Blue Mage: Best thread ever

[Vriska]

So was it ever actually posted what "Enhances Efflux" does? I skimmed the thread quickly but it didn't turn up any definite results. I can't think of any obvious ways to test it for myself either, offhand.

[spider123]

Ze veekee says that it doubles the TP Bonus from Efflux. Essentially giving you a 200% TP bonus for any Efflux'd spell. Though I have no idea if this is true or not.

[Kegsay]

I dislike wiki's description simply because not all spells have a Damage TP modifier, yet are still boosted by Efflux. A much more pleasing description can be found on the calculating blue magic page:

# D is calculated as floor(Blue Magic Skill*0.11)*2 + 3. There's upper cap for each spell
# During Efflux, D is calculated as floor(Blue Magic Skill*0.11)*3 + 3.

I suspect this to be more accurate EDIT: Further testing/stuff from Rena further down the page suggest Efflux is a straight D*1.5 (not increase from *2 to *3) and that Efflux also grants a 100% TP bonus (which works like normal TP bonus), Mavi legs gives ~20% TP more for 120%

[Masamune]

I dislike wiki's description simply because not all spells have a Damage TP modifier, yet are still boosted by Efflux. A much more pleasing description can be found on the calculating blue magic page:

# D is calculated as floor(Blue Magic Skill*0.11)*2 + 3. There's upper cap for each spell
# During Efflux, D is calculated as floor(Blue Magic Skill*0.11)*3 + 3.

I suspect this to be more accurate than 'derp derp it adds 200% TP even though there is no increase in fTP with TP!'

Any way to prove one of those 2 hypothesises while disproving the other one at same time ?
I'm free to do such test.

[Nightfyre]

I dislike wiki's description simply because not all spells have a Damage TP modifier, yet are still boosted by Efflux. A much more pleasing description can be found on the calculating blue magic page:

# D is calculated as floor(Blue Magic Skill*0.11)*2 + 3. There's upper cap for each spell
# During Efflux, D is calculated as floor(Blue Magic Skill*0.11)*3 + 3.

I suspect this to be more accurate than 'derp derp it adds 200% TP even though there is no increase in fTP with TP!'

I was under the impression it increased D and granted a TP bonus. Is this not true?

[Kegsay]

If it gave a TP Bonus, it would increase normal TP stuff (e.g. poison duration on Queasyshroom). This is not the case unless I've failed at reading.

[Kegsay]

Since it's not been mentioned anywhere yet:

Auroral Drape's Blind and Silence and Benthic Typhoon's MDEF/DEF down lasts anywhere from 30~60 seconds. Duration is not enhanced with more magic accuracy or blue magic skill, the game simply picks a random number (may be 30,40,50,60? unsure) between the 2 values. This is akin to Head Butt stun which similarly lasts 0~5 seconds and cannot be boosted by any means.

Final Sting appears to only be affected by your current HP and the monster's max HP. Increasing all attributes and blue magic skill had no effect whatsoever. Damage has no variation (no pDIF?) when cast on Lv0 bees (always the same number). Due to the formula using monster's max HP, this spell does RUBBISH damage on low level monsters (read: it did not kill a Lv0 monster in one hit). That being said, you can kill a monster using Final Sting, it just needs to have taken some damage, hence it uses monster's MAX HP and not Current (unlike say, Zantetsuken's accuracy).

[Rena]

wiki is wrong, like it so often is, base D during efflux is multiplied by 1.5 (raising the multiplier in D calculation from 2 to 3 would mean you lose out on 1 damage since the +3 wouldn't be multiplied... which it is). Also, I might be misreading what's being said in this thread, but Efflux does give a 100 TP bonus too, yes. No idea on empyrean legs enhancement since I don't have them yet.

Fantod does increase 'blue magic attack', and WILL increase physical spell damage. (Tested using the very consistent Feather Storm; notable increase when stacking Fantod)

Details on this test? When I tested this, I got the exact opposite result; on a mob where attack was normally uncapped, and applying dia 2 would cap it, stacking 10 fantods before casting feather storm didn't cap it.

And since you brought up final sting, a few more notes on it: damage caps at 65% of target's max HP, damage type is piercing (applied after the 65% cap), monster correlation does nothing for damage cap (but may influence chances of hitting higher damage within the possible range).

[Kegsay]

Efflux does give a 100 TP bonus too, yes. No idea on empyrean legs enhancement since I don't have them yet.

