BLu gear

[Oricimaru]

Should i spell cast in Mavi body +2 or Loki's? it seems divied and same goes for Alky's or Mavi hands +1?

[Tashan]

Depends on what you're casting.


Body
For Physical spells, Magus Jubbah +1.
For healing, Morrigan's Robe.
For nukes, typically Morrigan's Robe except Charged Whisker which is Loki's Kaftan.
For Head Butt, Mavi Mintan +2.

Hands

For Physical Spells, Heafoc Mitts.
For healing, Serpentene's Cuffs.
For nukes, Mavi Bazubands +2.
For Head Butt - Mavi Bazunbands +2.

[Defiledsickness]

i dont think the primary mod for any Physical spells is Blue magic skill. im pretty sure you should look up (wiki etc) the spell mods and go by that. most spells are str modded. next is vit. and some (like benthic typhoon) are Agi based. a few are Dex based like frenetic rip and hysterric barrage (if i remember correctly).

then Ram Charge is based on MND so the af3 hands/feet may actually help that. but physical spells just load up on +stats. Blue Magic skill only effects a few spells such as Osmosis. however you should definitely cap your skill as im sure it improves accuracy, effects, and probably dmg to a degree.

[Zagen]

i dont think the primary mod for any Physical spells is Blue magic skill. im pretty sure you should look up (wiki etc) the spell mods and go by that. most spells are str modded. next is vit. and some (like benthic typhoon) are Agi based. a few are Dex based like frenetic rip and hysterric barrage (if i remember correctly).
Before giving advise you should look up to make sure you know what you're talking about... Blue Magic Skill equates to attack for Physical spells, since we have such a low amount of spell attack there are very few gear slots where Blue Magic Skill won't beat out stat options, hands come to mind.

Blue Magic Skill has 4 roles:
1) Chance of interruption
2) Magical spell accuracy
3) Physical spell attack
4) Buff strength (certain spells only)

For Psychical spells ideally you'd begin casting in Emp +1/2 body (similar to fast cast) and then swap into AF/+1.

[SpankWustler]

Tashan is pretty much spot-on but I guess I'll pick at a nit or two since I can't sleep. I want to say his reference to using casting time/recast down stuffs for Hedbutt is pure gold, too.

Loki's Kaftan is ideal for Sneak-Attacking either Benthic Typhoon or Vanity Dive. Not that you likely will, or ever should, but I guess big numbers are neat to look at.

Crimson/Blood Scale Mail or Arcane Robe would be slightly better for healing spells. Not at all worth the effort to get if you don't have them laying around already, of course.

Enkidu's Mittens or something similar might be worth considering for Vanity Dive when your fSTR is capped, also. I'm not sure on that one.

And with that, my burning autism is sated and I won't have to count a jar of pencils when I get up in the morning.

[Tashan]

Thanks SpankWustler for adding those.

In response to DefiledSickness and Zagen, I'd like to add that Blue Magic Skill is also the required modification for calculating your physical blue magic damage tier (D).

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The formulae for calculating your physical blue magic damage is:

Damage = floor(D+fSTR+WSC) * Multiplier


D = floor((Blue Magic Skill*0.11)*2)+3
fSTR ≈ ((your STR - monster VIT)+4)/4
WSC = floor (floor((A x A%) + (B x B%)) x α)



D is comparable to the weapon base damage (e.g. Bronze Sword DMG:6).

WSC is the physical Blue Magic Spell'S secondary modifiers (e.g. Delta Thrust is STR:20% VIT: 50%). At LV90 α(Alpha) is 0.85.

Please note the following:

The fSTR formulae is applicable only when your STR-VIT is high. In most scenarios it should be applicable.

------------------

In regards to Blue Magic Skill and choosing equipment what you need to consider is D and whether your equipment will raise you a tier or not.

