Copy-pasta time. Any constructive criticism is appreciated.
For the I/L Mages:
For the I/L Mages:
1st Job
+1 Energy Bolt
+20 Magic Claw (Maxed)
+10 MP Boost (Maxed)
+15 Magic Armor (Maxed)
+15 Magic Guard (Maxed)
+6 Energy Bolt (7)
• Energy Bolt is left at 7 because despite its higher damage output than Magic Claw on one monster, Magic Claw is still moreuseful. Magic Claw is a mob skill and hits decent damage either way; you probably won't be needing a 1v1 skill in 1st jobanyways. Magic Armor is recommended because it will make a minor difference in the damage you take, I consider it more important than Energy Bolt, but if you want to max Energy Bolt (which I could not see why you would even want to), this is the skill to drop. MP Boost doesn't necessarily have to be maxed so early. Correct me if I'm wrong, but because it is a 20% increase to what your MP would be otherwise, adding into it later in 1st job isn't a big deal. Just be sure to max it before your 2nd job advancement. Lastly, Magic Guard is a must to max as you WILL need it to survive in higher levels.
+1 Energy Bolt
+20 Magic Claw (Maxed)
+10 MP Boost (Maxed)
+15 Magic Armor (Maxed)
+15 Magic Guard (Maxed)
+6 Energy Bolt (7)
• Energy Bolt is left at 7 because despite its higher damage output than Magic Claw on one monster, Magic Claw is still moreuseful. Magic Claw is a mob skill and hits decent damage either way; you probably won't be needing a 1v1 skill in 1st jobanyways. Magic Armor is recommended because it will make a minor difference in the damage you take, I consider it more important than Energy Bolt, but if you want to max Energy Bolt (which I could not see why you would even want to), this is the skill to drop. MP Boost doesn't necessarily have to be maxed so early. Correct me if I'm wrong, but because it is a 20% increase to what your MP would be otherwise, adding into it later in 1st job isn't a big deal. Just be sure to max it before your 2nd job advancement. Lastly, Magic Guard is a must to max as you WILL need it to survive in higher levels.
2nd Job
+1 Teleport
+20 Thunderbolt (Maxed)
+20 Spell Mastery (Maxed)
+3 MP Eater
+20 Meditation (Maxed)
+19 Teleport (Maxed)
+20 Slow (Maxed)
+17 MP Eater (Maxed)
+1 Cold Beam (1)
• Most skills in 2nd job are essential to your next job advancements or training up there. This means that Teleport, Spell
Mastery, Thunderbolt, Meditation, and Slow MUST be maxed eventually. This means you have to drop either MP Eater or Cold Beam. MP
Eater takes on much more use post-BB and allows you to train while using very few potions. If you're unfunded or just want to
save mesos, this is probably the build for you. Note that after you get Spell Mastery you have a lot of freedom in the order that
you max your skills; you don't necessarily have to follow the order recommended beyond that. I'm not even going to post the other build I put up for consideration. Dropping MPE for Cold Beam is just insane when considering the fix for the lack of the "1v1 freezer" in 3rd job.
-Some changes to this build are thanks to dewgong of Basilmarket.
+1 Teleport
+20 Thunderbolt (Maxed)
+20 Spell Mastery (Maxed)
+3 MP Eater
+20 Meditation (Maxed)
+19 Teleport (Maxed)
+20 Slow (Maxed)
+17 MP Eater (Maxed)
+1 Cold Beam (1)
• Most skills in 2nd job are essential to your next job advancements or training up there. This means that Teleport, Spell
Mastery, Thunderbolt, Meditation, and Slow MUST be maxed eventually. This means you have to drop either MP Eater or Cold Beam. MP
Eater takes on much more use post-BB and allows you to train while using very few potions. If you're unfunded or just want to
save mesos, this is probably the build for you. Note that after you get Spell Mastery you have a lot of freedom in the order that
you max your skills; you don't necessarily have to follow the order recommended beyond that. I'm not even going to post the other build I put up for consideration. Dropping MPE for Cold Beam is just insane when considering the fix for the lack of the "1v1 freezer" in 3rd job.
-Some changes to this build are thanks to dewgong of Basilmarket.
