[Guide] Black Mage - Because, heavy deeps, that's why.

[Black]

cant say for sure since blm dps is so random, but I'd say about 15-20 single target?

damn hoped for more, im i100 already with 110 weapon ; ; anyway i'll continue to upgrade and buy spades book for smn i guess;;

got Ring and upgraded evenstar belt so im at 103 ;/

[OWS_Tonx]

That's what I'm doing today lol. Saved my sands and UAT for reset today to get them

[Black]

That's what I'm doing today lol. Saved my sands and UAT for reset today to get them

got UAT and sands, but soldiery cap is ughugh

[Cham]

So I keep hearing people talk about how we should use Flare to hit multiple targets in places like T6 with the bulbs/slugs and T8 with the dreadnaughts to maximise DPS. Should this be done at every single opportunity available or only when you have Convert ready? If the former, how do you proceed after the flare?

[Xerlic]

So I keep hearing people talk about how we should use Flare to hit multiple targets in places like T6 with the bulbs/slugs and T8 with the dreadnaughts to maximise DPS. Should this be done at every single opportunity available or only when you have Convert ready? If the former, how do you proceed after the flare?

Yeah, hitting multiple targets with 2x flare definitely pads your parse. Heart answered this like 10 posts up to my original question, but you use an HQ Mega Ether or X Ether when you don't have convert up.

[Taruina]

Yeah, hitting multiple targets with 2x flare definitely pads your parse. Heart answered this like 10 posts up to my original question, but you use an HQ Mega Ether or X Ether when you don't have convert up.

He was asking if it is worth to single Flare (see: no ether or convert) in that situation or not.

T8, if you can't double flare the Dread, then you need to rework your cooldown usage.

T6, if you need to double flare every bulb, yell at the 3-4 other dps.

But I agree, single flares shouldn't be happenning just because of the prolonged umbral ice that follows.

[Cham]

But I agree, single flares shouldn't be happenning just because of the prolonged umbral ice that follows.

So I should always double flare and not do something silly like Flare > Convert > Fire > Blizzard III?
And what should I do after the transpose on a double flare? Wait one tick > Fire III?

[Serenseven]

So I should always double flare and not do something silly like Flare > Convert > Fire > Blizzard III?
And what should I do after the transpose on a double flare? Wait one tick > Fire III?

Assuming we're still talking about only T6/T8 where there's the boss and 1 other target, then Flare > Convert > Swiftcast > Flare > Transpose > Blizzard III (on whoever) > Thunder II (on boss) > Fire III (on add) > (normal Fire rotation on add until it's dead) is what I normally do for a 2-mob double Flare.

In other places, if there are 3+ mobs and you have 251 PIE, you have the option to insert a Fire II before the Swiftcast. Whether you do or not depends on the situation, mostly the targets' remaining HP and whether you anticipate needing to dodge soon.

The only time I single-Flare is when I'm near-certain it will kill the targets and there are no other targets requiring my immediate attention. Otherwise you spend too much time in Umbral Ice, especially if the first MP tick lines up wrong, ends up non-UI, and forces you to wait 3 more seconds before you can cast anything.

[SamanosukeShiva]

there's really no reason to use HQ x-ether over HQ mega ether btw, mega gets the job done with 1 minute less cooldown.

[OWS_Tonx]

I don't think they meant that they NEED to flare in order to kill the bulb, just something that would ramp up their DPS. I can time it usually where I'm ready to double flare or single flare > fire without wasting mp by the time bulbs spawn. As far as doing it for every bulb, I personally don't. Our bulbs get slayed so fast they rarely even get to sprout the first one which is kind of annoying

[SamanosukeShiva]

yeah I wouldnt bother with double flaring bulbs since they come so frequently and sometimes followed by a period when u need to move for devour. But make sure save the double flares for slugs though if you're doing the burn slugs method.

[Seravi Edalborez]

Assuming we're still talking about only T6/T8 where there's the boss and 1 other target, then Flare > Convert > Swiftcast > Flare > Transpose > Blizzard III (on whoever) > Thunder II (on boss) > Fire III (on add) > (normal Fire rotation on add until it's dead) is what I normally do for a 2-mob double Flare.

I have never liked Transpose > B3 but I've never really looked if it's more or less optimal than stuff like...

... > Flare > Transpose > Thunder 2 > Fire 3 > fire rot (what I do for bosses; UI is just running out when Fire3 casts usually)
... > Flare > Transpose > Fire 3 > fire rot (standard for trash flare rotation; transitions back into single target easily)

[Serenseven]

I have never liked Transpose > B3 but I've never really looked if it's more or less optimal than stuff like...

