AoE or Area of Effect Rotations for Dungeons What is your Job's AoE for Mobs

[HyoMinPark]

DNC AOE builds off of itself just like any other class/job. It’s very strong in dungeons, and their AOE is a gain over single-target starting at 2 enemies.

Note that a lot of DNC AOE is in melee range, so you will need to get comfortable with moving into trash packs. Basic AOEs are roughly a 5y radius FROM YOU; Standard Step and Technical Finish are 15y from you. There will never be a situation where you won’t be able to avoid AOEs from enemies, so do not use that as an excuse to forsake AOEing. Practicing will earn you the ability and skill to dip in and dive out when needed for enemy AOE.


Level 15: You receive Standard Step and Windmill at this level. Use Standard Step on cooldown (read: every 30 seconds) for 1 to 5 enemies (it’s 1,000 potency for the first mob it hits with 75% fall-off). For 6+, just spam Rising Windmill until either: 1.) your Standard Finish buff is at roughly ~10 seconds, then refresh; or 2.) the total number of mobs drops to less than 6; then return to using Standard Step on cooldown between Windmill casts.

Level 25: You learn Bladeshower, which is your second skill of your base AOE rotation—Windmill > Bladeshower. Same rules apply as before with regards to Standard Step usage. Your AOE combo is a gain over your single-target combo (Cascade > Fountain) at 2 or more mobs.

Level 35: You learn Rising Windmill, which has a 50% chance to proc off of every Windmill usage. Rising Windmill will not break your Windmill > Bladeshower combo, so you can use it immediately after it procs. The same rules apply as before to Standard Step usage.

Level 45: You learn Bloodshower, which, like Rising Windmill, has a 50% chance to proc off of every Bladeshower usage. Use immediately upon proccing. The same rules continue to apply for Standard Step usage.

Level 50: You learn Fan Dance II, which is your oGCD AOE. Fan Dances have a 50% chance to proc off of Flourished skills: meaning that each Rising Windmill and Bloodshower gives you a 50% chance to get a Fan Dance. You may stockpile these for large pulls, and weave them between your basic AOE rotation. The same rules continue to apply for Standard Step usage.

Level 66: You learn Fan Dance III, which has a 50% chance to proc off of your Fan Dance I it Fan Dance II. You may weave this after a Fan Dance I/II between your GCD combos, as it will apply to both single-target and AOE scenarios. The same rules continue to apply for Standard Step usage.

Level 70: You learn Technical Step, which is a party-wide 5% damage buff plus 1,500 potency initial hit with 75% fall-off. Try to use this on AOE pulls, as it’s fairly potent and it will buff everyone else (who should be) AOEing. Using this on the first pull of the dungeon and the first pull after every boss usually guarantees it will be up again in time for boss fights. Use/Refresh Standard Step first, and then begin prepping Technical Step. Always make sure you have you Standard Finish buff up before doing anything else. The same rules continue to apply for Standard Step and all other AOE skills.

Level 72: You learn Flourish. Flourish force-procs 5 of your skills every 60 seconds—Rising Windmill, Bloodshower, Reverse Cascade, Fountainfall, and Fan Dance III. Use this skill on cooldown even during trash packs, and spend your AOE procs (Rising Windmill and Bloodshower) first while weaving in Fan Dance III. Ignore your single-target procs (Reverse Cascade and Fountainfall) starting at 3+ mobs, as they are not a gain over your AOE combo at that point. Ideally, when you are wanting to use Technical Step, you will want to Flourish AFTER you have hit Technical Finish and deployed your buff.
NOTE: the AOE Flourishes are used on single-targets as well, because it’s free damage and both are equal to or stronger than your Cascade > Fountain combo.

Level 76: You learn Saber Dance. Saber Dance is 600 potency for the first mob it hits (the one you have targeted) with 50% fall-off, and it costs 50 of your Esprit Gauge. Espirt has a roughly 20%~30% generation rate off of your GCD weaponskills AND your Dance Partner’s GCD weaponskills (it will generate off of the entire party while you have Technical Finish up). Generally, you use Saber Dance when your gauge has 80 Esprit. Use it against both single-targets and in AOE situations on top of all your other AOE tools.


