Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

Hi! I'm currently leveling BLM (lv.45) and I need some tips on the rotation for my level range.

My normal rotation on low levels is: Raging Strikes > Thunder > Fire till MP low > Convert > Fire till MP low again > Transpose > Blizzard > Thunder > (Blizzard x2 while I wait for Transpose cooldown to fall off) > Tranpose > Fire > Repeat.

So, should I continue to cast Blizzard while waiting for Transpose to fall off CD or is it better to just cast an Umbral Fire and begin to build up Astral Fire from there?

Also, should I cast Thunder on trash mobs? I know I should on post-50 content, but most of the time they die before Thunder reaches it's full duration on pre-50 dungeons, sometimes I don't even get a Thundercloud proc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fevelle

Snip

---

Just for clarification, how low level are you talking? If you're in a dungeon you should use fire 2 if there are 3+ mobs. Convert while raging strikes is up is smart to get the most out of that buff. Once you have full mp, go right back into fire. You dont have to wait for transpose, but honestly it doesn't matter too much at that level. Once you have fire3 and blizz3 this will all change so no need to stress about rotation too much. Casting thunder on mobs is fine. Best time to do it is while you're in umbral ice waiting for mp to tick back up which seems to be what you're doing. Obviously don't use thunder if the mob is almost dead, just blizz1 instead. You seem to have a grasp on what you're doing so you'll be fine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fevelle

things

---

Casting Fire 3 at any time gives you a full stack of Astral Fire and casting a Blizzard 3 at any time gives you a full stack of Umbral Ice. You should be using F3 and B3 instead of Transpose at your level and in any random dungeon where you have them available. Try casting Thunder on a secondary or even a tertiary target, if the mobs are dying too quickly for it to tick. Thunder is also good for AoE with up to four mobs when you can guarantee a TC proc, but you can't do that until 54. Could still throw it in for funzies to hope for a proc, as it's not like you need to min/max while leveling.

I think that's most of what you can do at low levels when you also consider what's in Garotte's post. At least I can't really think of anything else.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Garotte14

Just for clarification, how low level are you talking? If you're in a dungeon you should use fire 2 if there are 3+ mobs. Convert while raging strikes is up is smart to get the most out of that buff. Once you have full mp, go right back into fire. You dont have to wait for transpose, but honestly it doesn't matter too much at that level. Once you have fire3 and blizz3 this will all change so no need to stress about rotation too much. Casting thunder on mobs is fine. Best time to do it is while you're in umbral ice waiting for mp to tick back up which seems to be what you're doing. Obviously don't use thunder if the mob is almost dead, just blizz1 instead. You seem to have a grasp on what you're doing so you'll be fine.

---

Really low levels, like 19-30, where I don't have F3 or B3. Is it better to wait for Transpose to fall off CD or cast an Umbral Fire that hits for less than a Blizzard and start building Astral Fire from there?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fevelle

Really low levels, like 19-30, where I don't have F3 or B3. Is it better to wait for Transpose to fall off CD or cast an Umbral Fire that hits for less than a Blizzard and start building Astral Fire from there?

---

Low levels you do Transpose > B1 > T1 > F1 spam usually. B1 first so you are more like to have nearly full MP upon re-entering Astral Fire, mainly post level 20.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fevelle

Really low levels, like 19-30, where I don't have F3 or B3. Is it better to wait for Transpose to fall off CD or cast an Umbral Fire that hits for less than a Blizzard and start building Astral Fire from there?

---

No don't wait for transpose. Like Sleigh said, When in astral fire and low on mp, Transpose > B1 > T1 > F1. There are exceptions. Like really low levels if you can only get one stack of Umbral Ice, you might do Transpose > T1 > switch mobs > T1 > Fire 1. Or if the mob is almost dead, just replace T1 with another B1.

I've been searching for BLM stat weights but I couldn't find it. I just want the values as I'm having trouble deciding which piece of gear is better.

Quote:

---

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.

---

Honestly.. I feel the same way. If it's high end content (savage floors) I feel as if there's no point to going on as it kills a lot of my dps. Gear sometimes makes up for it but not always.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MikotoMina

Honestly.. I feel the same way. If it's high end content (savage floors) I feel as if there's no point to going on as it kills a lot of my dps. Gear sometimes makes up for it but not always.

