Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[AlphaFox]

So question maybe someone can help me with, lots to read through though sadly not gonna skim 9x pages. However I feel like I may be doing something wrong, being only level 54 but I feel I got a good grasp on the class but when I go for the Flare>Convert>Flare>Transpose, is this viable? Only ask cus when I do this during mass pulls I feel like something is wrong because I sit there waiting on the MP tick, which sometimes is almost instant then others I feel like I am waiting much longer than I should be

[FunkyBunch]

So question maybe someone can help me with, lots to read through though sadly not gonna skim 9x pages. However I feel like I may be doing something wrong, being only level 54 but I feel I got a good grasp on the class but when I go for the Flare>Convert>Flare>Transpose, is this viable? Only ask cus when I do this during mass pulls I feel like something is wrong because I sit there waiting on the MP tick, which sometimes is almost instant then others I feel like I am waiting much longer than I should be

You will wait for an MP tick, but it's still better than skipping Flare and doing B3->F3->F2x4 instead. When you're waiting for a tick, pop a sharpcast for a Thundercloud proc during your UI phase

[MagiusNecros]

So question maybe someone can help me with, lots to read through though sadly not gonna skim 9x pages. However I feel like I may be doing something wrong, being only level 54 but I feel I got a good grasp on the class but when I go for the Flare>Convert>Flare>Transpose, is this viable? Only ask cus when I do this during mass pulls I feel like something is wrong because I sit there waiting on the MP tick, which sometimes is almost instant then others I feel like I am waiting much longer than I should be

If you're doing the dbl Flare on 3+ enemies then you are doing fine. It's normal to wait a tick. Although if you time it right when you transpose you might have an immediate B3 ready to be cast.

[Waliel]

I had a very wild thought... Is the initial TC damage affected by SS, because it technically does the full dot damage, or is it just a flat 390 potency nuke?

[Sleigh]

I had a very wild thought... Is the initial TC damage affected by SS, because it technically does the full dot damage, or is it just a flat 390 potency nuke?

I'm not sure and that's basically near impossible to test, but from the testing I've done and seen on other DoTs, SS is really negligible right now on DoT damage. A few percentage here or there with a decent amount of SS. Even if it'd be, say, 400 potency after the SS buff, it wouldn't really change how you use it or its priority vs F4.

[GarnetTribal]

I'm frustrated by the job. Basically, what I really enjoyed about it before was watching my mana, pumping out solid abilities, and ultimately not worrying if things go south because I can recover.

I just hit 60 today and I'm using gear that is better on my SMN (mostly crit) - already I'm feeling the lack of spell speed. On top of that, not only do I have to watch mana, but now I have to watch enochian and heavily pay attention to umbral ice/fire? Did this overwhelm anyone when they started playing Black Mage? Or were you all fine with it. I had a horrible run of AV (granted, the tank didn't pick up any of our ads, and the plant boss ran around like mad for the first minute, and our healers weren't healing for crap because "deeps"), but still. I become obsessive about keeping up enochian. I'll have to run around to avoid mechanics sometimes, then when I do I'll notice umbral fire is low, so I'll use a quick fire so I can continue fire 4. But then I see that my enochian is low -- yet I have plenty of mana for more fire 4's. I'll switch to blizz 3. Blizz 4. (forget about EVER using thunder again. Maybe it's easier for those with spell speed..I do not have SS). I'll use fire 3. and basically the pattern repeats itself. I can NOT seem to dodge mechanics effectively with this new black mage rotation.

I miss old BLM. Thank god for new bard. I'm not one for keeping up DoTs like the SMN. (simple refresh/ 2 dots on bard is plenty for me). Am I just doing something wrong? Does the job get easier with more spell speed? (my cast time is something like 2.91 seconds for fire 4 I believe). I have 690 crit. I can only get off 2 Fire 4's before I need to use Fire 1. Then I'll Fire 4 -- and if I DIDN'T have to dodge any mechanics, I can potentially use another before I have to Blizz 4 to renew enochian.

I swear I'm doing something wrong. I'm frustrated as hell because I really like black mage. But dammit if I don't think I can play the class anymore...

[MagiusNecros]

Gonna sound jaded but Enochian changes nothing about the job. Just another icon timer to watch. And only serves to gate 2 spells. And increase damage by 5%.

Pfffft. Padding and Filler. Where are the real spells at? I want a spell on Blm that will even make a Fell Cleave Crit Warrior crap their pants and go WTF.

[wicked-one]

Pfffft. Padding and Filler. Where are the real spells at? I want a spell on Blm that will even make a Fell Cleave Crit Warrior crap their pants and go WTF.

Well, you got that one with Fire4, and you can use it way more frequently than a Fell Cleave...

[wicked-one]

I swear I'm doing something wrong. I'm frustrated as hell because I really like black mage. But dammit if I don't think I can play the class anymore...

Well, I think we all went through this at first, cause BLM really "changed" alot when you hit 60. But then, you realise you just have to adjust your muscle memory and youre fine.

It is still like in 2.x where movement killed dps, and you really excelled when you knew the fight ahead. I always called it the "dance of the blackmage", as sliding out of AoEs and still pulling off that cast i´m in always felt like a little choreography, thanks to the scripted fights.

They just threw in some more variation, where variation means "blow out as much F4 as possible" xD

It is not anymore the simple blow out your mana with fire and don´t forget your procs.

It got more interesting, but it´s still the old meta "easy to play, hard to master"

[Waliel]

I'm not sure and that's basically near impossible to test, but from the testing I've done and seen on other DoTs, SS is really negligible right now on DoT damage. A few percentage here or there with a decent amount of SS. Even if it'd be, say, 400 potency after the SS buff, it wouldn't really change how you use it or its priority vs F4.

True enough. Maybe we'll get a TC-like skill for some job in the future where it could be relevant.