How hard is it to play a Blue

[Artaniss]

Hey guys, been reading the boards and was wondering how hard this class is? Is it expensive to level, and how hard is it to obtain spells. Also I just started playing and my highest character is 35 so am I still to new to play this job? And can the Blue solo well? From what I read the RDM at one time was the solo class and I was just wondering if the blue is good enough to do so? Please let me know.

Oh, and is the job quest hard to complete for a 34 DNC , 35 WHM or a 33 SCH? Thanks...

[Mirage]

Obtaining spells isn't hard, but it is tedious. Blue mage can solo really well. The quest is easy to complete as long as you have a way to sneak or invisible yourself. It is not too expensive, it depends on how much gear you want to get.

Some spells will be boosted by gear that is completely different from what you use to melee and WS in, so you might want to invest in more situational pieces, but this all depends on how important it is for you to compete near the top in endgame events. You'll get pretty far with affordable gear too.

As for how hard it is to play, it's not the simplest job to play, but other than figuring out what to wear and which spells to equip, it's not super complex either. You use some buffs and combine a few abilities and spells and then just smack your sword into things, basically.

For pure damage output, melee attacks are normally the way to go for blue mage. Spells are mostly to buff yourself, debuff the enemy, create passive traits, or heal yourself or your party. Blue magic cannot be cast on players outside of your party, unless there are some new spells that I am not aware of that are exceptions to this rule.

[Metaking]

Most top end blu gear is rare/ex, tho i think that's true for most job atm, but unlike most jobs, blu is very much a gear whore. Alot of spells have arbitrary rules they dont tell you about( in there descriptions), which some make an otherwise weak seeming move (regurgitation and its bind that can sometimes take a ton of dmg, and not break for instance) very useful. On difficulty well... unlike alot of jobs you gotta get use to learning what your fighting to figure out how best to fight it, most jobs if plan A(smash it with a hammer) dosnt work you use plan B(make it into sushi with a gs), on blu you got plans A to triple Z, and remembering when you pick a plan its not always the best to pick the one that maxes your dd..... so yea there is a learning curve most jobs don't have simply because you can change what it is your do in a fight.

[Aeonk]

I would say it's going to come down to playing the job yourself and getting a feel for it. But beyond that, it's also going to come down to knowing spells and traits like the back of your hand. There is no one universal spell set that's good for every situation, so expect to shuffle around magic a lot to adapt your role. BLU is easily one of the most versatile jobs in the game, but you have to know when to sacrifice versatility for min/max'ing stats to fill the role you're expected to do, and what spells to use/give up as a result of that.

[Artaniss]

Thank all for your replies. I now have another question. From level 1 on do I need to worry about gear or not until 50+ ? Also when looking for my spells each level is is the best strategy to get them as soon as I am able to? For example: I am level 4 and the mob that I can learn the spell from is far away is it best to take the trek and take time away from leveling and learn it or wait till I get higher and learn from experiencing from similar mobs while I am exp'ing with others. I hope this question makes sense lol. Thanks...

[Mirage]

Depends entirely on the spell. During your first 50 levels, there are going to be a lot of spells that you do not need, and a few that you do need. THen there are also spells that you do need but not until later. If you need two spells to create a certain job trait, where one of them is learnable at level 20 and the other is learnable at level 45, and the lv20 spell has no use except to create that trait combo, it is unproblematic to skip that lv20 spell until you are able to learn the lv45 spell.

Additionally, the ability to learn a spell is based on your blue magic skill rating, not your blue mage level. You can learn spells from enemies that are within 29 skill points of your skill level. For example: You are level 30 and have a capped blue magic skill at 93. You can learn spells that are up to the level where you would have a blue magic skill level of 93+29. This is 122, and 122 skill is obtainable at level 39, therefore you can learn blue magic up to (and including) the lv39 spells.

If you however were a level 30 blue mage with uncapped blue magic skill at only 64, you can only learn spells up to 64+29, which is skill level 93, which is equivalent to the maximum skill a level 30 blue mage naturally acquires. Therefore, with that level of skill you would only be able to learn blue magics that are listed as level 30 or below.

Equipment pieces that boost blue magic skill counts, so wearing such pieces will allow you to learn higher level spells that you would not normally be able to learn. Once you reach the minimum skill level required, there is so far no evidence of additional skill having any impact on how easily you learn the spell. The only known piece of gear that increases the chance of learning a spell that you are in range of is the artifact armor gloves, and the upgraded (+1) version of these.

For example, I learned Bloodrake (a level 99 spell) with only a base blue magic skill of around 360, while the requirements to learn it is skill level 395 or higher, because I wore enough skill gear to boost it from my natural ~360ish to exactly 395. Learned it within two uses after I put on those pieces of gear.

[Artaniss]

Ok I am having a helluva time getting sandstorm from worms in starter zone. they are casting everything other then SS. Am I doing something wrong? Been huntung worms for like an hour lol and nothing...

[Artaniss]

Heh Finally one casted SS and with my luck i didn't learn it... Arghhhhh lol

[Mirage]

Sandspin, you mean? Don't bother. Besides, enemies can only use TP moves (all blue magic are considered TP moves when used by monsters) if they gain TP. If they are not physically hitting you, and you are not physically or magically hitting them, they are not gaining TP and will therefore not use TP moves.

Keeping out of range of a worm and wait for it to use sandspin won't help, for example. Sandspin isn't exactly an important spell to know so you can just skip it. You will definitely learn it later whenever you join an exp party in abyssea latheine.

[Aeonk]

Ok I am having a helluva time getting sandstorm from worms in starter zone. they are casting everything other then SS. Am I doing something wrong? Been huntung worms for like an hour lol and nothing...

I think now more than ever is the appropriate time to say....

Welcome to Blue Mage.