BLM 6.x speculation

[PyurBlue]

BLM's main issue right now is that at high SpS you might not get 2 MP ticks in ice. This could be solved by adding an ice DoT or increasing the potency and cast time of Blizzard IV.

Some BLM's don't like that the optimal rotation excludes Fire I and Blizzard IV, the change above could be used to "correct" this, or SE could rebuild the rotation and remove F1/B4.

[Eliadil]

BLM's main issue right now is that at high SpS you might not get 2 MP ticks in ice. This could be solved by adding an ice DoT or increasing the potency and cast time of Blizzard IV.

Some BLM's don't like that the optimal rotation excludes Fire I and Blizzard IV, the change above could be used to "correct" this, or SE could rebuild the rotation and remove F1/B4.

Well, don't we use Fire 1 to extend the duration of our AF phase ? Right now Fire 1 is probably one of the most important skills we have, especially since pyro procs can be also used for mobility and fire phase resets. The cooldown reduction on Sharpcast was also made for this, so it's available at each AF phase...
Still I get the issue for the mp ticks. Imo entering ice phase with blizzard 3 should grant you some MP by default, so you're not stuck waiting for a server tick to use thunder 3. Or... Just remove the mp cost of thunder 3 lmao, but this would be too strong. They mostly fixed the issue by making Umbral Ice phase require three gcds (B3 -> Thunder/Xeno -> B4) but it could get smoothed out.

[PyurBlue]

Well, don't we use Fire 1 to extend the duration of our AF phase ? Right now Fire 1 is probably one of the most important skills we have, especially since pyro procs can be also used for mobility and fire phase resets. The cooldown reduction on Sharpcast was also made for this, so it's available at each AF phase...

F1 is weak enough relative to F4 and Despair that skipping it is a DPS gain if you can cast enough F4. We've reached that point already, the only things keeping F1/B4 skip in check are the semi random nature of MP ticks, the tightness of the rotation within the AF timer, and that it's only a small gain in DPS. All of this is related to B4 being too weak (which itself comes about from it being intended as the Enochian refresh, but then later decoupled from Enochian), which has kept popping up as various oddities in BLM's rotation for multiple expansions.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...EbMtT3YRw/edit

Still I get the issue for the mp ticks. Imo entering ice phase with blizzard 3 should grant you some MP by default, so you're not stuck waiting for a server tick to use thunder 3. Or... Just remove the mp cost of thunder 3 lmao, but this would be too strong. They mostly fixed the issue by making Umbral Ice phase require three gcds (B3 -> Thunder/Xeno -> B4) but it could get smoothed out.

B3 granting MP would help, although ice phase isn't always 3 GCD's. Thunder and Xeno are flexible, and with thunder having a proc there is always a chance that casting thunder in ice will cost you damage (the case where a thunder proc is expiring at the end of fire phase, or the thunder dot naturally runs out near the end of fire phase). You can also hold Xeno for burst. I actually like having the flexibility to swap them around or delay them in the rotation and I wouldn't want them to become firmly planted at a particular location. That's why I lean a little more toward buffing or adding to the ice phase.

[Hasrat]

Still I get the issue for the mp ticks. Imo entering ice phase with blizzard 3 should grant you some MP by default, so you're not stuck waiting for a server tick to use thunder 3. Or... Just remove the mp cost of thunder 3 lmao, but this would be too strong. They mostly fixed the issue by making Umbral Ice phase require three gcds (B3 -> Thunder/Xeno -> B4) but it could get smoothed out.

I find this problem solved by swapping B4 and Thunder. B4 will be free to cast, giving time for an MP tick for Thunder. But, even still, with particularly high speeds, especially during LL, still the rare odd chance of missing that second tick. But, I'm also not playing "optimally" either.

For speculation, what about some form of Osmose? Classically BLM spell. Tricky to work it into this sort of environment, tho. Had an idea, but, really just kinda turned out to be Manafont with extra steps.

[Eliadil]

I find this problem solved by swapping B4 and Thunder. B4 will be free to cast, giving time for an MP tick for Thunder. But, even still, with particularly high speeds, especially during LL, still the rare odd chance of missing that second tick. But, I'm also not playing "optimally" either.

The issue with casting thunder last is that when you swap for AF right after your mana generation stops completely. At this point if the mana cost for thunder hasn't been refilled for the short time where you're casting Fire3 you enter AF with 9600 MP and not 10000. This doesn't seem like much, but unless you get a thunder proc, you cannot refresh thunder for the duration of your whole AF phase, which last a bit less than 30sec. So you effectively lose... A bit less than 10sec of thunder, which isn't good. :/

[Tracewood]

I want to like this job, but I'm soooo bad at it. I tried looking up different rotations, but aside from dummies I seem to falter so badly on heavy movement fights.

[Kacho_Nacho]

I want to like this job, but I'm soooo bad at it. I tried looking up different rotations, but aside from dummies I seem to falter so badly on heavy movement fights.

You are not the only one. Black mage continues to elude me. But, practice makes perfect!

[SaberMaxwell]

I want to like this job, but I'm soooo bad at it. I tried looking up different rotations, but aside from dummies I seem to falter so badly on heavy movement fights.

That's the job's challenge; rotationally it's easy, but you need to make time to cast. Keep practicing! On dummies, move as much as you can even though you don't need to; this will get you used to slide casting.

Then, if you want, look up guides. Understand mechanic order, and plan your movements around it. Casters are fun because you're essentially playing chicken with the server, and very rewarding when you get it right (and silly when you die! Lol)

Don't be afraid to make mistakes, practice to the best of your ability, and you'll improve boatloads!

[Grimoire-M]

I'm expecting a few things:

- Fire/Blizzard I get upgrades, possibly into Fire/Blizzard V. I'm hoping for half-gcd spells that can be used for single weaves, but anything would work here. Even new animations with simple potency boosts would be fine. They will still serve the same rotational purposes they currently do, B5 being filler for UI to ensure you meet MP tick requirements, and F5 extending AF's duration.
- Add another dash related cooldown, ideally a second version of Leylines that doesn't increase their dps. It would still be a super long cooldown, 2-3min probs, but would interact with Between the Lines and potentially Aetherial Manipulation as well.
- Blizzard II gets a rework, then upgrades directly into Freeze to save button space.
- Add a new DPS cooldown of some sort. Wouldn't be surprised if it was just "You get to spam Despair for 15s then are left at 0 MP".
- Scathe gets removed entirely.
- Either nothing happens to Polyglot or we get a ton of changes related to it that pertain to what was listed above.
- Leyline's radius increases slightly.

[Morningstar1337]

My wishlist

1. Swiftercast: Trait that reduces Swiftcast and Triplecast CD by 30s
2. Speedrawing: Trait that reduces Ley Lines CD by 60s (meaning that all three are 30s buffs)
3. Phantom Dart: A debuff that increases magic damage on the target, would be exactly the same as the PVP version except for the icon which would naturally omit the border
4. Twilight: A 120s CD that changes Fowl into Light's Cocytus (under AI) and Darkness' Brimstone (Under AF) which has a potency increase one a 30s DoT puddle beneath the targets. Also works like Raging Strikes besides.
5. Stardust: A two-polyglot spell that deals 1500 pot damage

What these will mean is that BLM has a 30s Burst window with more abilities to move/weave in CDs and more Ley Lines uptime for Between the Liens and general Spell Speed buffs, as well as 1 semi-utility skill that increases all magic damage. Plus some trait upgrades and a spell that uses two polyglots