Blizzard (Final Fantasy XIV)

Blizzard
(ブリザド, Burizado?, lit. Blizzard)
Icon
Availability
Required	Thaumaturge 1 Black Mage 1
Classification
Type	Spell
Skillset	Class action
Effect	Deals damage to a single target
Additional effect	Grants Umbral Ice or removes Astral Fire
Element	Ice
Specifications
MP cost	400
Cast time	2.5 seconds
Recast time	2.5 seconds (GCD)
Range	25 yalms
Duration	15 seconds
Potency	180
Icon
Availability
Obtained	A Pup No Longer
Required	Black Mage 30
Classification
Type	Spell
Skillset	Job action
Effect	Deals damage to a single target
Additional effect	Restores 2000 MP Grants Umbral Ice, reducing spell cast and recast times by 20%, and removes Astral Fire
Element	Ice
Specifications
Cast time	Instant
Recast time	2.4 seconds (GCD)
Range	25 yalms
Duration	15 seconds
Potency	1200
Related pages
Recurring appearance	Blizzard (ability)

Blizzard is a Thaumaturge and Black Mage spell from Final Fantasy XIV that deals damage to a single target and grants Umbral Ice.

See also: Blizzard II (Final Fantasy XIV), Blizzard III (Final Fantasy XIV), or Blizzard IV (Final Fantasy XIV)

Mechanics

PvE version Blizzard Thaumaturge/Black Mage 1 Spell Class action Effects Deals magic ice damage to a single target Grants one stack of Umbral Ice for 15 seconds or removes all stacks of Astral Fire, represented on the Elemental Gauge Umbral Ice initially allows only a single stack Activates the global cooldown Interactions Astral Fire and Umbral Ice variably affect the MP costs, potencies, and cast times of Fire- and Ice-elemental spells; see below for more information Enochian increased damage by 15%; can only be used under the effect of Umbral Ice or Astral Fire, and ends if neither effect is active Blizzard IV and Umbral Soul can only be used under the effect of both Umbral Ice and Enochian Triplecast reduces the cast time of the next three spells to instant for 15 seconds Swiftcast reduces the next spell's cast time to instant for 10 seconds Surecast allows spells to be cast without interruption for 6 seconds Traits Maim and Mend increases damage by 10% and allows for a second Umbral Ice stack Maim and Mend II increases damage by 30% and allows for a third Umbral Ice stack Aspect Mastery causes Astral Fire III and Umbral Ice III to remove the MP cost of most spells of the opposing element Base direct damage formula: $Damage = \lfloor 180 * f(Intelligence_{DMG}) * f(Determination) \rfloor * f(Magic Damage) \rfloor * Trait \rfloor$ Where Trait can be 1.1 with Maim and Mend, 1.3 with Maim and Mend II, or 1 otherwise. Cast time formula: $Cast = \lfloor ( 100 - Haste ) * \lfloor ( 2 - f(Spell Speed) ) * 2500 \rfloor / 1000 \rfloor * Astral Fire Mod \rfloor / 100$ Where Astral Fire Mod is 0.5 for during Astral Fire III or 1 otherwise. Recast time formula: $Cast = \lfloor ( 100 - Haste ) * \lfloor ( 2 - f(Spell Speed) ) * 2500 \rfloor / 1000 \rfloor / 100$ PvP version Blizzard Black Mage 30 Spell Job action Effects Deals magic ice damage to a single target Grants Umbral Ice for 15 seconds and removes Astral Fire, represented on the Elemental Gauge Activates the global cooldown Interactions Umbral Ice reduces the cast and recast time of all spells by 20% Enochian activates automatically when under the effect of Umbral Ice or Astral Fire, and ends if neither effect is active Enochian becomes Blizzard IV under the effect of Umbral Ice Swiftcast reduces the next spell's cast time to instant for 5 seconds Phantom Dart causes target to take 20% increased damage from all sources for 6 seconds Umbral Ice and Astral Fire effects Effect MP regen Ice spells Fire spells All spells MP cost Potency Cast time MP cost Potency Cast time Cast/recast time Umbral Ice x16 x0.75 — — x0.5 x0.9 — — Umbral Ice II x23.5 x0.75 — — x0.25 x0.8 — — Umbral Ice III x31 x0 — — x0.25 ( x0) x0.7 x0.5 — Umbral Ice — — — — — — — x0.8 Astral Fire x0 x0.5 x0.9 — x2 x1.4 — — Astral Fire II x0 x0.25 x0.8 — x2 x1.6 — — Astral Fire III x0 x0.25 ( x0) x0.7 x0.5 x2 x1.8 — — Astral Fire — — — — — x1.2 — —

