Hey guys! In Stormblood, the cross-class skill system was completely replaced with the Role Action System. Here we talk all about the Caster DPS Role Actions, and what’s best to use!
Caster DPS Role Actions – Navigation:
List | Discussion | For Dungeons | For Raids
Caster DPS Role Actions list
| Skill | Level | Recast | Effect | Duration |
| Addle | 8 | 120 | Lower target’s intelligence and mind by 15% | 10 |
| Break | 12 | 0 | 40% Heavy, 50 potency. | 20 |
| Drain | 16 | 0 | Deals 80 potency and absorbs all of it as HP. | NA |
| Diversion | 20 | 120 | Reduces enmity generation. | 15 |
| Lucid Dreaming | 24 | 120 | 80 potency mana refresh and halves current enmity. | 21 |
| Swiftcast | 32 | 60 | Next spell in cast immediately. | 10 |
| Mana Shift | 36 | 150 | Transfers 20% of own MP to target party member. | NA |
| Apocatastasis | 40 | 150 | Reduces magic damage taken by party member by 20%. | 10 |
| Surecast | 44 | 30 | Prevents Sleep, Stun, and position-altering effects to stop casting. |
10 |
| Erase | 48 | 90 | Removes a single DoT from target party member other than self. | NA |
Caster DPS Role Actions: quick strategy & discussion
Here’s a general rundown and a quick analysis on how useful each of the Caster DPS Role actions are.
Addle: A must have for raids! Reduces the typical “large magic damage” mechanic that’s common in most encounters.
Break: I don’t think this will be very highly taken. Most classes have a built in heavy that’s probably better than this 90% of the time. It’s not inherently bad, it’s just a waste of a slot.
Drain: I struggle to imagine a scenario where this is useful in. Probably while soloing in low levels.
Diversion: Always a decent pick for adds, and burst phase on pull. Mostly good for raids.
Lucid Dreaming: Personally, this is a must for RDM and SMN, and likely better than Diversion in most cases for those two classes. Likely useless for BLM unless you need additional enmity reduction.
Mana Shift: Great for giving healers MP!
Apocatastasis: Helps your party members (more often than not, tanks) survive big nukes, and helps “ease up” on magic damage mechanics. A must in trials.
Surecast: In any encounter where you can use it, this is one of the few cross-class skills than can “increase your DPS”, so it’s worth KEEPING IN MIND. So you don’t break rotation or lose a spell. Having said all that, I’m assuming its uses are still few and far between, so I guess I’m just trying to raise awareness about this skill.
Erase: If there is any raid wherein you can use this to save from a “mistake”, take it. Otherwise, it’s useless. Very very niche, but godlike when it’s useful.
Caster DPS Role Actions for Dungeons
These role actions should be taken when “queuing blind” in a random dungeon, and should serve you well for general content.
-
- Mana Shift: Giving healers MP in dungeons – why not?
- Lucid Dreaming / Diversion: See the notes above.
- Swiftcast: Offers a possibility to increase DPS and mobility.
Other skills are highly situational…
- Apocatastasis: Probably better than Addle, since you target the tank.
- Surecast is the only other skill than can POSSIBLY improve your DPS…
As you can see, it’s slim pickings for Caster Role Actions. The other skills are iffy for “casual random dungeon runs”.
The order is largely irrelevant, but the above is a decent ordering given the dungeons you will encounter when you scale down to <50.
Caster DPS Role Actions for Raids
RAID ROLE ACTIONS ARE HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY ENCOUNTER! THERE IS NO TRUE ONE SIZE FITS ALL!
- Addle: Amazing, but if the encounter has no magic buster, switch.
- Apocatastasis: Strong but has the same limitation as Addle.
- Lucid Dreaming: See the notes above.
- Swiftcast: “Anti DPS loss to mechanics” by casting on the move.
- Mana Shift: Give healers MP. Value.
Erase has a special mention here. DoT’s are a common “punishment” for some failed mechanics. If you can remove it with Erase, it increases the value of this skill by a mile.
A lot of the Caster Role Actions are very situational. While I hope you got a general idea for their use in raids – observation and adaptation will be key to maximizing them.
Caster DPS Role Actions – Navigation:
List | Discussion | For Dungeons | For Raids
Well, that’s about it for Caster DPS Role Actions! Some pretty useful stuff here for raiding. From what I see proper utilization of these can really set casters apart…
Like us on Facebook for more updates!