When do the training wheels come off?

[Rivxkobe]

Decent gear - when you are low level, spamming dungeons, you can often move up several levels and discover your gear is less than optimal, but sufficient anyway, you just move on.

Are you seriously saying I should spam something like the vault until I upgrade all my gear, and only then move onto great gubal library?

No one does this - you spam the vault a couple times to reach level 58, then you spam library, and whatever gear you get along the way is bonus.

You also do this because you are clearing the dungeon rather than wiping, so the gear equipped is sufficient, meaning there's little incentive for seeking out much better gear.

I'm going to state this once.

Please read it carefully:

Doing the MSQ and Class/Job Quests gives you equipment. There is no reason, beyond being neglectful, that anyone doing ARR should end up going into a dungeon/trial with equipment more than (a lenient) 10 levels below the dungeon's/Trial's level. Not only that but equipment is insanely cheap to purchase from stores if you are THAT hard up for a piece of equipment. This all excludes Accessories because they don't actually matter much while leveling.

Also, you aren't wiping because the other players are carrying you.

[Forever_Learning]

I'm going to state this once.

Please read it carefully:

Doing the MSQ and Class/Job Quests gives you equipment. There is no reason, beyond being neglectful, that anyone doing ARR should end up going into a dungeon/trial with equipment more than (a lenient) 10 levels below the dungeon's/Trial's level. Not only that but equipment is insanely cheap to purchase from stores if you are THAT hard up for a piece of equipment. This all excludes Accessories because they don't actually matter much while leveling.

Also, you aren't wiping because the other players are carrying you.

You're moving the goalposts here. The tank in question was using a level 15 shield in a level 44 instance, not gear from the previous dungeon. There is no excuse besides deliberate laziness for using gear that is almost 30 levels too low.

Having full poetics gear isn't comparable to having a mix of +10 levels under gear that's a mix of caster/DPS/tank gear for a 4 man trial.

I'm going to state this once.

Please read it carefully:

Doing the MSQ and Class/Job Quests gives you equipment. There is no reason, beyond being neglectful, that anyone doing ARR should end up going into a dungeon/trial with equipment more than (a lenient) 10 levels below the dungeon's/Trial's level. Not only that but equipment is insanely cheap to purchase from stores if you are THAT hard up for a piece of equipment. This all excludes Accessories because they don't actually matter much while leveling.

Also, you aren't wiping because the other players are carrying you.

I think this comment was directed personally at me, but I buy poetics gear and gear from NPC vendors to ensure I don’t stay behind. But I also remember making mistakes a few months ago that were silly, but it was because I was returning to the game rather than being dumb and lazy. My beef is that people in the past tended to always just assume I’m dumb and lazy if I do something wrong while simultaneously never explaining to me what I did wrong.

I find that the only reasons for people being in this situation is ignorance of how poorly the Recommended Gear button is implemented at low levels or how different stats affect them (in which case, elucidation of the feature is required), ignorance of the fact that they can get acceptable gear from a vendor (prompting a quick pointer to what vendor sells gear they can use; or if I'm feeling generous, a free, full HQ set for their job when the duty is finished that'll be good to last them 10 levels), or just outright laziness (which is not an acceptable excuse).

The recommended gear button is very appealing and I don’t think it’s a coincidence we’re discussing a level 44 tank. Yelling at that person, kicking them, isn’t going to help them realize the limitations of the recommended gear button.
When someone doesn’t have their stone, ask them if they are aware they don’t have their stone equipped. It’s quite possible they don’t realize the recommended gear button doesn’t always equip the stone and could be standing there as confused as you are.

For example, I once healed a dungeon where the tank wasn’t using grit, and this was a HW dungeon. I could have yelled at the tank, tried to initiate a kick, but instead I simply said “Are you aware you don’t have grit on?” – one second later, it was on and never left.

I find it’s more useful to interact with the other player rather than simply assuming they are dumb, lazy, and nothing will change no matter is said. Some people are just new, but willing to work, or they don’t realize they forgot to do something they normally do.

