Blue Mage Ideas and Suggestions

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Originally Posted by Xine

tl;dr version: stop asking for full access to BLU spell list and give us more set points!

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For me full access to spell list would be a 2 hr change, not something that we should have be a common ability.

are you saying that we should stop asking for more points? we badly need them. we got too meny spells at 75 to be sitting at the first proposed points given to us at 75. furthermore we should be able to get trait improvements, are we still stuck at clear mind IV? why just attack bonus I? MAB bonus I? and so forth.

was fine for level 75, but not fine for 90/99

I would like to see SE revise the point count for pre 75 spells as our job was implimented with the assumption 75 was the cap and imo a misconception of how BLU's play BLU. Example Plasma Charge 5 points is just ridiculous, i don't need all access to all spells all the time. Not sure if we get anymore points other then next update, but as you read before, an ability that will allow you to cast a non-set spell would be nice and like i stated earlier in the thread, that would save a few points as well (for that crucial dispel or sleep spell you didn't set).

I would like to give SE props, post 75 spells are very catered to most BLU's play-style and lowered point counts on some crucial spells, example...Battery Charge 3 points vs. MP Drainkiss 4, Whirl of Rage 2 vs. Body Slam 4, and the list goes on.

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Originally Posted by Rambus

For me full access to spell list would be a 2 hr change, not something that we should have be a common ability.

are you saying that we should stop asking for more points? we badly need them. we got too meny spells at 75 to be sitting at the first proposed points given to us at 75. furthermore we should be able to get trait improvements, are we still stuck at clear mind IV? why just attack bonus I? MAB bonus I? and so forth.

was fine for level 75, but not fine for 90/99

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Pretty sure I said this multiple times, more Blue Magic set points because only 55 is NOT enough for the huge list of spells available for Blue Mage.

As far as actually being able to access all 120ish spells Blue Mage has would completely overpower the job, that I could see to be used as a 2hour but if anything maybe have its duration something resembling like SCH's Tabula Rasa where you can access all spells and have unlimited Stratagems charges (tbh it sounds like another copied 2hr.)

Giving BLU more access to higher tier traits would be nice, but would have to follow the traditional means of acquiring Blue Mage's traits by stacking more and more spells, so it would only be worth it to an certain extent UNLESS the amount of blue magic set points are increased which is sorely needed for BLU.

My second job to 90 after the cap increase was BLU, and I was disappointed to see all of these spells require 5 Blue Magic points to set after 10 entire levels of getting exp and 5~12ish new spells ALL requiring 1~5 points to set, a majority of them requiring 3~5 meaning for every 10 levels you can only set MAYBE 2 new spells. Its a joke really how limited they made Blue Mage when they wanted it to be a versatile job, its hard to be that versatile but only being able to use so few points to set the spells, so yea more points would be better. Lowering the cost of the earlier spells would help too but I would MUCH rather see a larger pool of Blue Mage points if they did only 1 update to BLU. But enough of reiterating what has already said time and time again and is actually agreed on by a good portion of Blue Mages.

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Originally Posted by Xine

Pretty sure I said this multiple times, more Blue Magic set points because only 55 is NOT enough for the huge list of spells available for Blue Mage.

As far as actually being able to access all 120ish spells Blue Mage has would completely overpower the job, that I could see to be used as a 2hour but if anything maybe have its duration something resembling like SCH's Tabula Rasa where you can access all spells and have unlimited Stratagems charges (tbh it sounds like another copied 2hr.)

Giving BLU more access to higher tier traits would be nice, but would have to follow the traditional means of acquiring Blue Mage's traits by stacking more and more spells, so it would only be worth it to an certain extent UNLESS the amount of blue magic set points are increased which is sorely needed for BLU.

My second job to 90 after the cap increase was BLU, and I was disappointed to see all of these spells require 5 Blue Magic points to set after 10 entire levels of getting exp and 5~12ish new spells ALL requiring 1~5 points to set, a majority of them requiring 3~5 meaning for every 10 levels you can only set MAYBE 2 new spells. Its a joke really how limited they made Blue Mage when they wanted it to be a versatile job, its hard to be that versatile but only being able to use so few points to set the spells, so yea more points would be better. Lowering the cost of the earlier spells would help too but I would MUCH rather see a larger pool of Blue Mage points if they did only 1 update to BLU. But enough of reiterating what has already said time and time again and is actually agreed on by a good portion of Blue Mages.

