Black Mage

[HaroldSaxon]

Thundercloud would be solved as it won't be unpredictable and won't be forced to compromise the rotation or Astral Fire and Umbral Ice.

As for the Firestarter change, you've utterly misunderstood what I've suggested.

My proposed change would maintain the Fire IV x3 rotation, but also guarantee that Fire procs Firestarter, while also boosting Fire. Meanwhile, the "all Astral Hearts will be consumed by Fire" effect to guarantee Firestarter would also allow for the rotation to continue if you're forced to move for some reason.

Besides the point, Fire IV would only generate Astral Hearts while affected by Umbral Hearts, essentially replacing the Umbral Heart they consume with an Astral Heart. This would make the 8x Fire IV starter easier, and also make Fire I seem less of a penalty for casting in the rotation.

Sharpcast has always been a weird ability that... was a bandage to our gambling addiction rather than a solution and part of the problem WITH Black Mage is the gamble regarding Firestarter and Thundercloud, which are objectively gambles. Thundercloud especially is a gamble, considering it's one of our heavy hitters in our rotation, below only Fire IV in terms of raw damage without even counting the damage over time that comes with it.

The problem with Thundercloud isn't his unpredictability and it will still compromise the rotation of Astral Fire and Umbral Ice because it doesn't extend the timer nor does it always do enough damage to be worth using over a F4. The issue is being able to use the procs and the chances of the proc getting overwritten. It is the same issue as 3.0 BLM and Thundercloud.

Your proposed change would not maintain the Fire IV rotation as we wouldn't have enough mana. Firestarter does not need any changes, and the skill floor of the class is not the issue here. Its the ceiling.