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Official Class Description
In the hands of a skilled practitioner, thaumaturgy can be a force of terrifying destruction. At the heart of this school of magic lies the ability to call forth and command the latent aether within oneself through deep introspection.
To then mold that aether into sorcery, the thaumaturge makes use of a scepter or staff, within which is housed a medium—a natural stone imbued with magical properties. Thus armed, the thaumaturge is capable of wreaking considerable havoc via ruinous spells and curses.
Source
1 - Thaumaturge Basics - Answers to Some Common Questions
Why should I play a Thaumaturge, or why should I invite one to my party?
Simply put, the Thaumaturge is the premier Crowd Control class of the game. The THM is capable of applying Heavy and Bind to a large number of mobs at once and is also the only class in the game that carries AoE Sleep. Add in the sustained AoE damage with these effects and the THM is the perfect class for keeping all manner of adds in check from the minions that die with a couple of Fire II's to the ability to sleep the a dangerous reinforcement. The THM's kiting ability is also top notch, with Heavy from Blizzard and Lethargy, Bind from Blizzard II and the ability to always do damage on the most with Scathe and the DoT from Thunder, a THM can even handle enemies that can't be slept.
Once you become a Black Mage, the THM gets even more Control in Freeze, a ground targeted AoE that Binds and damages anything that enters, as well as Flare, the quintessential "Blow the shit out of everything in sight at once" spell.
The THM isn't the "best" in any damage category, the Physical Classes beat it in burst damage and the ACN beats it in sustained damage. However the THM is great at both so it hardly needs to be the best, especially when all of the tools at your disposal makes you a vital party member in your own right. Nobody else can remove mobs from the fight entirely, Heavy or bind a mob trying to murder the back row and never have to stop to recover MP. The THM is a Force Multiplier, Controller and straight up Nuker in one package.
What is this Astral Fire and Umbral Ice thing?
It is basically the THM's main mechanic and part of what makes it so fun. Basically when you cast a Fire or Ice spell, you gain a buff related to the spell, Astral Fire and Umbral Ice respectively. Why is this important? Well the abilities have profound effects on what the THM can do at that time.
Astral Fire increases the damage output and cost of Fire spells, with it increasing with each stack and stops all MP recovery. This is actually pretty good because that damage boost is significant, the burst damage you put out in Astral fire phases is really something.
Umbral Ice increases the damage and cost of Ice spells, and also increses your MP recovery rate with each stack. Blizzard spells are noticably weaker but that MP recovery is huge. At Umbral Ice III, you refill your MP bar within a few ticks. Umbral Ice is why the THM's AoE damage is so ridiculous, it just never stops nuking and it is why Emnity is the only real Restraining Bolt on the THM/BLM.
Transpose is a nice ability learned at Lv4 that linked into this well. It swaps Astral Fire with a single Umbral Ice, or Umbral Ice with a single Astral Fire. So basically you don't have to cast two Fire spells to switch to Astral Fire and vice versa. Just click Transpose when low/full on MP and let rip with your new spell. The only restriction on Transpose is that it doesn't carry over stacks, so you still have to build back up to Astral Fire III or Unbral Ice III, but you lose no momentum in the switch. Fire III and Blizzard III also mean you don't even need to Transpose any more, meaning that you can save that litle trick as an emergency tool.
So what Status Effects does the Thaumaturge have?
Basically I'll go over each Status Effects the THM can inflict and how:
Heavy - Gravity for FFXI players and Snare for players of other MMOs. This can be applied via Blizzard or Lethargy. The spell actually has to land to apply Heavy but it doesn't have to do damage. Blizzard is preferable as the effect is 40% compared to Lethargy's 20%, however as Lethargy has no casting time, and it can be used in Astral Fire. Something to keep in mind when you need to put Heavy on a mob.
Bind - Root to anyone not familiar with FFXI. Blizzard II and Freeze applies this, and the spell must land for the bind to take effect. This has a very rapid Diminishing Return so only use Blizzard II for the Bind effect in "Oh Shit" moments. You can get one, maybe two binds in before mobs start resisting it outright.
Slow - Applied via Lethargy. Increases the enemy's global cooldown, cooldowns and casting times by 20%. Not much else to say really.
Sleep - The big one. Applied by the spell Sleep and becomes AoE at Lv36. It'salso important to know how this works, resistance will slowly build up with each application. At first Sleep lasts for 30 seconds. If a mob is woken up at any point, Sleeping it again will mean that it now only lasts for 15 seconds. A Third time will only last for 7 seconds, then the spell gets resisted outright. Basically if the THM sleeps something, do not touch that mob. Seriously, just don't fucking do it. Chances are they WILL leave the mob to eat your face.
Virus (Cross Class) - Gained from Arcanist at Lv8 via the Virus spell, and is also available to BLM. Reduces target's STR, DEX, INT, and MND by 15% for 10 secs. Useful for phases of boss fights where the tank might take a lot of incoming damage.
