BLM needs more damage

[Llugen]

Yeah Sub-Zero could be a level 50 trait, even, but legit this kills so many birds with one stone:

-Makes Freeze useful, therefore reducing button bloat
-Removes heavy reliance on Transpose from uptime rotation completely
-adds more nuance to AOE rotations
-increases PPS overall during AOE rotations by doing all of the following:
---Fire III can now be "fast cast" to return to Astral, since Umbral III is obtained from Freeze rather than the current slowcast
---There is no more need to wait on MP tick from Umbral due to poor timing/interruption, since freeze is 3s cast time
---There is no need to debate whether to use Blizzard IV during AOE solely for Umbral Hearts (rejoice!)
---Removal of Transpose reliance means potentially even faster phases that aren't locked out by its 12 second recast (Fire III > Thunder IV > Flare > Flare > Freeze, repeat w/ Foul as necessary)
---More MP gained from Umbral III means always having enough to Flare twice and Thunder IV once if necessary



Between this and a Thundercloud change to let it so that either the DoT is additive up to 60 seconds (less completely wasted procs), or so that the remaining timer is "stung" to the target upon using the Thundercloud (So if there are 6 seconds remaining on Thunder IV on the target, another 60 potency (2 ticks x 30 pot) is added to the Thunder IV cloud initial hit), BLM would probably be the real AOE king again.

"Thundersting" (affectionately named) could also work with Thunder III for additional single target burst. Furthermore, if they do indeed decide to let Thunder refresh the Astral/Umbral timer, this would mean Sharpcast Thunder III in the opener would be indisputably stronger than Sharpcast Fire; if there are 15 seconds remaining on the current Thunder III DoT, 200 potency (5 ticks x 40pot) is added to the Thundercloud's initial hit, potentially still under Trick Attack/buffs, which adds some "burst window" strategy/nuance.

Add to that some kind of Thunder Ready function, instant cast Fire/Blizzard under Enochian, and guaranteed Firestarter upon consumption of Umbral Hearts, and I'm pretty sure the job is just about completely fixed from a procs-based movement standpoint, which is honestly all I want to see. When I have to dodge a single ground target aoe I want to have a proc to use for it, so more reliable procs as well as RNG procs sounds like a win-win, and then worst case scenario Fire or Blizzard rather than flipping Scathe or "caster slide and pray".

For damage, return 280 potency on Fire IV and add +10% magic vuln on Blizzard IV, give +10% (or less or more) damage to the spells that consume Umbral Hearts (or per Umbral Heart consumed, if you want to increase that initial Flare to +30% damage haha), increase Foul potency single target (I suggest double if hitting only one target), and then some fix to Convert, and we have ourselves a real raw damage caster.

[Remedi]

Freeze and subezero

I want to flesh it out a bit

Since both the trait proposed and flare are learned on lv 50, let's bake it to the main spell

Once you cast flare you gain subzero effect (though maybe calling it frostburn might sounds..........cooler) it makes Freeze instant, cost 0 MP and deal bonus dmg

On lv68 enhanced UB makes freeze or the effect grant umbral hearts too

[Llugen]

I'm not even sure it needs to be instant cast, it just needs to cost zero MP so you can cast it immediately after instead of waiting for MP tick from clunky old Transpose. Increased potency would be cool, but the mere fact(s) that it gets you back into Umbral III and gives you three Umbral Hearts would basically be enough incentive to use it already.

Also, the name Sub-Zero was suggested by Eloah in one of the threads and I adapted it to include Umbral Hearts at 68, so shoutouts to them for the idea.

[Remedi]

You are right he was the one suggesting, should be more respectful
The instant castwas just to make it in line with the other procs we have
Also the dmg bonus is to keep the dmg rolling while keeping the general dmg of freeze down (so it's not better than B3 for ST)

In other news what if, for each UB you consume you shove 5 secs off foul?

[Sawamura]

What blm need is not potency increase but more easy to keep up dps. BLM is so easy to lose dps during mechanic.
muhahahhahaah that just my 2 cent though

[StragoMagus]

Might be mentioned before but they could always give a stance that allows casting while moving with a heavy penalty to movement speed. Would help when you need to to move by a millimeter just to avoid that damn AoE and feel like beating Touhou lunatic mode. Give it like the warrior treatment and give stance change a 10 sec recast to avoid abuse.

[Cynfael]

While I think it might be a tad radical at this point to overhaul the BLM "stick your landing" style of ranged DPS, I spent a little time in a competitor MMORPG and have to admit that being able to strafe while channeling a spellcast is fun. I'd forgotten that it's actually rather enjoyable to retain at least some mobility while casting.

Balance and identity concerns aside, I don't see that happening here in any form unless SE feels like revamping all BLM casting animations to allow for simultaneous walking. Slipping and sliding without moving our legs and feet might seem kind of cool at first, but I suspect that the overall effect would look hilariously glitchy.

[Kabooa]

While I think it might be a tad radical at this point to overhaul the BLM "stick your landing" style of ranged DPS, I spent a little time in a competitor MMORPG and have to admit that being able to strafe while channeling a spellcast is fun. I'd forgotten that it's actually rather enjoyable to retain at least some mobility while casting.

Balance and identity concerns aside, I don't see that happening here in any form unless SE feels like revamping all BLM casting animations to allow for simultaneous walking. Slipping and sliding without moving our legs and feet might seem kind of cool at first, but I suspect that the overall effect would look hilariously glitchy.

Move all animations up about four inches and you're just hover casting. Ez.

[Remedi]

Tbh at that point you would be a nerfed version of a ranged, which begs the question of why not simply playing BRD/MCH

[Makrar]

An interesting thought i had was you could tie instant casts to being in full umbral ice. So in a fight you can choose to trade raw dps for mobility if needed.