BLM armor optimizing

[Chrius]

Working on a project for optimizing BLM damage:
I still have a few things I want to throw into this but this is the bare bones

Still needed: Ice staff checkbox for the added INT - you can work around this by pumping up a spot you only have 1 equip for by the appropriate amount

Nice to know: How the inflection point for added INT works - currently always considers INT over target INT as adding 2 to base damage

http://code.google.com/p/blmequip/downloads/list

Under each heading put the equips you might use: List as many as you want
Name(no spaces) MAB,INT
Ex:

Head:
DemonHelm+1 0,6
Yigit 2,0

Feet:
CobraCrackows 3,0
YigitCrackows 2,3

etc...

It's interesting to see how casting different spells utilizes different setups for maximum damage.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[drwaffles]

As a 75 BLM you really should already know how to optimize your damage in 99% of situations. The only murky area is when X MAB outdoes Y INT but only for certain spells or under certain conditions, although honestly I'm not going to carry around extra items to add a little more damage to spells I almost never use (e.g. AMII, -ga III); I'll just use the gear I wear for optimizing my tier IV damage.

[Omniyoji]

damn, I was expecting a good n00by question... need moar BLM talk!

[Chrius]

drwaffles - I agree to some extent that BLM know how to get more damage.

But if you work it out - the differences in base damage from Blizzard4, Thunder4 and AM2 sometimes can be optimized with a different INT/MAB ratio. Granted it may only be a few extra points of damage, but if you are any black mage I see at Mt. Zhayolm you want every point you can squeeze out for some epeen! Myself included.

[benny]

My impression was always that you wouldn't pass the inflection point on the dINT calculation on any mob that matters, unless some HNMs just have shockingly low stats. That's just based on INT stacking versus a few DC mobs though, so maybe someone can give better data.

[Questionable]

Even with the differences like Yigit head vs Demon Helm, how much does it really yield? I don't honestly think there is a huge significant difference. Like maybe if you're trying for max build or perfection, but other than that, it's like what, 15-30 damage? I wouldn't lose sleep over that.

[Kerberoz]

If you're not trying to max out, why play BLM at all? Those 15-30 damage differences add up to 300-400 damage differences. Those 2-3 enfeebling skill differences add up to 30-40 skill and keep you alive.

[Toksyuryel]

I can't even hit the inflection point on tiny mandragora with thunder 1, I don't think it ever matters for any spell against any mob no matter how much INT you manage to get.

[drwaffles]

drwaffles - I agree to some extent that BLM know how to get more damage.

But if you work it out - the differences in base damage from Blizzard4, Thunder4 and AM2 sometimes can be optimized with a different INT/MAB ratio. Granted it may only be a few extra points of damage, but if you are any black mage I see at Mt. Zhayolm you want every point you can squeeze out for some epeen! Myself included.

If you want to carry around extra gear for epeen nuke shots on Puddings (where you shouldn't even be using AMII in the first place if you give a damn about efficiency), good for you. I hardly ever use AMII at all unless we're doing a timed nuke in Dynamis or something with only a few BLMs. Same with -ga III. It's not worth the inventory space to carry around even one extra piece of gear just for those types of spells. I'd much rather dedicate the space to gear for Dark Magic, Enfeebling Magic or hMP.

I'm all for optimisation, but when you're working with limited inventory space part of being a good player on any job that uses a lot of different gear sets is maintaining a balance and weighing up the relative benefits of different items.