Blue Mage: Best thread ever

[Tsuko_Asura]

BLU is like SCH, NIN, PUP, and BST- fun, decent at their role, but never important.

[ronin sparthos]

Nothing cause he's absolutely right. So many people have fucked up this job beyond belief that I would guess less than 10% of the FFXI community know how to play the job correctly, and even then I don't want a job that can 5 different roles at different times decently when I can get a job that specializes in a specific area better than BLU.

Except you quoted a guy who pulled facts out of his ass and deemed them the undeniable truth. I guess I should say DRG is pure shit because you have gimps running around ruining the class. Oh wait, it makes no fucking sense.

If he said "An LS looking for only the ideal setups will never have need for a BLU" then perhaps he'd have a leg to stand on but instead we get a pointless statement that generalizes a class. Gotta love those.

Anyone who plays BLU off the bat knows that as a hybrid job you aren't going to be the best at anything. If being the parser god is your goal in XI, I direct you to WAR or MNK. It comes down a choice and an enjoyment of the job and that's the best way to keep people interested in the game.

A well-played BLU at mainstream event (any BCNM, dynamis, sea, limbus, znm, vnm etc) will do well granted they take the steps needed to succeed at the job and have proper support like any DD. Granted if you enjoy a class, you know when it isn't going to work at all and choose something else.

Like everything in XI, it comes down to the player. If you only care about being optimal then you've already written off most of the classes in this game anyway.

P.S: I've been trolled and I love it!

[Onorgul]

BLU is like SCH, NIN, PUP, and BST- a character class in a video game

Personally, I can't hate Blue Mage much more than I already do, but I've watched it in the hands of good players and I know what it can accomplish. I've also watched most Blue Mages make me sigh as I'm pretty sure my Bard can out-damage and out-tank them. If you suck, you'll bring your LS down with you, if you don't, you won't. What job you're on carries less weight than people give it unless you're going for the extremes of getting something done. Duo'ing Yilbegan or something absurd like that demands absolute efficiency... bringing a group to kill Gancanagh, not so much.

[Nevex]

BLU's strong point is its main weakness: it's the most versatile and balanced job in the game.
It's a weakness because the way FFXI works is that you almost never want balanced party members, you want specialists.
BLU can never be a top notch DD, nuker, healer, buffer, debuffer or tank, so why bother when you can have a SAM, BLM, WHM, BRD, RDM or PLD instead.

BLU does have many things other jobs can't normally do, but they're situational and/or gimmicky tools at best.
Salvage would have been a perfect event for BLU - if the job wasn't so stats and equipment-dependant.

It's a shame because it's not the job to be designed badly, it's the game itself that isn't kind to it.
There are situations where BLU utterly dominates though (Blitzkrieg-style assaults and missions, a few BCNMs, lolPVP, etc.) but none of them are really important events.

[Darkmagi]

BLU's strong point is its main weakness: it's the most versatile and balanced job in the game.
It's a weakness because the way FFXI works is that you almost never want balanced party members, you want specialists.
BLU can never be a top notch DD, nuker, healer, buffer, or debuffer, so why bother when you can have a SAM, BLM, WHM, BRD, RDM or PLD instead.

BLU does have many things other jobs can't normally do, but they're situational and/or gimmicky tools at best.
Salvage would have been a perfect event for BLU - if the job wasn't so stats and equipment-dependant.

It's a shame because it's not the job to be designed badly, it's the game itself that isn't kind to it.
There are situations where BLU utterly dominates though (Blitzkrieg-style assaults and missions, a few BCNMs, lolPVP, etc.) but none of them are really important events.

ftfy. Blu can certainly tank extremely well on things you won't be engaging.

[Draylo]

BLU also does a lot of other things extremely well, especially in a low man situation. I would like to see another job out DD BLU on temperance for example. With the introduction of the new refresh and haste spells, would also like to see another DD job be as self sufficient as BLU for certain things like Limbus and Dynamis. A decent Hateless nuke which only can be done by PUP as far as I know, is a very nice bonus not a useless gimmick. Stun locking a normal mob that isn't very resistant or even a random stun in general to help with TP moves, and in places like salvage frogs is not a useless gimmick. You don't always need specialist jobs for everything in this game. There can be adjustments.

