Where is the BLM nerf?

[ArkNova]

Black Mages spammed thunder spells in 11 until voidwatch came out and Ramuh is in that game as well and the world kept on spinning.

[Pofo]

Black Mages spammed thunder spells in 11 until voidwatch came out and Ramuh is in that game as well and the world kept on spinning.

First off Ramuh in XI doesn't share the same importance as the Primals in this game, Avatars in that game were a one time deal, in which you killed them to obtain the avatar (and maybe come back once more for your evoker's ring). In this game, a new Primal (Ramuh in this instance) would be the current "End game" content that people endlessly spam for 7/7 weapons. Second, your statement about thunder is incorrect, I don't know how terrible at BLM you were or if you just lacked a decent linkshell to get you Atma, but once Abyssea was released, Thunder IV was dethroned by Atma of the Beyond which made Blizzard the dominant spell, long before voidwatch.

Honestly, BLM does need to be reworked, but not in the form of a nerf, especially since we only have Thunder spells at our disposal for major boss fights. I can't really speak for what 2.0 has to offer yet, but I hope they either A. revisit the old method of spellcasting with spell tiers and an AoE toggle, or B. Adopt the method of spell diversity used in XI, Which will require the use of tier spells again, and the addition of Aga spells (i.e. Thunder > Thunder II > Thunder III / Thundaga > Thundaga II > Thundaga III). The main thing that somewhat concerns me about BLM is the fact that we got our Agas so early, if the level cap is to reach anywhere from 80 to 99 in the years to come what sort of spell tiers can we look forward too; considering they removed the numbered tiers, because I'd assume at mid 60's we'd get Firaja and Thundaja... then what all the way until 99? Regardless, that's all like 5 years or more from now, best not to worry about it until we cross that bridge.

[DarthTaru]

I prefer XI's BLM that could call down incredible spike damage but burned themselves out fast and had to rest/regen MP.
In XIV BLM can sustain high damage for entire fights without even really having to rest. This wouldn't be a huge ordeal if fights like Chimera didn't offer BLM's safe spots to simply stand in and spam thunder combinations while ignoring just about every mechanic of the fight.

I don't really think BLM needs a nerf as much as I would perhaps like to see it receive an adjustment and adjustments aren't necessarily nerfs.
That said, there's not a whole lot of things to do in the game right now to really see where all these classes are at so over all i'm withholding judgement and content to simply say the Chimera fight is lame.

[Kinseykinz]

Black Mage doesn't need a nerf. Here's why.

1. MP already limits your Damage output. Black mage is best suited to a quick 2 min or less battle. After that, they need to rest or conserve MP to keep up their DPS.
2. Mobs HATE getting hit for large damage at once, means BLM's really have to watch their +EMN. Because most 'event' mobs will EAT a BLM in 1-2 hits if they pull hate. Melee DD's can at least take a hit or two while tank gets hate back.
3. BLM is one of the few Jobs in game at moment that better gear does actually trump player skill. Therefore, being a decently geared BLM is an investment. Don't get me wrong, you can't just have mack-daddy gears and expect to be an awesome BLM if you don't know how/when to use what spells and abilities...but just knowing how to use your spells and abilities and using 'meh' gear, won't help you much on high resistance mobs like Garuda. One resist=messed up combo, downtime for BLM...so in this respect, it is always going to be a class requiring above average gear. (=expensive)
4. Did it ever occur to all those in the 'nerf blm camp' that the reason BLM setup works for so many battles right now is that we're fighting Mobs with High Def, lots of AOE and lower Mag Def? The fact that BLM reigns supreme should be a no brainer.
5. BLM is supposed to be RAW damage, that's it. The 'enfeebles' it has are all (with the exception of Flare) Mob mobility stopping, slowing, sleeping or -emn reducing for a reason. They are BLM's only defense, and they are intended to help BLM's keep the mob at a distance....so they can keep nuking.
6. Yes, currently the community over uses BLM. I think most of us can agree on that. But the reasons for the overuse aren't because BLM is too powerful (which IS why WAR is still tank over PLD) but because there are some basic flaws in dungeon/primal battles right now that favor BLM's style. If SE would reconsider speed runs=5 chests, AOE boss attacks, requiring more movement in a fight, and create some magic resistant and/or magic immune mobs, we'd be whining about Lancer or Archer or Warrior stacking... (which by the way HAS been whined about in the past).
7. A majority of the 'endgame elite' shells happen to have a lot of people in them that Main Black Mage, Bard or Monk. This is why you see those combinations so often. They are simply playing their favored classes to clear new content, but then their method becomes 'the way it must be done'.

Now about Archer/Bard
Yes, when people stacked Archers to do darkhold Buffalo etc, I'm sure archers had a blast. But square decided to morph Archer into a DD/support class hybrid. When they did that, they HAD to reduce Arc/Bard damage to balance things out. Also, while I know most parcer's don't calculate this, think about how much damage a Bard is indirectly responsible for by giving the party boosts? My White Mage rarely gets to throw out any DD spells with the exception of the occasional Stone (which I cast to make the BLM's more effective btw). But without me, the party's damage would suck 'cause they'd be dead. A 3 second recast when you WS is nothing...it doesn't even change your gameplay.

