BLM questions

[Kryssan]

a fellow blm told me about it, and i quote "We had only 1 healer, a tank, and him up. About 1 percent, he was targeted. popped it, and went to hard-casting flare. everyone flipped out. landslide hit... and he casted it, convert/quickcast, flare again, win. I had an erection."

Yeah, its funny how many people don't use ward and wall and instead choose to run around on BLM. BLM does best when it is not moving, esp. now that they knocked scathe down so you can't run and do (much) damage ( I'm missing my 1k+ running scathe crits so much ) without swiftcast up. Which is still only one spell. Manaward makes a lot of primal 2 hrs do little damage ( SCH Succor + Ward is often zero damage for me ). It also makes it so you don't have to move during Ultima's spaceship dropping ( Freefall? something ). Wall for anything physical like Landslide. In Titan I pop it whenever I can so the only things I'm dodging are plumes and boulders, because /easymode /lazyblm. Not a BLM note, but Tempered Will also works on Landslides.

That said, I think I've used AM on one occasion, and then just to see it work not because I was actually using it. I'm sure it has a situational use but I have yet to really determine what it might be. Maybe like when you find yourself doing something stupid on Titan boulders and need to move across the arena or warping back to center on Ifrit instead of running back after eruption... eh. One day I'll play with it more.

[samalis]

slowly getting my BLM to 50 and I have just one question. Should I be waiting after every fire cast to see if I get FS? Usually I que my fire spells back to back but sometimes I get FS midcast, is it worth it to interrupt fire and use the FS proc? Or just keep casting and use FS afterwards?

[Grey Jorildyn]

Use proc. 40% chance to "lose dps" if it procs again.

[Lokus]

Use proc. 40% chance to "lose dps" if it procs again.

Read it's actually a dps loss to interrupt the fire to use the proc since you're adding a delay to the rotation on a chance that it might proc again.

[SamanosukeShiva]

yeah, never interrupt, unless your next spell is blizzard

[Mira]

I abuse the fuck out of my manawall. I'm really bad about using AM though, I did try to set it up like a macro from XI to be something like /ac "AM" <Tank's Name> but that wouldn't work, and I find actually running away faster than selecting someone to AM. I guess if I set a healer on my bottom of PT list it wouldn't be too difficult, but I usually keep the tank there for e4e and random apoctostasis.

/ac "aetherial manipulation" "Name name" works

[Seravi Edalborez]

I'd have it like

/micon "Aetherial Manipulation"
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <mo>
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <t>
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <2>

Or whatever party member you wanna designate "safe" instead of 2. Will only fire on them if you aren't moused over or targeting someone else applicable.

[Palin]

AM is the best spell ever. Teleport out of any AoE and begin casting again. Also is awesome for passing Allagan rot. Use a mouseover macro and bind it to a quick key.

[TheDirtyHobo]

So a long time ago, one of the BLMs in my "before my actual friends were 50" coil statics said something to the effect of 'only hard cast thunder 2, only use thunder 3 for thundercloud procs,' citing something about the cast time being too long. I had always taken it as word of God since my BLM was about level 3 at the time, but more that I'm close to 50 I'm second guessing it. Is this still/was it ever true?

[SamanosukeShiva]

yup

[OWS_Tonx]

iirc without looking Thunder2 has the same potency on it's DoT effect as Thunder3, the only difference is the initial damage and how long the effect lasts as well as mp cost. It works out perfectly for me cuz I was constantly chopping my Thunder3 DoT timer by the time my mp pool was down and I was recasting. So basically less mp, same damage and I'm not chopping my timer.

[Niiro]

All of the thunders have the same DoT potency, the difference is the initial damage and duration.

[Serenseven]

Starting in on Coil T5 with my FC, and I'm having a rough time surviving Fireball hits, even after studying the usual videos. So, questions for the group...

