In this post, I'll discuss what I've learned about maximizing dps on Black Mage (in PvE). This is for Black Mages that are already Calvin Klein, but would like to become Versace. Note that this information is pretty math-heavy, and it's pretty much unnecessary to complete a lot of the game's casual content. If you're raiding (or are part of Nexus) however, this may be of interest to you. I'll start off by explaining relatively straight-forward information about topics as I break them down, and then delve into some really ridiculous math shit, so feel free to skip ahead to that section's "bottom-line" once you've had enough of the numbers.
First thing I'll discuss is Thundercloud.
For starters, you should never hard-cast any Thunder spell beside Thunder 1, and you should never use Thunder while in Astral Fire, only in Umbral Ice. This is because you won't need anything more than Thunder 1's 2.5-second cast time alongside Blizzard 4's 3-second cast time and Fire 3's 1.5-second cast time in order to get the two server ticks to replenish 100% of your mana while in Umbral Ice, and, in general, the less time you spend in Umbral phase, the better.
Next, it should be noted that a Thundercloud (which should always be used with Thunder 3), will have a total potency of 710. 390 on initial hit, and 320 from the DoT. (8 ticks of 40 potency.)
With the triple Astral Fire buff (which Thunder doesn't benefit from), Fire IV's potency is around 505. This means that Thundercloud becomes more powerful than Fire IV with the initial hit and 9 seconds (or 3 ticks) of the DoT. Especially when considering that Thundercloud's cast time is effectively 2.5 (the global cooldown), and Fire IV's cast time is 3 seconds. On paper, this means that you should use Thundercloud procs as soon as they pop up, as long as the current thunder DoT on the target is 15 seconds or less. (If you are spreading it to a second target that doesn't have thunder already on it, feel free to go wild.) If you use a Thundercloud proc on a target that has more than 15 seconds left on its previous Thundercloud, you are clipping enough damage off the previous Thundercloud to retroactively make it weaker than the Fire IV you could have used in its place.
However, if you were to repeatedly use Thundercloud at the 15 second mark, you'd still be clipping a small amount of already-applied DoT. That basically means you'd still be winning, but not winning by as much as you could be. So ideally, it would be a little less, around 9 seconds.
(For reasonable people, this is enough math, so feel free to scroll down to the bottom line at this point.)
But, if you really want to give yourself a headache, you have to consider the possibility of getting another Thundercloud Proc in those remaining 15 seconds, and losing out on it because you're still holding onto the proc you have, because you were trying to let the current DoT tick before applying another one. So, if 15 seconds is the maximum amount of time on the DoT before reapplying Thundercloud, what is the minimum? You want to let the DoT tick to maximize damage, but you don't want to risk missing out on another Thundercloud proc, so when exactly is the best time to re-apply?
Statistics and probability make my head hurt, but some super-genius worked out the math in a forum that I've long-since lost the address to. He basically stated that if the remaining 15 seconds of Thunder were going to proc a Thundercloud, there is a 50/50 chance that the proc will happen in the first half of the DoT, right? So, as long as you wait 40% of the time (6 seconds) into that 15 seconds, you'll end up with more wins than losses on the "additional-proc coin flip", while still allowing that little bit of extra damage on the current DoT. Waiting any longer than this will result in more losses than wins, and this is all assuming that the Thundercloud proc itself will last that long anyway. So, in summary, 9 seconds is the best time to re-apply it.
Thundercloud: The Bottom Line
- Begin getting used to re-applying Thundercloud when the current thunder DoT is between 12 and 9 seconds. If you really want to maximize, try waiting until 9 seconds or less if the Thundercloud proc's duration will allow it. If that's too stressful to remember, just remember that it's better to hold onto Thundercloud as long as you can than to use it immediately every time. - The one exception to this rule is if you're in Umbral Ice phase and you were going to use Thunder 1 anyway. In those situations, you may as well use Thundercloud regardless of how much time is left on the current DoT, since Thundercloud is stronger than Thunder 1 or Blizzard. :)
Lastly, some BLM rotations I've seen don't include Thunder at all. I'll just go on record to state that although those rotations make it simpler to not fuck up your Thundercloud procs, and by extension, possibly Enochian, those rotations will also never result in the highest dps possible. So, at the end of the day, it's up to you when and if you decide to implement Thunder in your rotation.
Next thing I'll discuss is Firestarter.
Luckily, Firestarter is a whole lot easier to maximize than Thundercloud. Most of the time, it's in your best interest to use Sharpcast with Fire 1 so you can get Firestarter procs. Firestarter procs are far-and-away best used to refresh your Astral Fire timer after using a few Fire 4's. This is because Firestarter is instant, and costs no MP, where as otherwise you'd have to use Fire 1, which actually costs a lot of MP, meaning you'll have less MP to cast your Fire IV's. In both my basic and piety/spell speed rotations, we use Firestarter in the first Enochian cycle so we can get as many Fire IV's in as possible.
So the only question regarding Firestarter occurs when you get it by chance in the second and third Enochian cycles. Regardless of your rotation, you should be able to use it at the very end of your third cycle, since it doesn't matter if Enochian is still up. Easy. But during the second cycle, you should actually prioritize that Firestarter proc over the last Fire 4, since Firestarter is 432 potency with a 2.5-second cast time versus Fire IV's 505 potency with a 3-second cast time. This means Firestarter is 173 potency-per-second, PPS, while Fire IV's PPS is 168. Since, as far as I know, it's impossible to use all five Fire 4's AND a Firestarter in the second Enochian cycle, it's best to use Firestarter and skip the 5th Fire 4. However, if you're not using a piety-based rotation, you wouldn't be able to use five Fire 4's anyway, so feel free to use it without prejudice. :D Just make sure your spell speed is high enough!
Firestarter: The Bottom Line
- Your sharpcasted Firestarter is already part of your rotation. Don't worry about it. - If you get a luck-based Firestarter proc, feel free to use it at the end of your Astral Fire phase. If you're running out of time on Enochian, however, and the choice is between using another Fire 4 or using Firestarter, skip the Fire 4 and use Firestarter instead. It's higher potency, given that it is instant-cast.
Here is a link where I initially read about all the Thundercloud nonsense. He basically explains the same information in a different way, and then goes on to have light discussion in the comments.
MattCarmine Admin replied
476 weeks ago