Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Garotte14]

Actually, it's better to move Ley Lines in the spot of a potion if you're no using one and leave the rest where it is. RS will still cover all 6 fire IVs, the first firestarter proc, and even the potential firestarter proc at the end assuming you have high SS.

This is incorrect. Casting Ley Lines pre-pull will be a better PPS increase. If you aren't using a potion, you are then weaving RS under a FS proc. Trust in that I've done the math a dozen times. The only time you would not want to cast LL right before your first spell, would be if you cannot be prepositioned.

That's reliant on a F3 proc near the end which has a chance of not happening. I'd much rather set up B3 >T1 > F3 > pop the skills > F1 >F4x4 > Convert > F3P > F4x3 > B3 > T1/T3P > B4. That way it's all guaranteed.

By starting at max MP you'll get off F4x7 and have just enough for B3.

Course Piety is gonna make all the difference. I sit at 350 because I can.

Also incorrect. This is not reliant on an F3P at the end. Its only a bonus if you get it. Also starting out with Blizzard III will be a PPS decrease no matter how you spin it. Especially if you have a DRG who is using Battle litany on their 2nd GCD. You will waste a ton of BL by starting out with B3. I see many people talking about a 7 F4 opener. More damage does not mean more damage per second. You have to take into consideration your party buffs like Trick Attack, Battle Litany, Fey Wind, Balance, etc. Of course I will never tell anyone how to do their opener, but if you are asking what is the best opener, that comes down to PPS and Sharpcast > F1 will win. Especially if you are using a potion because you can weave that under Firestarter and that is an extremely long animation lock that you can almost completely avoid.

One I've playing with on SSS is.

Sharp,B3,T1,F3,F4,F4,T3,SC Flare, Convert, F4, F4, B3, B4 etc.

Haven't mathed it out or arranged the CDs but it has decent results.

I will take the time to update my spreadsheet with PPS for all openers. It's been awhile since I've updated with the increased SS. I don't foresee much of a change comparison wise, but there are a few more openers out there that people are curious about. I will make sure to update everyone once I've finished.

[MagiusNecros]

junk

From what I've seen either or is fine. The difference in PPS isn't by a whole lot. Besides I'm accounting for lack of party buffs. I personally feel if you are to use convert it's either for another Flare or 3 more F4's.

Plus since I rely on my crit build and base my numbers off of luck it's very possible to get high returns. But again it becomes a game of luck and numbers at that point.

[Garotte14]

From what I've seen either or is fine. The difference in PPS isn't by a whole lot. Besides I'm accounting for lack of party buffs. I personally feel if you are to use convert it's either for another Flare or 3 more F4's.

Plus since I rely on my crit build and base my numbers off of luck it's very possible to get high returns. But again it becomes a game of luck and numbers at that point.

Hey, if that's what you prefer, there's nothing wrong with that. But I'm only here to give advice. Yes either or is fine, but the difference in PPS is huge. You are looking at around 15.21 PPS decrease over the Sharpcast opener. This is not even taking into account party buffs, and its also not taking into account that in order to even do this, you have to spec a lot of extra Piety to even pull that off which takes away from other secondaries. You are losing tons, and I mean tons, of DPS doing a 7x Fire IV opener.

[Lilyth]

This is incorrect. Casting Ley Lines pre-pull will be a better PPS increase. If you aren't using a potion, you are then weaving RS under a FS proc. Trust in that I've done the math a dozen times. The only time you would not want to cast LL right before your first spell, would be if you cannot be prepositioned.

I'd really like you to further clarify why.
If you place the oGCDs like you suggested, you're exchanging the first AF1 Firestarter proc under RS for an AF3 Blizzard III. That doesn't sound promising.

[Garotte14]

I'd really like you to further clarify why.
If you place the oGCDs like you suggested, you're exchanging the first AF1 Firestarter proc under RS for an AF3 Blizzard III. That doesn't sound promising.

I'm not exactly 100% certain what you're asking. I could be completely misunderstanding what you were saying. The point I'm trying to make is you want to make the most of weaving skills underneath your Firestarter. So if the two options are: (Ley Lines > F1 > Enochian > F3P > Raging Strikes > F4x3) or (F1 > Enochian + Raging Strikes > F3P > Ley Lines > F4x3) the former is 5.2 PPS higher. In the second scenario, both Enochian and RS are not being weaved at all. So that adds an extra second. Then the F3P isn't under Ley Lines which is a differnece of .33 seconds. In both scenarios the Blizzard III at the end will hit under RS, so that is not a factor.

