Is Everyone Playing BLM wrong?

[Xander_Diabolos]

So I am told over and over that I am doing things wrong as Black Mage, but based on my understanding on how things work my way actually works better.

Other people: Fire III, Fire IV x2, Triple Cast, Fire IV x2, Despair, Blizzard III, Blizzard IV, Thunder III, repeat
10 spells
Fire boosted potency: 310, 310, 310, 310, 340 = 1,580*1.2*1.3*1.8 = 4,437
Other potency: 260 (first Fire III not boosted), 260, 310 = 830*1.2*1.3 = 1,295
5,732 effective potency per rotation

Me: Fire III, Fire IV x2, Fire III, Fire IV x3, Despair, Transpose, Xenoglossy(otherwise Blizzard IV if no Polyglot and late tick on mana), Blizzard IV, Thunder III, repeat
11 spells
Fire boosted potency: 310, 310, 260, 310, 310, 310, 340 = 2,150*1.2*1.3*1.8 = 6,037
Other potency: 260 (first Fire III not boosted), 310, 310 = 880*1.2*1.3 = 1,373
7,410 effective potency per rotation

(1.2*=enochian, 1.3*=maim and mend, 1.8*=astral fire boost)

Granted spell speed can play a factor. If you have enough spell speed you might be able to get a fifth fire IV in which would put total fire damage up to 1,890 vs and match my 11 spells. Even then it is still 1890 vs 2150 and you would have to build spell speed vs critical hit/determination/direct hit. Also other people's combo requires using Triple Cast to get everything off in time or remove a Fire IV. Mine has 7-8 seconds after first Fire IVs are done so you can move/interrupt if you need to and save Triple Cast for when you need it. Also when do you use Xenoglossy in most people's rotations? Xenoglossy isn't fire damage so it doesn't get the 80% boost from Astral Fire... so why cast it in your fire rotation?

Also I know most people don't use Transpose, but 1 Umbral Ice is enough to fill my MP over 3 casts (Xenoglossy, Blizzard IV, Thunder III usually) so I don't need Umbral Ice 3 (This is why I skip Blizzard III). Transpose is better in my opinion since it isn't on global cooldown. You can start casting right away after using it. You might say "But if you just did Despair you don't have the MP for Blizzard III". You are right... but it also depends on when your MP ticks. If it ticks right after you transpose you can get it off right away. If not I also usually have a Xenoglossy I can use which doesn't cost MP. There is some thinking in the situation involved.

Side note... why I do not Fire IV 3 times after the first Fire III. You are trying to have your second Fire III hit the last Umbral Heart. This way you are at 1600 mp when you use Despair the last time. Otherwise it would be Fire III, Fire IV x3, Fire III, Fire IV, Despair without Fire III's 2k discounted mana from Umbral Heart.

Also I know you can Manafont after Despair to get another Fire IV and Despair in afterwards, but you can do that regardless of the combo. With Manafont being on a 2 minute cooldown you can't do this every time as well.

[Xander_Diabolos]

Side note: I am 85 right now. I imagine the following changes as I get to 90.

Amplifier: Increases chances I get to Xenoglossy when I want to.
Paradox: Fire III, Fire IV x3, Paradox, Fire IV x3, Despair, Transpose, Xenoglossy(otherwise Paradox if no Polyglot), Blizzard IV, Thunder III, repeat

Fire III's potency is 260*1.8=468 for the second Fire III so Paradox at 500 unaspected is better to refresh duration of Astral Fire.

Fire IV's potency is still 310*1.8=558 which is higher than 500 so still should be trying to do as many Fire IV as possible.

Paradox's 0 mp cost makes it better than Blizzard IV to follow Despair, but still wanna cast it once for 3 Umbral Hearts.

Paradox also is a good alternative to Scathe due to it's 0 casting time when umbral ice (if need to move and triple cast is down). Transpose and then Paradox spam until you can stay still again.

[SeiyaSoiya]

oh hey it's you again
you're still not level 90
if you want to start a crusade against all the people who hurt your feelings by telling you you're not ready to comment or criticize BLM due to your low level, you will still need to level to 90 and fully understand the class before you can.

[BaconBits]

All this text just to prove you still have no idea how to play BLM.

[Xander_Diabolos]

oh hey it's you again
you're still not level 90
if you want to start a crusade against all the people who hurt your feelings by telling you you're not ready to comment or criticize BLM due to your low level, you will still need to level to 90 and fully understand the class before you can.