[UmJammerSully]

Black Mage doesn't need a nerf. Here's why.

Alright, I'll try and tackle your points.

1. MP already limits your Damage output. Black mage is best suited to a quick 2 min or less battle. After that, they need to rest or conserve MP to keep up their DPS.

Ballad of Magi pretty much solves any MP issues they once had with the content we have right now (especially primals), and if the battle is long enough to put a BLM to zero MP, it really doesn't take too long of a rest period to bring it back to full again. I'd say your "2 mins or less" is also way off, black mages have to pace themselves to avoid getting hate.

2. Mobs HATE getting hit for large damage at once, means BLM's really have to watch their +EMN. Because most 'event' mobs will EAT a BLM in 1-2 hits if they pull hate. Melee DD's can at least take a hit or two while tank gets hate back.

As above, good black mages will pace themselves and watch their hate. They can still dish out crazy damage whilst being careful not to pull hate.

3. BLM is one of the few Jobs in game at moment that better gear does actually trump player skill. Therefore, being a decently geared BLM is an investment. Don't get me wrong, you can't just have mack-daddy gears and expect to be an awesome BLM if you don't know how/when to use what spells and abilities...but just knowing how to use your spells and abilities and using 'meh' gear, won't help you much on high resistance mobs like Garuda. One resist=messed up combo, downtime for BLM...so in this respect, it is always going to be a class requiring above average gear. (=expensive)

I disagree, BLM's with full AF might not have the ridiculous damage melded folks put out but are still pretty damn decent. Still a better choice thank MNK or DRG in most situations.

EDIT: Deleted half the post 'cause I don't like having essay long replies... :3

[Kinseykinz]

Alright, I'll try and tackle your points.
Ballad of Magi pretty much solves any MP issues they once had with the content we have right now (especially primals), and if the battle is long enough to put a BLM to zero MP, it really doesn't take too long of a rest period to bring it back to full again. I'd say your "2 mins or less" is also way off, black mages have to pace themselves to avoid getting hate.

You're not getting it...1. Conserving MP = not damaging. BLM's aren't standing back there Auto-attacking. Therefore Melee DD's have an upper hand in keeping CONSTANT damage up. 2. While yes, Ballad helps, it REQUIRES having a Bard in the party to have it. It's not something a BLM can do to themselves to improve their own game. So yes, MP conservation is part of the game, but when talking raw damage, BLM needs to constantly Nuke to out DPS a traditional Melee and over a long battle, that gets harder and harder to do.

The 2 minutes thing: I was basing that on being able to keep constant nukes going ...like a DD can constantly DD. Without assuming you have a Bard in a Party. I understand it doesn't happen in practice due to reasons you mentioned (MP conservation/EMN) ...But that just proves my point. BLM has their limits already placed on them that forces their damage output to be lower than they potentially could dish out.

As above, good black mages will pace themselves and watch their hate. They can still dish out crazy damage whilst being careful not to pull hate.

Monk and Warrior and Lancer can all do crazy damage too. It's just their individual auto attack and WS/combo numbers are smaller, but constant. The main issue is in order to compete with BLM damage, Melee need to be able to stay more or less stationary and not spend time running from AOE damage....that is NOT Black Mage's fault. That is a battle mechanic fault. Black Mages are usually getting higher damage numbers not because they are the most awesome DD, but because they aren't as affected by mob ranged attacks and can keep doing Damage. Again, not a Black Mage problem...battle design problem.

I disagree, BLM's with full AF might not have the ridiculous damage melded folks put out but are still pretty damn decent. Still a better choice thank MNK or DRG in most situations.

It's not that AF doesn't support decent damage...BLM isn't just about your potential damage, you get resisted ONCE, and it can mess up your whole spell set/Mana pool. It's the resists BLM's are trying to avoid by upgrading their gears.


Basically at the end of the day, instead of asking to nerf a class/job because it can out-damage your preferred job/class and/or is 'stacked' more often than your favorite, maybe instead spend time asking for more varied content/battles etc. that make different classes/jobs specalists for that fight. There is nothing wrong with the damage output blm has. It's spike damage...Monk, WAR,Dragoon ALL do good damage too, it's just steady damage.

[KoujiGeki]

In every game Caster have always been more powerful than DDs because they have lower hp and def and pull alot more hate than DDs so they inturn will die fast than a DD that why they are a backline job thats the trade off. And unlike DD that can always attack if the Blm runs out of MP its siuts there with its thumb up its ass till it recovers. DD? do they stop attacking when they run out of TP no they melee still. Ann DDs in this game still have way better survivability than Blm. Mnks have better Second wind to give better hp bach than necrosis. Drg have now Jump that evades life surge and dread spike and Second wind also.

If ppl are asking for Blm nerf then i say nerf DDs HP and Def so they no how bad it is to get hit like a Blm and die in 2 hits.

[abby]

Buffed PGL/MNK and LNC/DRG? Good to hear, but how can you nerf ARC/BRD and leave THM/BLM untouched?

What...is wrong with you?

[KoujiGeki]

What...is wrong with you?

hes a noob/troll

[KoujiGeki]

or i guess you guys want Arc to return to the overpower job it use to be and ppl stacked Arc to everything and killed faster than Thm cause Thm didnt have refresh back then and once they ran outta mp they could do anything.