How to Fix Black Mage for Good

[Zerathor]

for additional potency, if you have triple and sharp cast up, you can do the b3>t3>b4>foul>f3>sharp>f4x3>f1>f4x3>f3 proc>triple>flare>transpose>foul>b3>t3>b4 rotation every minute, excluding your opener. that gives you an extra 260 potency fire spell in your AF cycle for free. since both cds are 1min, this will always line back up for you later on in the fight.

[Kabooa]

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Scathe is worthless. The amount it impacts your damage on singular uses is close to null and avoid. It's literally not worth the spot on your bar.
Sleep is effectively worthless. Too many things are immune and balance in Eureka is about as relevant as balance in Palace of the Dead.

B4 is always a minimum of a neutral use, and borders on positive more than negative especially after the F4 buff, but the gains of it are still somewhat situational and it can just as easily be a loss. It doesn't matter if you can fit an extra F4 in if you don't have the time to do so. You are trading a GCD in Ice for an extra GCD in Fire.

[Ferrinus]

for additional potency, if you have triple and sharp cast up, you can do the b3>t3>b4>foul>f3>sharp>f4x3>f1>f4x3>f3 proc>triple>flare>transpose>foul>b3>t3>b4 rotation every minute, excluding your opener. that gives you an extra 260 potency fire spell in your AF cycle for free. since both cds are 1min, this will always line back up for you later on in the fight.

This is a cool idea, and I guess using Triplecast to shave 1.5s off Flare is stronger than using it to shave 0.9s off three Fires IV in a row.

Would it be better to go F3 proc, triplecast, F4 F4 Flare, transpose, foul, swiftcast B3, even though you have to clip a gcd with swiftcast’s animation? Also, I'm assuming this is only doable if you get a thundercloud proc or something, so that you can end rather than begin the preceding umbral cycle with a 0mp Foul cast?

[Ferrinus]

B4 is always a minimum of a neutral use, and borders on positive more than negative especially after the F4 buff, but the gains of it are still somewhat situational and it can just as easily be a loss. It doesn't matter if you can fit an extra F4 in if you don't have the time to do so. You are trading a GCD in Ice for an extra GCD in Fire.

If you end your umbral cycle with Thunder rather than B4, you might fail to get a mana tick before your F3 cast completes, and then you'll only have enough mp for four F4s (and a single F1). So B4's real utility is in protecting you from these bad mp regen ticks. In a way, it's like a spell that randomly gives you one or two extra F4s - or, put another way, you'll randomly be able to cast either four or five F4s, but B4 sets that number to six.

[Zerathor]

Would it be better to go F3 proc, triplecast, F4 F4 Flare, transpose, foul, swiftcast B3, even though you have to clip a gcd with swiftcast’s animation? Also, I'm assuming this is only doable if you get a thundercloud proc or something, so that you can end rather than begin the preceding umbral cycle with a 0mp Foul cast?

you can burn swift, but generally attempt to save swift for when you need to save yourself. triple is your dps increase, swift is your safety net. also if you press swiftcast after an instant cast that wont clip the gcd because its after an instant cast, so that wont be an issue if you really wanted to do that.

[zuzu-bq]

Bad's subjective.

Technically none of the jobs are bad. They're just inferior to other choices.

When something is inferior in most if not all possible cases and combinations, it's just objectively bad. And that's what people think of BLM. I do agree with your statement though.

On the B4 subject: It's a badly designed spell, yes. But it doesn't generate big issues unless you're pre 70. So It doesn't really need to be changed, even though it would be cool if it was.

[Kabooa]

When something is inferior in most if not all possible cases and combinations, it's just objectively bad. And that's what people think of BLM. I do agree with your statement though.

On the B4 subject: It's a badly designed spell, yes. But it doesn't generate big issues unless you're pre 70. So It doesn't really need to be changed, even though it would be cool if it was.

Personally I do kind of like it the way it is. If you're looking for MAXIMUM GAINS, it forces a level of engagement as it is now, as there are some cases where you -want to skip it-. Making it always good just means there's no thought in it.

I'd focus on making Blizzard 2 and Freeze useful. Something like:

Blizzard 2: Each enemy hit by Blizzard 2 increases Spellspeed by 5% for 6 seconds.

Freeze: Inflicts Shatter on target enemies, causing the next spell against them to critically strike.

[Shurrikhan]

Personally I do kind of like it the way it is. If you're looking for MAXIMUM GAINS, it forces a level of engagement as it is now, as there are some cases where you -want to skip it-. Making it always good just means there's no thought in it.

I'd focus on making Blizzard 2 and Freeze useful. Something like:

Blizzard 2: Each enemy hit by Blizzard 2 increases Spellspeed by 5% for 6 seconds.

Freeze: Inflicts Shatter on target enemies, causing the next spell against them to critically strike.

Seems a good starting point to me.

Heck, you could go a bit further an just make both mechanics universal bonuses to Ice spells, but with those two in particular, B2 and Freeze, capitalizing upon them.

Cause each Ice cast to generate Icy Veins* (name TBR) -- reducing spell recast times by 10% for the same number of casts, to a maximum of 4 stacks (40/30/20/10) or so, but not the cast time itself -- while reducing Blizzard to a 2-second cast and Blizzard 2 to a 1.5 second cast. That way you can spam cast it in order to rock up to a a 40% Attack Speed increase on Triple Cast when you swap back to Fire, reduce the uptime lost to Fire II's over-GCD cast times after 2 stacks, or have just fun chaincasting the hell out of Blizzard II itself, especially at lower levels.

Cause any Ice critical strike to cause Sublimation, causing the next Fire spell against them to critically strike. Make Freeze auto-crit.

[zuzu-bq]

Blizzard 2 and Freeze have a small niche. Very very small limited niche use. Making them more interesting would be very nice though.

[NewAgeDoom]

Just based on what I'm reading on this, is that BLM seems to have quite a few inherent flaws as a caster. But knowing that, is it a class you would recommend to a new player?