Cure Cast Time - Detailed Testing (Updated:5/13/08)

[Kuuhalee]

( EDIT | 05/13/08 | Corrections Made - First Tier is 17% Cast Reduction and not 20%; Marduk's Jubbah has a Cast Reduction of 5% and not 4% )
( EDIT | 04/30/08 | Added more 'Questions and Answers' )
( EDIT | 04/29/08 | Cleaned Data Table; Clarified Presented Information; Added 'Questions and Answers' Section )
( EDIT | 03/28/08 | Added SCH/RDM Accession 'Curaga' tests. )


[ Foreword ]

Recently I have wholeheartedly dedicated myself to speed up of cures that I cast. I have fully merited Cure Cast Time Down, I have purchased Cure Clogs and I use Scholar sub and Light Arts. But how much are the afore mentioned merits, equipment and skills actually speeding me up, really? I have not seen a thread dedicated to attempting to accurately measure the effects of merits and equipment on cure casting time, so I figured that I would give it a shot.

This post was originally created on the KillingIfrit White Mage forums before being posted to the Allakhazam White Mage forums shortly thereafter. I decided to post it on BlueGartr as well for those who might not frequent the KillingIfrit or Allakhazam message boards often or at all. While this thread was written mainly to inform White Mages, I believe this data can be useful for all jobs.


[ About the Tests ]

For these tests I will be casting in the Chocobo Circuit area, which is virtually empty at all times. This makes for a very nice laboratory-like environment. Each cast in the following tests were done with no pre-cast or mid-cast gear swapping involved. I also wore no extra gear besides gear that affected Cure Cast Time or Fast Cast. To further counteract lag, in each test I cast the specified cure spell twenty times and used the average of those twenty casts as the final product. If a cure spell went off at a percentage that was more than plus or minus one off of the average total percentage at the end of the test, it was flagged as 'lagged' and retested.

To avoid 'eyeballing' or guesstimation I used Fraps to record each cast and VirtualDub to move frame by frame in the video to get a fairly accurate time. I measured the cast time from the beginning of the cure animation to the moment the timer on the magic list (CTRL+M) showed that the spell had been used.


Again, my goal is simply to get as close as I possibly can to the actual cast time. None of the presented data below should be taken as absolute. That being said I believe that the following data gets pretty close, or at least close enough to get a good idea of the effect of gear, merits and job selection. Take from the below information what you will.

I would like to thank Derian and Kinyo of the Odin server for allowing me access to their characters to conduct a few of the Red Mage, White Mage and Scholar tests. I would also like to thank KillingIfrit user Shaddix for his help in this testing process.

===============================================================================
::Job:::‡::::::Test Zone:::::::‡:::::::::::::::::::Gear::::::::::::::::::::::::
===============================================================================
WHM/SCH | Chocobo Circuit (H-9)| Feet        - Cure Clogs
        |                      | Right Ear   - Loquacious Earring
        |                      | Body        - Marduk's Jubbah
        |                      | (Gear Set   - No Other Gear)
        |                      | (Player     - Kuuhalee [LV75]  )
        |                      |
WHM/SCH | Chocobo Circuit (H-9)| (Gear Set   - No Gear)
        |                      | (Player     - Kinyo    [LV61]  )
        |                      |
WHM/RDM | Chocobo Circuit (H-9)| Feet        - Cure Clogs
        |                      | Right Ear   - Loquacious Earring
        |                      | Body        - Marduk's Jubbah
        |                      | (Gear Set   - No Other Gear)
        |                      | (Player     - Kuuhalee [LV75]  )
        |                      |
RDM/SCH | Chocobo Circuit (H-9)| Head        - Warlock's Chapeau
        |                      | Right Ear   - Loquacious Earring
        |                      | (Gear Set   - No Other Gear)
        |                      | (Player     - Kuuhalee [32%CR] )
        |                      |
RDM/SCH | Chocobo Circuit (H-9)| Head        - Warlock's Chapeau
RDM/WHM |                      | Body        - Duelist's Tabard
        |                      | (Gear Set   - No Other Gear)
        |                      | (Player     - Derian   [40%CR] )
        |                      |
SCH/RDM | Chocobo Circuit (H-9)| (Gear Set   - No Gear)
        |                      | (Player     - Kinyo    [LV52]  )
===============================================================================


