Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Ferth]

Almost positive that the correct aoe rotation is fire 3 -> fire 2 x4 -> flare (swiftcast if you want, its optimal) -> transpose -> fire 3 -> fire 2 x2 -> flare -> repeat.

I'd like to see some math on that if possible. As is, I almost never cast more than 3 flares before everything is dead, unless the other dps is not doing any aoe damage.

I will concede that I am missing a fair amount of spell speed which could leave me with too much time on transpose after fire 2, in which a second fire 2 would potentially make sense.

[GunksFoy]

I'd like to see some math on that if possible. As is, I almost never cast more than 3 flares before everything is dead, unless the other dps is not doing any aoe damage.

I believe someone added it up at the top of this very page, but I don't have any math for you right now. This does, however, seem to be the consensus for the best aoe rotation. I work far too much to actually test the math.

[Ferth]

I believe someone added it up at the top of this very page, but I don't have any math for you right now. This does, however, seem to be the consensus for the best aoe rotation. I work far too much to actually test the math.

It seems that the tables on the top of this page are about the potential dps gain with enochian and adding blizz 4 to the rotation. I'm doing the math myself atm, but if someone already had it for how my rotation compares to yours I'd be glad to see it.

[Transient_Shadow]

so I found out that much of my problems with my damage is due to my gear and stats. can anyone fill me in on what are the recommended stats for an ilvl 250 blm?

[Bahd_Monkey]

so I found out that much of my problems with my damage is due to my gear and stats. can anyone fill me in on what are the recommended stats for an ilvl 250 blm?

iLvl 250 is a problem and you should up it. IDK what your rotation is but this is a great guide https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

[Ferth]

Since the function of transpose and waiting for MP is pretty much impossible to factor with any reliability I decided to break down the potency per gcd per target of Flare VS Fire2.

Assumptions:
Fire 2 is 1.2 global cool downs to cast. x*1.2
Flare is 1.6 global cool downs to cast. x*1.6

Fire 2 has a constant damage of 100 potency per target. 100*n
Flare has decreasing returns for each target up to 6 then constant damage for each target after 6. 260+(260*.9)+(260*.8)+(260*.7)+(260*.6)+[(260*.5)*y]
y=n-5 and can't be less than 1

Astral Fire 3 modifies potency by 1.8

All instances of Fire 2 and Flare will be cast with Astral Fire 3
n=number of targets.

Maths:
n=1
Fire 2 potency is 180 potency per cast and 150 potency per global cooldown.

Flare potency is 468 potency per cast on the initial Target (n=1) and 292.5 potency per global cooldown.

n=6
Fire 2 potency is 1080. Potency per global cooldown is 900. Potency per target per global cooldown is 150. (this number will be constant for fire 2 regardless of enemies hit.)

Flare potency 2106. Potency per global cooldown is 1316.25. Potency per target per global cooldown is 219.375

n=20
Fire 2 potency is 3600. Potency per global cooldown is 3000. Potency per target per global cooldown is 150.

Flare potency is 5382. Potency per global cooldown is 3363.75. Potency per target per global cooldown is 168.1875.

n=100
Fire 2 potency is 18000. Potency per global cooldown is 15000. Potency per target per global cooldown is 150.

Flare potency is 24102. Potency per global cooldown is 15063.75. Potency per target per global cooldown is 150.6375.

Conclusion:

In a 1:1 potency/gcd comparison you need to be hitting over 100 enemies for a cast of fire 2 to equal the damage of flare.

Practical conclusion:
With 0 spell speed from gear (354 total) the gcd is 2.5seconds.

My aoe rotation after Transpose (Fire 3 > Fire 2> Flare) takes 1.4+1.2+1.6 = 4.2 gcds. 2.5*4.2=10.5 seconds. Transpose has a recast time of 12 seconds with up to a 3 second wait for the first mp tick. 10.5~13.5 seconds to complete.

