BLM DPS

[Leiron]

People always underestimate how mobile BLM actually is, between Triplecast, Swiftcast, 2 Sharpcasts, 2 Xenoglossy and at least 1 Ice Paradox, per minute, that is already 9 casts per minute that are instant cast (the actual is higher as an FYI) and this is ignoring Amplifier every 2 minutes, Fire 3 and Blizzard 3 have very short casts that allow for extra mobility there, you also have Aetherial Manipulation to instantly take you to someone else and Between the Lines to go back to your Ley Lines. So, when played right, BLM is very mobile, more mobile than many people give it credit for.
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People also forget, however that these abilities are used to manage points where the BLM is forced to be mobile, thereby costing potential damage.
This is due to Fire IV and other spells being longer than the gcd.
So using leylines with your insta casts provides a DPS gain overall. The problem becomes that unlike some classes where you pop these abilities for an increase they are used more for utility to make up for mobile moments that melee does not have to necessarily factor due to instacasta.

Its why people view BLM needing an exception to the rule. Leylines being the only true dps buff because you are constantly sparing your insta cast abilities for the sake of mobility rather than a gain.

Granted I have no stake in it but I do wish to point out the instacasts ideally would be used for that damage in a less mobile fight.

[Mikey_R]

People also forget, however that these abilities are used to manage points where the BLM is forced to be mobile, thereby costing potential damage.

Whilst it is a potential loss i a vacuum, when you put it into practice, it isn't. If you have the choice of using Triplecast for Fire 4 and are forced to move later, or, not using it on Fire 4 and having to use it for movement later, which one are you going to pick? In the first instance, moving whilst not casting is going to cost you alot more potency than using the Triplecast for movement, which means the potential damage is higher to use it for movement when you can.

As a bit of additional info, you can work out the potency lost per second between one or the other. Fire 4 under AF4 is 496 potency (IIRC, AF is a 60% boost), so, comparing the potency between hardcast and swiftcast, you get the following:

Hard : ~177.14
Swift: 198.4

This gives a potency difference of ~21.26 potency per second per GCD. In the grand scheme of things, that isn't alot, not to say it isn't important. However, melee do also have concerns about uptime as well. If they cannot attack a boss, just with Auto Attacks, there is a potential loss of 143 potency, or about 62.26 potency per Auto Attack lost (SAM specifically), not to mention any potential losses from having to use a ranged attack, which pushes your rotation back by a GCD.

All this to say, yes, you can say, in a vacuum, one thing is higher potency than another, however, once you put these things into an actual fight scenario, you might find the damage potential between the 2 options shifts. This isn't as easy as just looking at that specific case in a specific part of the fight, you have to look at the areas around as well to determine, or at least try to make an educated guess, as to which option is better. This is the case with all jobs, some more than others.

Now, the conversation could continue about how easy a jobs rotation is compared to the amount of adaptability they need to consider but at the end of the day, these things aren't easily quantifiable. What is easy for one person is going to be hard for someone else, so, is it really a good metric to base DPS around? Should the theoretically easiest job have the lowest DPS, or should it be balanced around the slot it intends to fill? And that is the important point.