Are Blizzard II, and Freeze useful at all?

[Ursa_Vonfiebryd]

They should retool Blizzard II to be like Miasma II. Instant AoE low damage. Useful when mobs have the l Aast 5% HP left or so, and it wouldn't cancel AF. Freeze should be BLM's Shadow Flare/Doton ground-targetted oGCD DoT...or maybe they can't do this because it would mean BLM would have 2 targeted ground AoEs with Freeze and Leylines, and I know SCH can only have Sacred Soil OR Shadow Flare... Perhaps they can make Freeze into the ice version of Flare but doesn't consume all MP, instead it gives you Umbral Ice 4 or something.

I've always thought that Freeze should work like it does for enemies, and be a puddle that gives freeze debuff stacks, eventually ending in Frozen at 5 stacks. That'd make it so OP. I really like your ice flare idea though. God that'd be BEASTLY.

Now I'm curious to see if Freeze and B2 can be worked into a viable rotation. I'll poke around with it after work.

[Tlachtga]

-.-/ right only people who know the job properly and know when to use it find it useful. it's fun to see people run around, specially blm's who think they know their job, disregard it as they get killed do to mobs which could of been avoided if they knew how or what bind even means.

They are not meant for DMG, they are meant for support during tight spots when tanks fail or hate control is needed. Specially if sleep is being resisted.

Short answer; yes it's useful IF you know when and how it's meant to be used.

Long answer; only someone who depends on others for survival would find it useless. ( no offense , it's just a logical and realistic answer. )

The spells are useless. Especially since SB gave BLM aoe thunder. there's literally zero reason to even have these on the hotbar. The potency is piss poor and unlike Astral Fire, Umbral Ice does not increase potency of ice spells.

Stop misleading the OP with bad information.

[Ursa_Vonfiebryd]

The spells are useless. Especially since SB gave BLM aoe thunder. there's literally zero reason to even have these on the hotbar. The potency is piss poor and unlike Astral Fire, Umbral Ice does not increase potency of ice spells.

Stop misleading the OP with bad information.

The OP asked if these spells were useful. They aren't for SB instanced content, sure but can still be useful for World Map, PvP, Eureka and the occasional ARR dungeon if you end up getting one in leveling. Maybe its more that they HAVE a use more than being actually useful but we're just trying to make sure the OP can make an informed decision. But yes. From an optimized BLM standpoint, you'll never use these ever.

Also BLM already had AOE thunder. That's T2. Its just that no one ever used that either. T4 is what we always wanted T2 to be.

Edit: Nope. This is a SB thing. Still better than ice tho, as Tlach says. T-T

[Zerathor]

Also BLM already had AOE thunder. That's T2. Its just that no one ever used that either. T4 is what we always wanted T2 to be.

We only got aoe thunder in stormblood. Prior to that, 1, 2, and 3 were different cast times, dot length, and potency, and you mostly only t3'd on a proc due to its cast time. All single target.

[Tlachtga]

The OP asked if these spells were useful. They aren't for SB instanced content, sure but can still be useful for World Map, PvP, Eureka and the occasional ARR dungeon if you end up getting one in leveling. Maybe its more that they HAVE a use more than being actually useful but we're just trying to make sure the OP can make an informed decision. But yes. From an optimized BLM standpoint, you'll never use these ever.

Also BLM already had AOE thunder. That's T2. Its just that no one ever used that either. T4 is what we always wanted T2 to be.

CC is largely pointless in PVE when you can just kill stuff faster.

Also, BLM never had AOE Thunder in HW.

[Ursa_Vonfiebryd]

My bad. I was just thinking that was might not be right. In HW, I always used T1 to proc but assumed all the level 2 spells were aoe. Cheerfully redacted.

[Finkledoodoo]

Ok, blm tips, here we go.

If you are having trouble during your aoe rotation, just cast thunder 4 after fire 3...

For raids you don't use freeze or b2.

To use freeze, make a macro that casts freeze at the ground of your target...

