Black Mage Sanctuary - A Guide to DPS

[Galvuu]

I've read somewhere on reddit that: F4>Zero MP>Transpose>B4 is better than F4>2400 MP>B3

Can anyone validate this?

I never tried it, but off top of my head this doesn't seem right.

If you B3>B4>T3>Foul>F3, you're looking at 2.5+3+3+2.5+2.5=13.5s of casting for 240*0.7+260+390+650+240*0.7=1636 potency, yielding 121,2 pps, roughly.
If you do F4>T>B4>B>T3>Foul>F3, it's 3+3+3+2.5+2.5+3=17s for 260*1.8+260+390+170+650+240*0.8=2200 potency, thus we get 129.4 potency in the best scenario that you get an instant mana tick. If you do not, then it's always lower.
You might ask "why that Blizzard?"- because if you don't use it, you risk losing UI if you wanna get all the spells off (no fastened casting of F3). I'd say with our speed, you're guaranteed to lose it. If you want to remove T3 from the rotation, you have to wait for the third UI tick anyway, so you essentially get one less spell for the same window (you can shove a Blizzard there) and it's also less pps.

Also note that the comparison is unfair. If I compare the 2400>B3 to the other one over the same time window (17s), the first has already finished a F4 and is already casting the next. That would be, for a 16.5s window (finished the first F4), a pps of 127.5, virtually the same as the "best scenario" for the transpose version.

I disregarded Enochian because you multiply both values by the same multiplier. Someone feel free to double check the math though.
I'd say at best they're the same, at worst the Transpose version loses. Not to mention that any movement going from UI or UI II to AF III is seriously more threatening to that version (much slower cast, so if you need to stop F3, you'll have to hit Transpose again and be thrown into dps loss hell).
Also, might as well add that if you make the mistake of starting to cast a F4 at 2400 and notice halfway through the cast, given these numbers (that I had never considered before), it seems it's best to finish the cast and hit Transpose.

Hope this was helpful.

[Uriel_Kross]

Thanks for the reminder. I do preposition if I know the ins and outs of a fight but I'm just really having a hard time with BLM into Stormblood in general.

I don't play black mage but my wife has been playing it since the release of HW, I am browsing this forum page trying to get rotation ideas to help her because since the release of SB she has been struggling as well. glad to see that its not just her(as bad as that is to say) from what i can tell it looks like a large portion of the BLM rotation is still under investigation, still what is currently the most accepted rotation for black mage?

[RyeMinx]

Snip

Basically what Galvuu said, I ran some rotations through a dps calculator and every attempt, even with quick manaticks, it is a small potency loss. Obviously, if you have transpose to keep eno up, do it, but overall it should only be used during single target rotations.

[soslinky]

@Galvuu
Thanks for the info.
But I suppose for the sake of a proper(?) comparison, it would be:
1. F4>F4(leaving you with zero MP)>Transpose>B4>T3>Foul>F4
2. F4(leaving you with 2400MP)>B3>Foul>T3>B4>F4
I am too sleepy to run the math, will try to squeeze it in tomorrow.

@RyeMinx
Would it be possible for you to post the math? I'd very much like to see the methodology you used for future reference.

@Uriel_Kross
Ideally your AF phase would be composed of 3x F4>F1>3x F4. Foul is usually used during UI phase. T3P could be used either in UI after Foul/B3 or during AF right after a Fire1 although you may(will?*) lose enoch if you continue with 3x F4 without Swift/F3P.
The rotation is currently tight due insufficient SpS but hopefully as the patches drop we'll get more and more SpS to stack. I've found 1400+ SpS to be a good number to be able to fit everything properly.

*Your spellspeed will determine your fate.

[GospelVhae]

I don't play black mage but my wife has been playing it since the release of HW, I am browsing this forum page trying to get rotation ideas to help her because since the release of SB she has been struggling as well. glad to see that its not just her(as bad as that is to say) from what i can tell it looks like a large portion of the BLM rotation is still under investigation, still what is currently the most accepted rotation for black mage?

For the opener, there's the Umbral Hearts opener and the opener we had back in HW. I will probably recommend the HW opener as that is what's comfortable for her I assume (and more potency per second), just tell her to do the 5-6 Fire4s like back then in HW after doing Blizzard4s.

[RyeMinx]

@RyeMinx
Would it be possible for you to post the math? I'd very much like to see the methodology you used for future reference.

BLM DPS Calculator
I am too lazy to do the actually math, thankfully Eddo on reddit made a dps calculator for BLM before the patch came out. I have tried out several different methods with transpose, and they always end up being lower PPS.

[IllyriaKnotfred]

So what food are people figuring we should be using for the start of Savage?

[Karja]

As much as it hurts me to recommened a food without Spellspeed, HQ Persimmon Leaf Sushi (82 crit, 32 direct hit) should be better than the alternatives with spellspeed.
HQ Boiled Amberjack Head (69 spellspeed 21 det) would be the best option for spellspeed. Since we don't know the stats weight we can't be entirely sure though.

[Marianno]

Hello,

I have been toying around with BLM learning to time my rotation while my under movement constraints in certain dungeons and trials to get better. My fellow BLM friend in-game was giving me some useful advice (I think) and she was saying that transpose is a minor DPS loss. Is this true? I have been doing this to squeeze out an extra F4 in the beginning. She was saying, "while that is good and all, it is actually a DPS loss and not a gain." I was using convert in the beginning after I cast 3x F4 if I get a F3 proc after casting F1. So basically, I am doing B3 B4 T3 F3 F4 F4 F4 F1 (F3 proc hopefully obtained) F4 F4 F4 convert (T3 proc hopefully) F1 F4 F4 transpose Foul B4 T3 and repeat. Am I doing something wrong? I appreciate any constructive criticism I can get as I sort of feel like I am doing something wrong. Thanks

[Tingaling]

My current opener is

Lucid - b3 - eno - t3 - b4 - f3 - triple cast - (pot) - f4 - diversion - f4 - leylines - f4 - sharpcast - f1 - f4 - f4 - f3 - swift cast - f4 - convert - f4 - ff4 ( with rotation repeat until next sharpcast which then u use before thunder )