Good thread for general THM/BLM skill bar - rotations

Hey all, I am working on my first legit dps class (I have a summoner but that doesnt count as i played scholar) and I see many threads for black mages but was having issues finding a good skill bar loadout and rotation. I imagine the answers are right in front of me but even so a rotation would be nice for both single and group dps.

I dunno at wich level your BLM is, but the rotation itself it's so obvious and easy it hurts.

start with thunder2, fire 3 - fire-fire-ect till you get around 100 mp - blizzard3 and repeat (that works on single targets)
someone likes to start rotation with blizzard 3, because you can cast the next thunder for free(theorically) and fire 3 is casted faster this way...
it's something you shoul try yourself, still, until you decide which way you prefer...

as for groups of mobs, I personally start with thunder2 (nobody throws away a thunder3 proc, gurl), then fire3-fire2-fire2 (you can cast it 3 or 4 times until you are low on mana, i don't remeber exactly xD) then,when you are around 300/400 mp, swiftcast-flare (or hardcast) - convert (when you can use it) - hardcast flare (or swiftcast if not used previously)

you can thwrow in another hardcasted flare, using an X-ether after the seconf flare, if you see that mobs are hard to go down, but that depends on the other dps in your party xD

as for cross class skill, Raging Strike & Quelling strikes are your bros.
I personally macroed Raging strikes with Fire, and Quelling Strikes with thunder2 (but you can use it before the flarespam, if you need)

apart from that, eye for an eye and apocastasys on the tank, but they are mostly situational, even more E4E if there's a scholar/summoner in your party.

try to learn how to properly use Aetherial Manipulation, because later on will be BERY IMPORTANT (hello, leviathan ex D:)
(I actually enjoy using it in Hullbreaker Island when you jump down the cliff before the Kraken, if someone has already jumped down, and you use Aetherial manipulation while falling, FULL HP. it's useless, but It's awesome. lol)


TL;DR Freeze it's crap.
AH, THE WORD LIMIT. I hate it.

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Originally Posted by Defteros

I dunno at wich level your BLM is, but the rotation itself it's so obvious and easy it hurts.

start with thunder2, fire 3 - fire-fire-ect till you get around 100 mp - blizzard3 and repeat (that works on single targets)
someone likes to start rotation with blizzard 3, because you can cast the next thunder for free(theorically) and fire 3 is casted faster this way...
it's something you shoul try yourself, still, until you decide which way you prefer...

as for groups of mobs, I personally start with thunder2 (nobody throws away a thunder3 proc, gurl), then fire3-fire2-fire2 (you can cast it 3 or 4 times until you are low on mana, i don't remeber exactly xD) then,when you are around 300/400 mp, swiftcast-flare (or hardcast) - convert (when you can use it) - hardcast flare (or swiftcast if not used previously)

you can thwrow in another hardcasted flare, using an X-ether after the seconf flare, if you see that mobs are hard to go down, but that depends on the other dps in your party xD

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For something "so obvious and easy it hurts" your sure doing a lot wrong.

Doing Fire I until 100mp will allow you to cast Bliz III, but you'll be stuck waiting before you can re-apply Thunder II. (DPS Loss)

Starting with Thunder for Mass Pulls is really pointless. (DPS Loss)

Using X-Ether is silly, when Mega-Ether gives you MP to cast Flare again and has a lot shorter CD. (DPS Loss, over a longer period)

a lot like?

please, explain.

judging without explanations it's useless.

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Originally Posted by Defteros

a lot like?

please, explain.

judging without explanations it's useless.

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I was already doing so before you posted this, due to the character limit.

re: mana pots for extra flare.

Scarebearz is 100% correct. When you only need roughly 269 mp to flare, it comes down to which pot will give you the shortest recast, not the most amount of mana. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the manapot you want is HQ Mega-Ethers, as they have a recast of somewhere around 3:30, which is the shortest you can find for that amount of mana.

Having said that, the only time you really need mana in rotation this fast is for T4, T8 and maybe T9.

