Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

This is my plan for BiS before going into Creator Savage
http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/VVG3

I slot a couple of piety since it makes my opener a little smoother.

The savage gear is frustrating. I've been lucky so far and got 3 items: bracelet, feet and head.

Incredible zero spell speed ... but for now ilvl 270 stuff is superior of course.

By the way, I had no miss (yet) with 588 accuracy in a12s

I finally looked at the crafted gear and you know what it's pretty good. I purchased the head piece for now (yes i could have went with shire, but i also wanted glam so 2x function), and was thinking neck and earrings as well, because with melds it will be good.
Also think i will go the same route again on this patch, have a mix of crafted gear, tome gear and what not.
Only a few pieces of scripture gear is good and by the sounds of what some of you are saying the savage gear is not all too much better?

Also i thought higher accuracy would have been needed this patch?
I heard healers are having to meld accuracy, (this could be a gear issue, not sure)

Nope, accuracy stayed pretty much the same as A8S. So, 592 for casters/healers ~

hmm very odd then, i had heard otherwise for healers and prices of acc IV materia has been high recently

Nah it's the same and like I said, I am fairly sure they did that because healers wouldn't be able to cap accuracy without crafted gear or relic otherwise.

What are the currently "most accepted" stat weights for BLM?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Primm

What are the current "most accepted" stat weights for BLM?

---

There aren't really any, but the easy answer is about ~21% higher than they were in 3.2. Adding ~21% to base INT devalues INT by ~17% or raises the value of secondaries by 21%, whichever way you want to look at it. Not much has changed overall since 3.0; SS >>> Crit >= DET

Long answer:

• DET starts around 0.22 goes down slowly as you add more
• Crit starts around 0.18 and goes up steadily, it's around 0.24 in the 700's
• SpS starts around 0.27 (plus intangibles) and goes up steadily to around 0.35 (plus intangibles) in the 1200's

The intangibles in spell speed are hard to put a number on. These include fitting in that extra FS/Thunder/TC proc without losing Enochian (at a point these are negated by Arrow), having a better opener, having an extra spell land with buffs like BL/TA, losing a smaller percentage of your casts to movement/jump.

At what people are going to call BiS sets (~1600 INT, ~1200 SS, ~700 Crit, ~600 DET) the weights are roughly:

• DET: 0.20
• Crit: 0.23
• SpS: 0.35 - 0.50 (Depending on how much you want to add for the intangibles)

Is having 284 Piety still a valuable thing to have for BLMs in this patch?

Also if there is any updates on the openers so far in this patch? Been using this opener and hoping if theres any changes I can make to improve it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...HxA/edit#gid=0

yes it is as long as you're not losing spellspeed, thunder procs became a huge point in doing sick parse.

for you're opener you better do only 2 F4 before Fire, this way you can weave swift cast with a F3 proc, also you can use eno before leylines if you have enough spellspeed but its not a big deal.

only do 3 F4 before fire if you want to save raging strike : F4 F4 F4 F1 F4 convert F4 F4 (for example on a9s opener you want swiftcast for the first adds)


Btw talking a9s what are you guys doing after faust death, just spam blizzard til dmg down is over ?

You kill the faust on the 3rd platform so you don't have to wait for 3 years for vuln to fall

what do you mean ? The place where u kill faust matters on how fast lose his vulne down ?

Yeah, the tether gives the boss vuln down and after the lava melts the faust it will be gone, so if you kill it on the 3rd platform you will have less vuln down than on the 4th one.

im not sure if we kill it fast enough, i almost never seen him casting his aoe but i always feel like waiting a lot of time waiting for vulne down to go off

I was having a conversation in-game with a fellow blm and she was asking what I think about the possible changes to the jobs already in-game for the upcoming expansion. I am curious about what you lot think about the status of blm in general now if you want to change or fix something, what would it be and why? Sorry to put this here but did not know anywhere else to put it. Honestly, I do not know what to think about this. I love blm as it is right now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marianno

Snip.

---

For 4.0 huh... Hard to tell.
Let's say we're only considering 4.0 and not a complete remake of the job (Because I want to use many elemental spells rather than just 3).
First of all, a small adjustment to the AoE rotation. Transpose is extremely clunky and in situations such as A9S, where you need to AoE and then also keep up enochian for single target right after the aoe, it's very easy to lose track of Enochian or getting completely screwed over by MP ticks.
I'd like some sort of smoother transition from 0MP AF3 into X-amountMP/UI3. Weaker than convert but due to smoother transition most probably more desired than B2/Freeze/Transpose. If it is x-amount MP back it'll not be as much to allow a cast of Flare or Fire II. It'd probably just be enough to cast a B3. But that's just talking weirdo stuff. Anyway, smoother AoE rotation. That's what I'd like.

