Black Mage Discussion

[Furby]

I use Eye for an Eye, Raging Strikes, Quelling strikes (I almost never waste a GCD on this though), & Physick. I guess Virus or whatever the DoT is from SMN, but I never ever use it... so. I also don't know if thats best, but I can't see what else to use.

Stupid question: I finally got the parser to work and have been keeping track of AK/Garuda/Ifrit runs- what is average DPS for a BLM? I'm pulling between 175-225 depending on fight, and I don't know if I can do Titan yet.

The only skills I use from other classes often: Raging Strikes, Physick, and Virus should the tank get scary low.

As for dps:
I've done alot of parsing using the addon, but it's not an exact science. BLM do reasonably well on dps if we don't move. Full Darklight, with artifact, pulls about 175-200 in a real fight. That's alot. On a real fight, say primals, people don't really do more than 200 dps because of movement issues. That's with amazing gear. If you're just at 50 you'll be about 100-130. Without relic and mostly blues should be 130-175.

The people in this thread that suggest they do more dps than this on a real fight are likely just number crunching. I've never seen anyone even close to 300 dps on a real fight. (bosses that die in 3 minutes I don't count). Even your number of 225 seems unrealistic.

[Elvine]

Added a new Situational Reminders (For Single Target DPS)

If you have a Firestarter proc up when you cast Blizzard III (To get a 3 stack of Umbral Ice for large MP regeneration ticks), instead of using Fire III right away... Transpose so you have 1 stack of Astral Fire. Then use the free instant Fire III from the Firestarter proc to gain more damage.

[nocturnus]

If you're just at 50 you'll be about 100-130. Without relic and mostly blues should be 130-175.

Unless you're a summoner

My kid brother did 178 + 41 (ifrit) dps on garuda hard last night. The baboon wasn't even using bane on plumes because they died instantly anyway.

He's in AF with low quality jewelry.

[Boomcats]

Unless you're a summoner

My kid brother did 178 + 41 (ifrit) dps on garuda hard last night. The baboon wasn't even using bane on plumes because they died instantly anyway.

He's in AF with low quality jewelry.

I just finished turn 3 last night, and literally SMN dps is absurd. It will get nerfed. Right now, SMN >BLM >BRD with equal gear, on fights where there is low to medium moving. More moving drops BLM below BRD, but SMN DPS is too high to compete with as a BLM. Fortunately we share gear so I'm leveling my SMN now, but even with a perfect rotation (my spell speed is high enough where I can fit a T3 in instead of T2), I can't compete with the SMN in my group

[Furby]

I know this shouldn't fall prey "omg they are over powered". Got kind of sick about that with WoW.

That being said, I think that numbers are very close. Much closer than other MMO's that are out fresh. You also all need to realize that the Parser that is being used is wrought with issues. At best it's a benchmark. At worst, it can be used and abused to weed out baddies that aren't bad.

Parser issues:
1. Too many numbers at once causes the numbers to be skipped over.
2. Comparing numbers with another person over TS has shown extreme differences in total dmg
3. DoTs aren't calculated correctly, which is why summoner is innacurate.

The only way to honestly gauge your dps is in a comparison. You can't quantify numbers at the moment, at least not accurately enough for me to be pleased. You can, however, compare your threat to others in the part. If they do not use an aggro drop, and you are ranked 2nd you're likely doing the most dmg to the target. The tank should be #1 (or an A for Aggro). For aggro to be calculated members must be in your party.

That being said, BLM feels pretty strong overall. I keep up with the best of them ^_^

[nocturnus]

I just finished turn 3 last night, and literally SMN dps is absurd. It will get nerfed. Right now, SMN >BLM >BRD with equal gear, on fights where there is low to medium moving. More moving drops BLM below BRD, but SMN DPS is too high to compete with as a BLM. Fortunately we share gear so I'm leveling my SMN now, but even with a perfect rotation (my spell speed is high enough where I can fit a T3 in instead of T2), I can't compete with the SMN in my group

Well, I just discovered something: FFXIV-APP doesn't parse summoner dps correctly due to fester. Summoners are actually below black mages and bards.

Here lies the problem:

You use fester when bio, bio II and miasma are on your target. Fester will hit for about 450 in AF gear. From that point on FFXIV-APP registers your bio II at the amount of damage dealt by your last fester (which means 450 damage bio II ticks). It only starts tracking the DoT correctly after having re-applied it.