Edit: Ok, so I kinda see what you are saying after rereading it. You are somewhat correct. You still want to cast Ley Lines prepull regardless if you are using a potion or not. But the better option would be to swap Enochian and RS, since this solves the problem you are referring to. So the better opener without using a potion would be:

Precast Sharpcast + Quelling Strikes + Ley Lines > Fire > Raging Strikes > Firestarter > Enochian > Fire IVx3 > Fire > Swiftcast > Fire IV > Convert > Fire IVx2 > Blizzard III > Thunder > Blizzard IV.

[StouterTaru]

starting out with Blizzard III will be a PPS decrease no matter how you spin it.

Looking just at just the PPS for two bursts of uneven length misses half the story. An example with extremes and easy numbers:

• You do 1000 dps outside your burst
• Burst A rotation does 2000 dps and lasts 20 seconds
• Burst B rotation does 1800 dps and lasts 30 seconds
• Burst A is higher dps, but is beaten out by Burst B over time

Yes, you're noting some major factors in what you cast during party buffs and weaving oGCD casts after FS. Trick and Litany are factors, but Arrow and Fey go against your argument as much as for them.

There's also the precast time of B3 making it the essentially the same as casting F1 as your opener, and the UI3 F3 leaving some room to wiggle in an oGCD with a minimal stutter (maybe none with a better ping/machine than mine).

Another factor is the fight itself; when you have to move, when the boss vanishes, and when adds appear. If you are casting B3 when adds pop or you need to phase push, that's significant. If you are at full MP casting F4 (vs low MP casting B3) when the boss jumps, that's a factor.

Sharpcast F1 is probably slightly more dps in most cases, but not always.

[Garotte14]

Another factor is the fight itself; when you have to move, when the boss vanishes, and when adds appear. If you are casting B3 when adds pop or you need to phase push, that's significant. If you are at full MP casting F4 (vs low MP casting B3) when the boss jumps, that's a factor.

Sharpcast F1 is probably slightly more dps in most cases, but not always.

Absolutely. I also make this very clear in the guide where I explain that building an opener around each fight is important for optimization. There are instances where starting with Blizz 3 could net you more uptime on your opener depending on movement windows and when/if the boss becomes untargetable. But if you're looking for the best opener PPS wise, Sharpcast > F1 will win. I'm not saying to never use a blizz opener. I'm only stating that it is less optimal in most cases.

• You do 1000 dps outside your burst
• Burst A rotation does 2000 dps and lasts 20 seconds
• Burst B rotation does 1800 dps and lasts 30 seconds
• Burst A is higher dps, but is beaten out by Burst B over time

I'm not understanding this logic at all. Maybe I misunderstand, but those numbers are pretty much impossible in comparison. You are viewing these DPS scenarios completely in a vacuum by saying 1000 DPS for 10 seconds, which I'm not sure where you got that number. B would not beat A over time, because A is starting out higher, and assuming both would decline evenly. In your scenarios, you are saying that you will deal 40,000 damage in 20s with A, and you will deal 54,000 damage in 30s with B. This gives your bursts 2000 DPS and 1800 DPS respectively. But you are then saying that you will deal 10000 damage in the additional 10s left in burst A, which is impossible unless you are literally throttling back dps. In reality, using these arbitrary numbers, if you burst 40,000 damage in 20s, you will deal roughly 18,000 damage in the additional 10s; putting you at around 58,000 or 1900 DPS. At this point both A and B would decline at an even pace, with scenario A always being about 100 DPS higher than B.

[Waliel]

I'm not understanding this logic at all. Maybe I misunderstand, but those numbers are pretty much impossible in comparison. <snip>

Well he was talking in extreme numbers to make a point how lower DPS for longer could be a better opener. You could go with ~1520 for normal, which is what you get for discounting Ley and RS from the 2000 and then adding 5% from 33% uptime Ley. I'd say the bigger problem here is that you can't even do a 30 second burst on BLM because Eno forces a hard cap on how long you can stay fire. Using 1520 and 25 seconds, option A would win (47600 to 45000). Your burst is over the moment you hit that B3, no matter how many buffs you have up.