Low level BLM needs hate help...

[Yannasu]

Hey I'm new to playing a BLM on FFXI but I'm getting the hang of it pretty fast. I use the same battle method every time, and I find it works but on IGN FF Vault my style is critisized saying that I'll get all the hate at higher levels. My battle method is : Debuff (if rdm doesnt have it covered), then just repeatedly use the strongest spell I have that they are weak too and if the mob comes after me I take a small break. I haven't had too much aggro trouble but people say I will, so can somebody help me? What is the best way to be a good hate controlling yet still damage dealing blm?

[almighty_boof]

Well, you're a BLM, you'll deal DMG, period. Even if you wait for a long time in between your spells, you'll still be dishing out the masses of DMG the the group hired you for.

To start, you need a good tank. A BLM is toast without a tank. Whenever somebody tried to pull me in a PT and their tank is a /WAR, I'm off like a prom dress. You need to have a tank that is using provoke EVERY 30 seconds to keep hate on them. But not only a designated tank, you'll aslo need at least one, if not two, back-up tanks that can keep your cute lil' BLM @$$ hate free.

You will also need some good melee DMG dealers so they are building hate too. I think MNKs deal masses of DMG and DRKs also RNGs. There are so many different ones that deal great DMG, you'll need them.

Now, what you need to do is NOT go nuke crazy in the fight. Esspecially at the beggining of the battle. Start with some enfeebs (Shoke, Bio, Poison, ect.) Then waut a little while, mabey after the tank had gotten in a couple provokes. Then you can start slowly using your buff spells. I recomend using only two or three spells per voke though. Then, when the mob has about 3/4 of its life left, you can go spell crazy >=) This is the tactic I use, and to be honest, I do get aggrod when I start to nuke at the end (sometimes) but I usually don't get hit because I'm always standing far away enough from the mob that the tank and back-ups usually know when it starts to charge me.

This is the tactic that I usually use. It is an effective one (IMO) because I don't get aggrod early on and I still deal masses amounts of DMG to the mobbie. But you still need to look at other peoples tactics, I'm still learning myself, I am only lv 30. but this tactic works well for me~ ^_^

[Digital]

Only getting aggro at the end can be your ass. Some mobs don't have to go to you to hit you. I've seen many taru blms 1-shotted with catapult :sweat: .

[riceburner4540]

damage:mp-wise, level 1 series spells are far more efficient than the II series spells (if you're not getting much resists). feel free to cast these often...since you don't do a whole lot of damage each cast, you'll be doing a lot of damage over time instead of a 200-300 chunk every 20 or so seconds.
example:
low 40's, you can take on labyrinth lizards in crawler's nest, weak to aero and blizzard

aero: 18 mp, about 80 damage (with burn...varies depending on race/equip, of course)

blizzard: 30 mp, about 120 damage

blizzard II: 77mp, about 230 damage

so basically, you're doing damage over time instead of huge chunks...this allows you to shed a bit of hate over time so you don't get aggro'd as much. tactics change as you level of course, and you might not wanna do this anymore later on but it works fine high 30s to 50.

as far as a tank goes, my party only has 1 provoker...and that's the pld. nobody can pull hate off of him...if i somehow get aggro'd, he has me "cover"ed.

[Tulerin]

Granted my blm is only lvl 30, I was fiddleing around with hate pre30.

Anywho, what I usually did was figure out what the mob was weak against. Stick to that one and nuke with it. Up to 30, 90% of the mobs you will be fighting will be weak against either blizzard, fire, or thunder. I always had my highest one that the mob is weakest against out.

Example: Clippers in Qufim
How I would do it was start with bio, then toss Thunder on.
Wait till Thunder refreshes to start nuking again with thunder. I found this efficient and helped with not getting aggro. Now really depends on how well your tank is. If you are getting aggro right after thunder just count to 1 or 2 after it refreshes and nuke.(trust me, you will still be be doing much more damage then anyone in the group^^)

Just get a feel, I nuked with alt+m and had thunder on tap. I never used macro's for nuking, but thats just me. For other mobs, just replace "Thunder" with any nuke you are able to use.

