Noob Black Mage Help

I'm a level 42 Black Mage and I'm not very good. I was fine in the early dungeons but it's got to the point now where I just seem to be holding everyone else back so I need some tips on how not to suck so much
I generally don't know what spells to use when and why, like the sleep spell, I was being told to use that in the last dungeon I was in but that's a spell I usually forget I even have.
I'm newish to MMO's in general, so just tell me everything I need to know about being a black and just playing the game, even the basics that you'd expect everyone to know because that's normally the kind of thing I miss.

This should steer you in the right direction.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...Mage-Rotations

Thanks but it doesn't have all the info I need and I don't understand a lot of the info it does have. I'm one of those people that needs everything explaining in as much detail as possible

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Originally Posted by Gwyn400

Thanks but it doesn't have all the info I need and I don't understand a lot of the info it does have. I'm one of those people that needs everything explaining in as much detail as possible

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Can you give us some specific occurrences or questions that you have? Going into a detailed breakdown of a BLM would take forever.

For the sleep spell you use it to make it easier for your party to focus one enemy down at a time so the tank takes less damage and the group has an easier time.

Here are some tips for doing generally good damage to single target mobs:

1. Start with Thunder 2 to get your DoT and thundercloud procs started
2. Use a Fire 3 to get yourself to Astral Fire 3, then keep spamming Fire 1 on the enemy (when you reach lvl 44 you'll get Firestarter trait, that will let you instantly cast Fire 3 spells for 0 MP sometimes after doing Fire 1 casts so when you're 44+ just use the Fire3 proc at this point.)
3. When you're running Low on MP cast a Blizzard 3 to get to Umbral Ice 3 (only use Transpose/Convert when you're so low on MP you cant even use that)
4. While you're in Umbral Ice 3 go back to step 1 and repeat.

The thread you got linked to is more of a discussion on achieving the absolute best rotation which is most likely dependant on the specifics of stats at endgame etc.

As for sleep, it's just about experience... You'll eventually learn which mobs can and can't be slept and by the time you master that you'll probably be bypassing needing to sleep stuff because you kill mobs fast enough anyway.

When it comes to AoEs you wont really need to worry about them until you fight Garuda or Coil Turn 4, so worry about those later.

After that it's common sense stuff like watch your enmity bar so you don't take stuff off the tanks (unless a mob is about to die, then it doesn't matter etc)

It varies depending on what your doing. The dungeons you are doing at your lvl, you need to be sleeping all mobs then taking down one at a time in order usualy numbered by the tank. There are posts in the DPS category about single target and AoE rotations. It just really depends where you are, and later on in the game who your with, and adjust accordingly!

Hooking in to this. For AOE, what is the correct rotation. FireIII> Fire II spam> Flare > Convert > BlizzIII >Random spell> Fire III > Fire II (etc etc.)?
As for any help I might give you.
1. try to get some cross class skills. Raging strikes up your damage for 20 seconds ( archer, you should have that). Arcanist can give you pyshick, which heals yourself for a little bit.
2. Some skill's aren't used much at all. Freeze for instance. Manawall and Manaward can save a life though, keep them in mind.
3. The rotation posted by Nova is correct. Start of with Thunder 2. Then Fire III> Then fire I spam till your mp is just below 1000. > BlizzIII > Thunder II again, and back to Fire III etc. Thunder could be replaced with scathe for instance if you need some quick damage. Don't bother with BlizzI. If there are loads of mobs you could also replace thunder II with Sleep, since it is an AOE skill for Black Mages.
4. If you get hit a lot, try switching from 2 handed staff to wand and shield. Damage shouldn't drop that fast, and the blockrate adn defence might help you out.
5. Try to memorize when you use a proc (like the Thundercloud, the circled skills you sometimes see on your hotbar).Sometimes you use em immidiatly, sometimes I use them in a rotation instead. (for instance, thundercloud procs which means I can cast a free ThunderIII. So I wait till I casted BlizzIII and than start of with a Thunder III instead).
6. Thunder is about your only Damage of time skill (DoT). When you are doing your rotation don't just use thunder when it is almost dead. Instead circle to the next mob, cast thunder on it and continue your rotation on the first mob till it is dead.
These are not the words of an expert. But this is how I generally play, ill try to answer more questions if needed.

Freeze............ What's that? Lol. (Sarcasm)

The first thing I cast is sleep in dungeons, the Tanks I play with prefer it that way and it makes the healers job easier since the tank is only being attacked by one enemy. I'm not sure why you have forgotten about sleep because it's very useful, it's probably taking you a lot longer to clear dungeons then most.

If you are having trouble you can always practice by going back to earlier dungeons to get rotations down, yes you will be synced but the rotations stay the same you just change the spell when a better spell is learned.

Also remember you can move after a spell is just about done casting and you can also queue up your next spell when you are about 3/4 of the way done with your cool down of the last one.

Play around with your hot bars to make things easier. When I got Blizzard 3 I was having a hard time with my rotations because I had my hot bars so screwed up....so I asked another BLM what spells/actions were needed the most and then created new hot bars and it was a blessing.