Fire II (Final Fantasy XIV)

Fire II is a

Black Mage spell from Final Fantasy XIV that deals damage area of effect (AoE) damage and grants Astral Fire.

Mechanics[]

Fire II
	Fire II Thaumaturge/Black Mage 18	Spell Class action
Effects	Deals magic fire damage to target and nearby enemies Grants one stack of Astral Fire for 15 seconds or removes all stacks of Umbral Ice, represented on the Elemental Gauge Astral Fire 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 Umbral Hearts generated by Blizzard IV, Freeze, and Umbral Soul nullify Astral Fire's MP cost increase to Fire-elemental spells; one Heart is consumed each for each Fire spell cast Enochian increases damage by 15%; can only be used under the effect of Umbral Ice or Astral Fire, and ends if neither effect is active Fire IV and Despair can only be used under the effect of both Astral Fire 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 Astral Fire stack Maim and Mend II increases damage by 30% and allows for a third Astral Fire 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: $Damage = \lfloor 80 * f(Intelligence_{DMG}) * f(Determination) \rfloor * f(Magic Damage) \rfloor * Trait \rfloor$ Where Trait can be 1.1 with Maim and Mend, 1.3 with Maim and Mend II, or 1 otherwise.
Cast time formula: $Cast = \lfloor ( 100 - Haste ) * \lfloor ( 2 - f(Spell Speed) ) * 3000 \rfloor / 1000 \rfloor * Umbral Ice Mod \rfloor / 100$ Where Umbral Ice Mod is 0.5 for during Umbral Ice III or 1 otherwise.
Recast time formula: $Cast = \lfloor ( 100 - Haste ) * \lfloor ( 2 - f(Spell Speed) ) * 2500 \rfloor / 1000 \rfloor / 100$

Umbral Ice and Astral Fire effects
Effect	MP regen	Ice spells			Fire spells
Effect	MP regen	MP cost	Potency	Cast time	MP cost	Potency	Cast 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
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	—

Use[]

Fire II deals light damage to the target and nearby enemies. It is the primary AoE attack used by Black Mages until they reach higher levels. Fire II grants and maintains Astral Fire, which significantly increases potency of Fire spells at the cost of doubling their MP cost. When fighting 3 more or enemies, Fire II will generally be spammed in Astral Fire until the Black Mage runs out of MP, at which point they should switch to the Umbral Ice phase.

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

Freeze and Flare intermittently replace Fire II as the Black Mages main AoE actions. In the period between level 35 and 50, Freeze completely replaces Fire II, providing greater DPS with no downside. Once Black Mages learn Flare at level 50, Fire II reenters the rotation, as Black Mages should cast Fire II until they are low on MP and use the remaining MP to cast Flare. Once Black Mages reach level 68 and gain the Enhanced Umbral Heart and Enhanced Freeze traits, Freeze will allow for the casting of two Flares in the Astral Fire state. At this point cycling between Freeze and Flare without using Fire II will outperform any contribution Fire II could make.

As Fire II has a cast time longer than the global cooldown (GCD), it can pair well with Swiftcast and Triplecast. Once Flare is acquired Swiftcast should be used with that instead.

Patch history[]

Version	Changes
A Realm Reborn	Added at 100 potency and 16% base MP cost. Granted the Astral Fire status for 10s, or removed the Umbral Ice status.
Heavensward	MP cost reduced to 15% base MP.
Patch 3.2	Astral Fire duration increased to 12s.
Stormblood	Potency reduced to 80. Umbral Ice and Astral Fire are now part of the Elemental Gauge and are no longer represented by status effects. Astral Fire duration increased to 13s. No longer available in PvP.
Shadowbringers	MP cost set at 1500 with MP system overhaul. Astral Fire duration increased to 15s.