New to FFXI, BLM party basics

[Marakii]

Hey all, my first post on these forums although I have been reading quite a bit. I guess this is a two parter....

1) Started as a BLM and reached lvl 14 (close to 15). I have been soloing the whole way because lately I am not sure how long I can be on for at a time and didnt want to join a party and then leave them in the dust. So was wondering if anyone had any tips for BLM in a party? I was a damn pretty good wizzy in EQ and I want to be a great BLM on FFXI also. Right now, just an unexperienced BLM in a party.

2) If anyone is on Valefor and maybe wants to group with me, I'll be looking for a group Sat morning around 8am. Figure with all the knowledge here maybe someone would like to offer some on the job training, criticize me when I should have or shouldnt have done something, etc etc.

Name: Marakii
Server: Valefor
Area: Bastok

Thanks guys, and I am LOVING this game. My fiancee would just kill me if I played every day, lol.

[Shadowneko]

Re: New to FFXI, BLM party basics

Just don't overnuke and you'll be ok...if you cast too much you just pull so much hate that no tank in the world is gonna keep the mob from making you eat dirt. Also timing your nukes a few seconds apart alos kills things abit faster.

In this game mages stay in the back and don't mele...Me and my sister mainly used wands to add more INT +(More INT=better nukes)

[Taskmage]

Re: New to FFXI, BLM party basics

The most important thing to a black mage in a standard party setup is hate management, which you can find plenty of tips on in this thread here: http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/bla...n.casting.html

The other thing you want to know about is magic bursts. Melees have something they can do called a skillchain, where they do weapon skills timed a certain way in a certain order to get an extra magical effect for more damage. Every skillchain has an element, and as a mage if you time a spell of the right element to land right after the skillchain, your spell will do more damage and be less likely to be resisted.

The details are a little complicated, so I'll just use an example. Say you have a monk and a blue mage in your party. The monk uses Combo and a few seconds later the blue mage uses Burning Blade. Just after the blue mage swings his sword you'll see a red melty-looking effect on the mob and some text along the lines of "Skillchain: Liquefaction | The mob takes 28 damage." will appear in your chat window. If you time a Fire spell to hit right after that effect then it will do more damage and be more likely to hit for the full amount.

More on the timing of MBs here: http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/bla...st.-.n00b.html

These are the elements of the level 1 and 2 skillchains:
Liquefaction - Fire
Induration - Ice
Detonation - Wind
Scission - Earth
Impaction - Lightning
Reverberation - Water
Transfixion - Light
Compression - Dark

Fusion - Light or Fire
Distortion - Water or Ice
Fragmentation - Lightning or Wind
Gravitation - Earth or Dark

[Dryhus]

Re: New to FFXI, BLM party basics

Skillchains are often-called "renkei", which is the Japanese word for it. In addition to the damage from the weapon skills, the skillchain effects themselves do their own damage and stand their own chance of being resisted, based on the resistences/weaknesses of the mob as well as the day. I say this because, as the BLM, quite frequently you will find yourself organizing the skillchain. Many melees just want to spam their WS whenever possible to maximize their own damage instead of coordinating for a skillchain, which puts an emphasis on efficiency. WS > WS > SC > MB will often kill a VT mob from 75% HP, so if you can time it right it becomes a very good way to kill a mob fast for the purposes of maintaining an EXP chain.

Some other things to know:

-Magic Bursts add a 33% bonus to your nukes. The bonus is applied and then the resistence is applied. That is, if a normal unresisted nuke does 300 damage, an unresisted MB will do 400, a half-resisted MB will do 200, a quarter-resist MB will do 100. Usually BLMs will not see resists on MBs, though other jobs may (e.g., RDM, DRK, SMN, etc.)

-Using Blizzard on Iceday, Aero on Windsday, etc has a chance (actual percentage of this chance is unknown) for a 10% bonus to the nuke. This is applied in the same fashion as a magic burst nuke and is cumulative. (x * 1.3 * 1.1), not (x * 1.4).

-The same applies to weather. Blizzard during ice weather, Aero during wind weather, etc. Double weather effects have a chance for a 20% bonus.

-Hate is cumulative. If you open with a big nuke and get hate, that hate does not disappear as soon as the mob turns back to the tank. It does dissipate, albeit slowly, but it does not disappear. As such, many BLMs will rest into the beginning of the fight and in some cases cast elemental enfeebles (see below) MB the SC, and then toward the end of the mob's life nuke it to death. Once the mob is at 25%, the tank and/or melees will probably have banked enough hate to keep it off you.

