Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

I'm still missing the Lakshmi bracelet, but that doesn't even have any Spell Speed, and with the +40 won't do too much (will shave off 0.01), and I'm sitting at 1255 SS.

With your Sharpcast opener (I got no procs on either opener) I ended up at around 5.7k DPS, with Umbral at 4.7k. When the Foul comes out during the Hearts in Astral after your Sharpcast opener it's also at 4.7k, so the burst is higher but sustained it goes down to the same level, unsurprisingly.

However. With no Foul to cast at the start of Umbral I'm sitting there twiddling my thumbs waiting for the magic mana tick. We can't meld Piety, and Lucid won't be up forever. Thundercloud isn't 100%. You could hold Foul from the start of your Astral til the start of Umbral, but that feels bad, and it will only get worse. Eventually you will get a Foul at the end of your Umbral, but that still doesn't help.

By using the Umbral Hearts opener you will always have a Foul at the start of Umbral that slowly happens earlier and earlier until you have to Foul within 10 seconds of eachother, but by then you can set up Firestarters for it without any issues.
Just my opinion, but I'd rather have a more stable rotation than a burstier opener that leaves you dry at the start of Umbral. I haven't been able to test Susano EX, but on Lakshmi I'm far ahead in terms of DPS.

Holding Foul doesn't matter as long as you use all of them; you get one exactly every 30 seconds, so it doesn't matter if you use it X+1s or X+25s.

I've managed to mitigate the hassle of Foul placement on Astral by casting it after an F3P at the end of the phase. You end up not risking dropping AF and not wasting the Foul you already have to the next incoming Foul.

It looks like this:
Astral - - - -> F3P > Foul > B3 > Foul > T3 > B4 > Astral

Upon doing this, your succeeding Fouls will now come up during Umbral allowing you a more comfortable rotation. :)

Question regarding the Umbral hearts opener.. I wondering if their is a specific reason for using tripple cast on the 3x fire 4's. would it not be better to do the following :

B3 (pre pull)> Tripled Cast > B4 > T3 > F3 > Leylines+ SharpCast > F4 > F4 > F4> F1 > F4 > F4 > F4 > F1 (firestarter) > Convert > F4 > F4> B3

I'm not a number cruncher, but id would imagine using Triple cast while under the effects of leylines negates the benefits of leylines. in which case its better to make full use of it before putting the leylines down.

*Additionally i believe subsequent Triple casts should be used in conjunction with Foul, leaving swiftcast as the oh shyt i need to cast while dodging a mechanic it was before.

Tri-cast's value is the total amount of seconds you shave off in excess of a spell's gcd by making 3 spells insta-cast.

If Fire4(on leylines) is 2.35cast and 1.96GCD then the value you get is .39sec. That's 0.39secs x 3 = 1.17seconds.
If B4 is 3.23/2.30, T3 is 2.30/2.30, F3 is 1.37/1.96 then the total value you get is .93+0+0 = 0.93seconds.
- Do note that you are coming off umbral 3 so your F3 has reduced cast-time

It's marginal but tri-casted Fire4 is better. Plus hearing three Fire4s go off in quick succession is a joy.

As to using tri-cast under leylines, it does not negate its value but merely reduces it due to the lower GCD but as long as you use tricast on spells with a longer cast time over GCD then it will always be a gain:
- My Fire4(on leylines) is 2.35cast and 1.96GCD then the value I get is .39sec. That's 0.39secs x 3 = 1.17seconds.
- My Fire4(off leylines) is 2.76cast and 2.30GCD then the value I get is .46sec. That's 0.46 x 3 = 1.38seconds.
*Spellspeed of 1652

It doesnt negate it if you triple cast out of leylines at 1512 ss your recast will be 2.33 as in each cast in triple cast will have a recast of 2.33

If you do it in leylines your recast is now 1.98 meaning each fire 4 for triple comes out .35 seconds sooner that it would have without it.

Thats 1.05 seconds saved for leylines also consider it a boon for trials like susano EX where triple cast will be up again before the oh shyt situations pop up.

