Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

More spell speed is always a good thing. Having crit closer to the 1000 mark would be better for you, i know myself i had close to 1K and dropped down a bit with gear upgrade and noticed my attacks were less strong.
Also however i lost around 34 determination which despite it's stat weight being lower it does in fact make a difference. 434+ on determination seems to have worked better for me, now i am slightly above 400.
Also i would think at 1100+ SS your focus should be more crit now :)

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Originally Posted by HaroldSaxon

Actually, the opener has changed this patch:

Sharpcast > Quelling Strikes > Ley Lines > Enochian > Fire 1 (to land on pull)> Raging Strikes > Fire 3 Proc > Int Pot > Fire 4 x 3 > Fire 1 > (Fire 3 proc if it popped) > Swiftcast (If not needed for upcoming movement > Fire 4 > Convert > Fire 4 x2 > Blizzard 3 > Thunder > Blizzard 4.

This is usable due to the change in cast animations and the OGCD delays. Plus, you can now use the F3 proc directly after F1 without incurring a dps loss from waiting now.

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What's the difference between this opener and AlphaFox's opener? :/ Is the oGCD animation delay a noticeable DPS loss, or is it something else?

Heya, I got a question for our fellow BLMs.

When Enochian and Sharpcast comes off CD (after 3rd eno cicle), how do you use them?

I'm used to do as follows: B3 - SC - T1 - ENO - F3...... and then use the proc after F1.

But I've seen other people use sharpcast with F1 instead, right after the F3, like: B3 - T1 - ENO - SC - F3 - F1.

In terms of mobility, the second option is clearly the superior. But given that TC is a stronger proc than Firestarter, I'd like to hear some opinions on which one is the preferred method. :)

What's good DPS for an i248 BLM?
I'm able to kill the Sophia ex stone sky sea with 24 seconds remaining, according to a calculator I found that's about 2083 DPS, is that a good number?

Aside from mobility, the only thing I can think of is reducing Thunder clipping. Thundercloud lasts for 12 seconds, so best case you will get 4 ticks on Thunder which makes it 160 potency. That means the first Thunder is worse than a Blizzard 1. You also lose 2 ticks on that Thunder from clipping, so 80 potency loss since you would have gotten that anyways.

(Potential bad math ahead?)
T3P is 390 potency + dot ticks. F3P is 432 potency. T3P catches up after 2 ticks, except you need 2 more ticks because of clipping to regain the "lost" potency so it's really 4. At this point you have 12s left on the dot which I think unless you have a T3P again you are casting Blizzard in UI phase.

So maybe the idea is to be more mobile and hope for ticks and procs that align better? I usully save SC for Thunder but thinking about it that could be wrong. I've noticed that the top BLMs seem to save it for F3P.

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Originally Posted by HaroldSaxon

Couple of things:

You don't need to wait an extra GCD to use the F3p now - and you should be using an OGCD if possible (either swiftcast and/or convert) when you do get a F4 proc.

Skipping out on Thunder is a large DPS loss. Doing it after enochian is not ideal imo - you want to do it before. The only time you should skip out on reapplying thunder is if you have had a proc at the end of your standard fire rotation.

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I was trying out a11s in SSS and I finished barely with 5seconds on the clock.

I tried it again but this time, I use t3 procs everytime i 2 F4s out (ie. only use t3 proc during UI or if in AF, use after 2 F4s)

I'm having a hard time incorporating the tc (thundercloud) procs :/ because I feel that I should be using F4 as much as possible

Hello I just picked up blm as my alt job to play since I main tank. I been looking at some blm guides for a while now and I need some help understanding.

Is there a recommended set number for piety for a Blm if so how much since I see different numbers in some guides.

Does certain races matter still? Like I remember back then people talk about if you want to fit 5 fire 1 or something you want to be a dunes lalafell.

What's the bis for blm this patch? I am planning to have the relic for blm with crit and spell speed into it and yes I am planning to clear Alex savage and hopefully have it farm. Currently on a11s atm. I want more clarification on this because i hear people tell me to just get pieces with spell speed on them and that's it.

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/WVNL

This is current BiS, though it might change soon because we can't be sure what the stats on the Proto Ultima accessories will look like or if Diadem gear will be a thing. Note that the 270 anima is only 4 stat weight behind Alexandrian, so it could be viable if you prefer the speed. If it goes to 275 it will definitely be best.

There was a discussion last page about upper piety totals but I don't think there's a clear answer. But Piety should be at least 284 including party bonus if you want to guarantee smooth casting with no waiting for mana ticks. It doesn't affect the opener because with the sharpcast opener you can do 6 F4 with base pie. Race doesn't really matter because every race can hit this with two V melds and party bonus (dunesfolk might only need one? Not sure tbh). I believe if you are using the anima, it's better to put your PIE points on that as long as it's a 1:1 trade between PIE and CRIT. Materia Vs are 12 crit to 11 pie. Your can put PIE in to the bare minimum and not overshoot, then put the rest in crit.

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Originally Posted by chocopoko

I was trying out a11s in SSS and I finished barely with 5seconds on the clock.

I tried it again but this time, I use t3 procs everytime i 2 F4s out (ie. only use t3 proc during UI or if in AF, use after 2 F4s)

I'm having a hard time incorporating the tc (thundercloud) procs :/ because I feel that I should be using F4 as much as possible

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Why do you feel you are having a hard time? Just so I know where you are coming from? As long as a Thundercloud proc doesn't prevent you from using a Fire 4 in the future, its a DPS gain. And even if it does, in some cases (when you have a low amount of thunder dot left on the boss) its still a DPS gain to flat out substitute (which you rarely have to do with enough spellspeed).

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Originally Posted by HaroldSaxon

Why do you feel you are having a hard time? Just so I know where you are coming from? As long as a Thundercloud proc doesn't prevent you from using a Fire 4 in the future, its a DPS gain. And even if it does, in some cases (when you have a low amount of thunder dot left on the boss) its still a DPS gain to flat out substitute (which you rarely have to do with enough spellspeed).

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Most of the time, I'd choose between getting more Fire 4s and letting the Thundercloud proc drop. Although this is in the Sky, Stone and Sea setting, I felt that not using Fire 4 was bad. Upon reading your reply, I take it that Fire 4 is not always the priority?