Sage PvP Guide for FFXIV

Sage is a healer with powerful burst and impactful healing abilities. It's able to both chase down and finish off vulnerable opponents and provide party shielding during teamfights to tilt the odds in their favor.

Note: This guide is focused on Crystalline Conflict. Much of it may apply to other PvP modes, but it is written with only Crystalline Conflict in mind.

Kardia is mentioned first here as it's a core part of the PvP kit just like the PvE kit. Always have Kardia on someone, and change targets as necessary. Unlike PvE where you can just leave it on the tank in most situations, Kardia needs to be actively managed and placed on party members as they get targeted by the enemy team. Your melee DPS will often be good Kardia choices as they're consistently putting themselves in danger and can be easy to focus, but backliners including yourself will often be targeted by the enemy team. Do not hesitate to put Kardia on yourself when attacked, you can't help out your team while dead and the enemy will be exposed to your own DPS while pushing you. Keeping yourself alive as long as possible in such a situation can turn an attack against you into a numbers advantage for your party.

Sage has no spells or abilities that exclusively heal. All of your healing will come from using damage actions, so make sure to watch your positioning so that you're in range to use them without making yourself too vulnerable

Dosis III is your basic damage spell. Use this when in range of the enemy with nothing else to do. It has a short cast time which allows for easy slidecasting. Dosis will also heal your Kardia target for a small amount.

Phlegma III is your burst damage spell. It deals high AoE damage, is instant cast, and holds two charges, allowing you to easily burst enemies. Its biggest downside is its short range but this is somewhat mitigated thanks to Icarus. It has a short cooldown so throw them out somewhat liberally, but be very careful about your positioning.

Eukrasia will turn your next Dosis cast into Eukrasian Dosis III. Eukrasian Dosis is a DoT that deals the same damage as Dosis each tick, making it significantly stronger damage wise. It will also grant your Kardia target Eukrasian Diagnosis, a significant shield that grants you Addersting when broken by damage. You get two charges of Eukrasia and it's on a short cooldown, so use it often on your melee or vulnerable party members to get Addersting. During teamfights Eukrasian Dosis can be used to keep your strongest damage dealers or crowd control users alive while also damaging the enemy.

Pneuma provides both strong party shielding and deals high AoE damage at a large range. It is an excellent initiator for teamfights, dealing 12000 damage in a large area and giving your party an extra 12000 effective HP. Thanks to its range you can hit squishy backline enemies or harass from safety, but it is your longest cooldown so be sure you won't want it for a teamfight before doing so.

Toxikon is an oGCD AoE damage ability that increases the targets' damage taken for a short time. It has two charges and a short cooldown, but it deals very little damage on its own, so it should always be used before a stronger ability from you or a party member.

Toxikon II is another oGCD AoE damage ability that increases the targets' damage taken for a short time. It is significantly stronger than Toxikon, dealing four times as much damage to the initial target while keeping the damage taken debuff from Toxikon. It can only be used with Addersting which is obtained when Eukrasian Diagnosis is broken. Toxikon is an excellent ability to use against a target right before your party bursts them, or as part of a combo with Phlegma III.

Icarus allows Sage to move quickly around the battlefield, dashing in to use Phlegma charges and then back out to safety. It holds two charges and has an extremely short cooldown, so mastery of Icarus allows you to access a very large area. It's important to remember its limits though. You can only dash to enemies or party members, so if there's no one to retreat to you're stuck, and you're still vulnerable to crowd control when you dash so you still need to be cautious.

Mesotes is your Limit Break. Its base charge time is 120 seconds. Mesotes creates a zone that makes party members inside it immune to all damage from enemies outside of the zone. This even includes enemy Limit Breaks such as Sky Shatter. Enemies who do enter the zone are afflicted with a powerful DoT effect.

Mesotes is an incredible point control ability, which makes it incredibly useful in an objective control based game like Crystalline Conflict. Placing it directly on the crystal while fighting for control can protect your melee from the enemy ranged players while damaging the enemy melee, putting all of the enemies into a very difficult position. Placing Mesotes in front of the crystal while your party is pushing provides cover against enemy harassment, either allowing you to easily gain ground or forcing the enemy into an awkward engagement if they try to stop you. Mesotes can even be moved once before the duration ends, allowing you to cover more ground as you advance with the crystal.

Sage has very strong burst potential for a healer and can easily chase down vulnerable enemies thanks to Icarus. Be careful not to overextend yourself though, as you are still expected to provide party support for teamfighting.

1. Toxikon II
2. Pneuma
3. Icarus
4. Phlegma III
5. Phlegma III

This burst deals 43200 damage to the primary target while also dealing significant damage to other enemies and shielding your party. Pneuma can be dropped if simply finishing off a low health enemy, or if you'd rather save it for a teamfight. Be smart about picking your target, don't unload this onto someone just for them to use Guard.