Since capping off Samurai at 80, I’ve taken a break from any dedicated leveling while I sort out which job I want to focus on next. My SO has been on a bit of a leveling kick, though, which has had me hopping from job to job to pair up with her latest fancy for the occasional dungeon run. I’ve tried out Warrior (which feels like a real mess, at least at the lower end of the 70s), finally gotten Gunbreaker to 70, and most recently, tried (and mostly failed) to get used to post-Stormblood Black Mage. The last of these, despite my having trouble adapting to the job (since I last played it seriously in Heavensward) has been the one to keep my interest the most.

I never had a solid caster glamour at the end of Stormblood, though, leaving me jumping back and forth between several looks, including several that never felt polished enough to post here. As I’ve tentatively settled on making Black Mage my next 80, I figured I should probably settle on a glamour for the leveling process, too. None of the unfinished ideas I’d played around with had managed to stick (including a few attempts at using the Summer Indigo Shirt), so I decided to start over from the drawing board (by which I mean 2B’s boots).

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Glamour Components (BLM/RDM/SMN 66)
Weapon: Kaladanda Lux
Head: Reading Glasses
Body: Serge Gambison of Casting (Jet Black)
Hands: Marid Leather Gloves of Casting (Jet Black)
Legs: Far Eastern Maiden’s Bottoms (Jet Black)
Feet: No.2 Type B Boots (Jet Black)

It’ll be a long time before Alahra gives up her high-heeled thighboots at this point, and it will come as no surprise that they served as my starting point for my new Black Mage look. As I combed through my retainers and the Market Board, the thing that jumped out at me the most was the Serge Gambison. I used it several times during Stormblood for Red Mage, but by the time I got around to capping Black Mage last expansion, I’d moved on from it. As much as ever, though, it seemed an appropriate adventuring tunic, and I thought I’d bring it out of retirement for upcoming my Black Mage journey.

Though I started with the Gambison in Pure White, I eventually decided to go all black (yet again), in keeping with the rest of my looks as of late. From there I actually went back and forth on a number of pieces. I often like to use off-jobs as an excuse to try different things, so I strongly considered replacing Alahra’s glasses with the Scion Rogue’s Bandana (or the No.2 Type B Goggles, but those clip with Alahra’s current hairstyle). In the end, I wasn’t able to adjust to the way she looked without her spectacles, though, and I stuck with them.

For gloves, I pulled out the entire pile: the Warwolf Gloves of Casting, Halonic Exorcist’s Gloves, Leonhart Gloves, Scion Traveler’s Gloves, and probably one or two more that I’ve forgotten since sitting down to write this. I wanted something that would pair well with 2B’s boots, but none of the gloves I could think of seemed to do the trick. In the end I settled on using the Marid Leather Gloves from the Serge Gambison set, though they aren’t exactly ideal. I’d like to find something with a bit more sheen to them if I can, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for just that as I work my way up to 80.

And, finally, inspired a bit by my most recent healer glamour, I decided to replace the No.2 Type B Leggings with the Far Eastern Maiden’s Bottoms. I’m still fond of the way the tights on those look alongside 2B’s boots, and the extra coverage seemed like a good fit for the Serge Gambison. The final look should serve me well and will probably last a good while, since I intend to level Black Mage mostly through Pixie daily quests to get around having to play it in dungeons (which I’ve found rather frustrating so far).