Here's a List:

D = floor((Blue Magic Skill*0.11)*2)+3

Level 90 Cap
D = 82
Cap + 8/8 Merits
D= 85
Cap + Merits + Magus Jubbah(+1)
D = 89
Cap + Merits + Jubbah + Mavi Tayt +2
D = 92


For Physical Blue Magic, this is the bare minimum most Blue Mages should aim to achieve. For the next tier you need another 3 Blue Magic Skill (410). This can be obtained through the following equipment:

Blue Magic Skill+ Gear
Mavi Tathlum (+5)
Mavi Scarf (+4)
Mirage Keffiyeh (+5)
Symbios Gloves(+5)
Blood Greaves (Aug. +3-5)


Alternative Options By Slot
Head - Maats Cap (STR+7 DEX+7 VIT+7)/Aias Bonnet(STR+8 DEX+8)
Neck - Ire Torque(STR+6)/Ire Torque +1 (STR+7)
Hands - Heafoc Mitts (STR+13)
Feet - Areion's Gamashes (STR+5)/Mederi Brogues (Aug. STR+5-6)

Between the 4 choices, Mavi Tathlum is best suited for this job as the other slots have equipment with higher stat bonuses than the Ammo Slot. Please note, that as Blue Magic Skill is floored, while you'll have 412 Skill, only 410 Skill will be contributing to the damage tier.


Cap + Merits + Jubbah + Mavi Tayt +2 + Mavi Tathlum
D= 93


The next tier is at 414 Skill (D= 94). With Mavi Tathlum in your set you will already have 412 Skill, meaning you only need 2 more skill points to reach the tier. Which equipment depends on the following equipment:

Blue Magic Skill+ Gear
Mavi Tathlum (+5)
Mavi Scarf (+4)
Mirage Keffiyeh (+5)
Symbios Gloves(+5)
Mederi Brogues (Aug. +1-2)
Crimson Greaves (Aug .+1-4)
Blood Greaves (Aug. +3-5)


Alternative Options By Slot
Head - Maats Cap (STR+7 DEX+7 VIT+7)/Aias Bonnet(STR+8 DEX+8)
Neck - Ire Torque(STR+6)/Ire Torque +1 (STR+7)
Hands - Heafoc Mitts (STR+13)
Feet - Areion's Gamashes (STR+5)/Mederi Brogues (Aug. STR+5-6)

Now choosing to raise your damage for just 1 D tier is only going to be worth it if you're not sacrificing a large stat bonus at the same time.

Mirage Keffiyeh vs Aias Bonnet? Aias Bonnet.
Ire Torque +1 vs Mavi Scarf? Ire Torque +1.

The best equipment choice would be Mederi Brogues, Augmented with +2 Skill and +6 STR. But those are so rare that I wouldn't count on it. The next best choice, for skillchains only, is Crimson/Blood Greaves Augmented +2 Skill (minimum) and +3% Skillchain Damage. After those two pieces however, if you have Aias Bonnet/Maat's Cap, Ire Torque(+1) and Areion's Gamashes/Mederi Brogues (Aug+ 6 STR), it's not worth adding anymore skill.

If you're missing any of those pieces and your next best option isn't at least +4-5 STR, then you may want to consider adding the extra skill. However that also could depend on what alternative options you have.

As for the higher D tiers it's currently not worth increasing your Blue Magic Skill beyond as you'll be losing damage from the loss of the other Stat Bonus'.

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Blue Magic Attack

As Zagen mentioned, Blue Magic Skill also is used for calculating Blue Magic Attack

Blue Magic Attack = (8 + Blue Magic Skill + STR/2)

This works the same as melee attack where your attack is compared to your opponents defense to determine the maximum and minimum values for your spell damage.

Unfortunantly, it's not as easy for a Blue Mage to increase their Blue Magic Attack as it is for Melee Attack. There's no food or spell buffs in the game which does so. And while the same rule of +2 STR = +1 Attack applies, you need a LOT of STR to cap out Blue Magic Attack.

Here's my Blue Magic Attack outside of Abyssea as an example:

BLUATK= (8 + 412 + ((88+72) /2)
BLUATK= (8 + 412 + (160/2)
BLUATK= (8 + 412 + 8)
BLUATK = 500

It's not amazing.

