Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Sleigh]

No, on a single target it's F1 proc all the way. You pretty much only want to Sharpcast Thunder if you know you are dealing with two enemies at the time, like Hand of Pain or A1S post-split. It's nice because you can do B3 > Sharpcast > T1 > TC > F3 and avoid the very likely B1 you would have to do to get two MP ticks.

[daman4567]

So in most fights you're pretty much always going to have to use a B1 filler right before reusing Enochian?
Also, I've had times where I continuously get fast mp ticks on my ice phases, but in those cases I feel like I'm probably losing dps to not having thunder up at all and also not getting any procs. I know that T1 lowers your PPS in general, but using a T3 proc increases it by a good amount. Should I force a T1 filler in if thunder is not up?

[Waliel]

So in most fights you're pretty much always going to have to use a B1 filler right before reusing Enochian?

It's all RNG based on mana ticks, but it feels like yes more often than not.

Also, I've had times where I continuously get fast mp ticks on my ice phases, but in those cases I feel like I'm probably losing dps to not having thunder up at all and also not getting any procs. I know that T1 lowers your PPS in general, but using a T3 proc increases it by a good amount. Should I force a T1 filler in if thunder is not up?

You should never force Thunder, unless you can multidot with the procs -- using TC too often on the same target leads to DPS loss because of clipping the dot and you have to be more careful with your timers. During ice would be ideal, but it's rarely possible, so nine seconds or less on the previous TC dot is when you can apply a new one. The lower the better.

[FunkyBunch]

You should never force Thunder, unless you can multidot with the procs -- using TC too often on the same target leads to DPS loss because of clipping the dot and you have to be more careful with your timers. During ice would be ideal, but it's rarely possible, so nine seconds or less on the previous TC dot is when you can apply a new one. The lower the better.

This is incorrect. The math used for that doesn't include the extra cast time of an F4. If you have 2 TC procs you are doing 780 potency in 2 GCD + DOT potency. vs 508 potency for a Fire 4 Cast.
And 2 GCD is less than the cast time of Fire 4. In short take TC procs whenever you can. Multiple is always better. 2 procs is worth losing an F4 for.

[Garotte14]

I want to give everyone a heads up. I have a new full-fledged Black Mage guide coming. Its been in works for a couple of weeks now, and my hope is to compile all the information regarding BLM into a single guide. This will be for new players to FFXIV as well as vets learning the job. I will personally be maintaining and updating the guide regularly. Sleigh Presty has given me some excellent input, as well as many other great BLMs in this community. Obviously there will be some changes come 3.2, but expect the guide out in the next day or two.

[tjw]

So I was in a Void Ark where I was rudely told that my opener for BLM was 'shit' and that it was a DPS loss and that I should go back to kindergarten...Ask them why, and they said they were AS4 BLM so they know everything apparently.

My current opener is:

B3 -> T1 -> Ley -> Quell -> F3 -> Sharp -> Eno -> F1 -> Raging -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> F3 -> Convert -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> B3

Is there something wrong with that particular rotation? Been using it for quite awhile since HW, and it hasn't failed me yet...

[MagiusNecros]

So I was in a Void Ark where I was rudely told that my opener for BLM was 'shit' and that it was a DPS loss and that I should go back to kindergarten...Ask them why, and they said they were AS4 BLM so they know everything apparently.

My current opener is:

B3 -> T1 -> Ley -> Quell -> F3 -> Sharp -> Eno -> F1 -> Raging -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> F3 -> Convert -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> B3

Is there something wrong with that particular rotation? Been using it for quite awhile since HW, and it hasn't failed me yet...

If they gave the AS4 excuse then they are just being an Elitist punk. Your opening rotation is fine for something like Void Ark. I imagine VA and AS4 are COMPLETELY different in terms of difficulty.

If you pull off the full rotation above you are putting out a nice chunk of damage and no one should be complaining about that.

[Shizukya]

So I was in a Void Ark where I was rudely told that my opener for BLM was 'shit' and that it was a DPS loss and that I should go back to kindergarten...Ask them why, and they said they were AS4 BLM so they know everything apparently.

My current opener is:

B3 -> T1 -> Ley -> Quell -> F3 -> Sharp -> Eno -> F1 -> Raging -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> F3 -> Convert -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> B3

Is there something wrong with that particular rotation? Been using it for quite awhile since HW, and it hasn't failed me yet...

Dont pay attention to people saying they are on A4S since u dont need to prove your skills in VA at all

[lulunami]

So I was in a Void Ark where I was rudely told that my opener for BLM was 'shit' and that it was a DPS loss and that I should go back to kindergarten...Ask them why, and they said they were AS4 BLM so they know everything apparently.

My current opener is:

B3 -> T1 -> Ley -> Quell -> F3 -> Sharp -> Eno -> F1 -> Raging -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> F3 -> Convert -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> B3

Is there something wrong with that particular rotation? Been using it for quite awhile since HW, and it hasn't failed me yet...

The B3 and T1 at the start of the pull is not really necessary since it delays getting into Eno and F4 by a few GCDs. That is the only thing I see I can really nitpick. In certain fights, perhaps it might be sub-optimal with mechanics that force movement or phase changes.

For Void Ark, it should not really matter too much since people do not really try-hard in Void Ark. I do not understand why people were being really rude with you.

[PomPomFlare]

So I was in a Void Ark where I was rudely told that my opener for BLM was 'shit' and that it was a DPS loss and that I should go back to kindergarten...Ask them why, and they said they were AS4 BLM so they know everything apparently.

My current opener is:

B3 -> T1 -> Ley -> Quell -> F3 -> Sharp -> Eno -> F1 -> Raging -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> F3 -> Convert -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> B3

Is there something wrong with that particular rotation? Been using it for quite awhile since HW, and it hasn't failed me yet...

Try:

Sharp -> Ley -> F3 -> Eno -> Raging -> F1 -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> F3P -> Convert -> F4 -> F4 -> F4 -> T1 -> B3 -> B4

As said above B3 and T1 at the start of the pull isn't a thing anymore.