In this guide, we’ll cover how to read Combat UI setting in Final Fantasy XIV, learn the details of each status effect display, and how to interpret enemy aggro. Whether you’re a new player looking to learn something new or a seasoned veteran, this guide will be helpful. Let’s get straight to it!

Target Bar

Let’s take a look at the target bar first. As long as you have a target, the target bar will be displayed. The target bar displays your target name and its current target. Whenever your target uses a skill, a progress bar will appear to indicate its casting time.

Shadowbringers introduces interruptible actions. When your enemy uses an ability that can be interrupted, the progress bar will flash a redder color. At this time, you can use skills such as Head Graze and Interject to interrupt and cancel the action.

Besides displaying the target’s health as a bar, you can enable an option in the character configuration settings that also display the target’s health as a percentage. I recommend doing this because it’s less intrusive and gives you a more accurate idea of your target’s current health at a glance.

Any status effects your target has will appear below its health bar. Note that status effects shaped like arrow pointing down are harmful to the target, while arrow pointing up effects are beneficial.

Some effects have a countdown number that indicates the number of seconds remaining before the effect expires. If the number is green, it means you caused the impact. If the number is white, someone else has caused the effect. Whenever you have a focus target, the same information in the target bar is always copied in compact form.

By default, your own current status effect is displayed at the top of HUD. Likewise, arrows pointing up mean they are good for you, while arrows pointing down mean they are bad.

If you want to customize how these effects are displayed, HUD Editor allows you to tailor it to your liking and even split the display of effects by type. If you have a beneficial effect and for some reason want to remove it, you can actually do that by right-clicking on it with your mouse or clicking on it with a controller and calling it using the confirm button.

Party List

By default, Party list is displayed on the left side of the screen. It displays basic information such as your party members’ health, abilities they may be using, and any status effects affecting them.

If you would like to increase or decrease the number of status effects displayed by each party member, you can change this setting in the character configuration settings. Status effects with numbers in the upper right corner are stackable. This means that each status effect will be different, but the common mechanism is that when a threshold is reached, a new effect will be triggered.

Note that any debuff with a blue bar on it can be removed with Esuna. So if you are playing a healer job, keep an eye out for these as you will be responsible for removing them.

Just like status effects on your target, the time remaining before a squad member’s status effect wears off on its own will be displayed as a countdown value. If you don’t see this, you can turn it on in the role configuration settings.

If the player currently has a protective damage barrier, a yellow bar will appear next to or above the player’s current health bar. Damage taken will first lower the barrier before reaching health.

When you have an enemy target, the party list will show your party members’ aggro against the target in two different ways.

First, a small bar will be displayed below each team member’s job icon. The fuller the bars, the more your target wants a piece of them. Additionally, you will see a numbered grade next to the bar, ranging from 8 to 1 or the letter A. The lower the number, the higher the aggro the player will receive from your target. The letter A means your target is actively targeting that party member.

Enmity List

Speaking of aggro, let’s take a look at Enmity list that is displayed below Party list by default. Enmity list shows all enemies you are currently fighting. It will again display basic information such as the enemy’s current health and any abilities they are currently using.

There will be a colored icon next to the enemy’s name, indicating the amount of aggro the enemy currently has against you. Green means they are not interested in you. A yellow or orange triangle means you’re a little annoyed with them, while the direction of the triangle indicates whether your aggro level is rising or falling. Red means they will attack you directly or within a range.

So, if you’re playing a tank job, you’ll generally want them to be red. But if you’re playing a healer or DPS job in your party, you’d better hope they’re green, otherwise you’ll die easily. Therefore, it’s important to be prepared and spend FFXIV Gil to buy a health potion before you start.

Alliance List

Whenever you are in an instance of multi-party alliances, Alliance list is displayed. You’ll be able to view the current health of alliance members, but each party member can also display two additional metrics.

Red arrows pointing down indicate that the alliance member has at least one debuff. A red frame around a member indicates that they are the target of your current hostile target.

So, looking back at the party list, you’ll see that in this case, the highest aggro level for any member of your party will be 1, not the letter A, since your targeting is focused on alliance members.

Flying Text & Pop-up Text

The last thing we want to discuss is how to interpret damage and healing numbers in combat. There are two different number types: Flying text and Pop-up text. You can enable or disable them independently in role configuration settings.

Flying text represents healing, damage, or status effects caused or received by your character. When you heal or damage a target, numbers flying up on the screen will indicate the amount of healing. When you are the recipient of healing or damage, numbers will fly down.

Healing, damage, or status effects affecting members of your party are indicated by Pop-up text. This text color also has meaning. The damage you deal to the target is shown in orange. Damage taken by you or a party member is shown in red. Restored HP or MP appears in green.

