The Ultimate Black Mage Resources with Damage Calculator

[Cynfael]

Soo many bad "Dreadwyrm" mages out there almost makes me wonder if they got carried, lol
Blms can also do more ST damage then Ninjas, dragoons or Monks (not always of course) and smn is behind all of it.

1) Some of these people did get carried. Others never really learned how to be good at BLM, but were just good enough not to get the rest of their group killed.

2) You only consistently get that result if you compare very good BLMs to mediocre or worse melees. A spurt of amazing RNG can push a BLM's DPS through the roof, especially in fights with mechanics that favor the BLM, but melee still have higher single-target damage ceilings. You just don't see this as often because the majority of players don't know their DPS is bad, don't know how to improve it, don't care to improve it, or don't have the skill to improve.

[Aikaal]

Blms can also do more ST damage then Ninjas, dragoons or Monks (not always of course) and smn is behind all of it.

The only job you've list I'll agree is Summoner.

Reality will hit you. You'll outdps any bad melee. A Dragoon with do more AoE than a bad blm.

The true reality; put the best monk and the best blm in a fight and the monk wins. All the time. BLM bursts more if they have spell speed buff but people are using skill speed buff on pull now.

I will also expect the Scholar to always put Skill Speed buff on Selene on pull in Heavensward. Right now, DPS composition wise, the best format is 2 melees, 1 bard and 1 caster. Skill Speed > Spell Speed on pull. BLM < 2 Melees, 2 tanks, 1 bard.

[OneWingedSora]

The only job you've list I'll agree is Summoner.

Reality will hit you. You'll outdps any bad melee. A Dragoon with do more AoE than a bad blm.

The true reality; put the best monk and the best blm in a fight and the monk wins. All the time. BLM bursts more if they have spell speed buff but people are using skill speed buff on pull now.

I will also expect the Scholar to always put Skill Speed buff on Selene on pull in Heavensward. Right now, DPS composition wise, the best format is 2 melees, 1 bard and 1 caster. Skill Speed > Spell Speed on pull. BLM < 2 Melees, 2 tanks, 1 bard.

Any melee beats BLM in ST actually, not just Monks.

[Maero]

Jez all i said was blm will still be aoe king (in regards to some not liking the new skills being added). There is more to this game other then coil
You guys take things too seriously, lol
I am more then aware of Monk ST damage and those who actually do know the class leave blm behind. I guess i just have not encountered all too many great drgs, monks and Ninjas
And Cynfael, i agree i only made my statement because thus far in all of my encouters with other black mages in full dread maybe 1 out of say 7 have actually done more damage then me
and i am not yet fully geared and only use a Nexus atm, lol
I would say maybe they geared up in dread and blm is just another class they are doing, but my gods they can't all be other classes and not their main
Anyhow cary on ...

[Garotte14]

Blms can also do more ST damage then Ninjas, dragoons or Monks (not always of course) and smn is behind all of it. I really do feel bad for the class as it stands now and know some summoners who d'ont care too much for the upcoming changes

Not sure what game you've been playing, or what melee you've been playing with, but BLMs cannot out dps melee on a single target. A skilled BLM against a scrub melee yes, but not equally skilled. No way.

[Sleigh]

Firestarter may be a 40% proc, but you won't get 40% in reality unless you wait for over half a second after each fire cast to see if the proc hits. In a 5 fire rotation, you will average just under 1 firestarter use per rotation under AF3.

The umbral phase also needs to be included in total damage, as well as damage boost to fire spells under AF3.

In mobile fights, I don't think Enocian would be worth keeping up, due to the need to jump to the umbral phase with MP just to get off BIV and maintain it. If it's up use it, if not old school Fire I.

Could you go into the math on why you say 5 Fire averages under 1 proc per rotation? Even discrediting the final Fire by its lonesome if you'd get a Firestarter on the 3rd Fire, used on the 4th, the average should be in the 1 1/2 procs per rotation range. Regardless, any devaluing of Fire 1 makes the new rotation stronger than it was (is).

I can't agree with Enochian being okay to let fall off for extended times, even in as mobile a fight as they come. If SMN is evenly remotely balanced with BLM in 3.0, and it sure looks like it could be, Enochian loss is gonna make SMN destroy us in that encounter, in that play style, so we'd have to find a way around it or just not play BLM.

great drgs, monks and Ninjas

Gonna catch flak for this one but even BRD (DRG buffed) if played perfectly can beat BLM in single target. BLM is in a bad spot in high levels of play right now, mainly being brought for purposes other than its pure DPS. Hopefully that changes.

[Dextro]

Gonna catch flak for this one but even BRD (DRG buffed) if played perfectly can beat BLM in single target. BLM is in a bad spot in high levels of play right now, mainly being brought for purposes other than its pure DPS. Hopefully that changes.

I contemplated posting this too. Optimal BRDs do seem stronger unless RNG works in your favour.

While active, an Enochian rotation should at the very least allow us competitive ST damage alongside the melee classes, with the standard 2.x rotation keeping us the same distance behind them as we are now.
If not then I don't see us being a very good position post-expansion.

[StouterTaru]

Could you go into the math on why you say 5 Fire averages under 1 proc per rotation? Even discrediting the final Fire by its lonesome if you'd get a Firestarter on the 3rd Fire, used on the 4th, the average should be in the 1 1/2 procs per rotation range. Regardless, any devaluing of Fire 1 makes the new rotation stronger than it was (is).

1st Fire - 40% chance of proc, but not used until after your 2nd Fire
2nd Fire - 40% for the 60% of the time 1st Fire didn't proc, otherwise wasted
Proc from 1st Fire chance - 40%
3rd Fire - 40% for the 76% of the time 2nd Fire didn't proc, otherwise wasted
Proc from 2nd Fire chance - 24%
4th Fire - 40% for the 69.6% of the time 3rd Fire didn't proc, otherwise wasted
Proc from 3rd Fire chance - 30.4%
5th Fire - proc would come after Blizzard III, or be wasted if 4th was also a proc
Proc from 4th Fire chance - 27.84%

Guess my memory was a little off, looks like ~1.22 per 5 fire cycle.

I can't agree with Enochian being okay to let fall off for extended times, even in as mobile a fight as they come. If SMN is evenly remotely balanced with BLM in 3.0, and it sure looks like it could be, Enochian loss is gonna make SMN destroy us in that encounter, in that play style, so we'd have to find a way around it or just not play BLM.

If it's a highly mobile fight like Midgarsomr, your rotation could end up being 1-2 Fire IV and a Fire in your AF3 phase before you need to hop to UI3 to refresh Enocian. Keep in mind Fire IV and Blizzard IV have a 1.2x GCD cast time.

In fights like that I see using the spell speed buff with Enocian to get it refreshed once for sure, then going to Fire I rotation when it wears, until it's back up.

[Skeith-Adeline]

Well, if you compare a bard playing their class perfectly you must compare to a BLM who is playing their class perfectly, in which a BLM should always come out on top.
And then there are those random speed kill strats like T10, in which a BLM should always come out on Top.

I'd also say that Good melee can be outparsed by great BLMs. Being outparsed by a BLM doesn't mean the Melee is garbage, it just means the BLM was great.

[Dalareid]

Here's a i170 level armor and weapon BLM.