[Lmcgyver]

I find that the only reasons for people being in this situation is ignorance of how poorly the Recommended Gear button is implemented at low levels or how different stats affect them (in which case, elucidation of the feature is required), ignorance of the fact that they can get acceptable gear from a vendor (prompting a quick pointer to what vendor sells gear they can use; or if I'm feeling generous, a free, full HQ set for their job when the duty is finished that'll be good to last them 10 levels), or just outright laziness (which is not an acceptable excuse).

The recommended gear button is very appealing and I don’t think it’s a coincidence we’re discussing a level 44 tank. Yelling at that person, kicking them, isn’t going to help them realize the limitations of the recommended gear button.
For example, I once healed a dungeon where the tank wasn’t using grit, and this was a HW dungeon. I could have yelled at the tank, tried to initiate a kick, but instead I simply said “Are you aware you don’t have grit on?” – one second later, it was on and never left.
I find it’s more useful to interact with the other player rather than simply assuming they are dumb, lazy, and nothing will change no matter is said. Some people are just new, but willing to work, or they don’t realize they forgot to do something they normally do.

I'm not sure where all this talk of yelling/kicking etc. came from. I never assume a player is "dumb/lazy/unable to change" (at least, not until all other possibilities are exhausted), and do, in fact, quite often reach out when I see someone who may be in need of help. I am well aware of the appeal of the Recommended Gear button and how much of a trap it is, hence being ready and willing to explain to the player in question the pitfalls of the system. I can definitely agree that yelling at and/or kicking a player is neither a helpful nor constructive avenue for player growth.

I’m not attacking and is genuinely trying to get info on BLM. What exactly do BLM spam for aoe? I usually spam fire 2 while weaving in lightning, foul and then flare at the end and switch to freeze spam, while refreshing lighting and foul. So what do you guys do if not use fire 2?

I believe, from level 68, it's generally along the lines of Freeze > Thunder IV > Fire III > Flare > Flare > Transpose (skip if 72+) > Freeze > etc.. That being said, I'm not well versed in the ShB BLM AoE rotation; I know it doesn't use Fire II or Blizzard II though.

[AngeliouxRein]

I believe, from level 68, it's generally along the lines of Freeze > Thunder IV > Fire III > Flare > Flare > Transpose (skip if 72+) > Freeze > etc.. That being said, I'm not well versed in the ShB BLM AoE rotation; I know it doesn't use Fire II or Blizzard II though.

Wait..we can flare twice? Hm...I need to experiment. I was starting to have a sneaking thought on maybe I should use freeze more since it feels like it goes off faster but I wasn’t sure. Thanks!

[Lmcgyver]

Wait..we can flare twice? Hm...I need to experiment. I was starting to have a sneaking thought on maybe I should use freeze more since it feels like it goes off faster but I wasn’t sure. Thanks!

Starting from level 68, a Flare with any Umbral Hearts consumes them to leave enough MP for a second Flare (provided you had at least 2,400 MP); so yes, you can Flare twice.

[AngeliouxRein]

Starting from level 68, a Flare with any Umbral Hearts consumes them to leave enough MP for a second Flare (provided you had at least 2,400 MP); so yes, you can Flare twice.

MP, there’s my issue...by the time I would use flare I was usually completely out of mp. Yup, I got some practicing to do with trust...

[Lmcgyver]

MP, there’s my issue...by the time I would use flare I was usually completely out of mp. Yup, I got some practicing to do with trust...

Unlikely. It's far more likely that you used up your Umbral Heart (or hearts, plural; you say you used Freeze multiple times?). One of BLM's level 68 traits reduces the cost of Flare by 1/3rd when under the effect of Umbral Heart, and completely removes the status when cast. As a result, using Freeze once will be sufficient to use two Flares so long as you cast no other Fire spells in Astral Fire - one MP tick under Umbral Ice III is more than sufficient to cover the MP cost.