Secondly, replacing low tier magic with high tier magic and thus making it more effective or desirable than the current spells. Just a fan of high tier magic so I wouldnt mind if Thunder and Fire were to be replaced with something better and cooler.

I know many people want surecast to allow people to walk and cast which imo sounds like a terrible idea lol. I'd just much rather have some sort of constant SS buff (Which is actually a lot more ridiculous than the surecast idea!). Just anything really that makes BLM more competitive in movement heavy fights.

On and the return of caster gear. It's really sad that they actually got rid of caster gear with the introduction of Summondrian gear and Shummonire gear.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by smallbeach

im not sure if we kill it fast enough, i almost never seen him casting his aoe but i always feel like waiting a lot of time waiting for vulne down to go off

---

Well if your other dps can't kill it fast enough and you have to wait, then probably just cast bliz 1 and thunder for a chance of proc

Thunder Iv would be nice to have in 4.0, as would elemental based attacks. Still makes absolutely no sense we use fire on fire enemies for example.
I do not see such a drastic change however, and there was that mention from SE wanting to basically dumb down jobs, so i really hope enochian is not removed and going back to 2.x blm, this would be sad

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marianno

snip

---

I'd prefer access to spells like Breakga(instead we get lethargy which is more a PvP thing) that NPC's only have as well as an AoE Thunder. The ability to store a TC and F3 Proc as a charge with no timer to account for proper application when managing the Enoch timer. And of course more spells that weren't just Fire and Ice. Freeze needs a rework. Surecast should prevent interruption for a full 10 seconds just like a certain PvP skill.

Just a few things. I could go on and on but I won't. The new auto-turn change they added this patch is a welcome change.

But judging from your post I have to take "I love blm as it is" as a bonafide "I don't really care what they do" statement.

Thoughts on a Thunder IV AOE that also refreshes Enochian? I can dream :D

T2 > B3 > Eno > Laylines > Raging Strikes > F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 (Gives me mp back) > F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 > B4

Then I rotate: F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 (Gives mp during F3 cast) > F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 > B4

For AoE fights (3 or more enemies): F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Swiftcast > Convert > Flare > Transpose > Flare > Mp Potion > B3

Then rotate: F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Transpose

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lavitz_

Thoughts on a Thunder IV AOE that also refreshes Enochian? I can dream :D

---

That would be great, hehe

I too would like something else to refresh enochian timer. In general, I would like to see a thunder IV aoe that maybe is only usable under enochian but also refreshes the enochican timer and can perhaps proc a thunder cloud (single target only). It would be very tricky to balance something like this I imagine (note the balancing issues etc). This may be unrealistic but one can always dream

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reptiletc

T2 > B3 > Eno > Laylines > Raging Strikes > F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 (Gives me mp back) > F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 > B4

Then I rotate: F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 (Gives mp during F3 cast) > F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 > B4

For AoE fights (3 or more enemies): F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Swiftcast > Convert > Flare > Transpose > Flare > Mp Potion > B3

Then rotate: F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Transpose

---

Uh wheres the convert for the single target opener along with the sharpcast? I feel like you might be missing out on that opener. Can you tell me the total amount of potency that opener has?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reptiletc

For AoE fights (3 or more enemies): F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Swiftcast > Convert > Flare > Transpose > Flare > Mp Potion > B3

---

Why would you use Flare after transpose and under Umbral Ice? Even Freeze is a better option than a Flare weakend by Umbral Ice :/.

A much better alternative is to use the MP potion before the third Flare, not after.
This way Flare will be under AF3, while still having Transpose available afterwards to get into UI.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reptiletc

T2 > B3 > Eno > Laylines > Raging Strikes > F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 (Gives me mp back) > F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 > B4

Then I rotate: F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 (Gives mp during F3 cast) > F3 > F4 > F4 > F4 > B3 > B4

For AoE fights (3 or more enemies): F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Swiftcast > Convert > Flare > Transpose > Flare > Mp Potion > B3

Then rotate: F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Transpose

---

This opener is all sorts of messed up

To echo what a few others have said. I'd love to see Thunder IV. I would make it same potency as Thunder and maybe just reduce it to 15s for balance issues. It would act the same as Thunder, meaning TC could still trigger. You wouldn't even need it to refresh enochian. Just if there are multiple adds, cast Thunder IV in UI instead if T1; applying Thunder to all enemies in range. It would act as a quicker use of sharpcasting a Thunder to dot multiple enemies.

