I couldn't miss the chance to practice my drawing!
Drain is a PvP-exclusive additional action from Final Fantasy XIV that deals damage that increases as HP decreases, and absorbs damage dealt as HP.
Use[]
Drain deals damage to a single target and restores HP to the user equal to 200% of the damage dealt. While its initial potency is low, Drain's potency scales upwards as the user loses HP. At low HP values, Drain can be one of the most powerful actions available to any discipline in PvP. However, due to the unpredictable nature of incoming damage and the danger of remaining at low HP in PvP, Drain users should not wait to be low on HP before using it. Being full HP in PvP is a rare occurrence, so the HP recovery provided will rarely go to waste, and Drain can always provide valuable DPS regardless its potency.
Drain is an instant cast off-global cooldown (oGCD) ability. This allows players to weave it between global cooldowns (GCD) after using instant cast weaponskills or spells.
Players can only set two additional actions at any given time, so they must choose actions which complement their combat strategy. Drain must compete with 
Addle, 
Aetheric Burst, 
Swiftcast, and 
Manaward for an available slot. As an offensive ability it can pair well with Aetheric Burst, while its self-sustainability can also pair well with Addle or Manaward.
Patch history[]
| Version | Changes |
|---|---|
| Shadowbringers | Added with 500 base potency, increasing up to 2500 as HP decreased. Had a 45 second recast. |
| Patch 5.1 | Base potency reduced to 400. Maximum potency reduced to 2000. |
| Patch 5.2 | Base potency increased to 600. Maximum potency reduced to 1800. Recast time reduced to 30s. |
| Patch 5.3 | Maximum potency increased to 2400. |
| Version | Changes |
|---|---|
| Stormblood | Added as a level 12 magic ranged DPS role action spell. Had 80 potency, 25-yalm range, 5% base MP cost, and a 2.5 second cast and recast time. Absorbed 100% of damage dealt as HP. |
| Shadowbringers | Removed. |
Gallery[]
