BLM - Spell Speed Vs Crit Rate

[Kletian]

But what I'm saying is, any speed benefit can be lost during your mana recovery phase until you get enough speed to shave 3+ seconds off your fire phase.

[Jican]

But what I'm saying is, any speed benefit can be lost during your mana recovery phase until you get enough speed to shave 3+ seconds off your fire phase.

Ok, let's break this down taking out rng and using very basic numbers. Let's say you can cast 5 fire 1s after a fire 3 before you have to go into your umbral ice phase. Each fire 1 takes 4 seconds to cast with no extra spell speed. That's 20 seconds to cast your 5 fire 1's, again, taking out rng for firestarter. With spell speed, now each cast is 3 seconds to cast. Not a big difference you would think, but let's break that down as a whole. Your 5 fires now cost 15 seconds to get through. That's a complete tick and a half of your umbral ice phase. Now you're 1-2 spells faster than your non-spell speed blm buddy, per rotation.

[Kletian]

I absolutely agree with you, removing 5 seconds from your Astral phase is a significant DPS increase, but Fire's only cost 2.5 to cast. If you cast 5 fires, that's 12.5 seconds; you'd need enough spellspeed for 2 second casts to get it down to 10 seconds. How much spellspeed does it take to cast 20% faster, if you can't get that high, what you have is wasted.

[Skeith-Adeline]

Here's a question about SS vs Crit.

It takes 10 Spell Speed casts to overcast a Crit build right? Does that take into consideration a crit or 2, or 3? If I crit 3 times in 10 casts, that's still more DPS than a Spell Speeds overcast.

By overcast, I mean the point in which a Spell Speed set up casts an extra spell over the Crit build. (SS casting 10 spells in the time it takes a Crit to cast 9)

I can crit anywhere from 2 times to 5 times per ten fire + proc casts. That's surely greater than SS turreting yes?

[Zencurse]

snips

In abstract, maybe (though still not likely), but keep in mind that over the course of a fight, however long, the SS build will cast more fires, which translate to more firestarter procs. And those firestarter procs a SS BLM gets over a crit BLM shifts it even further in favor of the SS. Just going to refer anyone who visits this thread trying to contest for crit (even setting abstract aside and talking completely real in game situations) to visit Puro Strider's thread and his theorycrafting done for Black Mages. Even if you think its 100% accurate (its always a work in progress of course) it is very exhaustive on the subject of crit vs. spell speed and even how those stats interact with det. Spell Speed really is, in any situation, turreting or in movement heavy fights, superior at essentially all gear levels to crit.

[Jican]

snip

SS builds still crit, just at a small percent less. So more spells faster mean more chance to proc a crit as well.

[Synestr]

The big part there was the "if". If you were to crit 3-4 times. Your crit number determines your "possibility" to crit and is reliant on RNG. SS is definite. You will cast (this fast) all the time (negative status effects aside). The bonus to that is there is still some crit in the SS builds. SO an added benefit there. Give it a whirl and see how it goes. Doesn't hurt to have two different builds.

[Urielparadox]

Way to ignore the whole point of a ss build is it allows for better movement while castomg. Like getting of a fire and thunder during different phases of titan levi, gardua, coil. Getting off a spell and having to cancel one for blighted. And keep discussing t8 and dummies. Oh wait you're using Selena in t8 so ss still weighs strongest.. to determination not crit. It's not that you get 1 extra cast every x cast, it's that you get nearly 6 extra fires during titan because everyone else has to use a different spell to not cancel a cast and still dodge

[Skeith-Adeline]

My only issue with SS is, it takes too many drops. I only have the gloves, belt and boots with my 110 Allagan weapon so I'm starved towards Crit. Until second coil loves me, I'm pretty much stuck with my Crit build.

How great of a difference of DPS on average would that actually be? 50 or something higher?

[HaroldSaxon]

My only issue with SS is, it takes too many drops. I only have the gloves, belt and boots with my 110 Allagan weapon so I'm starved towards Crit. Until second coil loves me, I'm pretty much stuck with my Crit build.

How great of a difference of DPS on average would that actually be? 50 or something higher?

I actually only use the HA chestpiece currently, as I rock a lot of crafted gear. I posted the BIS in the T8 thread if you want to look for it (obviously Nexus changes things slightly), but i'm just missing the legs and need to finish Nexus. But, with 2.4 so close, I wouldn't start making crafted pentamelded i90 now, would just be a waste.

Other than that, the spellspeed HA drops are Chest, Legs, Neck (I prefer the soldiery one though) and Ring.