BLM

Question for you guys.

I have started on a fresh server, I just dinged level 40 and I find my self just spamming Blizzard III --- Thunder 2 ---- Fire III --- Blizzard III--- Fire III. (No firestarter til level 46)

I never run out of mana, however my fire III is obviously doing less damage. I stopped using Transpose because I felt it wasn't worth the GDC.

Is this wrong? I plan to do the level 50 Dungeons and 8 mans so I want to make sure I get in the correct groove now.

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Edit

After reading :

The Blizzard 3 rotation goes like this:
Fire 3 > fire 1 until ~500mp > blizzard 3 > thunder 3 > (repeat)
You can start from thunder 3 if you want to.

This seems to be right, "When" I get fire starter.

Where is the 3rd guy for Facing Your Demons, the lvl 30 class quest? I found 2 pretty easy but I've been all over Vesper Bay and I can't find the third.

Archanist is what you need

So - THM [30] + ARC [15] not ARN [15] ?

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Originally Posted by Nzoth

So - THM [30] + ARC [15] not ARN [15] ?

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Yes, THM 30 / ARC 15. We also pull from ACN so you should at least consider getting physik (it's like lvl 2 or something), virus seems useful too.

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Originally Posted by DinnerRollofDoom

Question for you guys.

I have started on a fresh server, I just dinged level 40 and I find my self just spamming Blizzard III --- Thunder 2 ---- Fire III --- Blizzard III--- Fire III. (No firestarter til level 46)

I never run out of mana, however my fire III is obviously doing less damage. I stopped using Transpose because I felt it wasn't worth the GDC.

Is this wrong? I plan to do the level 50 Dungeons and 8 mans so I want to make sure I get in the correct groove now.

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Edit

After reading :

The Blizzard 3 rotation goes like this:
Fire 3 > fire 1 until ~500mp > blizzard 3 > thunder 3 > (repeat)
You can start from thunder 3 if you want to.

This seems to be right, "When" I get fire starter.

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Even without fire starter spam fire 1 is better then spam fire 3. Go with that rotation and use fire 3 and blizzard 3 to change buff

Thank you for posting this. i guess ill work on ARC now.

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Originally Posted by Jibb1985

Just unlocked BLM quest. 30 THM / 15 ARC

http://i.imgur.com/Sd9DsTX.jpg

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According to the image in the other post archer is needed.

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Originally Posted by SirGreenDay

Archanist is what you need

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That feel when I leveled Arcanist to 15 first. But yes, It's Archer that you need.
I usually go Thunder II - Blizzard - Swiftcast - Fire III - Raging Strike (Archer skill) - Fire I Spam - Convert - More Fire I.
This is what I think works best for DPS, after all mana is gone Transpose back to Ice, Blizzard and when mana is full again start over.

Sorry if I sound a little butt hurt but am I the only one that thinks BLM got the short end of the stick when it comes to the cross class and the abilities BLM is able to use?

I mean, SMN can use every cross class ability we are able to use but we aren't able to do the same. And I'm really butt hurt over the fact that BLM cant use another classes dots, which would make sense because of thundercloud.

I am also butt hurt over the fact that SMN can get Thunder from us, and we get ruin :/

Anyone else feel this way?

Definitely ARC (Archer) for the BLM soul quest. Don't worry, ACN wasn't wasted as that is your other set of cross class skills, of which Virus is a debuff and Eye for an Eye adds to our defensive toolkit.

I haven't been able to settle on a rotation, but I don't think its as important considering how much we may or may not have to do besides dps in a fight. I figure most of this will be for Umbral state, like healing or def/debuff stuff, then Astral for dumping damage. Transpose could be more of a handy tool than a necessity if BLZ 3 and Fire 3 swap so easily.

I can say, for those just getting started levelling, CNJ to 12 gives you cure, protect and raise, all super handy and not hard to do at all. I love having protect for when I'm out solo levelling. I don't really use Blizzard anymore unless I mess up my u/a or forget to transpose.

Has anyone noticed that Firestarter doesn't seem to proc nearly as often as the skill would suggest? The skill description says a 40% chance but it seems nowhere near that high. Anyway, still fun when it does proc.

As for rotation, at 44 and assuming someone else is tanking, this is what I'm currently using:

Blizzard 3 --> Thunder 2 --> Fire 3 --> Fire spam until you're out of mp for Fire (using Thunder and Fire 3 procs when they happen --> Blizzard 3 --> Thunder 2 --> repeat, etc.

Throw in buffs like Raging Strikes, Swiftcast, and Convert to keep spamming during Raging Strike. Sometimes I'll save Swiftcast if I know there's an add I need to burst, a quick heal coming, or a sleep to use.

rotation? pfft i just kill stuff and probably you in pvp... soon enough!