I see. I did some brief testing which roughly support you on that:

Testing: Sauromugue Skink
Spell: Queasyshroom (Duration of Poison varies with TP)

Times via Timestamp logs, so the results will be a few seconds fast (actual status effect lands way before message display due to animation etc)

Format:
End(MM:SS) - Start(MM:SS) = Duration of poison

No TP, No Efflux
40:43 - 39:17 = 1min 26sec
42:22 - 40:56 = 1min 26sec

101 TP with CA
47:22 - 45:00 = 2min 22sec

Efflux (No pants)
50:20 - 48:08 = 2min 12sec

Efflux (With Mavi Tayt +1, without Mirage Keffiyeh, NET:blueSkill+5)
54:44 - 52:20 = 2min 24sec


Efflux Summary
- Efflux does indeed add a TP bonus in addition to D*1.5
- This TP bonus appears to be 100%.
- With Mavi Tayt+1, this increases to ~120%.

Details on this test? When I tested this, I got the exact opposite result; on a mob where attack was normally uncapped, and applying dia 2 would cap it, stacking 10 fantods before casting feather storm didn't cap it.

I re-tested this actually and I'm going to have to take back that. The sample data I gathered was flawed.

[Rena]

My results were consistent with expected duration at 100% TP, are you accounting for possible enchainment merits? TP effect on poison duration isn't completely linear either as I remember, would probably be simplest to just compare the results with some more tests with varying amounts of TP during CA.

[Kegsay]

Oh shit, you're correct, I didn't include Enchainment merits. Bleeeeh.

[takito09]

Sorry if this is a dumb question guys but..

Is it worthwile making an Hp set for breath attacks ?

I was wondering this because SE keeps giving us incr breath dmg attk ( ammo and neck)

[ronin sparthos]

If you need a quick and accurate magical attack, breaths are a great go-to spell. If you have the space for it, why not?

Personally between TP/WS/Sanguine/AGI sets, I have no room for breath sets anymore lol

[Kegsay]

AGI sets

Is benthic really that good to warrant its own set? I'm curious.

[ronin sparthos]

I think it is but i'll be picking gear that can be shared between BLU and COR since AGI is also useful for Wildfire/Leaden Salute.

[Nightfyre]

I keep my HP set in my satchel in case I need it, but it's very rare that I actually put it to use.

[Villian]

Just complete +2 pants and feet, any ideas on how to see it works?

[Kegsay]

Go to Saurumugue Champaign and do the following with Timestamp plugin:

-Cast Queasyshroom on a Raptor with Efflux AND PANTS+2 on.
- Note Timestamp duration (do not try to compensate for the log's delay, just use the cold hard numbers
- Is it more than 2min 24sec? If it's +-2 seconds, or if it is more than that, re-do the test to confirm then report back as it could mean that AF3+2 pants boost Efflux even further.

As for the set bonus of 'augments blue magic' I have no idea how to test this since it could be anything. If you have a lot of time, cast feather storm 20~40 times on Lv0 monsters (the same lv0 monsters e.g. only Bumblebees, only Tiny Mandragora) then repeat the test with both AF3+2 legs and feet on. Is there an increase in max damage? The max damage is the important one, since it shows D has been increased, so don't bother averaging etc

[Sylvrdragon]

I have a good idea of what my gear should look like with BLU during Melee and Spells and whatnot, but what I don't know is what a good spell-set should look like for certain situations. I'm mostly interested in a general DD setup that will do well in Abyssea EXP parties, and various old events like Dynamis etc. So many new spells and traits have been added that I'm not sure what should take priority anymore. What are some of you guys' basic spell sets, and do these change based on Atmas?

I like to be able to take care of myself to at least some degree, so I generally don't leave MH without:

Head Butt
1 Healing spell
Haste
Refresh

[Clash Perez]

Set the spells and traits that you think would be most beneficial.

The biggest piece of advice I'd give is to set only as many DD spells as you can use consistently. There's no reason to set half a dozen DD spells if you're only going to have the MP support to cast 2-3 on a regular basis. The points you save on DD spells can be used for stats and traits which have a more constant effect.

Personally, I'll generally set QC, Disseverment, Goblin Rush, and Head Butt for general utility, and use the rest for stats/traits. Double Attack, Auto Refresh, ACC bonus, Conserve MP, Magic Attack Bonus for Sanguine. Store TP if I'm using Machaera/Khanda +1, as it shaves off two hits to 100%. Often I'll skip a normal healing spell and utilize Sanguine Blade when I need light self-healing.

BLU's ability to tweak its role depending on the situation is part of what makes it useful. Play around with it and see what gives you the best result.