Black Mage

[EllieShadeflare]

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.

Unpredictability is just one problem with Thundercloud, but the other problems, like the proc being overwritten do exist as well. My proposal would end that right then and there, replacing randomness with a Thundercloud that you will be able to plan around and use when you're not in the middle of the Fire IV rotation. AKA: the part of the rotation that has the biggest issues when Thundercloud is involved.

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.

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Okay, how wouldn't we have enough mana for the Astral Hearts? As far as my proposal is concerned, you'd need 3 Umbral Hearts'd Fire IVs to get Firestarter. That's basically no different from the Fire IV rotation than we have now, with Fire IV x3, Fire, Fire IV x3. Unless you're assuming that you would get Astral Hearts from Fire 1, the rotation would stay the same but access to Firestarter and the potency to Fire 1 would rise.

Astral Hearts would only replace the Umbral Heart on the Fire IV that it is casted with. That is to say, if you do the normal Fire IV rotation with 3 Umbral Hearts, you will get to Fire 1 with 3 Astral Hearts, with the MP reductions having been applied.

Or, for simplicity's sake, whenever we'd cast a Fire IV affected by Umbral Hearts under my proposal, we'd get the MP reduction, and the Umbral Heart turns red/orange, turning it into an Astral Heart. When you have at least 1 Astral Heart, your next Fire 1 cast will consume all Astral Hearts, add 20 potency to its base per Heart consumed (1 Heart turning Fire to 200 potency, 2 Hearts giving it 220 potency, and 3 Hearts giving it 240 potency), and proc Firestarter.

Also, Black Mage's skill ceiling has always been pretty "low" and linked to its floor until movement is a problem, that is assuming this definition is right:

Skill floor usually refers to the minimum skill required to play X decently.

Skill ceiling refers to the skill required to play X to it's maximum potential.