BLM Pre-60 Ease of Use Buff - Fire1 cast time reduction

Reduce Fire1's cast time to 2.0s alongside gaining the Firestarter trait.
Just a little more time to react to the Fire3 proc when all BLM is is Fire3 procs.

Yeah it'll buff BLM afterwards by letting them have 1 extra weave slot per fire phase, but I don't think that'll have too much of an effect. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you for reading.

Just let Firestarter stack to two. There's almost no balance implications of this at max level.

For pre-60 I'd simply like Firestarter to be able to stack to 2. Can't say how many procs I've lost when fast casting.

Reducing F1's cast time to 2 seconds wouldn't give you 1 extra weave slot btw. There isn't enough time to weave without clipping. But I do like your idea. This helps mitigate the lack of movement tools at low levels to a degree and a bit more time to react for F3 proc is comfortable.

I'm not sure how increasing F3 proc's stack to 2 would be implemented as there is a timer. If this timer was removed then it would absolutely make a difference at max level. Or if it resets per every new F3 proc? Neither wouldn't totally solve the problem because then you would ideally want to have 1 F3 proc on hold before the timer runs out for movement, which still means you need to react as quick to the second F3 proc stack as you do now. Either way, it seems like a bit of a clunky design when OP's idea already largely solves the problem.

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Originally Posted by OneTrueMiqote

Reducing F1's cast time to 2 seconds wouldn't give you 1 extra weave slot btw. There isn't enough time to weave without clipping. But I do like your idea. This helps mitigate the lack of movement tools at low levels to a degree and a bit more time to react for F3 proc is comfortable.

I'm not sure how increasing F3 proc's stack to 2 would be implemented as there is a timer. If this timer was removed then it would absolutely make a difference at max level. Or if it resets per every new F3 proc? Neither wouldn't totally solve the problem because then you would ideally want to have 1 F3 proc on hold before the timer runs out for movement, which still means you need to react as quick to the second F3 proc stack as you do now. Either way, it seems like a bit of a clunky design when OP's idea already largely solves the problem.

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What's clunky about letting it stack to 2?

Issue: You overwrite firestarters unless you stop a Fire 1 cast to use the Firestarter.

If Firestarter stacks -to 2-, then you never waste a firestarter back to back and never have to stop Fire 1.

It has no implications at max level because using a Fire 1 in place of a Fire 4 to maybe proc a Firestarter in order to have it during movement is a DPS loss. You will lose any DPS you could potentially gain by doing this.

There is precedent in game of Stack/Timer mechanics, and given the initial problem is about potentially losing a back-to-back cast, the timer is irrelevant.

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Originally Posted by Kabooa

Just let Firestarter stack to two. There's almost no balance implications of this at max level.

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I don't like killing Firestarter-replacement risk, but if we're going to do it anyways... is it so harmful to allow 80% of an oGCD weave on your Fire cast itself via the OP's suggested cast time reduction?

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Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

I don't like killing Firestarter-replacement risk, but if we're going to do it anyways... is it so harmful to allow 80% of an oGCD weave on your Fire cast itself via the OP's suggested cast time reduction?

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You still have the same issue that you can overwrite Firestarter. There's a small window as is between cast and proc right now (As it occurs on spell hit vs animation hit like it did in ARR), so extending that window still leaves the possibility of having to restart a cast to use a firestarter to avoid a potential waste.

Letting it stack to two solves the issue. You will never have to stop a Fire cast after it procs to ensure it doesn't overwrite, and it has no implications in the end-game.

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Originally Posted by Kabooa

You still have the same issue that you can overwrite Firestarter. There's a small window as is between cast and proc right now (As it occurs on spell hit vs animation hit like it did in ARR), so extending that window still leaves the possibility of having to restart a cast to use a firestarter to avoid a potential waste.

Letting it stack to two solves the issue. You will never have to stop a Fire cast after it procs to ensure it doesn't overwrite, and it has no implications in the end-game.

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Given that the hit is calculated before the spell projectile's animation even begins, that delay is an arbitrary constraint, though. We see this with things like Rockbreaker, for instance, where GL is granted -- or not granted -- from the moment the animation begins; whether an enemy was in its cone or not is snapshotted from the skill's activation time, not its release.

Couldn't we just reduce the artificial delay to where it can easily be queued up to some .4 seconds before the GCD returns (assuming an 80% GCD cast time)? That, for instance, would allow us 200 ms of ping protection.

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Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

Given that the hit is calculated before the spell projectile's animation even begins, that delay is an arbitrary constraint, though. We see this with things like Rockbreaker, for instance, where GL is granted -- or not granted -- from the moment the animation begins; whether an enemy was in its cone or not is snapshotted from the skill's activation time, not its release.

Couldn't we just reduce the artificial delay to where it can easily be queued up to some .4 seconds before the GCD returns (assuming an 80% GCD cast time)? That, for instance, would allow us 200 ms of ping protection.

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There's tons of ways it could happen.

The easiest and most direct while having the least implication on overall job balance in the current state of the game is just giving it a two stack limit.

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Originally Posted by Kabooa

There's tons of ways it could happen.

The easiest and most direct while having the least implication on overall job balance in the current state of the game is just giving it a two stack limit.

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As it would have been with Straighter Shot and Refulgent Arrow, and yet players were very hesitant to allow for that. Once we've given the obvious upgrade to Firestarter, would there be any place for procs that don't stack to at least 2?

Knowing when to hold for Firestarter with woven oGCDs, be it for mobility or sync, and when to chain-cast was actually a decently nuanced part of gameplay back in ARR? Is this yet another thing we want to take away from the majority of levels just to aid the last 20, without even looking for any positive changes that might be made for all levels in the course of that "QoL change"?

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Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

As it would have been with Straighter Shot and Refulgent Arrow, and yet players were very hesitant to allow for that. Once we've given the obvious upgrade to Firestarter, would there be any place for procs that don't stack to at least 2?

Knowing when to hold for Firestarter with woven oGCDs, be it for mobility or sync, and when to chain-cast was actually a decently nuanced part of gameplay back in ARR? Is this yet another thing we want to take away from the majority of levels just to aid the last 20, without even looking for any positive changes that might be made for all levels in the course of that "QoL change"?

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In ARR, holding on to Firestarter and risking an overwrite was reducing AF uptime. The most influential part of Black Mage DPS hasn't changed - The most possible uptime in Astral Fire.

I personally didn't find casino mage compelling, especially since it didn't really come into full force until 42+.

Further, with the Charge system we see distinct disparities in abilities that should have charges (Red Mage mobility) and abilities that do. The half/half application of the Charge System have made the job rotation and mobility constraints easier for some jobs while ignoring others who could also benefit greatly from the boon.

In regards specifically to Bard, the idea is likely more opposed than the practice.

Back to ARR specifically, you cast Fire 1 so much that you had ample weaving space due to the naturally increased amount of Firestarters, as well as basically the entire UI phase as you had one filler spell of nearly the same average potency (Blizz 1 vs Scathe), not counting random thunderclouds that you had no reason not to use when they happened because it was stronger than your spam.

Firestarter management was just playing a coinflip of whether or not you wasted potency. Overwriting a firestarter lost you any damage you could have potentially gained by avoiding OGCD clips and having deadzones during movement.

So with all that said, yes, it's worth losing. You quickly move out of that phase of Black Mage play, play that doesn't depend on your ability at all.

Whether the game should turn all procs into stackable effects is another discussion, but as I said, for Firestarter specifically, given Black Mage's current design, it has no implications on job balance at all.

It just makes the leveling process a little easier for those who care, before Heavensward comes along and smacks it away.