Frustrations with BLM immobility

[Korbei]

Ever since the SMN update, I feel like BLM has become more frustrating to play comparatively due to its immobility. It used to feel like a trade off for the big booms but I feel like SMN provides big booms without a trade off in mobility. I feel like its time to make some adjustments to BLM to follow suit in this regard.

Most of my frustrations center primarily around Ley Lines, which is a cool ability and Between the Lines is a fun mechanic to exploit in certain situations but Ley Lines is too important to overall DPS while being too easily completely screwed over by too many mechanics in the game. It either has too short a duration or too long a recast, probably both frankly.

I suggest that they should be a permanent fixture until you get too far from them, at which point they vanish and the 2 minute cooldown begins. They should disappear manually by using Transpose and they should follow you when using Aetherial Manipulation.

[Elissar]

Honestly i don't know what you mean. BLM is more mobile now than ever before. At lv90 you can literally cast 6 spells instantly WHILE moving, plus aetherial manipulation AND your lines if they are active. For the latest extreme available, BLM is easy to move. You can move faster than any SMN.


Yes, you will have downtime and you will need to stay where you are but it's not like SMN has their primals all the time. Learning when you can and when you can't exploit your mobility is what makes you a good BLM.

[ZiraZ]

BLM is so broken right now that even if you suck at using your movement abilities (which has plenty of) you can still destroy every other caster, every RDM main wants to slap you for making this thread.

[Raikai]

It kind of depends on how you're using BLM's mobility tools...

If it's to use them reactively to prevent dropping AF, then yeah, it's quite limited because you have only 2 triple and one swift (and maybe a F3 if you're lucky).

If it's to use them pre-emptively to create a map with the moments you need to use them, then BLM is incredibly mobile considering the mechanics.

Leylines is a different story, you need to know the fight to use it well, but that comes alongside mechanic solving naturally, I feel it's part of the fun learning the spots where you should place them every 2minutes.

[LilimoLimomo]

It used to feel like a trade off for the big booms but I feel like SMN provides big booms without a trade off in mobility.

A few things here. First, in the FF series, Summoner has generally outshined Black Mageswhen it comes to big booms, so the recent Summoner update seemed like it set things right with the cosmos in that regard. And if you want big booms without the mobility trade off, one option that's always open to you is to switch to Summoner. It's a simpler class than Black Mage but it's loads of fun, with a simple rotation that offers a bit of flexibility without punishing mistakes to nearly the same degree that Black Mage does.

Sometimes I switch my main to SMN for awhile, but so far I always come back to Black Mage because the challenge of it excites me. And the pointy hats, those excite me, too.

Ever since the SMN update, I feel like BLM has become more frustrating to play comparatively due to its immobility.

I am a passable Black Mage seeking to improve, and while the class is transparently less mobile than SMN, in trying to take my game to the next level I've found that it's a surprisingly mobile class. At level 90 there are so many sources of free movement via instant-casts, including:
2 stacks of Xenoglossy
2 stacks of Triple-cast
Swiftcast
Ice phase Paradox
Thunder Procs
Fire 3 procs
2 stacks of Sharpcast, which guarantees procs of the above

Additionally, Between the Lines can instantly get you back to your Ley Lines, and Aetherial Manipulation can teleport you to your more mobile ally's safe positions at the last moment after your lengthy Ley Lines casts. There are so many toys that Black Mage has to play with to give them mobility when they need it.

Most of my frustrations center primarily around Ley Lines, which is a cool ability and Between the Lines is a fun mechanic to exploit in certain situations but Ley Lines is too important to overall DPS while being too easily completely screwed over by too many mechanics in the game. It either has too short a duration or too long a recast, probably both frankly.

I think it's also worth saying that Ley Lines is probably the most difficult part of Black Mage's kit, as optimizing its timing and placement is dependent on the specifics of the fight you're in, meaning it's something new that you have to learn distinctly for every single fight. But I also think that's kind of cool. When I do Ley Lines well (and that's very rare), I feel like I'm the prettiest princess at the dance. The challenge of playing Black Mage is what makes it feel so rewarding when you do it right.

Whenever I'm feeling down about Black Mage, I watch Pint's absolutely fantastic playful-but-spot-on video essay on the class, and that helps me re-center my perspective and decide what step I want to take next. If you feel frustrated with your recent Black Mage experience, I cannot recommend this video enough! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVXSWE7KE68

[Rithy255]

BLM having movement issues is the entire job, getting good at when to use your free mobility and when you can safely not use during a fight is what makes BLM fun.

I don't want to play Summoner, it's not a good example of a caster DPS, it's likely one of the worst current designs for one and I can only hope that the new caster Doesn't follow its footsteps

[Soge01]

I'd rather Black Mage be left alone. Summoner is less of a caster class and more of a range dps one in its current state, since it hardly has to cast anymore. If anything, I'd rather see Summoner less mobile and have to cast more.

[wereotter]

Black Mage is incredibly mobile, especially compared to its history over the years. Sure, you have to plan ahead and know when you need your mobility tools, but in situations of heavy movement, black mage is now even more mobile now than red mage, which was formerly the job considered to be the most mobile caster. And on top of that, black mage still does dramatically more damage than summoner. According to a certain site that compiles data on such things, summoner is providing damage on par with physical ranged while black mage is out damaging almost every other job in the game.

[Ransu]

BLM just requires more skill to play in terms of mobility. You have to pre-position and know mechanics a lot better than pretty much the rest of the party. That said, they still have great mobility, especially outside of savage where they can be a lot more care free with their instant skills and stepping out of leylines isn't the end of the world because...well...its not savage so it doesn't really matter lol.

I can't comment on this savage tier since I'm back to playing melee and gave up the caster spot to one of my friends in our static,. but honestly last tier I never really had any problems placing ley lines down and being able to stand it it basically the entire time. You just need to know when and where to place it.

Honestly, BLM is pretty much perfectly designed and shouldn't be messed with too much.

[Zairava]

What are you on about? BLM isn't summoner but it's more mobile than RDM by a landslide despite it needing prepositioning to optimize. We need more skill-expression in the other jobs, not less. Don't remove it from Black Mage