[Defiledsickness]

guess i should take my af1 body out of storage :P

thanks for the formula and info on tiers. 410 is easy to reach so i'll check it out to see if its worth using the body (luckily af3 body is still awesome to melee in).


4) Buff strength (certain spells only)i knew blu magic effected this. but its also in tiers. like Occultation will give you 4 (i think) shadows with under 400skill. but with 400 skill you get 5shadows. (again i'd have to look it up but i think the numbers are right).

osmosis didnt have any other modifier last i checked so using bluskill gear definitely wouldnt hurt. maybe m.acc too.

[Tashan]

The AF3+2 body is only useful for the Haste +3%. Some would also argue the +2 Refresh. However, it is possible to cap equipment Haste (26%) without it. If you are able to do so, you should replace it with something stronger, preferably Loki's Kaftan.

----

Blue Magic Skill also affects the damage absorbed by Magic Barrier, Metallic Body and Diamondhide. Pretty much the only one time you'll want to macro in every single piece of +Blue Magic Skill you have in your inventory.

[Oricimaru]

What pieces should i try to get to cap equipment haste?
and +2 refresh outside of aby has saved my skin coupled with serpent armor

[Neisan_Quetz]

The best body is probably Mextli Harness but gl getting that. I've never seen the allure in keeping refresh gear on, unless you mean while idling.

[Zagen]

What pieces should i try to get to cap equipment haste?
and +2 refresh outside of aby has saved my skin coupled with serpent armor
This set allows Loki or any other body you want:
Zelus Tiara
Dusk Gloves +1
Mavi Tayt +2
Twilight Belt
Homam Gambieras

[Defiledsickness]

i often wonder if gear with pure accuracy isnt as good as stuff like loki's. with all our multi-hit spells its hard to see an actual difference. but refresh shouldnt be a problem. if you are running out of MP you should try using your sword more efficiently or time your shadows better. (of course loki's would be best in abyssea for vorpal blade +RR atma, but you dont have to fulltime it)

full af3+2 you can use dusk feet and dusk hands (NQ) and a twilight belt and you've ~about capped haste. i think you'll be off 1 or 2 points. ocelot gloves and aurore feet can do it too. zelus tiara can free up your body, but the tiara only has haste on it so make sure you swap to a WS set and have a spell set.

[Quedari]

i often wonder if gear with pure accuracy isnt as good as stuff like loki's. with all our multi-hit spells its hard to see an actual difference. but refresh shouldnt be a problem. if you are running out of MP you should try using your sword more efficiently or time your shadows better. (of course loki's would be best in abyssea for vorpal blade +RR atma, but you dont have to fulltime it)
That first line almost makes me think you either fulltime your TP gear for spells or your spell gear for TP. Even if you don't have enough macro room to change all your gear, there's enough room to change a few good stat+/blumagic+ pieces. And the second line... lol. Unless you have an Almace, you shouldn't be depending on that much sword DoT. Spells are usually your best DoT. In Abyssea(lol), I can usually put up QC numbers withing a couple hundred of my Vorpal and Savage numbers (barring random crits from those WS's) while also doing Delta Thrusts for 800-1k and Goblin Rushes for 1k-1.2k. Why would I want to wait for 100tp when I can more than double my damage casting spells? I'm not sure what timing your shadows has to do with it, unless you mean having to cure yourself, which isn't the end of the world. If you're running out of MP, make sure you have refresh, idle in refresh gear, and get MM atma if you need it.

[Ravenmore]

guess i should take my af1 body out of storage :P

thanks for the formula and info on tiers. 410 is easy to reach so i'll check it out to see if its worth using the body (luckily af3 body is still awesome to melee in).

i knew blu magic effected this. but its also in tiers. like Occultation will give you 4 (i think) shadows with under 400skill. but with 400 skill you get 5shadows. (again i'd have to look it up but i think the numbers are right).

osmosis didnt have any other modifier last i checked so using bluskill gear definitely wouldnt hurt. maybe m.acc too.

You get to 8 with 400 skill 7 below.

