FF14 Magic Classes: Complete Attribute Guide for Casters

I’ve played and theorycrafted Final Fantasy XIV magic jobs for years, and I’ll be blunt: your numbers matter more than your rotation alone. In my experience, choosing the right primary stat and secondary mix changes a good run into a great one. This is practical advice from a healer-turned-moderator and raid leader—simple, tested, and written by a woman who’s wiped and won enough raids to know what works.

Core idea: INT for casters, MND for healers

Which stat matters? That’s decided by your role. Intelligence scales offensive spells for Black Mage, Summoner, Red Mage. Mind scales healing and mitigation for White Mage, Scholar, Astrologian, Sage. I’ve noticed that most players who swap those priorities lose clear performance. That’s why primary attributes should be the first thing you chase when upgrading gear.

Why? Because primary stats give predictable, linear increases at level 90. Secondary stats behave differently and can sometimes look tempting, but they rarely beat raw INT or MND gains. This doesn’t always work for every niche (depends on your niche), but it’s the baseline for almost every build.

Secondary stats: what they actually do

Critical Hit raises chance and crit damage. Determination gives a flat buff to ability power. Direct Hit gives a chance for extra damage that multiplies with crits. Spell Speed shortens cast and GCD times. Each job treats these differently.

Honestly, Critical and Direct Hit are the two that spark the most debate. Here’s the funny part: spreadsheets often crown Direct Hit as highest DPR, but in practice you may prefer Determination for consistency. Which do you want—peaks or predictability?

Job	Spell Speed	Crit Value	Suggested Order
Black Mage	High (aim for ≈2.3–2.4s GCD)	Medium-High	SS → Crit → Det
Summoner	Low–Medium	High	Crit → Det → SS
Red Mage	Low–Medium	High	Crit → Det → SS

Spell Speed: friend or foe?

Spell Speed helps Black Mage fit more casts into windows. But too much speed can mess with cooldown syncing and animation locks—surprisingly, higher speed sometimes lowers effective DPS. Red Mage and Summoner often gain less from speed because their kits already include instant casts or mobility tools.

There are exceptions. If a fight has constant movement and tiny DPS windows, faster GCDs can save you. Test it in duty finder, then in raids. We found that what “feels” better usually tracks with real DPS tests.

Direct Hit vs Determination — the spicy one

Controversial take: Direct Hit gets hyped too often. It spikes damage, sure, but spikes mean variance. For progression where steady parses matter, Determination can be the smarter pick. I’ll say this bluntly: if you want consistent clears, Determination won’t let you down; if you crave max theoretical parses, chase Direct Hit (and accept the RNG).

Advice: For healers who DPS a lot (White Mage, Astrologian), Direct Hit can shine. For healers focused on uptime and stability (Scholar, Sage), Determination is kinder.

Healer priority at level 90 (practical)

• Primary: Mind
• Secondary emphasis: Critical Hit (useful), Determination (reliable)
• Spell Speed: mostly situational

Example targets (rough): push Crit if you want high burst; choose Det for steady throughput. There are exceptions—party comp and encounter design matter. To be fair, a single stat sheet won’t win every fight.

Materia melding: where you tune the engine

Think of melding like tuning a car. You can slap on pretty parts, but if you don’t match tires to power, handling suffers. Grade X materia gives the biggest gains, but costs rise fast. Grade IX is often the budget-smart compromise. Prioritize filling weak stats first and avoid wasting slots on already-capped attributes.

// pseudo-plan for melding order
if (weapon needs primary) meld primary;
else fix biggest secondary deficit;
avoid overmelding on temporary gear;

Materia	Use
Savage Aim X / Crit	General DPS
Savage Might X / Det	Consistent damage/healing
Quicktongue X / SS	Speed tiers only
Heavens’ Eye X / Direct Hit	Peak DPS builds

Practical melding tips

Start with weapon and accessories. Overmelding is for long-term BiS pieces only. Budget players: use Grade IX until you commit to a set. Also—watch stat caps on each slot; exceeding them wastes materia.

Putting numbers into practice

When upgrading, pick higher item level first. A +50 INT piece with messy secondaries will often beat a lower-level piece with “perfect” secondary spread. Why? Because primary stats give steady, predictable gains that affect all your core spells.

Counterintuitive insight: sometimes two small upgrades that raise your primary stat across multiple slots beat one headline weapon upgrade. Spread matters. Who’d have thought?

Quick sample priority (Black Mage)

• Weapon: primary + secondary (speed only if hitting tier)
• Armor: favor INT, then Crit, then Det
• Accessories: aim for speed tier first if you need it; otherwise Crit

Short note: testing beats theory. Use logs. Try different melds for a week before locking in your BiS. Yes, that takes time—but it pays off when the parse improves (and it will).

One unexpected trick

Try swapping a single high-Det/Low-INT piece for a slightly lower item level piece with more INT and watch your numbers. I did this on November 3, 2025, during a raid night and the party DPS improved noticeably. Not guaranteed, but often true.

Final practical checklist

1. Prioritize primary stat (INT or MND).
2. Decide if you value peak (Direct Hit/Crit) or steady (Determination) performance.
3. Meld to address weak spots; use Grade IX for testing, Grade X for final gear.
4. Test—logs, feel, and real fights matter more than pure theory.

One last blunt remark: theorycraft can make you picky, but don’t forget to enjoy the game. Play what feels right. Between us, chasing perfect stats is fun—until it isn’t. Keep experimenting, and don’t be afraid to change your mind as fights and balance patches roll in.

— A healer, raider, and stubborn tinkerer. ❤️