How do you enjoy playing caster jobs?

[LitheSuxman]

I started playing not long ago and played NIN through the entire ARR as soon as I got the job, and intend to keeping it my main. But I think NIN has spoiled me so much in terms of the quick actions and instant button response, with that I find casters horribly annoying to play.

So far I've tried Astrologian (aka the s tier healer), the damage output seems unforgivingly low in low levels. I've also tried Arcanist (lv 29) but I'm hesitant to play it anymore further because of the slow casting. I would only imagine Blackmage's gameplay would be even slower. I don't know how to adjust myself to play casters. It's really frustrating especially in group settings when mobs die to someone before you even finish casting. It feels very unrewarding and slow. How should I approach caster job?

[Drekor]

Pretty sure NIN has the highest APM of any class and BLM the slowest so yea that would be a bit of shock. All of the casters are fairly slow, RDM/SUM on the same level of DRG if you've tried that with BLM even further behind. RDM/SUM also have fairly quick casts(1.5s and instants all over) so things dieing as you're casting is less of an issue for them. You'll also probably just switch to a higher mob before the first dies as a caster to prevent that.

[StriderShinryu]

One thing to keep in mind with AST is that your DPS (and your contribution in a group) is entirely balanced around you pretty much constantly using cards. This isn't going to make it a DPS but it will at least help it feel a little more like you're not doing trash tier DPS.

As for cast times in general, it really is about picking your spots and making use of the full kit of abilities you do have. With Black Mage in particular you do have extra tools to speed things up and your casts have a variety of cast times to manage, some faster than others so it's really about using the right tool in the right scenario. I do agree that it can be frustrating when you start a cast only to have your target die but some of that can be mitigated by being more conscious in your target selection. Focus on the highest HP target first and rotate through the pack to select your next target based on estimation of kill time and your cast time. In some cases it's better to just use a shorter cast, weaker spell instead of a big boom if you know there's a good chance your big boom won't go off anyway.

If you want a more pacey caster, you could try Red Mage. Because of their dual cast trait you get a lot more of a steady rhythmic caster, plus your melee combo can break you away from the potential tedium of doing nothing but watching cast bars if that's an issue for you.

In the end, I find myself enjoying casters because of the cast timers. It requires more thought and planning to make the most out what they can do, and the punishment for "doing it wrong" is very clear.

[IckeDerTyp]

Stick with em, the closer you get to max level, the more fun and less slow they get!

Or don't, both things are perfectly viable ^^

[Rongway]

The longer a job's average cast time, the more you have to know the fight script before you go in. BLM has lots of mobility tools but requires you to think ahead several mechanics so you don't blow them all and leave yourself with no instant casts on a long move that you can't cheese with teleport buttons. RDM and SMN are more mobile but you still need to know what the next mechanic or two are so that you can position properly during the mobile parts of your rotation.

The vast majority of this game is about doing things on purpose because you know things are coming. Tank invulnerabilities, healer oGCDs, caster choreography...if you know the fight script almost everything is trivial. If instead you try to play more reactively, you'll find your abilities don't activate on time or you'll have to panic sprint long distances with nothing to cast on the run.

[Garnix]

Start with Red Mage. It starts at 50 which makes it decent to play from the beginning.

[FoxCh40s]

As a near Caster Job main, a couple of tips;

1. Casters are not instant gratification like Melee and Ranged Dps are. You are slower, and it feels like you are doing less, you are not.

2. Learn to step cast, the last .5 to 1.5 seconds of your cast bar, you can move and the spell will still go off. Intimately familiarize yourself with this, it is how you remain mobile as a Caster.

3. A lot of Casters have instant cast phases, abilities, or triggered abilities that you can use for moving. Black Mage at lvl 80 is the single most mobile of the Casters if you know what you are doing.

4. Caster Mastery comes from understanding mechanics, and developing a Spider Sense for when they are coming. Once developed, trust the spider sense.

5. Learn when to "Reset". Taking damage is not always worth the cast. Move, unless you can entirely negate the mechanic with cooldowns, i.e Manawall -> Surecast on Black Mage.

6. Mastery = Enjoyment

[Katie_Kitty]

Well, I mainly play Red Mage as my caster, and that job is all about the rhythm. Once you get comfy with the way you move, it's actually a lot of fun in high-end content.

[Tulzscha]

Casted spells generally have more oomph and spectacle than instant attacks, yeah BLM has long cast times but every cast is a giant bloody explosion which some find appealing. Gotta focus on the parts you enjoy. If you don't enjoy what makes casters casters maybe they're not for you, that's ok.

Personally I enjoy dps with some level of maintenance, some utility, a good number of options and the ability to choose which spell is best for which situation, so SMN is my favorite (for now anyway). And I just enjoy being at range, having more freedom of movement and being able to see what's going on; I never much cared for melee, it feels too constraining while ranged physical jobs feel lackluster to me. I haven't leveled the other casters but imo RDM is more for mindlessly spamming buttons (at a slow-ish rate) while BLM is all about planning ahead to maximize your number of giant explosions.

As for playing casters, in dungeons for example: Pre-cast whenever able so your spell hits when the tank pulls, focus on higher health targets if need be to ensure your cast goes off, slide-cast to move in combat, and when mobs are almost dead and you don't think you have time to get a cast off just start running ahead (while spamming instants if you have any) so you can pre-cast on the next mobs. If you have dots check if they're actually worth using based on how fast mobs are dying.

Against raid bosses and the like with more mechanics it's all about understanding the fight, making smart use of your instants and movement abilities, and slide-casting. The more immobile the job the more important it is to know when you're able to move and how you're going to do it.

While BLM may be very much a turret it also has a lot of teleports and some instants with which to move, SMN on the other hand has a good number of instants but no movement abilities, it relies on choosing whether or not it needs to delay those instants for movement. RDM has a guaranteed instant every other cast, a gap closer and a gap opener so it doesn't have to worry about much.

Finally as for AST, I mean it's a healer that buffs party members so yeah its personal dps is not stellar, what do you expect.

[Orbus]

Part of the reason I like black mage, and longer range characters in general, is because I *don't* have to do some ridiculous tribal dance to a bosses rear end for positionals.
Another is because black mage skill rotation is pretty straight forward despite the random mess it might look like to an outsider.
The basic premise is "cast fire 4 as much as possible".

Plus, as a blm main I find the way it gets memed pretty amusing.