Also I'd love an ability that allowed us to permanently store a proc. There are many situations where I'll get a proc. And know I'll need it in about 15s but it doesn't last that long. So I have to use it and fish for another. The ability to put one in the bank to withdrawal at your convenience would be sublime.

I posted my rotations not as advice, but rather I wanted some for myself. I've only been playing for almost a year now and had to teach myself my job. Figured I'd post what I do currently with hopes of getting a hand in polishing it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lilyth

A much better alternative is to use the MP potion before the third Flare, not after.

---

Could I get a recommendation on which Potion I should go with? I have HQ X-Ethers and they seem to give me a few points shy of another flare.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reptiletc

For AoE fights (3 or more enemies): F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Swiftcast > Convert > Flare > Transpose > Flare > Mp Potion > B3

Then rotate: F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Transpose

---

F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Swiftcast > Flare > ((Mp Potion > Flare >)) ((Convert > Flare >)) Transpose

Then rotate: F3 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Transpose

NQ max-ethers give enough MP for a Flare.

For reference at 60 you require 884 MP to cast Flare.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reptiletc

I posted my rotations not as advice, but rather I wanted some for myself. I've only been playing for almost a year now and had to teach myself my job. Figured I'd post what I do currently with hopes of getting a hand in polishing it.

---

For single target i open with, Quelling strikes( unless i know the tank won't lose aggro) Sharpcast> laylines> F1> eno> Firestarter> F4x3> F1> F4> convert> swiftcast> F4> F4> B3> T1> B4. then rotate F4x2/3> F1> F4x2> B3> B4 you rotate F4/F1 until low on mana then you go back to ice if possible T1 then refresh eno. when you rotate F4/F1 properly eno should get down to 4-8 seconds at 4 B4 is priority at 8 you try and pop a T1 in. Hope this helps

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reptiletc

Could I get a recommendation on which Potion I should go with? I have HQ X-Ethers and they seem to give me a few points shy of another flare.

---

Yeah, X-Ethers are no longer an option if you want enough MP to use an additional Flare at 60. HQ Hi-Elixirs are also not enough.
Just as Taru said, you'll have to go with Max-Ethers, but any variant will do (NQ or HQ). Good luck!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 0Lime

What would our tome buy order look like for someone who doesn't raid Alex? I just came back recently and was looking to pick up BLM again as my main, but the current tome gear looks awful.

---

The Ring first if you care for substats. (week 1, costs 375 so if capped 75 remain)
Boots. (week 2, start with 525 scrips, costs 495, 30remain)
Week 3 save scrips (480 scrips)
Gloves. (Week 4, 930 scrips, costs 495, 435 remain)
Head. (week 5, 885 scrips, costs 495, 390 remain)
At that point you save up for the shire rod since in 2 weeks you'll have 7 alexander thingies from A12 normal mode and be able to buy the weapon.
After that it pretty much doesn't matter.
A side note though. Get the teak choker since that is BiS and don't bother with the scrip neck.

Black Mage is actually incredibly good on A12S, everything lines up so nicely for cooldowns. A11S isn't so bad either, but the last phase is kinda crap. Maybe I just haven't figured it out yet, I'm finding it hard to optimize when phases get pushed differently each week.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StouterTaru

F3 > F2 > F2 > F2 > Swiftcast > Flare > ((Mp Potion > Flare >)) ((Convert > Flare >)) Transpose

Then rotate: F3 > F2 > F2 > Flare > Transpose

NQ max-ethers give enough MP for a Flare.

---

Thank you! I'll be sure to try this out!

BLM on A11 been fun and nice to figure out. Also having the luxury of not moving for first optical sight is pretty funny. My group doesn't run SCH so I can also put my physical Virus to use there together with the WHM.

good thing on a11 is to use second leylines right when it's up, this way you have your second opener ready for the start of lapiz lazuli, sharp cast thunder opener makes u snowball so much on this phase

Most people save the second openner for after Lapis so you can push mecanis easier. Not just BLM but other jobs also do it too.

I have used the 6x F4 opener for as long as i've been playing BLM (Midas Savage tier), but i'm looking for ways to squeeze out a little bit of extra dps. I know that there used to be a slightly higher potency opener that I never bothered to learn because I was so comfortable with what I do now:

(pre quelling, sharpcast, LL, Fire III) > Eno > F1 > Raging (pot) > F4 x3 > F3 (procced) > Convert > F4 x3 > B1 > T1 > B4

Looking at the top fflog from an A11S kill on my server, it looks something more like this:

(pre eno, raging, Fire III) > pot > F4 x 3 > F1 > F4 > F3 (proc) > Convert > F4 x 2 > B1 > surecast > T1 > B4

Anyone have any input or thoughts on how openers should be adjusted to A11S or Creator in general?