===============================================================================
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Chart Legend:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
===============================================================================
Test  | Name of Spell Tested         ‡ Light Arts | Enabled/Disabled
Job   | Job used in the Test         ‡              (10% Cast Reduction)
Merit | Cure Cast Time Merits        ‡ TR         | Total Cast Reduction used
        used in Test (+4% per Merit) ‡              in Test
Equip | Cure Cast Time Equipment     ‡ Percent    | Average Percent shown on
        used in Test (Cure Clogs)    ‡              Spell Progress Bar
CR    | Cast Reduction from          ‡ Cast Time  | Average Cast Time
        'Fast Cast' sources          ‡              calculated from 20 casts
===============================================================================


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Test   |   Job   | Merit | Equip | CR | Light Arts | TR | Percent | Cast Time
---------|---------|-------|-------|----|------------|----|---------|----------
Cure III | WHM/SCH | -20%  | -15%  | 7% |    Yes     | 52%| 48.54%  | 1.652 sec
Cure.III.|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.-15%..|.2%.|....Yes.....|.47%|.48.45%..|:1.649:sec
Cure III | WHM/SCH | -20%  | -15%  | 2% |    No      | 37%| 48.60%  | 1.655 sec
Cure.III.|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.-15%..|....|....No......|.35%|.48.69%..|:1.659:sec
Cure III | WHM/SCH | -20%  |       |    |    Yes     | 30%| 60.95%  | 2.077 sec
Cure.III.|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.......|....|....No......|.20%|.61.25%..|:2.087:sec
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cure.III.|.WHM/RDM.|.-20%..|.-15%..|.22%|....No......|.57%|.48.53%..|:1.649:sec
Cure III | WHM/RDM | -20%  | -15%  | 17%|    No      | 52%| 48.53%  | 1.647 sec
Cure.III.|.WHM/RDM.|.-20%..|.......|.15%|....No......|.35%|.48.55%..|:1.648:sec
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cure III | RDM/SCH |       |       | 32%|    Yes     | 42%| 48.80%  | 1.655 sec
Cure.III.|.RDM/SCH.|.......|.......|.32%|....No......|.32%|.61.50%..|:2.096:sec
Cure III | RDM/SCH |       |       | 20%|    Yes     | 30%| 61.25%  | 2.092 sec
Cure.III.|.RDM/SCH.|.......|.......|.20%|....No......|.20%|.61.25%..|:2.092:sec
Cure III | RDM/SCH |       |       | 22%|    Yes     | 32%| 61.29%  | 2.093 sec
Cure.III.|.RDM/SCH.|.......|.......|.30%|....Yes.....|.40%|.48.83%..|:1.657:sec
Cure III | RDM/SCH |       |       | 40%|    Yes     | 50%| 48.81%  | 1.654 sec
Cure.III.|.RDM/SCH.|.......|.......|.40%|....No......|.40%|.48.79%..|:1.655:sec
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cure III | WHM/SCH |       |       |    |    Yes     | 10%| 74.22%  | 2.533 sec
Cure.III.|.WHM/SCH.|.......|.......|....|....No......|..0%|.74.25%..|:2.530:sec
===============================================================================