[Neisan_Quetz]

That first line almost makes me think you either fulltime your TP gear for spells or your spell gear for TP. Even if you don't have enough macro room to change all your gear, there's enough room to change a few good stat+/blumagic+ pieces. And the second line... lol. Unless you have an Almace, you shouldn't be depending on that much sword DoT. Spells are usually your best DoT. In Abyssea(lol), I can usually put up QC numbers withing a couple hundred of my Vorpal and Savage numbers (barring random crits from those WS's) while also doing Delta Thrusts for 800-1k and Goblin Rushes for 1k-1.2k. Why would I want to wait for 100tp when I can more than double my damage casting spells? I'm not sure what timing your shadows has to do with it, unless you mean having to cure yourself, which isn't the end of the world. If you're running out of MP, make sure you have refresh, idle in refresh gear, and get MM atma if you need it.

You go for melee damage because it also adds white damage, and the more haste you have white damage is going to beat spell damage especially on harder targets. Spells are good Damage versus weaker targets that's about it.

[Quedari]

There's still no excuse not to change some gear for spells, even with SE's pitiful macros. And if you're depending on your sword damage to be your primary damage against harder NMs, might as well go change jobs to WAR or DRK or SAM or something. Most of the time my LS doesn't even want me to melee "harder" NMs because they get so spammy. I know that spamming Quad or Goblin isn't really a good idea on harder NMs either because of the multi-hits. In those cases I tend to use single hit spells like Vanity Dive and Benthic (when it isn't being a jerk with resists). Also, if Benthic and it's added effects land, that means everyone else is going to do more damage too. I'm sure there's a point where spell-spamming hurts your overall DoT, as well as a point where not casting enough hurts your overall DoT.

[Defiledsickness]

i do have an almace and luckily dex is good for the ws and some spells.

if you want to push delta then wear agi gear :P at least you'll have decent subtle blow. and if you're tanking a mob then you're auto-atking so why not have haste most of the time?

i had macros for each spell but since im not spamming spells fulltime that got very annoying. delta is great and quad on easy mobs, but if you're not focusing on shadows you're going to die period. you cant fully rely on occultation as we arent eva tanks. so haste beats out tping in spell gear.

and i have gear macros for most everything. but i simply notice that acc is typically close to stat gear. amazes me, but isnt bad gear.

[Quedari]

... Why on earth would you TP in spell gear? I TP in haste gear, cast spells in stat/blumagic gear. I see so many BLUs fulltiming AF body, str rings, minimal haste gear, etc. It makes me sad ;; I have macros for all my spells too. I hate trying to scroll through the list to find stuff. And I rarely tank anything major; my LS is full of NINs and MNKs that tank and heavier DDs (WAR, DRK, etc) that rush in to melee everything as soon as procs are done. I usually depend on occultation and Utsu:Ni if anything is hitting me, because as you said, we aren't evasion tanks, and if I only depended on Ni and Ichi, I'd never have a chance to cast any other spells or even get that many melee swings. Of course, if that was the case, I probably wouldn't have hate anymore lol.

[Prothscar]

i do have an almace and luckily dex is good for the ws and some spells.

if you want to push delta then wear agi gear :P at least you'll have decent subtle blow. and if you're tanking a mob then you're auto-atking so why not have haste most of the time?

i had macros for each spell but since im not spamming spells fulltime that got very annoying. delta is great and quad on easy mobs, but if you're not focusing on shadows you're going to die period. you cant fully rely on occultation as we arent eva tanks. so haste beats out tping in spell gear.

and i have gear macros for most everything. but i simply notice that acc is typically close to stat gear. amazes me, but isnt bad gear.

1) Don't wear AGI gear for Delta Thrust.
2) Ichi is hardly ever worth casting.
3) If you can't EVA tank on BLU you're doing it wrong.

