PvP Job Series: Mystic

In this Tactics PvP Job Series, we take a closer look at how competitive the Mystic job is in PvP.

PvP Performance Statcard

Based on the ratings, Mystics isn’t the best choice for PvP. We will expand more on that below.

For more information about this job, visit the job link: Mystic

Abilities

Mystic’s Mystic Arts abilities are primarily focused on casting status effects. Their skills scale with MA and both the casters and the target’s Faith. Mystic Arts have a cast time and each cost MP, so you may want to consider Time Mage’s Swiftness for the fastest cast times in a competitive environment. We won’t cover each ability, but we will look at some of the ones that are important for PvP:

Belief/Disbelief (action) – These abiliites either cause Faith or Atheist status on the target, treating their Faith value as if it were 100 or 0 respectively. As mentioned earlier, having higher Faith makes targets more suspectible to magicks so Belief is one easier method to apply that. Disbelief’s use is in reducing the effectiveness of enemy casters.

Induration (action) – This ability inflicts stone status on the target, treating them as if they were KO’ed and preventing them from moving. Causing stone status can be a major disruption to usable units even in the early game.

Harmony (action) – Removes all positive status effects from the target. Removing protect and shell damage mitigation, slowing CT generation via haste, and getting rid of reraise status can be effective in the mid-game as most of these buffs are vital to staying ahead and protecting the opposition’s team.

Defense Boost (support) – Reduces physical damage taken by 33%. This passive stacks with protect status and is important when going up against top tier skillsets such as Darkness or Throw.

Manafont (movement) – Restores approximately 1/10th of your maximum MP after moving at least 1 tile. This ability when paired with the reaction, Mana Shield, is one way to sustain longer fights especially in the Starter format.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 75% | MP: 110% | SP: 100% | PA: 50% | MA: 120%
C-EV: 5 | Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Staves, Rods, Poles, Books, Hats, Clothing, Robes

When compared to other casters, Mystics have the lowest Magick Attack except for White Mage which excels everywhere else comparatively. Beowulf’s Spellblade abilities, which is an enhanced version of Mystic Arts, are instant-cast, cost less MP, and have a higher base chance to inflict statuses with the downside of them being single-target. Mystics’ best features are their access to staves and rods, which Summoner has access to as well. Poles can be used for melee builds since they scale with MA and have a range of 2, but this is likely going to be niche. Sadly, Mystic Arts seem more prevalent as a secondary ability on other casters as they have better status chances with higher MA scaling.

Conclusion

Though Mystic Arts have a variety of skills in their kit, they are better suited as a secondary ability on other Faith-based jobs. Besides their appearance, Mystics doesn’t seem to edge ahead as a primary job choice for most PvP scenarios.