Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

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Originally Posted by Cherub

A little correction. 1046SS, 2.68 Fire IV cast but !!!2.24sec GCD!!!
Sorry for the wrong information

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At 876, the cast times are 2.76 and 2.30, so for 170 spell speed you're getting 2/25 and 3/50 of a second off your cast times (2.985% and 2.679%, respectively)

With Ley Lines, 876 gets you 2.34s and 1.95s casts and the reported 1046 values would be 2.28 and 1.90 (3/50 sec and 1/20 sec ; 2.632% in both cases)

So SS is boss?
Or too much SS no good since you will be in Umbral faster and be waiting for the tick?

I'm sure someone has done these tests with SMN, but I did some tests on spell speed and DoT damage. The highlights:

• Thunder DoT damage increases by ~1% per 65 spell speed
• Thundercloud initial damage doesn't get the damage boost, only the DoT ticks
• Ley Lines doesn't affect DoT damage

edit - looking at the numbers, damage increase seems equal to GCD decrease, so DoT multiplier is (2 - GCD/2.5), where GCD is your spell speed adjusted GCD

A little correction. 1046SS, 2.68 Fire IV cast but !!!2.24sec GCD!!!
Sorry for the wrong information

I see thanks!

Not really seen anything yet but for someone who hasn't done savage yet is pentamelded 220 better than a lot of the 230 stuff? I mean the tome legs and boots are good but... I just don't want to lose all this spell speed I have now.

Hey guys so been reading the past few pages but I haven't found a solid basic rotation yet for single dps. Can anyone briefly tell me the basic rotation? No need for CDs as I will adjust. I am very confused on whether I start with Fire 1 or Fire 3, in addition of whether or not we use Blizzard 4 and Thunder 2.

Very generally, you want to be using F4 as much as possible. From a cold start, this is how I do it:
(Sharp) F1 > (Eno) F3 proc > F4x2 > F1 > F4x2 > F3 proc if you have it > B3 > T1/2 (I believe 1 is usually better) > B4 > F3 > back to F4x2 > F1 > F4x2, etc etc. After your second B4, finish the third rotation, let Enochian fall off, and re-apply it after the F3 and you're full on MP. You could hardcast F3 at the very start and save Sharp for a guaranteed proc, but I really don't like hardcasting F3.
Now, because Enochian's duration changes as you refresh, your rotation changes after each refresh. It's a better idea to have Enochian as your timer. Rule of thumb is if there are 9 seconds or so left on the timer, you have time to B3 > T1 > B4. If there are six seconds or so, you have to drop the T1 before B4.

Both Thundercloud procs AND Firestarter procs are more PPS than F4 is, but you need to be smart about it. T3proc is only a gain if your previous Thunder DoT has 12 seconds or fewer on it. So if you use a T3proc and immediately get another, you should not use it, unless the timer will fall below 12s before you lose the proc. F3s I generally hold on to for if I need to move, or add at the very end otherwise. If it's not the initial 30s rotation, using any proc essentially eats a F4 cast and you should cut one from your rotation somewhere. Similarly, movement often means you'll have to cut a F4 cast. You'll get a feel for when you don't have to cut it, but better safe than sorry until then.

I generally hold Sharpcast to use it with Enochian (From UI3: (Sharp) F3 > (Eno) F4 > F1 > F4x3 > Guaranteed F3proc), as it lets me pad out my 30s rotation more. That's probably not the correct thing to do, so other people please correct me. That's just the basic rotation, I'm assuming you know to pair Ley with RS + Convert and all that jazz.

In regards to T1 vs T2, my understanding is that time spent casting T2 lengthens the time it takes until you can get back to casting F4, but it's sometimes necessary to ensure you get both MP ticks. Since you're just fishing for procs and can apply it pretty much every time you go into UI, T1 is the way to go.

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Originally Posted by Aloise

In regards to T1 vs T2, my understanding is that time spent casting T2 lengthens the time it takes until you can get back to casting F4, but it's sometimes necessary to ensure you get both MP ticks.

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Can happen with Ley if you get the absolute longest ticks possible, but it's quite rare. From the top of my head, you'll be lacking the mana to cast T2 every time you don't get a tick between B4/T1 and F3 in the previous round, too.

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Originally Posted by Aloise

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Thank you, this is what I was looking for. So generally, say, all my CDS are down. Should I start off with Fire 3 -> F4x2 -> F1 -> F4x2 -> F3 -> etc.?
In that case then is it safe for me to take off Thunder 2 and Blizzard 1 completely off my hotkeys?