Blue Mage Guide by Defiledsickness

=Intro=
I've completely redone the guide since April 2011. The main focus is for Endgame so if you're leveling the job and looking for advice; /nin will keep you alive if you pull hate casting lots of spells and that's about all you really need to know (sushi will help you do more damage with your swords as your main problem will be accuracy).
=Race and Subjob=
Race only matters for a few points of Stats (str/dex etc) and MP/hp. Taru's have the most MP so can cast more spells, while they have the least HP (hurting Breath spell damage). Galka's have the best Str/Dex combo for spell mods and Sword damage, and also the most HP for Breath spells. Elvaan lose some Dex, Mithra have the best AGI and MND, and Hume are balanced.
==Subjobs==
*Ninja - The best subjob outside of abyssea. You want to keep your shadows up so that you almost never get hit.
*Warrior - Used for Berserk, Aggressor, and Warcry when you need to do damage but aren't worried about dieing. Also used to tank with Provoke, Defender, and Fencer.
*Thief - Used to do lots of damage when you don't have to tank. SATA stacks with Spells allowing you to do tons of damage outside of abyssea. Otherwise used for Treasure Hunter when farming.
*Dancer - If you are tanking in abyssea and don't need your tp for Weapon Skills, this job greatly improves survivability without the need for Refresh atmas. When you're tanking a monster that you can evade, this is the best subjob.
*Red Mage - Convert, refresh, MAB, and Fast Cast. Also Stoneskin, phalanx, and blink will help when tanking. This is mostly for extra magic damage and mp. Also Bar-spells and En-spells will help.
*Scholar - Great for outside of abyssea. You'll almost never run out of MP and can still solo focusing on Blu tanking skills.
*Samurai - If you can't get hate from your party no matter how hard you try, this will be the best sub for damage over time. Focus on weaponskills and use MP to heal and buff.
*Paladin - This sub is similar to tanking /war.
=Play Tips=
==Partying==
*Damage Dealer (DD) - If you have Chant du Cygne then use critical hit/dmg atmas (gear), focus on tp gain (haste/stp) and macro on a bunch of attack, Double Attack, and Dex gear to WS. If you don't have it, then focus on spell damage. Mostly Physical -str and dex are main mods, mnd and vit are big secondary. Focus on Self Skill Chains and Magic Bursts.
*Tank - sub nin and mix in Occultation or Cocoon + tav taco and PDT- gear or Evasion gear (set Eva Bonus) if you dont want to /nin.
*Abyssea - if you're only there to trigger NMs then don't melee! Use regain atma if you need red or blue triggers and stay out of range until ready. Same for yellow trigger except use refresh atma, dmg- or Element Resist atma. Or if you will be helping tank then refer to above description of DD or Tank.
==Soloing==
Focus on not getting hit and doing the most efficient damage (whether its from TP or MP). Make sure your shadows are up before doing a skillchain so you don't die because of it. Stun is the best friend of a blue mage: Head butt, Frypan, Whirl of Rage, Blitzstrahl, etc. Slow, paralyze, and reducing tp spells are also great help.
=Merits=
==Group 1==
*Chain Affinity Recast -down 4 seconds per merit
*Burst Affinity Recast -down 4 seconds per merit
*Monster Correlation -increases the effects cause by using the monster flow chart. E.G. Arcana spells killing an Undead monster.
*Physical Potency -per upgrade: 2points of accuracy for Physical Damage spells
*Magical Potency -per upgrade: 2points of accuracy for Magical Damage spells
==Group 2==
A short description with my view on the Blue mage merits.
*Diffusion - This allows you to make a self-target spell into a party-wide spell. You wont use this often and is most useful for getting hate or if you're in an all DD party.
*Convergence - Makes a magical AoE spell attack one monster and increases Damage and Accuracy of magical spells. Full merits are only advised if you plan on being a Magical blue often. Can be an option for replacing Elemental Seal.
*Enchainment - gives you an extra 10% TP when you use Chain Affinity. 10% added with each merit, a good way to increase your damage!
*Assimilation - This will give you an extra Set Point for when you're setting your spells. So you'll be able to set more!
=Tips=
==Skill Chains==
Magic burst a Dark Drain spell or MP Drainkiss
*Red Lotus Blade + Sickle Slash
*Red Lotus Blade + Death Scissors
Does Light damage, can Magic burst (MB) light spells
*Savage Blade + Goblin Rush
Does Darkness damage, can MB drain spells or damage spells
*Expiacion + Benthic Typhoon
Others
*Savage Blade + Quadratic Continuum
*True Strike (club) + Quadratic Continuum