Fire/Fire II/Fire III?

[Michelasso]

Yesterday in the lvl 32 dungeon I've been told that Fire II isn't good, because too weak. But I was actually always using it only on at least two (weak) enemies, which is what AoE is for after all. So I also started to wonder if at that BML level (35-ish) Fire III is better than Fire. Which really gives more DPS? Do the BLM around here have any suggestion?

[azethoth]

fire III is stronger but consimes twice the mana and a second longer on the cast. Fire III also does a complete swap to ...fire III from either 0 or ...ice III. I forget the stance names for each astral umbral.

I will say that fire II is kinda useless but not so useless as to avoid using it all together.

[ajx]

Fire 3 is just an opener . At level 44 u get firestarter (40% chance when casting fire 1 for fire 3 to be instant cast with no mana cost)

So at 44 our rotation is fire 3 (opener) then fire 1 until firestarter procs ( fire 3 no mana) .

Fire 2 is our aoe attack only only to be used in aoe packs

[Michelasso]

Ok, thanks. So let me understand. Would be a good move to switch straight from Ice to Fire III and then use only Fire I?

Regarding Fire II, does that applies to aoe packs in dungeons as well? Or maybe when I a party I'll forget about it all together. There is always the chance that the healer may sleep them.

[KuroKona]

It's better to just forget about Fire II if you're not certain that your party wants to aoe down the mobs. Taking too much aggro as black mage in later dungeons is a death sentence.

Just like it was mentioned before Fire III will be used to give you 3 stacks of Astral Fire and to deal high damage when Firestarter activates (instant cast of fire 3 with no mp cost).
Also, when you've got 3 stacks of Umbral Ice, Fire III will have a shorter cast and lower mp cost (same for blizzard 3 with 3 stacks of Astral Fire).

Anyway, it's best to learn the basic rotation and just use it. Here's one for level 40, once you get Magick And Mend II trait:
Thunder II - Fire III - Fire I (until you're running out of mana) - Blizzard III - Thunder II - Fire III - Fire I

There's obviously more to it, since you will also want to add Raging Strikes and swiftcasted Flare (with Conversion after it), and maybe change Thunder II to Thunder III later on, but all in due time

[SugarPeanut]

Yea I hardly use fire 2. In situations where I DO get to AOE ( like copperbell mines goo boss fight ) I use blizzard aoe. in FATES I use blizzard aoe also. Fire 2 will drain ur mp pretty fast and I think it takes longer to cast @_@ im not quite 44 yet so I don't have firestarter so atm im just bouncing between blizzard 3 and fire 3 ( cuz switching umbral ice and fire back and forth makes my next cast faster ) after I dot it up and sleep the adds xD

[Daeva]

Fire II is useful on the malboro boss in Aurum Vale if the tank keeps him in the middle of the seeds it sprouts. You can save a lot of time just spamming it 2 or 3 times to finish them off.

The standard rotation I use is Thunder II /III , (Swiftcast if available) Blizzard III, Fire III , Fire III, Fire I till about 1 cast left (use Firestarter procs when convenient) Blizzard III , Blizzard III. Then repeat pending on the situation. If its trash mobs then I'll throw a sleep in after the first Blizzard III. There is a hidden spell speed boost going from Umbral Ice III to Astral fire III and vica versa which seems to last for two casts if you are fast enough so you can spit out Fire III twice in no time coming from Umbral Ice III and same with Blizzard III coming from Astral fire III ( if you have the mp to cast it again after the first Blizzard III)

[Michelasso]

Thanks everyone… So there is even the hidden spell speed boost. I am still using Transpose, since I don't have Blizzard III yet. My current rotation is (Transpose if needed)/Thunder II/Fire III and then Fire III or I. I guess I will use Fire III only as an opener.

Stupid question but I can't sill figure it out: how do I use the combo?? I mean, when Thunder gets a "rotating" square. When is it the right time to cast it? With my lag it is hard to identify when I am casting what.

[KuroKona]

I guess that you mean when Thundercloud activates, eh?
Thundercloud, just like Firestarter for fire, is a skill that that allows you to instant cast any Thunder for 0 mp (always use the highest level of Thunder available for it) with initial damage boosted by its full damage over time.

It's best to use it as soon as possible, since it's active only for a short time. Also the damage remains the same, no matter if you've got stacks of Umbral Ice or Astral Fire, so there's no reason to wait with it.

[Michelasso]

Ow… so it isn't a combo. I may have got confused, because I played marauder in the beta. So I get to cast it at 0 mp but I still have to wait for the recast time, correct? Now it would make sense, that is what I was perceiving. I should spend an hour and check back the ingame help. Oh well, that's what the Internet is for after all, isn't it? ^_^