Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Sleigh]

I almost feel like we're going to get a potency nerf to compensate for this change. BLM as is, is already insane, this makes me worry lol. However we are relatively mediocre if we're in a mch pt, meaning one of our major weaknesses is bard dependence.

Yes we go from generally pointless in a MCH party, to pointman in a BRD party. Kind of an issue IMO, I've received my fair share of flak for existing in A3 and A4 without a BRD instead of gearing a MCH/melee properly. I hope part of the 3.2 MCH changes involve a more universal Hypercharge, to help keep things fair.

I do not think any form of buff automatically entitles us to a nerf otherwise though. We are definitely the most comp dependent, strat dependent, RNG dependent DPS in the entire game, with as high a ceiling of potential DPS when the team and strat are right as our DPS floor is low when we merely lose the BRD or mess up once or fail to get some crits in our opener. I think if anything, a small buff to our DPS would balance us out for the bad situations while still of course discouraging BLM stacking because we're right now a long way from out-contributing NIN/DRG, and you need a BRD for BLM stacking to make sense. The ramifications of a BLM buff would mostly be SMN is even more questionable a role, but SMN needs a buff IMO regardless. I'm pretty confident in saying a BRD/MCH with DRG will out-DPS a SMN on a single target, and the difference isn't too high with a BRD either.

What SE really has to do is make sure caster is basically vital in future turns, regardless of comp, like they made solo healing/tanking redundant/impractical since T6-9. I want things that only casters can reasonably do, like a small but constant source of physical resistant enemies, or some real caster LB3 opportunities. Our niche used to be AoE gods (by raid design, somewhat) and caster LB3; our LB3 has been compromised, and the AoE identity has always been a dubious one and now we're not really "great" at it like before. "Ranged melee with Eye for an Eye" is our role now, while SMN's got an even more polarized position of "AoE machine or worst party member," depending on the fight.

[Xisin]

I do not think any form of buff automatically entitles us to a nerf otherwise though. We are definitely the most comp dependent, strat dependent, RNG dependent DPS in the entire game, with as high a ceiling of potential DPS when the team and strat are right as our DPS floor is low when we merely lose the BRD or mess up once or fail to get some crits in our opener. I think if anything, a small buff to our DPS would balance us out for the bad situations while still of course discouraging BLM stacking because we're right now a long way from out-contributing NIN/DRG, and you need a BRD for BLM stacking to make sense. The ramifications of a BLM buff would mostly be SMN is even more questionable a role, but SMN needs a buff IMO regardless, I'm pretty confident in saying a BRD/MCH with DRG will out-DPS a SMN on a single target, and the difference isn't too high with a BRD either.

I can agree with this logic. It is a bit of a pain in the ass I suppose.

[OneWingedSora]

Yes we go from generally pointless in a MCH party, to pointman in a BRD party. Kind of an issue IMO, I've received my fair share of flak for existing in A3 and A4 without a BRD instead of gearing a MCH/melee properly. I hope part of the 3.2 MCH changes involve a more universal Hypercharge, to help keep things fair.

I don't know about pointless. Should still be getting first place unless there is a Monk in the party to be honest. I too am a victim of no Bard but I am still almost always first place unless its A4. DRG/NIN's ST are still less when compared to a BLM w/o Foes.

[Sleigh]

I don't know about pointless. Should still be getting first place unless there is a Monk in the party to be honest. I too am a victim of no Bard but I am still almost always first place unless its A4. DRG/NIN's ST are still less when compared to a BLM w/o Foes.

First place or not doesn't really matter IMO, much like how MNK beating DRG/NIN doesn't matter. All about dat rDPS contribution.

I'm a firm believer that in a NIN DRG and (in this case) MCH comp, BLM from a min/max standpoint is "pointless" in the sense that, with equal gear/skill/experience/strat/etc, most non-SMN DPS would fulfill that final spot better than BLM would in this current environment (especially A4S as you mentioned). Especially another MCH or BRD; MCH and MCH/BRD actually stack disgustingly well, the stronger player doesn't have to use TP/MP and in the case of MCH MCH, that's a lot of Hypercharge uptime which benefits everyone including each MCH.

I fear what 3.2 MCH may be. I fear range stacking could truly be up there with BLM + BRD, if not in multiple ways better. If it's really stronger than it is currently, by 5% or so rDPS? Scary. While I don't think that'd necessarily put the BRD + BLM comp out in any way, I sure think MCH + caster would be pointless compared to MCH + BRD or MCH + MCH. Need more T4/T11 vulnerabilities, more T10 LB opportunities, some stuff where it goes beyond raw dummy rDPS on bringing a caster or not.

"Pointless" was definitely hyperbole on my part though. BLM is still great without a BRD, especially if you actually make use of Apoc/E4E/Virus (rare these days to have something to Virus ...), and I reckon the BRD caster comp isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It's just if you rock without a BRD when things get min/max weird IMO.

Caster-only mechanics will (unfortunately?) never happen as there will be an issue with DF groups, meaning if they got no Caster = instant disband (after 15min of pointless struggle).

As for the B4/T1 > F3 mana tick issue, it might be worth checking how much Piety you need to still cast continously even without the tick.

Personally I don't think raids should ever be balanced around DF comps. They are designed for pre-made parties to come in with semi-specific comps, communicate on voice chat, and wipe 100s of times to get down. If it goes into DF, it gets echo and is usually overgeared by welfare gear or iLVL raise at that point, anyway. We ran T11 without a caster after it got unlocked many a time without a problem, though it was never optimal.

As long as a caster isn't literally required to clear at all, I think balancing towards having a caster is wonderful. Melee X2 and BRD/MCH are locked in for obvious reasons.