BLM macros

[NintenPyjak64]

I thought Aetherial Manipulation was practically useless lol do people actually use that?

It's used to reduce the downtime between movement.
For example in T5 after the adds die and people are getting into position for Fireballs, my BLM friend would stay in place and just keeps hammering away. When the first Neurolink is about to drop, he'll zoom over to the stack he's designated to (unless we have a SMN for OT + 2 pets) and keeps DPSing.
During Levi it's also used to negate the pushes from Levi slamming the barge. Everybody else is close to the head/tail but you're where your target used to be giving you more uptime then usual as you'll need to move less if at all to get into position.

Thundercloud already makes Thunder 3 instant cast with no MP cost, and as for instant cast Flares, I'd rather save SC for Fire 3 to get to AoEing much faster. I see SC as more of a tool to speed up the ramp up time needed for your UI/AF if you don't know what you can get away with exactly

[EvianEverdeen]

Thundercloud already makes Thunder 3 instant cast with no MP cost, and as for instant cast Flares, I'd rather save SC for Fire 3 to get to AoEing much faster. I see SC as more of a tool to speed up the ramp up time needed for your UI/AF if you don't know what you can get away with exactly

Thundercloud is a 5% chance, so it's not really instant in every instance, also you have to actually initially cast Thunder III in order to receive a Thundercloud proc. I start my single target rotation with Blizzard III, then immediately use my swiftcasted Thunder III macro for the instant thunder, then start into my Fire III. When I cast Fire III it's super fast, because I'm already in Umbral Ice III and my MP bar is also completely full. I don't think my Swfitcast would ever be wasted on a Flare, because I only use Flare in AoE situations and I also never use Thunder III in AoE situations, so it works out as being separate without the interference.

[NintenPyjak64]

Thundercloud is a 5% chance, so it's not really instant in every instance, also you have to actually initially cast Thunder III in order to receive a Thundercloud proc.

5% as it may be, it's still a 5% chance every tick (7 possible times for Thunder 2, 11.6 possible times for Thunder 3), and you don't need to cast Thunder 3 to initiate it. I stick to strictly Thunder 2 (T3 for Thundercloud) for timing purposes (duration fits perfectly for whenever I reenter UI phases) and still receive the proc

As for the SC Flare thing, I was talking from an AoE scenario. My AoE rotation is SC > Fire 3 while getting into position > Fire 2 x3 > Flare > Convert > Flare (> Potion > Flare if mobs are still alive or I have the potion cooldown available). SC Fire 3 while moving helps me get my damage off faster which is helpful for SRs. There really is not much if no difference though, it's mostly up to how the person perceives SC's usefulness.

As for single target, I never understood the OCD of having that full MP after a thunder. I've counted my MP and I've never seen the need for Blizz 3 at the start (my rotation is Thunder 2 Hardcast > SC > Fire 3 (Raging Strikes + Quelling Strikes) > Fire until 1k MP > Convert > Fire until low > Blizz 3 > Thunder 2 > Fire 3 > repeat step 4. adapting when needed for certain fights/dungeons and using Firestarters and Thunderclouds every chance I get)

For me it's all about decreasing my ramp up time getting me into my rotation mindset faster

EDIT TO GET BACK ON TOPIC (Holy crap I love to ramble...)
Only macro I use for BLM is one for Raging Strikes and Quelling strikes, there really is no need for macros if you're comfortable with your set up

[EvianEverdeen]

As for single target, I never understood the OCD of having that full MP after a thunder. I've counted my MP and I've never seen the need for Blizz 3 at the start (my rotation is Thunder 2 Hardcast > SC > Fire 3 (Raging Strikes + Quelling Strikes) > Fire until 1k MP > Convert > Fire until low > Blizz 3 > Thunder 2 > Fire 3 > repeat step 4. adapting when needed for certain fights/dungeons and using Firestarters and Thunderclouds every chance I get)

For me it's all about decreasing my ramp up time getting me into my rotation mindset faster

The full MP bar is just icing I suppose, while it's insignificant, it is there. The reason I start with Blizzard III is because it does damage and it makes my Fire III cast much, much faster when I get to it is all.

[NintenPyjak64]

The full MP bar is just icing I suppose, while it's insignificant, it is there. The reason I start with Blizzard III is because it does damage and it makes my Fire III cast much, much faster when I get to it is all.

I guess I'm old fashioned when it comes to BLM, lol. Used to play it so much more before 2.1 and pretty much only use it for Brayflox now-a-days

[YanderePrincess]

The full MP bar is just icing I suppose, while it's insignificant, it is there. The reason I start with Blizzard III is because it does damage and it makes my Fire III cast much, much faster when I get to it is all.

It also reduces the damage of that Fire III cast, and Blizzard III has the same cast time as Fire III does when you have no UI/AF buff. So with B3 and F3 both in your startup, you've got the full 3.x second cast time you would already have from the UI-less Fire III plus the 1.5+s casting time for the UI3'd Fire III, meaning you're taking 50% longer to get into casting your AF3'd Fires. You're sacrificing time for a faster "feeling" from seeing your Fire III cast faster.