I'm having a hard time understanding how people enjoy the BLM...

[Gallus]

the rotation at level 60 is absolutely atrocious... granted, it doesn't involve many buttons, but the amount of stuff that can go wrong and punish your DPS harshly is so ridiculous it's not even funny. So we know it's Fire IV-Fire IV-Fire...etc. Now, my question is, what happens if in that Fire an AOE that can kill you forces you to move, or an add attacks you and interrupts you, or an add dies before you can land the cast, or a boss turns you into a doll/frog...or I'm sure I'm missing a lot other possibilities lol, you lose AF3, and then you are forced to do what? Shartpcast fire - Fire III proc - Fire IV? XD, hell? Sorry but this is horrible xd. It almost feels like going blind to a fight as a level 60 BLM is like commiting suicidal. So many things that can go wrong and many many of them aren't even in your hands.

So my question ...are BLM players happy with this class at level 60? In the next expansion, would you prefer a BLM rotation similar to the 2.0 or the 3.0?

[verandal]

To answer the question first, 3.0 rotation by far. Without Enochian it's spam fire til OOM, blizzard, refresh thunder and hit anything that procs.

I always describe Blm having the easiest rotation by far, but hardest dps class to execute that rotation at a high level while utilizing your very much under rated utility.

Black mages need extreme raid awareness (more so than tanks imo) to put up high dps numbers. Knowledge of what types of attacks are magical/physical, when bosses will disappear, (and how long for) and precise timing depict the true skills of a black Mage. It's a job that's easy to understand but difficult to execute and a mastery level. Hope this helped.

[MagiusNecros]

3.0 is pretty much the same as 2.0 rotation. Just 2 more attack buttons. In extreme raids you just require fight knowledge. Once you have that it's cake. I mean instead of spamming fire 1 and then throwing out a blizzard 3, it just amounts to Enoch cycles spamming F4 and F1 and throwing out a b3 and then a b4 and back again. Not a big change. And AoE rotation? No changes whatsoever.

Can't understand the flair of Summoner in comparison. I find the playstyle of fancy oGCD's and waiting for thing to die to DoT's the most boring playstyle ever conceived.

[Kenji1134]

The problem is that the newest style of "difficulty" goes against BLM's design, whereas the old one did not.

In Gordias, it was "how hard can you mash buttons while executing some mechanics?"
In Midas it is "how many mechanics can you execute in rapid succession while maintaining halfway decent dps?"

The problem is, if a BLM is doing ANYTHING other than casting, they are doing ZERO dps... Okay, maybe the Thunder dot, but thats it. So the new raid approach of "dodge aoes, run to locations, click on shit, etc" doesnt just "not mesh well" with BLM, it is a hard counter to BLM's fundamental dps requirement.

Now you could say the same thing for BRD and MCH, which is where the next counterargument comes in. BLM has to constantly keep track of 2 timed buffs. If either falls all, you are not just forced into a lower dps rotation (like DRG), you are actually left with your thumb up your ass for several seconds. No other class realistically has the danger of having their attack just fail due to a buff wearing off on every 4th cast! (Yes I know, SMN and DWT, but thats 1 ability per 60 seconds)

The question is, how do you propose to fix something which is by definition a hard counter to BLM's most fundamental mechanic (always be casting)?

One easier to code solution would be to take Apocatastasis (one of THE least used job abilities in the game), and have it do the following instead:

Instant, OGCD, no cost
60s CD (maybe 30 seconds)
Upon activation, stores your current self buffs, increasing their duration by 5 seconds, and prevents stored buffs from ticking down. Press the button again to reapply stored buffs to self. (Only works on AF, UI, and Enochian)

So what does this mean and how is it useful?
The idea is that when you know you are about to be screwed by mechanics, you can activate this ability to take a snapshot of your buffs and extend them by 5 seconds (long enough to get off any cast). The cost is that you willingly stripped yourself of all your self buffs and have to work from nothing.
Realistically this means that if you know there is a heavy movement phase coming up and you cannot dp any real dps, store your buffs and run.
If the boss will become untargetable for the next 10-20-30 seconds, store your buffs and have them ready for later.

Now then, how about a more difficult solution? A more fundamentally game mechanics changing solution?

Every time you fail to deal damage with a spell due to an interrupt, immunity or a buff falling off, your next spell has its cast time reduced by 2.5 seconds.
Make it a trait and call it "Caster's Rage".
So, did the boss become invulnerable for a phase transition? Rage! And cast that B4 instantly saving Enochian.
Did an "aoe of death" spawn under your feet? Start moving, start casting, break the cast because you are moving (you still eat the GCD). Rage! Instantly cast F1/B1/T1/F3(UI)/B3(AF) while moving, or F4/B4 with only a short stop.
Did the boss decide to move JUST out of your attack range HALF A SECOND before your spell finished? RAGE!!! And chase that bastard down with an instant hit!

