Crystal Conflict Guide for Beginner to Intermediate Players

[Sinstrel]

Hello, I'm a DRG main who mainly played solo in Frontlines during the Stormblood and SHB Era. I reached T100 and T30 in CC a few times in the past. I have not participated in CC recently due to my lack of interest in the state of FFXIV as a whole these days... But I have coached members of my FC, friends, and my sister to multi T300 and T100 ranks over many seasons during my absence.

This is also just my personal interpretation.

I just casually enjoy competitive games like fighting games and other MMOs with PvP (WoW, Aion, DAoC).

Please don’t take everything here as gospel—take it with a grain of salt and develop your own interpretation.

This "guide" will be full of advice I've given to my FC in our discord over the years from gameplay VODs, knowledge I picked up from various forums and JPFFXIV blog posts, and skills from other players who are much, much better than me. (Check out Brian Ricardo's or Suhr Zarek's streams on Twitch sometime!). I decided to write this on the forums since there seems to be a big shortage or resources for the casual player or the player who does not want to join discords just to participate in high-level PvP.

So let's get started --

“Setting Goals to Improve at PvP”

In FFXIV PvP, it’s important to steadily add new skills and habits to your arsenal, one by one.

So each day, set a goal like: “Today, I’m going to focus on improving this one thing!”

Try it in matches, and if you succeed, move on to the next goal. If not, aim for the same goal again the next day.

You might not see results immediately, but before you know it, it’ll become second nature. It’s much like practicing mechanics for high-end PvE content—gradual progress wins out.

Now, how exactly should you set goals?
Let’s take two specific examples:

Guard and Recuperate.


Guard Progression

1. Press Guard
2. Press Guard to reduce damage without getting KO'ed
3. Learn to Guard before taking damage
4. Plan your escape after using Guard

Recuperate Progression

1. Press Recuperate
2. Use Recuperate to heal back damage you’ve taken
3. Burn all your MP before getting knocked down
4-a. With a potion nearby, avoid overhealing (don’t waste MP when a 30,000 HP potion is available)
4-b. Deliberately withhold Recuperate to bait enemies abilities, and press Recuperate just before they land

In general:

Beginners often haven’t even reached stage 1
Advanced players are executing at stage 4

Personally, I feel that even many players in the top 100-300 rankings tend to cap around stage 3.

By making step-by-step improvements like this, your PvP performance naturally improves. At the same time, this process clarifies what you can and can’t do yet—You’ll avoid being stuck in the frustrating “I don’t even know what I don’t know” stage. And that makes it much easier to ask others for specific advice!


Guide continues in the posts below:

[Sinstrel]

Knockout & Down Threshold Awareness

[For the entirety of the rest of this post, I'll use "knockout" to refer to KO'ing an opponent, and "down" to refer to you being KO'ed.]


Ask yourself:

Do you know how many resources your main job needs to win a 1v1 fight—or at least not get KO’d?

For me, I main Dragoon. In a 1v1, if I have around 45,000 HP, 3,500 MP, and Horrid Roar I pretty much won’t lose to anyone except Ninjas with Seiton Tenchu. (At the very least, I won’t be downed.)

So… how do you figure this out?

Simple: go out and take fights.

Actively initiate 1v1 encounters.
As you repeat it over and over, patterns start to emerge:

- You’ll find you can’t finish off Scholars when you thought you could

- Burst damage from Dragoons or Bards hurts more than expected

- Ninjas without Hyoton (Water Ninjutsu) aren’t as threatening as they seem

When should you do this kind of testing?
Never during rating climbs or late-season ranked matches.

Instead, look for these moments:

- At the start of the season

- When your team is clearly winning, and you have room to experiment

- When you’re losing hard, and a 1v1 victory might turn the tide

- In Casual Matches where the stakes are low


Best timing in my opinion: start of the season

Why?


Because even if you lose, it doesn’t hurt your team too much, and you’ll be matched with people at a similar level—great for practice.

Improving your physical skill lets you drain more time and resources from your enemies than they expect. This creates openings that can turn the tide of battle. If you keep this up, rating will come naturally.

On Job-Specific Cooldowns, Charge Skills, and Limit Breaks

As a general rule: Use your cooldowns. Just press the button.

Rather than thinking, “Maybe I should’ve saved it…”,
It’s better to act and then review: “I used it, but maybe it wasn’t needed there.”

Why?

Because job-unique skills with cooldowns are designed to be stronger than regular abilities. Whether you used them or saved them can drastically affect how a match plays out.