To conclude—

Base AOE combo: Windmill > Bladeshower
AOE procs: Rising Windmill, Bloodshower, Fan Dance II (oGCD), Fan Dance III (oGCD), Saber Dance
Steps: Standard Step, Technical Step
oGCD Abilities: Flourish

—DNC AOE is a gain over single-target at 2 or more mobs.
—Procs do not break combos, so use them as you get them.
—Use Fan Dances on larger packs to make them melt faster.
—Use Standard Step on cooldown unless the trash pack exceeds 5 mobs. Then just refresh it when ~10 seconds remain on your Standard Finish buff.
—Use Technical Step on trash pulls for extra damage/because there’s literally no reason to hold it. Proper timing can ensure it’s up for boss fights as well.
—Utilize Flourish. Use it on cooldown, and ignore the single-target procs it gives you at 3+ mobs.
—Use Saber Dance at 80 Esprit.

Link to the DNC Job Guide for tooltip information: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/jobguide/dancer/

[Kacho_Nacho]

Dancer
Lvl15 - 80: literally an organic lawnmower of death.

I laughed.

DNC AOE builds off of itself just like any other class/job. It’s very strong in dungeons, and their AOE is a gain over single-target starting at 2 enemies.

Note that a lot of DNC AOE is in melee range, so you will need to get comfortable with moving into trash packs. Basic AOEs are roughly a 5y radius FROM YOU; Standard Step and Technical Finish are 15y from you. There will never be a situation where you won’t be able to avoid AOEs from enemies, so do not use that as an excuse to forsake AOEing. Practicing will earn you the ability and skill to dip in and dive out when needed for enemy AOE.


Level 15: You receive Standard Step and Windmill at this level. Use Standard Step on cooldown (read: every 30 seconds) for 1 to 5 enemies (it’s 1,000 potency for the first mob it hits with 75% fall-off). For 6+, just spam Rising Windmill until either: 1.) your Standard Finish buff is at roughly ~10 seconds, then refresh; or 2.) the total number of mobs drops to less than 6; then return to using Standard Step on cooldown between Windmill casts.

Level 25: You learn Bladeshower, which is your second skill of your base AOE rotation—Windmill > Bladeshower. Same rules apply as before with regards to Standard Step usage. Your AOE combo is a gain over your single-target combo (Cascade > Fountain) at 2 or more mobs.

Level 35: You learn Rising Windmill, which has a 50% chance to proc off of every Windmill usage. Rising Windmill will not break your Windmill > Bladeshower combo, so you can use it immediately after it procs. The same rules apply as before to Standard Step usage.

Level 45: You learn Bloodshower, which, like Rising Windmill, has a 50% chance to proc off of every Bladeshower usage. Use immediately upon proccing. The same rules continue to apply for Standard Step usage.

Level 50: You learn Fan Dance II, which is your oGCD AOE. Fan Dances have a 50% chance to proc off of Flourished skills: meaning that each Rising Windmill and Bloodshower gives you a 50% chance to get a Fan Dance. You may stockpile these for large pulls, and weave them between your basic AOE rotation. The same rules continue to apply for Standard Step usage.

Level 66: You learn Fan Dance III, which has a 50% chance to proc off of your Fan Dance I it Fan Dance II. You may weave this after a Fan Dance I/II between your GCD combos, as it will apply to both single-target and AOE scenarios. The same rules continue to apply for Standard Step usage.

Level 70: You learn Technical Step, which is a party-wide 5% damage buff plus 1,500 potency initial hit with 75% fall-off. Try to use this on AOE pulls, as it’s fairly potent and it will buff everyone else (who should be) AOEing. Using this on the first pull of the dungeon and the first pull after every boss usually guarantees it will be up again in time for boss fights. Use/Refresh Standard Step first, and then begin prepping Technical Step. Always make sure you have you Standard Finish buff up before doing anything else. The same rules continue to apply for Standard Step and all other AOE skills.

Level 72: You learn Flourish. Flourish force-procs 5 of your skills every 60 seconds—Rising Windmill, Bloodshower, Reverse Cascade, Fountainfall, and Fan Dance III. Use this skill on cooldown even during trash packs, and spend your AOE procs (Rising Windmill and Bloodshower) first while weaving in Fan Dance III. Ignore your single-target procs (Reverse Cascade and Fountainfall) starting at 3+ mobs, as they are not a gain over your AOE combo at that point. Ideally, when you are wanting to use Technical Step, you will want to Flourish AFTER you have hit Technical Finish and deployed your buff.
NOTE: the AOE Flourishes are used on single-targets as well, because it’s free damage and both are equal to or stronger than your Cascade > Fountain combo.