Cure IV  | WHM/SCH | -20%  | -15%  | 7% |    Yes     | 52%| 48.93%  | 1.653 sec
Cure.IV..|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.-15%..|.2%.|....Yes.....|.47%|.48.95%..|:1.649:sec
Cure IV  | WHM/SCH | -20%  | -15%  | 2% |    No      | 37%| 48.90%  | 1.651 sec
Cure.IV..|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.-15%..|....|....No......|.35%|.48.74%..|:1.661:sec
Cure IV  | WHM/SCH | -20%  |       |    |    Yes     | 30%| 61.47%  | 2.089 sec
Cure.IV..|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.......|....|....No......|.20%|.61.55%..|:2.090:sec
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cure IV  | WHM/SCH |       |       |    |    Yes     | 10%| 74.23%  | 2.529 sec
Cure.IV..|.WHM/SCH.|.......|.......|....|....No......|..0%|.74.24%..|:2.531:sec
===============================================================================

Cure V   | WHM/SCH | -20%  | -15%  | 7% |    Yes     | 52%| 48.82%  | 1.653 sec
Cure.V...|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.-15%..|.2%.|....Yes.....|.47%|.48.77%..|:1.659:sec
Cure V   | WHM/SCH | -20%  | -15%  | 2% |    No      | 37%| 48.91%  | 1.655 sec
Cure.V...|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.-15%..|....|....No......|.35%|.48.83%..|:1.667:sec
Cure V   | WHM/SCH | -20%  |       |    |    Yes     | 30%| 61.58%  | 2.076 sec
Cure.V...|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.......|....|....No......|.20%|.61.53%..|:2.088:sec
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cure V   | WHM/SCH |       |       |    |    Yes     | 10%| 74.25%  | 2.523 sec
Cure.V...|.WHM/SCH.|.......|.......|....|....No......|..0%|.74.27%..|:2.533:sec
===============================================================================

-aga I   | WHM/SCH | -20%  | -15%  | 7% |    Yes     | 52%| 40.95%  | 2.530 sec
-aga.I...|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.-15%..|.2%.|....Yes.....|.47%|.46.15%..|:2.858:sec
-aga I   | WHM/SCH | -20%  | -15%  | 2% |    No      | 37%| 46.15%  | 2.861 sec
-aga.I...|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.-15%..|....|....No......|.35%|.47.75%..|:2.965:sec
-aga I   | WHM/SCH | -20%  |       |    |    Yes     | 30%| 53.25%  | 3.290 sec
-aga.I...|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.......|....|....No......|.20%|.60.20%..|:3.742:sec
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-aga.I...|.WHM/RDM.|.-20%..|.-15%..|.22%|....No......|.57%|.40.10%..|:2.497:sec
-aga I   | WHM/RDM | -20%  | -15%  | 17%|    No      | 52%| 40.03%  | 2.490 sec
-aga.I...|.WHM/RDM.|.-20%..|.......|.15%|....No......|.35%|.47.81%..|:2.983:sec
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-aga I   | RDM/WHM |       |       | 40%|    No      | 40%| 46.10%  | 2.862 sec
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-aga.I...|.WHM/SCH.|.......|.......|....|....Yes.....|.10%|.67.15%..|:4.190:sec
-aga I   | WHM/SCH |       |       |    |    No      |  0%| 73.05%  | 4.545 sec
===============================================================================

-aga.II..|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.-15%..|.7%.|....Yes.....|.52%|.41.07%..|:2.611:sec
-aga II  | WHM/SCH | -20%  | -15%  |    |    No      | 35%| 50.65%  | 3.304 sec
-aga.II..|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.......|....|....Yes.....|.30%|.56.85%..|:3.748:sec
-aga II  | WHM/SCH | -20%  |       |    |    No      | 20%| 63.55%  | 4.177 sec
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-aga.II..|.WHM/SCH.|.......|.......|....|....Yes.....|.10%|.67.85%..|:4.493:sec
-aga II  | WHM/SCH |       |       |    |    No      |  0%| 74.97%  | 4.845 sec
===============================================================================

