Submitted by Milotheshort on Wed, 03/08/2006 - 19:31.

As you all are aware i'm a BLM TADAAA!

Here i'll briefly cover some common methodology you should exploit during your journey down the Dark side.

BLM DOES AND DON'Ts
DO: Kill at least one creature per day... uselessly slaughtering innocent creatures will make you feel better about yourself and your abilities. Remeber: The cuter the better... Kill rabbits frequently!
Don't: Heal. Healing is reserved for lesser jobs and is far beyond your l337 skillz... Remeber the more that meet there untimely demise the better the rewards are for you.

Ok all joking aside

Soloing:
Your gonna want to do this at least 3x a day. DON'T it'll just frustrate you when you ultimatly die to a /Too Weak/. After you gain 100+ in enfeebleing it becomes more feesable task...

-> METHOD 1: SLEEP TANKING
---> Engage targets with high dmg spell, sleep target, high dmg spell. Rinse lather repeat. Results may Very! Not recomended for mages lvl 10 and under, women who are pregnant or may become pregnant. Mobs serviving for more more tha 4hrs may be signs of a seriouse condition wich only a qualified GM can diagnose.
---> This method is very effective as long as you remeber two simple things: 1. Never EVER EVER cast a DoT on the mob (DoT: Damage over Time _> see bio, dia)
2. Only works if you can sleep the mob. If its resisting too much cut you loses ES (Elemental Seal) either Bind non ranged/mage types or sleep the mob and warp or run. DEAD BENIFITS NOONE ESPECIALLY YOU!

->METHOD 2: WORM(Stationary tanking)
---> This method is based on immoblie mobs, or using a bind method, so either select immobile mobs or use bind
---> After the target is bound cast enfeebles first is silence next is blind these help with ranged attacks. This is very effective for soloing enfeeble skill ups. Just watch your tags to see when certain enfeebles drop. WARNING: Avoid spells with fire in there name of fire in there discription... why? Bind -> ICE; Fire melts ice... don't believe me try it sometime, i however am not resposible for your enevitable death.
---> NUKE: now this is the last thing you do, enfeebles benifit you more
I'd also suggest casting Shock on your target till it sticks... shock = MND Down (latent effect) this is helpful because MND is the attribute which determines Magic resistance.

NOTES: When soloing maintain distances relitive to your Mob, spells are better when you give yourself some space so you can escape when you screw up.
Also when soloing 1-10 please buy +1 Poles you need the DD it is possible to go from 6-7 without poping a squat if you get the hang of melee with a pole ^^

PARTYING:

I know BLM tend to be anti-social and all but you will eventual have to party up. OHHHH JOY!

Put mages in there place-> haha i can already feel the rest of the stares from Clan AM members i don't really care! Other Mages should know there job better than they know yours... nothing and i mean nothing in my BLM career irritated me more than hearing a thief make usless suggestions, or a whm saying i need to back up cure.
PLEASE uderstand i'm not saying ignore all advice you get, or don't back up cure... however these should not be your primary duty. Jobs with higher tier cures, and more MND should provide this service, your in essence hired for your cappabilities to provide consistant dmg. Most melee provide spike dmg. YOUR ABSOLUTE PRIORITY IS MB's. Here some helpful curing order chart on cure priorties.

WHM->PLD->RDM->SMN->BLM :: WHM v. PLD is dependent i'd argue that PLD get priorty for hate control but thats just me, i've been with plenty of PLD's who almost avoid curing like a virus.

Why this order WHM its there job if you have one in your party and he hasn't figured this out yet good luck to him. RDM's in 40+ parties are effective healers, i almost prefer them to WHM's. SMN always gets priority over BLM, a SMN should always offer to be main heal. Heres why... SMN has a higher base MND about 3-6 dependent on lvl and race. Higher Mana Pool... after 25 auto refresh (no brainer)... Most sub WHM, in the case they don't then it becomes your duty. Plus one last bit smn's get access to BP (Blood Pacts) some are protective and some are healing this is hate free...

ON NUKEING A BRIEF WARNING TO NEW BLM:
Remeber how i said you provide constant dmg... you do. NUking doesn't! Avoid it. When you have awsome spells at your fingers its easy to forget...
Why you shouldn't nuke:
1. Nuking burns through MP: this will creat huge down time less chains and longer to lvl... noone wants this.
2. Nuking creates potential hate issues: lets think of this logicaly... BLM casts a spell that generates 3 pts of hate... followed by one that gererates 4 pts... the pld uses shield bash which gereates 4 pts of hate the blm is still winning by 3 here... the mob comes over and hits the soft maliable mage body for 75% of his hit pts. the whm freaks out and starts cast high lvl tiers which quickly pulls the mob on to him. Result: Party wipe or near wipe.