Eye for an Eye (Cross Class) - Because I literally have no better name for it. Gained from Arcanist at Lv34 from the Eye for an Eye ability. It puts up a Barrier on anyone (Hint: Tank) and for 30 seconds, any time that ally is hit, there's a 20% chance that the hit will do 10% less damage.
What stats should I focus on?
Pump your points into Intelligence. It is our Primary stat and directly affects Attack Magic Power.
As for gear: Piety is actually useful too since while THM and BLM have no MP issues and while THM and BLM have a high natural growth, a bigger MP pool means that you can stay in Astral Fire for longer and Convert restores more MP.
Mind is nice but you get enough from gear and natural stat growth., especially now that Magick and Mend also boosts healing magic which should do you fine for self heals on those "OHSHI-" moments.
As for Secondary Stats: Accuracy and Crit Rate are useful, as is Determination. Accuracy and Magic Accuracy are all rolled into one stat so you will need some Accuracy though how much isn't really known.
Spell Speed is nice on paper though more testing needs to be done on what sort of curve the stat has to see if it is worthwhile.
What other Classes go well with the Thaumaturge?
In terms of Battle classes. it is worth levelling up both Arcanist and Archer. The BLM can use cross class abilities from both classes and Raging Strikes, Quelling Strikes, Physick and Virus all have a lot of use.
As for Crafting/Gathering. Weaving and Goldsmithing makes THM/BLM Armour and Weapons respectively. Culinarian and Alchemist are always useful because crafting your own consumables is really nice. Fishing goes well with Culinarin, Botanist with Weaving and Alchemist, and Miner with Goldsmithing.
2 - The Thaumaturge's Spellbook - Class Abilities
Name: Blizzard
Level: 1
Description: Deals ice damage with a potency of 150.
Additional Effect: Heavy +40% Duration: 20s
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice or removes Astral Fire Duration: 10s
Info: Your Basic Ice spell and way to apply Heavy when needed. You basically want to be spamming this if you don't have the MP to cast Blizzard III when in Umbral Ice phases and you don't need the Heavy effect.
Name: Fire
Level: 2
Description: Deals fire damage with a potency of 150.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire or removes Umbral Ice Duration: 10s
Info: Your bread and butter nuke, you should be spamming this during Astral Fire phases for damage and to Proc Firestarter with gives you a free, instant Fire III for even more damage.
Name: Transpose
Level: 4
Description: Swaps Astral Fire with a single Umbral Ice, or Umbral Ice with a single Astral Fire.
Info: Basically switches you from one stance to another, without having to cast an opposite spell to first cancel it, and then gain the stance. This is really useful as you lose no momentum. Please not that it does not transfer stacks so you will still need to build back up to Astral Fire/Umbral Ice III. It is always preferable to Fire/Blizzard III then it is to transpose.
Name: Thunder, Thunder III, Thunder III
Level: 6, 22, 46
Description: Deals lightning damage with a potency of 30/50/60.
Additional Effect: Lightning damage over time.
Potency: 40 Duration: 18s/21s/25s
Additional Effect: 5% chance after each tick that next Thunder, Thunder II, or Thunder III will add its full damage over time amount to its initial damage, have no cast time and cost no MP. (Needs Thundercloud)
Duration: 12s
Info: Lumped them together because they are all basically the same spell. This was actually buffed from Phase 3, it now lasts for 18 seconds instead of 12. You will want to keep this, and any other Cross Class DoTs up. I like to pair it with Aero. Also never clip DoTs when recasting. The sweet spot for refreshing Thunder is with 2 seconds left on the duration so you get the final tick. Regardless, it is always a DPS loss to refresh a DoT with time left on it so it is always better to let it drop off then it is to recast it with a few seconds left on. The only exception to this is if you get a Thundercloud proc, since it turns Thunder into an outright nuke and refreshes and DoT so you end up with a net gain of damage over time. As of Pre-Release Thunder DoTs from the same source no longer stack.
Name: Surecast
Level: 8
Description: Next spell is cast without interruption. Duration: 10s
Info: Perfect for getting off a Sleep or Blizzard II on that mob that is trying to murder you, or a Physick on someone who is about to die but you're in danger of taking a hit too. it sounds obvious but yes this does not prevent Status Effects like Stun or Paralyze from interrupt you. This only prevents damage and crits from interrupting you. It has a 12 second Cooldown so honestly? Just spam the crap out of this.
Name: Sleep
Level: 10
Description: Puts target and enemies near it to sleep (Requires Deep Sleep for AoE effect). Duration: 30s
Cancels auto-attack upon execution.
Info: Your second control spell and one of the most useful ones. It guarantees that you take a mob out of action for 30 seconds. Multiple mobs can be slept. Mobs can be reslept but they rapidly gain resistance going from 30/15/7/Immune. There are also some mobs, like the Gias in Copperbell Mines that are outright immune to it so make sure that you tell your tank this.
Name: Blizzard II
Level: 12
Description: Deals ice damage with a potency of 100 to all nearby enemies.