-aga.III.|.WHM/SCH.|.-20%..|.-15%..|.7%.|....Yes.....|.52%|.42.30%..|:2.940:sec
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-aga III | WHM/SCH |       |       |    |    Yes     | 10%| 66.97%  | 4.578 sec
-aga.III.|.WHM/SCH.|.......|.......|....|............|..0%|.75.07%..|:5.094:sec
===============================================================================

Cure1+Acc|.SCH/RDM.|.......|.......|.10%|....Yes.....|.20%|.60.85%. |:1.658:sec ‡
Cure2+Acc| SCH/RDM |       |       | 10%|    Yes     | 20%| 63.97%  | 1.967 sec ‡
Cure3+Acc|.SCH/RDM.|.......|.......|.10%|....Yes.....|.20%|.61.40%..|:2.093:sec ‡
===============================================================================

 ‡ - This test uses the Scholar ability 'Accession'

[ Observations ]


Light Arts from Scholar sub appears to give a solid 10% Cast Time Reduction bonus.

There appears to be a cap at 50% on (Cure) Cast Time Reduction.

Cure III through Cure V cast times work on a tier system. The first tier is 17% Cast Time Reduction and the second tier is at 35% Cast Time Reduction.

Curaga I appears to have a single tier somewhere between 48-50% Cast Time Reduction.



[ Questions and Answers ]


• Question : "Am I reading this data correct? Why is the spell casting at a slower speed with more Cast Reduction?"
• Answer : The difference between casts are sometimes in fractions of a second, so I would say that they are casting at generally the same time. Because the final results are the average of twenty tests, you will see tiny fluctuations like this.


• Question : "Can you clarify what you mean when you say Cure Cast Time Reduction?"
• Answer : Fast Cast is composed of two bonuses. It will reduce Recast Time and it will reduce Casting Time. To get the amount of Casting Time reduction from Fast Cast you double the amount of Fast Cast that is listed. So if you had a Loquacious Earring that provides 1% Fast Cast then you would have 1% Recast Time reduction and 2% Casting Time reduction. If you had a Marduk's Jubbah which provides 2.5% Fast Cast then you would have 2.5% Recast Time reduction and 5% Casting Time reduction.

Cure Cast Time reduction also comes from merits, Cure Clogs and Light Arts. You can receive a total of 20% Cure Cast Time reduction from merits, 15% Cure Cast Time reduction from Cure Clogs and an additional 10% Cast Time reduction via Light Arts.

All of these bonuses can stack but seem to cap at 50% Cast Time reduction. When I talk about needing '17% Cast Time Reduction' or '35% Cast Time Reduction' I am talking about the total amount of Cast Time Reduction you would need from all of the available resources.


• Question : "Cure Cast Time ... tiers? What do you mean by that, exactly?"
• Answer : When I talk about tiers I am referring to the two tiers that Cure III through Cure V operate on. The first tier is at 17% Cast Reduction and the second tier is at 35% Cast Reduction. These numbers represent the absolute minimum percentage of Cast Reduction that is needed to cast at a heightened speed. The only way to reduce your cast time for Cure III through Cure V is to break one of the specified tiers. Having 24% Cast Reduction or 37% Cast Reduction will not lower your cast time of the specified Cure spells anymore than having 17% Cast Reduction or 35% Cast Reduction will.

Curaga spells operate in a slightly different fashion than Cure III through Cure V wherein every bit of Cast Reduction seems to help speed up the casting to the point of 37-40% Cast Reduction. There appears to be a single cast time tier somewhere between 48-50% for Curaga spells that breaks the lull started at the 37-40% Cast Reduction range.


• Question : "Does Celerity still have an effect with capped cast time reduction?"
• Answer : What Celerity does is it halves the base casting time of whatever white magic spell comes next. It does not count towards Fast Cast. Therefore you can use Celerity to cut the spell cast time in half and then shave another few fractions of a second off of the spell with Cast Reduction gear. However, the spell will cast incredibly fast, so if you are wanting to do mid-cast gear swaps there is a very strong possibility that some or all of the gear will not have time to swap in before the spell is cast.