The standard aoe rotation (Fire 3 > Fire 2> Fire 2> Flare) takes 1.4+1.2+1.2+1.6= 5.4 gcds. 2.5*5.4=13.5 seconds to complete with up to a 3 second wait for the first mp tick. 13.5~16.5 seconds.

As far as I know the current BIS for blm allows for a spell speed of 1102 (I could be wrong here, it's hard to find solid info on the absolute highest amount of SS available.)

According to this Chart. this will give you a global cooldown of 2.21s (and a fire 2 recast of 2.66.)

That puts my rotation at 9.282 seconds, so let's conservatively say 9.5~12.5 seconds. If you happen to get a completely perfect mp tick right as you hit transpose you will end up with a few seconds of twiddling your thumbs. If you get worst possible mp tick after transpose you've lost .5 seconds from a perfect 12 second rotation.

Standard rotation ends up at 11.94 so let's say 11.9~14.9 seconds. If you get an absolutely perfect mp tick after transpose this is a dps increase. If you get the worst possible mp tick from transpose it's a slight dps loss unless you are fighting around 100 enemies.

If you (somehow) manage to get 1444 Spell Speed your gcd will be 2.06 seconds. At which point my rotation will take around 8.7(11.7) seconds and the standard rotation will take 11.1(14.1) seconds.

[StouterTaru]

Since the function of transpose and waiting for MP is pretty much impossible to factor with any reliability

MP ticks happen on server-side 3 second timer. At around 800 SS, it takes 15 seconds for the cycle of Transpose > Fire 3 > Fire 2 > Fire 2 > Flare > repeat.

The overlooked factor in best AoE rotation is when everything dies. That will vary based on you, your party, and what you're fighting. Sometimes you'll do better with a Transpose > Freeze > F3 > F2 x3 > Flare.

[Ferth]

MP ticks happen on server-side 3 second timer. At around 800 SS, it takes 15 seconds for the cycle of Transpose > Fire 3 > Fire 2 > Fire 2 > Flare > repeat.

The overlooked factor in best AoE rotation is when everything dies. That will vary based on you, your party, and what you're fighting. Sometimes you'll do better with a Transpose > Freeze > F3 > F2 x3 > Flare.

I will some times add in an extra Fire 2 near the end of a given set of mobs' life span because of where their health is at. But unless that Freeze is the thing actually killing something I don't think that rotation would ever be better.

My comment about mp ticks and transpose was more about that unless you start at exactly the right time and have a rotation that without exception is always divisible by 3 seconds you won't be able to rely on constantly getting favorable mp ticks every time. Nor can you really compare two seperate people with two seperate sets of gear using two different rotations reliably because of the differences in when each person will hit transpose compared to when the server ticks over.

[StouterTaru]

I will some times add in an extra Fire 2 near the end of a given set of mobs' life span because of where their health is at. But unless that Freeze is the thing actually killing something I don't think that rotation would ever be better.

If you go back a few pages on this thread, you'll see Freeze being more dps on large packs (9+ mobs or so) when the pack lives forever.

When stuff actually dies, there are times when your rotation could end with one of these two:

• Transpose > F3 > 2x F2 > Flare > Transpose > F3 > F2
• Transpose > Freeze > F3 > 3x F2 > Flare

The difference between them is Fire 3 under UI on 1 mob (216 potency) vs Freeze on all mobs (100 potency each) and 24 less potency on the F3 from UI2, with the Freeze rotation taking about half a second less. Or it could be one of these two:

• Transpose > F3 > 2x F2 >Flare > Transpose > F3 interrupted because your target died and everything else dies before you can get anything off
• Transpose > F3 > 2x F2 >Flare > Transpose > Freeze on everything still alive

If you transpose more than twice in a dungeon pack, that it means your party AoE is very weak. That is the only time that sustained AoE makes any difference. In most cases, how you finish matters more.

[Ferth]

Thanks for directing me to those tables. I was able to put my rotation into a comparison for yours. And you are right, they meet up at 3 targets then mine slowly falls behind. I don't have the spell speed for your proposed freeze rotation, so I will worry about that at another time.