Blue Mage: Best thread ever

[jimbobsonofgod]

thought we started ignoring the question when the guy said enkidu mitts.

Best hands for physical spells with STR+DEX mods;

When you start a question with Best hands, and not what is better A or B i would assume he wanted the best option for the slot, which wouldn't be what he listed so I assumed we walked away from his version of the question with the first part of his question, which to answer his question neither option he gave was best.

[Yugl]

Not me, I voted for Alky.

[Sylvrdragon]

Should I be adding extra acc to my multihit spells if I'm already using sushi (I don't feel like melee acc is capped without it) and have 5/5 physical potency and 8/8 sword? In addition to those, I cast in Enkidu Mitts, AF2 legs, and Denali feet. Is stuff like Potent Belt, Chiv chain, Optical Hat and acc rings overkill?

Also, I'm gonna have the AF3+1 head soon; does the Enhance CA effect make it better than any STR head piece?

[jimbobsonofgod]

Should I ne adding extra acc to my multihit spells if I'm already using sushi (I don't feel like melee acc is capped without it)

No need for acc anymore really.

and have 5/5 physical potency and 8/8 sword? In addition to those, I cast in Enkidu Mitts, AF2 legs, and Denali feet. Is stuff like Potent Belt, Chiv chain, Optical Hat and acc rings overkill?

Yes its probably overkill in places like abyssea and probably everywhere else for that matter if your skills are capped.

Also, I'm gonna have the AF3+1 head soon; does the Enhance CA effect make it better than any STR head piece?

Unless that head peice is +20+ str or you are using 300 TP or [250+TP(with enchainment merits) or 100+ TP + CA + Efflux )then AF3+1 will always be better.[Unless I'm wrong in thinking that AFIII+1 head doesn't breaks the 300TP cap on the bonus you get from CA (never really bothered to test)]

[arus2001]

I'd largely been ignoring Benthic Typhoon until last when I started dinking around with it and getting 800-900 on Slough Bats without even swapping gear. From my understanding it's AGI modified, and I'm wondering if anyone's thrown a build together to see how much it's improved in damage. I'm going over what I have now and what I could pick up, and this what I came up with.

[O] l.ring Iota Ring +3
[O] l.ear Drone Earring +3
[O] head Aurore Beret +4
[B] neck Arctier's Torque +6
[O] body Denali Jacket +10
[O] hands Aurore Gloves +4
[B] back Commander's Cape +3
[B] waist Grenadier's Belt +3
[O] legs Oily Trousers +5
[O] feet Blood Greaves +4
[B] r.ring Auster Ring +6
[O] r.ear Drone Earring +3

The above would put me at +54 AGI if I bought the ones marked B, and I know there's improvement possible with +3 over Iota with a second ring and +2 if I went for the AGI set earrings. While rare, I have been asked to BLU/THF for Abyssea things from time to time, so I'm wondering what kind of improvements I could possibly expect from SAing the spell, too, since my Cannonball build was never optimal, nor did I get in groups with BRDs for DEF songs.

Edit: Guess I should also bring Atma into consideration here. I have Gnarled Horn, which seems a natural choice, but should I go for RR or maybe another Major AGI Atma?

[Sho]

Just popping in to say Cannonball sucks now, and we should all be moving onto Benthic Typhoon, Vanity Dive, and Whirl of Rage for SA. I mean... unless you are fighting a flying dragon or something. Or something with terrible AoE... Nah, learn to SATA and gtfo of the way. >.>

To the above, I'd say go for Razed Ruins and Sanguine Scythe atmas.

[Yugl]

Regarding SATA Spells as of the update:

Atmas: RR + SS (Supposedly +60% DMG when combined)
Spell of choice for close range SATA: Benthic Typhoon
Spell of choice for distance casting SATA: Cannonball

Gearing strategy for Cannonball is the same as before, so just apply your logic to the new gear (AF3+1 is the only "out there" piece that makes it on the list).

Gearing strategy for Benthic Typhoon is going to be a little strange since it's ONLY modified by AGI:
1. AGI:
- WSC = (AGI)*(.6)*(.85) = (.51) => (1/.51) = 1.9 => 2 AGI
2. STR
- fSTR = (STR/4) [Roughly speaking] => (1/4) = .25 => 4 STR

The gearing strategy for Benthic Typhoon is 2 AGI : 4 STR : 0.5 BLU Skill Tier

NOTES: This IGNORES the benefit of "BLU ATT", so if they're even, go with STR. It's unknown how STR and BLU ATT interact at this point, so I'm not going to include it in these calculations.

Edit: Wouldn't Cannonball be capped on BLU skill by now? That should mean we can only use STR/VIT now.

[Clash Perez]

I'd like to give it a shot (if only for e-peen), but it's pretty hard to justify BLU/THF over RDM or SCH on anything kited, or even BLU/NIN on anything that is melee'd.