[Priran]

Does Celerity still have an effect with capped cast time reduction?

[Genosync]

So it caps at 50% just like we all pretty much assumed for Fast Cast? (because all Cure Cast %- was in the end was fast cast, you should have seen it coming)

Thanks for clarifying it and wasting time with testing--you probably could have stopped after trying just a few setups.

[Ashira]

Shutup, Priran. EDIT: oh wow, he changed his post to be something not incredibly pointless. ;P

/cheer Kuu. Perhaps though, a good specific summary is in order... like if you use /SCH and have the appropriate gear as mentioned, 2 Cure Cast merits are the only two that'll do you any good. :D


So glad I was always too lazy to redo mine now. ;D

[Priran]

Shutup, Priran.

did you hit yourself in the head with your own hammer or do "priran" and "genosync" look more similar than I thought?

[Ashira]

Shutup, Priran.

did you hit yourself in the head with your own hammer or do "priran" and "genosync" look more similar than I thought?

Your post originally said nothing but "I see."

[Priran]

Shutup, Priran.

did you hit yourself in the head with your own hammer or do "priran" and "genosync" look more similar than I thought?

Your post originally said nothing but "I see."

how could I be such a jackass? allow me to atone by making a post deriding the OP for wasting his time testing something I figured was common sense.

[Demosthenes11]

you forget, Ashira is allowed to be a flaming bitch because she is a girl

[Lordwafik]

Yet somehow the men in this thread are more bitchier and have more PMS fumes than the girl.

Back on topic now!! More derail = thread split.

[MaachaQ]

I'm actually glad someone tested this, as I hadn't read anything about Fast Cast caps before ^^; With full Cure Cast merits and my R. Pumps and Loq. Earring, I guess I don't really need Cure Clogs at all, I'd rather wear my Golliards anyway ^^

[Kuuhalee]

Does Celerity still have an effect with capped cast time reduction?

Yes, Celerity appears to stack on top of all Cast Time Reduction gear for Cure spells. A Cure III through Cure V with Celerity enabled will cast at about 1.35 seconds with 20% Cast Time Reduction and will cast at around 0.800 seconds with 51% Cast Time Reduction.

So it caps at 50% just like we all pretty much assumed for Fast Cast? (because all Cure Cast %- was in the end was fast cast, you should have seen it coming)

Thanks for clarifying it and wasting time with testing--you probably could have stopped after trying just a few setups.

The Cure testing was done because after several initial tests there appeared to be a tier system in place for Cure spells. The many tests that came afterwards were simply me attempting to find where exactly these tiers were. The fact that Cast Time Reduction caps at 50% was arrived at as an afterthought.

I'm actually glad someone tested this, as I hadn't read anything about Fast Cast caps before ^^; With full Cure Cast merits and my R. Pumps and Loq. Earring, I guess I don't really need Cure Clogs at all, I'd rather wear my Golliards anyway ^^

That gear combination would only bring you to 34% Cast Reduction which would be 1% below the final Cure Cast Time tier. Rostrum Pumps and Loquacious Earring have 2% Cast Reduction each. Added to that would be 10% from Light Arts and 20% from the Cure Cast Time Down merits from White Mage.

Unfortunately, the only way I know of to break the final tier on WHM/SCH without using Cure Clogs would be equipping a Marduk's Jubbah (4% Cast Reduction) and either Rostrum Pumps or the Loquacious Earring.

[Zhais]

Does Celerity still have an effect with capped cast time reduction?

Yes, Celerity appears to stack on top of all Cast Time Reduction gear for Cure spells. A Cure III through Cure V with Celerity enabled will cast at about 1.35 seconds with 20% Cast Time Reduction and will cast at around 0.800 milliseconds with 51% Cast Time Reduction.

.8 seconds you mean?

[Kuuhalee]

Does Celerity still have an effect with capped cast time reduction?