... > Flare > Transpose > Thunder 2 > Fire 3 > fire rot (what I do for bosses; UI is just running out when Fire3 casts usually)
... > Flare > Transpose > Fire 3 > fire rot (standard for trash flare rotation; transitions back into single target easily)

And I've never really looked to see if doing something other than Transpose > Blizzard III is more or less optimal, although the thought has occurred to me before. I do know that if Blizzard III has to be interrupted to dodge or some other reason, I jump straight into Thunder II > Fire III with whatever MP I have.

Maybe I'll do some experimenting later.

[haroldsaxon]

From here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/commen...critss/cjjq7bx

from what ive been told by leader of top raid group on our server... he went crit/ss and he said the det "soft cap" is over 300. he reached that with other gear so hes about 110. and by going crit/ss he has reached the soft caps in all 3 stats. he has over 500 crit, 500 ss, and 300 det and acc cap for t9. he's a beast

I'm going to assume this is pure horseshit, right?

[Seravi Edalborez]

^ sounds like shit

Dunno if this is olde but some dude's (Puro Strider of Cactuar) super pro spreadsheet or something:

http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/commen...pell_rotation/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...er=true&gid=50

[Crizto]

From here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/commen...critss/cjjq7bx



I'm going to assume this is pure horseshit, right?

I heard he also drinks the blood of all of his fallen enemies... scary stuff!

[Deadgye]

From here: http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/commen...critss/cjjq7bx

I'm going to assume this is pure horseshit, right?

It's pure bullshit, yes. My crit testing thread in this section shows very obviously that crit gains remain linear.

[Seravi Edalborez]

Dunno if this is olde but some dude's (Puro Strider of Cactuar) super pro spreadsheet or something:

http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/commen...pell_rotation/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...er=true&gid=50

So what I've taken away from this so far (that has been improving my play):

1: If you have TC proc, do it after your next fire. IE, do Fire1 > TC. This allows you to use it to check for FS because it's statistically more likely than a repeat TC proc.

1a: If FS and TC are both up, use FS first for above reason.

2: For the last fire of your rotation (ie, the one before you would Blizz3), weave in a off-GCD (particularly if you would use it anyways, like Manawall/ward/E4E). This little 0.5s delay forced by the off-GCD lets you check for that last FS proc before B3. Can do this for any Fire1 in your rotation but the more you gamble+fail, the more of a slight DPS loss you suffer. Doing it just once per rotation is alright I guess and I guess this is the best place to do it.

2a: The reason this works well is because normally you have to wait for the ~0.5s "travel time" of the fire bolt to see "+Firestarter +Astral Fire". Using an off-GCD like this "forces" the "+Whatever" to pop up immediately. For a different job example, if you use Holy on WHM and use a off-GCD immediately after, you will see "+Stun" on all the mobs a lot sooner (though I don't think it actually HAPPENS sooner, you just know sooner).

[Niiro]

1: If you have TC proc, do it after your next fire. IE, do Fire1 > TC. This allows you to use it to check for FS because it's statistically more likely than a repeat TC proc.

1a: If FS and TC are both up, use FS first for above reason.

This....doesn't make sense to me.

Every tic of thunder that goes by is a potential TC proc, so every tic that TC is active is a potential wasted TC.

FS can't proc unless you cast Fire, if you've got TC and FS at the same time there's no way to waste FS.

[Seravi Edalborez]

That's how I'd always seen it, but I guess somewhere in that reddit thread he addresses that point. Will see if I can dig it up.

e: http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/commen...tation/cjenv7x

Let's look at pros and cons of Weaving with Thundercloud:
Pros
*Eliminates 60% fail rate of Firestarter when Fire Weaving, which would result in loss of 538.6 potency (Converted from Current BiS Fail amount of -0.840 DPS per weave)
*Not losing 1 DOT tick from previous Thunder I/II (35 * 1.3 = 45.5 Potency)

Cons
*Miss 5% Chance to add 396.5 potency [(60 + ((35 * 8 ) * 1.3)) - 45.5 (from clipping 1 DOT from previous thunder)] from 1 tick while casting Firestarter first + Fire I.

So, we would gain 142.1 potency (538.6 - 396.5) by Fire weaving with Thundercloud instead of using it first in a no-man's land with the RNG God bestowing you with 5% proc for that one tick

Converting this to damage and DPS using current BiS; we would gain +392 total Damage or +1.63 DPS
Hope that helps.

It's mostly about minimizing the chance of a wasted Firestarter (without slowing GCD riding) rather than begging for a TC proc wasted. I guess.