Back in Black - A Black Mage Guide

[Gaj85]

Question for BLM; I recently aquired the level 230 Lore staff. I placed two pieces of level V materia into it (Determination +24). Someone was telling me I fucked up, not sure why though. Was this a good choice? The base stats on the staff already had SS, Crit Hit, Vit, and intel.

[Nekotee]

If you got the hailstorm staff
It is crit capped but not spellspeed capped (80 when the cap is 114)

So yeah 2 quicktongue V would have give you 104 spellspeed

[Maero]

2 Quicktongue V's would be the best way to go.
You can remove the materia and remeld at the cost of losing a V materia in your case.

[Garotte14]

Yep, others have already stated the reason. If you are unaware, there is a place called the Bonfire, which is north of Black Brush Station in central than. Go there and speak to the gobby to remove your materia. Det is the lowest stat weight so you shouldn't be melding Det unless you have no other choice.

[IceSpear]

I have a question about Enochian... When your in your 3rd rotation and its off cooldown I usually go Blizzard 3 -> Sharpcast -> Thunder -> Enochian -> Thunder 3 (Thundercloud) -> Fire 3... Is that near enough the "right way" or is there something else that I could/should do to restart the timer?

[Garotte14]

I have a question about Enochian... When your in your 3rd rotation and its off cooldown I usually go Blizzard 3 -> Sharpcast -> Thunder -> Enochian -> Thunder 3 (Thundercloud) -> Fire 3... Is that near enough the "right way" or is there something else that I could/should do to restart the timer?

If you are using Sharpcast on Thunder, which is fine, you should not be using it that early. Unless you are talking about fighting two mobs then that's fine as well. But on a single target, if you use that rotation you described above, your initial thunder isn't even ticking once, meaning you're wasting a 2.5s cast time on 30 potency.

I would recommend doing this instead: Sharpcast > Thunder > Enochian > Fire III > Fire IV X 2 > Fire > Thundercloud. This way your initial Thunder is 150-190 potency.

[IceSpear]

If you are using Sharpcast on Thunder, which is fine, you should not be using it that early. Unless you are talking about fighting two mobs then that's fine as well. But on a single target, if you use that rotation you described above, your initial thunder isn't even ticking once, meaning you're wasting a 2.5s cast time on 30 potency.

I would recommend doing this instead: Sharpcast > Thunder > Enochian > Fire III > Fire IV X 2 > Fire > Thundercloud. This way your initial Thunder is 150-190 potency.

And what should I do when I come to refresh Enochian with Blizzard IV since by the time I use the Thundercloud it would still be ticking should I use Blizzard or just use Thunder again?...

[Garotte14]

And what should I do when I come to refresh Enochian with Blizzard IV since by the time I use the Thundercloud it would still be ticking should I use Blizzard or just use Thunder again?...

Its more about watching your mana and the server tick, but in a nutshell, yes. If you are using Thundercloud in the back half of your Fire rotation, use Blizzard instead of Thunder. Your TC is 745.5 potency, but if you refresh it with Thunder at that point, it reduces it down to 535.5 potency. 535.5 + 283.5 for another T1, is 819 potency. A full TC plus B1 is 934.5 potency with the same cast times.

However, if you happen to get a quick server tick after you cast Blizzard III, you'll be able to omit the Blizzard altogether and go right into BIV and let your TC tick its full duration.

Also, there is the possibility of getting another TC and if that does happen, then it is fine to refresh that first TC with another one in that scenario. You're then reducing your first to 535.5 potency but adding another 745.5; putting you at 1281 potency for the same 5 seconds of cast time.

[Kerii]

I have a question that's mostly irrelevant. I personally find the 6x Fire IV opener to be too tight for me to pull off reliably (I'm skirting 834* splspd at 214) and I've been using the standard rotation as my opener instead. Is the potency loss by doing this so dramatic that it would be noticeable? I'm currently upgrading gear and working in more splspd, but I'm not a raider so I've got little more than personal interest to push on that front.

[Garotte14]

I have a question that's mostly irrelevant. I personally find the 6x Fire IV opener to be too tight for me to pull off reliably (I'm skirting 834* splspd at 214) and I've been using the standard rotation as my opener instead. Is the potency loss by doing this so dramatic that it would be noticeable? I'm currently upgrading gear and working in more splspd, but I'm not a raider so I've got little more than personal interest to push on that front.

If you're not raiding, then no. It doesn't really matter if you aren't doing the "optimal" opener. Once you get around 890 SS, is when you will start to see that opener a little easier to pull off. Over a thousand SS, and you can do it without a problem even if you have to move during it. I wouldn't worry too much about it though.