Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hontaro

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?

---

I do the normal Sharp F1 opener on 3rd leg, with leylines up precast as the leg spawns, then I pick up my doll with the swiftcast flare while moving there. Very minimal uptime loss. Then usually something like convert > f4 > b3 > b4 > (t1 on leg) > f3 > f4 > scathe > feed.

If a DPS (like a BRD) needs help, usually the SCH helps out a bit. But most of the time, people should plan their rotation around add pickups so they need little help with feeding on time.

I would rather save Swiftcast for feeding and just use the F3 opener for that part.

I do:

Ley lines + Sharp right as Mortal Revolution ends > F3 > RS+Eno > F1 > F4x3 > F3P on the leg > Convert > F4x3 on add then blizzard 3 > Swiftcast Blizzard IV while feeding it(and also dodging Seeds of the Sky). Shouldn't need to resort to Scathe really.

Finally beat Thordan extreme last night. Quick question.. is heavy impact magical or phys damage? Just thinking for when I want to take the middle tower during second convictions.

Magic.

/10

Got a few CD questions, lets assume 100% dps uptime.

1. Do you use Leylines on CD or wait for a certain part of the rotation?
2. Do you use RS on CD or line it up with other CDs?
3. If SC and Enocian are off CD in UI phase do you always use them? Even if you can squeeze another 4 F4's with a B4? If yes, what about 3 F4's.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kona_Nightwind

Got a few CD questions, lets assume 100% dps uptime.

1. Do you use Leylines on CD or wait for a certain part of the rotation?
2. Do you use RS on CD or line it up with other CDs?
3. If SC and Enocian are off CD in UI phase do you always use them? Even if you can squeeze another 4 F4's with a B4? If yes, what about 3 F4's.

---

1. Second Leylines is almost always on CD (assuming no mechanics/uptime problem). Third Leylines, you need to put with your Raging Strikes which may or may not be usable at the roughly 3~ minute mark due to Enochian/rotation limitations. Generally though every other Leylines you want to use on CD, but phase changes usually mix it up.

2. Line it up unless there's just no chance to line it up without losing your RS or losing a future RS.

3. I'm not quite sure what you're suggesting but typically yes you want to start a new rotation with either a Sharpcast TC or F3P. The only times I wouldn't are if you are trying to get a ~3m30s-ish Raging Strikes and you turn your initial rotation #3 into rotation #1 to help your timers line up. It's something I often do in phases that are between 3m and 4m30s.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sleigh

3. I'm not quite sure what you're suggesting but typically yes you want to start a new rotation with either a Sharpcast TC or F3P. The only times I wouldn't are if you are trying to get a ~3m30s-ish Raging Strikes and you turn your initial rotation #3 into rotation #1 to help your timers line up. It's something I often do in phases that are sub-5m.

---

Sorry still pretty new to BLM. What I think Im asking(after reading what you put) is if during UI phase before 3rd/maybe 4th rotation if SC and Enocian are off cool down. Is it worth it, dps wise, to cast B4? Or anytime both CD's are up in UI just use them. Im starting to think the later. Did a little day drinking today, thinks a little fuzzy.

One more question. Either from me messing up, having to move from mechanics, etc. How do you handle enocian reset and mana? There is situations where I only get two/three F4's off, have plenty of mana, but the encian timer is low(2nd rotation). Do I reset enocian, depending on time I have B3 then B4 or Transpose then B4, or just cast as many F4 as possible then go into old roatation?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kona_Nightwind

Sorry still pretty new to BLM. What I think Im asking(after reading what you put) is if during UI phase before 3rd/maybe 4th rotation if SC and Enocian are off cool down. Is it worth it, dps wise, to cast B4? Or anytime both CD's are up in UI just use them. Im starting to think the later. Did a little day drinking today, thinks a little fuzzy.