Has anyone done the Level 2 Hunting Log, and knows where the Bloated Bogy is? I can't for my life find these things.

Thanks for the heads up on archer instead of arcanist! I leveled archer first anyway.

Saji they're by Vesper Bay. There's a path by the Walking Sands entrance that takes you to a small camp and they're behind the gate there.

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Originally Posted by Lyhn

Sorry if I sound a little butt hurt but am I the only one that thinks BLM got the short end of the stick when it comes to the cross class and the abilities BLM is able to use?

I mean, SMN can use every cross class ability we are able to use but we aren't able to do the same. And I'm really butt hurt over the fact that BLM cant use another classes dots, which would make sense because of thundercloud.

I am also butt hurt over the fact that SMN can get Thunder from us, and we get ruin :/

Anyone else feel this way?

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I thought we did get Ruin... Regardless, why would you want Ruin when THM/BLM gets Scathe. Intant cast, though it is on the GCD, its great for ending fights, or when you can't stand still to cast a long spell (I'm looking at you, Sunken Temple of Qarn). Chance at double damage procs a good amount of the time, and if that crits.... Tasty.

The BLM cross-class skills are really crappy. Physick and maybe Virus from ACN are worth taking, and Raging Strikes from ARC. Beyond that there's no other worthwhile spells. It's not really a big deal since we have great class skills, but it'd be nice to have some utility spells from somewhere.

On the subject of worthwhile spells I gotta admit I was a little disappointed when I found out I got convert as my first BLM spell. I mean Umbral Ice takes care of mana pretty well. I do use it occasionally to get in that extra hit but it seems very meh.

And now the Freeze spell doesn't even appear to do as the tooltip suggests. It says it places ice on the ground for 15 seconds but that is definitely not the case. If all it does is 20 potency bind aoe then I am having a hard time finding a use for this.

And we get an elemental resist buff for other party members at 40 which I suppose can be useful on a boss fight in the future. Very situational.

Please tell me we get something cool at 45?

"bind aoe"
"hard time finding a use for this"

really? ...


On topic. Really glad some rotation discussion is starting. Looking forward to theory crafting this more when I actually get caught up.

In what instance would you use Freeze over Sleep? It takes an extra second to cast Freeze and the duration on bind is crap compared to Sleep. I suppose they don't share the same diminishing returns...

When you get the passive that makes your sleep AOE you can just start the fight off with sleep and let tank pick which mob to kill first. You don't really use blizzard 2 for the bind unless u need to hold some mobs in an emergency.

What I did notice is during Thunder weather my thundercloud was proc'ing at least twice as much. Wasn't in test mode but I'll be sure to take extra notice next time Ramuh rolls around for weather change.

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Originally Posted by Grevan

In what instance would you use Freeze over Sleep? It takes an extra second to cast Freeze and the duration on bind is crap compared to Sleep. I suppose they don't share the same diminishing returns...

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I usually use sleep or freeze for more than 1 mob...usually best bet..or ive done it in first couple instances/duties on mobs that spawn in boss fights.

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Originally Posted by Grevan

...I suppose they don't share the same diminishing returns...

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So overpowered...

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Originally Posted by Decoy42

Where is the 3rd guy for Facing Your Demons, the lvl 30 class quest? I found 2 pretty easy but I've been all over Vesper Bay and I can't find the third.

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I'm having same issue. Anyone know?

rotation talk just reminds me how skilless pve is.

What's the best grand company for a black mage?

This game is really beginning to get confusing. I have a lvl 22 THM right now, so I just got thunder 2, yet its only adding about 5 points of damage for its initial tick, and is doing the same damage if not 1 point more every tick after compared to Thunder 1. The spell is such a disappointment unless it scales later on? Some people are saying its not even worth using thunder due to its Global CD. Im hoping they remove it to make the skills usable haha. On top of that, why would I want to use fire 1, when i worked so hard to get fire 3, and barely need to use it.....And is a good good rotation exactly?....I love everything about the game so far, but THM is confusing as hell. I have no idea what I get for spells at a BLM, and I really don't want to look because I feel like im going to be disappointing. How is this class meant to be played @_@

My new rotation is: Swiftcast > Raging Strikes > F3 > F1 spam until 500 mana, using firestarter/thundercloud procs > B3 > T2/T3 depending on size of your mana pool > repeat from F3
T2 vs T3 is mostly situation, normal rotation under ideal doesn't need the length of T3, so the extra cast of T3 is worse. Ideal isn't always available when dodging etc so just using T3 is fine.

I love this thread it has been so helpful !!!

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Originally Posted by Forge

This is supposed to be a thread of helpful tips for BLM and everyone is arguing over rotations! (Which are situational! :D)

From partying in the beta, I've found that it is good to have macros, specifically for marking mobs that you are casting Sleep on.

