(BLM) FireIII and Blizz III Trick

I just attained Astral and Umbral level 3 buffs and notice they give you a wonderful perk of 50% reduced casting time of the opposing element in which you are currently buffed with. Remember, Astral and Umbral get placed on you when the spell you cast DOES DAMAGE, not when it is cast.

So, when I have Umbral III, i tend to be able to get off 2 Fire III's back to back (at 50% cast time) before Astral III kicks in and my casting speed is back to normal on fire spells. After those 2 Fire III's i then can do 2 Blizz III's (at 50% cast time) back to back. I then repeat these steps for some pretty massive damage.
Keep in mind if you are going to try this you need to time out when you get the buffs. doing 2 fast Fire III's is easier cause of the delay on the damage compared to Blizz III almost instant damage after casting. The timing window on both of these spells is pretty small, so SPAM THAT BUTTON! your spell bar WILL glitch out about 80% of the time you cast the 2nd fire III/blizz III.

The first Fire III's damage will be low (cause of Umbral). the 2nd cast will be full damage. the opposite goes for Blizz III, the first cast will be full damage, then the 2nd cast will be reduced.

I forgot to mention. you will literally never run out of mana doing this.

I'm still in the 30s, but this sounds interesting, how does this compare to a standard rotation at 50 on terms of dps?

Yeah, I had noticed this little gimmick myself. It helps a ton to stand at max range from your targets since Fire III has a travel time.

another little trick i've came across is with swiftcast. if you time it right, and start your cast at the right time, you can cast 2 Fire III's or 2 Blizzard III's at almost the same time. the first cast will actually take the real cast time of the spell, while the other will be cast instantly (because of Swiftcast). From what i can tell is, when you start the animation for Swiftcast, start casting a spell and it will take the real cast time of the spell. it wont count your swiftcast because you started the spell before the buff became active. by the time it cast, you will have the swiftcast buff and the next spell will be instantly cast. useful so far in a few boss battles.

Actually if you pay attention it 'stretches' out the cast timer... Basically it is faster until the damage hits then suddenly it takes longer. I've been doing a lot of testing with this, but the numbers still support going Fire 3 >>> Fire until Firestarter >>> Instacast Fire 3.

This is less damage than casting Fire. You're forgetting that casting fire gives you an instant cast Fire III with no mana cost 40% of the time. If you're spamming Fire III twice then going to Blizzard III twice your DPS is going to be very low.

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Actually if you pay attention it 'stretches' out the cast timer... Basically it is faster until the damage hits then suddenly it takes longer. I've been doing a lot of testing with this, but the numbers still support going Fire 3 >>> Fire until Firestarter >>> Instacast Fire 3.

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i agree, once we get that talent, this trick takes a backseat. BUT its still a handy trick if you need mana, cast Blizz III, then get 2 faster then normal fire III's then into Fire I until your mana is dry again

i have a nice rotation for blackmage

kaaaayyyy.............

care to share?

My ideal rotation

Thunder II
Swiftcast
Fire III
Fire
...
Fire
Blizzard III
Thunder II
Scathe
Repeat from Fire III

i keeps my damage up

What is extremely useful from Archer is Raging Strikes. This will increase your spell damage by 20%. It is a good idea to use this right before you start spamming Fire. Quelling Strikes is also useful for reducing the amount of enmity you are accumulating. If your tank is good then you may not need to use this.

From Arcanist you should equip Physick as healing spells are always useful to have. For your final ability I would recommend Virus as it has very nice benefits for yourself and the party by increasing damage for 10 seconds.

This is what i like to run with

Thunder II
Swiftcast
Blizzard III
Fire III
Fire III
Fire
...
Fire
Scathe
Blizzard III

Repeat

The bonus spells are very good choices indeed, I plan on getting everything you mentioned.

i think however they should give black mages to delve into dark arts and summon beasts of chaos and doom also would love to see black mages get Dooooommm!! spell