---

The two problems with that are, typically you won't go into that 3rd UI phase with Enochian time still available if you got any procs the rotation before at all, and if you do a B4 there with a fresh Enochian, you are screwing not only your first rotation (which you can get away with, with Leylines), but more importantly, your second rotation will be a 20s rotation which is just the worst if you are actively pursuing a refresh, and then the next rotation's a 15s rotation ... I mean, if due to an early B3, you can get that B4, go for it, but it's not something you should or really could ever aim for in ideal situations.

Something I occasionally do if I'm feeling frisky is Enochian after B3 on rotation #3. A slight boost to your UI phase attacks, and a quicker refresh of Enochian. REALLY only recommended on phases with Leylines, specifically, what should be your 4th rotation in a fight.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kona_Nightwind

One more question. Either from me messing up, having to move from mechanics, etc. How do you handle enocian reset and mana? There is situations where I only get two/three F4's off, have plenty of mana, but the encian timer is low(2nd rotation). Do I reset enocian, depending on time I have B3 then B4 or Transpose then B4, or just cast as many F4 as possible then go into old roatation?

---

Enochian upkeep if you are not near an Enochian refresh is priority #1. It doesn't matter if you have 10,000 MP with an Ewer and Ballad playing somehow, you should discard your current rotation to keep up Enochian. This is mainly only a big deal if this is your rotation #1. Rotation #2, you can look at timers. Rotation #3 is never worth salvaging of course.

The only time you "should" do old rotations is if you messed up really. That or timers just really don't allow for an Enochian refresh, and you have to do some time without it, like in Thordan's single knight phase, etc.

Thanks Sleigh.

Just a quick question: what is the expected DPS for a BLM with an item level of ~ 178 (180 weapon) in Void ark?

Finally tried my BLM in a "real world" scenario outside of mob farming yesterday and was left rather depressed after I took a look at ACT.
Depending on movement and healer-derp deaths I was around 500 to 670. Want to know how far off the mark I was because I am masochistic that way. ._.

Thanks.

I happened to be online and I still hang with my FFXIV friends.

109 Int, 115 Vit, 97 Det, 71 Crit

I hope you'll enjoy having a long grind to downgrade your 210 Staff to high Det + low Crit. Being unable to change your stats is lame.

Also, I hope you'll enjoy the most WHM looking BLM staff ever lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aikaal

Also, I hope you'll enjoy the most WHM looking BLM staff ever lol.

---

Screen shot or it didn't happen. :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Granyala

Screen shot or it didn't happen. :P

---

http://imgur.com/a/rhCKL

Last weapon.

Erm... okaay.

That does indeed look quite unfitting.

I actually like that weapon's looks. I don't really care about being dark/black as a BLM, a weapon's a weapon in my eyes, and it's a nice looking staff.

That said, those stats are KILLING my interest. My dream of mid-CHR/high-SS i215 relic, down the tube, forever lost.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sleigh

I actually like that weapon's looks.

---

It's a pretty model, for sure.

But if you'd shown me the pic w/o telling me what class it is for I'd have said "cool new whitemage weapon".

No big deal if it were some random staff, but that should NOT happen with class iconic weapons such as this.

I still think they mixed the designs up and the displayed whm staff is the actual blm staff and vice versa

how much int is +1 weapon damage atm?

Staff has no spell speed so my interest in getting it went to 0%.

comparison to thordan

+1 WD
= ? int

+4 int = 4
+3 crit = +0,486
+97 det = +10,379
-97 spellspeed = -16,587
=
-1,722


how much int gives +1 weapon damage?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gevurah

comparison to thordan

+1 WD
= ? int

+4 int = 4
+3 crit = +0,486
+97 det = +10,379
-97 spellspeed = -16,587
=
-1,722


how much int gives +1 weapon damage?

---

Its better than Thordan. Its shittier than any 210 that was already available.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aikaal

Its better than Thordan. Its shittier than any 210 that was already available.

---

You do realize that the Relic is intended as an ALTERNATIVE path to raiding and not necessarily meant to be BiS?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Granyala

You do realize that the Relic is intended as an ALTERNATIVE path to raiding and not necessarily meant to be BiS?