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Originally Posted by soslinky

- Do note that you are coming off umbral 3 so your F3 has reduced cast-time

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Do also note that the increased cast time does not reduce your recast, meaning if you're calculating anything, you have to use your recast time for F3 and B3 transitions. It also means you can use a cooldown during that small window between F3 to F4 or B3 to whatever with minimal, if any, clipping of GCD.

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Originally Posted by prophecy4seen

Question regarding the Umbral hearts opener.. I wondering if their is a specific reason for using tripple cast on the 3x fire 4's. would it not be better to do the following :

B3 (pre pull)> Tripled Cast > B4 > T3 > F3 > Leylines+ SharpCast > F4 > F4 > F4> F1 > F4 > F4 > F4 > F1 (firestarter) > Convert > F4 > F4> B3

I'm not a number cruncher, but id would imagine using Triple cast while under the effects of leylines negates the benefits of leylines. in which case its better to make full use of it before putting the leylines down.

*Additionally i believe subsequent Triple casts should be used in conjunction with Foul, leaving swiftcast as the oh shyt i need to cast while dodging a mechanic it was before.

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You get a bigger gain using it on three 3 second cast spells rather than a two GCD level spells and a 3 second cast spell.

Where do I put T3 in when I have to cast foul for UI? edit: Never mind. I have a good 3 seconds left to cast fire 3.

hi guys.... new player here...just wondering what the current stat priority theorycrafting is for level 70 blm's at the moment?
I'm currently in 310 gear {minus a few accesories}....after maxing the materia limits of spell speed and crit ; i was wondering which is third best between DRH and Determination.... thanks for reading and any help in advance!!!!

What are the role skills blms are picking?

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Originally Posted by Aiyza

What are the role skills blms are picking?

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Currently I use Diversion (mandatory), Swiftcast (Mandatory), Mana Shift for my healer when they're blowing through mana for AoE, Addle (personally I'm not sure if I should have this or Apocastasis), and Lucid Dreaming for the enmity dump.

I haven't done any of the extremes yet but I use these for dungeons.

Side note for others in the thread: what should I meld my gear with?

Spell Speed will always have the highest stat weight for BLM due to our infinite MP, and as a bonus it'll boost thunder damage. After stacking as much spell speed as possible I'd go with a healthy balance of crit and dhr

Pardon my ignorance but haven't we reached a point where spellspeed gives diminishing returns?

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Originally Posted by GospelVhae

Pardon my ignorance but haven't we reached a point where spellspeed gives diminishing returns?

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Spellspeed will always get better the more you have of it. The only "diminishing returns" situation we had with it was Umbral Ice and Mana ticks - but that was outweighed by its increasing returns and the extra procs we could fit in.

However, with 3 spells in our UI phase now (and only needing two mana ticks still), that isn't something that will happen & we still have better rotations we can use at higher spellspeed amounts.

So I should be stacking so much Spell Speed in my gear that I should be able to cast faster then the Flash in the Speed force!

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Originally Posted by Ferrasper

So I should be stacking so much Spell Speed in my gear that I should be able to cast faster then the Flash in the Speed force!

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I'm curious about this too. I'm melding as much SS as possible, and putting CRIT everywhere else. Should I be doing DH over Crit, or does it matter?

I dont think were sure of the stat weights yet but crit is apparently 1%= 108.5 points of crit

Has there been a sneak - nerf on spellspeed. At level 69 I had 1459 spellspeed and then I recently hit 70 but decided to keep on my level 69 gear because I wanted to see the effects of cast times. I am still getting 2.79 cast time for F4 and if I stay in the 1000 - 1100 range spellspeed I am still fetting 2.82 cast time for F4. Am I doing something wrong? I am a little lost so some help is much appreciated. I logged out because I thought there may be a glitch or something and now stuck in a waiting queue to get back online. Note, I switched gear from my AF gear to level 69 gear to see the effects if the cast time and it is still pretty much 2.8x as long as I am in 1000 range for spellspeed. What am I missing? Please help.

