Arcanist vs Black Mage

[DaKiddPiff]

You'll likely get a plethora of complaints about SMNs from upset SMNs here.

Right now, there is no reason to switch from BLM to SMN. BLM is supreme in 90% of scenarios.

Does BLM have better damage? I love the huge variety of spells BLM has. Magic stuff is fun. but summoning stuff is also very fun. I love having a pet. and the reason I am leveling ACN is because my friends just started playing and we wanted to start together at the same level. I stopped playing for months so its fun starting all over again. I cant wait to get to end game and start crafting and trying to get drops

[Eloah]

Does BLM have better damage? I love the huge variety of spells BLM has. Magic stuff is fun. but summoning stuff is also very fun. I love having a pet. and the reason I am leveling ACN is because my friends just started playing and we wanted to start together at the same level. I stopped playing for months so its fun starting all over again. I cant wait to get to end game and start crafting and trying to get drops

BLM have larger bursts of uncontrolable aoe damage, since they are dependant on being stationary. Whereas, SMN has smaller bursts of semi-controlable aoe damage, since they are more mobile than BLM.

[Kuroyasha]

Does BLM have better damage? I love the huge variety of spells BLM has. Magic stuff is fun. but summoning stuff is also very fun. I love having a pet. and the reason I am leveling ACN is because my friends just started playing and we wanted to start together at the same level. I stopped playing for months so its fun starting all over again. I cant wait to get to end game and start crafting and trying to get drops

That one part made me chuckle.

Yep BLM is just better right now. I mean if you like smn then by all means play it. It still does well in all content b4 u hit final coil(not "bad" in final coil, just not stronger than blm). I like both casters as well.

[Skeith-Adeline]

Does BLM have better damage? I love the huge variety of spells BLM has. Magic stuff is fun. but summoning stuff is also very fun. I love having a pet. and the reason I am leveling ACN is because my friends just started playing and we wanted to start together at the same level. I stopped playing for months so its fun starting all over again. I cant wait to get to end game and start crafting and trying to get drops

Has greater single target damage; is the undisputed king of AoE (Area of Effect) damage, and doesn't suffer /that/ much with movement. As for the variety of spells, yea lol. Most of them are fluff...