What you should do:
1. Develop a time series of casting-> all good BLM do this brief pauses after each cast can make the difference of wether or not the Tank holds hate.
2. Clock method: this uses the cloak in the corner to time spells. This is primarly used when more than one BLM are in a party mostly in mana burns. times are usual called after the colon (6:45 is :45) and mob direction is indicated in the case of links (:45 left or west)
3. Hate setting method: this allows you to engage right away without taking the mob away from the melee... Use enfeebles to open up on a mob, judge thier current cababilities... normally after two enfeebles, you can start casting. 10% is also the safty zone most melee have gained enough emnity at this point to start casting your spells.
Remeber enfeebles not only help the tank keep hate, they also make the Healer more effective.

FUN TIP: DID YOU KNOW THAT YELLOW HP ISN'T BAD? monsters will more readily attack healthy members of your party as opposed to the weak.

ASPIR================Mobile MP Tanks

Most understand the aspir is a blm method for gaining back MP. A very effective one if used properly.

Crabs-> all have MP stock. Why i don't know you'd have to ask SE. These buggers are great for PLVing or if you need extra MP because they Melee only and they have very few nasty AOE's.

Lets look at aspir closer:
aspir is a Dark reinforced ability. Which means in lehmen terms the more affinity you have to darkness the more MP it'll give you back. Dark Staff seems to improve this trait greatly. Unlike in past final Fantasys all mobs with MP pools have Refresh... it is impossible i repeat impossible to drain all the mp (times like that when i wish i was fighting the flame hand in FF5 Flame hand casts firaga III "No MP", o'l) The nice thing about Aspir is it doesn't harm targets so it can be used on them while they sleep without disturbing them. If we think about aspir it is sometimes more effective than refresh from a RDM. I have aspired well over 100 MP from some targets the MP recovered is instant -> RDM refresh recovers 60 MP over a few min... the aspir timer is as long as the rdm refersh effect... hence in certain situations (any with 60+ mp gained) it is better than refresh. Only problem is most mobs can't be aspired for MP. So it is up to you to learn which kinds can and can't. If it casts magic (exception undead), crabs and worms can be aspired. Keep this inmind and watch the timer and you should do just fine.

NOTE: ES aspir does not seem to make it more effective

DRAIN=============WHEN CURE JUST WON'T DO

OK so you have drain good! Now your a big boy. When ever shit hits the fan and you take a brunt hit don't have the WHM cure you... they'll only redistribute the hate and end up dead. instead wait for a voke. This is your chance Drain! why we want BLM to Drain rather than get a cure from the whm... 1. It wastes MP that the whm can use to keep the tank alive.
2. It allows you to heal yourself without generating alot of hate
3. it dmgs the target which is you job so ne time you can help yourself while dealing dmg is a good thing.
NOTE: Drain does DMG on its own you don't need to be hurt inorder for it to be effective. I can one shot weaker mobs with drain all the while "Draining 0 HP!"

ELEMETAL ENFEEBLES
Ok here is were the actual training starts. Become familur with these they are your life blood. You should always open a fight with one of these. Remeber to cast ones that help you parties situation, they won't understand what you did for them its more of the quite statisfaction of the job... the biggest one to use are FROST -> this will help in melee wiff fests. Let them think that eating there susi +1 really did the trick ^^. Shock if you can land this before a MB its all gravy. MB's will do about 5% more dmg with Shock up. Rasp-> this will save your tank. Drown-> this will help if the whm is burning through mp a little too fast. Burn is the least use... cast only on mage class mobs that tend to do AOE's. A BLM skilled with Elemental enfeebles will rearly have to worry about dying.

KNOW THY ENEMY:
This is where you are expected to know the most. You should always familurize with a families weaknesses. If its ice understand that frost, bind and paralyze will stick more readily. Know that the MB you should have the melees should set up for is ICE related. Go in understanding how the day/weather effects will play on your spells. Also recognize the potential for resists.You should also familurize yourself with the names of family specific AOE's. WHY? Well if your WHM can't get to a debuff in time guess who the job falls on? Also recognizing counters for certain AOE's will help you emensly. Try stunning a Tonberries throat stab sometime, the tank and party will worship your feet. Avoid looking into the eyes of a big cat... you get to laugh when your the only one up and able to help. Simple things make or break players in any job. Its these discrepensies that seperate you from the average player, NOT THE GEAR.

