The Black Mage Rotations

[Youmu]

If you're not swiftcasting flares or squeezing in flare+proc bombs with your last 300 MP in ST rotation, you're doing it wrong.

[Theremita]

One person says Flare is AoE only unless it's very certain circumstances. Another says I'm doing it wrong if I don't use Flare in single target rotation. I'm still just as confused lol

[NeoAmon]

One person says Flare is AoE only unless it's very certain circumstances. Another says I'm doing it wrong if I don't use Flare in single target rotation. I'm still just as confused lol

Normally, Flare is for AoE rotation only. However that does not mean you should not use it when the opportunity present itself. Example, T5 fast conflag, when the targeted person is a healer & you have Fire III proc plus low mana go ahead and flare both Twin and the conflag after you use Fire 3 proc.

This is a very specific example and there is a reason to it. The logic behind it is that 3 DD players are damaging Conflag with you, you are also low on mana and can't spam Fire I/III but you can flare both Twin and conflag for no less than 1.2k or 1.9k if crit followed by Fire III proc which comes to grand total of 2.2k~-3.6k~. Conflag is only 10k-11k HP so you did your portion this way plus hit Twin for 1.2k at least. Nevertheless, having low mana for Conflag is bad practice, you should always aim to have enough mana before conflag without going easy on Twin just so you can save mana for Conflag. It is an art I believe and with experience it becomes natural.

Another specific example is T1. After the snakes split and your group is no longer feeding them. Ask for Foe, pop RS + Mega INT and do your normal Fire I rotation followed by double flare, if you do this correctly within 15 seconds, double flares alone can do 3.1k~-5k~ damage on a single snake.

[Ooshima]

Flare is kinda a subjective thing. Personally in ST rotation I just stick to Fire III > Fire spam, unless I messed it up and find myself low on MP the prolly I'll throw in the Flare.

[Pinworms]

What is everyone's thoughts on when to use swift cast in our standard rotation? I have seen some blm cast it to get blizzard 3 out faster to get back into fire. I have seen some use it for fire 1 during fire phase. Lastly, I have seen people use it to flare at the end of fire rotation (transpose seems like it would lower dd dunno).

Thoughts?

[NeoAmon]

Snip

Swiftcast is a short CD, even in a fight where you know you will need double flare you can still use it and have it ready for double flare. At the very beginning of the fight you can use it on Thunder II (III if you are under UI 3), even normal Fire I rotations or for Bliz III to be on UI 3 faster. I guess you can play around with it and learn when to use it best for each fight, after all no two end game fights are the same for BLM.

Convert is the one I would object using to extended Fire I rotation due to the long CD. Everyone have a derp moment no matter who they are, Convert is there to fix that IMHO. There is nothing worse than being stuck at AF 3 with less than 79 mana and Transpose failing hard. Rare occurrence but nevertheless, Convert should be guarded and used wisely.

[Pinworms]

Swiftcast is a short CD, even in a fight where you know you will need double flare you can still use it and have it ready for double flare. At the very beginning of the fight you can use it on Thunder II .....

Convert is the one I would object using to extended Fire I rotation due to the long CD. Everyone have ......

Yeah I save convert for the derp and double flares. So no one has really looked into number crunching or theory crafted when the best opertun time to use swift cast in a rotation is maybe?

[NeoAmon]

Yeah I save convert for the derp and double flares. So no one has really looked into number crunching or theory crafted when the best opertun time to use swift cast in a rotation is maybe?

I don't think that is needed or even possible. I used to have moments in certain fights that I would advice others to use Swiftcast but I was wrong. Each group PF/DF or static is different. The strats are different and even in the same exact fight with the same players won't always be the same. The best way to use it is based on your own judgement & experience. You will improve at it naturally, so long you are trying to time it you should be able to experience the wrong moment and the correct one for each situation. Even when you absolutely believe you got it right, someone else here on the forums will disagree. Does not mean either of you is wrong, but matter of perspective.

So yeah, all depends on what is happening on your screen and what is about to happen.

My 2 cents anyway .

[nota]

What is everyone's thoughts on when to use swift cast in our standard rotation? I have seen some blm cast it to get blizzard 3 out faster to get back into fire. I have seen some use it for fire 1 during fire phase. Lastly, I have seen people use it to flare at the end of fire rotation (transpose seems like it would lower dd dunno).

Thoughts?

I personally swiftcast flare on cd at the end of fire i spam. Priority towards lining it up with rs and int pot for single target or aoe segments,
although i use HQ mega-ether potions to flare for aoe instead of int pots

[Youmu]

Its fantastic when used with a thunder proc at the end of your rotation. Swiftcast>flare>transpose>proc>fire3 and back at full or 90% mana with Astral 3 up, almost no GCD losses. You can use it without the proc if you know you won't need for a double flare inside your next raging strikes, but with a thunder proc is when it sees its highest gains. A Fire3 proc works decently as well, but if you see a late tick coming occasionally you have to add a scathe or blizzard after transposing to ensure you regen full mana before fire3 casts, since you transpose about a second later using a fire3 proc after a flare.

Ask for Foe, pop RS + Mega INT and do your normal Fire I rotation followed by double flare, if you do this correctly within 15 seconds, double flares alone can do 3.1k~-5k~ damage on a single snake.

Pop mega int after two fire1 casts after raging strikes goes up, you end up with the 15 second int buff perfectly covering your double flare at the tail end of raging strikes (assuming you fire1 until RS/Int pot drops to 5-6 seconds). Otherwise it falls off moments too early. This is how you should go through all your RS rotations, imo, so long as your Int pot is off CD.