Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Maero]

More often then not if thundercloud procs as you are using FireIV you should have time to finish off with enough spell speed, it is not always the case that you could drop FireIV but thundercloud procs are definately a dps gain

[chocopoko]

so what about the cases when you have multiple thundercloud procs? on that note, is it viable to do the sharpcast > thunder3(thundercloud proc) > thunder3(sharpcast proc)

[Spiroglyph]

so what about the cases when you have multiple thundercloud procs? on that note, is it viable to do the sharpcast > thunder3(thundercloud proc) > thunder3(sharpcast proc)

Ideally you'll refresh a t3 proc when the previous one is about to fall off (I avoid applying any new t3s when the previous one is still at >5s), as the previous dot will not be dishing out it's full damage and will be overwritten, this is most cases ends up being a DPS loss and you should instead try to use f4 or f1, or if available f3 proc.

Following that logic sharpcasting t3 followed by using the resulting proc, imo would only be a dps gain if you used the proc on a different target, to let the DOT do all the damage. I never really do this because hardcasting t3 takes way too long too long though. :/

EDIT: Afaik priority is T3 proc - F4 - F3 proc - F1 (this obviously assuming you have enochian up always and enough time to refresh it), this only changes if your target is already with the thunder dot, in which situation you need to carefully juggle the remaining time on your proc and the time left on thunder on the target (i.e your t3 proc just popped, have 10s until it falls off, target's thunder dot is at 8s - you can afford to wait a few seconds to throw out proc and refresh it, meanwhile you can use another F4)

I'm still a scrub blm though, so please take this all with a grain of salt

[Maero]

One could technically also cast another T3 Proc after IceIV (i use T3 Proc after ice), not sure the maths behind it though

[chocopoko]

I never really do this because hardcasting t3 takes way too long too long though. :/

what I meant was, using a Thunder 3 Proc (not hard casting)

Receive thundercloud buff > sharpcast > Thunder 3 (via initial thundercloud buff) > Thunder 3 (via sharpcast thundercloud proc)

[waifugenerator]

I've been using the opener HaroldSaxon posted here recently and I've been hovering around 2550 DPS. (on a dummy so no party buffs)
I'm currently i257 with the i260 Anima. Is this a good number to be at or is there anything I can do to improve? I've been doing the 5x F4 casts in a row whenever Ley Lines is up too.
Not sure if it's important but my current INT is 1496 and I'm sitting at 1161 SpSpd

[Deathwraith]

So, just discovered something and figured I'd share. You can cast 4 flares in a row during dungeons. Is this optimal? Perhaps not, but figured I'd share for those interested.

Normal AoE rotation ending in Flare -> Convert -> Sharpcast -> Fire 1 -> Flare -> Transpose (wait for mana tick, hopefully fast) -> Swiftcast->Firestarter-> Flare -> Max Ether -> Flare.

This will leave you OOM and with transpose on cooldown, but hopefully a mass dungeon pull is dead by then lol. All I know is that it's fun. Now please feel free to show me how terrible it is lol.

[Maero]

I think your in a good area Waifugenerator, do you also weave in some thunder in between? Myself i always refresh thunder while in umbral stage, one could not dismiss the potency of thundercloud procs as it is the most damage.
As far as aoe rotations go i will be honest, multiple Fire 2's and 2X Flares enemies health is already pretty much dead, lol
I never 3X flare like i did in 2.X, one could even mix in F4 with some flares, it depends on the situation as example if you need a certain enemy killed asap from the group, etc...

[waifugenerator]

I think your in a good area Waifugenerator, do you also weave in some thunder in between? Myself i always refresh thunder while in umbral stage, one could not dismiss the potency of thundercloud procs as it is the most damage.

Should I be using SC for thundercloud procs? I usually do ShrpC > F3 > F4 > F4 > F1 > proc > SwftC > F4 > F4 >refresh
but yes I do cast thunder in every umbral cycle before refreshing enochian

[Maero]

I would say situational, as an example say the last boss in Fractal when adds show up, having multiple thundercloud procs (due to sc) you can pretty much take out all enemies and the other dps in the group would probably say wth just happened. Chances are in longer fights sc will be off cd so you may get the chance to use it for thundercloud.
Experiment and see if it suits you for the situation, there is no denying the higher potency of thundercloud procs.
Also nothing at all wrong with Sc Fire 3, Myself i prefer to sharpcast F1 instead just personal taste is all.

On a different note, have had to also change rotations lately, not sure if any also have issue but past few weeks game has seemed laggy, my timing is rather off and my spell speed feels like 8 or 900 as opposed to the my 1163. I have heard others from NA datacenter also have lag issues lately. PVP is super bad as Nin, lol
It is annoying the hell out of me.