I gave a reason why I think my rotation does 29% more damage (7410/5732) can you please provide a reason you believe that it is false?
My feelings aren't hurt. I simply don't understand why they wouldn't do a rotation that mathematically does more damage.

I have a full time job so I don't play as often as some people which is why I am asking on a forum for someone to correct me in a useful manner.

[Xander_Diabolos]

All this text just to prove you still have no idea how to play BLM.

What is incorrect about what I said?

[DubiousDisk]

"Side note I am 85 right now"

Immediately everything you're saying is invalid, because you're missing both Enhanced Sharpcast, and Paradox, which are incredibly important to your opener and overall rotation.

Like everyone is saying, please for the love of GOD, cap BLM before you say anything, or better yet, join the Balance Discord, share your rotation, and watch them immediately tell you why you're incorrect in every way.

[FurstBlumier]

Alright I'll take the bait:

To give an idea why the whole appraoch is wrong, consider spamming Fire III vs Fire I. According to you spamming Fire III is better because 260 > 180 before any modifiers. Clearly you can see the problem now.

[Xander_Diabolos]

"Side note I am 85 right now"

Immediately everything you're saying is invalid, because you're missing both Enhanced Sharpcast, and Paradox, which are incredibly important to your opener and overall rotation.

Like everyone is saying, please for the love of GOD, cap BLM before you say anything, or better yet, join the Balance Discord, share your rotation, and watch them immediately tell you why you're incorrect in every way.

Enhanced Sharpcast gives ability to proc Thundercloud an additional time.
Paradox I listed predicted changes to rotation.
People don't have to be 90 to make a good point. Lots of things I'm talking about I have been doing since Heavensward release. Recent changes just brought me to the forums.

Do you have the discord link?

[Xander_Diabolos]

Alright I'll take the bait:

To give an idea why the whole appraoch is wrong, consider spamming Fire III vs Fire I. According to you spamming Fire III is better because 260 > 180 before any modifiers. Clearly you can see the problem now.

Pre-60 or when level capped I did/do spam Fire to get Firestarter Procs. You can't really spam Fire III (cast 2 times with Astral Fire boost due to 4k mp cost)

Fire III, Fire III, Fire III
vs
Fire III, Fire, Fire, Fire III, Fire, Fire, Fire

The biggest issue with casting Fire III 3 times would be how short the rotation is... you wouldn't have anything to do in between waiting for MP to come back other than cast Thunder which you cast 10 seconds ago. Also that wasn't counting how many free Fire III's you would get with Firestarter Procs. So yeah Pre-60 spamming Fire after the first Fire III is better than "spamming" Fire III... no doubts 100%.

I am using Fire III to extend the duration of Astral Fire to get an additional Fire IV and dropping Blizzard III in exchange for a spot to cast Xenoglossy. So I feel it is fundamentally different.

If you are talking Spell Speed
I could see an argument for taking 25% longer to cast Fire III that does 17% less damage (Compared to Fire IV), but I am also casting a Fire III instead of a Blizzard III while the Fire III has the 80% boost... and the extra Astral Fire time gives me enough time to cast another Fire IV.

If you are talking MP usage...
I am using more MP, but staying in Astral Fire for longer to cast more spells... not less. And doing Despair with more MP left is wasting that MP.

Fire III, Fire IV, Fire IV, Fire III, Fire IV, Fire IV, Fire IV, Despair
Free, +800, +800, +2000, +1600, +1600, +1600, All
Total 800, 1600, 3600, 5200, 6800, 8400, (1600 left)

What I am hoping for is something more like this:
"Thunder III's DOT is increased by spell speed (up to 15.4%) so you want to stack spell speed anyway and at 2651 spell speed and level 90 Fire IV's casting time is 2.36 at max spell speed. With 15 seconds of Astral Fire.. 15/2.36= 6.35 and you will always have time to cast 5-6 Fire IV no matter what. If you cast 6 Fire IV (2400 MP for 1-3 and 4800 MP for 4-6) then use 2800 MP on Despair (wasting 1800 mp essentially), but it is worth it for 6 Fire IV followed by a Despair. Despair's casting time is 3.0 seconds so you want to Triplecast on last "Fire IV, Fire IV, Despair" to make sure it gets off without issue."
https://www.akhmorning.com/allagan-s...eed-stat-tiers

At that point the only way I could argue would be to look up how much spell speed is possible and how much crit damage you would lose by prioritizing spell speed.
Thank you for giving an example, but could you clarify a bit more?