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

[Swimfan91]

I actually started to notice a difference right after I got my second stack at level 20.

Just to clarify and to see if I got the job so far:
I start with Thunder for big mobs, burn stuff into the ground with Fire and switch to Ice to get MP by using that insta spell that switches attunment. After I filled my MP, I exchange my ice stacks for 1 fire stack and repeat?

[HeulGDarian]

I actually started to notice a difference right after I got my second stack at level 20.

Just to clarify and to see if I got the job so far:
I start with Thunder for big mobs, burn stuff into the ground with Fire and switch to Ice to get MP by using that insta spell that switches attunment. After I filled my MP, I exchange my ice stacks for 1 fire stack and repeat?

if i remember if you cast fire on umbral you just remove the umbral stack so i think you first use the insta attunement spell and then start casting fire. but dont quote me on that

[Rongway]

I actually started to notice a difference right after I got my second stack at level 20.

Just to clarify and to see if I got the job so far:
I start with Thunder for big mobs, burn stuff into the ground with Fire and switch to Ice to get MP by using that insta spell that switches attunment. After I filled my MP, I exchange my ice stacks for 1 fire stack and repeat?

That's the basic idea, with incremental adjustments as you hit certain milestones. As you level, the AoE rotation changes quite a bit more than the single target rotation, and we could go on for pages and pages about the AoE rotations.

As for single target, which is much more straightforward to explain, here are level-specific rotations if you care to read them.


Through Lv33:

----(Arriving in Ice mode: start here)
Thunder
Blizzard until full MP and Transpose ready
Transpose into Fire
----(Arriving in Fire mode: start here)
Fire spam until OOM
Transpose into Ice
Repeat

Transpose between pulls to keep an element up, so you can just jump in with Firespam or Thunder-Transpose-Firespam as soon as you get to the next encounter.

Lv28+: Thunder ticks have a chance to proc a free+instant Thunder that does its normal damage and is also front-loaded for its full DoT damage. The instant version is your most powerful spell if it gets even just a few ticks in. Normal version does 30 direct + 240 DoT = 270 total. Thundercloud proc is 30 direct + 240 direct + 240 DoT = 510 total if it ticks for the full amount. Later, Thunder III is even better (710 max). Use this throughout all levels.

Lv34:

Thunder
Blizzard until full MP
Fire III (puts you at max Fire stacks immediately--no need to Transpose into Fire anymore)
Fire I spam until OOM (not Fire III)
Transpose into Ice
Repeat

Fire III takes 40% longer to cast than Fire I but only does 33% more damage, so spamming Fire III is a damage loss. Only use it to switch immediately from Ice/NoElement directly to full Fire stacks.

Lv35-Lv39:

Freeze (puts you at max Ice stacks immediately)
Thunder
Blizzard until full MP
Fire III
Fire I spam. Save enough MP for Freeze!
Repeat

If you drop below the MP cost for Freeze, you'll have to Transpose, which is something we want to learn to avoid from now on.

For AoE, basically just put up Thunder II and then spam Freeze forever. No more fire spells for AoE until you can cast Flare.

Lv40-Lv57:

Blizzard III (puts you at max Ice stacks immediately, more single target damage than Freeze)
Thunder
Fire III
Fire I spam. Save enough MP for Blizzard III!
Repeat

At Lv40 you also get your third stack of Fire/Ice, which boosts Fire spells by 80% over the listed potency. From Lv42 on, Fire I can also proc free+instant Fire III. Use when available.

And it remains basically unchanged until the just-slightly-more-involved rotation that comes with Enochian and tier IV spells, which you can worry about later if you find the +80% fire spell boost satisfying enough to continue playing the job.

[Frizze]

Rongway with all the details i didnt bother to type up. He = 100% right.

[Swimfan91]

I updated the topic after I stuck with BLM for 5 more days(?) now.

Thanks for all your tips.

[Frizze]

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. :-)

Glad to hear that its speaking to you more now that youre farther in. I would just add for any other new player potentially reading this, every class is the same in this regard. What i mean is, every class starts out pressing one or two buttons. Everything is slow at the beginning, battles right outside the city gate as the freshest of sprouts are always kinda the same. Every class gets more nuanced and complex. New attacks get added as you level, traits get added that enhance or change what your old attacks can do. By end game levels, every class has unique mechanics and they all play at least a little differently from each other. A samurai might do similar damage to a black mage, but they dont go about it in the same way at all.