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Pictomancer allows us to live one of our deepest fantasies: to channel our inner Bob Ross. However, instead of doing it peacefully, a Pictomancer uses imagination as their weapon. While you might get mesmerized by the gorgeously colorful visuals of this new job, it is essential to know the ins and outs of its gameplay loop. Even if it doesn’t have a complex rotation like other FFXIV jobs, Pictomancer has a few mechanics players need to familiarize themselves with.
(This guide contains information from The Balance community as well as personal experience and will be updated once the 7.0.5 raids arrive).
FFXIV: Level 100 Rotation for Pictomancer
Pictomancer’s rotation is one of the simplest in FFXIV. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. It is one of the most engaging magic DPS jobs to grab, as it provides a smooth gameplay loop that dishes out a lot of damage and even has room for a few support skills. Before we delve into the ideal rotation and opener, let’s go over some of these job’s actions.
Aetherhue Single-Target and AoE Combos
Let’s start with the basic mechanic for Pictomancer: Aetherhues. Once you cast one spell, the next ones will transform, allowing you to cast more powerful skills. This is called Aetherhue. If you cast a Red spell, it’ll give you the Aetherhue effect and allow you to cast Green and Yellow spells. After casting a Green or Yellow Spell, you’ll get Aetherhues II and can cast Blue and Magenta spells. With that in mind, here’s the basic single-target rotation:
Fire in Red -> Aero in Green -> Water in Blue -> Holy in White
The AoE rotation is extremely similar, as you’ll be using three basic AoE spells that will culminate in Holy in White. Here’s the rotation:
Fire II in Red -> Aero II in Green -> Water II in Blue -> Holy in White
These are your basic spells and the ones you should be spamming during downtime. However, there is another mechanic you’ll need to use when in combat.
Subtractive Palette
Whenever you finish any of the above combos, which means going from Red to Blue, you’ll increase your Palette Gauge. Once it reaches 50, you can use Subtractive Palette to increase all your spells. The gameplay loop is the same, but instead of going from Red to Blue, you’ll go from Cyan to Magenta. Here’s the single-target rotation:
Blizzard in Cyan -> Stone in Yellow -> Thunder in Magenta -> Comet in Black
The AoE rotation is the same, but you’ll be using the AoE version of spells.
Blizzard II in Cyan -> Stone II in Yellow -> Thunder II in Magenta -> Comet in Black
You’ll notice that instead of finishing off with Holy in White, we ended the combo with Comet in Black. This happens because once you reach level 90, casting Subtractive Palette grants Black Paint, allowing you to cast Comet in Black. This is the spell you should use instead of Holy in White to maximize your damage while in the Subtractive Palette window.
Motifs and Canvases
Lastly, we have Motifs and Canvases, which are crucial for our Pictomancer’s rotation in FFXIV. Ideally, you’ll create all Motifs before entering a fight. However, you can cast them during combat, too, albeit a bit slower. All Pictomancers have three canvases and can be brought to life by casting a Muse. At level 100, you’ll have four Creature Motifs, one Weapon Motif, and one Landscape Motif. Here’s how each one functions:
- Creature Motifs
- Pom Motif -> Pom Muse -> Wing Motif -> Winged Muse -> Mog of the Ages -> Claw Motif -> Clawed Muse -> Maw Motif -> Fanged Muse -> Retribution of the Madeen
- Weapon Motif
- Hammer Motif -> Striking Muse -> Hammer Stamp -> Hammer Brush -> Polishing Hammer
- Landscape Motif
- Starry Sky Motif -> Starry Muse
Opener and Rotation
With all the basic skills out of the way, we’ll only add Rainbow Drip and Star Prism to complete our rotation. Here’s how it should look:
Cast all your Motifs before a fight -> Rainbow Drip -> Striking Muse -> Fire in Red -> Aero in Green -> Holy in White -> Starry Muse -> Hammer Stamp -> Hammer Brush -> Polishing Hammer -> Wing Motif -> Subtractive Palette -> Thunder in Magenta -> Winged Muse -> Comet in Black -> Mog of the Ages -> Star Prism -> Claw Motif -> Clawed Muse -> Maw Motif -> Fanged Muse -> Retribution of the Madeen.
If you followed the guide for the basic spells, you shouldn’t have a hard time getting the rotation right. Also, Pictomancer is a job that is quite flexible with its rotation, so there’s plenty of room for mistakes, should any happen. If you miss any spells, don’t be afraid to start over until you get the combos right.
