The Balance

See also: The Spear

This article is about the PvE action. For the PvP action, see The Balance (PvP).

The Balance

Acquired

 AST (actions)

Level

30

Type

Ability

Casting

Instant

Recast

1s

Range

30y

Targeting

Self, ally

Patch

3.0

Increases damage dealt by a party member or self by 6% if target is melee DPS or tank, or 3% for all other roles.
Duration: 15s

※This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.
※Play I changes to The Balance when requirements for execution are met.

— In-game description

The Balance is an action unlocked at level 30. It is available for Astrologian.

Related actions

• Astral Draw
• Play I

Notes

The Balance should be held until another two minute burst window – until Divination comes off of cooldown, and not used immediately. This is to further improve the damage dealt of the recipient, as buffs that increase damage dealt are multiplicative. The exception to this is if the fight will be finished before the beginning of another burst.

Buff Priority

With a reason similar to the buffs granted by Closed Position, The Balance should be given to jobs whose bursts windows are strong within the duration, rather than overall damage. Below is a list of priorities (as of patch 7.5) of whom to give The Balance to; for whom to give The Spear to, see its respective page.

• If a DPS has Dance Partner, it is recommended to give them The Balance, regardless of the list below.

Do note that this list does not consider factors such as gear, individual player skill, or what job performs better in certain phases of fights. This list also is assuming a proper burst taking place in a single-target scenario.

Job Priority	Opening Rotation	2-Minute Bursts	2-Minute Burst with Potion
1	/	*	*
2
3			† / †
4		**
5
6		/
7	with
8	; , ,

If a tank has weakness, or a melee has Brink of Death, consider giving The Balance to a ranged DPS, following the priority system of The Spear.

Gallery

• 
  The Balance card.

History

• Patch 7.0 (2024-07-02):
  • Now interacts with Astral Draw instead of Draw.
  • "※Play I changes to The Balance when requirements for execution are met."" has been added.
  • "Grants a Solar Sign when used in combat" and "Only one arcanum effect can be applied to a target at a time." have been removed.
• Patch 6.0 (2021-12-07): The additional effect "Grants a Solar Seal when used in combat" changed to "Grants a Solar Sign when used in combat. Only one arcanum effect can be applied to a target at a time."
• Patch 5.0 (2019-07-02):
  • The effect "increases damage dealt by a party member or self by 10%" has been changed to "increases damage dealt by a party member or self by 6% if target is melee DPS or tank, or 3% for all other roles." Duration has been decreased from 30 to 15 seconds.
  • The Royal Road effect "Increases target and nearby party members' damage dealt by 10%" has been removed.
  • The additional effect "Grants a Solar Seal when used in combat" has been added.
• Patch 4.05 (2017-07-17):
  • The increased damage effect on a single target has been reduced from 20% to 10%.
  • The increased damage effect on a group has been reduced from 10% to 5%.
• Patch 3.4 (2016-09-27):
  • The increased damage effect on a single target has been changed from 10% to 20%.
  • The increased damage effect on a group has been changed from 5% to 10%.
• Patch 3.07 (2015-08-25): Duration has been increased from 15 to 30 seconds, regardless of single target or area-of-effect.
• Patch 3.0 (2015-06-23): Added.

Trivia

• Prior to its patch 5.0 rework, this card was generally the most desirable to draw due to its potent damage-increasing effects, which could be applied to all allies in range using Royal Road. Thus, "fishing" for Balance cards was a goal of the astrologian rotation.
• The popular FFXIV guide site The Balance is named after this ability.