that if you are playing as a healer in a group setting you will get less skill ups than anyone else.The Conjurer all together is an awesome class, and definitely the one that I will be be playing come release day.

Here is a helpful list of Conjurer abilities:

Tranquility
Suppress your sense and gaze in ward, evoking the power to recover MP.
Rank Obtained: 1
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: None
Recast Time: 30 minutes
Requires: Conjurer

Spirit Dart
Launch an elemental missile attack. Damage type varies with equipped arm.
Rank Obtained: 1
Type of Action: Weapon Skill
Requires: Conjurer

Fire
"Deals Fire damage to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 1
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Recast Time: 7 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 10
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Blizzard
"Deals Blizzard damage to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 1
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Recast Time: 7 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 10
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Thunder
"Deals Lightning damage to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 1
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Recast Time: 7 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 10
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Water
"Deals Water damage to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 1
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Recast Time: 7 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 10
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Stone
"Deals Stone damage to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 1
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Recast Time: 7 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 10
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Aero
"Deals Aero damage to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 1
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Recast Time: 7 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 10
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Trance Chant
"Intensify your next cast, preventing it from being interrupted."
Rank Obtained: 2
Type of Action: Ability
Cast Time: None
Recast Time: 2 minutes
Action Points Required: 3
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Cure
"Restores HP of allies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 4
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Recast Time: 5 seconds
Action Points Required: 2
MP Cost: 12
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Stoneskin
"Hardens your skin, allowing a certain amount of damage to be absorbed."
Rank Obtained: 4
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 7 seconds
Recast Time: 30 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 12
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Repose
"Renders stationary enemies within area of effect immobile."
Rank Obtained: 8
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Recast Time: 40 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 8
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic
NOTES: ~ Coming Soon ~

Shock Spikes
"Armors you with lightning spikes, stunning attacking enemies."
Rank Obtained: 8
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 3 seconds
Recast Time: 10 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 8
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Profundity
"Enunciate, increasing the magic potency of your next cast. Lengthens cast and recast times."
Rank Obtained: 10
Type of Action: Ability
Cast Time: None
Recast Time: 60 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Radiance
"Sear an enemy with brilliance, dealing astral damage. Grants the caster MP in proportion to the damage dealt."
Rank Obtained: 10
Type of Action: Weapon Skill
Action Points Required: 3
TP Cost: 1000
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Burn
"Deals fire damage over time to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 12
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2.5 seconds
Recast Time: 12 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 16
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Frost
"Deals ice damage over time to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 12
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2.5 seconds
Recast Time: 12 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 16
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Drown
"Deals water damage over time to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 12
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2.5 seconds
Recast Time: 12 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 16
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Rasp
"Deals earth damage over time to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 12
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2.5 seconds
Recast Time: 12 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 16
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Choke
"Deals wind damage over time to enemies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 12
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2.5 seconds
Recast Time: 12 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 16
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Soughspeak
"Speak in a whisper, reducing magic potency and lowering the amount of enmity generated."
Rank Obtained: 14
Type of Action: Ability
Cast Time: None
Recast Time: 60 seconds
Action Points Required: 1
MP Cost: 3
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Protect
"Enhances defense of allies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 16
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 3 seconds
Recast Time: 60 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 9
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Shell
"Enhances magic defense of allies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 16
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 3 seconds
Recast Time: 60 seconds
Action Points Required: 3
MP Cost: 9
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Spiritbind
"Channel the elements, binding yourself and reducing MP consumption by half."
Rank Obtained: 18
Type of Action: Ability
Action Points Required: 3
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

Cure II
"Restores HP of allies within area of effect."
Rank Obtained: 20
Type of Action: Spell
Cast Time: 2.25 seconds
Recast Time: 5.5 seconds
Action Points Required: 2
MP Cost: 20
Requires: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic

My open beta impressions

Alright folks, FFXIV has finally gotten around to open beta and there is a lot to take in! I was lucky enough to get in on the first day and that means I have about a month to rack in those levels!

The first thing I'd like to talk about is the leveling system. You get 2 different levels in FFXIV. The first is your physical level which is shared between all jobs. The 2^nd is your job level which is specific towards what weapon you have equipped and these are the levels that grant you abilities. I really enjoy the way this system works out. Instead of having subjobs like in FFXI you mix and match abilities from the different jobs you level up, all the meanwhile you still get to see you physical level go up. It is very satisfying and allows for a totally customized character, it gets a thumbs up from me!

The next thing I'd like to point out is the graphics. They are absolutely STUNNING. I've had times where I am running around in the world and I just stop to admire a tree or a river, the amount of detail that the developers have put into this game is astronomical. These amazing graphics come at a prize though, you are going to need a pretty beastly computer to run it properly (at least until it is released on the ps3 next year). My current system is sporting a 3.6ghz quad core, 4gb of ram, and 1ghz of Vram and I still get hiccups quite a bit (although I attribute this mainly to my cheap graphics card). I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that your not going to be able to run this game without a solid $700 dollar investment if you are building from scratch.

Combat is pretty fast paced in FFXIV and I'm really enjoying it. They have done away with the auto attack system from FFXI and you now must manually attack (which now drains a stamina bar that recharges quickly). This leads to constant interactivity to the game and adds a little more difficulty to the combat system. Weapon skills are back in FFXIV and take TP just as FFXI did, although in FFXIV you gain TP exponentially faster. Magic is similar to melee combat except that your spells cost MP which does not recharge in FFXIV. At first this seems to be a huge hindrance but spells cost next to nothing and you get a spell that does decent damage for no MP. You also get a 15 minute ability that restores MP or you can touch an Aethyrite crystal.

The last topic I'd like to touch on is about the community. So far in open beta there is relatively no interactivity between players. No parties to be found, no guilds offering recruitment, even the chat channels are usually dead. I attribute this to the game being in the beta phase. People that are currently playing FFXIV know that there characters are going to be wiped when the launch date rolls around and thus have little attachment towards their characters. Everyone is rerolling and just messing around at this point. Most people don't even know the basics of the game at the moment, let alone how to structure a party. I believe that FFXIV will be just as social as FFXI when it is released.

All in all I'm having a GREAT time playing the beta and suggest that you play it as well. Hurry up though because you only have until the 29^th to report in!

My closed beta impressions

So here it is my first day of playing closed beta. I've decided to play as a Lallafel Conjurer/Thaumaturge.
So far I was surprised at the absence of mana regeneration in the game. So far the only way I've found to regen mana is to touch an Aethyrite crystal or to use the Conjurers 15 minute ability that restores mana. At first I thought this was going to be a huge hindrance but spells cost next to nothing and you get a spell that does decent damage for no mana. I'll report back in later after I delve more into the classes.


The game thus far has been stunningly beautiful. I mean there have been times where I've just been floored by the graphics. So far its been running smooth on my system (4gb ram, 3.6ghz quad core, 1ghz gram) with some hiccups here and there but I am running a pretty bad graphics card. As of now there seems to be no grouping in the game, everyone is off soloing but I can understand this as everyone is just messing around until the game comes out.

I'll fill everyone in on more of my reactions once open beta is released!