FFXIV Red Mage and Sage Dawntrail Changes Are Exceptional

Anyone who has been a Final Fantasy XIV player for a couple of expansions likely knows Square Enix isn’t immune to mistakes. Though the game is nearly MMORPG perfection, its biggest issues come from the strange and often unwarranted job changes. Thankfully for Dawntrail, it looks like the FFXIV job changes could be much more welcome, especially for Sage and Red Mage.

I am personally invested in both the changes to the Red Mage and Sage, as they are both my two main jobs in FFXIV. Red Mage is the one I often use for endgame content when I don’t want to be a healer, while Sage is the role I main during story content. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like that will be changing in the new expansion.

Back in the day, I used Summoner between launch and for several expansions, until it was ruined by job changes. Fortunately, Red Mage and Sage are seemingly all the better going into FFXIV Dawntrail. Take the Red Mage, which has two key changes. The first is to make Manafication work better for the player. Instead of granting 50 Black and White Mana, it now just lets the player use the three-step enchanted sword combo for free.

This means being able to use the Verholy or Verflare combo for free as always, but not at the cost of mana. In addition, one of the most useless parts of the Red Mage — Enchanted Moulinet — is now viable. It uses 50 mana, so it is more possible to use as an AOE attack. Overall, it seems these changes enhance the Red Mage in FFXIV, all without taking away what makes it great.

I am still curious to see if Manafication comes with its buff, but I am confident nonetheless. The skill rotation for Red Mage should be even smoother now. After all, you don’t have to obsess as much about having a perfect 50 and 50 Black and White Mana gauge before using Manafication. In addition, if you’re like me, you don’t have to ignore Enchanted Moulinet due to its uselessness. This makes Red Mage a much better class at both single targets and mobs alike.

When it comes to Sage, this is my favorite healer job for a reason. It is the perfect blend of DPS and healing, and its FFXIV Dawntrail changes further that idea. For starters, Eukrasia now properly enhances the damage over time Dyskrasia. This new version acts as an AOE damage over time, affecting multiple enemies at once.

If you are like me, you have spent way too much time trying to apply damage over time to multiple enemies and not enough time doing what you’re supposed to be. This fixes that issue so us Sages can focus on what really matters. The other key change is a new action that gives Kardion for everyone in the party. It seems to be limited in how it works with likely a long cooldown if I had to guess. That said, it is nice to be able to temporarily extend all of the healing capabilities of Kardion to everyone.

These FFXIV Sage job changes in Dawntrail will ensure it is the most flexible healer around. You can focus purely on DPS at times since the new action will heal everyone for all the damage you do. In addition, the new AOE damage over time skill means you deal damage more often and much faster.

While there are other great job changes for the new expansion, I am comfortable in saying Red Mage and Sage got some of the best ones. These FFXIV Red Mage and Sage changes in Dawntrail may not be as drastic as others. However, they don’t have to be. They enhance the existing strengths of both jobs while fixing their few weaknesses. If you’re looking for a DPS or healer to main in Dawntrail, I certainly suggest Red Mage and Sage.

Final Fantasy XIV is available right now for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Dawntrail will release on July 2, 2024.