I have dropped Black Mage so many times because of its weird rotation after watching this I'm hoping to get back into it again one more time before I resign myself to Red Mage and Summoner lol
BLM has been my main class for about 6 months. The biggest con is its lack of mobility, long casting times and no healing ability. You have to be aware of your position at all times in a battle. It can also be frustrating playing with a fast party or a tank who sprints forward while pulling mobs.
Scathe is instant cast so can be used to provide dps while on the move (I know black mages hate that word) useful when tank pulls wall to wall or to get some dps in when you have to avoid shit that will kill you.
This! Use Scathe to dps while your running around waiting for the tank to stop. Then switch to aoe or fire or whatever is appropriate. That way your actually contributing while the Tank is deciding where to group up the mobs.
I also immediately cast scathe after every attack. It just adds that much more dps to every spell. This guy really missed it with his hot take on Scathe.
@@collisionrping Why? Because iTs NoT tHe RoTaTiOn BrOoOo?! Think about it. It’s an instant cast, that can be tagged on at the very end of every regular cast, unless there’s a fire/thunder proc to use instead. NoOoOoO tHaTs TeRrIbLe! Gotta hit me with more than that, chief. If it means the difference between being able to cast Flare one more time and not, then sure, don’t use it, but otherwise, it looks like maybe I’m just a little bit smarter than the rest of ya.
again as i was looking for bare bones beginners guides to provide context and information for a friend who's going to be playing the game your guides are perfectly structured for new players. great job you've earned my sub.
As someone who just got through their first run of Thaumaturge and finally got to level 30, I'll say that Sleep was actually super useful for any mob fight I came across when solo!! Since you have less defense than tanks and other classes, it's nice to not get overrun by bosses and cast Sleep to only deal with one at a time. Truly a lifesaver!
Honestly i was shocked he said sleep isn’t useful. I was a little hesitant to keep watching after that. Sleeping multiple mobs was pretty standard on final fantasy 11, and so i just kind of continued that same approach here and it has helped me more than i can say.
I'm a returning player who primarily looks at sites like Icy-veins to figure out how classes/jobs are played in MMOs. I can say that this guide tracks with those recommendations and is well explained where sometimes a webpage can leave something to be desired. I will have to take a look at the full guide when I get out of the ARR content.
BLM was one of the weirdest classes to level by far... felt like every new skill would change my rotation, and whether I should AOE or not AOE... wish I had this guide when I was leveling it! also scathe is good for pretending you're useful during dungeon mob pulls in the early levels ;)
I also feel like the job gets easier as you level as well. You get more and more procs and instant cast spells which makes DPS more consistent when you have to move.
Low level thurm/blk is the hardest part of it. I feel the moveset cleaned up by 70is with Umbral heart. I have lucid on blk just for when i get ressed so i can get enough mp to cast ice to get the train rolling again. But for low level blk, slap thunder on, fire intill empty, ice intill full, reslap thunder, repeat.
Just started a Thaum.... Only up to lvl 20 so far but I've taken a liking to hitting a mob with Thunder to DoT and then Sleep to let it pass out and marinate losing some health while I work on a 2nd mob with Thunder + Addle + Fire
Tips: use thunder or thunder 2 right before you hit transpose between phases. transpose doesn't cost a global cool down. Use lucid dreaming at the start of a fire phase to milk out an extra cast or so from your fire phase.
Scathe is useful if you’re trying to move on to the next when the enemy has 0.1-5% health left and you know you can 1 hit it with a less powerful attack
just started playing BM as my second class, after dropping Summoner at 54 cause it just didnt felt like the right fit for me. This was very helpfull :D thank you ❤
I like to use scathe as an instant cast spell to get some damage either while everyone is moving through a dungeon or I don’t have enough MP for a fire spell to finish off that last mob
Sleep is useful for when the tank overpulls or there is a group you need to face while alone, some members of that group can be taken out of combat briefly so you have to manage fewer enemies at a time. People who think it is useless just can't think of a way to use it.
Honestly dropped blm because i always hear you need to know dungeon mechanics to play effectively but now I'm thinking of playing it again and using that as a reason to learn the mechanics
I do not think casting flare as a single target finisher is optimal at 50, due to the 1 ½ gcds worth of cast time compared to just doing another fire, unless you have an instant cast via a proc and are able to weave swift for flare.
