“...I’m guessing I don’t want to know the context of that last comment.” Shaking her head, Connie says, “Anyways, Black Mages here are experts on elemental magic, most often used for its offensive utility. The way I learned it, you focus on a particular emotion or state of mind and channel that psychic potency through your arcane focus of choice to cast a spell related to that mental reagent. For example,” Connie conjures a small orb of flame in the palm of her hand, “Fire, Fira, Firaga, and Firaja all work best with anger or other hot emotions.”

Dismissing the spell, Connie continues. “Obviously, Black Mages are one of the best jobs out there in terms of sheer power, but the job does nothing for you physically, leaving you weak to weapon techniques. As such, it’s generally a good idea to keep your distance, have a party member between you and the enemy, and have a secondary job more focused on the physical side of combat, like Sword Master.”

Connie takes out her iMog Slate and fiddles with it for a few moments. In a flash, her robes are replaced by light leather armor with a dented iron breastplate, vambraces, and greaves. At her side hangs a well-crafted longsword. It’s clear that Connie’s spent most of her gil on that blade. “Sword Masters are exactly what they sound like: we don’t have much magical capability, but in terms of raw skill with the blade we’re unrivaled. A Sword Master’s primary offensive option are combos that can hamstring the enemy—sometimes litetally—in addition to dealing a respectable amount of damage. As far as defense goes, well, it’s basically just more offense. Every time we get hit, we can unleash a counter-combo back. More experienced Sword Masters have access to attacks that can hit all enemies at once or do moderate elemental damage, but we’re pretty limited in our techniques otherwise. We’re also vulnerable to magic and other sources of elemental damage. Any questions?”