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Originally Posted by Marianno

Has there been a sneak - nerf on spellspeed. At level 69 I had 1459 spellspeed and then I recently hit 70 but decided to keep on my level 69 gear because I wanted to see the effects of cast times. I am still getting 2.79 cast time for F4 and if I stay in the 1000 - 1100 range spellspeed I am still fetting 2.82 cast time for F4. Am I doing something wrong? I am a little lost so some help is much appreciated. I logged out because I thought there may be a glitch or something and now stuck in a waiting queue to get back online. Note, I switched gear from my AF gear to level 69 gear to see the effects if the cast time and it is still pretty much 2.8x as long as I am in 1000 range for spellspeed. What am I missing? Please help.

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If I'm understanding and remembering correctly, you need ever-increasing values as you level. It should take more spell speed at lvl 70 to achieve the same benefit that you get at lvl 69 and so forth.

which food should i be focused on stockpiling? i was thinking something with spell speed/crit/drh is there a name for a meal like this?

thanks in advance blm family!

So, just for fun I was doing some SSS dummies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt63rf9u6JU

How about my rotation?

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Originally Posted by GospelVhae

Pardon my ignorance but haven't we reached a point where spellspeed gives diminishing returns?

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We just had a 10 level increase which basically resets all stats increases we had in Heavensward.
Each time SE introduces higher levels you also need more secondaries stats to reach the same level.
1200 spellspeed on level 60 will give you a significant lower GDC than 1200 spellspeed on 70.

Is the MP refresh on Lucid Dreaming quick enough to be a DPS gain at any point in the rotation? Is it enough to squeeze in an extra spell? I normally wouldn't slot the skill, but I've already ran into enough bad tanks leveling up that I need more than just Diversion alone, so I was wondering if it might have a secondary use.

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Originally Posted by NovaLevossida

Is the MP refresh on Lucid Dreaming quick enough to be a DPS gain at any point in the rotation? Is it enough to squeeze in an extra spell? I normally wouldn't slot the skill, but I've already ran into enough bad tanks leveling up that I need more than just Diversion alone, so I was wondering if it might have a secondary use.

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Lucid's MP regen does not work in AF, so you should only be using it as an aggro dump.

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Originally Posted by magnanimousCynic

Lucid's MP regen does not work in AF, so you should only be using it as an aggro dump.

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Good to know. I hadn't used it for anything other than enmity dropping, but that leads me to a complaint. I see nothing stated in-game saying that I couldn't use it in AF. Maybe it had mentioned it on that pop-up when I first logged in, not sure. It doesn't look like you can mouse over AF anymore.

Lucid's descirption says, it increases your MP-reg, but AF says you cannot reg any MP. So it is not stated very clear, but it is stated in game.

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Originally Posted by Inuk9

So, just for fun I was doing some SSS dummies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt63rf9u6JU

How about my rotation?

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You messed up a few times where you casted T3 during your AF phase rather than UI, which ended up making you use up your Sharpcast.

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Originally Posted by qivis

Lucid's descirption says, it increases your MP-reg, but AF says you cannot reg any MP. So it is not stated very clear, but it is stated in game.

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I think mechanics that deal in absolutes tend to override bonuses.
"Can't gain exp" would override "Bonus 50% exp" type deal.

Okay so after playing around with BLM within the extreme trials I must say BLM is fun. BUT...
It's also way worse in the not moving department. At least in 3.XX you had some freedom within your rotation by mixing up when to fire and when to fire IV. Sure you were gated by the Enochian timer but it was a long timer.

I am having a really hard time keeping a consistant and optimal rotation up. By the time I finish my 3 Fire IV's I have scarce time to refresh my AF. If I have to dodge, I definitely lose a Fire IV. I can not lose Enochian or the Foul timer starts anew. I can not skip Fire or I lose AF. I can not put Fire IV into the next AF phase because I can not fit 4 Fire IVs into a single AF phase. I can still not do that even with a sped up B3 because using B3 at the last second of AF will still have you lose Enochian.
Within UI I have scarce time to cast T3, Foul and B4 putting me into the same situation as before.
Within AF3 I have scarce time to use any Thundercloud procs due to afore mentioned problems.
AF and UI are too short. Our Procs are too short. One mechanic cuts too much into our DPS. This time it's not only about delaying our casts but it's about completely losing them.