[Yugl]

I think that post demonstrates a fatal flaw in BLU. Self-reliance is great. It means you don't need mages to receive haste. It means you don't need support to receive refresh. It's great for solo because you have most of the tools needed at your disposal. However, such elements are wasted in a PT situation. All "If you don't have ..." statements receive the "Why don't you have ..." when it comes to such events. Furthermore, self-reliance abilities tend to take away from PT efficient buffs due to the fact that the development team is wary of creating a new 2005 RDM. In short, two attributes come into conflict with each other: self-sufficiency and party mechanics.

[Aben]

Quick example. In Jailor of Love, I was wanted in the tank party. I came /thf and would heal, buff, DD, back-up tank, and pull adds off the tank. At the start I would be buffing my pld buddy with diamondhide when his stoneskin macro was down, and throw out magic fruits to keep the whm and rdm at ease. When adds would pop, I would actinic burst them and pull them to the blm. Once the blm nuked them all, but they weren't all dead, I would AoE stun and prevent the blm from getting hit. In between all of this, I would throw out SACA cannonballs to contribute to the damage.

The above is my normal routine, and sometimes, JoL would '2hr' and have all his adds do a tp move at the same time. This can kill even the most experienced tank as its near instant. And it did. JoL proceeded to start raping the remaining players. I switched to tank spells in no time flat, Diffusion > Exuviation > saved everybody's butt and held him until my ls recovered.

Tell me what job can do all of that.

[Marcicus]

Except you quoted a guy who pulled facts out of his ass and deemed them the undeniable truth. I guess I should say DRG is pure shit because you have gimps running around ruining the class. Oh wait, it makes no fucking sense.

If he said "An LS looking for only the ideal setups will never have need for a BLU" then perhaps he'd have a leg to stand on but instead we get a pointless statement that generalizes a class. Gotta love those.

Anyone who plays BLU off the bat knows that as a hybrid job you aren't going to be the best at anything. If being the parser god is your goal in XI, I direct you to WAR or MNK. It comes down a choice and an enjoyment of the job and that's the best way to keep people interested in the game.

A well-played BLU at mainstream event (any BCNM, dynamis, sea, limbus, znm, vnm etc) will do well granted they take the steps needed to succeed at the job and have proper support like any DD. Granted if you enjoy a class, you know when it isn't going to work at all and choose something else.

Like everything in XI, it comes down to the player. If you only care about being optimal then you've already written off most of the classes in this game anyway.

P.S: I've been trolled and I love it!

....so again, itt I'm wrong but I'm right? okay. :\

[Draylo]

No you are wrong because the guy who made that retarded statement who you said was right is in fact actually wrong.

I think that post demonstrates a fatal flaw in BLU. Self-reliance is great. It means you don't need mages to receive haste. It means you don't need support to receive refresh. It's great for solo because you have most of the tools needed at your disposal. However, such elements are wasted in a PT situation. All "If you don't have ..." statements receive the "Why don't you have ..." when it comes to such events. Furthermore, self-reliance abilities tend to take away from PT efficient buffs due to the fact that the development team is wary of creating a new 2005 RDM. In short, two attributes come into conflict with each other: self-sufficiency and party mechanics.

It isn't a fatal flaw.. its a blessing. Think for a tanking situation, less support required means that person can be something else that would benefit the situation more.

[Thorny]

At the start I would be buffing my pld buddy with diamondhide when his stoneskin macro was down, and throw out magic fruits to keep the whm and rdm at ease.

Accessioned Stoneskin, Cure IV

When adds would pop, I would actinic burst them and pull them to the blm. Once the blm nuked them all, but they weren't all dead, I would AoE stun and prevent the blm from getting hit.

Diaga, Accessioned Aquaveil

In between all of this, I would throw out SACA cannonballs to contribute to the damage.

303 ele without making terrible sacrifices, 15 free m.acc from ice merits, etc~

The above is my normal routine, and sometimes, JoL would '2hr' and have all his adds do a tp move at the same time. This can kill even the most experienced tank as its near instant. And it did. JoL proceeded to start raping the remaining players. I switched to tank spells in no time flat, Diffusion > Exuviation > saved everybody's butt and held him until my ls recovered.