Level 76: You learn Saber Dance. Saber Dance is 600 potency for the first mob it hits (the one you have targeted) with 50% fall-off, and it costs 50 of your Esprit Gauge. Espirt has a roughly 20%~30% generation rate off of your GCD weaponskills AND your Dance Partner’s GCD weaponskills (it will generate off of the entire party while you have Technical Finish up). Generally, you use Saber Dance when your gauge has 80 Esprit. Use it against both single-targets and in AOE situations on top of all your other AOE tools.


To conclude—

Base AOE combo: Windmill > Bladeshower
AOE procs: Rising Windmill, Bloodshower, Fan Dance II (oGCD), Fan Dance III (oGCD), Saber Dance
Steps: Standard Step, Technical Step
oGCD Abilities: Flourish

—DNC AOE is a gain over single-target at 2 or more mobs.
—Procs do not break combos, so use them as you get them.
—Use Fan Dances on larger packs to make them melt faster.
—Use Standard Step on cooldown unless the trash pack exceeds 5 mobs. Then just refresh it when ~10 seconds remain on your Standard Finish buff.
—Use Technical Step on trash pulls for extra damage/because there’s literally no reason to hold it. Proper timing can ensure it’s up for boss fights as well.
—Utilize Flourish. Use it on cooldown, and ignore the single-target procs it gives you at 3+ mobs.
—Use Saber Dance at 80 Esprit.

Link to the DNC Job Guide for tooltip information: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/jobguide/dancer/

Thanks for the writeup, HyoMin!

[ChaoticCrimson]

DRG's primary AoE GCD rotation is pretty dang simple (especially since for the first 39 levels you get zero options), and revolves around three skills: At lv40 you get Doom Spike, which will chain into Sonic Thrust at lv62, which ultimately chains into Coerthan Torment at lv72. For OGCDs, at lv50 you'll be able to access Dragonfire Dive, then at lv60 you'll be able to weave Geirskogul periodically as long as Blood of the Dragon is up. Starting at lv70, you'll want to be sure you're using Jump (becomes High Jump at lv74) as soon as possible to proc your Mirage Dive (learned at lv68) to build up two eyes towards Life of the Dragon. This means you'll bee lining up your Geirskogul casts for use one GCD after Jump is used, ideally double-weaving Mirage Dive first to get your eye, though if you want to be really fancy you can use MD after Geirskogul if you want to wait until buffs line up with LotD. Once you have two eyes, using Geirskogul activates your LotD mode, which at lv70 give you access to Nastrond, and ultimately Stardiver at lv80. Just like with the single-target rotation, at lv80 you should be able to fit in three Nastronds and one Stardiver per LotD phase, which together make for some nice AoE. This should be plenty of damage against regular dungeon trash mobs.

[Silverquick]

DNC AOE builds off of ...

Thank you HyoMin,
That was what I was looking for here.

DRG's primary AoE GCD rotation is pretty dang simple (especially since for the first 39 levels you get zero options), and revolves around three skills: At lv40 you get Doom Spike, which will chain into Sonic Thrust at lv62, which ultimately chains into Coerthan Torment at lv72. For OGCDs, at lv50 you'll be able to access Dragonfire Dive, then at lv60 you'll be able to weave Geirskogul periodically as long as Blood of the Dragon is up. Starting at lv70, you'll want to be sure you're using Jump (becomes High Jump at lv74) as soon as possible to proc your Mirage Dive (learned at lv68) to build up two eyes towards Life of the Dragon. This means you'll bee lining up your Geirskogul casts for use one GCD after Jump is used, ideally double-weaving Mirage Dive first to get your eye, though if you want to be really fancy you can use MD after Geirskogul if you want to wait until buffs line up with LotD. Once you have two eyes, using Geirskogul activates your LotD mode, which at lv70 give you access to Nastrond, and ultimately Stardiver at lv80. Just like with the single-target rotation, at lv80 you should be able to fit in three Nastronds and one Stardiver per LotD phase, which together make for some nice AoE. This should be plenty of damage against regular dungeon trash mobs.

