The Beast Within -- A Guide To Blue Mage

Nice guide, maybe post a CDC/tp set that doesn't include Nyzul 100 gear? That would be helpful to me personally.

For some emphasis/maths on OA2-4 sword:


3QA/11TA/29DA

100 * .03 = 3

3 * 3 = 9

109 attacks/round

97 * .11 = 10.67

10.67 * 2 = 21.34

130.34 attacks/round

86 * .34 = 24.94

155.28

1.5528 attacks/round


KHADGA (40/30/20/10 distribution)

100 * .10 = 10

10 * 3 = 30

130 attacks/round

90 * .20 = 18

18 * 2 = 36

166 attacks/round

70 * .30 = 21

187 attacks/round

1.87 attacks/round


However this isn't accounting for the fact that Khadga does not have individual multiattack procs like QA/TA/DA, the final average hits/round is about 1.9~2.


So how does your natural multiattack affect you?

0.97 * 0.89 * 0.71 = .612943, or a 61.2943% chance of not getting a multiattack proc from QA/TA/DA, 38.7057% chance of getting a QA/TA/DA. This means that you have a 38.7057% reduction in bonus attacks from Khadga, which means an average attacks/round for your offhand of 1.387057 + normal QA/TA/DA.

Average attacks = 1.612943

(1.5528 + 1.5528 + 0.612943)/2 = 1.8592715 attacks/round avg


So, a 19.7367% increase in attacks. That's actually well under my previous estimation of a 50% increase in TP gain. When factoring in delay, which is about a 3~5% reduction in TP/s, you're looking at a very poor option.



@Laffter, I'll add augments.

As I wrote, I perfectly agree that in a high QA, TA, DA situation, there is now doubt that Str/atk is superior. I have it and love it.

I'm not even gonna try to argue with you guys, since ALL of the stuff I've learned about Blu comes from your knowledge, but as I said, there are situations where I find the Khadga to shine (/dnc, high use of skillchains, low DA and TA from traits/equip).

Idk if they changed the proc rate on 99 versions (they said they would), I didn't even try it before 99.

Let's go have some fun sometimes Sekundes, and go spam some Cdc!

Also Prothescar, I'm very interested in what you said about Tizona. Up until now I have to admit I've always been thinking LolTizona when it came up. You think in an all out zerg/dps situation, Tizona > Almace?

EDIT: just wanted to add I was writing this before the post above. Not that it changes anything.

I'd have to review my notes and verify that my last calculations included recent gear, but I don't remember Tizona having a strong lead over Almace in raw damage even with spells factored in. I think I ultimately came to the conclusion that Almace was superior in any non-utility situation.

Actually, now that I think about it I may not have had fTP transferring on Requiescat at the time. Will review later.

Added augment information and possible gear swaps for most of the sets.


My simulations all come up with Tizona coming ahead by a decent margin, along with the utility of its m.acc and MP conversion. Almace is by no means a slouch in comparison, but Tizona looks better on paper, by my numbers anyway.

Damn, I always thought tizona wasn't worth it. I really don't like the idea of keeping up AM3 on a job with no sudden tp gain like sam or drg.

i've always said if i won mog bonanza i would get a tizona.

Added magic and breath damage to the calculations section. Also added a pastebin link to my XML. Aside from a couple of grammatical errors and stuff, it should be in its current final form, until they add more stuff.

I'd like to say first off that I really appreciate the time and effort you took to share this. Players like you are the reason I still enjoy playing after so long.

To contribute I'd suggest adding a Charged Whisker spell set as well as gear set.

Again, amazing post. Thank you

There's a separate guide for Charged Whisker.

:D Nice One Pro!

wouldn't Phalaina Locket be better then Aife's Medal for curing?

Also the contributions that You, Draylo and Night have brought to the blu forums... I can not thank all three of you enough

I was looking at that small note about /pld, but do Shield mastery and Def bonus really help surviving more than say /rdm and rely on defensive magic more? Or is also for a mix of enmity tools like Sentinel and Flash?

Mix of tools, /RDM offers nothing of real value for tanking.

I thought phalanx, mdb and more mp would work better.

Phalanx is pretty bad. MDB is settable if you really need it, slightly more MP isn't worth very much.

Great job! You're truly a pillar in the BLU community.

Great guide! I'm sure this will help educate a lot of people. (And help get me out of the mage party...)

Awesome guide! Recommended it to many BLU friends already.
However something's bugging me:
Why are you using Light Staff for cure duties when you can have Sanus Ensis + Augmented Genbu's Shield cure for way more?

Prothescar, I gotta ask, but is that really your XML ? I only ask because I don't see any rules associated to your Evasion sets.

:D

Pro, please put MACC Shamshirs on the F'off list.

Actually Sanus Ensis+ Galenus can cure more, unless Genbu can go over 10%.

This is amazing, kudos.

Any thoughts on adding a Self-Skillchain guide section?

Blue_Mage_Solo_Skillchain_Guide

That cure set was made way before Sanus Ensis, Galenus may have been out, but I probably didn't care enough to change it. I've edited the set to reflect the Cure Potency neck that I had forgotten existed as well as the swords. Thanks for pointing it out~

And yeah that's my XML. I don't set up rules to autochange into different sets, I prefer manually changing my macros to fit my needs. The spellcast handles gear sets, my actual macros tell it which ones to equip. I like having the greater degree of control over it.



Initially I was going to list SC properties of all of the physical spells, but I haven't tested a lot of the lower level ones. Not that it matters much. I'll work on a Skillchain segment at some point, it'll be under the Spells section.

Added useful Self Skillchains to the end of the Spells section, may add Azure Lore skillchains eventually. Also added descriptions and mechanics for job abilities (some of the information for Efflux and Chain Affinity is wrong on wiki sites or just plain absent, so it's worth a look even for Veterans) and a couple of new notes at the bottom of the Equipment section.

I've always found BLU/WAR to be the ideal BLU tank, but I've never tried /PLD so I can't really compare the two. Pop defender, eat tacos, and spam fantod until the mob dies, with some magic fruits thrown in there.

Great guide written by someone who clearly knows what they're doing with BLU. A must-read for any aspiring (or existing) BLUs.

very good post