Thunder II (Final Fantasy XIV)

Thunder II
(サンダラ, Sandara?, lit. Thundara)
Icon
Availability
Required	Thaumaturge 26 Black Mage 26
Classification
Type	Spell
Skillset	Class action
Effect	Deals damage to target and nearby enemies
Additional effect	Deals additional damage over time With Thundercloud: 3% chance after each tick that the next Thunder spell of any grade will add its full damage over time amount to its initial damage, have no cast time, and cost no MP
Element	Lightning
Status	Thunder II Thundercloud
Specifications
MP cost	400
Cast time	3 seconds
Recast time	2.5 seconds (GCD)
Range	25 yalms
Area of effect	5-yalm radius
Duration	Thunder II: 12 seconds Thundercloud: 18 seconds
Potency	Initial: 30 DoT: 30 per tick Total: 150 With Thundercloud: Initial: 150 DoT: 30 per tick Total: 270
Icon
Availability
Obtained	A Pup No Longer
Required	Black Mage 30
Classification
Type	Spell
Skillset	Job action
Effect	Deals damage to target and nearby enemies
Additional effect	Deals additional damage over time If target is dealt over 4000 points of damage while under the effect of Thunder II, upgrades Thunder and Thunder II to Thunder III and Thunder IV
Element	Lightning
Status	Thunder II Thundercloud
Specifications
Cast time	Instant
Recast time	2.4 seconds (GCD)
Range	25 yalms
Area of effect	5-yalm radius
Duration	Thunder II: 15 seconds Thundercloud: 10 seconds
Potency	Initial: 200 DoT: 200 per tick Total: 1200

Thunder II is a Thaumaturge and Black Mage spell from Final Fantasy XIV that deals area of effect (AoE) damage and additional damage over time. It is upgraded to  Thunder IV at level 64.

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

Mechanics

PvE version Thunder II Thaumaturge/Black Mage 26 Spell Class action Effects Deals magic lightning damage to target and nearby enemies Inflicts Thunder II for 12 seconds, dealing additional damage every 3 seconds Only one Thunder effect of any level per caster can be inflicted upon a single target Activates the global cooldown Interactions Enochian increases damage by 15% while in Astral Fire or Umbral Ice 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% Maim and Mend II increases damage by 30% Thundercloud gives Thunder II a 3% chance per damage over time tick to grant Thundercloud, causing the next Thunder spell of any level to add its full damage over time amount to its initial damage, have no cast time, and cost no MP; Sharpcast increases this chance to 100% for the next spell cast for 15 seconds Thunder Mastery II upgrades Thunder II to Thunder IV Base direct damage formula: $Damage = \lfloor Potency * f(Intelligence_{DMG}) * f(Determination) \rfloor * f(Magic Damage) \rfloor * Trait \rfloor$ Where Potency can be 150 with Thundercloud or 30 without; Trait can be 1.1 with Maim and Mend or 1.3 with Maim and Mend II. Base damage over time formula: $Damage = \lfloor 30 * f(Magic Damage) \rfloor * f(Intelligence_{DMG}) \rfloor * f(Spell Speed) \rfloor * f(Determination) \rfloor * Trait \rfloor +1$ Where trait can be 1.1 with Maim and Mend or 1.3 with Maim and Mend II. Cast time formula: $Cast = \lfloor ( 100 - Haste ) * \lfloor ( 2 - f(Spell Speed) ) * 3000 \rfloor / 1000 \rfloor / 100$ Recast time formula: $Cast = \lfloor ( 100 - Haste ) * \lfloor ( 2 - f(Spell Speed) ) * 2500 \rfloor / 1000 \rfloor / 100$ PvP version Thunder II Black Mage 30 Spell Job action Effects Deals magic lightning damage to target and nearby enemies Inflicts Thunder II for 15 seconds, dealing additional damage every 3 seconds Grants Thundercloud for 10 seconds if target is dealt over 4000 points of damage while under the effect of Thunder II Thunder II effect is removed upon gaining Thundercloud Only one Thunder effect of any level per caster can be inflicted upon a single target Activates the global cooldown Interactions Thunder and Thunder II upgrade to Thunder III and Thunder IV when under the effect of Thundercloud Phantom Dart causes target to take 20% increased damage from all sources for 6 seconds