3rd Job
+20 Ice Strike (Maxed)
+3 Elemental Amplification
+6 Spell Booster
+17 Elemental Amplification (Maxed)
+10 Teleport Mastery (Maxed)
+10 Elemental Decrease (Maxed)
+20 Thunder Spear (Maxed)
+14 Spell Booster (Maxed)
+20 Seal (Maxed)
+11 Cold Beam (12)
+20 Partial Resistance (Maxed)
• Due to a problem with the skill Ice Strike, this build was changed slightly. Because Ice Strike currently remains unchanged from its previous stats, it does gain range as it levels up. Please disregard the first sentence of the following explanation as it currently does not hold truth. [Starting to think this is just a glitch in text. I'd need someone to test the range of level 1 Ice Strike and compare it to level 20 though. But it does seem like Ice Strike's range is less than what it should be...] If Ice Strike has the same range through all its levels, then the build is as follows:
+1 Ice Strike
+3 Elemental Amplification
+6 Spell Booster
+17 Elemental Amplification (Maxed)
+19 Ice Strike (Maxed)
+10 Teleport Mastery (Maxed)
+10 Elemental Decrease (Maxed)
+20 Thunder Spear (Maxed)
+14 Spell Booster (Maxed)
+20 Seal (Maxed)
+11 Cold Beam (12)
+20 Partial Resistance (Maxed)
• Since Ice Strike will get max range starting at level 1, there is no point in maxing it first. Maxing Elemental Amplification
makes Ice Strike (and everything else for that matter) stronger than maxing Ice Strike, and 3 Amp/6 Booster will out-damage 9 AMP
(following the pattern that 3 AMP/11 Booster currently out-damages 14 AMP), so that's what is being done here. Also bear in mind
that Spell Booster also gives its +2 from the get-go, which is why I left it at the minute mark as opposed to putting it to
11 (in which 14 AMP probably would out-damage it after Big Bang). Then we max the skills for optimal Ice Strike damage as I stated,
following with Teleport Mastery for more augmented Ice Strike damage (provided you can constantly telecast it and have the skill
deal damage to it). From there it's really up to personal opinion. I would drop Elemental Composition, because it overall seems
like the least useful skill in the 3rd job book (Seal still probably has some practicalities to it despite getting Teleport
Mastery). 11 Cold Beam is to allow for Cold Beam to serve the purpose of a 1v1 freezer (2 seconds freeze at level 11+). Stuck it in before PR because PR doesn't really start serving much purpose until you begin to boss.
-Build and build explanation are created by kirbyhyper of Basilmarket. Slightly edited by myself.
+20 Ice Strike (Maxed)
+3 Elemental Amplification
+6 Spell Booster
+17 Elemental Amplification (Maxed)
+10 Teleport Mastery (Maxed)
+10 Elemental Decrease (Maxed)
+20 Thunder Spear (Maxed)
+14 Spell Booster (Maxed)
+20 Seal (Maxed)
+11 Cold Beam (12)
+20 Partial Resistance (Maxed)
• Due to a problem with the skill Ice Strike, this build was changed slightly. Because Ice Strike currently remains unchanged from its previous stats, it does gain range as it levels up. Please disregard the first sentence of the following explanation as it currently does not hold truth. [Starting to think this is just a glitch in text. I'd need someone to test the range of level 1 Ice Strike and compare it to level 20 though. But it does seem like Ice Strike's range is less than what it should be...] If Ice Strike has the same range through all its levels, then the build is as follows:
+1 Ice Strike
+3 Elemental Amplification
+6 Spell Booster
+17 Elemental Amplification (Maxed)
+19 Ice Strike (Maxed)
+10 Teleport Mastery (Maxed)
+10 Elemental Decrease (Maxed)
+20 Thunder Spear (Maxed)
+14 Spell Booster (Maxed)
+20 Seal (Maxed)
+11 Cold Beam (12)
+20 Partial Resistance (Maxed)
• Since Ice Strike will get max range starting at level 1, there is no point in maxing it first. Maxing Elemental Amplification
makes Ice Strike (and everything else for that matter) stronger than maxing Ice Strike, and 3 Amp/6 Booster will out-damage 9 AMP
(following the pattern that 3 AMP/11 Booster currently out-damages 14 AMP), so that's what is being done here. Also bear in mind
that Spell Booster also gives its +2 from the get-go, which is why I left it at the minute mark as opposed to putting it to
11 (in which 14 AMP probably would out-damage it after Big Bang). Then we max the skills for optimal Ice Strike damage as I stated,
following with Teleport Mastery for more augmented Ice Strike damage (provided you can constantly telecast it and have the skill
deal damage to it). From there it's really up to personal opinion. I would drop Elemental Composition, because it overall seems
like the least useful skill in the 3rd job book (Seal still probably has some practicalities to it despite getting Teleport
Mastery). 11 Cold Beam is to allow for Cold Beam to serve the purpose of a 1v1 freezer (2 seconds freeze at level 11+). Stuck it in before PR because PR doesn't really start serving much purpose until you begin to boss.
