As part of Final Fantasy XIV Online’s Stormblood expansion, players can now play as a Red Mage, a powerful mix of FFXIV’s Black and White mages.
One of the great things about Final Fantasy XIV Online is the fact that you can tailor your class using jobs to fit your individual playstyle. Fancy being a healer? Play White Mage! Prefer fast-paced hand-to-hand combat? Monk’s the one for you!
The elusive Red Mage is the best of both worlds, though, as it blends spellcasting with intense rapier-centric combat.
Sound like the perfect character for you? Here’s how to unlock FFXIV Online’s Red Mage, as well as their abilities, traits, and some tips on how to play them.
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How to unlock Red Mage in FFXIV Online
In order to get your hands on this coveted job, you’ll need to have the Stormblood expansion pack. If you don’t have this, the quest won’t become available to you.
If you’re looking to pick up Stormblood, you can get it via Square Enix’s official website. Once you’ve downloaded it, there’s two things you’ll need to do first:
- Get to level 50.
- Speak to the Distraught Lass at the Steps of Ul’Dah (Coordinates: X ‘14.1, Y ‘ 11.7.) She will give you a quest called “Taking the Red”.
From here, you’ll need to complete a series of objectives to unlock the Red Mage.
FFXIV Red Mage quests
Once you’ve accepted the Taking the Red quest, there’s a few more steps to complete before you can become the swashbuckling spell slinger of your dreams.
In order to take the first steps in your Red Mage journey, do the following:
- Speak with the well-dressed lass at Spineless Basin.
- Teleport to the Black Brush Station for easy access.
- Speak with the red-garbed traveler.
- This will cue a cutscene.
- Return to the Distraught Lass in Ul’dah.
- Speak with X’rhun Tia at the Coffer & Coffin.
- Again, Black Brush Station is the closest teleport/chocobo location.
- Speak with X’rhun Tia.
- This completes the quest and earns you the Red Mage job, but you can hone your newfound skills by completing his next quest, The Crimson Duelist.
Red Mage traits
Becoming a Red Mage doesn’t only make you look cool, but it gifts you with a variety of traits to help you level up your rapier-wielding skills.
| Trait | Level Acquired | Description |
| Dualcast | 1 | Grants the effect of Dualcast upon casting any spell with a cast time. While under the effect of Dualcast, your next spell will require no time to cast. Effect is canceled upon execution of any action other than an ability. Auto-attacks do not cancel effect. |
| Maim and Mend | 20 | Increases base action damage and HP restoration by 10%. |
| Maim and Mend II | 40 | Increases base action damage and HP restoration by 30%. |
| Enhanced Jolt | 62 | Upgrades Jolt to Jolt II. Also increases the potency of Verthunder and Veraero to 370, and the potency of Verfire and Verstone to 310. |
| Scatter Mastery | 66 | Upgrades Scatter to Impact. |
| Enhanced Displacement | 72 | Increases Displacement potency to 200. |
| Enhanced Malfunction | 74 | Reduces Manafication recast timer to 110 seconds and adds an additional effect that increases magic damage dealt by 5%. |
| Enhanced Contre Sixte | 78 | Reduces Contre Sixte recast timer to 35 seconds and increases potency of both Verthunder II and Veraero II to 120. |
Red Mage abilities
Alongside this host of new traits come a slew of new, lethal abilities. Combining melee with spellcasting, the Red Mage is the perfect balance for aggressive mage players.
| Action | Level Acquired | MP Cost | Effect |
| Riposte | 1 | – | Delivers an attack with a potency of 130. Action upgraded to Enchanted Riposte if both Black Mana and White Mana are at 30 or more. |
| Jolt | 2 | 200 | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 180. Additional Effect: Increases both Black Mana and White Mana by 3 |
| Verthunder | 4 | 300 | Deals lightning damage with a potency of 370. Additional Effect: Increases Black Mana by 11 Additional Effect: 50% chance of becoming Verfire Ready Duration: 30s |
| Corps-a-corps | 6 | – | Rushes target and delivers an attack with a potency of 130. Cannot be executed while bound |
| Veraero | 10 | 300 | Deals wind damage with a potency of 370. Additional Effect: Increases White Mana by 11 Additional Effect: 50% chance of becoming Verstone Ready Duration: 30s |
| Scatter | 15 | 400 | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 120 to target and all enemies nearby it. Additional Effect: Increases both Black Mana and White Mana by 3 |
| Verthinder II | 18 | 400 | Deals lightning damage with a potency of 120 to target and all enemies nearby it. Additional Effect: Increases Black Mana by 7 |
| Veraero II | 22 | 400 | Deals wind damage with a potency of 120 to target and all enemies nearby it. Additional Effect: Increases White Mana by 7 |
| Verfire | 26 | 200 | Deals fire damage with a potency of 310. Additional Effect: Increases Black Mana by 9 Can only be executed while Verfire Ready is active. |
| Verstone | 30 | 200 | Deals earth damage with a potency of 310. Additional Effect: Increases White Mana by 9 Can only be executed while Verstone Ready is active. |
| Zwerchhau | 35 | – | Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Combo Action: Riposte or Enchanted Riposte Combo Potency: 150 Action upgraded to Enchanted Zwerchhau if both Black Mana and White Mana are at 25 or more. |
| Displacement | 40 | – | Delivers an attack with a potency of 200. Additional Effect: 15-yalm backstep Cannot be executed while bound. Shares a recast timer with Engagement. |
