Black mage help?

Hello! I recently brought up my BLK and have started raising it through Trusts. However, I now remember why I put my destruction staff on the shelf so to speak. The timer... I always freak out when I start my rotation. Knowing I'm on countdown and a slip up could mean messing up my DPS. Even if it is only a minor loss which will pick up after Chain is off cooldown, it is still stressful. I really want to level my BLK, but I just panic. I've tried rhythms. Like after 2 Fire 4, I do a Fire 1, then keep going, but eventually I start to draw blanks because I keep thinking about the timer. Does anyone have any advice?

Hi! I used to play a lot of black mage before becoming an AST main so I'll give you some pointers
You can usually get out 3 fire 4's before having to use a Fire 1 to reset your timer depending on your level and spell speed.
Just remember swift cast is your friend if you find yourself in a tight spot on the timer
What I like to keep in mind is I need to be casting a fire 1 if the timer is at 5 or below.
It'll take some practice and getting used to, once you get in the rhythm of knowing how many Fire 4's you can get out of your rotation, you won't have to look at your timer as much
With more spell speed you can squeeze in another fire 4 but i'd suggest this only once you get comfortable with it.

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Originally Posted by MitsukiKimura

Hi! I used to play a lot of black mage before becoming an AST main so I'll give you some pointers
You can usually get out 3 fire 4's before having to use a Fire 1 to reset your timer depending on your level and spell speed.
Just remember swift cast is your friend if you find yourself in a tight spot on the timer
What I like to keep in mind is I need to be casting a fire 1 if the timer is at 5 or below.
It'll take some practice and getting used to, once you get in the rhythm of knowing how many Fire 4's you can get out of your rotation, you won't have to look at your timer as much
With more spell speed you can squeeze in another fire 4 but i'd suggest this only once you get comfortable with it.

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I didn't even think about setting a number to where I cast fire 1. Yeah. 5 or 7 seems a good point to cast fire 1. Saving swiftcast for a moment I'm about to mess up though would only see me saving swiftcast and never using it lol, but you've helped a bunch already! Thanks for the advice!

No problem! I'd say more around 5 because you can have plenty of time to cast another fire 4. As long as your timer is above 4 when you cast fire 1, you won't have to worry about losing enochain. Get to making more Explosions! :)

Hey!
I would suggest you to visit the balance discord for all class questions. Here's the invite link

https://discord.gg/thebalanceffxiv

This BLM Guide is the best one out there. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...UbIsweXj8/edit

Keep in mind that while leveling your gear is a wild mix of whatever you were able to grab.
Though playing without high spell speed is possible, BLM plays much smoother with higher spell speed which you will lack while leveling.
So sometimes dropping Enochian while playing a mechanic tends to happen while leveling and it's not the end of the world. Everyone messes up some part of the rotation sometimes, it happens.
I'd try not to view it as the ultimate failure and focus so much on avoiding it that it only results in panicking.
You can recover quickly with Freeze -> Enochian -> UI filler if at low MP/ Fire III if full MP and continue as normal. It's a dps loss, yes, but I would focus more on finding the right rhythm which lets you keep up Enochian and if some hiccups happen and you drop it, so be it.
But I'd try to refrain from panic-casting too many Fire I in order to never drop it because that's a bad habit that's hard to get rid off.

With umbral hearts you get 3x Fire IV -> Fire I -> 3x Fire IV -> Despair within one AF phase, squeezing an additional Fire IV before Fire I is no use in itself so I wouldn't stress about it. It merely shifts the rhythm from 3/1/3 to 4/1/2 or 2/1/4.
It only becomes useful when you're trying to get out Xeno procs under dmg buffs and they won't last until you switch to UI, are about to overcap Polyglot stacks or know there's movement coming up and you want to give yourself 2-3 additional seconds wiggle room. Otherwise it's completely fine to use procs in UI and stick to 3/1/3.

And it always helps to bash some unassuming dummy to practice the rhythm and see how far you can go.
But even without spell speed you can generall fit 3 Fire IV and one additional GCD (Thunder/ Foul/ Xeno) within the timer without risking dropping Enochian.

Set yourself a time when you need to cast Fire I/ Despair and try to stick to it, but don't stress it if you messed up.
Just go into the recovery phase, dropping Enochian doesn't suddenly lock you out of combat after all :)

Another quick eno recovery is Sharpcast > Fire 1 > Eno > Firestarter. Its not ideal, but it does get you back on your feet right away. Setting a time to look out for is a good idea. The 313 rhythm is pretty easy to pick up if you can practice it a bit on dummy. But worst case scenario youre locked out of your "good" rotation for 30 seconds(this would require accidently hitting eno just before dropping af/ui). Thats not the end of the world.

Thank you everyone! Your advice has really helped. I am slowly figuring it out, and with your advice, I think I'll be able to find my own rhythm. Thanks again!

If you are learning a fight or dropping enochain alot then you can try for the 2 fire4 then fire 1 rotation instead, gives you alot more time to refresh your AF and fit extra xeno in if you are about to cap. So f4,f4, sharpcast f1 then you will have an instant cast f3 ready for any movement mechanics that you need to refrsh your AF.

I find Transpose still remains as the absolute last resort panic button to keep Eno going. It basically still results in a restart, but, I'd rather keep that Poly timer going if I can. But, that's still after Swiftcast (if you haven't already used it for Flare or movement), Triplecast (same as Swiftcast), and Sharpcast (if you haven't already used that for other procs).

Ultimately, tho, the explosive power can and will be intoxicating from time to time, you'll lose your focus staring into the fire, and sometimes, yeah, you'll flub for getting too greedy. Maybe one of the greatest challenge every BLM faces, fighting that urge for "just one more cast."