Is BLM truly simple?

[Sleigh]

You mean
>Move 2m to the side
>Start casting again
?

I'm just curious to see where all this "player skill" is coming from. I was under the impression that positioning was important for any class. With that said, I guess MNK would be the "most advanced" because of GL Stacks and movement?
This community needs a dictionary...

The minimizing movement aspect is actually a bit more complex than that. Most movement in the game can be handled in one of three ways:

1. Dodging at minimal loss with pre-knowledge of the dodgeable attack's timing, saving a Swiftcast/Firestarter for when you must move, moving out preemptively during a proc/Swiftcast, Aetherial Manipulation to a safe target, or moving mid-cast to keep your cast. Titan is by far the best example; with enough attention you can know exactly when he's going to do a Weight of the Land and be prepared seconds in advance.
2. Using CDs to specifically counter the attack. Manawall in Titan at scripted times, Iron Chariot in T9, Divebombs in T5 (it's not only a shield but it's a DPS increase), Manaward for tethers in T6, saving Swiftcast for key moments you will be forced to move like Ifrit EM ... etc etc
3. General douchebaggery. The gray area where you take a non-lethal hit on purpose and choose your GCD's worth over a healer's, or make someone else (or everyone!) move for you for mechanics like T6 tethers, or not stacking for Thermal in T9. Basically, things that are selfish in the name of less movement (and don't get me wrong, this can not only be effective it can be easily worthwhile raid-DPS wise). Hell, it's more DPS to camp the middle in T7 with your healers than going off to the side, but that's one of those dark areas even I won't cross.

Then there are more specific tricks, like using Aetherial Manipulation as you're sliding in Leviathan, or camping the outer edge of p1 Titan HM rocks exploding, that separate the less experienced from the experienced.

tl;dr - Due to the scripted nature of the fights you can usually do a lot more about movement than just move to the side. Sometimes it takes a lot of repetition of the fight to learn how to deal with this, and sometimes there's not really THAT much you can do to counter certain things you have to dodge, but there's usually something you can do in the long run.

[Mjytresz]

The minimizing movement aspect is actually a bit more complex than that. Most movement in the game can be handled in one of one ways:

1) Move.

That's my point. You're making this harder than it needs to be.
Dodging is a simple concept - Avoid the attack.

It becomes ridiculous when you're averaging out fractions of a second to try and "measure up" your DPS.
I forgot the extra 4 seconds saved on Titan EX was the difference between a wipe and a victory. Thank God our BLM graduated from Yale with a Master's in Pixel Dodging.

How are GL stacks more complicated than UI/AF?

Probably because MNK can't just blow Fire III to get full AF stacks back.
Or are we actually assuming the 10+ seconds of regaining GL stacks is as easy as the 2s cast time of Fire III?
Nevermind...

[Sleigh]

That's my point. You're making this harder than it needs to be.
Dodging is a simple concept - Avoid the attack.

Sure, ignore all the stuff I posted. Just dodge everything as it comes, don't pre-plan everything - you'll be the worst DPS in any turn you gotta move a lot. That's not how any self-respecting BLM wants to help their team.

[StouterTaru]

Probably because MNK can't just blow Fire III to get full AF stacks back.
Or are we actually assuming the 10+ seconds of regaining GL stacks is as easy as the 2s cast time of Fire III?
Nevermind...

So taking longer to build up makes it more complicated?

Plus they don't have to alternate between Greased Lightning and Slimy Water, that would be insanely complicated.

[Mjytresz]

Sure, ignore all the stuff I posted. Just dodge everything as it comes, don't pre-plan everything - you'll be the worst DPS in any turn you gotta move a lot. That's not how any self-respecting BLM wants to help their team.

Sorry, I didn't sign up for "Advanced Dodging Mechanics 501".
Also, let's ignore the "positioning" bit I mentioned on the last page.

