Black Mage

[BlackcatChen]

You forgot the most boring change of all they could do.

Enhanced Enochian is now +20% instead of +10%.

[Lastelli]

We only need one small fix to solve a lot of problems. They should remove disembowel debuff and balance DRG, BRD and MCH as necessary, considering both their personal dps and party support skills. Right now, ranged dps are a big issue since their personal dps is very high when a DRG's in the party, but they also contribute to rDPS with their support skills by quite a lot. As long as the DRG-ranged dps synergy will remain as it is, it will be impossible to achieve jobs balance.

[Remedi]

This patch they changed shake it off AND tribind, yet we are still dealing with freeze beign totally useless or scathe nigh useless and you llugen have given a valid idea on how to improve it.
Honestly I don't agree with all the proposed changes in the lists but it's something to work with, also I don't think you mean to add them all

edit: What if umbral hearts also allow you to cast astral fire spells with the speed buff you get from beign in umbral?

[Llugen]

Just because you have no imagination or can't see how the suggestions would affect damage does not make them bad:
-Thundercloud refreshing the Astral/Umbral timer would mean not needing to cast Fire to refresh it which would mean more potency per Astral Fire phase with another Fire IV.
-Spells in Umbral Ice costing no MP would mean no longer needing to line up with server MP ticks which are a huge pain at times and can completely negate the importance of spell speed as a stat (If you're waiting .3 seconds to cast Fire III so you don't clip your MP then there goes your "extra casts from having high spell speed" logic right there).
-Thundercloud being additive rather than refreshing the timer would mean that never is any potency lost from any Thundercloud used below 36 seconds on the timer (unless the target dies), but this alone would be a MASSIVE potency buff, since you'd no longer be clipping your own Thunder at 9 seconds because your Thundercloud proc is about to run out, AND it would mean more chances at more procs, and potentially no longer needing to cast Thunder III in more Umbral Ice phases.
-Foul potency increase by 10% per Polyglot not only rewards good play but addresses issues with enmity at the pull and gives even more incentive to keep Astral/Umbral, and is, of course, a potency increase that is more dynamic than just "oh here let's make it 1300". They could even make the ticks on the UI gauge glow to indicate that you're "still charging".
-Firestarter "combo" from Fire > Fire III > Fire IV would be particularly compelling since if your Thunder timer was already up at close to 60 seconds you wouldn't bother with Sharpcast Thunder III (which would definitely be better to do with the proposed Thundercloud timer change)


Anything that helps with movement ALSO helps with damage, because a BLM that can stand perfectly immobile does pretty well, but mechanics (and of course progression) dictate that this cannot happen. Again, some classes will be better for progression than others, this is only natural, but I'll reiterate that it's just so far behind that it's discouraging both to the players of the class and to the groups looking for casters. Raising that floor with things like a raise and higher mobility through various adjustments would go a lot further than it seems on the surface. To continue with my Thundercloud refreshing example, that would mean using the Thundercloud to move AND not having to worry about refreshing Astral with a Fire spell. The transpose juggling window is doable but unforgiving and still rather small, plus the proposed "meditate" could make sure you're in either Astral or Umbral depending on which you want for the scenario.



I don't like the idea of flat adjustment to potency. Not only are flat adjustments boring but easily breakable, as we have clearly seen with Summoner since 4.08 (when the dot ticks were increased from 40 to 50). What seemed like an insignificant change resulted in the class being insanely strong coupled with the other changes. They are the very definition of "a band-aid fix" and goes into the logic of "if we give more potency per spell then they can do more damage which means the damage sacrificed while moving is less overall" and that's not addressing the real issue.

Thinking outside the box, I find, is simultaneously more rewarding, interesting, and adapts the strategy more than just "oh we'll give it 20 potency." For example, giving +10% damage to spells using Umbral Hearts would mean FOR SURE that you want to use Fire IV on them and not Sharpcast Fire, and also keep your Umbral rotation pretty standard since you'll want those 3 10%s whether or not you get the full duration of the Astral phase.

[Ferrinus]

Either way, I’m with Galvuu that BLM just needs more damage and that that damage should be located within B4 to make B4 an indisputable rather than marginal DPS gain.

Idea: Spells cast with Umbra Hearts benefit from a UI3-style cast speed bonus AND mp cost halving, which is to say their cast times (not recast times) are halved. So, your first three F4s always enjoy the effective dps increase afforded by Triplecast.