I've played every class and BLM is the easiest to me. It starts off weak, but I'm basically casting fire spells, and then ice spells to regain mana to cast more fire. The lack of mobility or armor is definitely frustrating when fighting multiple enemies. A lot of the solo content is different because cast times are long, and enemies can hit you multiple times. But I love standing in the background and making things go boom in dungeons.
I'm new to the game and the only other mmo i played was eso. Finding the spell caster class a little boring in ff14. The fun thing with eso is getting good at pushing so many buttons and chaining moves together but with ff14 it seems slow and mostly pushing one button. Im still having fun but it feels like its missing a skill thing to it.
A question when doing solo content such as killing open world mobs: Should I only move when red aoe attacks are incoming or should I start slidecasting the moment a monster touches me and kite?
He was talking about sub level 30. CC doesn't have much use in that bracket imo. But yes, it does have uses later on. Specifically if your healer is.. I'll say mediocre lol
@@mayn90s19when is sleep viable? Ive been running lvl 80 summoner for main story and have also been leveling up red mage but has yet to have used nor seen where sleep could be fit through my runs other than when tank is down and I'm targeted (but it often ends up with my co DPS attacking and waking them up again or I end up getting killed before I can cast without swift cast available)
@walwal6449 you literally just gave a reason where sleep can be used. Whether you break it or not isn't a reason an ability would be bad. You are breaking it lol that's a skill issue But it's very niche, that's for sure
sleep is only useful if you feel like you need to cc a particularly nasty mob in the overworld, OR there's a mechanic that requires it. in pretty much every other situation sleep is useless. most mobs in trials and dungeons that it'd be useful to sleep, are typically immune to it; and bosses can't be cc'd at all. in large pulls where the party will (hopefully) be throwing out AoEs the mobs you sleep will likely be woken up. so in that case, why would you waste time trying to cast sleep on mobs when you could be AoE bursting them down? and no, you're not going to sleep enough mobs to see a noticeable drop in damage taken. in most situations where sleep would seem like a good idea, dpsing would still be better. it'd be a different story if sleep were an instant cast.
I bought boost to 80 and now my exp bar has 🚫 and I'm not gaining exp in ARR anymore doing story quests. Should I buy a skip to the story too and get Heavensward next?
Such a hot take on scathe. It’s instant cast dps. You can use it while you’re on the move and you can also immediately follow up every single attack with more instant dps. “Don’t use scathe ever,” more like use scathe after LITERALLY every offensive spell you cast and you’ll delete whatever you’re fighting that much faster.
This literally isnt true at all. Scathe is almost never used. You will lose fire casts if you use scathe. Literally no high end black mage player uses the button outside of very niche areas (boss is about to go untargettable and you need an instant cast for one more hit) and its best to not form the habit of using it.
tried out the thaumaturge at first.. and i gotta say. it does the least amount of damage out of ALL classes in the beginning. when does BLM start to get good btw??
The AoE spells, like blizzard 2, etc… seem bait. Awful. Surely it’s more efficient to focus on one and reduce the amount of damage being taken over a fight. Unless there are so many enemies in one place and your tank is keeping them away from you or something. But solo, why bother? 1 extra second of cast time too.
I'm not the first to mention it, but there is a HUGE HOLE in this guide. Thunder spells are always the VERY NEXT button you press when you get a proc from thundercloud. It loads the dot duration into the initial hit, making it extremely efficient instant cast burst. Takes prio over literally anything, even firestarter in single target. Reasoning is when you have thundercloud buff, you are ticking lightning damage and getting no value (from more potential procs). Thundercloud gives you tons more dps the more quickly you expend it. Try it out your dps will soar
I hate how slow the casts are honestly. Its just dumb. Add to the how unforgiving it is for any interruption and Its just a class I avoid. Like not only do you have to do the rotation exactly right at the low speeds it casts at, but you have to judge if an individual enemy is going to survive long enough to get your casts off in dungeons. If not you've wasted your time casting a slow spell that ultimately does nothing....AND whenever your casts are interrupted in this way there is a animation pause while the game does whatever it does when your casts are interrupted and you sit there for a second or two mashing the button to cast while your character does nothing generating no dps the entire time. To make this even worse its somehow worse to be interrupted early in the cast for some reason. I just hate Black mage. I wish I didn't. Its my favorite class in the other FF games. I mained it pre heavens ward for a long time. But I just quit when I realized there are so many other classes out there that are easier to play and don't punish players for enemies dying.
