Back in Black - A Black Mage Guide

[Gaj85]

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

Alright, thanks for the information. I will have to aquire a few SS materia now. Sucks I wasted two level V Determination materias though.

[Maero]

Well it does, but note for the rest of your gear if you can add determination, IV materia should suffice, save your weekly V Materia reward for Spell Speed and crit i would suggest.

[xxvaynxx]

I have a quick question.
With my current gear should I be able to beat the AS8 dummy clean? I have full 230 left side and almost full 230 right side, I have 2 ilv220.
Like...I'm able to clear it but its highly dependable on my procs and I can't clear it if I don't get much thunderclouds, I usually always hit 4% or 1%.
Also I'm not using Pots if I use pots I can beat it easily, I'm going in unbuffed aside form the Piety food so I can use the opener.

[Garotte14]

I have a quick question.
With my current gear should I be able to beat the AS8 dummy clean? I have full 130 left side and almost full 130 right side, I have 2 ilv120.
Like...I'm able to clear it but its highly dependable on my procs and I can't clear it if I don't get much thunderclouds, I usually always hit 4% or 1%.
Also I'm not using Pots if I use pots I can beat it easily, I'm going in unbuffed aside form the Piety food so I can use the opener.

I'm assuming you meant 230 and 220, and yes you should be able to clear it with that gear. With a high proc % you should be able to clear it at i220 with sephirot weapon. I'm assuming, your around i227-228 by what you said. At that level, you shouldn't have to rely too much on procs. There might be something you're doing that's not optimal in your rotation, but I can't say for sure without seeing it

[xxvaynxx]

Oops yeah I meant 230 (edit) and yeah I'm ilv228...so my rotation?
Hmm...seems like I'm doing things right..like..the first time I cleared it I had like 8secs but I haven't been able to clear it with that time ever since, it always 3secs left or I don't clear it at all.
I start with the new sharpcast opener, then I go from there. I do the normal rotation F4x2, F1(Thundercloud) , f4x2, B3, T1(Or B1 if thunder still ticking around 15secs), B4.

[Garotte14]

Oops yeah I meant 230 (edit) and yeah I'm ilv228...so my rotation?
Hmm...seems like I'm doing things right..like..the first time I cleared it I had like 8secs but I haven't been able to clear it with that time ever since, it always 3secs left or I don't clear it at all.
I start with the new sharpcast opener, then I go from there. I do the normal rotation F4x2, F1(Thundercloud) , f4x2, B3, T1(Or B1 if thunder still ticking around 15secs), B4.

Well there are a few things to consider. First, Because you can stand still for its entirety, Firestarter procs aren't going to make much of a difference for the dummy. Even though the PPS is higher on a Firestarter vs. a Fire IV, during such a short parse, it's hardly noticeable. So the two big factors that will effect such a parse is going to be Thunderclouds and crits. Crits make an even bigger difference in your opener. With Raging Strikes up, a crit on a Fire IV is like an additional 2% on that dummy. So if you don't get any crits during your opener, you could end the first 30 seconds at around 84% HP left. 3 Crits could put you about 78% in the same time frame. When you're talking about a game of inches, that can be the difference between clearing it with 8 seconds left and not clearing it at all.

It sounds as if you're doing everything properly so it could just be a case of bad luck. I would take a look at your crit %. I'd be willing to bet on the times you don't clear it, your crit rate is really low.

[Garotte14]

Just in case any Black Mages were wondering, The chest piece that drops in The Weeping City of Mhach is a great upgrade until you can get the chest from A8 and would be BiS if you don't do Savage. I've only seen it drop on Ozma so far, and I ran it 7 times this week.

[IceSpear]

Just in case any Black Mages were wondering, The chest piece that drops in The Weeping City of Mhach is a great upgrade until you can get the chest from A8 and would be BiS if you don't do Savage. I've only seen it drop on Ozma so far, and I ran it 7 times this week.

According to Garland Tools it can drop from Calofisteri too.

Edit~ I can confirm it does drop from the 3rd and final boss... The amount of times I ran for it... Never want to go again.