BLM skill suggestion for movement heavy dungeons

[Maye]

Let me talk about the pros and cons of blackmage right now, since 2.1 changed them quite a bit.

PROS

1. Excellent AOE Damage.

I don't think anyone will try to argue this point. In some situations (4 or 5 mobs with raging strikes/contagion dots) summoner MIGHT be able to net more aoe damage, but the fact of the matter is that most aoe encounters right now end rather quickly, making BLM's burst much more desirable.

Current Endgame Examples: Turn 4 Spiders(phases 1 and 4), Garuda extreme plume phases

2. DPS is very high over one fire phase.

This makes meeting specific DPS checks very easy so long as the BLM is in fire phase and has full mp. You can maximize DPS over upwards of 20-25 seconds by just using Fire I and Fire III and ending in swiftcast flare at the "end" of the DPS check. Dragoon is probably the next best class at hitting these DPS benchmarks.

Current Endgame Examples: Turn 5 Conflags(~15-20 seconds for long conflags, ~8-10 seconds for short conflags), Extreme Titan Gaols(save your swiftcast for the upheaval knockback and/or manawall so you dont have to move out of the landslide)

3. No expendable resource.

BLM damage comes in on and off phases, but a BLM doesn't run out of mana or tp the same way a Summoner/Monk/Dragoon/Bard might. In general with proper Aetherflow/Invigorate management TP and MP should not be a huge issue, it can still arise. In addition these classes often rely on a BLM to output much of the AOE damage so as to conserve on TP and MP in these situations.

4. Simple/Durable

Aside from strategically placing your fire phases to match with DPS checks, BLM is very easy to auto pilot rotations. This frees up your attention to pay more mind to mechanics etc. while still achieving your optimal dps. In addition, BLM is actually quite durable(contrary to the popular opinion/mage archetype) -- Mana Wall and Mana Ward are very strong defensive cooldowns that can be used to pick up healer slack on unavoidable damage.

I've set this as a con because while it isn't too important to "farm" content it can be a big winner on "progression" content.

CONS

1. Target dummy single target damage is actually rather low/RNG based.

In a fight with no mechanics or AOE phase, BLM will inevitably parse just above bards(possibly just below bards if Disembowel from a dragoon is considered). However BLM DPS is still respectable and plenty sufficient to complete all of the content with 4 BLMs (I can't say I actually have done it, but in the current content I would not advise ever stacking BLM. 1 BLM can dish out all of the AOE damage necessary, and help meet the short term DPS checks sufficiently.

2. Hurt more by moving than other classes.

Pretty self explanatory, other classes can attack while moving or have a larger amount of their DPS allocated to DOTs. Occasionally RNG will favor you and you'll have a proc to use while moving or you can plan your use of swiftcast around certain movements. BLM does have some abilities to allow them to stay in the same place while other classes need to move (mostly mana wall, arguably aetherial manipulation).

3. Utility provided is mostly useless right now.

I don't want to say BLM is lacking in utility, because we do have two AOE binds, an AOE sleep, a (fire/lightning/ice)resistance buff, a slow+heavy(Lethargy), and a large heavy(Blizzard I). In current endgame content MOST of these are useless. The main exception being blizzard I + lethargy being very powerful against Dreadknights in Turn 5. In general most enemies at endgame are immune to slepe and bind. And there are no significant encounters that currently deal lightning/ice damage. The way resistance works is also very peculiar, I've heard of groups wiping to Fireballs in T5 because the BLM Apocatastasis an ally and the ally "resisted" the fireball, causing the other 3 people in the stack to take 3 stack damage instead of 4 stack.



At the moment I think BLM is actually a fairly strong DPS class as a whole, but it doesn't really fill the BLM archetype people expected it to fill, and certainly isn't the parse topper it was in 2.0 (minor nerfs while other classes received major buffs, aside from summoner which is just getting parsed more correctly now)

While I think some nerfing was definitely in order(especially in regards to blizzard 3 > flare > flare > repeat), I do feel that the BLM class became significantly less interesting without the nuances that were removed with patch 2.1. I don't think there are presently any balance issues with the class, although I do feel as if I've lost interest in it out of boredom.

EDIT: as an aside, while balanced, I think BLM as a class feels like it should be a "raw damage dealer" but it has a lot of little perks and would be very imbalanced if they did the damage of Monks/Summoners/Dragoons in the form that they are now and would need some major tweaking...

[Dano]

BLMs get manawall and aetherial manipulation, that's pretty good enough for them to be on top of the dps race.

[-d-ky]

blm is as good as it is now, study the mechanics from your experience and know what to do that suits you the best
knowing when and where to cast is a blm job

[Zaels]

It uses the skill on whoever your mouse icon is over on your screen. Also works if your mouse icon is over their name on the party list.

Very useful for healing classes

[TomTom1968]

mmm PS3 player here..can't do that. And still not sure if it makes sense on consoles. I could make a macro that ports me to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th player. But I can never be sure that person is safe lol. And I can't check who's safe, click on that person and use the skill....too much time I don't have in a dangerous situation. Will toy around a bit more with the spell during the weekend since a lot of you seem to use it.