Ok so... basically... for Dragoon

1st-40th
Doom Spike is the only AoE you have and its a Line Attack.

40th-50th
Add Dragon Dive which is a Global Cooldown so has a longer CD.

50th-60th
Add in Geirskogul which depends on your guage filling for Blood of the Dragon.

60th-70th
At this level you finally get an AoE Combo which goes....
Doom Spike > Sonic Thrust
With Dragon Dive as a GCD and Geirskogul if your Gauge fills.


Yeah I see it takes a while for DRGs to get anything decent. It looks to be one of the few Jobs without a lot of AoE below level 60.

[MeanDragon]

Thank you HyoMin,
That was what I was looking for here.



Ok so... basically... for Dragoon

1st-40th
Doom Spike is the only AoE you have and its a Line Attack.

40th-50th
Add Dragon Dive which is a Global Cooldown so has a longer CD.

50th-60th
Add in Geirskogul which depends on your guage filling for Blood of the Dragon.

60th-70th
At this level you finally get an AoE Combo which goes....
Doom Spike > Sonic Thrust
With Dragon Dive as a GCD and Geirskogul if your Gauge fills.


Yeah I see it takes a while for DRGs to get anything decent. It looks to be one of the few Jobs without a lot of AoE below level 60.

Correction:
There is NO Dragoon AOE UNTIL 40.

1-40 is no AOE

40-50 Doom Spike

50-60 Doom Spike + DragonFire Dive GCD

60-62 Doom Spike + Dragonfire Dive GCD +Geirskogul (Which has a GCD AND Requires Blood of the Dragon be active.)

62-70 Doom Spike + Sonic Thrust (Which Charges BOTD when active) combo. +Dragonfire Dive GCD +Geirskogul (Which has a GCD AND Requires Blood of the Dragon be active.)

70-72 Add Nastrond to the mix. Requires Life of the Dragon to be active and has a 10 second cooldown. Can get off 2-3 before LOTD goes away.

72-80 Doom Spike + Sonic Thrust+ Coerthan Torment combo (this combo charges BOTD to the max for one rotation) w/ Dragonfire Dive and Geirskgul + Nastrond.

Basic 72-80 rotation without buffs EXCEPT BOTD
BOTD>Geirskgul>High Jump>Mirage Dive> Doom Spike Combo to refill BOTD and waiting for high jump CD>High Jump>Mirage Dive>Geirskgul (this triggers LOTD)>Nastrond (10 second cool down)>DS Combo(using Nastrond once it pops)>DS combo (again if Nastrond pops USE IT) then start over.

[Silverquick]

Well I was hoping to get a good BLM AoE rotation in here, but didn't want to do it myself since I haven't played BLM since the early stages of Stormblood so I'm sure it may have changed. There used to be some really good BLMs that posted here but I suppose I can at least give the basics.

Any Black Mages are more than welcome to correct this if things have changed.

Black Mage is actually pretty simple prior to level 60 and Enochian. Cast your Thunder DoTs, then Fire II until you're at just enough MP for Flare, then Transpose and use Freeze (or Blizzard II if you're really low level) to build your MP back up to repeat the Fire II Phase.

Fire II is an 80 potency AoE building to... Flare which is a 260 potency AoE, Meanwhile you have Thunder II which is an AoE DoT ticking at only 30 potency... but will proc usually at least twice allowing you to hit the button again to give you a 120 potency AoE attack at random intervals on top of that.

The Enochian phase is mostly single target boss damage so does not apply and is completely separated from the AoE rotation.

1st-50th
ThunderII>Fire II>Fire II>Fire II>Fire II>FLARE>Transpose> Freeze/Blizzard II

Add in inter-spaced procs of Thunder II for an additional 120 potency in damage at random intervals.

50th-70th
Thunder II becomes Thunder IV increasing the potency to 180 on procs.

[Pyitoechito]

Black Mage

I'm not sure when Fire 2 becomes obsolete but at the latest it definitely stops being used at Lv68 when BLM unlocks Enhanced Umbral Hearts (allowing for 2 Flares in an AF phase). And at Lv72 BLM no longer has to Transpose after Flare because Freeze will cost no MP.

