Black Mage

There is an ongoing debate over which class deals the most damage, Rangers or Black Mages. It's really a lot like the Ninjas vs Pirates debate. No one has done any real studies with control groups and statistics, but everyone has an opinion. It's hard to tell and it's very clear that in certain situations one will outperform the other and then vice versa under a new set of conditions. In the end, it's basically a style preferance, so pick whichever you like best.

Still here? You must like Black Mage best, so I can tell you the secret: Black Mages really are better! Haha! Actually, most everyone will want to level blm to 17 just to get warp so they can warp to HP from any other city (by using moogles to change jobs at both ends).
Black mages use powerful spells to deal large chunks of damage to the enemy. While this "all at once" damage can draw hate, it's not usually an issue at higher levels unless you burst big or cast too much in a row. Timing is more important for a black mage than chaining out spells for maximum power. There is a time and place for "manaburn," as it is called, but most of the time it's better to cast at the proper pace and to hit all your bursts.
Blms also have some interesting debuff spells that no other class has access too, namely the choke, rasp, frost, burn, shock, drown cycle. Furthermore, because they usually sub Whm and occasionaly Rdm, they have versitility when the situation calls for it. A smart player can really take advantage of all of this (and knowing elemental stuff) to be a powerful ally. The dumb ones will just do damage as though they think they're some kind of magic-using ranger or monk.
While you are a low level black mage I encourage you to experiment a lot with your spells, to try and find out how they are best used. You must be aware that the best combination of spells against one monster will not be ideal against a different one, and your strategy will have to adopt to the fight.

During endgame, the big "reward" for Blm is that they seem to be in high demand. There are several BCNMs in which a pile of Blms can simultaneously cast a big spell and win the fight instantly (the alliance Ark Angels fight, for example). HNMs and Dynamis shells also need and endless supply of all mages, so there will be plenty for you do to (though you'll also have a lot of competition for that rareex top-end armor).

Active Job Abilities

Name	Level	Charge Time	Duration	Effect
Manafont	01	2:00:00	00:00:30	Allows spellcasting without using MP
Elemental Seal	15	00:10:00	1 Spell Cast	Enhances the accuracy of your next spell

Notes:
What you want notes? There are only two abilities and they do just what they say in the table. The main uses of manafont are: save a party when everyone's out of MP and you get an aggro, finish off the end of a BCNM or HNM, and: cast a lot of Warp 2 in a row at the end of a long exp run.
Generally you use seal on your big burst every 15 mins. Because the recast is so damn long on seal you really can't do anything with it besides get a small boost to not getting resisted once in a while.
As Blm/Whm you'll also get divine seal, which can come in handy once in a while.

Passive Job Abilities

Name	Level	Effect
Magic Attack Bonus	10	Improves power of magic spells.
Clear Mind	15	Raises MP recovered while resting.
Conserve MP	20	Occasionally cuts down MP cost of spell.
Magic Attack Bonus	30	Improves power of magic spells.
Magic Attack Bonus	50	Greatly improves power of magic spells.

Spells & Technique
Black Mage Magic
Black Mage Strategy
Black Mage 75 Gear

See Also:
See Also:
Bard | Beastmaster | Blue Mage | Corsair | Dark Knight | Dragoon | Monk | Ninja | Paladin | Puppetmaster | Ranger | Red Mage | Samurai | Summoner | Thief | Warrior | White Mage