Black Mage - the solution for everything?

[Arksniper]

Regen. Do you have it? Really its such a low cost spell and with the right gear its just downright sexy like in XI. The real issue is drgs/mnk/wars who fight in battles like ifirt with constant AoE or fight in moogle and constantly get caught in pomflare, that's the issue. Healers can heal competent dds that aren't mp sinks.....

[Elexia]

Regen. Do you have it? Really its such a low cost spell and with the right gear its just downright sexy like in XI. The real issue is drgs/mnk/wars who fight in battles like ifirt with constant AoE or fight in moogle and constantly get caught in pomflare, that's the issue. Healers can heal competent dds that aren't mp sinks.....

DRGs don't get pelted by seer constantly, unless you suck that is.

[Klive]

If you WHM is not casting regen on everyone when they took damage, you need a new WHM. A good white mage should keep protect and stoneskin on non-tanks at all times possible. Regen should be put on someone as soon as the white can spare a moment. If you have running with two white mages, there really is no excuse.

Second, if you have a paladin as tank, stop laughing they can tank, divine veil should be put up shortly after an AoE damage happens. This also helps the melee stay in the fight, since both the regens stack.

[Matsume]

BLM thread becomes WHM discussion....hmm

[Klive]

BLM thread becomes WHM discussion....hmm

Should get back on track.
Couldn't let we stack BLMs due to WHMs be a valid point.

BLMs are still easy mode problem solvent. They take the least skill to do consistent damage from a save distance.

[Geo]

BLM cured AIDS

[Arksniper]

Chuck Norris's first job was a BLM.

[Ryuko]

As a WHM, I'll heal anyone, but there DEFINITELY is a priority in my mind, and one bad judgment call can mean the difference between life and death.

Tank > Other WHM > essential members (with utility abilities or buffs that we ABSOLUTELY NEED to have) > others.

I will heal a BLM and melee DD equally... I'm not prejudice in that regard, but if I see a BLM going down fast at the same time as a melee DD, I may be more likely to make the judgment call to heal the BLM first because I know BLM are squishy and can't take a hit like a melee DD can.

But... if you are bad at avoiding things you NEED to avoid (like cracks, dash, plume, moogle aoes, garuda pushbacks, etc) and I notice it, all bets are off. Now, I'm not going to judge someone if they get hit once or twice. Everyone messes up or lags once in a while... but if you are consistently hit over and over again, it just doesn't make sense to put as much effort into keeping you alive as other people. I won't sit there and watch you die (especially if I am just standing there with nothing else that I need to urgently do), but being bad at avoiding these things AUTOMATICALLY drops you to the lowest place on my 'priority' list. I'll still keep you healed, but you are my absolute last priority at that point. I hope this makes sense.

This isn't a 'system' for me. If a person is new, or they apologize and understand they are getting hit, or say they are lagging, or explain that they are trying this fight on that job for the first time... I will be a bit nicer about it. BUT, if this person has a bad attitude, or is downright denying that they are the problem, I no longer empathize.

[Asiaine]

Hello,

The Black Mage 'problem' existed in Vana'Diel, but not to the extent here. I have seen many 'Mana Burn' parties, and have found it adorable to see a group fo Tarus running off to do Mana-Burn together (Tarus had bonus intelligence so did the most damage).

Unlike Eorzea, being a BLM in Vana'Diel was not easy. This was the deterrent to such strategies. It took a long time to level (as did all jobs), and had the added 'cost' of buying spells (which were not cheap). Plus certain racial advantages (hard to be a Galkan BLM). Given these limitations are not present in Eorzea, there are far more BLMs available, making such 'Mana-Burn' parties all that more feasible.

The underlying capabilitiy has not changed. Only the ease of availability of BLM to carry out that strategy has changed.

That being said, people will naturally lean towards a BLM party as it is by far the easiest to do with random pick-up people or those who do not have the opportunity to learn a strategy. (If this is your first time in Garuda they would rather you go as BLM then give you 10+ fights to learn how to deal as a DRG).

Therefore the underlying 'problem' is really: Lack of acceptance by the community to embrace different job combinations when dealing with strategies, choosing to stick with what is easiest or best known.

I use 'airquotes' on 'problem', as it is debateable if this is a problem or just a sometimes-unhappy-circumstance.

Some might argue SE should step in and make it harder for a BLM-Burn party to work. Others might argue its up for us to decide how we want to win a battle.

I personally say that it's useful to have the 'easy-mode' BLM-Burn party as a way to practice the fight, then change to more interesting job combinations as a way to 'enjoy' the fight.

[kazaran]

I honestly don't see that many BLm's on my server, not full ones. THer are alot more Pug/monks, wars and paldins. Not everyone is effcient as casters and prefer malee style.

We need an RDM or Blue mage combo.

Magic isn't always the answer. It is also not the easy mode. You can cast, but not be efficient at elmental understanding, mob resistance levels, hoq to weaken them to elements to boost your combo. You can say malee is easier in that term.

Add in managing MP, and low survivial when hi.

Mages are meant to be powerfull, and malee shouldn't be in stirght up hits, never were meant to be, but mages are typically squishy in defence. That's the trade off. timing is even more essential.

Keep in mind BLM on XIV is not as rounded as XI. You do not have acess to the complete range of elemental spells. Your damage is negatiated when you have malee jobs accessign them and screwing up the elemental weakness you try to set up with another. Some will burn party so they can avoid wastefull malee based ones causing the mage to drain more mp then needed.

Hopefull that will all change in 2.0, and mobs will be more varied.