II's and ga's I stayed away from, but used them in MB's(and ga's when there is no "other" mobs in the area)

[almighty_boof]

Originally posted by Digital
Only getting aggro at the end can be your ass. Some mobs don't have to go to you to hit you. I've seen many taru blms 1-shotted with catapult :sweat: .

This works perfectly for me.......

[Scatman]

Just always keep your mind open and try to correct your own tactics. Never listen to other people and assume that is the one and only way of playing. Pick up pointers from others, then tweak as you see fit, according to your party and what you're fighting.

[riceburner4540]

Just always keep your mind open and try to correct your own tactics. Never listen to other people and assume that is the one and only way of playing. Pick up pointers from others, then tweak as you see fit, according to your party and what you're fighting.

great advice

[almighty_boof]

Now if only more people were to post.....

Also I found that being a /WHM doesn't help much with hate because h=when your PT is starting to fall, you'll have to be curing and stuff and the mobbie will get REALLY pissed at you. *sigh* Another type of hate the we need to control -.-

[riceburner4540]

i heal during battles like...never...if i'm healing during battles, i'm not nuking and if i'm nuking, i won't heal. i will however, heal after battles...

when something goes wrong, i either ES+sleep or escape. worked so far.

[AtraposBLM]

As to curing when things get bad:
Mainly, the only time I've found curing to be helpful are those times where the WHM get's hate and takes a few beatings. At that point, I toss a few cures on the whitemage, keeping them alive without them having to further cure themself (and thus, gain more hate). Also, towards the end of chains, when I have a bit of MP I know I can burn, and the whm is low, throwing a divine-sealed Cure III the tank's way let's the whm start medding sooner...which thereby decreases the resting time we'll need (I'm always ready before the whm). Overall, not a big deal, but certainly handy.

As to healing during a battle:
Yes, if you're healing, you're not nuking, but there are certain times when healing is helpful. For example:

Fighting Torama's in Onzozo:
Mob is 30% dead, you just did your first renkei, and the torama uses Chaotic Eye on your pld. He's now silenced. He's at ~850 or so hp (safe amount of HP). The torama then get's a critical hit for ~175 damage, double attacks for another 80-100 damage, then uses the paralyze attack (forget the name). All this happens in the course of a few seconds, and on top of that, the torama does Chaotic Eye again.

Look at your situation:
Your paladin is silenced, AND paralyzed. He's now getting into the dangerous zone of HP (down to ~550 or so hp), and your white mage is faced with 3 options:
1) Cast Silena so the pld can *try* to cure himself, provoke, or do any of the other neccessary hate-gathering tools to allow the party to function (keep in mind he's still paralyzed, so these have a good chance to fail)
2) Cast Paralyna so the pld can use job abilities, but not cure himself. Let's him keep hate...but you'd be surprised how fast 500 hp will dissappear
3) Cure the pld, risking the fact that one of the damage dealers, or himself (has to cure a lot of damage), gaining hate, reducing the efficiency of the party.

If you had /rdm or /smn, you'd not be able to do anything (well, you could cure with /rdm, but that only partially solves the problem).
With /whm, you can silena, the whm can paralyna, and the pld can cure himself without fear of getting paralyzed midcast. Bingo, problem solved, mob dies without a hitch.

Yes, with a good whm who immediately cures status effects, this wouldn't be neccessary. But how many pickup whm's are that good? The number is a lot lower than it should be...

In a good party, with a rdm/whm, brd/whm, you can get away with /smn or /rdm (/smn would be the best choice there, imo). However, for pickup parties, the best sub remains, and will always remain, /whm.

Personally, I intend to take summoner up to 37 anyways, mostly for doing things like HNM fights, where I'm being asked to ONLY do damage, so the 1 mp/tick and the additional MP will be a nice bonus. For exping, unless I'm with friends who I know can quickly cure status effects, I will continue to use /whm.