---

Just practice. Practice on dummy and try and get rid of any rotational mistakes. Then go learn the fights. It takes some getting used to but is very rewarding when you get it right.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cherub

I've been searching for BLM stat weights but I couldn't find it. I just want the values as I'm having trouble deciding which piece of gear is better.

---

According to Ariyala. it´s
SS 0.281
DET 0.246
CRIT 0.234

Thus in FFXIV, Secondardy Stats are not that important, and often doesn´t live up in DPS as what they are promising (heading for cover).

The most usefull stat IMO is Spellspeed as it helps you with your major weakness, the mobility.

All else is for me "Get that stuff with highest iLvl, which gives you just enough Accuracy to not miss"

Because like in real life: "It´s about who you are, and not what you wear"

^^ ... /em quietly leaves the lions cage

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wicked-one

According to Ariyala. it´s
SS 0.281
DET 0.246
CRIT 0.234

---

Those are the 2.x Stat weights.

Then s/he didn´t update, but as I said, personally, i don´t care much about the weights, i go for SS for movement/aoe dodging and the rest is freely distributed as accuracy cap is met.
What´s quite hard, as in the gearing step, you so overshoot Accuracy with BLM Gear, and 210 pieces still got tons of Accuracy...

But as a matter of fact, on the site something WAS changed. I created a BiS Setup before, and bought my Eso stuff according to it, now after patch 3.1 I recalculated and it now show´s some other pieces in the i210 range i hadn´t on the plan.

But I had no urge to look out what changed.

I personally just put alot of SS and Crit into my character but my problem is, I got these really bad 210 Diadem Pants BUT I'm still using the 190 Gordian pants so I don't know if the 15 INT on the pants outweigh 74Det and 20Crit loss. However at this point I shouldn't really care about it. Tuesday I'll be getting the eso pants and upgrade them as I'm lacking a little bit of accuracy.

If the weighs are anything similiar to other jobs (0.12-0.15), then yes, the 15 int is better. Side grade at worst.

On a totally unrelated note: Aikaal looks so weird as a cat.

Thordan so good on BLM after getting the hang of it. I thought SMN would be kings on this fight at first but goddamn, BLM still seems to destroy this fight despite what many would consider to be a movement heavy fight.

Currently hitting 1160 w/ no bard and ninja, I feel like this is yet another fight which might seem unfriendly for BLMs at first, but becomes very easy once you get comfortable w/ it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OneWingedSora

Thordan so good on BLM after getting the hang of it. I thought SMN would be kings on this fight at first but goddamn, BLM still seems to destroy this fight despite what many would consider to be a movement heavy fight.

Currently hitting 1160 w/ no bard and ninja, I feel like this is yet another fight which might seem unfriendly for BLMs at first, but becomes very easy once you get comfortable w/ it.

---

Yep! I love it. Their utility is so good too, Manaward/wall are excellent in this fight and I've been able to save many people with Apoc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OneWingedSora

Thordan so good on BLM after getting the hang of it. I thought SMN would be kings on this fight at first but goddamn, BLM still seems to destroy this fight despite what many would consider to be a movement heavy fight.

Currently hitting 1160 w/ no bard and ninja, I feel like this is yet another fight which might seem unfriendly for BLMs at first, but becomes very easy once you get comfortable w/ it.

---

Can you upload a run? I only seem to be able to hit 997 at most with an ilvl of 197 at the time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lavitz_

Yep! I love it. Their utility is so good too, Manaward/wall are excellent in this fight and I've been able to save many people with Apoc.

---

Would you mind telling me what moves are physical vs. magical? In some cases, I find myself popping both ward and wall just to be safe. I assume both the tether charge and prey are physical.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mercutial

Would you mind telling me what moves are physical vs. magical? In some cases, I find myself popping both ward and wall just to be safe. I assume both the tether charge and prey are physical.

---

Meteorain, Lightning Storm, The Dragon's Rage, Ancient Quaga, Heavensflame, Conviction, Skyward Leap (blue prey), Holiest of Holy, Hiemal Storm, Comets, Spear of The Fury are all magical so Manaward and Apoc are really good. You don't really need it for most of those but I tend to pop it in the beginning so I don't need to move from Meteorain, during Comets if I have Holy Meteor, during the annoying part with chains+meteor+hiemal, and near the end if we get to the AOE part.

