BLM

[Cherub]

Was reading some stuff about freeze some pages ago -

The problem with Freeze is that bind will vanish once you attack the mob who is bound by it. Sleep + Deep sleep is lot more useful in a crowd. Making them unable to attack the tank and giving you extra 30 seconds, a heaven for the tank and the healer. The duration gets shortened after every time you use it though so I would myself use Sleep until they fully resist and then freeze to bind them. However I only see Freeze' use in a crowd, or when you want to space yourself, gain mana cuz u fked up. I'm sure there are other uses as well. But I go with Freeze in a defensive option. It saved my life already some times. But it's really REALLY situational.

As for flare... I'd guess it's use is to do massive AoE damage. I wouldn't use it for a single mob. Or for the final hit to make things flashy :V

My usual (Boss) rotation is -

Thunder III - Fire III - Fire nuke till round 100 mp left - Blizzard III - Thunder III - repeat.
When being in Umbral Ice III my Mana actually regenerates once after I have used Fire III making me have full mana + Astral Fire III. On bosses I usually use Raging strikes after I've gained Astral Fire III, convert for more fire, and swiftcast for even more fire

On usual mobs I leave the Thunder III out unless they have a huge amount of health.

[CarlosDanger]

Im such an idiot, was complaining to my friends about how weak BLM felt compared to other dps-ers Ive partied with. I get to lvl 41 and realise in a dungeon that my rotation still consists of F1 & B1......what a Noob I am. I switched them both out for their 3 counterparts and WOW!!!! what a difference im noticing. I no longer feel like the weak link anymore.

[DyneRidian]

Im such an idiot, was complaining to my friends about how weak BLM felt compared to other dps-ers Ive partied with. I get to lvl 41 and realise in a dungeon that my rotation still consists of F1 & B1......what a Noob I am. I switched them both out for their 3 counterparts and WOW!!!! what a difference im noticing. I no longer feel like the weak link anymore.

That is definitely the incorrect way to play, the amount of mana and time you use/spend on fire 3 makes it not as good as just spamming fire 1, sure it hits harder but you spend more time casting and with no mana. At 44 thats when you weave Fire 3 into your rotation with the fire starter procs. Basically don't switch out fire and blizzard 1 just use all of them together. Standard rotation is Thunder 3 -> Fire 3 -> just keep spamming fire 1 until out of mana whilst getting fire starter procs off -> Blizzard 3 to get mana again then repeat.

[KojiKumori]

where is the lvl 35 blm quest at?

[Foullacy]

Problem with this, if you cast Flare you lose all of your mana and you get 3 stacks of Astral Fire. What do you do now? Transpose? You go to one stack of umbral ice, regen takes forever, and you have to either cast Blizzard 3 times or cast Blizzard III once, which has a long cast time because you don't have three stacks of astral fire. You end up losing so many Fire cast waiting for the regen. Fire is your highest damage per cast spell.

This is your rotation-

Fire until your mana is greater than the cost to cast Blizzard III + Thunder I but low enough to maximize your Fire cast, while using your Firestarter procs for Fire III as soon as you get them. We can call this the damage phase.

Once your mana is low, you cast Blizzard III (Which has a very fast cast time because you have three stacks of Astral Fire)

Once you cast Blizzard III you instantly gain three stacks of Umbral Ice following up with Thunder I into Fire III.

[Foullacy]

All of you people that are using Thunder III in your rotation, stop using it and follow the rotation I posted above. You will find your damage phases are longer, and your regen phases are faster, smoother, and allow for boss issues (Ifrit doing his charge where you cannot target him, ect)

Thunder III cost DOUBLE the mana nearly DOUBLE the cast time, and only adds THIRTY potency. The Thunder Storm proc does add 100 potency, but it's a 5% chance, it's simply not worth sacrificing 1 Fire cast per damage phase.

[Sandkat]

Thunder III cost DOUBLE the mana nearly DOUBLE the cast time, and only adds THIRTY potency. The Thunder Storm proc does add 100 potency, but it's a 5% chance, it's simply not worth sacrificing 1 Fire cast per damage phase.

It is double the mana but only 1 second extra cast time.

Thunder 1:
Cast time - 2.41
Mana - 212
Potency - 30
Dot Potency - 35
Duration - 18
Thundercloud Potency - 240

Thunder 3:
Cast time - 3.37
Mana - 425
Potency - 60
Dot Potency - 35
Duration - 24
Thunder Cloud Potency - 340

its also a 5% chance no matter what Thunder you use.

Also, if you only refresh Thunder during Umbral, you arent wasting any mana.

Blizzard 3 > Thunder 3 > Fire 3 > Fire 1 > Firestarter Proc > 500 mana > Blizzard 3 > Repeat.

[Foullacy]

I never said the chance for Thunder Storm is higher or less than 5%, it's 5% for each cast of Thunder no matter the rank of it.

Also I never said refreshing Thunder during Umbral was a waste of mana. Did you even read my post or go into angsty teen mode to refute my point by stating a rotation with nothing backing it.

Your rotation during Umbral Phase is Blizzard III to start it, cast Thunder X and cast Fire III. Go back and read man.

[Foullacy]

Also the point of Thunder I and Thunder III is going to be an EXTREMELY marginal DPS difference whichever is better so the point is nearly moot. But since Fire is our primary damage cast, maximizing those cast is going to be the higher DPS, not casting Thunder III for 100 more potency with a 5% chance to happen with each tick of thunder. This is about min/maxing not tunnel visioning what you think is right.

[Foullacy]

Just tested on a target dummy, if you're casting Thunder III during regen phase ( you should be casting Thunder during regen) you sit on full mana for nearly an entire tick, that's less Fire up-time and less Firestarter up-time. Even without damage meters you would have a hard time convincing me that 30 potency on cast and 100 potency at a 5% chance per tick of Thunder is worth a single Firestarter proc.