-Elemental enfeebles are low hate, damage-over-time (DoT) spells that lower a mob's attributes. Frost lowers AGI, Choke lowers VIT, Rasp lowers DEX, Shock lowers MND, Drown lowers STR, Burn lowers INT.

-The above elemental enfeebles and their relationship to each other correspond to the elemental wheel. Fire > Ice > Wind > Earth > Lightning > Water > Fire. Likewise, Burn >(overwrites) Frost > Choke > Rasp > Shock > Drown > Burn. You can have up to 3 elemental enfeebles at a time because of the way they overwrite each other: either Frost+Rasp+Drown for lowered AGI, DEX, and STR or Burn+Choke+Shock for lowered INT, VIT, and MND.

-Addendum to elemental enfeebles and their stat reductions.
*Lowered mob AGI means lowered mob evasion and increased melee hit rate.
*Lowered mob DEX means lowered mob accuracy and therefore increased tank evasion.
*Lowered mob STR means lowered damage-per-hit to the tank.
*Lowered mob INT means increased damage and from party's nukes.
*Lowered mob VIT means increated damage-per-hit to the mob.#
*Lowered mob MND means decreased resist rate on nukes/enfeebles from the party.#

#There is some debate over the role of INT and MND in relation to a mob's resists against magic. This is better left for another thread, because it's a rat's nest.

[Mog]

Re: New to FFXI, BLM party basics

to the elemental wheel. Fire > Ice > Wind > Earth > Lightning > Water > Fire. Likewise, Burn >(overwrites) Frost > Choke > Rasp > Shock > Drown > Burn. You can have up to 3 elemental enfeebles at a time because of the way they overwrite each other: either Frost+Rasp+Drown for lowered AGI, DEX, and STR or Burn+Choke+Shock for lowered INT, VIT, and MND.

Great info that I had not learned until a couple of months ago.

[Gwynn]

Re: New to FFXI, BLM party basics

Also, make sure you use food to enhance your performance. Either cookies or pies would be the way to go for BLM. Cookies increase the MP you recovering from resting, and Pies increase your INT and Max MP, among other things.

[Marakii]

Re: New to FFXI, BLM party basics

That is some fantastic information there, thanks! Keep it coming if you got more!

Oh and about the cookies, did not know that and was looking for something that sped up MP recovery. Are they expensive? lol

I'm thinking about starting out cooking for my first craft. Not so much for profit but to save money in long run on things I can use while XPing.

[Haggai]

Re: New to FFXI, BLM party basics

That is some fantastic information there, thanks! Keep it coming if you got more!

Oh and about the cookies, did not know that and was looking for something that sped up MP recovery. Are they expensive? lol

I'm thinking about starting out cooking for my first craft. Not so much for profit but to save money in long run on things I can use while XPing.

Cookies are real cheap if you can get them in the #1 city. Just find the traveling circus (Windurst Woods, South San D'Oria, Bastok Port) and talk to the Hume Male named V-something. He sells them cheap. If you can't get to that city easily, you can ask a friend to send them or get them with a mule that is located in that city. Other than that, AH isn't too crazy on prices.

[Hecky]

Re: New to FFXI, BLM party basics

awww im whitout internett at this moment ; ;just moved, but when i get back ill start lvl on my black mage again, its been on vecation for months now ; ; i kinda lost my courage, but think its back now im only in the 40is whit my blm, it was though my first job. In my experience, and i dont sey this is correct or the right way, just how i see it. The debuffs are almost as importent as the nuks. that way you dont run a obne man show but you work whit your team. i guess you know that light and dark will anulate the other. that means eighter dia or bio on a mob. dia weakens its deff, and still on my 56 drg i havent been in a party that use bio. bio makes it attacks weaker, and are good if you have paladin tank.

My point though, if the WHM/RDM use dia, trow in a poison, trow ion the debuffs and end it whit a blind (if no rdm). Blind give some hate, but if you just hold on a sec till tank got in a voke or maybe been satad, youll be fine. Whne you done all this the mob be down in 80-50% hp normaly. Hold on a sec, watch for skillchains, and nuke some nuks. if you have a ninja in the party they get at løevel 15 some elemental based spells that reduse the mobs recistance to a elemental. Same goes for bards how have songs to weaken them for surten elements. What i did and will do again when i start lvl blm is check out nin and brd too to see how we work tougheter. Oh and dont forget to trow in a aspir when possible. Beetles and mage gobs and all mobs that have mpare possible to steal from

Oh and that beain said, i guess tyou allready might know but ill say it anyway to however didnt, all the spells that are killing prices on at the AH like warp, warp II, Drain and aspir can all be quested

Good luck whit black mage im sure youll have a blast