Manawall isn't as good but it can be useful for Spiral Pierce (tether) and it can be useful for Sacred Cross near the end of the fight if you make it that far.

Wow! Thank you so much. Anything to help the healers out in this fight. Could have sworn Holy Meteor was physical, but now I know better.

The damn Gaze mechanic is just so buggy. My spells are getting interrupted with 0.5s remaining on the cast while facing the boss after turning around for the Gaze for a split second.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cherub

Can you upload a run? I only seem to be able to hit 997 at most with an ilvl of 197 at the time.

---

I can upload my PoV but I play on PS4 so it won't have a parse. Here's the run from Aiurily's PoV w/ the numbers shown.

http://www.twitch.tv/aiurily/v/26194528

Skip to 00:21:50 to see the parse

Hello blms !

i have both eso 210 weaps and savage 210 weaps

what are you guys using ?

eso has more spellspeed but i has no crit

Hi all I recently gone back to blm and looking to main it, I'm i199 (eso weapon i200) I have 2 i210 diadem pieces which have less ideal secondaries but overall primary's are alot better than my previous i190 equipment.

With no party buffs, pot or food on a dummy my opener is averaging 1750 (20 seconds) and a 2.5 min parse is averaging 1350 dps

I have a few questions regarding thundercloud procs, I understand it is a dps gain using these at points but after how long from previous use should I reuse it if proc presents itself.

My current opener is prebuffs sc qs leylines F3 eno F1 RS F4 F4 F4 FS swift F4 convert F4 F4 B3 B4

The timer is extremely tight and I have found the slightest movement outside of firestarter or swiftcast will cause this opener to fail so if I need to move I drop the last F4 and B3 in its place.

I'm starting to learn thordan ex and will soon post a video of what I do to see if anyone can help give me pointers :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stupiduglytaru

snip

---

If TC is used during your Astral Fire phase, it is more potent that Fire IV only if it can tick for 1/2 of its duration. I would say if you have anything more than 12s left on thunder, Fire IV is better. Obviously TC if you have to move though regardless of the remaining time.

Here is an opener that I use, and it is just as potent (even more if you get a proc) and offeres more freedom with movement.

Precast SC and QS > Fire 1 lands at pull > Ley Lines > FS > Enochian + Raging Strikes > Fire IV > Potion > Fire IV > Fire 1 (if you get a proc here, the ending changes) > Fire IV x 2 > Swiftcast + Flare > Convert > Fire IV > Blizz 3 > Thunder 1 > Blizz 4.

If you get the proc: Fire IV x 2 > FS > Convert > Fire IV > Swiftcast > Fire IV > Blizz 3 > Thunder 1 > Blizz 4.

If you have to move once, you're still good. If you have to move twice, you can drop the thunder.

I have spiked over 3k on my opener with good crits and balance.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Garotte14

If TC is used during your Astral Fire phase, it is more potent that Fire IV only if it can tick for 1/2 of its duration. I would say if you have anything more than 12s left on thubviously TC if you have to move though regardless of the remaining time.

Here is an opener that I use, and it is just as potent (even more if you get a proc) and offeres more freedom with movement.

Precast SC and QS > Fire 1 lands at pull > Ley Lines > FS > Enochian + Raging Strikes > Fire IV > Potion > Fire IV > Fire 1 (if you get a proc here, the ending changes) > Fire IV x 2 > Swiftcast + Flare > Convert > Fire IV > Blizz 3 > Thunder 1 > Blizz 4.

If you get the proc: Fire IV x 2 > FS > Convert > Fire IV > Swiftcast > Fire IV > Blizz 3 > Thunder 1 > Blizz 4.

If you have to move once, you're still good. If you have to move twice, you can drop the thunder.

I have spiked over 3k on my opener with good crits and balance.

---

Thanks I'll give it a shot :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Garotte14

If you get the proc: Fire IV x 2 > FS > Convert > Fire IV > Swiftcast > Fire IV > Blizz 3 > Thunder 1 > Blizz 4.

---

You flipped that around, it's F3P > Swiftcast > F4 > Convert, if you're not double weaving.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sleigh

You flipped that around, it's F3P > Swiftcast > F4 > Convert, if you're not double weaving.