Will this fix the problem of being left buff-less when some mechanic prevents casting for more than 12 seconds? Sadly no.
To address that we'd need the first solution. Or if that is deemed too difficult, something simpler.

"Caster's Clarity"
60s CD.
Applied a fresh 30s Enochian, 12s AF3, AND 12s UI3. (The next Fire or Ice spell has a 50% cast time reduction, and will determine whether the AF or UI buff remains.)

That's basically your "get out of jail free" card. You can use it as an opener (if you are extremely lazy), or as a way to deal with all the times that mechanics fuck up your carefully orchestrated dps rotation.

You know, just something to make BLM not take SUCH a massive hit on any remotely complex fights...
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That or make Enochian a stance...
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Make Blood of the Dragon a stance too...
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WM is a stance...
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It kinda makes sense doesnt it?

[Rongway]

BLM has four buttons with "Additional Effect: Caster ignores mechanics". If you can't mechanics, firing one of these cooldowns will help minimize the time that you have to spend dealing with mechanics.
And since someone wanted to mention Apocatastasis, if you think Apocatastasis is underused, you're doing it wrong, since Apocatastasis has "Additional Effect: Target ignores mechanics."

At Heavensward launch, the rotation was ten times tighter, but since they set Enochian (the ability) to a fixed 30s duration and extended the elemental buffs to 12s, things are great. If there's anything to complain about right now, it's that the Ley Lines radius is 1y, maybe 2y, too small for placeLeyLines-parkOnOneSide-dodgeToOtherSide.

[XiXiQ]

I'd always mained BLM, and find it thoroughly unenjoyable since the 3.0 changes for the OP reasons. It's simply ridiculous to be expected to be running from point a to point b, having bosses vanish/become untargetable or able to target/hit them for 0. It's also a strech to say you have to know precisely when this is going to happen, when it happens based on the time it takes for an unknown group to dps something. At least mch/brd have an option to revert to 2.0 and keep moving/attacking. a BLM cannot move in any situation, 2.0 or 3.0. They have random procs only (and you're not getting that if you can't cast either). Every encounter seems to be designed to screw BLMs cooldowns in some manner or other. (even leylines, when you need to jump from platform to platform, or move from point A to point B - everyone else takes their buffs with them, we have to leave them behind on the ground). Yes, it's better than it's original 3.0 form, but it's still a dog.

[Gallus]

Or that moment when the boss becomes immune and you Fire III it and realize that your UI3 didn't turn into AF3...it simply vanished into thin air (bug or intended?). As a BLM it feels like your role forces you to entirely focus targets with big pools of health, whenever I try to kill an add there's always the "what if he dies before I get to cast that Fire" feeling that makes me want to hate myself so much.
Now this is just my opinion but enochian shouldn't be there, because you already have to put up with these:

1 - Ley Lines makes you more static.
2 - Fire IV and Blizzard IV have long casts, so again, less mobility.
3 - Fire IV does not reset AF3, which makes the rotation a bit risky at times.
4 - Sharpcast and where to use it.

Enochian imho is overkilling it. Maybe just give Blizzard IV this trait instead -> replenish all your mana instantly, need to be in UI3. This way, you'd either Blizzard IV/Thunder after Blizzard III depending on if you are focusing a big pool health target (boss) in which you'd use thunder or an add and need burst damage in which you'd use blizzard IV.

[randysquirrel]

The usual spouted nonsense from people who don't know how to BLM.

Learn the fights. Learn which moves you can ignore with ward/wall. Learn which you can't. Learn phase changes so you know when to use/refresh enoch. Learn when you are likely to absolutely have to move, and plan your procs, swifts and teleports (and at absolute worst, Scathe XD) around it

Apoc probably isn't used very often. This isn't because it sucks, but a lot of BLMs for some reason decide to ignore this awesome ability in their toolkit

BLMs sure are the least mobile of the dps, but to say they can't move at all is pretty silly. The whole challenge of BLM is learning how to keep your movement to a minimum, by planning ahead

[Gallus]

The usual spouted nonsense from people who don't know how to BLM.

The above does not help you support your cause! If you want people to take you serious you have to take others serious too...even if you feel otherwise about the issue that is being discussed.
Glad you are happy with the current BLM...I know I can't make it work xd.

[seekified]

This is funny, because in 2.x I largely ignored BLM because it appeared so oversimplified and dull. With Enochian and the other new stuff introduced in 3.0, I'm very much thinking about playing it a lot more since it's more complex and thus more enjoyable to me. Sure, the recent raid mechanics don't really agree with BLMs, but there's a lot one can do to mitigate that - Aetherial Manipulation and Manaward/Manawall are extremely underutilized by a lot of players, with some BLMs not even having them on their bars.

I was a DRG main for a very long time though, so with 3.0 also having introduced Blood of the Dragon, I'm used to juggling timers and being frustrated when things go wrong. But if BLM doesn't feel right for you, then by all means give SMN a try instead. Higher mobility but arguably less rewarding, I'd say.