Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Shakesula]

just out of curiosity how bad is this opener? pre-casting ley lines f3 to hit on tank pull, eno, RS, F4, POT, F1, F4, F4, F4, F3 (PROC), CONVERT, SWIFT, F4, F4, B3, TH1, B4. It might be outdated but i mean you get all 6 f4's and usually plenty of time to get thunder in before refreshing eno with b4. i guess not having the pot for the first f4 isnt ideal but it really is smooth opener and with all my ss i can get all the f4s in with both pot and rs cd's

[Milkbeard]

Thats fine, you don't have to be convinced by actual math. I don't really care at all what people use. You can do what you find best or what you're most comfortable with. I was asked a question and I answered in the best way I could. Using actual math.

That's like saying you're not convinced if someone tells you, 2+2=4. Math is math. Thunder under Raging Strikes is 340.2 potency. Thunder not under Raging Strikes is 283.5 Potency. An AF1 Firestarter under Raging Strikes is 423.36 Potency. AF1 Firestarter not under Raging Strikes is 352.8. So by using my trusty calculator: 423.36 + 283.5 = 706.86 > 352.8 + 340.2 = 693.

Also Ley Lines does in fact buff every GCD. So the Potency per second on that is: 187.99 PPS vs 184.31 PPS. Phew! Math is hard

Chill. lol dang.

[Garotte14]

just out of curiosity how bad is this opener? pre-casting ley lines f3 to hit on tank pull, eno, RS, F4, POT, F1, F4, F4, F4, F3 (PROC), CONVERT, SWIFT, F4, F4, B3, TH1, B4. It might be outdated but i mean you get all 6 f4's and usually plenty of time to get thunder in before refreshing eno with b4. i guess not having the pot for the first f4 isnt ideal but it really is smooth opener and with all my ss i can get all the f4s in with both pot and rs cd's

There is something off with this opener. You don't have Sharpcast listed anywhere. Without Shaprcast, you aren't guaranteed that Fire 3 Proc, which means you are casting 5 Fire IVs in a row which is impossible currently.

So assuming you are Sharpcasting your first Fire 1, there really isn't a great place to put it. Precasting it, cuts it really close to even making it to that first Fire. And throwing it in anytime after Fire III, you are cutting into you PPS because of the 0.5s delay.

Even with all of that, this opener requires extra piety or else you could potentially get stuck after Blizzard III waiting for a server tick. So all in all, honestly I don't recommend Fire III openers anymore. They are not as potent and rely too much on a server tick at the end. Even without the server tick, you will still end up quite lower on PPS than Sharpcast openers. I would recommend taking a look at some of the more modern openers with our current Spell Speed. The Fire III opener was only really viable pre Astral Fire buff.

[Milkbeard]

We're not talking about what happens after your opener. Yes, delaying Ley Lines will give a two extra GCDs under LL after your opener, but that means absolutely nothing. Your opener is the opener. Meaning all of your buffs are up. Your argument holds no weight. In that argument, 90 seconds into the fight, my Ley Lines will be up 2 GCDs before yours so I'm gaining those two UNBUFFED GCDs back at that time.

Sorry but Litany lasts 30 seconds...feywind 30seconds. That means the first 2 fire IVs of your second AF cycle are being boosted by raid buffs. If you push your leylines past the weak sharpcast fire 1 and subpar fire 3 proc then those 2 fire IVs during the second cycle are also being boosted by leylines...saying your opener is only the first AF cycle is a limiting factor. The logic behind it is no different than a summoner choosing to do an extra ruin 3 in dread over the higher potency shadowflare. The more buffed Fire IVs you cast, the stronger your overall output.

[Aloise]

Not sure if this has been mentioned in the past page or two, but:
It seems like people are saying the best GCD order in your opener is F1 > F3P > F4 > F4 > F4 > F1 > Swift F4 > Convert F4 > F4 > F3P* > B3
However, it's already been established that BLM can do 4xF4 under Ley Lines, with plenty of time left over to either cast F1 or B3. Therefore, I propose that the following opener is better PPS on average:
F1 > F3P > F4 > F4 > F1 > F4 > F3P* > Swift F4 > Convert F4 > F4 > B3
By moving your F1 refresh back a cast, you can see if you get your F3P in time to line up a Swiftcast during a free GCD. If you don't get a F3P, then the PPS is exactly the same as above, and you should have no problem fitting in 4xF4 under Ley Lines. So you only stand to gain by moving F1 back a cast.

[frostfirefawcett]

Not sure if this has been mentioned in the past page or two, but:
It seems like people are saying the best GCD order in your opener is F1 > F3P > F4 > F4 > F4 > F1 > Swift F4 > Convert F4 > F4 > F3P* > B3
However, it's already been established that BLM can do 4xF4 under Ley Lines, with plenty of time left over to either cast F1 or B3. Therefore, I propose that the following opener is better PPS on average:
F1 > F3P > F4 > F4 > F1 > F4 > F3P* > Swift F4 > Convert F4 > F4 > B3
By moving your F1 refresh back a cast, you can see if you get your F3P in time to line up a Swiftcast during a free GCD. If you don't get a F3P, then the PPS is exactly the same as above, and you should have no problem fitting in 4xF4 under Ley Lines. So you only stand to gain by moving F1 back a cast.

Yeah I've mentioned it on page 188, last post. It's the perfect GCD opener if the fight allows for it.

[StouterTaru]

F1 > F3P > F4 > F4 > F1 > F4 > F3P* > Swift F4 > Convert F4 > F4 > B3
By moving your F1 refresh back a cast, you can see if you get your F3P in time to line up a Swiftcast during a free GCD. If you don't get a F3P, then the PPS is exactly the same as above, and you should have no problem fitting in 4xF4 under Ley Lines. So you only stand to gain by moving F1 back a cast.

The timing is so tight in there that if you have to do any movement your B3 will fail, which will hurt your dps, and could cause you to lose Enochian for your 2nd AF phase.

It's the perfect GCD opener if the fight allows for it.

[Aloise]

The timing is so tight in there that if you have to do any movement your B3 will fail, which will hurt your dps, and could cause you to lose Enochian for your 2nd AF phase.

You have about three seconds free. Here's a video showing that. Furthermore, losing the ability to cast B3 isn't a problem if you have Piety on your relic or a few melds~

[StouterTaru]

You have about three seconds free. Here's a video showing that. Furthermore, losing the ability to cast B3 isn't a problem if you have Piety on your relic or a few melds~

Your video shows you start casting B3 with less than 3 seconds left on AF3. You have to finish casting before AF wears off, or else the cast costs the full 1060 MP. Try it again, and move 4 steps in the middle of your 4x FIVs.

Dumping Piety on for that scenario is kinda pointless, you'll end up dropping ~15 crit to be sitting at zero MP waiting for a MP tick.

[Aloise]

Your video shows you start casting B3 with less than 3 seconds left on AF3. You have to finish casting before AF wears off

Blizzard 3 takes about 1.5 seconds under AF3 with no Ley Lines, 1.3 seconds with Ley Lines. So really you have a full 1.5 seconds of movement, though I believe it's actually a bit more forgiving because the last "second" of stacks stretch out if you're near the end of a cast or swap slightly before you finish casting. Either way, 1.5s is a lot of movement time, plus you have a free GCD under Swiftcast to move.

Dumping Piety on for that scenario is kinda pointless, you'll end up dropping ~15 crit to be sitting at zero MP waiting for a MP tick.

You should have Piety anyways for guaranteed T1 after B3. The truly hardcore have guaranteed B4 after B3.