Use

Thunder II is used to deal damage over time (DoT) to multiple enemies. It should always be applied as soon as possible against a target to maximize its effects. Against weak enemies expected to die in less time than its duration it may be safely skipped. Thunder II is best used during the Umbral Ice state, as the MP it consumes will not regenerate in the Astral Fire state and it doesn't benefit from the state's damage increase.

Only one Thunder spell-induced damage over time effect per caster can be inflicted upon a single target, preventing Thunder II from stacking with Thunder or Thunder III.

DoT effects deal damage every server tick, or 3 seconds, independent of the effect's duration. This means that the effect may deal damage anywhere between 0 and 3 seconds after it is applied, and in 3 second intervals afterwards. In order to maximize efficiency on damage over time effects, it is generally recommended to reapply them with under 3 three seconds remaining, as the final tick of damage from the effect can occur anywhere in that window. This may result in the loss of a tick, but waiting for the effect to drop off before reapplying can result in the loss of two or more ticks and greater DPS loss.

The Thundercloud trait grants each damage tick of Thunder II a 3% chance to grant the Thundercloud status. The status causes the next Thunder spell of any grade to add its full DoT amount to its initial damage, have no cast time, and cost no MP. With Thundercloud active, Thunder II becomes one of the more powerful AoE spells available to a Black Mage, particularly at lower levels. Despite this Black Mages shouldn't use a Thundercloud Thunder II until either the previous DoT or Thundercloud itself are about to run out in order to maximize the damage of the previous DoT. Sharpcast will guarantee a Thundercloud proc on the next Thunder spell used, and it is generally preferable to use it in this manner than for the other effects it provides.

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

PvP

In PvP Thunder II is instant cast with no MP cost. Thundercloud now activates whenever afflicted enemies takes over 4000 damage while under the effect of Thunder II, which also ends the DoT effect. Thundercloud is now part of the base ability, and its effect is changed to instead replace Thunder and Thunder II with the powerful Thunder III and Thunder IV. Thunder II's damage threshold to activate Thundercloud is lower than that of Thunder, allowing Black Mages to more easily activate Thundercloud without needing to focus on a specific target.

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

Patch history

Version	Changes
A Realm Reborn	Added with 50 initial potency, 40 DoT potency, 12% base MP cost, 21s duration, and only affected a single target. Applied the same Thunder status as other Thunder spells and could not stack with them. Was learned at level 22. Thundercloud had a 5% chance to activate after each damage over time tick inflicted by any Thunder spell and had a 12s duration. Had a base potency of 295 under the effect of Thundercloud.
Patch 3.05	DoT potency increased to 40. Thundercloud activation chance increased to 10%. Base potency while under the effect of Thundercloud increased to 330.
Stormblood	Level learned increased to 26. Now affects all enemies in a 5y radius of the target. Base potency lowered to 30. DoT potency lowered to 30. DoT duration lowered to 12s. Each Thunder spell now inflicts their own unique status, but these statuses still cannot stack. Thundercloud activation chance reduced to 3% for Thunder II. Base potency while under the effect of Thundercloud reduced to 150. No longer available in PvP.
Patch 4.2	Thundercloud duration increased to 18s.
Shadowbringers	MP cost set at 400 with MP system overhaul.
Patch 5.1	New PvP exclusive version added. See below for its patch history.

PvP version

Version	Changes
Patch 5.1	Added with a 1.5s cast time.
Patch 5.3	Cast time reduced to instant.

Gallery

Original single target version (Version 2.0 - 4.0).