Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Komaru_Tatoro]

youre right on the pps for flaring 2 adds. it just alot of time when i do get 2 enenmy left, they are usaully low hp around that time and proabably my swift or triple is on cd or i just want to save it for the next set of full hp big mob pull and also the other dam dps kills it before my long cast flare goes off *makes a fist* lol.
the flare longcast sometime equated to overkill dmg. thus why most of the time i tend to just f4 the remaining health when its 2mob.

i guess it does help that my current meld is the 1050sps meld. i trade speed with bigger numbers :P

[Finkledoodoo]

It's better to just bring this thread back than start a new one since this is such a great thread anyway. I got a couple of questions for the blm experts of the site.

1. In 4.4, what stats from melding am I looking for in term of highest potential damage for the 380 HQ crafted gear? My preference is doing more stuff, so if casting faster and having more potent casts have the same DPS, I'd rather cast faster...

2. Has there been a definitive answer on which is best to worst (crit, DH and det)?

3. Should I save my TC and SC for when I have to move or is holding on to them such a DPS loss that I should simply git gud?

4. What is the best strat for DPSing during gaze attacks? I get hit a lot because I can't tell when the cast is actually going off due to internet connection. On good days I never get hit, on bad days I eat them all. Should I save my TC for those? Should I just take the DPS loss and wait?

5. Are there any advanced, non-standard rotations that I could use to improve my DPS?

6. If I'm in the middle of a cast and I have to move, what's the best course of action? I like to run and scathe, but is there a better way? I was toying with the idea of SC into the intended rotation, but I always lose a GCD. Is that the correct option: I scathe into the SC then continue the rot from next cast there (basically treating the scathe as the substitute action)? Not really sure of the optimal course of action for uptime in this situation...

7. During AOE (for 2-8 trash), there isn't enough time for (Transpose - UI 0mp) Foul, T4, B3, F3 without some type of TC, SC or LL. What should I do? I like to use those for flare, but LL overlaps, so LL is not a problem... Perhaps once I'm geared and melded this may not be a problem, but in the meantime, what's the best course of action?

[Ursa_Vonfiebryd]

I was reading the first page of this post and got huge nostalgia like whoa (RIP Raging Strikes). Anyway, I BLM main (started FF14 in HW) and I'd like to add my two-cents before people who know the actual math start posting numbers and my brain shuts off.


1) It really depends on what you're comfortable with, but since speed is the BLM's major drawback Quicktongue is my main meld. Then Crit and a light smattering of the other two. In all honestly you'll likely only really see a difference with your main/heaviest meld (my ALT who has no melds crits out so high I can't even understand it) but unless you're going for a specific build then Spell Speed and Crit are your easiest go-to since they address a fundamental drawback and add damage weight without having to really micromanage it.

2) Short answer is no. Determination got a buff so it's better than it was, and Direct Hit is what we got when we got rid of Accuracy. However, everything that I read about Direct Hit makes it sound like a soft Crit. Determination is a guaranteed buff but as to it's overall effectiveness, you'll get mixed reviews. Just remember that Spell Speed also buffs your DoT tics so lightning can be more melty (it's sad that's our only DoT but Lightning 4 is so so good). Hopefully some one can give you some better advice here (but this is why I go SS>Crit>everything else).

3) If you know there's a situation coming that you need to move then by all means hang on to it, but certainly don't save it just for that. You're better off doing a slide-cast or a variation of a sharpcast/swiftcast/thunder 3 into a proc and letting the tics do damage while you move (throwing out the next thunder when the other goes out). Triple cast is better if you have it. I've gotten at least 3 blasts of Fire 4 on Construct 7 during his big aoe spin using it. If nothing else, then Scathe but Thunder is better IMO because it gives you a few seconds of damage while you get to where you need to go.


4) Generally you are safe as long as you're not targeting/facing when the eye disappears. If you're having problems because of internet lag and you can't get a thunder in before the gaze goes off then I'd eat the wait time. You'll waste more time if you get hit by it. Just saying.


5) Yes. There was a really good one on Reddit with multiple opener options, though without posting your rotation I can't compare. Goal is to get 6 Fire 4's out before you have to shift back into UI? I tend to adjust as needed. But I'm no where close to top tier. And I like to have fun with it. Today I wanted to do triple-Flare on a mob but Triplecast was on CD. Due to some fortuitous Polyglot timers I was able to layer two Fouls into it. Damn I felt like a boss.


6) Try to slidecast? Usually you want to pick up the rotation where you left off but whatever you do, just try to keep your Polyglot up. Sometimes I have to do an emergency Transpose into UI and do Ice 4 to get my hearts back up. You can do this with one tic of UI and go right back to Fire spam. Using triple-cast in this situation will help if you have it off CD.


7) Ehhh. This is going to sound crazy but I don't use LL with my aoe rotation because I have yet to get the timing right. Doing it without makes it almost perfectly timed to give you just enough mp for 2 fire 2s in between each flare. Mix in Foul and T4 as needed. If there's a better rotation for aoe than the old one I haven't seen it. I'm curious to see what other people say.