[Defiledsickness]

so you really want me to carry my charged whisker/pdt set in sack, my spell set, my CDC set, my haste set, and my MDT set, then add my blu-eva set? i decided f'k the eva set and got a Spell Interrupt Down set for when i have trouble with ichi. Blu isnt Nin its not supposed to tank stuff thats too hard for it, so im not using an eva atma and swapping in/out eva gear along with haste/spell gear.

its one thing to set counter, eva bonus and used Gnarled Horn. its another to tell me im an evasion job.

and i never said i tp in spell gear wtf. AF3+2 body is haste gear and the reason i said i wonder what the DPS changes are from its +acc and using something like Loki's really is. i dont change my gear for EVERY spell. im not going to lie and say i really care about dmg to every mob (sometimes im talking in LS chat or killing too weak mobs).

and if you aren't tanking mobs i dont see how your input is valid. a blu should outdamage a nin tank. and you should NOT be spamming spells unless you're goal is to kill the mob before it can do anything. this is not the case for abyssea nm's because they have too much HP. you definitely shouldn't be meleeing the NM because you havent mentioned any subtle blow set. before you continue this discussion you should pick what you're talking about. i was only stating curiosity's and im being attacked for them. you dont know exactly what's best so try keeping an open mind to find your closest definition of best.

[Selzak]

Would it be beneficial to melee in Mavi Minta +1/+2 and macro in Magus Jubbah after the /ma spell casting line in a macro?

[Tashan]

so you really want me to carry my charged whisker/pdt set in sack, my spell set, my CDC set, my haste set, and my MDT set, then add my blu-eva set?


Yes.


i decided f'k the eva set and got a Spell Interrupt Down set for when i have trouble with ichi.

That's pretty backwards. With an evasion set you won't get hit. You don't need SID for Ichi.


Blu isnt Nin its not supposed to tank stuff thats too hard for it, so im not using an eva atma and swapping in/out eva gear along with haste/spell gear.

For evasion tanking I use Gnarled Horn, Razed Ruins and Apocalypse.


you definitely shouldn't be meleeing the NM because you havent mentioned any subtle blow set

You can cap Subtle Blow with /NIN or /MNK and equipment.

[Zagen]

if you want to push delta then wear agi gear :P at least you'll have decent subtle blow. and if you're tanking a mob then you're auto-atking so why not have haste most of the time?
Do you even check any reference sources before you give advise? Delta Thrust is has STR20%/VIT50% mods not AGI.
If you think gearing in AGI will honestly reduce TP from the 3 hits then why not tell everyone to cast all spells that do damage in AGI gear... (sarcasm if you can't tell) If that isn't the case then please look up spells for their mods before giving advise to others on how to gear for them.


so you really want me to carry my charged whisker/pdt set in sack, my spell set, my CDC set, my haste set, and my MDT set, then add my blu-eva set? i decided f'k the eva set and got a Spell Interrupt Down set for when i have trouble with ichi. Blu isnt Nin its not supposed to tank stuff thats too hard for it, so im not using an eva atma and swapping in/out eva gear along with haste/spell gear.

its one thing to set counter, eva bonus and used Gnarled Horn. its another to tell me im an evasion job.

BLU isn't an evasion job? (http://youtu.be/4xf96_kQ_aE) Can it be an evasion job on every target? No, but then again neither can THF, DNC, or NIN.

Your MDT, PDT, Whisker set don't need to be in your Gobbie Bag, satchel those up. Though the Whisker set could stay at home, at least I've never had a situation come up where I didn't know I would be Whisker farming before I left the mog house. Gear sets much like most things in this game are situational, so don't carry all of your gear sets if you know you only need some of them.

On anything that needs Ichi casting because Ni > Ni isn't enough you should/would be casting Actinic Burst first which favors an evasion set.

You have more than 1 spell set right? Like STR, AGI, STR/DEX sets? Best part of these sets is some gear carries over into the next set so they aren't that large of a set.


and if you aren't tanking mobs i dont see how your input is valid. a blu should outdamage a nin tank. and you should NOT be spamming spells unless you're goal is to kill the mob before it can do anything. this is not the case for abyssea nm's because they have too much HP. you definitely shouldn't be meleeing the NM because you havent mentioned any subtle blow set. before you continue this discussion you should pick what you're talking about. i was only stating curiosity's and im being attacked for them. you dont know exactly what's best so try keeping an open mind to find your closest definition of best.