Additional Effect: Bind Duration: 4s
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice or removes Astral Fire Duration: 10s
Info: We get it at Lv12 now ^_^. Your third Control spell, it Binds everything in a Point-Blank AoE around you so to use this you want to stack up with the tank and nuke as he/she does AoE threat stuff. The damage is low but since you will be in Umbral Ice stance, you can spam it endlessly as long as you hit a target to keep up your Umbra Ice stacks. Enemies resist bind after 2-4 attempts depending on Ice and Bind resistance but if you are using it purely for the nuke portion then it shouldn't be too bad.
Name: Scathe
Level: 15 - THM Quest : The Threat of Superiority required
Description: Deals elementally neutral damage with a potency of 100.
Additional Effect: 20% chance that Scathe will deal double damage (Requires Enhanced Scathe).
Info: It is instant cast so you can use it on the move. When kiting you want to spam this, preferably while in Umbral Ice stance. This also deals Non-Elemental damage so this will be your go to nuke against anything with heavy Fire/Ice resist (FYI, it deals roughly the same damage over time as Blizzard with Enhanced Scathe). It should also be nice for PvP since instant cast. You can also use it as a sort of Execute ability to get that extra bit of damage on a mob that is about to die. This spell is seriously underrated.
Name: Fire II
Level: 18
Description: Deals fire damage with a potency of 100 to target and enemies near it.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire or removes Umbral Ice Duration: 10s
Info: Your bread and butter AoE nuke. This works as any other AoE spell should. However, you still want to stack up with the tank anyway so any mobs you do aggro can just be grabbed straight back. Standing way back and casting this will just ensure that you gain several mobs to the face and a tank annoyed at having to run back and forth to you.
Name: Swiftcast
Level: 26
Description: Next spell is cast immediately. Duration: 10s
Info: Stacks with Surecast. Pretty much does what it says on the tin. An instant cast Sleep can take an entire pack of mobs out of the fight for 30 seconds and an instant cast Freeze is a great way of binding a whole bunch of adds that are sleep immune. Do NOT underestimate the utility of an instant cast Blizzard, Blizzard II or Freeze in terms of control. Plus you can use it to spam even more nukes when in Astral Fire.
Name: Manaward
Level: 30
Description: Creates a barrier that nullifies magic damage totalling up to 30% of maximum HP. Duration: 20s
Info: Your first real "OHSHI-" button. Remember that you don't have that much HP so this is only good for a couple of hits but it should be long enough for the tank to grab back threat and the healer to drop a Cure on you.
Name: Fire III
Level: 34
Description: Deals fire damage with a potency of 200.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire III or removes Umbral Ice Duration: 10s
Info: While this IS more powerful than Fire, you want to stick to Fire for nuking over Fire III. Fire III is much more expensive to start but Fire can also proc Firestarter. This also grants a full stack of Astral Fire so there is no need to Transpose into Astral fire now.
Name: Blizzard III
Level: 38
Description: Deals ice damage with a potency of 200.
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice III or removes Astral Fire Duration: 10s
Info: This is a more powerful Blizzard III without the Heavy.This should replace Blizzard on your action bar for when you don't need to apply Heavy. A Since Blizzard III will pretty much restore all your MP i na few seconds which lets you Fire III and resume nuking with Fire.
Name: Aetherial Manipulation
Level: 50
Description: Rush to a target party member's side. Unable to cast if bound.
Info: Nice little escape spell. While it seems to be more for PvP, it has some nice utility in instances because, well it's a freaking teleport!
Thaumaturge Traits
Name: Enhanced Intelligence I, II, III
Level: 8, 14, 32
Description: Increases intelligence by 2/4/6 (Total of 10)
Info: It's a boost to your main stat, what's not to love?
Name: Enhanced Surecast
Level: 16
Description: Grants a 15% chance that upon use, Surecast will have no recast time.
Info: Surecast already has a trivial cooldown so this just makes it even more attractive to spam.
Name: Magick and Mend I, II, III
Level: 20/??/40
Description: Increases base action damage and healing by 10%/20%/30% and allows for the stacking of a second/third Astral Fire or Umbral Ice.
Info: It is basically MAB from FFXI. It is a flat damage boost and is noticeable from the moment you gain it, especially since you can also stack Astral Fire and Umbral Ice with it.
Name: Enhanced Scathe
Level: 24
Description: Grants a 20% chance that Scathe will deal double damage.
Info: Buffs Scathe by a nice amount. Pretty nice.
Name: Thundercloud
Level: 28
Description: Grants a 5% chance that after each damage over time tick inflicted by any Thunder spell, the next Thunder, Thunder II, or Thunder III will add its full damage over time amount to its initial damage, have no cast time, and cost no MP.
Duration: 12s
Info: Basically each tick can turn your next Thunder spell into an outright nuke. Because it deals full damage, there is no reason not to cast this even with a Thunder DoT still up.
Name: Deep Sleep
Level: 36
Description: Extends the area of effect for Sleep from a single target to a five-yalm radius.
Info: Turns Sleep into Sleepga for even MORE Control than you already have.
