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.

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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.

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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.