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Was skimming your post and quoting the tdlr version, I was saying i was confused because it seemed both should not happen.

getting acesss to all spells is OP on a 2 HR JA? how would you fix it then?

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Originally Posted by Kwate

I would like to see SE revise the point count for pre 75 spells as our job was implimented with the assumption 75 was the cap and imo a misconception of how BLU's play BLU. Example Plasma Charge 5 points is just ridiculous, i don't need all access to all spells all the time. Not sure if we get anymore points other then next update, but as you read before, an ability that will allow you to cast a non-set spell would be nice and like i stated earlier in the thread, that would save a few points as well (for that crucial dispel or sleep spell you didn't set).

I would like to give SE props, post 75 spells are very catered to most BLU's play-style and lowered point counts on some crucial spells, example...Battery Charge 3 points vs. MP Drainkiss 4, Whirl of Rage 2 vs. Body Slam 4, and the list goes on.

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I agree some cost way too much, 1000 needles... hysteric barrage...

can someone explain why people still use hysteric barrage?

Not looking for access to all spells. But, we definitely should have gotten 2 spell slots at 81 and should be getting 5 more set points as well as 2 more spell slots at 91.

In before we're told by S/E that it's a PS2 limitation.

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Originally Posted by Rambus

Was skimming your post and quoting the tdlr version, I was saying i was confused because it seemed both should not happen.

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More Blue Magic points would be great for access to more spells yes, access to all of them instead is too much, that would be like making Refresh II + Accession work for RDM/SCH, or even Haste + Accession, but to a much lesser scale. Keep being versatile but don't overpower it by giving access to everything at once, just a slight boost like +10~15 more points to set a few extra spells. As a 90BLU/45RDM and 5/5 Assimilation merits I have only 55 Blue Magic points to use for setting spells, however I only have maybe 13 spells set because half the spells set cost 4 or 5 points (QC: 4 points, Auto-Refresh: 9 points, Winds of Promy: 5 points, Disseverment: 5 points, etc.) my biggest issue with the job and its limitations.

Love the job cuz its fun and able to do so much and yes I do occasionally take on the role of 5 other people and occasionally have to sit down and rest and let my mule take over (its a BRD/WHM so it can only help so much and I keep Ballad 2/3 up as often as possible.) So for those BLUs great at their jobs who fill more than just 1 role for endgame more points would be a god send, but at the same time NOT going overboard with giving a HUGE boost to Blue Magic points that would essentially allow Blue Mage to access everything or a huge portion of its spells.

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Originally Posted by Rambus

getting acesss to all spells is OP on a 2 HR JA? how would you fix it then?

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http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Tabula_Rasa

Scholar's 2hr ability, and whats being asked for as an "augment" or "change" to Azure Lore sounds exactly like this, its copying a 2hr thats already been made and issued for another job. Do I have any other ideas for AZ? Not at all, I've never used it anyway cuz I've never noticed a real difference using it.

Out of curiosity what level is your BLU and how often do you play it?

I love BLU sooooo much, I'm BLU/63 atm and my problem is i have so much trouble getting magic and/or help getting it i might never see its full potential. So how about some kind of quests to get magic, i know it will never happin but just a thought.

Why not allow usage of all spells, but at insanely reduced effect/damage and no trait/stat bonus, and have only 20 or so spells operating at peak efficiency? Something like 1/4 or even less, just there to throw something out. *cough*procs*cough* Have only the "focused" spells in the available spell list, but still allow the others to be cast from either macros or the comprehensive spell list.

Or on a more simple note, reduce spell point costs.

The truth about Azure Lore is - It sucks. Ever seen a NM use it? It's like they're not quite sure what it does either, so they just spam spells that seem to do 20-25% more damage.

Change the current funky formula from doubling the secondary modifiers to a flat % increase of DMG and MACC.

Also, let it enhance the potency of non damage spells like BLU cures, stoneskins and blinks.

BLU's 2 Hour is comparable to the old DRG 2 Hour.. but DRG was fixed after 2 years.. BLU is approaching the ripe old age of 6 years now.