And if you always hold them back, your only post-game feedback becomes:

“I should’ve used it there…” — which doesn’t teach you much.

So just use your cooldowns! The learning comes from action!

This guide will continue in the posts below

[Sinstrel]

Crystal Conflict: Macro & Micro Strategy Basics

Here, I’ll try to explain both macro and micro strategic thinking CC.

Introduction

The next part of this post is aimed at beginner (experience in Diamond ranks but difficulty reaching the Crystal rank) & intermediate players (got to Crystal rank but difficulty getting any higher than that).

Absolute beginners aren’t the target this time—so I won’t be covering things like how to press skill buttons or switch targets.


What Are "Macro" and "Micro"?



These are terms commonly used in MOBA games like League of Legends, but have become applicable in team based PvP modes like rated battlegrounds in WoW and now Crystal Conflict.


Macro = Big Picture Strategy


Long-term planning and decisions. In Crystal Conflict, macro includes moving the crystal and blocking the enemy’s push.

- How should you approach the match?

- What’s the best way to push the crystal?

- How do you stop the enemy from pushing theirs?

These are all macro-level questions.



Micro = Mechanical Execution


Short-term tactics and precise execution. Mostly about character control: GCD timing, movement, ability usage, LB timing, etc.

Pretty much everything related to your own inputs is micro.

Crystal Conflict is a game where macro and micro blend together beautifully. That’s what makes it so fun.


Which is More Important: Macro or Micro?


Micro.


To be blunt—if you can’t control your character well, there’s no point in worrying about big-picture tactics. In Crystal Conflict, combat is unavoidable. You can't sidestep fights. And if you consistently lose those fights, nothing else matters.

Because ranked matches are solo queue, micro skill is KING.

[Sinstrel]

Micro Priorities (Execution Skills)

1. Focus on the Target Your Team is Attacking

If everyone's hitting different enemies, you won’t get kills. Attack whoever your allies are focusing on and whittle down their HP. Use target markers or quick chat like “Attacking Dragoon!” to stay coordinated.

In ranked matches, you'll be fighting in parties with players you don't know, so if you fight haphazardly, your attacks will be spread out and it will be difficult to win!

Therefore, the use of macros to align your target with the one your team is targeting is essential!

Here is my simple macro to make sure I am targeting the same enemy as my team:

/merror off
/ta <circle>
/ta <attack1>

Often times your target caller will use the "circle", or the "1" marker to call out a target. This macro will ensure that your next ability will hit the target they've just marked!


2. Attack Enemies with Low MP

Low MP = fewer or no Recuperate (heals).

Targeting enemies who are running low on resources increases your kill potential. It's hard to track MP all the time, so try checking it when:

- You’re using Guard
- You’ve just been KO’d

Those are moments when you’re not busy controlling your character—perfect times to gather intel.


3. Keep Your GCD Rolling

If you’re White Mage, keep casting Glare. If you’re Samurai, keep your weapon combo cycling.

One common mistake: continuing to chase a target who’s already escaped or using Guard. Doing so wastes your GCD uptime and damage. Instead, switch targets when the enemy is guarding.


4. Don’t Let Abilities Sit Unused

Just use your skills!

For Samurai, for example, “Mineuchi” is a 3-second stun on a 20-second cooldown—super strong. Since each match is only 5 minutes, try to maximize the number of times you use each skill. Start to think about how many times you can use certain abilities (including your LB) during a 5 minute match. Compare this to how many times you actually used it!

One more thing: Some limit break attacks take a very long time to charge (PLD, PCT, SAM, SGE) and you will only have an opportunity to use these twice in a match. For example, SAM limit break is available to use every 120 seconds (every 2 minutes). This means that in a 5 minute match, you have a cumulative total of 60 seconds to use for decision making as to when to use this limit break.

For jobs like these, it is okay to hold your LB for a decisive play in order to: Combo your LB with another party member, negate an enemy players LB, change the tide in a decisive moment to prevent a loss.

On the other hand, some jobs offer very little time for decision making and must be used immediately. White mage for example, should use its limit break attack as soon as its available. Your decision making on how/where to use this must be done during its charge time!

However don't get in the habit of holding your limit break for too long. As long as the enemy sees your gauge is full, you will be a primary target! The length of time to hold, or decision to use immediately ultimately comes from experience!