I have dropped Black Mage so many times because of its weird rotation after watching this I'm hoping to get back into it again one more time before I resign myself to Red Mage and Summoner lol
You found a rotation? pls tell me :)
to me, it's just a couple of random bullshit casts.
@pwincesskrissy lmao ikr! Technically I dropped Black Mage for gun breaker I don't know if that's better or worse than red mage or Summoner!
BLM has been my main class for about 6 months. The biggest con is its lack of mobility, long casting times and no healing ability. You have to be aware of your position at all times in a battle. It can also be frustrating playing with a fast party or a tank who sprints forward while pulling mobs.
@4thhorseman931 at least we have big hats to wear!
Scathe is instant cast so can be used to provide dps while on the move (I know black mages hate that word) useful when tank pulls wall to wall or to get some dps in when you have to avoid shit that will kill you.
This! Use Scathe to dps while your running around waiting for the tank to stop. Then switch to aoe or fire or whatever is appropriate. That way your actually contributing while the Tank is deciding where to group up the mobs.
I also immediately cast scathe after every attack. It just adds that much more dps to every spell. This guy really missed it with his hot take on Scathe.
@@calebnewell5032 if you cast scathe after every attack you're a terrible black mage lmaooooo
@@collisionrping Why? Because iTs NoT tHe RoTaTiOn BrOoOo?! Think about it. It’s an instant cast, that can be tagged on at the very end of every regular cast, unless there’s a fire/thunder proc to use instead. NoOoOoO tHaTs TeRrIbLe! Gotta hit me with more than that, chief. If it means the difference between being able to cast Flare one more time and not, then sure, don’t use it, but otherwise, it looks like maybe I’m just a little bit smarter than the rest of ya.
@@calebnewell5032 I mean its pretty easy to prove, link a log that has you performing well while using scathe.
again as i was looking for bare bones beginners guides to provide context and information for a friend who's going to be playing the game your guides are perfectly structured for new players. great job you've earned my sub.
As someone who just got through their first run of Thaumaturge and finally got to level 30, I'll say that Sleep was actually super useful for any mob fight I came across when solo!! Since you have less defense than tanks and other classes, it's nice to not get overrun by bosses and cast Sleep to only deal with one at a time. Truly a lifesaver!
I agree
Honestly i was shocked he said sleep isn’t useful. I was a little hesitant to keep watching after that. Sleeping multiple mobs was pretty standard on final fantasy 11, and so i just kind of continued that same approach here and it has helped me more than i can say.
Maaan, coming back after 2 years to a level 50 BLM, and THIS guide right here has saved my life, lmao. Thanks, got a sub out of that 100%
I'm a returning player who primarily looks at sites like Icy-veins to figure out how classes/jobs are played in MMOs. I can say that this guide tracks with those recommendations and is well explained where sometimes a webpage can leave something to be desired. I will have to take a look at the full guide when I get out of the ARR content.
BLM was one of the weirdest classes to level by far... felt like every new skill would change my rotation, and whether I should AOE or not AOE... wish I had this guide when I was leveling it!
also scathe is good for pretending you're useful during dungeon mob pulls in the early levels ;)
I also feel like the job gets easier as you level as well. You get more and more procs and instant cast spells which makes DPS more consistent when you have to move.
Low level thurm/blk is the hardest part of it. I feel the moveset cleaned up by 70is with Umbral heart. I have lucid on blk just for when i get ressed so i can get enough mp to cast ice to get the train rolling again.
But for low level blk, slap thunder on, fire intill empty, ice intill full, reslap thunder, repeat.
You missed mentioning that Thundercloud proc also gives the thunder cast its full dot cycle damage up front when cast along with its usual dot
When I black mage I'm a thundercloud junky for real
@@brandondragon I feel like this game could use more procs in general.
I love the subtle salt of keeping a dead button on the hotbar even though it's gone. RIP Enochian.
I still have royal road and undraw spread lol
Just started last night, this class reminds me of arcane mage in wow, a big dps mana burn phase and a lower dps build mana back phase, great video
Thank you for making it sound so simple
Thank you for this video. It was really well made and illustrated. Must've taken ages. So thank you for making it! Nice and classy
You make excellent guides!
This video is great, i recently started playing as a dragoon but switched to black mage and to be honest im having so much more fun
Dragoon is so boring. Same combo endless
FANTASTIC guide!