Right now about the only thing I use Cannonball for is pinning/kiting various NMs, since Ambition's Refresh coupled with Battery Charge is enough to keep Cocoon and Cannonball going, plus the TP gain and STR of VV works nicely with CA/Efflux, and the casting time is practically instantaneous. RDM or SCH could probably put out more damage with MM/Ambition, but it's more annoying trying to pin while making sure to end up right where you started casting. With BLU, I can watch a movie at the same time.

[arus2001]

So, condensing the ratio, it'd be like 1 AGI = 2 STR? I did dick around with what I could (AGI spell set, too) and pulled a 4271 on some bats outside Jeuno with SA+CA+Eff+10x Fantod, but I'd expect a slight possible drop on harder (non-piercing) foes. Then again, that may be offset by Atma. 60% on the earlier number would bump it up to 7553 (o.O ... and oh lord if SC'd), but that almost seems TOO high to have not heard BLUs really gloating about it in all forums by now. Then again, it's practically guaranteed death if those numbers can be achieved once every 3 minutes with just 2 basic SAs in between that I'd expect to at least do 1.5k.

[Yugl]

Well there are (read:may) some amendments to the above formula. First, is that I need to reiterate the significance of STR on "BLU ATT" (Or whatever else goes into the formula after base damage). According to one poster on FFXIAH, RR+Stout Arm (SA') produced higher damage than RR+SS. I'll link you the thread at the end of this post, but I worked it out and found that even in the best scenario, 40 STR should not beat the critical hit damage bonus of SS. I made some considerations in the thread and he also pointed out that critical hit damage bonus might have a strict cap (Which diminishes the benefit of SS).

In short, our current formulas for BLU are lousy. Given what we do know; however, we can roughly say 1AGI:2STR (A little less because we know STR affect other parts of the equation).

http://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/15...sets/2/#963791

[arus2001]

A possible cap wouldn't surprise me. I know some have said they thought RR/SS was broken, but I think Kirschy tried to say it wasn't via some mathematical razzmatazz. Just trying to think on how to get the most out of my BLU when I'm on it since it's usually shoot for Red with RLB and Seraph Blade/Strike, then neuter 20-25 points out of my spell block to try and grellow according to the day unless I wanna keep waiting on timers and repeat for every popped NM. Beyond that, I know our other big spells are bad about TP feed on NMs and since I didn't merit Blue skill or MACC, I'm at a bit of a disadvantage to "career" BLUs who might be able to use Breath builds and such instead to greater effect.

[Wolfshadow]

but that almost seems TOO high to have not heard BLUs really gloating about it in all forums by now. .

I've seen some moderate Typhoon numbers but if anyone else is like me I'm not looking forward to creating an AGI set of sorts, the sheer idea of having to compose some set that would be added to my currently almost maxed inventory would be far beyond my lazy capabilities. Not saying it wouldn't reveal some appealing results, just saying that it seems like it would be a major pain for all that gear.

[Atoreis]

5-6k on VT bird type mobs in abyssea is easy with SACAEffluxBT

[Draylo]

I wouldn't say getting all the pieces would be a pain for me, its mostly about inventory space.

[Yugl]

My question remains: What the hell are you people doing that requires SATA BLU spells?

[Villian]

If I'm DDing as blu/thf on HNM outside of abyssea I would like a tank behind so I can SATA lol. Can't SA alone nowadays without pulling hate after a few spells.

Edit: I would prefer blu/nin tank so I can DD without worry to pull hate thou. <3 tanking Tia and keeping hate off of blms with my spells in air.

[arus2001]

My question remains: What the hell are you people doing that requires SATA BLU spells?

Never said it was needed (and I always felt dirty getting asked to since my CB build wasn't top tier), and I personally prefer /NIN for general killing, but I just look at it as trying to be productive in different ways. Plus there's no telling what 90+ may bring in terms of tanking things the old fashioned way, so if I can plan ahead, swell. If not, well, it's not like I've really invested into super expensive gear to tinker.

[Yugl]

It's not directed as a personal attack; it's a legitimate question. I saw posts on FFXIAH (And I think here?) talking about SATACA in Abyssea, so I took up the project, but the practical usage seems limited. Furthermore, while it's true that we may need it for future fights, that could be said of any preexisting spell, but we don't discuss those, so why do we (FFXIAH included) discuss SATACAing spells?

[Samonez]

ok, stupid question:


Which Temenos zone was it that BLU could solo that dropped Luminian Thread?




and what should one do in the zone to maximize their success?

[BrayenMidgard]

Unless that head peice is +20+ str or you are using 300 TP or [250+TP(with enchainment merits) or 100+ TP + CA + Efflux )then AF3+1 will always be better.[Unless I'm wrong in thinking that AFIII+1 head doesn't breaks the 300TP cap on the bonus you get from CA (never really bothered to test)]

Sory for my ignorance but how is it that tp would alter the head slot on CA? i could of sworn it was said to give base dmg +10 a few pages back, how would tp change ur hat slot? and for what alternative?

Also one more small question: do we know anything about magic barrier? like does it cap and how much etc?(i got ignored in random question)