[Sinstrel]

5. Learn Your Job’s Burst Combo!

Example: My personal Dragoon combo goes something like this

Geirskogul → Wyrmwind Thrust → Starcross → Nastrond → High Jump → Heaven's Thrust/Chaotic → Horrid Roar → Guard → Purify → Elusive Jump → Repeat

This kind of chain—GCD → Ability (stun, silence, etc.) → High-damage skills—is called a burst.

Like PvE, you should insert abilities between GCDs. Every job has a viable PvP burst combo, so even if you’ve looked before, look again—you might notice something new. Some jobs play only one way, but other jobs allow for some creativity!


6. Don’t Use Bursts on Guarding Enemies

Using your full burst combo on an enemy under Guard is a huge waste. When you see someone pop Guard, cancel your burst and switch targets immediately. Your target caller has likely changed the target, so use your macro!

Wasting a burst is extremely costly—one misused burst can cause a loss.


7. Fight When You Still Have Guard or Recuperate

If team numbers are about even and you still have healing or defensive tools, don’t retreat. Falling back drops your team’s frontline pressure and gives the enemy free crystal push time.



8. Don’t Over-Chase Fleeing Enemies

If you chase someone too far into enemy territory, another enemy from their base might catch you. Only pursue if your HP, Guard, and Recuperate are still available. Think before diving.

[Sinstrel]

8-a. Making the decision to chase

It's common to think, "I think I can beat that enemy," and begin chasing after them. However, if it looks like it will take a long time to beat them, it's important to give up quickly!

In CC, defeating an enemy one-on-one is extremely difficult, and most of the time before you can defeat them, they will be healed with a medical kit, or their MP will be restored and they will use recovery spells...

On the other hand, if five people attack one person, they can be defeated in an instant, so rather than chasing the enemy for a long time, you have a higher chance of defeating the enemy if you take advantage of the difference in numbers you've created while the enemy retreats and recovers.

Generally speaking, if you can chase and defeat the enemy within 5 seconds, then the right thing to do is to chase them. But if it looks like it will take more than 5 seconds to defeat them, give up immediately and use your numbers to your advantage with your allies on the crystal!

Crystal Conflict is a game where you carry the crystal, not a game where you defeat enemies.

A common pattern for beginners is "I'm chasing the enemy trying to defeat them, but they advanced the crystal and we lose." I'm sure you've experienced this at least once.

Every second you are away from your allies means increasing the burden on others on your team! If you keep defeating enemies but don't progress in the crystal, it's pointless.

"Should I defeat the enemies or make them retreat so I can advance the crystal?"

"How can I put the burden on the enemy so that the crystal can move forward?"

"The enemy went after our allies, so maybe I can advance the crystal here?"

If you can think about things like this, it will become much easier to win.

Defeating enemies is important, but be sure to keep an eye on the crystal.

[Sinstrel]

So What About Macro?

Here’s the short answer: you don’t need to worry about macro right now.

Focus first on killing enemies and polishing your Job mechanics. Naturally, if you win more fights, you’ll push the crystal more easily.

Think of micro as the foundation and macro as the building on top. You can’t build a structure without first laying the foundation.

They’re often treated as separate concepts, but the truth is:

Macro and micro are inseparable.

As you improve and start thinking this way, you’ll experience the game from a whole new perspective.

This post is starting to become very long... If feedback is good, I’ll dig deeper into macro strategy.

[Mercury_Grey]

My suggestion learn when not to tunnel vision. because too many will tunnel vision on a kill when they should know when to back out

[Sinstrel]

Guard and Recuperate.


Guard Progression

1. Press Guard
2. Press Guard to reduce damage without getting KO'ed
3. Learn to Guard before taking damage
4. Plan your escape after using Guard

Recuperate Progression

1. Press Recuperate
2. Use Recuperate to heal back damage you’ve taken
3. Burn all your MP before getting knocked down
4-a. With a potion nearby, avoid overhealing (don’t waste MP when a 30,000 HP potion is available)
4-b. Deliberately withhold Recuperate to bait enemies abilities, and press Recuperate just before they land

In general:

Beginners often haven’t even reached stage 1
Advanced players are executing at stage 4

Personally, I feel that even many players in the top 100-300 rankings tend to cap around stage 3.

Wanted to make a quick clarification on this point: Stage 1 doesn't only apply to the player who never presses these abilities, but also to the player who is downed while these abilities are still available to them (downed at near or full MP, downed while guard was available).

[Trevski]

I like this guide and would like to see more resources like this out in the wild, haha.