Name: Firestarter
Level: 44
Description: Grants a 40% chance that upon casting Fire, your next Fire III will require no MP and have no casting time. Duration: 12s
Info: Twisted Firestarter! Buffed from Phase 3, it now has a 40% chance to proc. This is exactly why Fire is your go to Nuke while in Astral Fire.
Name: Enhanced Manaward
Level: 48
Description: Increases damage nullified by Manaward to 30% of your maximum HP.
Info: Buffs your Manaward so now it blocks a decent amount of damage.
3 - Arcane Mastery - The Black Mage
So how to I become a Black Mage?
To unlock the BLM job, you need THM at 30 and ARC at 15, then you unlock a quest called "Taking The Black" at the Thaumaturge's Guild in Ul'Dah. For each quest you complete, you will be rewarded with a new ability, while the later quests will also reward you with Artifact Gear that is shown in the screenshot above. The stats that you should focus on will be the same so Intelligence all the way.
The Black Mage Spellbook
Name: Convert
Level: 30
Description: Sacrifices 20% of maximum HP to restore 30% of MP.
Cannot be executed when current HP is lower than 20%.
Info: This has perfect Synergy with Raging Strikes and you should always use them together. Fire it off as soon as you launch a couple of Fire spells. Convert means that you can nuke for the entire 20 seconds while staying in Astral Fire III.
Name: Freeze
Level: 35
Description: Covers a designated area in ice, dealing ice damage with a potency of 20 and binding enemies that enter.
Duration: 15s
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice or removes Astral Fire
Duration: 10s
Info: GTAoE effect that binds anything within the target area while dealing damage. Very solid control spell and the only real Area Denial spell in the game. It costs a lot of MP though and takes a while to go off but being able to root an entire crowd of enemies from afar is nice in PvE and PvP. This has perfect synergy with sleep since you can bind a load of mobs to keep them clumped together for the sleep.
Name: Apocatastasis
Level: 40
Description: Increases a Disciple of War or Magic party member's resistance to fire, ice, and lightning by 30%.
Duration: 12s
Cannot be reused on an individual for 60 seconds from when the effect wears off. Cannot be cast on self.
Info: This is really nice to use on the tank in phases of huge magical damage. Great synergy with Eye for an Eye from Arcanist and you can really make the WHM's job a LOT easier.
Name: Manawall
Level: 45
Description: Creates a barrier that nullifies two physical attacks.
Duration: 60s
Info: A great "OHSHI-" button. Manaward is better for incoming Magic Damage but this is what you go for when a physical melee/ranged mob is attacking you.
Name: Flare
Level: 50
Description: Deals fire damage with a potency of 260 to a target and enemies near it.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire III or removes Umbral Ice Duration: 10s
Info: This is basically your "Nuke everything in sight" spell. It consumes all of your MP and takes a long time to cast. But it has a potency of 260 so under Raging Strikes and Astral Fire III this will hit like a truck.
Cross Class Abilities for your Black Mage
The BLM can use abilities from the Arcanist and Archer list and below are the abilities that you can use:
Name: Ruin
Level: 1 ANC
Description: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 80.
Info: Useless, especially since you have Scathe which is better in every way. If there is some kind of boss mechanic where you need non-elemental damage and can't move then you can still Scathe so...
Name: Raging Strikes
Level: 4 ARC
Description: Increases attack power by 20%
Duration: 20s
Info: Great ability for when you need to burn down a boss now. Should never leave your action barm especially after 30 since Convert lets you nuke for the entire duration of this buff.
Name: Physick
Level: 4 ACN
Description: Restores target's HP. Cure Potency: 400
Info: Your only healing ability. Same cost and potency as Cure except you can actually equip it as a BLM!
Name: Virus
Level: 12 ACN
Description: Reduces target's STR and DEX by 15%. Duration: 10s
Info: This is really nice to throw out as it is 10 seconds of increased raidwide damage and decreased raidwide damage taken.
Name: Hawk's Eye
Level: 26 ARC
Description: Increases DEX and physical accuracy by 20%.
Duration: 20s
Info: If you find yourself needing Physical Accuracy as a Black Mage, something has gone badly wrong. The DEX is okay I suppose but you are better of kiting then facetanking if you pull aggro.
Name: Eye for an Eye
Level: 34 ACN
Description: Erects a magicked barrier around a single party member or pet. Duration: 30s
Barrier Effect: 20% chance that when barrier is struck, the striker will deal 10% less damage. Duration: 20s
Info: This, along with Physick, Virus and Apocatastasis gives you a lot of utility options. Combined with your control spells and you can see why having a BLM around is really nice, this is just icing on the cake.
Name: Quelling Strikes
Level: 34 ARC
Description: Reduces enmity generated by each attack.
Duration: 15s
Info: This ability alone makes it worth getting ARC up to 34. It is that awesome.
In the hands of a skilled practitioner, thaumaturgy can be a force of terrifying destruction. At the heart of this school of magic lies the ability to call forth and command the latent aether within oneself through deep introspection.
