How do you enjoy playing casters?

[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 that even doing quests is difficult if not also being slow. I've also tried Arcanist (at lv 29 right now) but I'm hesitant to play it any further because of the slow casting. I could only imagine Blackmage's gameplay would be even slower.

In short, idk 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?

[Aelin_Ashryver]

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 that even doing quests is difficult if not also being slow. I've also tried Arcanist (at lv 29 right now) but I'm hesitant to play it any further because of the slow casting. I could only imagine Blackmage's gameplay would be even slower.

In short, idk 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?

Maybe you would like red mage more, they are more free moving with the alternating insta cast and you have things you can weave too. I think the fun part of a caster in harder content is planning how you can get those casts off without dying. Whereas melee and ranged phys can move more freely as well as some having specific disengage skills. When I can get those greedy casts off during mechanics it feels nice. Things dying before your cast finishes is always annoying, if it's a pack of mobs I will target the one nobody is aiming for and use aoe on that one. For things like hunts where stuff dies in a half second I am always a tank.

If casters are not your cup of tea, it's not really a big deal anyway. Plenty ppl stick to a certain job type only.

[Awha]

Play BLM install ACT get passed the initial grind and smile from ear to ear with those juicy crits. High key BLM mobility is underrated.

[Axzeriuth]

I've not played Ninja so I'm not sure how that plays, and I also hate Arcanist/Summoner playstyle so I don't recommend them.

I love playing casters but it really is a different play style and can feel painfully slow when you have to plant your feet and cast spells. If you want a class that is fairly mobile then go Red mage. With it's dualcast trait you'll have lots of opportunities to move around, and with it's gap closer and backflip you can move around a battlefield pretty smoothly.

That said, I do love Black mage as well but I know how painful it is when you can't get a single spell out before enemies die, please try not to let that upset you. Black mage has incredibly powerful spells and can put out some amazing DPS. At higher levels you'll learn the different abilities (triplecast, swiftcast, sharpcast to name a few) that help insta cast spells and give some movement to the class.

[Dreamsoap]

I mean it sounds like you're struggling with low level gameplay. Every single job is absolutely horrible sub 70. You need need to get them to endgame to judge them properly. (AST has very low dps in the grand scheme of things. It's a healer that's been balanced around it's ability to buff the party. WHM may be up your alley if you want higher damage as a healer.)

[LitheSuxman]

Maybe you would like red mage more

If casters are not your cup of tea, it's not really a big deal anyway. Plenty ppl stick to a certain job type only.

Thanks for the advice, just tried out RDM and it's very unique, the combo's a bit weird to get used to but I think the aesthetic puts me off, I think I'll stick with melee classes for now.

[Xirean]

When I first started I hated the idea of playing casters. I leveled every melee job and avoided all the ranged ones (MCH & BRD still had the cast thing back then) before trying any of them out. It's a completely different play style for sure but now after leveling them all I can definitely see the appeal. Early on jobs can be pretty rough. I would recommend taking a job into Palace of the Dead just to preview what it's level 60 abilities are. You won't get an actual real perspective of how it plays there because the content is structured differently, but you can play around with more abilities and try stuff out.

[KageTokage]

I enjoy BLM more then any of the other casters mostly because memorizing exactly where the safe spots for different mechanics are so you can stay within ley lines while still dodging everything is really satisfying.

[Jeeqbit]

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 that even doing quests is difficult if not also being slow. I've also tried Arcanist (at lv 29 right now) but I'm hesitant to play it any further because of the slow casting. I could only imagine Blackmage's gameplay would be even slower.

In short, idk 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?

To increase damage you can use level 80 food and summon your chocobo. Your gear may be affecting the damage while leveling too.

Black Mage has scathe which is instant cast and it also has swiftcast but you are right that it's a bit annoying for solo play.

Arcanist turns into a summoner which gets a lot of instant casts, especially when it changes in 6.0. It also turns into a scholar which has Ruin II and Energy Drain for instant casts.

Red Mage involves casting once and then instant casting the second attack, so moving is really easy.

[zcrash970]

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 that even doing quests is difficult if not also being slow. I've also tried Arcanist (at lv 29 right now) but I'm hesitant to play it any further because of the slow casting. I could only imagine Blackmage's gameplay would be even slower.

In short, idk 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?

So two things about arcanist and later summoner:
The first being is the job changes dramatically as you level and the second is the job is getting a major rework in 6.0