---

There is no reason we shouldn't be allowed to have the stats we want. If they didn't want us to have the stats we wanted, they wouldn't have allowed us to have the stats we wanted in 2.x. You can't go ahead and give a player an ability for his relic and strip this ability from the player.

Relic an alternative of raiding? We haven't got relic since 5-6 months. It stopped becoming an alternative unless you planned on raiding with an iLevel 135 relic Alexander Savage.

The message I got and I am sure most players got when SE allowed us to customize this relic weapon was this relic weapon, the only purple item in the game represents you and walks with you the entire gameplay. You are not forced to mix-max a relic. You can go ahead and put 40% Crit, 30% Speed and 30% Det. You are correct to say Relic isn't meant to be BiS. You are wrong to think Relic isn't meant to be built like you wish.

If you raid, you do wants the best stats of course. Scholars would pick Accuracy on the weapon.

Oh btw. Pretty sure the stats invested in a Zeta are destroyed with the weapon. So those extra stats for Anima no longer mean a damn thing.

I have to say that I'm disappointed not only in the fact that we haven't got the stats that we really want, but also, because of the fact that it's still and endless grind and not only that, but unless you have millions of gil even after the grind you still have to find the money to pay a crafter to craft the final items which judging, by the prices today are not cheap. Maybe in a month the price will come down, but whats the point by that time I could have beat Thordan and obtained the staff from there which has stats that I want.

I'm in a FC with a awesome Crafter so that step is easily taken care of once I get the mats. That said I'm really disappointed in the weapon. And the fact it's all angelic and crap. But really it's the stats. I feel like the Summoner weapon stats are more geared towards what I want on my BLM but you can really compare the Lunaris and the Anima Weapon and the Lunaris wins in my book.

Summoner relic is Lunaris stats... You are right to be disappointed by the grind. That grind was already coded in 2.x. You can say they spent 5-6 months to design sprites (they reused the eso weapon relic sprites, they only created glows and last step sprites)

Which weapon is better for BLM, the Lunaris Rod or the Gordian Staff? Does the higher spell speed on the Lunaris Rod make it better than the Gordian Staff?

I recall once upon a time Crit/Det was a desired weapon on BLM in 2.0. xD

Poor BLM relic. ;_;

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lulunami

Which weapon is better for BLM, the Lunaris Rod or the Gordian Staff? Does the higher spell speed on the Lunaris Rod make it better than the Gordian Staff?

I recall once upon a time Crit/Det was a desired weapon on BLM in 2.0. xD

Poor BLM relic. ;_;

---

Gordian>Eso>Relic

Atm Spell Speed is really the best stat for BLM due to how stringent the Enochian timers are.
Being able to knock 0.1 sec off every cast over 5 casts can become the difference between refreshing Enochian or having to go back to the 2.X rotation.

Ok. This seems to be a thread with alot of good blms in it. I'm back. I've been away for at least a year. I just hit I175, and am going to be doing the more endgamey stuff, and don't want to suck. But i think i need baby steps... cause right now, some of the rotations i'm reading are making my head spin, and how you guys do it, while moving, without constantly looking at your buff timer... well, i'm assuming it just didn't happen over night, so what did you do to improve? Any advice on hud setup... a simplified rotation? What do i need to do to get to a point where i can hold my own.... TY in advance for any help...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kingsnake661

Ok. This seems to be a thread with alot of good blms in it. I'm back. I've been away for at least a year. I just hit I175, and am going to be doing the more endgamey stuff, and don't want to suck. But i think i need baby steps... cause right now, some of the rotations i'm reading are making my head spin, and how you guys do it, while moving, without constantly looking at your buff timer... well, i'm assuming it just didn't happen over night, so what did you do to improve? Any advice on hud setup... a simplified rotation? What do i need to do to get to a point where i can hold my own.... TY in advance for any help...

---

I use a second hot bar for my lvl 60 rotation.

