Pushing black mage dps to maximum

[Samsta]

Hello, I just got my blm to level 50, and I love the job and I am planning to do endgame content with it. I am here to ask some tips from veteran black mages.

I think I got all the basics covered, since it isn't that hard, but there are many little things I would want to know.

Some questions:

Should I apply thunder to all the enemies and should I use thunder 2 or thunder 3?

I think it is a dps increase to apply thunder to every enemy right? Since added potency of thunder 2 is 295 and added potency of thunder 3 is 340, and the change for thundercloud procs is also significantly higher.

While it is a dps boost, it increases the time it takes for the group to take down the first enemy, but reduces the time it takes to take down the whole group of enemies. I think it should be done right?

and also, should I use thunder 3 or thunder 2? Right now I open with thunder 3 and then I use thunder 2, and thunder 3 for the procs of course.

Should I let my mana regen to full during umbral ice?
Right now I do the following: I cast blizzard 3 when I have enough mana left for blizzard 3 + blizzard 1. It isn't enough to cast blizzard 3 + blizzard 1 for my mana to regen to full, so I either cast 2 blizzard 1's or I cast blizzard 1 + thunder 2 if thunder is wearing off or has weared off. Some people say it is a dps boost to not let your mana regen to full, but just cast blizzard 1 or thunder 2 and then continue to astral fire.

also should I apply thunder again whenever it wears off, even during astral fire, or should I wait for umbral to cast it again? Or should I cast it again during every umbral ice even if it isn't near to wearing off? Right now i just cast whenever it is wearing off.

swiftcast and flare
I think I got this covered but feel free to correct me. Right now I use flare in my single target rotation whenever convert and swiftcast is up, I replace the last fire in my rotation with swiftcast flare, use convert, cast fire 1 and then cast blizzard 3. but swiftcast has only 1 min cooldown when convert has 3 min, so I can cast it 2 times for other purposes, mainly for thunder 3, since fire 3 or blizzard 3 has their cast times reduced, and only time when they really have 3.5 cast time is at the beginning of the battle.

One single thing
I have seen some black mages opening with blizzard 3 instead of fire 3, but I don't know if that is a dps boost or not, I personally feel it isn't.

So my rotations are the following right now:

single target: thunder 3 --> fire 3 --> fire 1 to the point when I can cast it only one more time --> if swiftcast and convert is up, swiftcast + flare --> convert --> fire1 --> blizzard 3, if swiftcast or convert isn't up, then I either cast just 1 more fire 1 and blizzard 3, or I cast blizzard 3, depending how much mana I would have left after the fire 1. --> blizzard 1 --> blizzard 1 or thunder 2--> fire 3 --> repeat, I also apply thunder 2 during astral fire if wears off.

aoe: fire 2 spam until I can't anymore --> if convert is up flare + convert --> fire 2 --> blizzard 3 --> freeze --> fire 2 spam

I am sure my aoe rotation isn't the best. I have seen all kinds of rotations and I would greatly appreciate if someone would present me with better one.

Help me to be great blm please :3

[Royze]

My norm rotation is T2>F3>F1> until 90sh-150sh MP->Bliz3>T2>Scathe>F3>F1 repeat
When RS is up, T2>F3>RS>F1 until 250sh Mp Swift cast> flare>convert>flare>transpose>T2>Fire3>Fire1
or T2>F3>RS>F1 until 250sh mp Swiftcast flare>convert>F1>bliz3>T2>scathe>F3

Aoe is always F3>F2>f2>f2>flare>transpose>F3>F2>F2>F2>Flare>transpose and repeat

[Massterchef]

My norm rotation is T2>F3>F1> until 90sh-150sh MP->Bliz3>T2>Scathe>F3>F1 repeat

Any T-scathe rotation lowers your dps. I'd suggest doing t2-blizz1 if you haven't recieved your first tick by the time the t2 cast is complete. I'd also suggest stopping at around 300-500 MP too.

[Samsta]

Why would you use scathe? You could as well use blizzard 1, it is more dps and scathe is on gc so it doesn't boost your dps on any way.

Also is it really wise to use transpose-->f3 on your aoe rotation? It takes a long time to get mp back at umbral ice 1, so you would have to cast at least 1 blizzard 1 to get your mp back to any good level.

EDIT: or you could use freeze, yeah that would be good.

[Bahd_Monkey]

Here are some very good lvl 50 rotations
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-and-rotations

[ShinryuReishiki]

Also is it really wise to use transpose-->f3 on your aoe rotation? It takes a long time to get mp back at umbral ice 1, so you would have to cast at least 1 blizzard 1 to get your mp back to any good level.

EDIT: or you could use freeze, yeah that would be good.

You're better off not using any Ice spells in your AOE rotation, actually.

[Samsta]

You're better off not using any Ice spells in your AOE rotation, actually.

But you have to get your mana back, I just tried to do that rotation by going straight to fire 3 after transpose and first you have to wait for your first tick
, and then you get a second one during fire 3 cast, after that you can cast 2 fire 2's and you are out of mana again . If you throw in freeze, you get full mana back and can cast 3 fire 2's + the 100 potency from freeze isn't that bad. I think I will go with it.

[Samsta]

Here are some very good lvl 50 rotations
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-and-rotations

Some pretty good tips there thanks, but I can't agree with that op though, why wouldn't you use flare if you have convert and swiftcast? it's not like you have to specially save either of them for anything, if you can get more dps why wouldn't you? I would like to see some decent arguments for that. Also scathe is bad.

[ShinryuReishiki]

The extra damage from one more Fire II and a Freeze doesn't make up for the extra time; your DPS will be lower. This is in PPS (Potency per Second), where n is the number of targets.

Transpose > Fire III > Fire II > Fire II > Flare
198 + 180n + 180n + 468n = 198 + 828n
3.5s + 3.0s + 3.0s + 4.0s = 13.5s, MP ticks are every 3 seconds so a 15s rotation
(198 + 828n)/15 = 13.2 + 55.2n PPS

Transpose > Freeze > Fire III > Fire II > Fire II > Fire II > Flare
100n + 176 + 180n + 180n + 180n + 468n = 176 + 1108n
3.0s + 3.5s + 3.0s + 3.0s + 3.0s + 4.0s = 19.5s, MP ticks every 3 seconds so a 21s rotation
(176 + 1108n)/21 = 8.38 + 52.6n PPS

Personally, I prefer this, though you have to be rather confident in your timing in order not to end up without any MP. Essentially, you wait 2 seconds after your first MP tick to cast Flare.

Transpose > Flare > Fire II > Flare
234n + 180n + 468n = 882n
2.0s + 4.0s + 3.0s + 4.0s = 13.0s, so a 15s rotation
882n/15 = 58.8n PPS

why wouldn't you use flare

There are times where it's a bad idea due to not wanting to hit a nearby target (Soliders and Knights in Turn 4, for example), but generally, yeah, Flare can be used to aid single target DPS. Even hard casting Flare after your last Fire is a DPS boost if you have a Firestarter proc ready to throw out right behind it.

[Bahd_Monkey]

I'll use scathe if I'm waiting for my MP to regenerate and I've already got a lightning on my target. I don't do this often though. Usually I'll just cast another lightning spell as its usually worn off or about to.

If I'm having to suddenly run away from some enemies or constantly dodge AOEs, sometimes scathe can be the only spell I can cast for a bit, and it's better then doing no damage at all. Also, its great in finishing off enemies.