FFXIV

FFXIV Reaper Beginner Quick Guide With Rotations

Posted alext96

Introduction

The Reaper Job in FFXIV Endwalker is a melee builder and spender that focuses on a flexible and fast-paced burst window to do their damage. Their core stat is Strength, and they use maiming-style armor while wielding a scythe as their weapon. In addition to their strength as a melee DPS, reapers bring Arcane Circle raid buff and an AoE healing ability called Arcane Crest to their parties.

Reaper gameplay revolves around generating their two main resources, Soul and Shroud, then entering a powerful burst window that finishes with an AoE nuke. Reapers are a simple Job to play, but very difficult to master.

Strengths

  • Very flexible burst window
  • Not many positionals
  • AoE healing and raid buff

Weaknesses

  • Perfect rotation is impossible due to unusual timings
  • Need to constantly maintain a debuff on enemies
  • Ability cooldowns may become staggered because of resource generation

Resources

Reapers use many resources, and building and spending these appropriately makes up their core gameplay. There are three main resources:

Soul: Soul is shown as a red bar on the Job UI. It is gained by using the Reaper’s basic combo or by using Soul Slice or Soul Scythe and is spent on Reavers.

Reavers: This is a buff obtained by spending Soul on other abilities. It is spent using Gibbet, Gallows, or Guillotine.

Shroud: Shroud appears as a blue bar on the Job UI. It is built up by spending Reaver on Gibbet, Gallows, Guillotine.

At 50 Shroud, Reapers can use the ability Enshroud, which triggers their burst phase. During Enshroud, the Reaper’s gameplay changes up a bit, losing access to some abilities, gaining upgraded versions of others, and unlocking a powerful AoE attack called Communio, which ends Enshroud when used. Enshroud also introduces two new resources to build and spend:

  • Lemure Shroud: The Reaper starts with 5 of these that appear as blue orbs on the Job UI. These are spent on the upgraded abilities Void Reaping, Cross Reaping, and Grim Reaping. Communio also requires 1 Lemure Shroud, and ends Enshroud when used.
  • Void Shroud: 2 Void Shrouds are represented by pinkish orbs on the Job UI and can be spent on the abilities Lemure’s Slice and Lemure’s Scythe. These are oGCDs.

Reapers also place a debuff on enemies called Death’s Design. Death’s Design is applied by the abilities Shadow of Death in single-target and Whorl of Death in AoE. This needs to be constantly maintained to increase the damage that the Reaper does to the target(s). 

Now that the Reaper’s resources have been explained, here is a basic version of how to use those resources.

Reaper Rotation

Reapers use different rotations based on whether they are single-target or AoE.

Single-Target Reaper Rotation

  1. Use Shadow of Death to keep Death’s Design up on the enemy.
  2. Use Soul Slice and the basic combo Slice > Waxing Slice > Infernal Slice to generate Soul.
  3. At 50 Soul, use Gluttony, Blood Stalk, Unveiled Gallows, or Unveiled Gibbet to build Reavers.
  4. Use 1 Reaver on Gibbet or Gallows to build Shroud. Remember to alternate which ability the Reaper uses to buff the other one.
  5. Once at 50 Shroud, use Enshroud to enter the burst phase.
  6. While in Enshroud, spend 4 Lemure Shrouds with alternating Void Reaping and Cross Reaping.
  7. Use 4 Void Shrouds to cast 2 Lemure’s Slice.
  8. Use the final Lemure Shroud orb to cast Communio, ending the Enshroud burst phase.

AoE (3+ targets) Reaper Rotation

  1. Use Guillotine if you have stacks.
  2. Use Whorl of Death to keep Death’s Design up on all targets.
  3. Use Soul Scythe and The basic AoE combo Spinning Scythe > Nightmare Scythe to build Soul.
  4. At 50 Soul, use Gluttony or Grim Swathe to build Reavers.
  5. Use 1 Reaver on Guillotine to build Shroud.
  6. At 50 Shroud, use Enshroud to enter the burst phase.
  7. While is Enshroud, spend 4 Lemure Shrouds by using Grim Reaping.
  8. Spend 4 Void Shrouds by using 2 Lemure’s Scythe.
  9. Spend the final Lemure Shroud orb to cast Communio, ending the Enshroud burst phase.

Gearing

For skill speed, a 2.5 GCD is a good target to aim for. For the Reaper, Critical Hit Rate is currently their best stat. If the player can’t meld Critical Hit, they should pick either Direct Hit or Determination depending on which is lower.