The Black Mage Rotations

[Allyrion]

That's not how math and multiplication work. :P

150% damage is 150% damage whether that's for a 100 damage hit or a 1000 damage hit.

It means the same across the board.

But one is a damage gain of 50 while another is a damage gain of 500.

Everyones missing my point, and I'm just unsure of how to properly explain it. Ill come back to this tomorrow after I've had some sleep.

I understand what you mean. BLM dps gains from crit are tremendous because they work on a higher scale.
PPS should already reflect a Flare rotation being higher.

That said, I don't like the idea of hoping Mage's Ballad ticks right after Flare nor do I like the idea of having a pocket bard for this rotation at all!
I'm pretty sure it ticks every 3 seconds, which makes the rotation a hit or miss.

If your looking solely at dmg on flares sure, crit is the way to go, what you dont take into account on the "big picture" is Cast times.

Bigger numbers does not equate to higher dps, Fire 3>Flare>Blizz 3 would be less damage than the "normal" Aoe Rotation due to Cast times and waiting for that mana tick after a flare.

Cast times would technically be shorter if Mage's Ballad actually worked the way Youmu says it does.
That's because you will you can get a reduced cast for Flare if you do it right after Fire III (most of the time). It essentially cuts the Blizzard II from the OP rotation and goes straight back to Flare.
Ideally, there's little downtime but in practice this is not true. If Mage's Ballad ticked every second this could be viable.
I'll have to test it myself, but I'm fairly sure it doesn't.
So you're right about the waiting for mana(which is enough to make this rotation less appealing), but cast times are shorter.

[Youmu]

But one is a damage gain of 50 while another is a damage gain of 500.

I understand what you mean. BLM dps gains from crit are tremendous because they work on a higher scale.
PPS should already reflect a Flare rotation being higher.

That said, I don't like the idea of hoping Mage's Ballad ticks right after Flare nor do I like the idea of having a pocket bard for this rotation at all!
I'm pretty sure it ticks every 3 seconds, which makes the rotation a hit or miss.

When I originally brought up the idea, I stated its specifically for use on WP pulls, where your BRD is already going to have mana song up for feeding PLD flash spam. Thank you for not missing what I was trying to say with the crit.

I think you guys are right on ballad being on 3 second tick cycle, so I apologize for that misinformation. However, I still feel that as Flare gets stronger and stronger in comparison to other AOEs as gear and crit rate increases, enough so to make using this rotation (on WP pulls) worth it for any BLM over ilv80.

[PessimiStick]

If you think flare gets better than any other spell because of crit, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of math.

[KamikazeMan]

For AoE I like to use:

Fire III > spam Fire II till low on MP > Flare > Convert > Flare > Hi-Ether > Blizzard III > start combo again, minus Flare.

[PessimiStick]

For AoE I like to use:

Fire III > spam Fire II till low on MP > Flare > Convert > Flare > Hi-Ether > Blizzard III > start combo again, minus Flare.

That rotation is awful in comparison, FYI.

[KamikazeMan]

That rotation is awful in comparison, FYI.

Thankfully I don't care for your feedback. Just posting what I like to use

[PessimiStick]

Thankfully I don't care for your feedback. Just posting what I like to use

So you do less damage on purpose? Seems dumb.

[KamikazeMan]

So you do less damage on purpose? Seems dumb.

I never said I do less damage.

[PessimiStick]

I never said I do less damage.

I wasn't asking what you thought, I was telling you what the reality is.

[Shadowzanon]

I'm just happy to see there are many team work strategies that works for us ^^.

Just a quick question anyone uses Thunder 3 to control their threat?

*Raises hand.* I had the same issue as i got better gear for coils, heck i have to hold back on my aoe sometimes. But i noticed i had been more dependant of thunder 3 on soldiers also. When i do norm dungeons, if im with our coils tank i go all out. but the second im with a tank that is gearing up i bliz 3 , thunder 3 then fire 3 so i wont take aggro. Also what I do if i get a crit spree is quickly throw ice 3 , thunder 3 than fire 3 regardless of mana to avoid pulling. quelling strikes can only do so much. I gotta say they do need to give us some other way to dump threat even if its on a long cd.