Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Hasrat]

What I'm noticing with Transpose is you go a long while where you need it, then at the stage I'm at, it's only really there if your MP drained wrong and you can't Bliz3. And later on it'll come back more situational, with specific uses rather than a core function.

[randysquirrel]

Oh ho so I still have some things to learn. I wager it's for the stronger Fire 3 under AF1 correct?

That's exactly right. If your last fire procs, but you have already started casting Bliz III, when you are back to full MP, you want to transpose (to get into AF1) and then use your fire proc. It does much more under AF1 than it would if you just use directly from UI3.

As you level higher, you can remove sleep, freeze and bliz2 from your hotbar, these are not used at all outside of PVP.
You can also replace t2 with t3 when you have it. You don't want to hardcast either of these anyway, only t1, and if it procs then use t3

[Nekotee]

It's funny to see that blizzard 2 is very bad for a black mage but it's his ability
When B2 is wonderful on healer or smn in in aoe DPS for low mana cost

Back in A2S I spam this spell as SCH until my mana dried

[Maero]

You seem to have missed the "I'm only level 40" which would imply I don't have Flare yet.

Sorry i missed that part, no need to be all rude about it...

[Garotte14]

Oh ho so I still have some things to learn. I wager it's for the stronger Fire 3 under AF1 correct?

randysquirrel nailed it. The multiplier for any spells of the opposite stance you are in is 0.7. So if you are in UI3, Fire III's potency is 240*0.7 = 168. But you don't normally transpose before you cast Fire III because it doubles the cast time and costs a ton more mana. However, a Firestarter is free MP and only 2.5s GCD so if you transpose and then use the proc while you're in AF1, its potency is now 240*1.4 = 336.

[MagiusNecros]

It's funny to see that blizzard 2 is very bad for a black mage but it's his ability
When B2 is wonderful on healer or smn in in aoe DPS for low mana cost

Back in A2S I spam this spell as SCH until my mana dried

B2 is still good in situations where a bunch of adds have to be knocked out of something. The Moogles in Sohr Khai for example. Other then that it's main use is Ninja checking nodes in PvP if you play Seal Rock.

[Garotte14]

B2 is still good in situations where a bunch of adds have to be knocked out of something. The Moogles in Sohr Khai for example. Other then that it's main use is Ninja checking nodes in PvP if you play Seal Rock.

Yes, I'll use it for instances just like that. The bombs in Brayflox Hard and the tanks that drop on the first boss in Keeper of the Lake.

[FunkyBunch]

You seem to have missed the "I'm only level 40" which would imply I don't have Flare yet.

I was merely stating it for reference. You will be level 50 at some point. And level 60. Right?
I still see people in dungeons that don't know how to AoE properly as a BLM, so I macroed what I said to you in game to help other BLMS.
I see people casting B3 or B1 during AoE nearly every day.

And the thing you can get from my post is on multiple targets you never use Thunder. It's a net DPS loss even with extra procs. F2 is always better than T-anything with 3+ targets.

[FunkyBunch]

Yes, I'll use it for instances just like that. The bombs in Brayflox Hard and the tanks that drop on the first boss in Keeper of the Lake.

I just use f2... and without out it I have two full hotbars as it is (One for single target and one for multi-target). No room for it anyway.

[Hasrat]

And the thing you can get from my post is on multiple targets you never use Thunder. It's a net DPS loss even with extra procs. F2 is always better than T-anything with 3+ targets.

But what about during UI time? From what I've seen of my current cycle, when Fire drains my MP and I switch, I've typically got time for one or two spells before UI has me filled up again and I swap back. Wouldn't that be the ideal time to toss out Thunders to anything I haven't got it running on yet? I can see where maybe you're better off sticking with F2 and ignoring any Thundercloud proc.

Or is such a situation when B2 or Freeze may be worth pulling out during UI (instead of Thunder), just for the extra AoE until you're back to AF?

Editing in to kinda just dump some feedback after a run trying out this new rotation. It definitely feels a bit more intensive. A few waves of F2 in big groups seems to pull some big enmity. I want to keep burning things, but gotta be a little careful there. Made the mistake of tossing T1 on Thundercloud procs a few times, but that's more down to fingers getting used to something new. Gotta find a new way to work Convert and the like in. I've got Fire/Blizzard/Thunder mapped to the NUM pad, which works great, but takes a hand away from mouse for grabbing random off skills.

New question I have. So Swiftcast + Fire 3 seems to be the ideal way to start a fight (plus buffs maybe), but what do you do if Swiftcast is still on cooldown? Is Fire 3 still the best, and you just eat the few extra seconds you have to spend to cast it? Or are there alternate ways to get up to speed?