Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

After playing around with the rotation, I can say that it does "work"... but damn the timing is tighter than a *mumble mumble* chick's *mumble mumble*!
Feels like you need a decent amount of spell speed to give yourself an extra 0.5 seconds of breathing room at the end.

Yeah, as others have said, increasing the duration of AF and UI to 12s would be great. Having F4 and B4 not refresh, but add at least 1 second (ideally 2) to AF and UI when they land (ideally when they are cast) would also be super helpful.
Or perhaps do the unthinkable and *gulp* reduce the cast time of F4 and B4 to 2.5s. That would greatly help with the timers, make the rotation timing feel more familiar, AND give us back a smidgen of mobility.

I do think it could possibility cause an issue to have the buff at 12 seconds. F4 with zero spell speed is at 2.55 seconds with Leylines. It's plausible to get the Haste Card and a crap load of spell speed to reduce the cast to somewhere about 2.3 secs (That's about 23,3% so it's already doable with AST Card. Easier with Selene buff) It would be extremely easy to claim the best rotation would be F3 > F4 x 5 > B3. Even if you were to lose stacks and pay the full cost of B3, you'd cast get the cast time reduction.

Unless someone is telling I'm completely crazy. 2.3*5 = 11.5 seconds.

http://puu.sh/iULZQ/77387661fd.png

BLM definitely A1 speed run king, I don't think SMN can top this if you ignore the adds (healers can kill the first two for free with non-GCDs, ignore/don't get second set).

I freakin' hate BLM A4 though, holy moly. So annoying. Think SMN wins either in effectiveness or consistency A2-4.

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Originally Posted by Sleigh

http://puu.sh/iULZQ/77387661fd.png

BLM definitely A1 speed run king, I don't think SMN can top this if you ignore the adds (healers can kill the first two for free with non-GCDs, ignore/don't get second set).

I freakin' hate BLM A4 though, holy moly. So annoying. Think SMN wins either in effectiveness or consistency A2-4.

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There's a 1.4k SMN A1 parse on reddit with a 3:00 kill time and no NIN. And he even made a couple rotational mistakes in the video.

I am gonna do a speedrun soon with a bard and see how high I can get.

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Originally Posted by OneWingedSora

There's a 1.4k SMN A1 parse on reddit with a 3:00 kill time and no NIN. And he even made a couple rotational mistakes in the video.

I am gonna do a speedrun soon with a bard and see how high I can get.

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Yep, it's very good for SMN numbers but he's not doing 1.4k single target. He gets multiple Deathflares/Painflares on multiple enemies, which is why it's 1.4k. In a true speedrun environment, you don't even attack those adds, so it's gonna lose to BLM, I don't see SMN consistently doing 1.3k+.

It's basically a T12 situation where SCH can spend a stack to destroy Blackfires, but in this case both healers + DRG can do it. The caster in the run who spends his resources/AoE will win over one who ignores them, but it will be less raid damage.

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Originally Posted by Sleigh

Yep, but it's not single target. He gets multiple Deathflares on multiple enemies which is why it's 1.4k. In a true speedrun environment, it's gonna lose to BLM, I don't see it doing 1.3k+.

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He was at 1.38k before the adds and he didn't have trick attack. Unless you are counting multidotting the 0.5 and main oppressor AoEing, SMNs should get to 1.3k even without touching the adds

Hmm, perhaps SMN could be better then ;_;

Only got an 11% CHR on mine though, even with Litany. I feel like with some more runs it could be over 1.4k, but without a second Raging Strikes it's gonna be rough.

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Originally Posted by Sleigh

Hmm, perhaps SMN could be better then ;_;

Only got an 11% CHR on mine though, even with Litany. I feel like with some more runs it could be over 1.4k, but without a second Raging Strikes it's gonna be rough.

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Yeah been getting horrible CHR myself even with 700 Crit+litany I am usually at 8%-14%.