Also, each time you spend one or more umbral hearts, Foul gains a couple seconds’ charge time instantly.

[Remedi]

Either way, I’m with Galvuu that BLM just needs more damage and that that damage should be located within B4 to make B4 an indisputable rather than marginal DPS gain.

Idea: Spells cast with Umbra Hearts benefit from a UI3-style cast speed bonus AND mp cost halving, which is to say their cast times (not recast times) are halved. So, your first three F4s always enjoy the effective dps increase afforded by Triplecast.

I agree and proposed this a while ago

[Llugen]

Not a bad suggestion, but I'd still like to see a blaringly obvious damage increase on them like +10% damage for each heart. Polyglot timer increase I think would be most effectively served under procs, which would give it "the RNG" that both SMN and RDM have with their proc timings/Enkindle reduction.

And although obviously Galvuu and I don't see eye to eye on much, I appreciate that their heart is in the right place about the job needing improvements. I'll once again say, however, that any "selfish DPS" will be certainly out of "the meta" and STILL out of "favor" of parties whenever concerning party play when it comes to utility. This is a no-brainer, so I would rather see BLM get some meaningful utility (maybe not AS MUCH as other jobs, but SOMETHING) than simply a damage increase. Furthermore, whatever can raise the floor for progression would be very welcome, which is why I suggest a raise ability and most of my suggestions involve increased mobility and timer management rather than potency adjustment, because ultimately the reason that BLM is bad at progression is mostly because of movement and partly because of phase push planning (not getting your whole thunder dot ticks or fire phase etc).

Once more: unless its damage can be buffed SO HIGH that it is still STRONGER than the utility (see also, PARTY DAMAGE), then taking the classes with utility will ALWAYS be more worthwhile as far as synergy/"the meta" are concerned.

[TsuKoj]

Agreed, I want more damage or offensive utility. Defensive utility on a class is clunky and counter-intuitive to the design of the class. Not for lore reasons, but due to class design. Since blms timers are strict, and the class is about fitting the most into those timers, it's detrimental anytime you have to clip a cast unexpectedly. Blms imo are the worst users of manashift after smn changes just due to the fact that it's not On demand unless you don't mind losing a cast. Using it during af means a lost f4, using it at the end of the af phase means you can't b3, using it at the end of ui means you might not have full mp going into af, so blms have 1 ideal spot to use it, and that is at the start of ui, after the first mana tick before the second. In a situation manashifts even needed(if a healer/rdm/smn/pld died) blms have to cut their rotations short or sacrifice a cast. Blms are also the probably the worst users of apoc even though it was their own spell before. Using apoc clips a cast and since blms have the longest cast timers(veraero/thunder doesn't count), they have a more inconsistent timing for apoc. Clipping a cast with an ogcd during certain times , like when your doing quad fire 4 during ll+convert is also really risky to the af timer.

Offensive utility can at least be timed and is consistent regardless of pug or static groups, and it makes learning fights easier, and I miss seeing big burst phases with blm. Consistent dps is nice, but with the way most fights are designed in this game, burst is much better than sustain due to mechanics forcing downtime and phase transitions essentially cutting 20s off cd timers.

[HaroldSaxon]

Until Square Enix acknowledge the disadvantage of being a permament caster is (i.e. every spell is a cast outside of 4 spells every 60 seconds and RNG procs) and the power of stacked dps buffs, then BLM is always going to be undesirteable. That along with Square Enix's obsession with buffing MCH and keeping disembowel in the game.

Right now, BLM is the flat out worst DPS class. It doesn't offer anything that isn't provided in a better way by another class.

I would go as far as to say that anyone who doesn't agree with the above needs to actually attempt to play the class to a high level, or is biased.

[Bernkastelx]

Probably mobility lower aetherial cd to the same or at least 10 secs cd instead of 30 secs. Playing the new smn feels so good cause I have mobility throughout my entire dwt phase, even then ruin iv instant casts and ruin ii make so I can still push something during the mechanic. Blm its just a pain to play now, I even stuck with it for sophia ex "not fun to learn as blm btw". Now its "I hope triplecast is up oh its not oh look my ley lines is in aoe again guess i'll deal with it >.>", just not fun at all. I could deal with blm not being mobile or not having utility if their dmg made up for it which sadly imo its not worth the headache.