For daily runs, you want to use freeze when the mobs are dying. Basically, you get your hearts stacks for next pull and just finish off the mobs with freeze. Once you've done the experts (and older daily runs) enough times, you'll know when it's not worth it to flare because mob deaths...

Blizzard 2 is fine for when you pull rip hate. Pop a blizzard 2, Am to the tank, freeze then pop lucid dreaming... Your tank is probably new or something, so just single rotation whatever the tank is fighting...

Use break when you are low lvl and have to transpose into umbra ice with no mp...

You can also sneak in a break after a flare transpose if you don't have polygon or thunder cloud.

[ManuelBravo]

The spells are useless. Especially since SB gave BLM aoe thunder. there's literally zero reason to even have these on the hotbar. The potency is piss poor and unlike Astral Fire, Umbral Ice does not increase potency of ice spells.

Stop misleading the OP with bad information.

Sigh apparently you missed the whole point. Blizzard two and Freeze are NOT meant to be DMG out put they are meant as support spells to help BLM stay alive by binding mobs. when certain situations occur where sleep may be resisted or failing. Depending on how well you use spells they can help the party last longer. There are three types of BLM's

Ignorant; People who think they they can play BLM; nothing but DPS, ignore mechanics, refuse to interrupt spells, depend on others for survival, and disregard simple mechanics.

Tactical Gauge their party and understand that survival is crucial, understand that based on party they can help in more than one way and not make job harder. However takes time to understand all of their functions a bit too cautions.

Veteran Understands his role and knows how to read and predict actions for both party members and mobs. Can control enmity and assist healers by using sub actions. Can help BIND and SLEEP uncontrolled mobs that may be after healers or others. Key word. UNDERSTANDS his role properly.

Everyone is free to play any style they like , however a dead BLM is nothing but a useless mage that only sucks up MP from healers. Ironic that intelligence is a must for a BLM when many players lack common sense. By all means this is NOT meant to insult or attack anyone, it is proof to point out that many BLM's are dead on the field do to lack of knowledge and understanding of their support spells.

NOTE; Aoe Thunders is a nice dot for mobs, however your missing the whole point about Blizzard II and Freeze. LEARN TO READ AND TOUCH UP ON YOUR COMPREHENSION SKILLS. IF this is misleading information back up your statement on how this is misleading information by actual facts or logical examples, not empty arguments that have nothing to do with the fact that a statement was made that Blizzard II and Freeze are NOT meant for dmg, yet emphasize your argument and compare them to dmg.

[Rongway]

Freeze actually has a secondary derp purpose that I'm not sure people are aware of. If for some reason you are locked out of the boss room--so long as the boss is within targeting range, you can damage it beyond the barrier with freeze. Or at least you could. Last time I used it was when everyone in the party died in Hell's Lid except our tank (this was back when it was one of the new dungeons), and when it became obvious that she was going to try and finish the boss I respawned and just cast freeze over and over. Mostly as a joke until she tanked him close enough that I could hit him. The damage was extremely incidental but she was amazing and got thru it, mostly just using everything she had at her disposal. They may have patched it, but I doubt it. It's... just pure derp. There's no way anyone could abuse it. LOL.

You have to have line of sight to hit a mob, even with AoE. The arena barrier interferes with line of sight, so even though you might be able to place the AoE inside the arena or center it on a target inside the arena (e.g., /ac Freeze <t>) it won't hit anything.

[Rongway]

Can help BIND and SLEEP uncontrolled mobs that may be after healers or others. Key word. UNDERSTANDS his role properly.[/B]

This isn't a realistic scenario in a party. If mobs are going after a healer, the healer should stand next to the tank so the tank can Flash/equivalent it off. DDs, BLMs especially, should be AoEing, which will break bind and sleep. Bind and sleep are not useful in a complete party, and any competent DD knows that spending GCDs on bind and sleep is just unnecessarily prolonging a run. If the tank or healer disconnects, fine, use CC so you can still kill things while they reconnect. But if everyone's there, every GCD should be a spent on a death spell.