Anyway. That's my two cents. Hope you got something out of it. <3

[Zerathor]

1- get to a sps value you are comfortable with, then strait crit and DH.

2- sps crit and dh are all relatively close in value to your output. Find casting speed you're comfortable with, then going for high crit with a decent ammount of dh is the best course of action. Det is the worst for blm. Det isn't horrible, it's only slightly less valuable than sps/crit/dh, but it is the least valuable substat to you.

3- hold a tc if you know for a fact you will be moving within the next 5 seconds, but typically spend it when convenient, and use sharp off cd weaving after b3/f3/instant cast to minimize clipping, except in very rare scenarios where you know you will need 5 gcds of movement ( triple swift and sharp.)

4- an instant cast like a tc is good for a gaze attack as it adds your gcd as a safety margin while looking away, and not losing uptime. But generally not worth clipping an ogcd like triple swift or sharp to obtain that instant cast, unless you're extremely uncomfortable with your timing. Clipping an ogcd loses you about 0.75 seconds.

5- there used to be, but with how low sps values are in this tier, and since f4 was buffed, not so much anymore. Just standard 6 f4s each astral fire.

6- figure out if you can finish said cast, and slide cast it if you can. Depending on how far you have to move, aether manipulation may be a good option, even if it's clipped.

7- b3 t4 b4 f3 flare flare transpose foul b4 f3 flare flare.
With cds, you can add triple cast to the flares, or convert after 2nd flare to triple flare. This will generally be enough for any aoe scenario. Also, only do aoe rotation for 4+ targets. 3 or less, it's better to just f4 spam one target. If you want to get fancy on 3 targets you can b3 t4 b4 f3 sharp f4x3 f1 f4x3, f3p, triple, flare, transpose foul, b3.

[Maero]

Wow this thread brought back to life, lol

[Kabooa]

It's better to just bring this thread back than start a new one since this is such a great thread anyway. I got a couple of questions for the blm experts of the site.

1. Black mage secondaries are basically the same weight, or close enough that personal performance will outweight stat choice. In general: Spellspeed is better when there are less interrupts and more uptime, Crit/DH is better when you're dealing with high movement phases (More value per GCD, GCD takes longer), and Det is your icing on whatever set up you're going for.

2. Crit is best at end tier of the three listed. Spell Speed is theoretically better, but we'll never get enough to hit those breakpoints.

3. Everything about Black Mage is a flow chart. if you have to move within the allotted time of a FS/TC, it's better to save it for that. You can't guarantee another one without Sharp Cast, and if you need Swift/Triple for something else. Moving during UI is the ideal time, so long as you get T3 up it's not as bad to lose GCDs for moving.

4. Use Swift Cast, Procs, or Triple to roll your GCD if they're not needed while facing away. At lower spellspeed values you can do a "Turn cast". If you know your current cast won't finish before you'd have to turn, just wait, start your cast to time it so it will finish shortly after the Gaze goes out, face away, then turn around to complete the cast when it would. I can't speak for controllers but this is a simple maneuver on mouse /keyboard.

5. Knowing when to not do B4 instead of going straight back into AF is a gain if you know you can't fit in 6 more F4s before some mechanic would force you off, such as a transition. Not only would B4 be wasted, but it's also lower potency than shoving another F4 in its place.

6. Figure out the timings. There's quite a few mechanics you can afford to finish the cast and still move. Remove scathe from your bar entirely. It's not a "well at least I got scathe", it's admitting that you screwed up hard.

7. Transpose again. B4, T4, Foul, transpose, F3. There is no difference here in larger AoE pulls. It's still F3 -> Flare -> Flare.

[Rongway]

It's better to just bring this thread back than start a new one

It's really not. Yeah, there's good information in this thread. There's also a lot of old information and a lot of asides. And three hundred pages to sift through before getting to modern BLMing. It's better to start a new thread with more recent and more concise advice.

[Shiroe]

dunno, but the 380 blm overmeld weapon seems better than the 390 (maybe even 400??) blm weapon

got lucky with a drop and got the 390 blm weapon, but it feels weaker than the 380 overmeld (or 385 Susako)

anyone else feel the same? (I cant pars to fully compare them, 390 just "feels" weaker)

[Zerathor]

dunno, but the 380 blm overmeld weapon seems better than the 390 (maybe even 400??) blm weapon

got lucky with a drop and got the 390 blm weapon, but it feels weaker than the 380 overmeld (or 385 Susako)

The weapon damage and int out class the substats

[Shiroe]

The weapon damage and int out class the substats

I know 390 should be better for those reasons, but it does not feel like that.

(and 300 crit on the 380 weapon is a lot too, the 2500 crit threshold with food is overreached with the 380.., I hit a bit over 2700 crit with food atm with 380.., with weapon 390 "only" about 2400 crti)

has anyone actually tried / compared both with parsers? (also breaking the 2500 threshold with 380, but not with the 390?)