Example:


^ This basically allows you to target whatever your mouse is pointing over, start casting Sleep on said target, and then marks the target, letting your party members know that it has been CCed.

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I am using this macro ! Thank you for sharing it!!

Read lv 28 trait and you'll know why thunder became BIG. It will be your highest dmg spell even if it must proc

Anyway i start fight with highest thunder on each target then sleep then f3-f1 until b3 time. The 20% buff i use when thundercloud proc and with 2-4 target suffering from him they proc often

So Transpose just seems like a filler for levelling until you get Blizzard 3 or Fire 3? Fire 3 does the same job with moderate damage, Blizzard 3 does it as well with some damage and faster regen.

I'm surprised because it seemed like a core class ability but then just got worked around by the damage spells. Any reason to still use it?

I can only see some where you're in fire 3 and the boss jumped away and you want to go back to full mana before they get back. No enemy to attack might be where it shines. Not exactly as core as I thought it'd be.

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Originally Posted by Mugaaz

My new rotation is: Swiftcast > Raging Strikes > F3 > F1 spam until 500 mana, using firestarter/thundercloud procs > B3 > T2/T3 depending on size of your mana pool > repeat from F3
T2 vs T3 is mostly situation, normal rotation under ideal doesn't need the length of T3, so the extra cast of T3 is worse. Ideal isn't always available when dodging etc so just using T3 is fine.

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You do not cast Thunder 2 or Thunder 3 in your rotation, they cost too much mana. The only time that you cast anything other than Thunder 1 is during Thunderstorm, which you cast Thunder 3.

Rotation-

Fire until mana is low enough to cast Blizzard III and Thunder I without being OOM
(Blizzard III with 3 stacks of astral fire is a 1.5 second cast)
After you cast Thunder I, you should have already received one tick of mana regen, putting you at half mana, cast Fire III after Thunder I which will give you 3 stacks of astral fire, and you will be at full mana.

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Originally Posted by Foullacy

You do not cast Thunder 2 or Thunder 3 in your rotation, they cost too much mana. The only time that you cast anything other than Thunder 1 is during Thunderstorm, which you cast Thunder 3.

Rotation-

Fire until mana is low enough to cast Blizzard III and Thunder I without being OOM
(Blizzard III with 3 stacks of astral fire is a 1.5 second cast)
After you cast Thunder I, you should have already received one tick of mana regen, putting you at half mana, cast Fire III after Thunder I which will give you 3 stacks of astral fire, and you will be at full mana.

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I have a question about this....

On the tooltip, it says on Thunder 1 that it has a potency of 240 on the proc, and on thunder 2 it says 295. Based on what it SAYS, if you only cast thunder 1, even if you hit thunder 3 on the proc you only get the potency of 240. If so, wouldn't it be better DPS to actually use the appropriate level of thunder for initial cast so the proc has the higher potency?

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Originally Posted by Tandy

I have a question about this....

On the tooltip, it says on Thunder 1 that it has a potency of 240 on the proc, and on thunder 2 it says 295. Based on what it SAYS, if you only cast thunder 1, even if you hit thunder 3 on the proc you only get the potency of 240. If so, wouldn't it be better DPS to actually use the appropriate level of thunder for initial cast so the proc has the higher potency?

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Yes you are right, the tooltip clearly says, ONLY when you use Thunder 3 your Thundercloud Proc will have 340 potency, even if you use Thunder 1.

So that means :

Thunder 1 - Thundercloud = Instant with 240 potency*
Thunder 2 - Thundercloud = Instant with 295 potency*
Thunder 3 - Thundercloud = Instant with 340 potency*

*regardless of Thunder rank

So Thunder 1-2 are completely useless with Thunder 3 ? Correct me if im wrong here.

I'd say always go with thunder 3

You can't use Thunder III

When actually do a boss and you can use your 44+ rotation properly, using Thunder III not only takes longer to cast, but it cost twice as much mana. Thunder is not your main DPS attack, Fire is. Using Thunder III means that if you follow the proper rotation, you will not have full mana once you Fire III and you will have lost cast of Fire by wasting it on the longer cast. Also Thundercloud is only a 5% proc, you're gaining 30 potency for double mana and double cast time, then 5% to get 100 extra potency. Once DPS meters come out you'll see why it's not worth it to cast Thunder III.

What is the best GC for BLM gear wise?

I'm a little confused about our rotation at 50. Namely, is flare worth using on a single target?

It seems to me that when our fire spam reaches about ~500 mana or so, we have two options: cast blizzard 3 and start our regen phase, or cast a super hard hitting flare, transpose, and have a longer regen phase.

I almost feel like flares mana cost and cast time make it not worth it, but I'm a fresh 50 so I dunno lol