Also, I wrote in a thread on another forum about 4 years ago how BLU's 2 Hour, set point cost and set point distribution should be changed. I worked out the average cost of spells and the average number of spells available per level and showed how it was woefully inadequate. People told me I was crazy and that BLU would be overpowered if that happened.

Well, it didn't happen and we got overpowered anyway :) So we might as well have a decent 2 Hour and and a decent point distribution system.

Also, fix the spell setting lag (not referring to the cooldown, which should also be lowered). I've been saying for 5 years that setting spells is more like trying to check an overloaded Delivery Box in Lower Jeuno than grabbing items from your Mog Sack.

And finally, a full 60 seconds? Really? But zoning fixes it? Just make it a reasonable 20-30 secs. And fix that dang lag!

By the way, the average spell set cost is about 3~ (I haven't redone the average in quite some time).

So I proposed 3 set points every 5 lvls, starting at 10. The 5 points every x1 level really sucks.

And now that level capped battles have been pretty much phased out, it's not going to unbalance us to get our extra points at x5 and x0 levels, starting at 10.

If I've done my math right, we would only end up with 9 extra spell points at 95 (let's round that up by 1 to a nice neat number), but with a much more balanced distribution throughout leveling.

Here's the breakdown on spell points currently, and how I propose it be changed:

Level Set Points Spell Slots

01-10 10 Set Points 06 Spell Slots
11-20 15 Set Points 08 Spell Slots
21-30 20 Set Points 10 Spell Slots
31-40 25 Set Points 12 Spell Slots
41-50 30 Set Points 14 Spell Slots
51-60 35 Set Points 16 Spell Slots
61-70 40 Set Points 18 Spell Slots
71-80 45 Set Points 20 Spell Slots
81-90 50 Set Points 20 Spell Slots
91-99 55 Set Points ??? (Probably still 20 Spell Slots)

Here's my proposed changes:

01-09 11 Set Points 06 Spell Slots
10-14 14 Set Points 07 Spell Slots
15-19 17 Set Points 08 Spell Slots
20-24 20 Set Points 09 Spell Slots
25-29 23 Set Points 10 Spell Slots
30-34 26 Set Points 11 Spell Slots
35-39 29 Set Points 12 Spell Slots
40-44 32 Set Points 13 Spell Slots
45-49 35 Set Points 14 Spell Slots
50-54 38 Set Points 15 Spell Slots
55-59 41 Set Points 16 Spell Slots
60-64 44 Set Points 17 Spell Slots
65-69 47 Set Points 18 Spell Slots
70-74 50 Set Points 19 Spell Slots
75-79 53 Set Points 20 Spell Slots
80-84 56 Set Points 21 Spell Slots
85-89 59 Set Points 22 Spell Slots
90-94 62 Set Points 23 Spell Slots
95-99 65 Set Points 24 Spell Slots

You'll notice with this system:
We end up with a maximum of 10 more points at 95. Not really overpowering.
Spells are distributed better throughout leveling, allowing more customization of stats/traits.

Pre-80, we have the exact same number of Spell Slots, but they're accessible 1 lvl earlier.
We continue to gain spell slots in increments of 1 after 80, to account for the extra points.

Slightly higher starting Spell Point Count, which increases our versatility for Dunes and Qufim level parties (if anyone still does those?).

Also, this will allow some people to reconfigure their merits. They may possibly want to change Assimilation to MACC or something.

Doesn't this just scream "reasonable"? I think so my friends. I think so..

*Edit*
And my final reasoning behind this change:

With the increase to level 80, we were able to pull far ahead of some DDs.
With the increase to level 85, we were able to hold our own against some DDs.
With the increase to level 90, things began shifting dangerously in the other direction.

At this rate, at level 99, we will be relegated to "Crap, it's Death Ray, who wants to go change to BLU?" *general murmur of discontent* One unlucky person says "I guess I'll do it.." The leader says "Nah it's ok. We'll just kill it quick and move on." Unlucky guy says "WEWT! Thanks! I almost had to come lolBLU!" *entire LS chuckles*

We need every edge we can get to stay afloat at 99. Being able to keep offensive stats/traits in while still having room for proc spells is vital!