How to Fix Black Mage for Good

[Seraphor]

snip.

The problem with Sleep at higher levels is that even if the situation were to arise, AoE's are far more accessible and potent.
I think Sleep is fine as a low level skill you can throw away at higher levels.

Blizzard II is clearly intended as a defensive spell, if only Bind was a useful debuff, and not wasted on a skill with such a short range so enemies inflicted can still attack you.

[Kabooa]

You can bypass the post limit by editing your post.

Scathe is worthless. The amount it impacts your damage on singular uses is close to null and avoid. It's literally not worth the spot on your bar.
Sleep is effectively worthless. Too many things are immune and balance in Eureka is about as relevant as balance in Palace of the Dead.

B4 is always a minimum of a neutral use, and borders on positive more than negative especially after the F4 buff, but the gains of it are still somewhat situational and it can just as easily be a loss. It doesn't matter if you can fit an extra F4 in if you don't have the time to do so. You are trading a GCD in Ice for an extra GCD in Fire.

[Ferrinus]

B4 is always a minimum of a neutral use, and borders on positive more than negative especially after the F4 buff, but the gains of it are still somewhat situational and it can just as easily be a loss. It doesn't matter if you can fit an extra F4 in if you don't have the time to do so. You are trading a GCD in Ice for an extra GCD in Fire.

If you end your umbral cycle with Thunder rather than B4, you might fail to get a mana tick before your F3 cast completes, and then you'll only have enough mp for four F4s (and a single F1). So B4's real utility is in protecting you from these bad mp regen ticks. In a way, it's like a spell that randomly gives you one or two extra F4s - or, put another way, you'll randomly be able to cast either four or five F4s, but B4 sets that number to six.

[Ferrinus]

for additional potency, if you have triple and sharp cast up, you can do the b3>t3>b4>foul>f3>sharp>f4x3>f1>f4x3>f3 proc>triple>flare>transpose>foul>b3>t3>b4 rotation every minute, excluding your opener. that gives you an extra 260 potency fire spell in your AF cycle for free. since both cds are 1min, this will always line back up for you later on in the fight.

This is a cool idea, and I guess using Triplecast to shave 1.5s off Flare is stronger than using it to shave 0.9s off three Fires IV in a row.

Would it be better to go F3 proc, triplecast, F4 F4 Flare, transpose, foul, swiftcast B3, even though you have to clip a gcd with swiftcast’s animation? Also, I'm assuming this is only doable if you get a thundercloud proc or something, so that you can end rather than begin the preceding umbral cycle with a 0mp Foul cast?

[Zerathor]

Would it be better to go F3 proc, triplecast, F4 F4 Flare, transpose, foul, swiftcast B3, even though you have to clip a gcd with swiftcast’s animation? Also, I'm assuming this is only doable if you get a thundercloud proc or something, so that you can end rather than begin the preceding umbral cycle with a 0mp Foul cast?

you can burn swift, but generally attempt to save swift for when you need to save yourself. triple is your dps increase, swift is your safety net. also if you press swiftcast after an instant cast that wont clip the gcd because its after an instant cast, so that wont be an issue if you really wanted to do that.

[NewAgeDoom]

Just based on what I'm reading on this, is that BLM seems to have quite a few inherent flaws as a caster. But knowing that, is it a class you would recommend to a new player?

[EllieShadeflare]

Just based on what I'm reading on this, is that BLM seems to have quite a few inherent flaws as a caster. But knowing that, is it a class you would recommend to a new player?

Their rotation is easy to learn (seriously, it's mostly a matter of knowing which mode you're in, Ice or Fire, and always remembering to cast a Thunder and pay attention to Thundercloud Procs), difficult to master (since we have a bit more hurdles to jump when in actual combat).

It's not a BAD starting job and handles itself in dungeons and story raids just fine, but I wouldn't expect miracles in the end game unless you get really good with it.

[Mhaeric]

It doesn't have any serious flaws now that they've fixed Enochian maintenance. All this is about minor things related to abilities that are outgrown or only have niche use. People just like to make it sound bigger than it is.

[zuzu-bq]

Yeah most of they current flaws are tied to how MP regeneration is tied to server ticks. Outside of that BLM design is mostly fine.

[Communion]

To this day, BLM is shite in PvE. Pure shite. Great in dungeons, but solo questing... forget it. I switch to WAR, complete the quest and then turn it in as BLM. Am I right guys?