| Fleche | 45 | – | Delivers an attack with a potency of 440. |
| Redoublement | 50 | – | Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Combo Action: Zwerchhau or Enchanted Zwerchhau Combo Potency: 230 Action upgraded to Enchanted Redoublement if both Black Mana and White Mana are at 25 or more. |
| Acceleration | 50 | – | Ensures the next three casts of Verthunder/Verflare or Veraero/Verholy will, for their first hits, trigger Verfire Ready or Verstone Ready respectively. Duration: 20s |
| Moulinet | 52 | – | Delivers an attack with a potency of 60 to all enemies in a cone before you. Action upgraded to Enchanted Moulinet if both Black Mana and White Mana are at 20 or more. |
| Vercure | 54 | 500 | Restores target’s HP. Cure Potency: 350 |
| Contre Sixe | 56 | – | Delivers an attack with a potency of 400 to target and all enemies nearby it. |
| Embolden | 58 | – | Increases own magic damage dealt by 10% and physical damage dealt by nearby party members by 10%. Both effects are reduced by 20% every 4s. |
| Manafication | 60 | – | Doubles current Black Mana and White Mana levels. Additional Effect: Resets Corps-a-corps, Displacement, and Engagement recast timers Additional Effect: Increases magic damage dealt by 5% Duration: 10s All combos are canceled upon execution of Manafication. |
| Jolt II | 62 | 200 | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 290. Additional Effect: Increases both Black Mana and White Mana by 3 |
| Verraise | 64 | 2,400 | Resurrects target to a weakened state. |
| Impact | 66 | 400 | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 220 to target and all enemies nearby it. Additional Effect: Increases both Black Mana and White Mana by 3 |
| Verflare | 68 | 400 | Deals fire damage with a potency of 600. Combo Action: Enchanted Redoublement Additional Effect: Increases Black Mana by 21 Additional Effect: 20% chance of becoming Verfire Ready Duration: 30s Chance to become Verfire Ready increases to 100% if White Mana is higher than Black Mana at time of execution. Verthunder is changed to Verflare upon landing Enchanted Redoublement as a combo action. |
| Verholy | 70 | 400 | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 600. Combo Action: Enchanted Redoublement Additional Effect: Increases White Mana by 21 Additional Effect: 20% chance of becoming Verstone Ready Duration: 30s Chance to become Verstone Ready increases to 100% if Black Mana is higher than White Mana at time of execution. Veraero is changed to Verholy upon landing Enchanted Redoublement as a combo action. |
| Engagement | 72 | – | Delivers an attack with a potency of 150. Shares a recast timer with Displacement. |
| Reprise | 76 | – | Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Action upgraded to Enchanted Reprise if both Black Mana and White Mana are at 5 or more. |
| Scorch | 80 | 400 | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 700. Combo Action: Verflare or Verholy Additional Effect: Increases both Black Mana and White Mana by 7 Jolt II is changed to Scorch upon landing Verflare or Verholy as a combo action. |
| Enchanted Riposte | 1 | – | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 220. Balance Gauge Cost: 30 Black Mana Balance Gauge Cost: 30 White Mana |
| Enchanted Zwerchhau | 35 | – | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100. Combo Action: Riposte or Enchanted Riposte Combo Potency: 290 Balance Gauge Cost: 25 Black Mana Balance Gauge Cost: 25 White Mana |
| Enchanted Redoublement | 50 | – | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100. Combo Action: Enchanted Zwerchhau Combo Potency: 470 Balance Gauge Cost: 25 Black Mana Balance Gauge Cost: 25 White Mana |
| Enchanted Moulinet | 52 | – | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 200 to all enemies in a cone before you. Balance Gauge Cost: 20 Black Mana Balance Gauge Cost: 20 White Mana |
| Enchanted Reprise | 76 | – | Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 300. Balance Gauge Cost: 5 Black Mana Balance Gauge Cost: 5 White Mana |
Red Mage tips & tricks
Getting used to this very different mix of offensive styles can initially be pretty daunting, but there are a few things that will help you on your way to becoming a true Warrior of Light.
- Make sure that you’re performing combos – as noted in the abilities section above, some attacks can be chained together to gain increased potency and combo bonuses, such as Riposte, Zwerchhau then Redoublement.
- Watch your mana gauge – mastering the Red Mage requires you to keep an eye on your White and Black mana. White mana is increased by spells such as Aero, whereas Black relies on you using spells like thunder or fire. If you favor one over the other, it will be very difficult to cast spells of the other color, so choose wisely!
- Know your abilities – certain weaponskills will become enchanted when you lean towards either Black or White magic. Synchronize your mana and abilities to make sure you become truly unstoppable.
- Use Dualcast – the Dualcast trait allows you to immediately cast your next spell, so use it to balance out your mana gauge.
That’s it for unlocking FFXIV Online’s spectacular Red Mage job! Looking to etch yourself into Eorzean history? Here’s all of our guides:
How to access FFXIV Online | How to level up fast in FFXIV Online | How to Glamour in FFXIV Online | How to unlock Dancer | FFXIV Online Eureka Guide