Anyways out of curiosity if it's fine with you, how much do you usually do as BLM on A3 ? I am kinda having trouble on that fight if only for that horrible add phase.

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Originally Posted by OneWingedSora

Yeah been getting horrible CHR myself even with 700 Crit+litany I am usually at 8%-14%.

Anyways out of curiosity if it's fine with you, how much do you usually do as BLM on A3 ? I am kinda having trouble on that fight if only for that horrible add phase.

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Honestly couldn't tell ya, I go SMN on it now (and I'm a mediocre SMN).

I'm the kind of player who prefers BLM, practices BLM more, loves BLM (yes even 3.0 BLM in its entirety!), but push comes to shove if a fight is annoying on BLM, or SMN can make the fight mechanically easier for others in a meaningful way that benefits clear consistency/speed, or SMN just has a lot of advantage, I jump ship. A2-4, each fight fits at least one of those categories, loyalty to BLM be damned. And, apparently A1 too :_:

I would think if you hit multiple targets with Flare you can get comparable numbers with no downtime as BLM. I highly doubt this strat will be usable in savage. 4 adds, 4 beams, 4 DPS. It's too obvious lol. Well we can't say about Savage mechanics yet.

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Originally Posted by Sleigh

I freakin' hate BLM A4 though, holy moly. So annoying.

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Heh, I find myself getting the highest DPS in A4. I always forget about the liftoff in A1 and I'm all >:(GA/ Maybe some day I'll remember it.

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Originally Posted by OneWingedSora

Anyways out of curiosity if it's fine with you, how much do you usually do as BLM on A3 ? I am kinda having trouble on that fight if only for that horrible add phase.

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If my input of i178 gear is any good for you, around 900, I think. Maybe just short. I don't bother with Eno during add phase, as it can be a bitch to maintain, and all your cooldowns will be up after that (at least with my semi-lazy usage they are), so I want to make sure i get the full duration then. BRD+NIN and no food/pots.

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Originally Posted by Sleigh

I freakin' hate BLM A4 though, holy moly. So annoying. Think SMN wins either in effectiveness or consistency A2-4.

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Leylines. NOPE QUARANTINED. Happens to our BLM so much. I laugh every time.

^
Adding to that:
Let me refresh Enochian with this B4 cast or AF3 with F1.
NOPE QUARANTINED.

I really have trouble with these fights because the I don't know when those downtimes happen, except Quarantine, they don't have a cast time...

What's everyone going for in terms of Alex gear? Dunno what drops to take.

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Originally Posted by mayonnegg

What's everyone going for in terms of Alex gear? Dunno what drops to take.

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Personally:

Boots, legs, belt, bracelet, ring

3rd week I will probably get the other 2 accessories and one more left side.

There is 2 common patterns going on right now.

Double accessories, pants, boots, belt
Double accessories, boots, head, gloves, belt.

I personally prefer the second one as it slightly gives more Int/Vit and we can assume that gear costs for new tomes should be the same than 2.4. 825 for Chest/Pants and 495 for Gloves, Head, Boots. So regardless what you do I feel going for everything but Chest and Pants is the way to go.

I personally went Ring + Neck

Alright so I have a question. I do not have access to ACT so I can't crunch numbers myself, but I'm curious about this rotation as compared to the OPs rotation. While that rotation is most certainly better, it leaves no room for error, or rather movement of any kind

Precast Quelling > Precast Sharpcast > Fire I (lands as tank pulls) > Ley Lines > F3 Proc > Enochian + Raging Strikes > Fire IV > Potion > Fire IV > Fire I > Fire IV > Fire IV > Swiftcast + Flare + Convert > Fire IV > F3 Proc (If available) > Blizzard III > Thunder 1 > Blizzard IV.

