BLM Rotation

[Mhaeric]

I'm a newer BLM, 2nd job, anyways just wanted to see if I can do any better. As of right now for single target I do Fire 3, then Fire until I'm down on MP then Blizz 3, Lightning 3 then back to fire 3 -> fire (using the instant free fire3 when up). Multiple targets I'm not sure what's best, fire 3 to fire 2s or just spam blizzard? Also I'm not sure on how to add in or work flare correctly (is it any good on single target also?) Thanks for any pointers!

I would replace Thunder 3 with Thunder 2 in your rotation for the faster cast time, since the DoT portion is the same less one tick and the initial damage is only slightly smaller. You can use Thunder 3 whenever your lightning DoT procs. Start with Thunder 2 as an opener and on small groups up to three, it can be a good idea to cast Thunder 2 on all your targets as it helps the tank build hate on your primary target and gives you more opportunity for procs. Only spread Thunder to multiple targets at the opening if you do it at all. In the middle of the rotation, a single Thunder is all you should do. Anything over 3 mobs you don't want to use Thunder at all and just do your AoE rotation.

Some people cast a Blizzard 3 before their very first Fire 3 and Fire to take advantage of the faster cast speed for both those opening spells. Swiftcast the Blizzard 3 to make this especially useful. Without swiftcasting it, it's not as useful an opening so I don't bother with opening Blizzard 3 if swiftcast isn't available and go right to Fire 3.

With 3 mobs exactly it is about the same doing single target vs. AoE rotations so it depends on what your tank can manage. Pick whichever works best for your situation. If you have 4 mobs, then AoE spam is definitely the fastest. The best AoE rotation is Flare spamming. Open with a Blizzard 3 and Fire 3 on the primary marked target. Cast Flare. If convert is up, then use it and cast Flare again. Transpose. Blizzard 2 twice, and then start over from Fire 3. Swiftcast can be used either on a Flare or before the first Blizzard 3 to get the reduced casting time for the first Fire 3 and Flare. My preference is to use it on the converted Flare, and then when convert is not available on the opening Blizzard 3.

If you have to be at range, then substitute one Blizzard 3 instead of the two Blizzard 2 casts. This will also mean it is only most effective on groups of 4+, so if you have to be at range in a group of three mobs, just use your single target rotation instead.

Tips for AoE: Use quelling strikes near the start of your rotation. Before the first Flare at least. Use Manawall (and/or possibly Manaward) when you get close to pulling hate. I.e. Anticipate its use before you need it. You'll get a good feel of when to use it. Rotate targets for your Fire 3 casts. This helps spread your hate more evenly and helps to make it so all the mobs die closer together in time. Don't use Transpose too soon after you cast Flare. If you use it too soon, it will transpose you from Astral Fire to Umbral Ice before Flare lands and then when Flare lands it will transpose you back to Astral Fire leaving you with no mana, no mana regeneration, and 12 seconds before you can use Transpose again. I've derped a few times with this.

[Urielparadox]

Everything I stated in the post above you but with the improper thunder information

You didn't really add anything new except telling him the break point for aoe vs single target and you obviously didn't read anything the person who posted before you stating the same thing you did, by about 30min earlier. Also you spouted of the T2> T3 by using the incorrect and improper logic that I warned against in my post and gave no reason for why this faulty logic is superior.

[Mhaeric]

You didn't really add anything new except telling him the break point for aoe vs single target and you obviously didn't read anything the person who posted before you stating the same thing you did, by about 30min earlier. Also you spouted of the T2> T3 by using the incorrect and improper logic that I warned against in my post and gave no reason for why this faulty logic is superior.

ur pst z hrd 2 rd t4 dnt bthr

[Allyrion]

You didn't really add anything new except telling him the break point for aoe vs single target and you obviously didn't read anything the person who posted before you stating the same thing you did, by about 30min earlier. Also you spouted of the T2> T3 by using the incorrect and improper logic that I warned against in my post and gave no reason for why this faulty logic is superior.

The reason people use Thunder II is because it's assumed you always use a Thunder after Blizzard III in a single target rotation. Thunder II extends the Umbral Phase with just enough time for you to get to full mana and no more. It is also a good length by the next Umbral Phase unless you get a Firestarter like every other Fire I hit and maybe a Thundercloud proc.

Thunder fits nicely into the umbral phase. To effectively use to dot length of Thunder III, you'd need to use it in the Astral phase, otherwise you clip it and it loses its potency advantage. Thunder is just there to add some dps to the Umbral Phase and allow for Thundercloud procs. If you took it out to utilize Thunder III's full duration as a dot, you'd be losing more Fire I time because now your Thunder is out of sync with your regen phase AND you need to scathe or something while regening mana which I don't think is a better use of your time.

The regen time is a given for BLM. Using thunder makes it productive. As soon as thunder doesn't sync up with it, then you still have that regen time to fill in for and now your thunder is taking up fire time. That's not optimizing the fire time.

If you do thunder every Umbral anyway, then Thunder II is better because Thunder III will get clipped 99% of the time. The .5 second cast time is not worth the 10 potency. That's the argument, not the dot duration since focusing on the duration runs into problems I mentioned above.