Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Galvuu]

snip

You do have access to the spreadsheets with the data points (they were on the reddit thread), the most recent formulas and even the C# code for the simulator.
Naturally, we must put "good faith" that the simulator is reasonably accurate and that there the functions that actual produce the data points (that we have no access to) are reasonably smooth (and even then, people did figure out the speed tiering).

That said, on a fundamental level, I agree with you.
I'm of the opinion that it's important to understand on what grounds we chose a secondary stat in detriment of another- people should understand that numbers like "stat weights" are linearizations around specific points, that you incur a greater error the farther you get from that point, that the quadratic and hyperbolic behaviour of stats may or may not favour stacking around certain values... things like that.
People also need to understand the limitations of the simulator in capturing finer details inherent to some stats (speed, and how certain breakpoints that allow you to clip certain buffs would be invaluable- that next tier may not just be 0.01 gcds shorter, it may result in an extra Fire IV getting the effects of the Balance or Ley Lines) or even decision making (I don't know how it behaves regarding things like proc management; probably not so well, due to oddities in the 3.4 SCH weights).
You should use information like this as a starting point, understand the formulas, grab Matlab or a sheet of paper or whatever, crunch some "napkin numbers" and hit a dummy for a couple of hours for experimental verification.
I do this, I have tens of hours of test parses- in dummies and fights- and like 30 Ariyala gearsets. I like this kind of thing, and I fundamentally like to understand what's going on in general.

But I also adequate the answer to the question x)
Not everyone has the time, dedication or simply interest in that sorta thing. Spending hours to get a measly 1 or 2% in performance assuming you execute perfectly isn't for everyone. And that's fine, different strokes for different folks.
So if I'm asked "what secondary yields the most damage?", the question inherently entails that the person asking isn't aware (or perhaps isn't interested) in these finer points. So I give a simple, approximate answer that should be better than randomly allotting the secondaries, but not as good as truly min/maxing them.
Now, if some asks what's the best set in terms of secondaries that also meets a speed tier so that both Ley Lines and the arrow clip on at least the Kth spell, this is a harder question that warrants a deeper answer.
Either way, I don't mind people who want simple guidelines to follow without much thought.

Tl;dr: I mostly agree with you, but understand if someone wants a simple and effective answer that's neither completely min/maxed, nor goes in-depth into the inner workings of things (aka: if some wants a secondary stat heuristic black-box xD).

[SunnyHirose]

(and even then, people did figure out the speed tiering).

Funny you mention that....

[Galvuu]

Funny you mention that....

Which led to the ominous revelations that "other things are tiered" by a SE representative.
I believe it was a random thing too, on super low speed ranges that were tested for the sake of completion x)
You could actually see the step function in the data points at that low range (because you'd have a wealth of points for each step).
I find coincidental but meaningful findings like that charming.

[SunnyHirose]

I wouldn't say it wasn't for sake of completion. I was trying to cut to the meat of it and Empyreal Arrow's skipping 0.02 seconds was ultimately the key to it. Before that, I was simply hoping that looking at the 0.01 skips would narrow what the true theoretical base GCD was and the very existence of the 0.02s skip harpooned that theory.

[schulz8]

Hey guys new player here and been reading a LOT about BLM rotations and now I'm near 70, I saw an optimal AOE rotation skipping fire 2 when you hit 68 umbral hearts? you get more DPS when you do bliz3>enoch>thunder4>bliz4>fire3>flare>flare>conver>flare>foul? than having to cast 2 fire2 before the first flare?

[Ferrasper]

Hey guys new player here and been reading a LOT about BLM rotations and now I'm near 70, I saw an optimal AOE rotation skipping fire 2 when you hit 68 umbral hearts? you get more DPS when you do bliz3>enoch>thunder4>bliz4>fire3>flare>flare>conver>flare>foul? than having to cast 2 fire2 before the first flare?

That sounds about right with the occasional TC proc tossed in.

[Sylvain]

That sounds about right with the occasional TC proc tossed in.

Really? Doing the 2 FireII is an aoe loss?
Well, great then

[Galvuu]

I wouldn't say it wasn't for sake of completion. I was trying to cut to the meat of it and Empyreal Arrow's skipping 0.02 seconds was ultimately the key to it. Before that, I was simply hoping that looking at the 0.01 skips would narrow what the true theoretical base GCD was and the very existence of the 0.02s skip harpooned that theory.

Oh, you did it!
Well then, isn't this fortunate. You have my most sincere thanks- out of all the discoveries made, that's the one I used the most in HW.
I shudder to think of how utter rubbish my sets would've been with wasted speed points and without being able to test the specific tiers for arrow/balance/ley lines clipping if I went 3xF4.

[Galvuu]

That sounds about right with the occasional TC proc tossed in.

Depends on the number of enemies.
5 or more, you should Fire II with the extra Umbral Heart you have (Fire II>Fire II>Flare>Foul>Flare>Transpose>T4>B4>F3>more of this).
I think this is also the case for 4 enemies. I'll calc this for you and edit the post in a couple of hours.
If you get a TC proc try to save it for after Tranpose btw, so you don't sit there waiting for the mana tick doing nothing.

[Ferrasper]

Depends on the number of enemies.
5 or more, you should Fire II with the extra Umbral Heart you have (Fire II>Fire II>Flare>Foul>Flare>Transpose>T4>B4>F3>more of this).
I think this is also the case for 4 enemies. I'll calc this for you and edit the post in a couple of hours.
If you get a TC proc try to save it for after Tranpose btw, so you don't sit there waiting for the mana tick doing nothing.

Eh, I found out the fire 2s aren't really necessary even with that numbers, and waiting for the thunder proc for expert runs is also eh. You sometimes get 3 in a row which you do more damage by just spamming the TC. I know you like to min/max everything, but for dungeon runs, it sometimes isn't required when doing the basic is good enough.

Min/maxing for EX, raids, and savage I am all behind that. For everyday runs though, I would rather be a lazy bastard and do good enough without thinking too hard about it.