To then mold that aether into sorcery, the thaumaturge makes use of a scepter or staff, within which is housed a medium—a natural stone imbued with magical properties. Thus armed, the thaumaturge is capable of wreaking considerable havoc via ruinous spells and curses.
Source
1 - Thaumaturge Basics - Answers to Some Common Questions
Why should I play a Thaumaturge, or why should I invite one to my party?
Simply put, the Thaumaturge is the premier Crowd Control class of the game. The THM is capable of applying Heavy and Bind to a large number of mobs at once and is also the only class in the game that carries AoE Sleep. Add in the sustained AoE damage with these effects and the THM is the perfect class for keeping all manner of adds in check from the minions that die with a couple of Fire II's to the ability to sleep the a dangerous reinforcement. The THM's kiting ability is also top notch, with Heavy from Blizzard and Lethargy, Bind from Blizzard II and the ability to always do damage on the most with Scathe and the DoT from Thunder, a THM can even handle enemies that can't be slept.
Once you become a Black Mage, the THM gets even more Control in Freeze, a ground targeted AoE that Binds and damages anything that enters, as well as Flare, the quintessential "Blow the shit out of everything in sight at once" spell.
The THM isn't the "best" in any damage category, the Physical Classes beat it in burst damage and the ACN beats it in sustained damage. However the THM is great at both so it hardly needs to be the best, especially when all of the tools at your disposal makes you a vital party member in your own right. Nobody else can remove mobs from the fight entirely, Heavy or bind a mob trying to murder the back row and never have to stop to recover MP. The THM is a Force Multiplier, Controller and straight up Nuker in one package.
What is this Astral Fire and Umbral Ice thing?
It is basically the THM's main mechanic and part of what makes it so fun. Basically when you cast a Fire or Ice spell, you gain a buff related to the spell, Astral Fire and Umbral Ice respectively. Why is this important? Well the abilities have profound effects on what the THM can do at that time.
Astral Fire increases the damage output and cost of Fire spells, with it increasing with each stack and stops all MP recovery. This is actually pretty good because that damage boost is significant, the burst damage you put out in Astral fire phases is really something.
Umbral Ice increases the damage and cost of Ice spells, and also increses your MP recovery rate with each stack. Blizzard spells are noticably weaker but that MP recovery is huge. At Umbral Ice III, you refill your MP bar within a few ticks. Umbral Ice is why the THM's AoE damage is so ridiculous, it just never stops nuking and it is why Emnity is the only real Restraining Bolt on the THM/BLM.
Transpose is a nice ability learned at Lv4 that linked into this well. It swaps Astral Fire with a single Umbral Ice, or Umbral Ice with a single Astral Fire. So basically you don't have to cast two Fire spells to switch to Astral Fire and vice versa. Just click Transpose when low/full on MP and let rip with your new spell. The only restriction on Transpose is that it doesn't carry over stacks, so you still have to build back up to Astral Fire III or Unbral Ice III, but you lose no momentum in the switch. Fire III and Blizzard III also mean you don't even need to Transpose any more, meaning that you can save that litle trick as an emergency tool.
So what Status Effects does the Thaumaturge have?
Basically I'll go over each Status Effects the THM can inflict and how:
Heavy - Gravity for FFXI players and Snare for players of other MMOs. This can be applied via Blizzard or Lethargy. The spell actually has to land to apply Heavy but it doesn't have to do damage. Blizzard is preferable as the effect is 40% compared to Lethargy's 20%, however as Lethargy has no casting time, and it can be used in Astral Fire. Something to keep in mind when you need to put Heavy on a mob.
Bind - Root to anyone not familiar with FFXI. Blizzard II and Freeze applies this, and the spell must land for the bind to take effect. This has a very rapid Diminishing Return so only use Blizzard II for the Bind effect in "Oh Shit" moments. You can get one, maybe two binds in before mobs start resisting it outright.
Slow - Applied via Lethargy. Increases the enemy's global cooldown, cooldowns and casting times by 20%. Not much else to say really.
Sleep - The big one. Applied by the spell Sleep and becomes AoE at Lv36. It'salso important to know how this works, resistance will slowly build up with each application. At first Sleep lasts for 30 seconds. If a mob is woken up at any point, Sleeping it again will mean that it now only lasts for 15 seconds. A Third time will only last for 7 seconds, then the spell gets resisted outright. Basically if the THM sleeps something, do not touch that mob. Seriously, just don't fucking do it. Chances are they WILL leave the mob to eat your face.
Virus (Cross Class) - Gained from Arcanist at Lv8 via the Virus spell, and is also available to BLM. Reduces target's STR, DEX, INT, and MND by 15% for 10 secs. Useful for phases of boss fights where the tank might take a lot of incoming damage.
Eye for an Eye (Cross Class) - Because I literally have no better name for it. Gained from Arcanist at Lv34 from the Eye for an Eye ability. It puts up a Barrier on anyone (Hint: Tank) and for 30 seconds, any time that ally is hit, there's a 20% chance that the hit will do 10% less damage.
What stats should I focus on?
Pump your points into Intelligence. It is our Primary stat and directly affects Attack Magic Power.