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Originally Posted by scarebearz

Doing Fire I until 100mp will allow you to cast Bliz III, but you'll be stuck waiting before you can re-apply Thunder II. (DPS Loss)
Starting with Thunder for Mass Pulls is really pointless. (DPS Loss)
Using X-Ether is silly, when Mega-Ether gives you MP to cast Flare again and has a lot shorter CD. (DPS Loss, over a longer period)

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1. no you wont.
I always wait till fire lands on the target, so I can use the free fire3 proc when it activates. that means Thunder always end before I finish casting Blizzard 3.
there's no dps loss.
if you have to wait because thunder is still active , you can always throw in a scathe. more mp gain from UI, and no dps loss.

2. you can call it dps loss ( on what, thunder 2 is faster than any other spell you cast, and grants you thunder 3 procs), I call it "more chance to get procs"==more dps. also, it lets the tank take aggro on everything, so less chance you lose aggro because you spam everything.

3. I don't actually remember the name of the ether xD if I remeber correctly, one gives you 270(280?) mp (that aren't enought for casting flare, and the other one gives you more MPs.. basically, if it regens more than 300 mp, that's the ether I was talking about >_<
also, debating on CDs on an item you rarely use, it's kinda pointless.
5 min cooldown with the NQ, 4.30 min with the HQ, you can do a masspull before the first boss, clear the second boss, do another masspull, cast your 2 flares and you are free to use it again.
if it's still on CD, bummer. nobody will cry if you didn't chaincast 3 flares.

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Originally Posted by NyneAlexander

re: mana pots for extra flare.

Scarebearz is 100% correct. When you only need roughly 269 mp to flare, it comes down to which pot will give you the shortest recast, not the most amount of mana. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the manapot you want is HQ Mega-Ethers, as they have a recast of somewhere around 3:30, which is the shortest you can find for that amount of mana.

Having said that, the only time you really need mana in rotation this fast is for T4, T8 and maybe T9.

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mmmh, I always thought you need at least around 300 mp to cast flare...
my bad, I spent more money for the wrong ether xD

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Originally Posted by Defteros

1. no you wont.
I always wait till fire lands on the target, so I can use the free fire3 proc when it activates. that means Thunder always end before I finish casting Blizzard 3.
there's no dps loss.
if you have to wait because thunder is still active , you can always throw in a scathe. more mp gain from UI, and no dps loss.

2. you can call it dps loss ( on what, thunder 2 is faster than any other spell you cast, and grants you thunder 3 procs), I call it "more chance to get procs"==more dps. also, it lets the tank take aggro on everything, so less chance you lose aggro because you spam everything.

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1. Yes, you will, Bliz III does not give an instant mana tick.

2. Your using Thunder II for an AoE rotation... it lowers your dps from wasting a GCD and also wastes mana that could have been used for Fire II.

You talking about AoE agro is a total joke when your swiftcasting the first flare. SC should be used on the final flare of the rotation, so you also have that wrong. This is because SC flare creates a lot of agro and if you need to transpose after the final flare, some of the down waiting for MP ticks will be covered by the GCD still going after the SC-flare.

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Originally Posted by Defteros

3. I don't actually remember the name of the ether xD if I remeber correctly, one gives you 270(280?) mp (that aren't enought for casting flare, and the other one gives you more MPs.. basically, if it regens more than 300 mp, that's the ether I was talking about >_<
also, debating on CDs on an item you rarely use, it's kinda pointless.
5 min cooldown with the NQ, 4.30 min with the HQ, you can do a masspull before the first boss, clear the second boss, do another masspull, cast your 2 flares and you are free to use it again.
if it's still on CD, bummer. nobody will cry if you didn't chaincast 3 flares.

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Your using mp potions with a 5M CD, I'm using mp potions with a 3m36s CD, it's a pretty big difference.

1. that's what Scathe is for.
2. Fire2 does less damage then a thunder 3 proc. It's a single target action, compared to fire 2, but it's still more damage. it also lets the tank position every mob so you won't hit 1-2 mobs because you "start with aoes or you lose DPS"

yes, I swiftcast the first one, because by the time I swifcast it, I still have quelling strikes active. and by the time I hardcast the second one, mobs most of the time are near death so it's pretty rare I'll have use the third one.
the GCD of a swifcasted flare it's the same as an Hard Casted flare, I don't understand the problem. also, by the time you cast the third flare, the mobs are dead. you can use your time to move in range to hit the boss, or using E4E, Apocastasys, etcetera.

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Your using mp potions with a 5M CD, I'm using mp potions with a 3m36s CD, it's a pretty big difference.