Iirc, lucid has some very advanced applications at lvl 90 but it's pointless at early levels on BLM. It doesn't work during fire phase either.
Just started a Thaum.... Only up to lvl 20 so far but I've taken a liking to hitting a mob with Thunder to DoT and then Sleep to let it pass out and marinate losing some health while I work on a 2nd mob with Thunder + Addle + Fire
Bro did I choose the wrong first starting class haha. This stuff is complex haha. Downloads done in 10 mins! Wish me luck :D
How did it go
I too tried and tried bm over and over. Now that I see the higher level rotations, you cured me of wanting to play it lol
I enjoyed this guide and format
Thank you for this amazing guide
Tips: use thunder or thunder 2 right before you hit transpose between phases. transpose doesn't cost a global cool down.
Use lucid dreaming at the start of a fire phase to milk out an extra cast or so from your fire phase.
Scathe is useful if you’re trying to move on to the next when the enemy has 0.1-5% health left and you know you can 1 hit it with a less powerful attack
Ty. I forgot how to play black mage now I remember 😂😂😂
just started playing BM as my second class, after dropping Summoner at 54 cause it just didnt felt like the right fit for me. This was very helpfull :D thank you ❤
Why is it just now I'm seeing the thaumaturge symbol is a pot with fire coming out of it. All this time i thought it was just a weird flame.
I think it's a comet
Edit: I need to learn to read properly, thanks @TheToeSong
@matthewlaffey8360 yes the black mage is a comet thing, but I was referring to thaumaturge
correction, scathe , is what you use while on the move as the tank pull the mobs
Going thaumaturge right now, sleep is the goat, it erases a few enemies off the fight for a while, its really good when your healers fant keep up
I like to use scathe as an instant cast spell to get some damage either while everyone is moving through a dungeon or I don’t have enough MP for a fire spell to finish off that last mob
Yeah, scathe isn't super powerful, but it has its uses. It is instant cast, as you said, and has a 20% chance to double in power.
Sleep is useful for when the tank overpulls or there is a group you need to face while alone, some members of that group can be taken out of combat briefly so you have to manage fewer enemies at a time.
People who think it is useless just can't think of a way to use it.
Honestly dropped blm because i always hear you need to know dungeon mechanics to play effectively but now I'm thinking of playing it again and using that as a reason to learn the mechanics
The game doesn't explain this stuff very well so thank you
my lalafel teacher is no more T>T. XD
I use Scathe for when I'm forced to kite and can't stop moving long enough for a normal cast. No cast time makes it great for that.
I do not think casting flare as a single target finisher is optimal at 50, due to the 1 ½ gcds worth of cast time compared to just doing another fire, unless you have an instant cast via a proc and are able to weave swift for flare.
Good guide
Oh I was confused for a second and was wondering where the Lala was. Didn’t realize this was a separate series.
You should do a video that follows this so from 50 to 90
I find it very immersive to have to study and learn the skill rotation of the Black Mage because I feel like a wizard, having to study my spells lol
Woo more videos
No more lalafell?
I've played every class and BLM is the easiest to me. It starts off weak, but I'm basically casting fire spells, and then ice spells to regain mana to cast more fire. The lack of mobility or armor is definitely frustrating when fighting multiple enemies. A lot of the solo content is different because cast times are long, and enemies can hit you multiple times. But I love standing in the background and making things go boom in dungeons.
Sleep is good if you’re trying to obtain an item for a mission and there’s enemies around it
I would love to see you do higher lvl guides!
Thundercloud makes your thunder do instant damage, don’t wait on these procs use em asap.
I'm new to the game and the only other mmo i played was eso. Finding the spell caster class a little boring in ff14. The fun thing with eso is getting good at pushing so many buttons and chaining moves together but with ff14 it seems slow and mostly pushing one button. Im still having fun but it feels like its missing a skill thing to it.
A question when doing solo content such as killing open world mobs: Should I only move when red aoe attacks are incoming or should I start slidecasting the moment a monster touches me and kite?