Its really only susano that does this and all youll need to do is adjust accordingly. Save certain CDs for those moments, clip rotations short and figure out when and where manaward can absorb a blow or 2.

Sometimes yeah we'll clip our dps but thats for the par the course

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Originally Posted by Psycofang

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I have to disagree.

The optimal rotation in 4.0 is 6x Fire IV, 1 Fire and within UI Foul T3 and B4.
You have 13 seconds to cast 3 Fire IV's and F1 or B3. The second, you get a thundercloud proc within your AF phase you have to decide which you use. Do you let the proc fall off? Or do you drop a Fire IV and use the proc? Becuase you definitely don't have the MP for an additional Fire AF refresh nor the time. Firestarter Procs help and sharpcast definitely makes this go A LOT smoother by giving you additional 13 seconds of AF. But procs itself are not reliable and sharpcast is every minute.
At ilvl 314 with unmelded gear I have a cast time of 2.89 on F4 and 2.41 on Fire 1. Put all together that's uhhh I'm bad at math, correct me if I am wrong, 11.08 seconds. 11 seconds within those 13 seconds need to be spent casting. Furthermore I have tested that the Fire needs to be cast at 3 seconds left or you'll lose AF and your Enochian.
Yes, your Cooldowns do help you keep going but you can not count on them forever. This is NOT about proper cooldown usage. This is about the flaws within BLM that need to be fixed or this job will stay clunky.
But wait, clunky? But it's actually quite smooth if....
Yes yes yes the rotation itself, on a striking dummy is very smooth. You do this you do that and you have good DPS. So why clunky?

Because MP!
If you are in UI and you cast Foul-T3-B4-F3 AND you do NOT get an MP tick in the little time between B4 and F3, while you will have enough MP to cast 6 Fire IV's (assuming all 3 Umbral hearts are used for fire IV) you will be landing at exactly 0 MP after your 6th F4.
If you cast T3 before transitioning to AF and don't get an MP tick, you will not even have enough MP for a 6th F4.
If you cast Foul before transitioning to AF you will be able to transition smoothly back into UI with having done 6x F4 BUT here are three situations that can occur
- The first is where you are unlucky and don't get an MP tick and wait before you can cast B4-T3 and then Foul to start the cycle anew
-The second is where you are unlucky and don't get an MP tick but still have enough to cast Foul so you cast Foul instead of waiting for an MP tick, after foul getting the MP tick but risking to transition into AF again with a B4-F3 or T3-F3 potentially making you lose another Fire IV due to MP
-The third is where you get an MP tick and can transition into AF smoothly ending UI with Foul-F3.
You also can not cast Fire under Umbral Heart since that would mean needing 4 Fire IV in the next 13 seconds of AF which isn't possible without losing Enochian.

This isn't a Suano thing. This isn't a Lakshmi thing. This is a major core problem with how the job works.
So unless someome tells me how I can keep 6 Fire IVs in every cycle without losing Enochian and getting to use my Procs then I'll see this job as clunky.
Like I said, Sharpcast helps SOOOOO much and makes an entire cycle go very smoothly. But thats once a minute.
Combine the problems that can come up with keeping everything under AF/UI (Having to dodge as example) with the problems that can come up with MP (unlucky MP ticks and believe me, I have found myself so often at 2400MP with having only 5 fire IVs cast) then to me that's quite the deal breaker.
I definitely like this BLM WAYYYYY more than 2.XX BLM and a lot more than 3.XX BLM but having an additional 1000 MP or simply extending AF/UI by 2 seconds would give BLM more freedom to keep a consistant optimal rotation going without having to drop Fire IVs.

