BLM Rotations

[darkstarpoet1]

Im not understanding the thought process behind casting blizzard III first. Is this so you can cast fire III faster?

My single rotation lately has been this: Fire III pre cast before tank pulls. Swiftcast>Raging strikes>Thunder III(so that dots are buffed, and the thunder is instant casted)>then I do my fires, then Blizzard III, thunder II since its quicker, then fire III>Fires etc.

Isn't this better? This allows me to be in astral fire III right off the bat. This then allows my thunder to be instant casted, and the dots are buffed with RS. This also allows me to cast some fires and hopefully procs with RS on. Not to mention, If I get a thundercloud during RS, its buffed dots all over again, along with the buffed thunder spell bonus. The only downfall to this I foresee is not having SC for a flare, but you can just do it on the next rotation. Or would the damage be more from a RS flare than a RS thunder dot ticking? Guess Ill have to do some testing, but Ive been doing great damage with this set up.

not to my experience. with the blizzard then thunder added it gives you extra casts before having to recover mp again. it also gives you the chance for the thundercloud proc which hist as hard as a uf3 hit. this is because of the original blizzard, thunder, and fire wind up being free of any mp cost due to the mp regen from ui3.

[Maero]

I never start off with Fire 3, always start with Swiftcast > Ice 3 > Thunder > Fire 3> spam Fire, etc.
Reason why i start with swiftcast and Ice 3 is the spells are sped up and it takes far less time to cast then if you would just start by casting Ice 3 or Fire 3 for instance. So yes Kimura your comment is correct.
While some start by casting Fire 3 or Ice 3 by the time it goes off i am already dealing damage with my rotation.
Well you can Swiftcast Fire 3 as well i suppose.
Thundercloud or Firestarter i also only use 1 spell after, so say i cast Fire and firestarter procs, i cast Fire again and then Firestarter. While i do not have a parser (on PS3 so have no idea) i do believe my rotation deals great damage.
Also the mana and time it takes/ dmg ratio ( i know does not sound like i make sense, lol) is not worth it, really better to use thunder 2 for single targets
Everyone has their own rotation but this one has worked best for me

[JetBrooks]

I start with Thunder 3 > Fire 3 > Raging Strikes > Fire 1 spam > Swiftcast > Flare > Convert > Fire 1 > Blizz 3 > etc. This will get you most DOT damage and the highest attack potency during Raging Strikes, as far as I know.

Using Swiftcast for anything other than Flare is a waste of time, as far as I'm concerned. Swiftcast + Convert should be used for seamlessly fitting flares into your rotation, whether single-target (when possible) or AOE.

[Siobahn]

Single target: Blizz3 > swiftcast > thunder 3 > fire 3 > fire (x5) > blizz3 > thunder 2 > fire3 > fire (x5) > etc.

The reason you start with blizz 3 is that it puts you in Umbral ice, making your thunder and fire 3 essentially free. You're then able to cast 5 fires in your first rotation because you're starting at full mana.

I use Thunder 3 when swiftcast is up, otherwise thunder 2. I've read in a few different places that full-casting thunder 3 is a dps loss compared to thunder 2.


AoE: Fire3 > Flare >convert > swiftcast > flare > transpose > deep breath > flare > flare > transpose > repeat.

To get two flares each transpose, you need to wait a long second after your first mana tick to start casting. You should get your second mana tick around 30% of the flare cast bar. As the first flare lands, the last mana tick will occur, giving you the mp for another flare. By doing this, the CD for transpose is up just as your second flare goes off.

Using these rotations, I usually hit around 300-320 dps on Caduceus, and end up with around 390-420 sustained dps in Turn 4 (due to the aoe phases). This is as i89 blm using relic +1, and nowhere near BiS gear (Coil drops hate me).

[Umero]

I open with thunder 3, swiftcast fire 3, then fire
the reason to not using blizzard 3 is because the faster you start throwing fire, the faster you get into the chances for fire starter to proc.

I think the opening rotation would result more or less the same.

Also, I only recast thunder/thunder2 when I actually see the thunder tick is about to wear off (less than 3 seconds).

for aoe, you can actually jump the gun by casting freeze to the area where mobs are about to spawn before you start the normal rotation.

for adds like *gaols or conflag, you can also cast flare ahead of time and the flare will land as soon as the adds formed (for a burst of damage.)

*Edit: I meant gaols, not gaolers

[Odett]

This is my DPS rotation:
Single Target

Thunder 2
Fire 3
-Raging Strikes if available (make sure that Convert is also up as well)
-Fire 1 until no less than 300 mp while doing Firestarters and Thunderproc Thunder 3s
-If Convert is available normal cast Flare (yes, you can use Flare for single targets, its damage output is amazing especially with Raging Strikes, and seeing 2.1k+ crits is a glorious thing)
-Convert
-Swiftcast Flare
-Transpose as animation goes off for instant MP (timing can be tricky)
-Reapply Thunder II as needed
-Fire 3

Whenever Swiftcast is up, use Flare and then Transpose, unless it's an overkill move OR you need to be killing more ads, then the short downtime becomes a hindrance. If it's not up, Blizzard 3, and reapply Thunder if necessary]

AoE]

-Fire 3 so you can juice up the strength of those Fire 2's
-Fire 2 until no less than 500mp
-Flare away
-Transpose as animation goes off
-Fire 3