That's why they're so high on the meters, while they're actually doing way less.

This could be fixed if SE made a decent battle log. They release a DoT class but;

- don't make a UI with proper DoT tracking
- don't include DoT damage in they battle log

Ridiculous.

[peetreeled]

We talked about adding Flare into the rotation within a couple posts on Page 1 also. Though you cast Fire after convert. Why would you hardcast Fire when you have 1 stack of UI? Then hardcast Blizzard III? Instead of just hardcasting Blizzard III right away?

Your points are all spot on Elvine and I agree with everything, though I think Hydra has a point in regards to this bit, because you don't have 1 stack of UI:

5. Swiftcast + Flare
6. Convert
7. Fire
8. Blizzard III

Flare adds a full stack of Astral Fire III, after using convert, you have around 1.2k mana, so squeezing in an extra fire between the blizzard III seems like the right choice. I wonder what your opinion is on this variation:

1. Precast Thunder III
2. Fire III
3. Raging Strikes + Quelling Strikes
4. Fire spam until 250+ MP
5. Hardcast Flare
6. Convert
7. Fire
8. Swiftcast + Flare
9. Transpose + Blizzard I
10. Reapply Thunder
11. Fire III > continue normal rotation

This way you get 2 flares in under the effect of raging strikes.

[Furby]

Peetreeled--Under AoE circumstances I usually do cast flare 2 times. On bosses? I never cast flare twice. Transpose + Blizzard only works well if you get the tick of mana instantly. Sometimes you end up standing around looking like you're afk for a few seconds. It's a dps loss to not go back into normal rotation on single target.

The 2 flare dps style has a few issues.
1--You hard cast flare at least once, long cast time. It losses it's efficiency if more than 2.5 cast.
2--You have to hard cast Fire 3 in your rotation (I usually cast blizzard 3, for 3 stacks to make it faster)
3--You will have to wait for the first mana tick after transpose, which is unreliable.

If you want to burst down a group of adds, sure, this may be valid. Single target...eh...I'm gonna stick with no.

[Elvine]

Your points are all spot on Elvine and I agree with everything, though I think Hydra has a point in regards to this bit, because you don't have 1 stack of UI:

5. Swiftcast + Flare
6. Convert
7. Fire
8. Blizzard III

Flare adds a full stack of Astral Fire III, after using convert, you have around 1.2k mana, so squeezing in an extra fire between the blizzard III seems like the right choice. I wonder what your opinion is on this variation:

1. Precast Thunder III
2. Fire III
3. Raging Strikes + Quelling Strikes
4. Fire spam until 250+ MP
5. Hardcast Flare
6. Convert
7. Fire
8. Swiftcast + Flare
9. Transpose + Blizzard I
10. Reapply Thunder
11. Fire III > continue normal rotation

This way you get 2 flares in under the effect of raging strikes.

For Convert, it is viable when used that way. Though keep in mind Convert has a 3 min cool down. Personally, I believe it's still worth it to weave in Flare when Swiftcast & Transpose if off CD.

I've added Convert in, and also moved Transpose method to situational with a need to test when accurate parsers are out.

The reason anyone would have MP after a transpose is because they were on the front end of the 3 second server cooldown for ticks. I believe I explained it in an earlier post. The server cooldown for regen is 3 seconds. If you just missed a tick, you could wait 2.5 secs before you get MP back. If you were lucking in timing you just got it because the server was at 2.8 seconds after you transpose, you get mana after 0.2 seconds. That being said I would not put Fire into my rotation assuming timing is always lined up to just before a 3 second regen tick happens.

I will have to agree with Furby and would never hardcast Flare nor Fire III in a single target rotation.

[Omgarsh]

So I don't mean to bump this old thread, but if I'm reading the Flare discussion right, there's no reason to cast Flare when you are nearly tapped out of MP and in Astral Fire III, then using Transpose?

Does it not gain a cast time benefit from Astral Fire III? Just seems like it's not designed too well if it's not really worth using any time.

[Dunkman]

So I don't mean to bump this old thread, but if I'm reading the Flare discussion right, there's no reason to cast Flare when you are nearly tapped out of MP and in Astral Fire III, then using Transpose?

Does it not gain a cast time benefit from Astral Fire III? Just seems like it's not designed too well if it's not really worth using any time.

It is worth using with convert. Just not any other time unless there are lots of mobs.