1. Is 4395 HP after food sufficient for a BLM on Turn 5?
   
2. If it is, what needs to be done about the occasional 4850-damage 3-way Fireball that I seem to be taking?
   
   1. Do I have a right to expect at least one of Stoneskin, Sacred Soil, Adloquium, etc. on me before Fireball hits? Right now that doesn't seem to be happening.
   2. Do BLMs need to always take Fireball hits in a 4-way? We've been trying to take "easy" Conflags with 4 stacks and "hard" Conflags with 3 stacks. (Or is this in itself wrong and all Fireballs need to be 4 stacks?)
3. If it isn't, I can get to ~4450 HP next week from the next myth cycle. Any more VIT after that comes at the expense of INT. What should I be aiming for HP-wise, and how much INT should I be prepared to sacrifice to get there?

[Raldo]

You're using mostly Darklight accessories. Get an Astral Ring or other mage 2-star crafted accessory and slap some VIT in it. The 2-star accessories aren't even expensive anymore, and they're basically equivalent (or better, if melded) to Darklight. They cost no myth, and you lose no INT (assuming HQ). If you're cheap, then just throw VIT3s in 'em, since VIT4s are probably expensive. The mage accessories cap at +9VIT (so 2x VIT3 and a VIT1 if you want).

The 4300 number I see tossed around is for 4-stack fireballs (I think?). If you're doing that low of HP on 3-stacks, then you should ask for a Stoneskin/Adloq buffer if possible. If you're the only one who needs it, then it shouldn't be a huge issue.

I'm confused why you think adding VIT would sacrifice INT, because I can't think of any situation unless you're throwing on tank accessories or something. Oh geez, you mean attribute swapping, don't you? Don't do that.



Alternate option: Use your BLM defensive cooldown before the 3-stack fireball. I don't use BLM enough to know if it'll be up for every Fireball.

[Grey Jorildyn]

1. Yes, it is definitely enough.
2. You may want to have your group try 4-stacking.
a. Your SCH should be casting Succor for fireballs. Don't expect anything else.
b. If it's on your side, yeah. Your group should try to maintain consistency for the sake of learning and DPS-checking itself for later phases.
3. Survivability is always the #1 priority in raiding. If you feel it's a problem, it may just be the general strategy or lack of party synergy. I wouldn't give up more than 10 INT in attribute swapping tbh. You already have the necessary HP.

[Seravi Edalborez]

Your HP looks more than fine for 4-stacking (which, for the record, all you really need for that is just left-side i90). There are alternatives to 3/4-stacking where you don't just have a set ABCpet and DEFG groups. Could 3-stack with OT+pet+(fireball target) behind Twin. If you have a SMN in your DPS composition, can 4-stack that way too. This raises your odds of having Manaward up for each fireball you have to take, if the CD doesn't align right as is. Succor should be up bare minimum.

[Serenseven]

OK, so it sounds like we shouldn't be 3-stacking anyway, because if we can't down a 4-stacked Conflagration on our own, we're going to have DPS issues in later phases anyway, correct?

I'm confused why you think adding VIT would sacrifice INT, because I can't think of any situation unless you're throwing on tank accessories or something. Oh geez, you mean attribute swapping, don't you? Don't do that.

No, I'm currently farming primals for Vortex ring and Tremor earrings. VIT-melded Astral gear would be more VIT and less INT than those. I wasn't considering attribute swapping; with all the DPS checks in the later phases, I had already written that off as bad.

[Crizto]

It would be good for you to 4 stack. It will require your DPS to save some damage procs/cds for conflagration 2 & 4 (raging strikes, Swift-flare, firestarter/Thunder cloud, etc. ).

I was just under 4/4.1k HP (probably the equivalent of ilvl 84) with food for the majority of my progression. With any sort of damage mitigation spell or cd I never risked death.

[Seravi Edalborez]

I wouldn't say being unable to kill a 4-stack is indicative of DPS troubles for the rest of the fight, but I'd try it anyways.

[Marcicus]

Coming from someone who PLd BLM to 50 in 1.0, I have absolutely no idea how to play this job. What's the general rotation BLMs use as of 2.1, and has the BiS changed much from 2.0?