How Does Mug Work in FFXIV?

Mug is an ability that attacks an opponent and increases the damage they receive by 5% for the next 20 seconds. It also increases the odds of additional items being dropped by a target after it’s defeated, which is more in line with how Mug works in other Final Fantasy games.

This action is learned by Rogues at level 15 through the class quest “Slave to the Code”. To unlock this quest, simply level your Rogue to 15 and complete all prior Rogue class quests.

“Slave to the Code” can be accepted from Jacke inside the Rogues’ Guild in Western La Noscea (X:27.8, Y:28.4). Eventually your Rogue will become a Ninja, and you will learn passive abilities that will upgrade your Mug skill to better suit a Ninja’s skillset.

When To Use Mug

It’s best to use Mug right away at the start of boss fights, raids, and trials as part of your opener.

An opener is a set of skills used at the start of a fight to maximize your damage output.

When abilities that buff party members or debuff enemies are used simultaneously, it’s called a “burst window” by most players. Such abilities that have the same cooldown duration are ideal for burst windows, since they’re normally used as often as possible while remaining in sync with other party members.

When these burst windows are up, that’s the most efficient time to use your most damaging abilities.

Let’s take our Mug ability and pair it up with a Dragoon’s “Battle Litany” as an example. Battle Litany increases nearby party members’ critical hit rate by 10% for 15 seconds.

At the start of a fight, you use Mug to debuff the enemy while the Dragoon uses Battle Litany to raise the party’s critical hit rate. Since both of these skills have a 120-second cooldown, you can use them again simultaneously after the cooldown period has passed for another burst window.

There are plenty of skills across all jobs that can be used for burst windows, such as the Scholar’s “Chain Stratagem” or the Bard’s “Battle Voice”. Maximizing your burst windows is essential when taking on high-level content like EX Trials or Savage-tier raids.

Tip: It’s best to notify your party when you use such abilities through macros, voice chat, or any other form of communication you might use.

Traits that Enhance Mug

At level 66, Ninjas will learn the passive trait “Enhanced Mug” and it does exactly that: it enhances Mug.

This trait will give Mug the additional effect of increasing your Ninki Gauge by 40 when used.

The Ninki Gauge is a resource that Ninjas gain access to at level 62. It’s normally filled up by using certain weaponskills and completing skill combos.

Ninki is consumed when using the Ninja skills “Hellfrog Medium” and “Bhavacakra”.

Mug in PvP

Like other jobs in FFXIV, the Ninja’s kit is revamped for PvP modes.

This is done to maintain a better balance across the different classes, and results in some abilities being removed, added, or changed.

Mug is one of the skills that Ninjas retain in PvP, but with a different effect. When facing off against other players, Mug will attack an opponent and increase the damage of its target by 10% for 10 seconds, while reducing the recast time for Fuma Shuriken by 10 seconds.

When you use the PvP action “Three Mudra”, Mug will be changed to “Goka Mekkyaku”. This is an attack with a damage over time effect that lasts for 12 seconds.