-Build and build explanation are created by kirbyhyper of Basilmarket. Slightly edited by myself.
4th Job
Two builds put up here, keep in mind these builds assume you have access to all Mastery Books:
+1 Chain Lightning
+1 Blizzard
+1 Big Bang
+29 Chain Lightning (Maxed)
+10 Buff Mastery (Maxed)
+5 Ice Demon
+10 Elquines
+30 Infinity (Maxed)
+30 Maple Warrior (Maxed)
+25 Ice Demon (Maxed)
+20 Elquines (Maxed)
+29 Blizzard (Maxed)
+1 Hero's Will (1)
+29 Big Bang (Maxed)
+22 Mana Reflection (22)
• The advancement SP goes into having your "free" ultimate, a point in Big Bang for clearing wherever applicable, and Chain Lightning since its the main move in 4th job. Buff Mastery and Chain Lightning are up for maxing first for a free +30 Magic and getting Chain Lightning stronger (I also think you can max Buff Mastery first if you prefer to get the +30 Magic first; I'm not too great at running calculations, so we could try getting someone to see which one would be better to max).
I wanted Elquines just to make life a little bit easier in terms of not having to use Ice Strike or something to freeze monsters I'm attacking, and it's at 10 for the minute mark. Then Infinity, Maple Warrior, and Ice Demon are maxed(?) in order for bossing purposes (Infinity for temporary damage increases, Maple Warrior for stat increases, and Ice Demon for DoT). Elquines is maxed next to increase its duration, Blizzard is maxed to reduce the cooldown and increase its DoT, and the point in Hero's Will lets you get out of Seduce. I decided not to max Big Bang until a late point because at level 1 it does 232% damage * 5 hits, which isn't too far off from what it is maxed (290% * 5) and I honestly don't see myself (maybe other I/Ls will disagree with me) using the skill too much, especially with my bad keyboard. And the rest of the SP goes to Mana Reflection because of a lot of people saying it's not a good skill.
-Build and build explanation are created by kirbyhyper of Basilmarket.
+1 [Optional] Big Bang
+1 [Optional] Blizzard
+30 Chain Lightning (Maxed)
+10 Buff Mastery (Maxed)
+30 Maple Warrior (Maxed)
+30 Infinity (Maxed)
+5 [Or +8] Ice Demon
+30 Elquines (Maxed)
+5 Hero's Will (Maxed)
+25 [Or +22 if you added +8 earlier] Ice Demon (Maxed)
+30 [Or +29 if you added +1 earlier] Big Bang (Maxed)
+30 [Or +29 if you added +1 earlier] Blizzard (Maxed)
+18 Mana Reflection (18)
• My reasoning is simple - It's the fastest, strength-building bossing build I can think of. Max CL to get your main attack maxed ASAP. Buff Mastery boosts the effectiveness of your buffs and provides an additional 30 M.ATT - Boosting your top-end and low-end damage even further. Maple Warrior is next for an overall damage increase, increased MP upon level-up and a useful party-skill low-level. Infinity is maxed next due to it's bossing capabilities - 1 out of 3 minutes your damage rises in an insane crescendo - A necessity for any bosser. Ice Demon here is iffy - I'd get it to 5-8 as a way of having DoT to assist with bosses that stun / M.Def up. Since it's spammable it's easy to maintain the DoT unlike Blizzard. If not, we move on anyhow. Elquines is up next - Again, bossing build, more DPM. Hero's Will follows, for seducing bosses. (By now you're 160+ so those kinds of bosses you should be familiar with.) Max Ice Demon for maximal DoT & also a nice, fast, elemental mobbing skill. Big Bang follows, its applications are somewhat limited currently, although revisions may be made based upon how effective it is in bossing post-BB. Finally Blizzard for its raw power / DoT (You may have wanted to get 1 point in it earlier on (fair enough)), and Mana Reflection brings up the rear.