As for gear: Piety is actually useful too since while THM and BLM have no MP issues and while THM and BLM have a high natural growth, a bigger MP pool means that you can stay in Astral Fire for longer and Convert restores more MP.
Mind is nice but you get enough from gear and natural stat growth., especially now that Magick and Mend also boosts healing magic which should do you fine for self heals on those "OHSHI-" moments.
As for Secondary Stats: Accuracy and Crit Rate are useful, as is Determination. Accuracy and Magic Accuracy are all rolled into one stat so you will need some Accuracy though how much isn't really known.
Spell Speed is nice on paper though more testing needs to be done on what sort of curve the stat has to see if it is worthwhile.
What other Classes go well with the Thaumaturge?
In terms of Battle classes. it is worth levelling up both Arcanist and Archer. The BLM can use cross class abilities from both classes and Raging Strikes, Quelling Strikes, Physick and Virus all have a lot of use.
As for Crafting/Gathering. Weaving and Goldsmithing makes THM/BLM Armour and Weapons respectively. Culinarian and Alchemist are always useful because crafting your own consumables is really nice. Fishing goes well with Culinarin, Botanist with Weaving and Alchemist, and Miner with Goldsmithing.
2 - The Thaumaturge's Spellbook - Class Abilities
Name: Blizzard
Level: 1
Description: Deals ice damage with a potency of 150.
Additional Effect: Heavy +40% Duration: 20s
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice or removes Astral Fire Duration: 10s
Info: Your Basic Ice spell and way to apply Heavy when needed. You basically want to be spamming this if you don't have the MP to cast Blizzard III when in Umbral Ice phases and you don't need the Heavy effect.
Name: Fire
Level: 2
Description: Deals fire damage with a potency of 150.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire or removes Umbral Ice Duration: 10s
Info: Your bread and butter nuke, you should be spamming this during Astral Fire phases for damage and to Proc Firestarter with gives you a free, instant Fire III for even more damage.
Name: Transpose
Level: 4
Description: Swaps Astral Fire with a single Umbral Ice, or Umbral Ice with a single Astral Fire.
Info: Basically switches you from one stance to another, without having to cast an opposite spell to first cancel it, and then gain the stance. This is really useful as you lose no momentum. Please not that it does not transfer stacks so you will still need to build back up to Astral Fire/Umbral Ice III. It is always preferable to Fire/Blizzard III then it is to transpose.
Name: Thunder, Thunder III, Thunder III
Level: 6, 22, 46
Description: Deals lightning damage with a potency of 30/50/60.
Additional Effect: Lightning damage over time.
Potency: 40 Duration: 18s/21s/25s
Additional Effect: 5% chance after each tick that next Thunder, Thunder II, or Thunder III will add its full damage over time amount to its initial damage, have no cast time and cost no MP. (Needs Thundercloud)
Duration: 12s
Info: Lumped them together because they are all basically the same spell. This was actually buffed from Phase 3, it now lasts for 18 seconds instead of 12. You will want to keep this, and any other Cross Class DoTs up. I like to pair it with Aero. Also never clip DoTs when recasting. The sweet spot for refreshing Thunder is with 2 seconds left on the duration so you get the final tick. Regardless, it is always a DPS loss to refresh a DoT with time left on it so it is always better to let it drop off then it is to recast it with a few seconds left on. The only exception to this is if you get a Thundercloud proc, since it turns Thunder into an outright nuke and refreshes and DoT so you end up with a net gain of damage over time. As of Pre-Release Thunder DoTs from the same source no longer stack.
Name: Surecast
Level: 8
Description: Next spell is cast without interruption. Duration: 10s
Info: Perfect for getting off a Sleep or Blizzard II on that mob that is trying to murder you, or a Physick on someone who is about to die but you're in danger of taking a hit too. it sounds obvious but yes this does not prevent Status Effects like Stun or Paralyze from interrupt you. This only prevents damage and crits from interrupting you. It has a 12 second Cooldown so honestly? Just spam the crap out of this.
Name: Sleep
Level: 10
Description: Puts target and enemies near it to sleep (Requires Deep Sleep for AoE effect). Duration: 30s
Cancels auto-attack upon execution.
Info: Your second control spell and one of the most useful ones. It guarantees that you take a mob out of action for 30 seconds. Multiple mobs can be slept. Mobs can be reslept but they rapidly gain resistance going from 30/15/7/Immune. There are also some mobs, like the Gias in Copperbell Mines that are outright immune to it so make sure that you tell your tank this.
Name: Blizzard II
Level: 12
Description: Deals ice damage with a potency of 100 to all nearby enemies.
Additional Effect: Bind Duration: 4s
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice or removes Astral Fire Duration: 10s
Info: We get it at Lv12 now ^_^. Your third Control spell, it Binds everything in a Point-Blank AoE around you so to use this you want to stack up with the tank and nuke as he/she does AoE threat stuff. The damage is low but since you will be in Umbral Ice stance, you can spam it endlessly as long as you hit a target to keep up your Umbra Ice stacks. Enemies resist bind after 2-4 attempts depending on Ice and Bind resistance but if you are using it purely for the nuke portion then it shouldn't be too bad.