Chainspell Aspir.

Tell me what job can do all of that.

RDM/SCH. They can also refreshga and have twice the MP pool over time, in addition to the other dozen perks.

[Byrthnoth]

Well, that was one way to answer that question Thorny. The other way is to say:
* Your tank shouldn't have died.
* Your BLMs should have a refresher capable of pulling the mobs to them. Anything with Stoneskin and Blink works.
* You should have a RDM/SCH Refreshing and healing your tank, which can Accession Stoneskin if you need it.

This is a 30 minute Jailer of Love kill over a year and a half ago at level 75:
http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/3...o1sd5h29ie.png

The fact that BLU is capable of compensating for poor alliance structure and bad players does not mean that it's an ideal job to bring to events unless you're anticipating bad players and poor alliance structure.

[Kyte]

Ya, you're right. People shouldn't die ever. All deaths are avoidable, and if someone ever dies at an event ever, it's probably because they suck!

[Marcicus]

No you are wrong because the guy who made that retarded statement who you said was right is in fact actually wrong.



It isn't a fatal flaw.. its a blessing. Think for a tanking situation, less support required means that person can be something else that would benefit the situation more.

So are you going to try to explain why this time instead of saying exactly what I said before or?

[Kaslo]

Do we really need to have a "BLU is great/poor" argument? I feel like this happens every so often here...

[Sho]

Do we really need to have a "BLU is great/poor" argument? I feel like this happens every so often here...

People feel they have to justify arguing for and against BLU due to the sucky ones and RDM being brought down from it's tanking position. Meanwhile you and I could care less and do whatever the fuck we want because we are good BLU in our own right.

Who cares doods, play what you want -- enjoy BLU to the fullest if it's your main. I know I am.

[Byrthnoth]

Ya, you're right. People shouldn't die ever. All deaths are avoidable, and if someone ever dies at an event ever, it's probably because they suck!

I'm not saying people won't die ever, but both of your tanks shouldn't die at once. If you notice, there are two RDM/NIN in that screenshot. If you look a little closer at the screenshot, you'll see that are four people in our tank party. It was WHM, RDM/WAR, RDM/NIN, dualboxed G-horn Bard.

Well, if I remember right Aerial Collision (Phaubo 2-hour) gives Defense Down, so if they TP you at slightly different times (so that you have the DEF down on when the next one hits you) you can take a lot of damage from it. Unless you Sentinel... or Fealty..... or put on your PDT gear. Aerial Collision caught me out of PDT gear once and killed me. After that, I started putting on PDT gear when he started summoning/casting Stoneskin and never died to it again. Considering I was a Taru RDM with ~1200HP playing on PS2 (no windower macros - thus halfassed PDT set), I'm assuming there might be more durable and qualified people out there than me. I think we've reached the point in the game where tanks should not die to Jailer of Love.

Now, can Paladin hold hate reliably on Jailer of Love with /RDM nerfed and a bunch of DDs going all out? Probably not. Will shit hit the fan with Charmga sometimes? Sure. I survived some Charmgas too though, and I'm sure Paladins are more durable than my RDM was.


Also, I should say that I respect BLU's ability to cast Stun every 5-6 seconds. In situations where Head Butt lands with a reasonable rate (like Dynamis), I always try to include a BLU in my alliance. It reduces the damage that DDs take pretty dramatically.

[fredjanx]

due to the sucky ones

wouldn't that apply to every job?

[darkepyon]

Pretty much, though the degree of suckitude (is that even a word?) depending on the job can have a big impact on those around them.

I loved my BLU to death when I played (and I was probably one of the better ones; not "omgamazing" but still got the job done just fine) though there were plenty of times I opted to go on something like SAM if the situation demanded raw muscle.

[fredjanx]

I loved my BLU to death when I played though there were plenty of times I opted to go on something like [insert DRK/DRG/WAR/SAM/MNK here] if the situation demanded raw muscle.

Same, though, I've always been against BLU nukes due to having RDM leveled