Not sure how to handle the new player hate.

[Issac]

On BLM, I do:

-Thunder II
-Fire 3
-Fire 1 until around 500mp while using Firestarter and Thunder 3 for Thundercloud
-Blizzard 3
-Reapply THunder if needed, rinse and repeat

If you're open to opinion, give this a try:
Blizzard 3
Thunder 3
Fire 3
Fire/Firestarter
rinse/repeat
(I notice two benefits here: 1. Faster cast time when coming from Umbral 3, not sure why but it always seems faster. 2. Lowered MP cost, leaving more to DD until flare)

[Odett]

If you're open to opinion, give this a try:
Blizzard 3
Thunder 3
Fire 3
Fire/Firestarter
rinse/repeat
(I notice two benefits here: 1. Faster cast time when coming from Umbral 3, not sure why but it always seems faster. 2. Lowered MP cost, leaving more to DD until flare)

Fire cast time IS faster after Umbral 3. That's the way BLM mechanics work. Blizzard 3 cast time will faster if it comes from a full astral stack, but slower if not, same applies to Fire (fun fact: you could exploit this mechanic in 2.0 by casting another fire III right after your first fire III coming off umbral stack and it would have the same fast cast time, leading to very angry tanks).

I've tried that and other variants of the BLM rotation and didn't like them. That setup is too long for my personal taste, especially with Thunder 3. The MP you save by doing that to me is not worth the time it takes to set up.