Yes, Celerity appears to stack on top of all Cast Time Reduction gear for Cure spells. A Cure III through Cure V with Celerity enabled will cast at about 1.35 seconds with 20% Cast Time Reduction and will cast at around 0.800 milliseconds with 51% Cast Time Reduction.

.8 seconds you mean?

Yeah, sorry about that

[MaachaQ]

I'm actually glad someone tested this, as I hadn't read anything about Fast Cast caps before ^^; With full Cure Cast merits and my R. Pumps and Loq. Earring, I guess I don't really need Cure Clogs at all, I'd rather wear my Golliards anyway ^^

That gear combination would only bring you to 34% Cast Reduction which would be 1% below the final Cure Cast Time tier. Rostrum Pumps and Loquacious Earring have 2% Cast Reduction each. Added to that would be 10% from Light Arts and 20% from the Cure Cast Time Down merits from White Mage.

Unfortunately, the only way I know of to break the final tier on WHM/SCH without using Cure Clogs would be equipping a Marduk's Jubbah (4% Cast Reduction) and either Rostrum Pumps or the Loquacious Earring.

/sigh I counted wrong, thought I was at the tier without the clogs. Well, I'm working on Marduk anyway, Just another reason to get back to Salvage and work harder ^^;

That, or maybe /rdm instead of /sch, since I see on the chart that whm/rdm has more fast cast possibly...

[Gilthas]

/RDM doesn't give you Conserve MP and 10% reduction in MP cost on spells. Don't really see the point of /RDM.

I'm not even considering Sublimation and the bonus to Enfeebling and Dark magic skill.

[Callisto]

Shutup, Priran. EDIT: oh wow, he changed his post to be something not incredibly pointless. ;P

/cheer Kuu. Perhaps though, a good specific summary is in order... like if you use /SCH and have the appropriate gear as mentioned, 2 Cure Cast merits are the only two that'll do you any good. :D


So glad I was always too lazy to redo mine now. ;D

What exactly would be needed for that? Or I guess more to the point, how many Cure Cast merits would be needed to cap the 50% as /SCH, assuming Cure Clogs and Loq Earring but no Marduk gear? (trying to figure out how to help g/f gear up)

[Xerlic]

Why would anyone use Jubbah for cures? Or are you talking about starting off the cast with Jubbah on then switching to noble's before the cast finishes?

[Olo401]

Shutup, Priran. EDIT: oh wow, he changed his post to be something not incredibly pointless. ;P

/cheer Kuu. Perhaps though, a good specific summary is in order... like if you use /SCH and have the appropriate gear as mentioned, 2 Cure Cast merits are the only two that'll do you any good. :D


So glad I was always too lazy to redo mine now. ;D

What exactly would be needed for that? Or I guess more to the point, how many Cure Cast merits would be needed to cap the 50% as /SCH, assuming Cure Clogs and Loq Earring but no Marduk gear? (trying to figure out how to help g/f gear up)

Three should about do it.. Might get a little beyond 50% with Fast Cast pushing you over the limit. The thing that I'm wondering is if I full-time Rostrum Pumps and Loq Earring for casting cures, instead of using Cure Clogs off a macro (which is what I do now), how much slower are the casting times? I'm guessing it wouldn't be much, but is it good enough for me to want to sell off my Cure Clogs.

BTW this is a fantastic topic. Gigantic H/T to the OP.

[Kuuhalee]

That, or maybe /rdm instead of /sch, since I see on the chart that whm/rdm has more fast cast possibly...

The original WHM/RDM tests were done in my pre-Marduk's Jubbah days when I wanted to test if breaking the 50% barrier did anything at all, basically. Don't give in to the lure of native Fast Cast for Red Mage subjob. It really is not worth it.

