Couple BLM questions!

So I recently just 50 on my BLM and got my first set of gear (artifact set) and just did my first CM so I'm working on completing the story first! Now I had a couple questions about BLM in general.

-Are there any good macro's a BLM would want to use?
-Would it be dumb to macro Virus into like thunder II or maybe Fire or any ability I use, if I remember right Virus is off the GCD so it shouldn't cause an issue?

-Gearing up wise, should I be focusing on the full Darklight set? (including the chest that has a cowl so I can't use a helm?)

This is also the half-assed rotation I have been using and am wondering if it is making any sense or just plain awful: Swiftcast + Thunder III -> Fire I (till about 1200 MP) -> Blizzard I (3 times) -> Fire I (till about 1200 MP) -> repeat (I also use Firestarter on procs and the instant Thunder)

I am really sorry if these are silly questions but I am having trouble finding not-outdated information on BLM (at least within in the past week).

For your rotation, I think it's better using Swiftcast + Thunder III, then Fire III to get full stacks of Astral Fire. Then Fire 1 spam, using Fire III on firestarter procs. Then Blizzard III when you're low on mana to get full stacks of Umbral Ice. Recast Thunder III, by that time your mana will be filled back up, then Fire III to start over again.

Edit: Sorry, forgot to add that this is just a very basic rotation.

For virus, you don't need it on most bosses. I would not recommend macroing it as it's on a long cd, and it's really situational. If your tank needs virus, then you're going to have a bad time.

Hard mode titan is the one that seems to need some mitigation. Use it on his stomps or table flips to make it easier on the healers. But you can't macro it as you would need to know the pattern.

Gearing up, Darklight is good. Crafted gear seems to be on par or better but costs like 100x more. If you have the bank, you can go with crafted gear without that annoying cowl.

My non-aoe rotation is: Thunder 2 -> Swiftcast fire 3 -> fire till < 800 mana -> Blizzard 3 -> Thunder 2/Blizzard or scathe once (depending how much HP is remaining and lucky you feel) -> Fire 3 go to fire.

From your rotation, I see that you're not using any of the 3 spells. You should use them as they will allow you to get into fire cycle/get mana faster. You also can cast Fire3/Blizzard3 faster when you have 3 stacks of Umbral/Astral.

Thank you for the tips! I am noticing not much use of Blizzard I by you guys, I am wondering if I should move Blizzard III where Blizzard I is on my hotbar to get used to using it hmm. How exactly does the mana regen work with Blizzard? Is it the umbral ice effect?

Yes - the sweet thing about Fire/Blizzard 3 is that it puts you to Astral Fire 3 / Umbral Ice 3 right away. So you don't have to build up charges. The more charges of Umbral Ice you have, the faster you regen mana. After Blizzard 3, you will regen to full after 1 more cast.

I have a video of BM early level 50 gameplay. Take a look to see how my rotations go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVxohARFi6Q

This is when I was just starting out at level 50

I now work flare into it depending on CDs but it's good to practice the Umbral Ice/Astral Fire without it first.

oh dear my eyes...

Well no one seem to mention double casting Flare which disappoints me if you consider to want top damage of all time.

Don't care much but as long as you have enough mp to cast Flare (low mp as possible) with Astral Fire III, you should cast Flare > Convert > Swiftcast > Flare. With darklight set and relic you should be able to do 2000 crit dmg with Flare. Consider it's AoE and you can do it twice with the combo above makes you a true nuker.

But that's just me playing my BLM.

Well actually, I believe the proper sequence with flare should be (Swiftcast) Flare -> Convert -> Fire > Flare as you can actually squeeze in a fire in there with the chance for a fire 3 proc.

The reason I Swiftcast the first flare is because you can sometimes get a fire 3 proc before flare and casting fire 3 does not consume Swiftcast.

Then I have the opportunity to gauge if the critter I'm casting on is dead after flare and cast fire 3 on the new critter. Or I can cast fire3 after swiftcast and cast flare on a separate group if needed. More options = more DPS.

The fire in between the flare cast sometimes procs and if the happens, sometimes the group is dead without even needing to switch to an ice cycle.

Also, I've found that I can use Ethers instead of convert for this chain of cast. However, I've not leveled alchemist yet and it's prohibitively expensive for me to do this as of now.

Also in the eyes comment are you referring to my video? I've recorded it in 720p. I've done some rather draconian filtering (as I have cable and not fiber upload), but it should not be too horrible if you watch it at that resolution I believe.

2k crit? You must be using raging strikes

My flare crits for only 1.8k and i have full crafted + relic+1 which is 2times better than darklight.

I dont recommend using thunder 3 because its cast time and mp cost is tremendous. Try using thunder 2 or 1 and only use 3 as procs. You will see a big improvement in speed of completing each boss.

For aoe, blizz3 first then fire3 (so you get 3 astral fire stack with the least mana cost) then spam fire2 until rnough mana for flare then convert swift cast flare. If you dont have convert use transpose run near mobs and use bliz2 until 3 stacks then repeat this is only effective in cm though

I have crit for 2k if not a bit more on the dual flare with ranging strikes and if the bard has foe reqium up I just recently got my relic +1 but 2k is possible I have had my fire 1 crit for 1.3 k just be careful not to crit in a row T.T

Yes with raging strikes it is possible i crit for 2.3k with raging strikes and 1.4 with fire 1 and 1.6 with fire 3 but without it

My crit for flare is 1.8-1.9k