THM in <35 dungeons (low level) advice?

Hi there,
I'm just starting out as a SCH, and am going back to level up my THM ( I am somewhere around 25) so I can get certain things from it, like Swiftcast. I never understood how to play with THM and I'm always wondering. Could someone outline for me an example of strategy of spell order so I can try it in duty finder for EXP? I don't understand which spells are good in what order. if there is rhyme and reason to order of casting I would love to know your thoughts on that to be able to play my role better. One favor, if you use game slang would you please indulge me and explain it? I am really enjoying learning from the wonderful people who go on here to make this a fun experience for people who do wish to learn, so thank you in advance.

It changes quite a bit as your leveling, but the basic gist:

Use as much fire as possible.
Switch to ice to regain your mp, stay in umbral ice only as long as necessary (good time to use thunder). Then go back to astral fire and blow stuff up.
Rotation changes significantly when you get blizz3 and fire3 since these can switch you between astral fire and umbral ice without needing transpose.

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Originally Posted by Malevicton

It changes quite a bit as your leveling, but the basic gist:

Use as much fire as possible.
Switch to ice to regain your mp, stay in umbral ice only as long as necessary (good time to use thunder). Then go back to astral fire and blow stuff up.
Rotation changes significantly when you get blizz3 and fire3 since these can switch you between astral fire and umbral ice without needing transpose.

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Thank you, uh, what does transpose do? I don't really understand. And when to use?

Transpose exchanges a stack of astral fire for umbral ice and vise versa.
You get stacks of astral fire by casting your fire spells. It makes the fire spells more expensive but also do more damage.
You get stacks of umbral ice by casting your ice spells. It makes the fire spells cheaper and you regain mana faster.

The general idea is to stick with fire as much as possible, then switch to ice to regain mana, then go back to fire.
At low level it is basically fire 1, fire 1, fire 1, .... until you can't cast fire 1 anymore, then transpose (so your stack of astral fire turns into umbral ice), cast blizzard 1, by then your mana should have gone back up or keep casting blizzard 1 until your mana is basically full, then cast fire 1 again and go back to the beginning. If transpose is on cool down (not available) then skip that part and go straight to blizzard 1.
To be extra special throw out lightning whenever it expires, usually after switching to umbral ice.

If you are dealing with 3 or more creatures close together then use fire 2 instead of fire 1.

I really appreciate you guys!!! So, i read that i should put mobs to sleep... if the tank numbers them, i should skip #1 but put the other ones to sleep...should I do that? And when if ever should I use Blizzard II as SCH? What does bind mean?

Also who should I attack ...as a THM with say a trash mob should I attack who the tank is attacking or another one? Thank you !!

In pulls of 3 or more, you normally want to use Fire II (it does 100 potency damage x the number of targets). If you the tank is having problems holding threat in lower level dungeons or taking to much damage, then focus fire one target.

You should attack the target marked 1 first--if nothing is marked, you can pick whatever target you like, but if you see the other DPS attacking a different target, assist them.

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Originally Posted by Tal72

In pulls of 3 or more, you normally want to use Fire II (it does 100 potency damage x the number of targets). If you the tank is having problems holding threat in lower level dungeons or taking to much damage, then focus fire one target.

You should attack the target marked 1 first--if nothing is marked, you can pick whatever target you like, but if you see the other DPS attacking a different target, assist them.

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What are your thoughts on sleep? Should I use that? And thank you for the strategy, I am grateful.

Fire II all the things!!!! but bosses :P , THM are the best for dungeons at low lvls , infinite mp , good aoe and good single target dmg :3 , just be aware of agro , let the tank flash / overpower at least twice before unleashing hell

U wont be using sleep , its usefull if something is hitting the healer and tank doesnt notice it ....and even then....meh...

When using Thunder on trash, don't cast it on target #1. Cast it on target #2; target #1 will most likely die before Thunder ticks for its full damage. (Let the tank hit #2 or use Flash/Unleash/Overpower before you finish casting)

Besides that, the rotation without Fire III is

Spam Fire until out of MP
Transpose
Blizzard
Thunder or Blizzard
Blizzard (Not Fire!)
Blizzard (Still not Fire yet!)
Transpose

Repeat.

Breaking Umbral Ice with Fire I will result in two unbuffed fire spells (one to cancel Umbral Ice, and one to gain Astral Fire again). As it happens, the cooldown on Transpose is such that you can cast two more Blizzard spells instead before Transpose is up, and you won't risk shorting your MP refresh by breaking Umbral Ice early. Blizzard will do the same amount of damage as unbuffed Fire.

If the other DD is a non caster, switch to #2 when #1 only has enough health left to survive one or two hits. If you don't, you'll get interrupted because the other DD killed your target.

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Originally Posted by 3lysium

What are your thoughts on sleep? Should I use that? And thank you for the strategy, I am grateful.

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You should absolutely use Sleep at low levels depending on party composition and dungeon. Look at your other DPS. Is it a melee? He probably doesn't have area of effect (AoE) enough to be worthwhile. Is he a Dragoon? Dragoons don't have AoE damage early on. Do the mobs hit hard (Brayflox dungeon)? Yeah, go ahead and sleep the extras. Do you have a Warrior tank? Wait until he stops using Overpower to sleep things. Is your tank taking too much damage (undergeared, lower leveled)? Sleep.

Do you have a Summoner with you? They'll put damage over time effects on all the targets. In that case you might as well AoE all the targets alongside him. Is your tank pulling absolutely everything around? Go ahead and AoE. Do the targets have little health and would die quickly? AoE.

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Originally Posted by Rongway

When using Thunder on trash, don't cast it on target #1. Cast it on target #2; target #1 will most likely die before Thunder ticks for its full damage. (Let the tank hit #2 or use Flash/Unleash/Overpower before you finish casting)

Besides that, the rotation without Fire III is

Spam Fire until out of MP
Transpose
Blizzard
Thunder or Blizzard
Blizzard (Not Fire!)
Blizzard (Still not Fire yet!)
Transpose

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Uhm.. you should only have to cast Blizzard twice after transposing, if not using thunder.

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Originally Posted by NovaLevossida

You should absolutely use Sleep at low levels depending on party composition and dungeon. Look at your other DPS. Is it a melee? He probably doesn't have area of effect (AoE) enough to be worthwhile. Is he a Dragoon? Dragoons don't have AoE damage early on. Do the mobs hit hard (Brayflox dungeon)? Yeah, go ahead and sleep the extras. Do you have a Warrior tank? Wait until he stops using Overpower to sleep things. Is your tank taking too much damage (undergeared, lower leveled)? Sleep.

Do you have a Summoner with you? They'll put damage over time effects on all the targets. In that case you might as well AoE all the targets alongside him. Is your tank pulling absolutely everything around? Go ahead and AoE. Do the targets have little health and would die quickly? AoE.

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even if the other dps doesn't have good aoe, he'll always have fire2. And no one really expects sleep anymore, so it's probably just gonna get broken. Sleep can be helpful if the group is playing around you using it, but no one really does. Fire2 all the way.

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Originally Posted by Twilite

Uhm.. you should only have to cast Blizzard twice after transposing, if not using thunder.

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Originally Posted by Rongway

Breaking Umbral Ice with Fire I will result in two unbuffed fire spells (one to cancel Umbral Ice, and one to gain Astral Fire again). As it happens, the cooldown on Transpose is such that you can cast two more Blizzard spells instead before Transpose is up, and you won't risk shorting your MP refresh by breaking Umbral Ice early. Blizzard will do the same amount of damage as unbuffed Fire.

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