If you don't end up tanking mobs you're doing something very wrong... For example it took me less than 2 minutes to cap hate on Ningishzida (I wasn't "spamming" spells either) even with me starting off with a CA/SA/TA V. Dive on the tank for 4k+ to ensure he was capped first. I cap even faster on /NIN from the increased melee speed.

Also LOL at a Subtle Blow set requirement for meleeing... Mobs use TP moves in a very predictable way... You shaving off 2 TP a swing won't change that.

[Prothscar]

so you really want me to carry my charged whisker/pdt set in sack, my spell set, my CDC set, my haste set, and my MDT set, then add my blu-eva set?

Yes, this is what good BLUs do.



i decided f'k the eva set and got a Spell Interrupt Down set for when i have trouble with ichi. Blu isnt Nin its not supposed to tank stuff thats too hard for it, so im not using an eva atma and swapping in/out eva gear along with haste/spell gear.

Shouldn't be casting Ichi in the first place. BLU can tank anything a NIN can and maybe even more, and you shouldn't need an EVA atma to evasion tank on BLU. Your inability to swap gear on a job as gear intensive as BLU is impressive.



its one thing to set counter, eva bonus and used Gnarled Horn. its another to tell me im an evasion job.

Setting counter is stupid. BLU has absolutely no trouble capping Evasion rate.


a blu should outdamage a nin tank.
Will seldom happen. If you have a NIN the NIN will likely be tanking.


you definitely shouldn't be meleeing the NM because you havent mentioned any subtle blow set.

...what? Do you have any idea what you're talking about? You are terrible at this job.

[Quedari]

Speaking of evasion gear and tanking, does anyone have a good setup they can link me to or list? I haven't tried any kind of tanking except "I'm the only DD left alive, I better try to keep it off the mages til the NIN can Mijin" because I tend to be pretty bad at getting shadows back up (on any job lol). Also, I tend to be one of the last people to get cured in my group, probably because I'm BLU and have access to cure spells, regardless of how difficult it might be to get the cures cast.

[Prothscar]

EVA Set (http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/226965)

Is what I use. Mirke has EVA and Fast Cast on it, Shamshir is EVA brand. Some upgrades can be made to it but with Auroral Drape I cap evade on most things. Can add Spiral Spin too, (Sandspin would be superior but its proc rate is abyssmal).

[Defiledsickness]

i never said blu's shouldnt melee i said he shouldnt. you only seem to have read the first line in each quote and then totally interrupt it wrong.


That's pretty backwards. With an evasion set you won't get hit. You don't need SID for Ichi.on some mobs you cant cap eva against them. even with capped eva you wont dodge EVERY hit (this would break the game). you can cap SID at 100% so why not do so? it works the same as evading and i already have the pieces from pld or rdm.

i have an eva set (http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/207902), i just prefer not to use it. on certain things eva is the best way to go, but when farming seals you normally go; Nin, Blu, Whm, Blm/brd. So i am backup tank. why? not because i have any problem keeping hate, but because nin is a job too and i will use it like i use all of my tools and gear. (and omega and ultima are both super easy nms :P)

i never said to use a Subtle Blow set i was commenting on a rather poor explanation by a poster. in reply it seems his thoughts had more background to them but he didnt share in his first post (the one i commented on). if you're on asura you're more then welcome to show me what you think blu is suppose to do and i'll show you right back.

and i dont use windower so by the time i hit the 3macros it takes to fully swap gear im a bit further then those who only need to hit 1. makes it a bit tougher to scroll through everything and add more sets.

[Prothscar]

you can cap SID at 100% so why not do so? it works the same as evading and i already have the pieces from pld or rdm.

It doesn't work nearly the same.

[Neisan_Quetz]

SIR Set is best if you're fighting something you can't evade yes, but if you can evade it, use evasion. BLU has less problems evading mobs than Rld or Rdm due to gear/spells/settable traits (both Rdm and Pld have brick evasion on anything worthwhile except maybe if you merited blind 2 and even then...).