"lucid dreaming/sleep is useless" 😂😂😂😂 day 0 without people making "guides" saying CC abilities are useless
He was talking about sub level 30. CC doesn't have much use in that bracket imo. But yes, it does have uses later on. Specifically if your healer is.. I'll say mediocre lol
@@mayn90s19when is sleep viable? Ive been running lvl 80 summoner for main story and have also been leveling up red mage but has yet to have used nor seen where sleep could be fit through my runs other than when tank is down and I'm targeted (but it often ends up with my co DPS attacking and waking them up again or I end up getting killed before I can cast without swift cast available)
@walwal6449 you literally just gave a reason where sleep can be used. Whether you break it or not isn't a reason an ability would be bad. You are breaking it lol that's a skill issue
But it's very niche, that's for sure
sleep is only useful if you feel like you need to cc a particularly nasty mob in the overworld, OR there's a mechanic that requires it. in pretty much every other situation sleep is useless.
most mobs in trials and dungeons that it'd be useful to sleep, are typically immune to it; and bosses can't be cc'd at all.
in large pulls where the party will (hopefully) be throwing out AoEs the mobs you sleep will likely be woken up. so in that case, why would you waste time trying to cast sleep on mobs when you could be AoE bursting them down? and no, you're not going to sleep enough mobs to see a noticeable drop in damage taken.
in most situations where sleep would seem like a good idea, dpsing would still be better. it'd be a different story if sleep were an instant cast.
I played it completely wrong lool. I immediately swapped fire stacks for ice to not use any mana
Can’t u use scathe while ur moving?
hate enemies die before i can cast spells and it messes up my train of thought 😭
I bought boost to 80 and now my exp bar has 🚫 and I'm not gaining exp in ARR anymore doing story quests. Should I buy a skip to the story too and get Heavensward next?
Such a hot take on scathe. It’s instant cast dps. You can use it while you’re on the move and you can also immediately follow up every single attack with more instant dps. “Don’t use scathe ever,” more like use scathe after LITERALLY every offensive spell you cast and you’ll delete whatever you’re fighting that much faster.
This literally isnt true at all. Scathe is almost never used. You will lose fire casts if you use scathe. Literally no high end black mage player uses the button outside of very niche areas (boss is about to go untargettable and you need an instant cast for one more hit) and its best to not form the habit of using it.
Dang I needed after 50 lol
as a bm main... dont suffer play ANY (NOt blue mage) dps other than bm and have fun
tried out the thaumaturge at first.. and i gotta say. it does the least amount of damage out of ALL classes in the beginning. when does BLM start to get good btw??
When you get good at blm
Thundercloud is just gone? Smhh
Christine Burgs
I really wanna play but I keep hearing all the bad stuff and I'm afraid to waste a ton of hours and then not even like it
I’m the same way 😂
Bayer Field
Florian Burgs
Yeah…. It’s time, to rework BLM … they should be the flagship DPS job of the series
Did you start as a thaumaturge?
Video to level 50 lol😂
The AoE spells, like blizzard 2, etc… seem bait. Awful. Surely it’s more efficient to focus on one and reduce the amount of damage being taken over a fight. Unless there are so many enemies in one place and your tank is keeping them away from you or something. But solo, why bother? 1 extra second of cast time too.
lol it looks like erly 2000 mage gamplay 🤣
I'm not the first to mention it, but there is a HUGE HOLE in this guide. Thunder spells are always the VERY NEXT button you press when you get a proc from thundercloud. It loads the dot duration into the initial hit, making it extremely efficient instant cast burst. Takes prio over literally anything, even firestarter in single target.
Reasoning is when you have thundercloud buff, you are ticking lightning damage and getting no value (from more potential procs). Thundercloud gives you tons more dps the more quickly you expend it. Try it out your dps will soar
So many redundant buttons... Why is it not just cast fire until oom, cast ice until mana full.. maintain zappy dot.
like wesk alber with less uwu and bitching when people say he uwus
I hate how slow the casts are honestly. Its just dumb. Add to the how unforgiving it is for any interruption and Its just a class I avoid. Like not only do you have to do the rotation exactly right at the low speeds it casts at, but you have to judge if an individual enemy is going to survive long enough to get your casts off in dungeons. If not you've wasted your time casting a slow spell that ultimately does nothing....AND whenever your casts are interrupted in this way there is a animation pause while the game does whatever it does when your casts are interrupted and you sit there for a second or two mashing the button to cast while your character does nothing generating no dps the entire time. To make this even worse its somehow worse to be interrupted early in the cast for some reason. I just hate Black mage. I wish I didn't. Its my favorite class in the other FF games. I mained it pre heavens ward for a long time. But I just quit when I realized there are so many other classes out there that are easier to play and don't punish players for enemies dying.
outdated :(