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yah, my bad, I'll buy them tonight.

p.s:

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Your

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ewwww. °w°

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Originally Posted by Defteros

1. that's what Scathe is for.
2. Fire2 does less damage then a thunder 3 proc. It's a single target action, compared to fire 2, but it's still more damage. it also lets the tank position every mob so you won't hit 1-2 mobs because you "start with aoes or you lose DPS"

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1. Using scathe when it's not needed is a DPS loss... if you used your mana correctly you would be casting Bliz III - Thunder II after your AF3 phase. Scathe is always a last resort spell.

2. Your talking about an AoE rotation... Fire II may do less damage than a Th III proc (that are not reliable to proc), but it hits multiple targets.... I never said to start with AoE on pull, you start with Fire III, this gives the tank plenty of time for positioning.

Having Raging macro'd on Fire III is silly, having Quilling macro'd on Thunder II is also silly. They should be used exactly when you need them, ideally weaved into GCD's if possible. Having a macro like that... is a DPS loss lol.

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Originally Posted by Defteros

the GCD of a swifcasted flare it's the same as an Hard Casted flare, I don't understand the problem.

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You should learn how GCD's work in this game, it would improve your DPS. Insta cast things like SC-Flare, scathe, procs all have their GCD duration *after* you've cast them.

I.e. Hardcast Flare uses it's GCD during the cast, with SC Flare, the GDC is after the cast, giving you free time to Transpose and wait a bit for the tick without losing too much dps.

Using scathe if you have too little mp while you wait for UI to regen your mp it's not useless. I deal more damage with a single scathe instead of waiting.
You can cast blizzard 3 and thunder2 after AF phase if you have enough mp. So let's Just say my "till 100 mp" was wrong

I never said I macroed raging strikes on fire 3, but still. Having it macroed does not prohibite you to use them whenever you need them. If I want to use quelling strikes during chainflare, I can use it. That's what manging cooldown means. I have These spells In a vertical hotbar, so I know when I can use them. And raging strikes is macroed to fire for comodity, and because fire takes the majority of a single target rotation.
As for transpose after hard cast flare, if you say that the GCD is during the cast, I can safely teleport, or move and continue dpsing. I don't see. The problem

stop feeding the troll, scarebearz, its not worth it. really ;p

Rude.
And still, calling Someone troll because he doesn't share your point of view it's sad.
Try to debate, instead.
That's what forums are about.

Large pulls i much prefer to use Ice 3> Fire 3> F2>F2>F2> Flare>Convert>Flare> Mega Potion> flare, etc.
Or if still enemies alive you can do instead Ice3> F3>F2>F2>F2>Flare>Transpose>Flare>convert>swiftcast flare>mega potion> flare
As mentioned starting with Ice 3 speeds up fire 3 but my main purpose is to allow tanks a little bit extra time to build agro, because even with quelling strikes i can often tear agro from tanks.
Also if say for instance thundercloud and Firestarter proc at the same time, thundercloud takes priority as there is a chance of it to proc again.
And too many blm's i have seen seem to worry they will loose a firestarter and such, you do have time, do not stop a cast just to use it.

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Originally Posted by Defteros

Using scathe if you have too little mp while you wait for UI to regen your mp it's not useless. I deal more damage with a single scathe instead of waiting.
You can cast blizzard 3 and thunder2 after AF phase if you have enough mp. So let's Just say my "till 100 mp" was wrong

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Unless you have to cast on the run, you're better off using blizard 1 while waiting for a UI mana-tick. Its got a higher potency and the casting time won't eat up an entire GCD rotation, so same time as casting scathe and waiting for GCD.

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Originally Posted by Defteros

I never said I macroed raging strikes on fire 3, but still. Having it macroed does not prohibite you to use them whenever you need them. If I want to use quelling strikes during chainflare, I can use it. That's what manging cooldown means. I have These spells In a vertical hotbar, so I know when I can use them. And raging strikes is macroed to fire for comodity, and because fire takes the majority of a single target rotation.
As for transpose after hard cast flare, if you say that the GCD is during the cast, I can safely teleport, or move and continue dpsing. I don't see. The problem

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Sorry, but you don't see the problem, because you don't seem to understand it.

Understanding GCD weaving / optimising is important if you want to do the most damage possible.

for who that don't know, it's 266 or above for flare.