The Dawntrail expansion adds two new jobs to Final Fantasy XIV: Viper and Pictomancer. If dual-wielding swords isn’t really your thing, and you’d prefer something magic-based and arguably more interesting and fun, then here’s how to play Pictomancer in FFXIV.
FFXIV Pictomancer Overview
Pictomancer is a magical DPS job in Final Fantasy XIV. If you’ve played any sort of mage job in FFXIV before, then you already know some of the basics. You get your ice and fire spells, you’ll be Swiftcasting things from time to time, etc.
But what makes Pictomancer stand out from the other magic jobs is that you can also paint motifs, which are then turned into buffs or special attacks that deal additional damage. Learning to balance your paintings with regular spells is key to mastering Pictomancer.
All Motifs Explained
Before we get into the rotation proper — which is actually rather simple on its own — let me explain what the motifs do.
| Motif | Effect |
|---|---|
| Pom | Render a rain of poms, dealing unaspected damage to target and all enemies nearby it with a potency of 1,000 for the first enemy, and 60% less for all remaining enemies. |
| Wings | Render a pair of windborne wings, dealing unaspected damage to target and all enemies nearby it with a potency of 1,000 for the first enemy, and 60% less for all remaining enemies. |
| Hammer | Render a mighty hammer, granting three stacks of Hammer Time. |
| Starry Sky | Render a star streaming sky over a magicked landscape, increasing damage dealt by self and nearby party members by 5%. |
In short, Pom and Wings deal AoE damage, Hammer gives you access to a combo that deals single-target damage, and Starry Sky gives you a buff. Once you understand what each one does, you’ll be able to weave them into your rotations better.
Pictomancer Rotation Guide
Alright, now that we’ve talked about the Motifs, we can finally get into the rotations. The rotations themselves aren’t very complicated, but learning to weave the Motifs in with the spell rotations can take some getting used to.
| Type | Rotation |
|---|---|
| Single-target | Fire in Red -> Aero in Green -> Water in Blue Weave in Starry Sky Motif and Muse, Hammer Motif and Muse, and Subtractive Palette |
| AoE | Fire II in Red -> Aero II in Green -> Water II in Blue Weave in Starry Sky Motif and Muse, Pom and Wings Motif and Muse, Mog of the Ages, and Subtractive Palette |
As you do your spell combos, you also need to weave in your Motifs and their respective Muses, as well as Subtractive Palette. The spells themselves give you stacks of Aetherhues. With both Aetherhues and Subtractive Palette, you’ll then be able to use Stone in Yellow and Thunder in Magenta, as well as their II counterparts for the AoE combo. After making it all the way to Thunder in Magenta, you’ll be granted the White Paint buff, which lets you use Holy in White, the combo finisher.
All of this sounds pretty simple on paper, but keep in mind that pressing the necessary buttons to keep the combo going along with your paintings can be tricky. Once you have the timing down, though, Pictomancer becomes quite easy to grasp.
And that’s how to play Pictomancer in FFXIV.