S==============is for STUN!
Stun is by far the best thing a blm can marco. IT WILL SAVE YOUR ASS 90% of the time. I come from the old skool methodology of gaming... where macros are for fruit cakes with little to no skill... ok when starting to play blm and getting the hang of it using macros to cast spells can be handy... but later you won't want macros for this i'll explain why later when we talk about MB's.
STUN macro is like an ohh shit button. But what good is a button that you never use so once you macro it DON'T FORGET ABOUT IT! What most ppl fail to realise is that it is possible to give a mob tp that he can't use... most weapons have a WS with stun as a property. Stun is the only thing in the game that can interrupt a TP attack. Watch for these attacks and pre par to stun the target... Once again stunning tp attacks like throat stabb will give ya a tank who worships the ground you walk on. (Please not something odd here, it is thunder elemental but is Dark based) In Retrospect -> the problem with this is you in therory can give a mob 300 tp so they can i guess do one powerful attack. but i personaly would rather a mob go at 300 once than at 70+ 5x. Your choice you play god ^^

EQUIPMENT:
INT-> you hear debates about this all the time. I personaly have never regreted investing in the best int gear i could, i typical do 50 pts more than other mages and get resisted far less.
Magic SKILL-> be it enfeeb, elemetal or enhancing they all cap, unless you have them capped this gear isn't used to its full effectiveness although i have heard a few convincing arguments for its use
MP-> this gear is a high priority for non taru races... low mp means more down time. Invest in this if you have the money
Emnity - -> Crap gear you shouldn't pull hate... you should need this
Spell interruption-> see above (use for solo)

Elemental staves
-> only effective if you use to macro in and out based on spell type. haveing a ICE STAFF you use for all you casting is less effective than Using a lvl apropriate club which raises int.
_> these typical add spell accuracy not dmg 10% (HQ 15%) as well as other properties
-> Earth staff is a good one to macro in incase of stray hits i do this often.

MB (MAGIC BURST)

The best part about being a blm is seeing the raw power of a spell. The best way to see this is to do a MB. MB's are based off of the combination of properties that melee use for there attacks. (in general a non elemetal + elemental will preform a WS) Each melee attack has an elemental attached to it. this help determin the properties of the resulting WS. It is the BLM job to apply his knowledge to this ws in determining the best use of his current spell base and the creatures weakness.
Tier ones -> these a solo elemetal based... only one element will burst with this NOTE: can be tied together to chain WS EX. Reverberation + rageing axe -> induration etc. possibly upto a total of 17 tier ones on one mob. (normal allience) or 63 in a dynamis allience (this would be difficult to preform mind you, and everyone would most likely kill the mob before the 50th ws i'd imagine.
Tier two -> these split the ws into two elements these are the most common and require the least skill to preform and spot. A blm is thuly changled with applying the right spell to burst based on the mobs elemental weakness.
Tier 3 _> or BLM No brainer ok if you don't Burst on one of these babies its time to hang up your robe, seing as how you have a 50% chance of picking the right spell to burst with.

Other notes on MB -> if you have more than one mage bursting you should give the blm priority, other MB's of the same element have a nasty habbit of tanking the players burst dmg. 2 BLM in a party should order up quick tier ones x2 or a split tier 2 and cast the oppisite elements on the ws to maximize the total effect.

MB CASTING TIMER
Thats fine and all but you need to know when to cast here are 3 simple methods that will make sure you MB everytime

Ancient Magic -> this is were the Pro's shine.... Yes if you haven't gotten it to happen yet it does occur, i personaly have MB'd an AM and a tier one spell on the same WS Very hard to do requires alot of practice and even more so better timing ^^ 15% when you casting timer hits this the first in the ws should start and it should close before about 40-50% YOU MUST START CASTING BEFORE THE WS FOR THIS TO BURST. have the opener use a warning and wait 3 before he starts good marker to start casting and get timing perfect.

Tier 3 agas -> start casting as soon as first readies his attack

tier 4-3 -> cast when you see closer ready there attack

tier 2 -> between readying of closer and actual closing... i e before the WS type is listed

tier 1 -> after ws is listed you have about 2-3 sec to start casting this boy

HOW to look l337 as hell or Double Bursts
This timing helps alot if the ws is consistant, the opener and closer go on equal counts (ws can be held open for 5 sec tho most use the 3 sec timer)
Start with a big spell tier 3+ finish with tier 1. as soon as your first spell finish you have to be ready with the second. when it MB's after the chain determines if you hit with one, two or non. till you get your pace right in a party i'd suggest you go for garanteed MB's. (THESE ARE POSSIBLE TO DO, I CONSISTANTLY DO THEM IN EXP PARTIES)
The whole goal is beating the ws timer and the casting timer... stone and water seem to be the better applicants for these MB's NOTE: i have never been able to do this with macros only manual casting.

Artifact gear: I personal won't use it, few pieces i thought were worth the time to get, but it might benifit your race more than mine.

Macro staffs: I use this simple macro to swap staffs.

/equip Main "Staff 1"
/equip Main "Staff 2"

it does a loop please remeber that it equips staff 2 first and won't equip staff one unless staff 2 is already equiped.

A message about macros: I personal am sickened by parties i'm in and ppl who don't macro in equipment. BLM shouldn't macro in certain gear because reason dealing with mp totals. But brds should always macro in ne instruments... blm and other mages should different saffs. Basically if you don't blink in and out at least once per fight you aren't using the full potential of your character. Just a personal thought. Future brds i'm watching you ^^. i honestly think its why durraur is one the bst brds i know...

WIth all that said if you have any other questions concerning either blm or crafting let me know.