Am I missing something? The game doesn't feel ... fun

[Swimfan91]

I wanted to give an update on the situation since a lot has changed imo and other newbies should read this since I seem to have had up a common first impression. :-)

Firstly: Thank you all for your help - especially the people who helped with spell rotations.

I have been playing the game for 6 days now and BOY, did the job become more fun as levels passed by. I'm currently lv 46, didn't really rush (taking my time with the story and site-seeing while not being on a "road to 70" server) and Black Mage is already the best mage class I have played in any game so far. There are two reasons for that:
1.) You constantly have to manage your fire/ice stance later on which becomes a lot less annoying thanks to later ice/fire spells pumping you up to ice/fire attunment 3 instantly (which in the case of fire attunment 3 works literally wonders for my damage)
2.) The passives that BLM get are downright gamechangers. You constantly get to cast Fire3 and Thunder spells for free without cast times which pushes the damage even higher. The amount of explosions and thunder i summon is already huuuge at lv 46. While I didn't see my impact in dungeons before, i sure see it now.
3.) I had a peek at spells and passives to come and OH BOY is this gonna be good. Zooming around the battlefield, even bigger explosions and added BLM mechanics will make me VERY happy that I stuck with this class.
4.) The dungeons get (of course) a lot more interesting and managing my spells while dodging stuff is really taxing but also very rewarding.

If you started BLM and found it feels kinda boring, trust me: It gets A LOT better very fast.

_____________original post _______________
So I'm playing blackmage and nothing makes sense to me. I'm supposed to be a damage dealer but when I did my first dungeon a minute ago, it felt like torture because my impact was abyssmal. We had a paladin (so defensive tank, right?) who just killed everything on its own and I was standing there casting some fireballs and felt like a total idiot. Every minion feels like a grind in general, the casting is always the same and feels waaaaay too slow (considering how much damage my spells do).

Maybe I have chosen the wrong class? I looked up what BM is going to get (in terms of spells) and they all read the same (saying very bland).

[QooEr]

first off what level are you

and most importantly what Are you doing? Black mage is the actual highest damage dps (maybe on par with samurai)

you might also have bad gear, so even doing your rotation well it greatly affects your damage. you should be upgrading your gear every 5 levels, and your weapon is your more important piece of gear too so upgrade that first

[Swimfan91]

first off what level are you

and most importantly what Are you doing? Black mage is the actual highest damage dps (maybe on par with samurai)

you might also have bad gear, so even doing your rotation well it greatly affects your damage. you should be upgrading your gear every 5 levels, and your weapon is your more important piece of gear too so upgrade that first

As my profile on the left suggests: I'm a level 16 Thaumaturg and I have level 15 equipment. I have basically been spamming Fire non-stop for the past hours, using Ice to regain MP and occasionally used Lightning on enemies with high HP (eventhough I'm not sure that it makes a real difference dps-wise?!). This is way more boing than any other mage character in any game I have ever played ... or so it feels right now :-/ I feel really discouraged eventhough I really want to play BGM in this game ....

I think I'm just frustrated because I really thought that my damage in that first pirate's den dungeon should have been higher when I couldn't see my spells making any difference in reality. All that mattered was that paladin and the priest healing him. I did something like 1/20 dmg to trash mob's health bar with one fire while the everyone else attacking did waaaay more.

[Avenger]

I have played BLM in all expansions and although it can be slightly awkward at certain levels it is overall a fantastic job that is very powerful and fun to play - and one that Yoshi-P himself plays!

Remember BLM shines in dungeons on AoE vs packs of enemies. Even at lower levels you have Fire 2, Thunder 2 and Blizzard 2. Things get a lot better once you get Flare and Freeze.

Remember astral fire is your main damage phase and spell potency increases with your stacks of astral fire. At low level you will be using fire2 on groups and fire on single targets, taking advantage of fire3 and thunder procs.

Take the time to practice your spell rotation and you will find it can become very smooth and powerful.

I also play BLM exclusively in frontline and rival wings pvp and it is great against packs of enemy players standing near an objective. Downside is you are very easy to kill so you need to be careful.

[ReiMakoto]

With the way power creep has settled in in this game its entirely possible the paladin was out damaging you as youre a new player with worse gear and with tanks rebalancing they do a lot of damage at lower levels now, your impact will pick up later but most importantly remember to use your aoe skills, theyll be where most of your impact will come from.

[Avenger]

To reiterate: gear makes a huge difference. Upgrade your gear. Use BLM gear with int, direct hit, spell speed and crit. Don't forget accessories. Meld materia to power up your gear. HQ gear helps if you can buy it or craft it yourself. Get an HQ weapon. Eat food for xp and ability bonuses.

[Avenger]

The PLD may have lv80 gear being level synced down in Sastasha. Don't sweat it - take time to get used to the job, and keep upgrading your gear. Also you can practice on your own in FATEs in the open world, on hunting log and other enemies in the open world, and on practice dummies.

[Avenger]

Also don't forget you can auto attack with your staff and that actually can add a tiny bit if damage.

[ReiMakoto]

Also don't forget you can auto attack with your staff and that actually can add a tiny bit if damage.

You can edit your replies instead of repeatedly posting new replies, editing also bypasses post text limit

[Kidria]

Ya'll not seeing he's not technically a blm yet and none of that stat stuff really matters til he's at /least/ 50+.

THM is a slow class to get into. Once you get 30 and are a proper BLM, it picks up some. The main meat of the class is to balance not just fire and ice, but also upkeep on thunder (so thunder is a BIG DEAL even at low levels. It doesn't seem like a lot now, but damage over time adds up!). It's a glass canon at higher levels, but right now you're a squishy mage.

If you're not enjoying the class, however, once MSQ allows you to go to different cities freely, you can always try a different class. If you want something that hits fast and hard, there's Pugilist -> Monk. If you prefer casters, at the moment you have THM/BLM, and ACN/SMN from Limsa. Once you get higher up, you can also unlock Red Mage.

Also before I get fire under my ass, updating your gear IS important, even for low levels, but grabbing HQ or "top of the level tier" gear is worthless. If you have Road to 70 buff, you'll out level it way too quickly. Pick up upgrades where you can, but don't stress it.