Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Finkledoodoo]

Ok, some more questions

First, materia/stat question:

I read that it looks like a decrease in GCD cast time is affected by roughly 67 SpS. So, am I looking at my SpS total in multiples of 67 and cutting off as close to a multiple of 67 as I can or am I just going as high as available with whats possible to be melded into my gear? I don't have the savage gear yet, so I'd like to play around with the normal raid gear before committing my expensive materia to savage gear as I accumulate it. Thx...

Also:

At 70, which is the lowest ether that gives enough hp for a flare? I'd like to start gulping the sauce on my aoe rotations during experts...

Finally:

What are good foods and intelligence potions that are effective, but won't break my wallet? I'm not good enough at raiding to validate using the best stuff, so I just want to know what is at least effective. I'm eating marron glace (normal)/ sesame cookie (normal) and drinking mega potion of intelligence. I think maybe I should upgrade to eating Flaugnarde and drinking Max potions of intelligence, but I'm not sure if its worth the heavy price increase. I at the least want to use cheap stuff for the practice...