Name: Scathe
Level: 15 - THM Quest : The Threat of Superiority required
Description: Deals elementally neutral damage with a potency of 100.
Additional Effect: 20% chance that Scathe will deal double damage (Requires Enhanced Scathe).
Info: It is instant cast so you can use it on the move. When kiting you want to spam this, preferably while in Umbral Ice stance. This also deals Non-Elemental damage so this will be your go to nuke against anything with heavy Fire/Ice resist (FYI, it deals roughly the same damage over time as Blizzard with Enhanced Scathe). It should also be nice for PvP since instant cast. You can also use it as a sort of Execute ability to get that extra bit of damage on a mob that is about to die. This spell is seriously underrated.
Name: Fire II
Level: 18
Description: Deals fire damage with a potency of 100 to target and enemies near it.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire or removes Umbral Ice Duration: 10s
Info: Your bread and butter AoE nuke. This works as any other AoE spell should. However, you still want to stack up with the tank anyway so any mobs you do aggro can just be grabbed straight back. Standing way back and casting this will just ensure that you gain several mobs to the face and a tank annoyed at having to run back and forth to you.
Name: Swiftcast
Level: 26
Description: Next spell is cast immediately. Duration: 10s
Info: Stacks with Surecast. Pretty much does what it says on the tin. An instant cast Sleep can take an entire pack of mobs out of the fight for 30 seconds and an instant cast Freeze is a great way of binding a whole bunch of adds that are sleep immune. Do NOT underestimate the utility of an instant cast Blizzard, Blizzard II or Freeze in terms of control. Plus you can use it to spam even more nukes when in Astral Fire.
Name: Manaward
Level: 30
Description: Creates a barrier that nullifies magic damage totalling up to 30% of maximum HP. Duration: 20s
Info: Your first real "OHSHI-" button. Remember that you don't have that much HP so this is only good for a couple of hits but it should be long enough for the tank to grab back threat and the healer to drop a Cure on you.
Name: Fire III
Level: 34
Description: Deals fire damage with a potency of 200.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire III or removes Umbral Ice Duration: 10s
Info: While this IS more powerful than Fire, you want to stick to Fire for nuking over Fire III. Fire III is much more expensive to start but Fire can also proc Firestarter. This also grants a full stack of Astral Fire so there is no need to Transpose into Astral fire now.
Name: Blizzard III
Level: 38
Description: Deals ice damage with a potency of 200.
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice III or removes Astral Fire Duration: 10s
Info: This is a more powerful Blizzard III without the Heavy.This should replace Blizzard on your action bar for when you don't need to apply Heavy. A Since Blizzard III will pretty much restore all your MP i na few seconds which lets you Fire III and resume nuking with Fire.
Name: Aetherial Manipulation
Level: 50
Description: Rush to a target party member's side. Unable to cast if bound.
Info: Nice little escape spell. While it seems to be more for PvP, it has some nice utility in instances because, well it's a freaking teleport!
Thaumaturge Traits
Name: Enhanced Intelligence I, II, III
Level: 8, 14, 32
Description: Increases intelligence by 2/4/6 (Total of 10)
Info: It's a boost to your main stat, what's not to love?
Name: Enhanced Surecast
Level: 16
Description: Grants a 15% chance that upon use, Surecast will have no recast time.
Info: Surecast already has a trivial cooldown so this just makes it even more attractive to spam.
Name: Magick and Mend I, II, III
Level: 20/??/40
Description: Increases base action damage and healing by 10%/20%/30% and allows for the stacking of a second/third Astral Fire or Umbral Ice.
Info: It is basically MAB from FFXI. It is a flat damage boost and is noticeable from the moment you gain it, especially since you can also stack Astral Fire and Umbral Ice with it.
Name: Enhanced Scathe
Level: 24
Description: Grants a 20% chance that Scathe will deal double damage.
Info: Buffs Scathe by a nice amount. Pretty nice.
Name: Thundercloud
Level: 28
Description: Grants a 5% chance that after each damage over time tick inflicted by any Thunder spell, the next Thunder, Thunder II, or Thunder III will add its full damage over time amount to its initial damage, have no cast time, and cost no MP.
Duration: 12s
Info: Basically each tick can turn your next Thunder spell into an outright nuke. Because it deals full damage, there is no reason not to cast this even with a Thunder DoT still up.
Name: Deep Sleep
Level: 36
Description: Extends the area of effect for Sleep from a single target to a five-yalm radius.
Info: Turns Sleep into Sleepga for even MORE Control than you already have.
Name: Firestarter
Level: 44
Description: Grants a 40% chance that upon casting Fire, your next Fire III will require no MP and have no casting time. Duration: 12s
Info: Twisted Firestarter! Buffed from Phase 3, it now has a 40% chance to proc. This is exactly why Fire is your go to Nuke while in Astral Fire.