Starting with patch 6.3, damage numbers also include an icon indicating the type of damage dealt. This can be physical, magical, or unique damage. Among them, a large text represents a direct hit. An even larger text and an exclamation point represents a critical hit. Finally, the critical direct hit uses two exclamation points.

That concludes this guide. I hope this has been helpful to you. As always, continue your adventure!

Do you like fishing in Final Fantasy XIV? Fisher is one of three Disciples of the Land jobs in the game, and it undoubtedly provides one of the unique experiences as a gatherer.

As a fisher, you’ll travel around the world and catch unique fish and creatures of all sizes, each telling its own story about the area and the world in which they live.

Fishing is a fun and relaxing activity in FFXIV, but it can be stressful if you don’t know what you’re doing. Don’t worry, though, by following this guide, you’ll unlock your first fish Fisher catches and start experiencing all the content Fisher has to offer.

How To Unlock Fisher?

First, you can unlock Fisher at Fishermen’s Guild, located in the coastal city of Limsa Lominsa. You can join a guild after completing level 10 Disciples of War or Magic job quest. Just talk to Guild Assistant twice to unlock Fisher job and get your first Fishing Rod.

Equip Your Fishing Rod

Next, equip Fishing Rod you got and transfer your job to Fisher. But if you want to get some better gear, you can contact any Fieldcraft Supplier and buy it.

In Limsa, you can contact Iron Thunder to purchase a new Fishing Rod, or Syneyhil in Hawkers’ Alley to purchase armor. In later levels, you can also use Gatherer Scrips to get gear, but this is a bit more difficult.

Start My First Fishing Rod Quest

Once you’re ready, return to Fishermen’s Guild and talk to Sisipu Sipu to begin your first Fisher job quest: My First Fishing Rod. In this mission, Sisipu asks you to use Lugworm as bait to catch five Lominsan Anchovy in the waters outside Fishermen’s Guild.

Apply Bait

To catch Lominsan Anchovy, we need to use Bait skill. Open Bait and Tackle window, click on Lugworm in Bait window to apply them. The check mark will show the currently applied baits.

Please note that this window will display all baits in our inventory. But if you have unlocked Retainers or Chocobo Saddlebag, the bait stored in it will not count!

Since some baits only work in certain types of biomes, you can check the bait description to see which types of biomes the bait is suitable for.

You can get bait from merchants and Scrip Exchange vendors around the world. They usually sell bait for their area, so if you want to save some inventory space, just check to see what the merchant is selling.

Fishing Tips

With Lugworm applied, we can now start fishing. Run to the edge of the pier outside Fishermen’s Guild until Cast skill lights up, and you can go fishing in the nearby fishing hole.

Each fishing hole has many fish for you to catch. Each fish has one of three bait types and is marked with one to three exclamation points on Fisher of Lights’ head. These baits also correspond to the movement and sound of the rod when a fish bites.

When you see an exclamation mark appear above your head, press Hook skill within 3 seconds to reel in the fish. Sometimes the fish escape and that’s okay! Just cast back out again. No matter what, you can always catch your first fish!

Now let us know more. Cast out and reel in the other fish as before. Every time you cast a bait, maybe another fish will come out of the fishing hole and bite the bait you used. Depending on the bait you use, some fish may bite more often than with a different bait. As you level up and gain new baits and fishing skills, you’ll have greater control over which fish bite and which fish don’t.

Then continue Casting and Hooking until you get all 5 Lominsan Anchovy required by Sisipu. You may also get a bunch of other types of fish, and selling them can net you extra FFXIV Gil income.

Unlock Ocean Fishing

Once you have everything you need, return to Sisipu to complete your first Fisher job quest. After completing the first mission, you can unlock Ocean Fishing, which will be one of the best ways to level up your Fisher.

What’s Next?

Now you have unlocked Fisher and caught your first fish. You can continue to upgrade Fisher through Ocean Fishing, Overworld Fishing, and turning in fish to your Grand Companies.

Every time you catch a new fish that’s not in your Fishing Log, you’ll earn extra XP, so be sure to explore any fishing holes you come across and stay up to date on your Fisher job quest. You’ll unlock more fishing hole biomes and even skills to make your fishing even more powerful.

Even after completing the major mission, you can enter new areas and cities and enjoy new baits, fishing holes, and even job quests. Once you reach level 50, you’ll be able to start Big Fishing, another unique aspect of fishing in Final Fantasy XIV.

Regardless, by fishing, you will experience a unique way of seeing the world of FFXIV, traveling to off-the-beaten-track locations and spending time admiring the world of Eorzea. Good luck and happy fishing!