-Build and build explanation are created by Etrieys of Basilmarket.
Two builds put up here, keep in mind these builds assume you have access to all Mastery Books:
+1 Chain Lightning
+1 Blizzard
+1 Big Bang
+29 Chain Lightning (Maxed)
+10 Buff Mastery (Maxed)
+5 Ice Demon
+10 Elquines
+30 Infinity (Maxed)
+30 Maple Warrior (Maxed)
+25 Ice Demon (Maxed)
+20 Elquines (Maxed)
+29 Blizzard (Maxed)
+1 Hero's Will (1)
+29 Big Bang (Maxed)
+22 Mana Reflection (22)
• The advancement SP goes into having your "free" ultimate, a point in Big Bang for clearing wherever applicable, and Chain Lightning since its the main move in 4th job. Buff Mastery and Chain Lightning are up for maxing first for a free +30 Magic and getting Chain Lightning stronger (I also think you can max Buff Mastery first if you prefer to get the +30 Magic first; I'm not too great at running calculations, so we could try getting someone to see which one would be better to max).
I wanted Elquines just to make life a little bit easier in terms of not having to use Ice Strike or something to freeze monsters I'm attacking, and it's at 10 for the minute mark. Then Infinity, Maple Warrior, and Ice Demon are maxed(?) in order for bossing purposes (Infinity for temporary damage increases, Maple Warrior for stat increases, and Ice Demon for DoT). Elquines is maxed next to increase its duration, Blizzard is maxed to reduce the cooldown and increase its DoT, and the point in Hero's Will lets you get out of Seduce. I decided not to max Big Bang until a late point because at level 1 it does 232% damage * 5 hits, which isn't too far off from what it is maxed (290% * 5) and I honestly don't see myself (maybe other I/Ls will disagree with me) using the skill too much, especially with my bad keyboard. And the rest of the SP goes to Mana Reflection because of a lot of people saying it's not a good skill.
-Build and build explanation are created by kirbyhyper of Basilmarket.
+1 [Optional] Big Bang
+1 [Optional] Blizzard
+30 Chain Lightning (Maxed)
+10 Buff Mastery (Maxed)
+30 Maple Warrior (Maxed)
+30 Infinity (Maxed)
+5 [Or +8] Ice Demon
+30 Elquines (Maxed)
+5 Hero's Will (Maxed)
+25 [Or +22 if you added +8 earlier] Ice Demon (Maxed)
+30 [Or +29 if you added +1 earlier] Big Bang (Maxed)
+30 [Or +29 if you added +1 earlier] Blizzard (Maxed)
+18 Mana Reflection (18)
• My reasoning is simple - It's the fastest, strength-building bossing build I can think of. Max CL to get your main attack maxed ASAP. Buff Mastery boosts the effectiveness of your buffs and provides an additional 30 M.ATT - Boosting your top-end and low-end damage even further. Maple Warrior is next for an overall damage increase, increased MP upon level-up and a useful party-skill low-level. Infinity is maxed next due to it's bossing capabilities - 1 out of 3 minutes your damage rises in an insane crescendo - A necessity for any bosser. Ice Demon here is iffy - I'd get it to 5-8 as a way of having DoT to assist with bosses that stun / M.Def up. Since it's spammable it's easy to maintain the DoT unlike Blizzard. If not, we move on anyhow. Elquines is up next - Again, bossing build, more DPM. Hero's Will follows, for seducing bosses. (By now you're 160+ so those kinds of bosses you should be familiar with.) Max Ice Demon for maximal DoT & also a nice, fast, elemental mobbing skill. Big Bang follows, its applications are somewhat limited currently, although revisions may be made based upon how effective it is in bossing post-BB. Finally Blizzard for its raw power / DoT (You may have wanted to get 1 point in it earlier on (fair enough)), and Mana Reflection brings up the rear.
-Build and build explanation are created by Etrieys of Basilmarket.