Anyone recommend rotation changes with the Patch 4.0 Flare Damage Caps?

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Originally Posted by Cherub

So unless someome tells me how I can keep 6 Fire IVs in every cycle without losing Enochian and getting to use my Procs then I'll see this job as clunky.

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Well you just need more than 2000 sps ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ... With 2.15-17 gcds you can use procs in AF and have time for movement.

Sounds like your just having SS issues, at 1670 ss ive no issues doing the 6 f4 opener. Also if a thunder proc occurs after a hard casted t3 use the proc since its a gain over the the normal t3 and fire 4. You only let it drop if it re procs too soon.

Ice phase very occasionally yes youll cast f3 and not get all your mp back but that's what sharp cast is for and if its down you create contingencies.

Your expectations for what youre asking are unrealistic. If you really have to bite the bullet just cast a fire one . less dps > dropping enoch.

But again ive yet to have the plight you do

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Originally Posted by Psycofang

Sounds like your just having SS issues, at 1670 ss ive no issues doing the 6 f4 opener. Also if a thunder proc occurs after a hard casted t3 use the proc since its a gain over the the normal t3 and fire 4. You only let it drop if it re procs too soon.

Ice phase very occasionally yes youll cast f3 and not get all your mp back but that's what sharp cast is for and if its down you create contingencies.

Your expectations for what youre asking are unrealistic. If you really have to bite the bullet just cast a fire one . less dps > dropping enoch.

But again ive yet to have the plight you do

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The issue isn't SpS, it's that once you do 5 F4s we land at 2400 MP which is enough to cast F4 but lands us at exactly 0 MP.

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Originally Posted by VitalSuit

The issue isn't SpS, it's that once you do 5 F4s we land at 2400 MP which is enough to cast F4 but lands us at exactly 0 MP.

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Same with x8 f4 opener, sometimes you have mp only for 7 f4s.

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Originally Posted by VitalSuit

The issue isn't SpS, it's that once you do 5 F4s we land at 2400 MP which is enough to cast F4 but lands us at exactly 0 MP.

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Then clip it. Or transpose foul. Im not seeing the issue besides you wanting max uptime on something thats been out of our control since the dark light days.

open:
Swift Cast + B3 > Enochian > B4 > T3 > Sharp Cast > F3 > Ley Lines > F1 > Triple Cast > F4 x 4 > F3 > Convert > F4 x 2 > Foul > F1 > F4x2 > B3

One could argue that you could pre-cast B3 and use it elsewhere, and this is true, but after the opener I pair Swift cast up with Triple Cast/ Leylines for the 4 F4s and any damage loss is incredibly minimal, it also allows me a bit more freedom to find a good place to stand at the start of a fight, and to use Enochian while the GCD resets.

With no cooldowns this is my normal rotation:

B3 > Foul(if it is up) > B4 > T3 > F3 > F4x2 > Foul/T3(if up) > F1 > ((IF FIRESTARTER IS UP F4x2 > Foul (if at risk of overwriting itself)/T3 (if TC is up) > F3 > F4x2 > B3)) If Fire starter is not up F4x3 > B3

I use F1 for one of my umbral heart stacks because it saves an extra 240 mp. If I don't get a fire starter proc I only cast 5 F4's during that astral phase as well as Foul if it procs at the start of my astral phase or T3 if I have thundercloud proc.

So far this has allowed me to maintain a bit more mobility to dodge mechanics and hasn't really negatively impacted my overall dps much.

Foul is interesting because the timer keeps going even if the proc is up. What this means is that you don't need to cast it as soon as it procs but if you take longer than 30 seconds to cast it after it procs you have essentially lost a proc.

Because of this I will use the extra time after my first set of 2 Fire 4s to cast Foul rather than trying to save it for the Umbral phase if the timer looks like it's going to lapse.

I seem to be mistaken in preferring to use Sharp+F1. I did three Susano runs in a row using B3+UH opener and I ended up beating my previous DPS scores with Sharp+F1 by a huge margin. Spellspeed was at 1474.