Use

Blizzard deals light damage to a single target. At low levels it is the only single-target spell that grants and maintains Umbral Ice, which significantly increases MP regeneration. Use of Blizzard is thus essential at these levels to recover MP after expending it in the Astral Fire phase. Blizzard II is an area of effect (AoE) alternative to Blizzard, but requires four or more targets to deal more damage.

While under the effect of Astral Fire, Blizzard will remove all stacks of that effect instead of applying Umbral Ice, thus requiring two casts to enter Umbral Ice. Transpose can be used to more quickly switch phases.

Once Blizzard III becomes available it mostly replaces Blizzard and Transpose, as it can bring the Black Mage to Umbral Ice III in a single cast. Blizzard can still be used to get an extra MP tick out of Umbral Ice before switching to Astral Fire as it has superior DPS and MP efficiency to Blizzard III, but even this niche will be outweighed by Blizzard IV once that becomes available.

PvP

In PvP Blizzard is instant cast with no MP cost, and now switches to Umbral Ice in a single cast even if the user is in Astral Fire. Umbral Ice functions differently in PvP as it now lowers cast and recast times by 20% and no longer regenerates MP. To compensate, Blizzard itself now grants 2000 MP when used.

As an instant cast spell that activates the global cooldown (GCD), Blizzard can be used to weave abilities that are off the global cooldown (oGCD), such as Night Wing, in between spellcasts.

Patch history

Version	Changes
A Realm Reborn	Added at 150 potency and 4% base MP cost. Inflicted Heavy for 20s, reducing movement speed by 40%. Granted the Umbral Ice status for 10s, or removed the Astral Fire status.
Patch 2.3	Potency increased to 170.
Heavensward	Potency increased to 180. Heavy duration lowered to 12s in PvP.
Patch 3.2	Umbral Ice duration increased to 12s.
Patch 3.4	Heavy duration lowered to 8s in PvP.
Stormblood	Umbral Ice and Astral Fire are now part of the Elemental Gauge and are no longer represented by status effects. Umbral Ice duration increased to 13s. No longer inflicts Heavy. No longer available in PvP. New PvP exclusive version added. See below for its patch history.
Shadowbringers	MP cost set at 400 with MP system overhaul. Umbral Ice duration increased to 15s.

PvP version

Version	Changes
Stormblood	Added with 750 potency, 1.8s cast time, and 2.3s recast. Restored 1000 MP. Umbral Ice reduced cast and recast times by 10%. Cast time was reduced to instant while under the effect of Astral Fire.
Shadowbringers	Potency increased to 800. Cast time reduced to instant. Recast time increased to 2.4s.
Patch 5.1	Potency reduced to 600. MP restored increased to 2000.
Patch 5.2	Potency increased to 800.
Patch 5.3	Umbral Ice cast and recast time reduction increased to 20%.

Behind the scenes

Final Fantasy XIV (version 1.0)

At the launch of the original Final Fantasy XIV, Blizzard was a Conjurer spell that dealt ice-elemental damage to all enemies within an area of effect. The spell was available at rank 1, cost 3 action points to set, and had a MP cost of 10.

When the spell was transferred to the Thaumaturge class in Patch 1.20, Blizzard had its area of effect removed and became a single target spell instead. When used the spell would inflict ice damage to the target and also inflicted the Heavy status.