But basically it just takes practice. When I was learning I'd often have to use Swiftcast for B4 to make it in time. So if you are having trouble sticking to the whole rotation, add SC as necessary.
The first thing I did was try to get four F4's off per enochian.
Enochian, F3, F4, F4, F1, F4, F4, B3, B4

The once I was comfortable with that, I added in Convert for another F4.
Enochian, F3, F4, F4, F1, F4, F4, Convert, F1, F4, B3, B4

Then I practiced adding in Thunder II
Enochian, F3, F4, F4, F1, F4, F4, Convert, F1, F4, B3, T2, B4

Then I added Ley Lines and Raging Strikes to the beginning.
LL, RS, Enochian, F3, F4, F4, F1, F4, F4, Convert, F1, F4, B3, T2, B4

Now I've added Sharpcast to the beginning to get a Swift Cast Flare
LL, RS, F3, SC, F4, F4, F1, F4, F4, Swift Cast, Flare, Convert, F3, F4, F4, B3, T2, B4 (I may have an extra F4 in there that I may not be able to cast, can't remember as it's muscle memory at this point).

But I'm definitely not an Expert, still getting my gear, but I seem to do more than just keep up to other DPS and BLM in diadem, bosses etc.

Practice and Practice some more basically, and there are times were you need to change your rotation a bit due to mechanics and such. So as example if you have to cut your FireIV early and so on.
While i would not gauge Diadem as a way to say you keep up to other black mages or dps i do think it's a good place to at least practice rotations.
The main thing is timing and knowing when to refresh, if you loose enochian it is a rather big loss in dps, so you want it to be up until enochian is available again, so 100% uptime in other words.
You can do it :)
Also PS. i actually think thunder 1 is better to cast then t2, just preference is all, well other reasons as well, cost, cast time, etc..

Also i agree with both Lavitz and Kenji, unless i see actual proof that the Relic (ilv210) does in fact do more damage due to higher wd i am sticking to ss thank you
SS>Crit> Det

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Maero

unless i see actual proof that the Relic (ilv210) does in fact do more damage due to higher wd i am sticking to ss thank you

---

Compared to Thordan? I would still use Relic.

I've combined B3 and B4 on to one button or key as a macro. Its rather simple but:
/macroicon "Blizzard 3"
/ac "Blizzard 4" <t>
/ac "Blizzard 3" <t>

This allows me to hit both B3 and B4 with one button. B3 was always cast unless the conditions exist for B4 then it was hit that. Geared a little more towards PS4 players who value space on their crossbar. I tried to do the same for F3/F4 but it doesn't work as you cannot hit a firestarter that way with enochian up.

Considering how even .1s can make or break an Enochian rotation, I would not use any GCD macros on BLM, more so than just the fact that you will lose DPS from doing it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sleigh

Considering how even .1s can make or break an Enochian rotation, I would not use any GCD macros on BLM, more so than just the fact that you will lose DPS from doing it.

---

The in game macro system is terrible, do not use it for dps ability GcD or oGcD, its a flat dps loss. For BLM the only macros I use are mouse over for AM and Apo, and target of target for Apo and EfE.

I'll probably get banned for this, but really don't care since I'm leaving the game because of a pregnant wife. If you really want to macro stuff, use 3rd party equipment and there software. Like any logictech gaming keboards.

The macro system is bad by design. I can understand why, but it's too paranoid, like some other systems Squenix has implemented. Maybe one day we can whisper while in duty or send mail to strangers.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kona_Nightwind

The in game macro system is terrible, do not use it for dps ability GcD or oGcD, its a flat dps loss. For BLM the only macros I use are mouse over for AM and Apo, and target of target for Apo and EfE.

I'll probably get banned for this, but really don't care since I'm leaving the game because of a pregnant wife. If you really want to macro stuff, use 3rd party equipment and there software. Like any logictech gaming keboards.

---

I have one macro for Mana Ward and Mana Wall, you know for when you get preyed. Means you can survive without the healing. Reason, I don't like Mana Ward and Mana Wall taking up two spaces on my hotbar.
My AM macro needs some work, cuz it just auto-targets the closest person, which sometimes puts me right into an AoR =/

On another note, I'm going to try T1 instead of T2 in my Enochian rotation, see if that gives me some downtime.
I really want spell speed lol.