Name: Enhanced Manaward
Level: 48
Description: Increases damage nullified by Manaward to 30% of your maximum HP.
Info: Buffs your Manaward so now it blocks a decent amount of damage.
3 - Arcane Mastery - The Black Mage
In days long past, there existed an occult and arcane art known as black magic—a potent magic of pure destructive force born forth by a sorceress of unparalleled power. Those who learned to wield this instrument of ruin came to be called black mages, out of both fear and respect for their gift. Yet great power served to corrupt the judgment of mortal man, and so he unknowingly set out upon the path of ruin.
Adventurers who take the black will become agents of devastation, capable of annihilating those who oppose them through little more than the force of their will.
Adventurers who take the black will become agents of devastation, capable of annihilating those who oppose them through little more than the force of their will.
So how to I become a Black Mage?
To unlock the BLM job, you need THM at 30 and ARC at 15, then you unlock a quest called "Taking The Black" at the Thaumaturge's Guild in Ul'Dah. For each quest you complete, you will be rewarded with a new ability, while the later quests will also reward you with Artifact Gear that is shown in the screenshot above. The stats that you should focus on will be the same so Intelligence all the way.
The Black Mage Spellbook
Name: Convert
Level: 30
Description: Sacrifices 20% of maximum HP to restore 30% of MP.
Cannot be executed when current HP is lower than 20%.
Info: This has perfect Synergy with Raging Strikes and you should always use them together. Fire it off as soon as you launch a couple of Fire spells. Convert means that you can nuke for the entire 20 seconds while staying in Astral Fire III.
Name: Freeze
Level: 35
Description: Covers a designated area in ice, dealing ice damage with a potency of 20 and binding enemies that enter.
Duration: 15s
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice or removes Astral Fire
Duration: 10s
Info: GTAoE effect that binds anything within the target area while dealing damage. Very solid control spell and the only real Area Denial spell in the game. It costs a lot of MP though and takes a while to go off but being able to root an entire crowd of enemies from afar is nice in PvE and PvP. This has perfect synergy with sleep since you can bind a load of mobs to keep them clumped together for the sleep.
Name: Apocatastasis
Level: 40
Description: Increases a Disciple of War or Magic party member's resistance to fire, ice, and lightning by 30%.
Duration: 12s
Cannot be reused on an individual for 60 seconds from when the effect wears off. Cannot be cast on self.
Info: This is really nice to use on the tank in phases of huge magical damage. Great synergy with Eye for an Eye from Arcanist and you can really make the WHM's job a LOT easier.
Name: Manawall
Level: 45
Description: Creates a barrier that nullifies two physical attacks.
Duration: 60s
Info: A great "OHSHI-" button. Manaward is better for incoming Magic Damage but this is what you go for when a physical melee/ranged mob is attacking you.
Name: Flare
Level: 50
Description: Deals fire damage with a potency of 260 to a target and enemies near it.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire III or removes Umbral Ice Duration: 10s
Info: This is basically your "Nuke everything in sight" spell. It consumes all of your MP and takes a long time to cast. But it has a potency of 260 so under Raging Strikes and Astral Fire III this will hit like a truck.
Cross Class Abilities for your Black Mage
The BLM can use abilities from the Arcanist and Archer list and below are the abilities that you can use:
Name: Ruin
Level: 1 ANC
Description: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 80.
Info: Useless, especially since you have Scathe which is better in every way. If there is some kind of boss mechanic where you need non-elemental damage and can't move then you can still Scathe so...
Name: Raging Strikes
Level: 4 ARC
Description: Increases attack power by 20%
Duration: 20s
Info: Great ability for when you need to burn down a boss now. Should never leave your action barm especially after 30 since Convert lets you nuke for the entire duration of this buff.
Name: Physick
Level: 4 ACN
Description: Restores target's HP. Cure Potency: 400
Info: Your only healing ability. Same cost and potency as Cure except you can actually equip it as a BLM!
Name: Virus
Level: 12 ACN
Description: Reduces target's STR and DEX by 15%. Duration: 10s
Info: This is really nice to throw out as it is 10 seconds of increased raidwide damage and decreased raidwide damage taken.
Name: Hawk's Eye
Level: 26 ARC
Description: Increases DEX and physical accuracy by 20%.
Duration: 20s
Info: If you find yourself needing Physical Accuracy as a Black Mage, something has gone badly wrong. The DEX is okay I suppose but you are better of kiting then facetanking if you pull aggro.
Name: Eye for an Eye
Level: 34 ACN
Description: Erects a magicked barrier around a single party member or pet. Duration: 30s
Barrier Effect: 20% chance that when barrier is struck, the striker will deal 10% less damage. Duration: 20s
Info: This, along with Physick, Virus and Apocatastasis gives you a lot of utility options. Combined with your control spells and you can see why having a BLM around is really nice, this is just icing on the cake.
Name: Quelling Strikes
Level: 34 ARC
Description: Reduces enmity generated by each attack.
Duration: 15s
Info: This ability alone makes it worth getting ARC up to 34. It is that awesome.
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