Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[frostfirefawcett]

Well It could benefit in raids with more accuracy for sure so I'll have to wear it for a6+ I'm not sure on this right now though since I lose a lot of spell speed!

Well, until you need the accuracy, I would keep the i230 lore as it weights higher than the Midan i240 ring.

[Waliel]

Anyone else pumped to see Aikaal posting again?

Curses! My grand return is foiled!

Anyways, anything I've missed out on BLM-wise for skipping this patch, other than Weeping chest? Quit before it hit and just started again yesterday, and am too lazy to read however many pages it has been since my last post.

[ShaolinMike]

Curses! My grand return is foiled!

Anyways, anything I've missed out on BLM-wise for skipping this patch, other than Weeping chest? Quit before it hit and just started again yesterday, and am too lazy to read however many pages it has been since my last post.

Just the next relic step, if you're doing one. Deep Dungeon also came out, but it's pretty much dead now I think.

[ShaolinMike]

I have a question about situation rotations: Let's say you're in a fight and you've lost Enochian, so you've had to revert to the 2.x rotation. If your Enochian comes off cooldown in the middle of your 2.x Astral Fire rotation, do you:

1) Finish your AF rotation, go through Umbral Ice to replenish MP, then pop Enochian when you go back to Astral Fire,

2) Immediately cast Blizzard III, replenish MP, then pop Enochian when you go back to Astral Fire,

3) Immediately pop Enochian while in Astral Fire, regardless of how much MP you have?

[FunkyBunch]

I have a question about situation rotations: Let's say you're in a fight and you've lost Enochian, so you've had to revert to the 2.x rotation. If your Enochian comes off cooldown in the middle of your 2.x Astral Fire rotation, do you:

1) Finish your AF rotation, go through Umbral Ice to replenish MP, then pop Enochian when you go back to Astral Fire,

2) Immediately cast Blizzard III, replenish MP, then pop Enochian when you go back to Astral Fire,

3) Immediately pop Enochian while in Astral Fire, regardless of how much MP you have?

Between 1+2 depending on the fight. But I personally almost always will do #2. #3 just sounds like a waste.

[Reptiletc]

I actually have a question I'm hoping someone can answer. I'm an ilvl 237 BLM and I've finished nearly every dungeon/trial/raid available in the game there is to do (Short of a few Extreme primals) and yet I never worked my Archer up to get Quelling Strikes. I keep hearing people being told that Quelling Strikes is a mandatory skill and that BLM cannot be played without it. Often this deters people from going for BLM, so I figured I'd ask, what's the verdict on Quelling Strikes?

[Mocita]

I actually have a question I'm hoping someone can answer. I'm an ilvl 237 BLM and I've finished nearly every dungeon/trial/raid available in the game there is to do (Short of a few Extreme primals) and yet I never worked my Archer up to get Quelling Strikes. I keep hearing people being told that Quelling Strikes is a mandatory skill and that BLM cannot be played without it. Often this deters people from going for BLM, so I figured I'd ask, what's the verdict on Quelling Strikes?

If you get a tank you don't trust to hold hate, then Quelling Strikes won't make you bait.
If you're with a tank that can agro all, then burn your enemies and make them fall.

[Garotte14]

I actually have a question I'm hoping someone can answer. I'm an ilvl 237 BLM and I've finished nearly every dungeon/trial/raid available in the game there is to do (Short of a few Extreme primals) and yet I never worked my Archer up to get Quelling Strikes. I keep hearing people being told that Quelling Strikes is a mandatory skill and that BLM cannot be played without it. Often this deters people from going for BLM, so I figured I'd ask, what's the verdict on Quelling Strikes?

The requirement of QS is not black and white. 3 factors will determine if it's necessary: The skill of the BLM, the skill of the MT, and the composition and goal of the party. I will break it down.

If you are a highly geared/skilled BLM you should pull hate at every pull against most tanks. This depends a lot on the type of tank, and the stance they are in. Defiance vs. Deliverance, Shield Oath vs. Sword Oath, etc.

Now having a Nin in your party can reduce that stress with Smoke Screen and/or Shadewalker. Having Quelling Strikes, really just adds another level of cushion in case you have massive crits and procs in your opener. Also it depends a lot on the situation. If you are fighting a single mob, hate won't be as much of an issue. If the tank is attempting to hold hate on two mobs for example, it could become an issue. Any more than two mobs, you should be AoEing. With only two mobs, you should still be single targeting. A good example of this is add phase in A8S when one tank is holding Vortexer and Swindler and DPS is attacking both mobs. Since the tank is having to hold hate against two mobs where a ton of damage is going out, the use of QS is extremely helpful.

Now keep in mind that this is talking about raiding where you pushing as much DPS as possible is extremely important. If you don't do serious content and DPS isn't an issue, QS is not mandatory because you can lay back a little bit. Sure your damage might suffer, but if you clear, it doesn't matter.

If you don't have QS, I would just keep an eye your your hate generation and if you need to slow a bit, its not the end of the world.

[Israacf]

So what's the preferred opener nowadays? I still use Quelling+Sharpcast>Fire 3>Enochain+Ley Lines>Fire 1>F4>F4>F4>F3P+SC>F4>Convert>F4>F4>B3...


So what's most used now? Or what would be a better option? I really wanna learn BLM and want to main it next patch!

[Garotte14]

So what's most used now? Or what would be a better option? I really wanna learn BLM and want to main it next patch!

That opener is still decent, but with the change to Astral Fire and our increased spell speed, it is not optimal. I have still yet to see a better opener than the Sharpcast opener as far as Potency goes. It makes better use of oGCDs.

Sharpcast > Quelling > Ley Lines > F1 > Enochian+Raging Strikes > F3P > Potion > F4x3 > Fire > Swiftcast > F4+Convert > F4x2 > F3P* > Blizz 3 > Thunder > Blizz 4.

If you don't use a potion just move Raging Strikes in place of the potion.