Now I know that Flare's potency isn't as strong as Fire IV but at least with this I've found I have room to be targeted by an AOE and still complete this opener without any problems. Also you can drop the Thunder 1 if you really have to if you have to move more than once during the opener. I'm just curious of the number differences

It's actually really bad because you're pretty much trading AF3 Fire 3 AF3 Fire for a single AF1 Fire 3. This is before accounting for the slight potency loss on Fire 4 to Flare and misaligned cooldowns.

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Originally Posted by Uninstall

It's actually really bad because you're pretty much trading AF3 Fire 3 AF3 Fire for a single AF1 Fire 3. This is before accounting for the slight potency loss on Fire 4 to Flare and misaligned cooldowns.

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I'm not talking about potencies here. Obviously an AF3 F3 + AF3 F1 is more potent, but I'm considering the cast times, the full rotation time, thunder starting to tick in this rotation. I've still spiked at over 2k on this opener, and I'm curious about what the overall number differences are between this opener and the optimal opener.

I'm not trying to argue that this is a better way. I will be using the most potent opener of course. On a fight like Ravana Ex the optimal opener is perfect, because I know I won't have to move and I can execute the best opener without issue, but on fights such as T11 where movement might be guaranteed during your opener, I'd like to have options. Something to use if I know I need a little more leeway since this one has a little more freedom with movement and timers

Someone asked me to math Sharp > F1 > Eno > F3P > Ley + RS > F4 > F1 > Pot > F4x3 > F3P (If Proc) > Swift Flare > Convert > F4 > B3 > B4

Compared to Sharp > Ley > F3 > Eno > F1 > RS + Pot > F4x3 > F3P > Convert + Swift > F4x3 > B3 > B4

Sharp F1 opener will never miss MP for B4 compared to the F3 opener. Take note you could swap a F4 for Flare to lose DPS or you could replace the Flare in the F1 opener for another F4.

The results were interesting;

Sharp F1 may win over F3 opener. First it needs to get the F3 proc so it can only happen 40% of the time. F3 opener must be waiting a long time to get the MP tick for B4. What I've personally experienced is whenever you end up with extreme low MP after B3, you get that MP tick really fast and you almost have no downtime. When you have about 700 MP, you'll get a long MP tick but you can fill T1. Sometimes you will end with 400-500 MP so you can B1. There is also this weird scenario you have 880+ MP.

Take note that waiting on the MP tick while doing nothing is a pretty big lost but the way server latency works, it seems you'll never wait 3 seconds for a MP tick while doing nothing so F3 opener should always win.

Honestly used to love BLM but probably won't play it after I finish getting it to 60. I'm not a fan of F4 and how it works and I know if I don't do it like everyone else I'll be put down and called a nub, thanks SE for the crap skills and the lovely new boss fights that really don't allow for their use. I don't care for the headache.

Great thread, just finished reading through this thing! I need to hurry up and get to lvl 60.

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Originally Posted by Wobble

Honestly used to love BLM but probably won't play it after I finish getting it to 60. I'm not a fan of F4 and how it works and I know if I don't do it like everyone else I'll be put down and called a nub, thanks SE for the crap skills and the lovely new boss fights that really don't allow for their use. I don't care for the headache.

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Im basically just waiting to see what they are gonna do with thunder. If its just a potency increase ill be leveling my summoner. as of right now i cant be bothered to even play my blm when smn is better at literally everything except dummy testing while also being easier to play.

Anyone else not able to fit RS+Pot into 1 GCD?

Pot especially seems to take forever to use? Quite often when clicking fast, Pot does not go off too, anyone else notice this?

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Originally Posted by scarebearz

Anyone else not able to fit RS+Pot into 1 GCD?

Pot especially seems to take forever to use? Quite often when clicking fast, Pot does not go off too, anyone else notice this?

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You cannot fit both in a GCD, no. Sometimes you can barely fit pot alone in depending on latency.

best time to pot if you cant seem to fit it in due to latency is prob after swift. otherwise i do and have been doing what aikall does to a T. But to my knowledge the pots have always had that nasty delay.