What exactly would be needed for that? Or I guess more to the point, how many Cure Cast merits would be needed to cap the 50% as /SCH, assuming Cure Clogs and Loq Earring but no Marduk gear? (trying to figure out how to help g/f gear up)

It would be impossible for a WHM/SCH to reach the 50% Cast Reduction cap without full Cure Cast Time Down merits. However, if you meant to ask who many merits were needed to reach the second Cure Cast Time tier on Cure spells (35%) then the answer would be that you would need two Cure Cast Time Down merits. Those two merits would take you to 37% (15% Cure Clogs, 10% Light Arts, 2% Loquacious Earring, 10% merits) which would break the final 35% tier.

Why would anyone use Jubbah for cures? Or are you talking about starting off the cast with Jubbah on then switching to noble's before the cast finishes?

Yes, I'm basically talking about starting the spell with it equipped but then swapping it out for a Noble's Tunic before the spell finishes.

Three should about do it.. Might get a little beyond 50% with Fast Cast pushing you over the limit. The thing that I'm wondering is if I full-time Rostrum Pumps and Loq Earring for casting cures, instead of using Cure Clogs off a macro (which is what I do now), how much slower are the casting times? I'm guessing it wouldn't be much, but is it good enough for me to want to sell off my Cure Clogs.

Hmm, do you have any merits in Cure Cast Time Down and are your using the Scholar subjob? Without any merits or the Scholar subjob you would have a total of 4% Cast Reduction which wouldn't even break the first speed tier (20%). You'd be casting as fast as any normal job, basically. With the Scholar subjob and Light Arts you would be at 14% which is still 6% below the first Cast Time tier (20%). You would still be unable to reach the final 35% Cast Time tier even if you had full Cure Cast Time merits, Rostrum Pumps, Loquacious Earring and Light Arts as you would be at 34% total Cast Reduction.

I would like to reiterate that the only way to reach the 50% Cast Reduction cap for White Mage is to use Scholar as a subjob and basically wear all known Fast Cast and Fast Cast-like items. That's the Marduk's Jubbah, Loquacious Earring, Cure Clogs and using Light Arts. However, reaching the second Cure Cast Time tier (35%) is much easier.



Since I see a lot of questions about how much is required to make it through the Cure tiers, I'll make a chart that shows exactly what is needed. I'll try and get this done here fairly soon and then get it posted to the original post.

[Olo401]

Three should about do it.. Might get a little beyond 50% with Fast Cast pushing you over the limit. The thing that I'm wondering is if I full-time Rostrum Pumps and Loq Earring for casting cures, instead of using Cure Clogs off a macro (which is what I do now), how much slower are the casting times? I'm guessing it wouldn't be much, but is it good enough for me to want to sell off my Cure Clogs.

Hmm, do you have any merits in Cure Cast Time Down and are your using the Scholar subjob? Without any merits or the Scholar subjob you would have a total of 4% Cast Reduction which wouldn't even break the first speed tier (20%). You'd be casting as fast as any normal job, basically. With the Scholar subjob and Light Arts you would be at 14% which is still 6% below the first Cast Time tier (20%). You would still be unable to reach the final 35% Cast Time tier even if you had full Cure Cast Time merits, Rostrum Pumps, Loquacious Earring and Light Arts as you would be at 34% total Cast Reduction.

I would like to reiterate that the only way to reach the 50% Cast Reduction cap for White Mage is to use Scholar as a subjob and basically wear all known Fast Cast and Fast Cast-like items. That's the Marduk's Jubbah, Loquacious Earring, Cure Clogs and using Light Arts. However, reaching the second Cure Cast Time tier (35%) is much easier.

Since I see a lot of questions about how much is required to make it through the Cure tiers, I'll make a chart that shows exactly what is needed. I'll try and get this done here fairly soon and then get it posted to the original post.

At the moment I'm at full merits in Cure Cast Time, and I'm using WHM/SMN because I'm still working on my SCH sub (I'm at 31 now so it won't be too long). I was under the impression that with just full CCT merits (20%) and Cure Clogs (15%) you're at the second tier. Then again, that's going off what SE is telling us so we should take it with a grain of salt.