---

Hmm, yeah I guess that makes more sense

New to BLM and having more fun with it than in any other FF game. I just have a simple mechanical question:

Thundercloud. This trait is just a counter on you that is active while a thunderspell is active? So it will proc if something is 'thunder'ed, and it doesn't count per target, right? That is, me casting thunder spells on multiple targets won't improve the chance for the trait to proc?

Every time one of your Thunder dots ticks on a mob, you have a 10% chance to have Thundercloud proc. It is a straight 1 in 10 rng based chance, no counters, no logic, just rng, and you get an independent roll on every mob every server tick.

Any easy way to see this in action is to go to Bentbranch Meadows (for instance) and apply Thunder to 3-4 target dummies, you will eventually see 2 Thundercloud procs appear at the same time, since they were triggered by 2 independent sources (dots on different targets).

^

You also don't want to spam Thundercloud procs because it will screw your Enochian rotation. I saw a bunch of questions, I do apology for not showing up lately. I'm been pissed the way SE is treating raiders and I kinda dropped off the game. I clear A4S for the first time this week (lol) I got this useless Gown of Casting that would be viable for 3.2 for accuracy option but Dinoland offers better anyways.

3.1 kinda finished me off lol. Alexander Savage was already terrible. Now Dianoland simply offers better gear. Eventually relic will be 210 and BOOM you'll be BiS without stepping 1 foot in Alexander Savage. This is a disgrace and an insult for raiders.

Hey guys, been having tons of fun trying to beat ThordanEX but I have been stuck on each and every single group on meteors.
As a BLM, I seem to only be able to down 1 meteor and a half. Am I doing something wrong? Should I be downing 2 meteors on my own? The cast times is just killing me especially since I gotta move or be stunned.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tarta

Hey guys, been having tons of fun trying to beat ThordanEX but I have been stuck on each and every single group on meteors.
As a BLM, I seem to only be able to down 1 meteor and a half. Am I doing something wrong? Should I be downing 2 meteors on my own? The cast times is just killing me especially since I gotta move or be stunned.

---

Your best bet is to be in the pacman's mouth shape safety zone to avoid AoEs and cast. That's what I do.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aikaal

Your best bet is to be in the pacman's mouth shape safety zone to avoid AoEs and cast. That's what I do.

---

Good idea, will warn heals not to stack there.
If there's another BLM on board though...I'll have to rethink strat

Actually no wait...
What is the amount of small meteor kills I should aim for? 2?
If your trick helps me reach 2 meteor kills, should I start on middle one and hope everyone else got theirs done?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tarta

Actually no wait...
What is the amount of small meteor kills I should aim for? 2?
If your trick helps me reach 2 meteor kills, should I start on middle one and hope everyone else got theirs done?

---

Middle has defense up until the others are killed, so I'd only jump on it if there's one left and melee are already on it, or everyone decides to ignore it and eat the 8k explosion. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kenji1134

Every time one of your Thunder dots ticks on a mob, you have a 10% chance to have Thundercloud proc. It is a straight 1 in 10 rng based chance, no counters, no logic, just rng, and you get an independent roll on every mob every server tick.

Any easy way to see this in action is to go to Bentbranch Meadows (for instance) and apply Thunder to 3-4 target dummies, you will eventually see 2 Thundercloud procs appear at the same time, since they were triggered by 2 independent sources (dots on different targets).

---

Thanks! I had a hunch it worked that way, but never had any proof. It certainly felt like I was getting the proc more but just had to make sure it wasn't all in my head.

And since my BLM is only level 32 right now, there's no optimal rotation, so to speak, so I'm just getting a feel for all my spells and traits at the moment.

Someone will have to take the step if BLM have skill changes. I won't work on BLM anymore.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...88#post3452088

Can't deal with this game anymore. Sorry guys, it was fun while it lasted but I'm not dealing with it anymore.

@ Aikaal, sorry to see you leave but can also understand your viewpoint ( read your other thread)
Thank you for contributing so much to the blm community and hopefully can see you back sometimes in the future

Not exactly the right thread for this, but quite a few people here are knowledgable;
Is it normal that a Bard struggles with feeding the add to the Straf Doll because of low dps if he's the only one hitting it?

Also, when the adds spawn and you have Ley Lines ready, do you immediately use it (and if yes, where do you place it?) or do you feed the add without Ley Lines and pop it afterwards?