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Originally Posted by Uninstall

It's actually really bad...

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As Aikaal said, both openers share remarkably similar potencies, so what you're saying here is slightly misleading. Remember that in an F3 opener you delay the GCD by quite a significant amount in order to use your cooldowns, while a Sharp F1 opener offers the opportunity to weave them.

Also since Sharp F1 also offers the chance at a F3proc the only thing you're really trading is a AF3 F1 for a AF1 F3. In exchange you'll get the MP to always queue B4 after B3.

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Originally Posted by Xisin

best time to pot if you cant seem to fit it in due to latency is prob after swift. otherwise i do and have been doing what aikall does to a T. But to my knowledge the pots have always had that nasty delay.

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Yeah, I don't like the delay of the Potion. It's like Hallowed Ground on Paladin

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Originally Posted by BakaWakka

As Aikaal said, both openers share remarkably similar potencies, so what you're saying here is slightly misleading. Remember that in an F3 opener you delay the GCD by quite a significant amount in order to use your cooldowns, while a Sharp F1 opener offers the opportunity to weave them.

Also since Sharp F1 also offers the chance at a F3proc the only thing you're really trading is a AF3 F1 for a AF1 F3. In exchange you'll get the MP to always queue B4 after B3.

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According to my maths, not waiting for MP tick, F3 opener wins but if you wait 2 seconds and the Sharp F1 gets a second F3P, Sharp F1 wins.

It's like choosing between the chance of a Proc and RNG from server MP ticks. There is no better choice. You face with RNG you can't control. My choice ends where I don't have to deal with that 40% F3P. I've never liked RNG based rotations xD

Also, later in the future, we will be able to add Fire 1 in the F3 opener when we'll get enough Spell Speed. Since Enochian will change, I'm no longer afraid of that stat.

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Originally Posted by Aikaal

I've never liked RNG based rotations xD

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You say this but you've mained black mage your entire FFXIV career! Are you sure you dont like RNG? ;D

Aikaal, what's your reddit account mate?

my reddit account is Aikaal :3

@ BakaWakka, I still hated it :<

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Originally Posted by Jinrya-Geki

This rotation is no joke. I ended using a similar way to the rotations posted. My god though it's extremely difficult to maintain it.

Movement is a killer. For me it feels to tight. I feel if I move even once the rotation is ruined. Feel the same?

Hopefully I can't get used to it.

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I think it would helpful to memorize how many seconds total each rotation takes, then you can apply that knowledge to how long you have before the boss does its big bang attack, or tosses AOEs, etc.

Still waiting for a guy with rocket science major to do research with math :p

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Originally Posted by alphamax112

Still waiting for a guy with rocket science major to do research with math :p

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Kenji is working on the Damage Formula at the moment, then Pandabearcat will get to work with a working BLM Sim.

I'm also going to do some BLM work on the side when I have the time (same for all other jobs).

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Originally Posted by Twilite

I will say it again, but in a different way: You don't need a degree in rocket science, to play BLM.

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Never forget.

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Originally Posted by Dervy

Kenji is working on the Damage Formula at the moment, then Pandabearcat will get to work with a working BLM Sim.

I'm also going to do some BLM work on the side when I have the time (same for all other jobs).

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If you need help, you can poke me. I might be able of any help.

That's why I asked for your Reddit account if you had one haha. YouTube will do just fine mate.

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Originally Posted by Aikaal

my reddit account is Aikaal :3

@ BakaWakka, I still hated it :<

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He posted it at the top of this page Dervy

Oh, my bad. I read it as his YouTube... I should stop reading with one eye open lmao.

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Originally Posted by alphamax112

Still waiting for a guy with rocket science major to do research with math :p

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Mmm... BS. in Electromechanical Engineering w/ a concentration in Biomedical Engineering
MS. in Mechanical Engineering w/ a concentration in Design and Controls Theory

Good nuff? =)