Yea, losing a handful of DPS because I didn't explicitly plan out dodging for the entirety of the fight is going to end up taking an extra half hour to clear a boss.
I'm not even sure why this is being discussed. FF14 isn't a hard MMO. If this was Tera and you were getting one-shotted for not dodging and knowing the dozens of one-shot mechanics, I'd understand. But, really, the "Move out of the glowing circle with 30 minute cast time" game isn't the proper place to try and throw around an elitest attitude.
Especially not on completely optional content.

So taking longer to build up makes it more complicated?

Plus they don't have to alternate between Greased Lightning and Slimy Water, that would be insanely complicated.

Taking longer to build up, managing CDs, DoTs, Debuffs, and the sheer fact that as melee you're more vulnerable than ranged for the vast majority of content?
Oh and the whole "I can't instantly get GL3 with a 2s cast skill" bit.

But let's pretend like BLM has more going for it than "Predict regen ticks" and Thunder.
Legit.

[Sleigh]

Yea, losing a handful of DPS because I didn't explicitly plan out dodging for the entirety of the fight is going to end up taking an extra half hour to clear a boss.
I'm not even sure why this is being discussed. FF14 isn't a hard MMO. If this was Tera and you were getting one-shotted for not dodging and knowing the dozens of one-shot mechanics, I'd understand. But, really, the "Move out of the glowing circle with 30 minute cast time" game isn't the proper place to try and throw around an elitest attitude.

What about when we're not overgeared for content again? Or just straight up learning content? Everyone who calls this game super easy seems to forget the non-Savage content was tuned for i90-i95 to clear reasonably, including T9; the good groups were beating T9 with average item levels sub-100, plenty of them with i95 weapons. Those groups were the ones with GOOD DPS, not slackers who took fights as they come. What gear were you when you cleared T9?

[Grotesque]

Those groups were the ones with GOOD DPS, not slackers who took fights as they come. What gear were you when you cleared T9?

Only because a handful of ppl cleared it with this gear, doesn't mean it is tuned to that ilvl. But if this thinking assists your self-confidence, so may it be...

Only the devs know for which ilvl they tuned it. However, it seems peeps always try to find their little niche where they can feel superior lol xD

[Sen_Terrechant]

Only because a handful of ppl cleared it with this gear, doesn't mean it is tuned to that ilvl. But if this thinking assists your self-confidence, so may it be...

Only the devs know for which ilvl they tuned it. However, it seems peeps always try to find their little niche where they can feel superior lol xD

Its not a niche. If you cleared it with a far lower ilvl then most people, isnt that the definition of superior?

su·pe·ri·or
adjective \su̇-ˈpir-ē-ər\

: of high quality : high or higher in quality

: great or greater in amount, number, or degree

: better than other people

[StouterTaru]

Taking longer to build up, managing CDs, DoTs, Debuffs, and the sheer fact that as melee you're more vulnerable than ranged for the vast majority of content?
Oh and the whole "I can't instantly get GL3 with a 2s cast skill" bit.

But let's pretend like BLM has more going for it than "Predict regen ticks" and Thunder.
Legit.

OK, we can pretend that monk has more going for it than punch-rotate-punch while we're at it. You have to hit 2 buttons to get GL3, and not only that, you have to hit the second one three times!

[Sleigh]

Sad fact is, if playing "optimally" was so important, you wouldn't have to parse your DPS. You would be able to visually see the effects of your "optimal" playing.

You certainly can see the difference between bad and optimal. Things die in half the time, you skip troubling phases and mechanics, you have more leeway to the enrage if people die, you can clear high-end content with less gear (IE when there weren't poverty sands and oils floating around and every scrap of gear counted) ... hell, even in farming easy content like for Nexus farming, give me an optimal group of DPS for the 40+ hours of grinding it takes, it is certainly noticed and appreciated.

It sounds like you don't care for T6-9 or high-end end-game. Sounds like you'd rather wait for 2.5 to get your i130. That's okay, not everyone wants to work harder for gear that gets outdated in half a year, but don't come into a forum about discussing how to get better at DPS and tell us just stop caring because the LOLcontent it sounds like you haven't even done and can't accurately judge, in this gear level or more appropriately tuned gear levels, is just soooooo easy.