Level 68:

• Open with Freeze (grants 1 Umbral Heart) and don't use Blizz 3/4 in ice phase during AoE (Freeze grants all the UI stacks and Umbral Hearts needed for AoE)
• Apply Thunder 4 (use Sharpcast on this for a guaranteed proc)
• Stop using Fire 2 and only use Flare as the exclusive AoE fire spell
• Use Triple/Swiftcast on Flares to speed them up along with Ley Lines
• Can get two Flares out for every fire phase (one consumes heart, second consumes mana)
• A third Flare can be achieved if Manafont is off cooldown (Flare 1 consume heart, Flare 2 consume mana, then Manafont into the third Flare)
• If there is a Thundercloud proc, use Thunder 4 right after Transpose while waiting for a mana tick

Level 70:

• Mix Foul into AoE rotation (likely best to use right after Transpose while waiting for a mana tick)

Level 72:

• Aspect Mastery means no more Transposing after burning MP on Flares. Use Freeze now to get back into Ice Phase (this does not affect Flare, so continue to use Fire 3 to enter fire phase)

Level 76:

• Not directly related to AoE, but spam Umbral Soul between trash packs so an opening Freeze can be skipped (can skip an opening Bliz 3/4 during boss fights with this too)

[Silverquick]

Thank you Pyitoechito

I was hoping someone would be able to jump in an build on that.

[Realism_Snide]

Basically Ninja AoE Rotation

Basics:
- You want to use your AoE rotation only on groups of 3 or more mobs. You actually lose damage if you aoe 2 mobs, so its better that you use your single target weaponskill rotation with some Hellfrog and Katon here and there.

Lvl 1-34: You don't have any AoE rotation and your as slow as a turtle.

Lvl 35-44: Spam Death Blossom, and use Katon as soon as your mudras are off cooldown. That's it.

Lvl 45-51: You can now cast and maintain your Huton speed buff, and cast Doton. So now, your aoe rotation goes as follows: Death Blossom -> Doton -> Katon -> Death Blossom spamming -> Doton. Also, don't forget to cast Huton once in a while to refresh your speed buff

Lvl 52-61: At level 52, you get the brand spanking new weaponskill Hakke Mujinsatsu that you use after every Death Blossom. Now you don't need to worry about running out of Huton, since you get back 10 seconds every time it is used. From here on out, your aoe rotation is not going to change much at all. Death Blossom -> Doton -> Hakke -> Katon -> Death Hakke combo spam and repeat.

Lvl 62-80: Nothing changes, except that you learn Hellfrog Medium and gain the ninki resource and its bar. Every time you hit 50 ninki, use the frogger right away.

Side Notes:
- Please, for the love of the Twelve, DON'T USE TRICK ATTACK WHEN YOU HAVE A GROUP OF 3 OR MORE MOBS Cause its not worth it, and using it on bosses or on a single healthy mob is much more advantageous.
- Ninja also has other skills like Kassatsu, Mug, and Meisui that could help increase the frequency of jutsu casting and frog summoning, but I don't recommend using them for trash mobs, and I reccomend you save them for bosses instead. Mug gives you 40 ninki, but its a single target damaging move with a long cooldown. Meisui wastes a jutsu cast to get 50 ninki, and is also on a long cool down. You could use Kassatsu for Gokka if you need that extra damage, but its cooldown is the same as Trick Attack's, and using Hyosho Ranryu in the Trick Attack window is ridiculously strong, so, again, I prefer to save kassatsu for bosses.

[Archwizard]

Red Mage:

Verthunder II, Scatter/Impact. Veraero II, Scatter/Impact.
Repeat until you have enough Mana for Enchanted Moulinet.
Toss in Contre Sixte (and Fleche) on CD, spend Swiftcast on Scatter/Impact.

If you have no reason to save the CD, then you can do 2 E. Moulinets, hit Manafication, then fire 5 more -- but you'll have to nearly cap your Mana first, which takes almost as long as waiting for Manafication since you're generating barely half the Mana you would in single-target and have no use for Acceleration.
Plus a 2-minute cooldown for 2 free hits isn't great, especially when their value is based on their speed rather than their per-hit output.