Mages: SMN vs. BLM vs. RDM

[Zerathor]

So I guess what I meant by saying “No Nukes” is that BLM hits harder but slower, whereas because of DoT ticks, SMN doesn’t hit as hard but it’s more frequent.

Also, I didn’t realize that’s how SMN player. In low level dungeons I feel like SMN was all about maintaining DoTs and filling with ruin, so I’ve never played SMN past level 41.

Is SMN honestly THAT micromanage-y when it comes to their pet? I honestly never bothered with managing my pet on SMN or SCH, but again, I’ve never even been close to end game.

Nah, I meant it how I said the first time. Blm is always chucking out high potency spells nonstop, with 3 gcds every 30 seconds being slightly lower (b3 b4 t3 if not a tc t3) so their damage is extremely steady. Smn however is mostly burst cds. Their bahamut, and dwt, and aetherflow fester weaves. Outside of that, the other 60% of the time they're just keeping dots up and spamming r3 waiting for more cds. This is why on opener you'll see a smn spike over 13k, then rapidly decay to 8k ish, where as a blm goes to 9k, and generally stays there until he messes up or the fight doesn't let him target the boss.

This is why you can die in a fight as a blm, and generally get right back up and keep going, but smn however... if you had bahamut ready and just popped aetherflow for all your bahamut weaves, but then die before using any of it.... not only does your smn die, but you your will to continue the fight does as well. Dying is bad no matter what of course, but you die on the inside if you die as smn.

[Grafeit]

Haha, I think you misunderstood me. I was correcting what I said, not what you said.

Also...I didn’t consider the drop in DPS if a SMN dies..ouch! I suddenly feel depressed on behalf of every SMN that has happened to.

[Zerathor]

Ah, I did misread that a bit.

Also important to note the types of fight can favor certain casters more. If you need a ranged dps to do a baiting mechanic with extended movement (more than 5 gcds) a smn does much better with this. If a fight allows 100% uptime, blm can carry a ton of damage. If a fight has a lot of breaks and downtime, smn can deal a lot of damage due to having their burst cds available when the boss is targetable, and using the downtime to let cds refresh.

Rdm seems like it's pretty viable about everywhere, especially since their recent damage buff. They won't out damage either typically, but it has strong recovery potential for progression, and it's damage isn't too far behind when done correctly.

Generally though, there's no fight a smn is bad at. A smn can excel in any fight or at least do well. You just have to line up burst with party buffs, and know when to sometimes burn your burst early if a phase change will happen.

Blm is strong, but you have to be very good at it to really reap the benefits of it. Blm will be the most difficult to truly maximize due to its playstyle requiring slidecasting, and very few optimal ogcd weave points. But when you get it there, it feels amazing. You will find unique ways to do fights if it means you get to stand still even a little bit longer, and for some fights it could be taking a lot of risks.

I don't have experience on rdm, but I know a lot of people who do it well. From what they say, it's by far the easiest to pick up and do well with. Cast times are short, simple rotation, but still has room for optimization. Just don't back flip into walls, lol.

[Neela]

or off cliffs ;p

[Grafeit]

Haha, I think you misunderstood me. I was correcting what I said, not what you said.

Also...I didn’t consider the drop in DPS if a SMN dies..ouch! I suddenly feel depressed on behalf of every SMN that has happened to.

[Raikai]

I'm so torn about RDM and BLM...

I'm a very casual player not into serious raiding or anything, but I wonder in Light party content, which fares better in the long run...

[Karshan]

SMN has plenty of nukes.

Every ~60s you get 3x Fester via Aetherflow -> full Aethertrail Attunement, allowing Dreadwyrm Trance (instant ruin III and refresh tri disaster plus damage buff while in DWT), ending with Death Flare. After two dreadwyrm trances you have two dreadwyrm aether, allowing you to summon Bahamut, giving you two Akh Morns plus multiple wyrmwaves. It is highly recommended to hold Bahamut until you have Aetherflow ready to use Fester along other ogcds and ruin II to max out the wyrmwave casts.

Fester - 300 pot
Deathflare - 400 pot
Akh Morn - 680 pot

It seems trivial compared to BLM's 540 effective potency on Fire IV and Enochian damage buff at first, but SMN's dots, ruin fillers, pet damage and ogcd bursts add up really fast, especially burst wise.

680 is pet potency though, Akh Morn is actually 550 to compare with other spells (80%)

[Zerathor]

I'm so torn about RDM and BLM...

I'm a very casual player not into serious raiding or anything, but I wonder in Light party content, which fares better in the long run...

You may prefer rdm then. From everyone I know that plays it, (even people who don't like playing casters) they've picked it up fast and found it pretty fun. If you're interested in things like palace of the dead ect, rdm is also the king of that kind of content.

I personally enjoy blm, but in various games I've played the turret caster type of role, so i'm used to it. It will feel like a different playstyle than the other roles in this game. In 4 man dungeons, blm will do substantially more damage than rdm due to their level 70 aoe rotation being very potent and not too reliant on cooldowns. You do however need to keep transposing between pulls to keep building your fouls, and be careful to not lose enochian.

[Grafeit]

I can chime in here! RDM is VERY user friendly. The rotation is simple, and it hits hard and fast.

I am not normally a fan of cast timers, BLM is rough to play for me because timers are too slow, SMN doesn’t hit hard early game with its instant abilities. RDM has Jolt (fast casting ability) followed by veraero/verthunder which are cast instantly due to Dualcast. Eventually you’ll jump in and use your melee Combo, and then jump out and cast again. It’s a very fast caster!

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

680 is pet potency though, Akh Morn is actually 550 to compare with other spells (80%)

Interesting to know. Thanks for the info.