Black Mages ...........

[ff-fanatix]

ok is it juts me or does the black mage job suck an incredible amount of ass.......

my mate got the game the other day and ahd to pick a job....

he picked black mage...so i decided to lvl my black mage to sub to my white mage.....

we soon began to realise how much god damn down time there was....especially when you hit the lvl 6 - 11.....damn i really do hate black mages.....not just because fo this...but even before this....an inexperience black mage in the dunes can cost you your life....

opinions ?

[SNOOZER]

I didn't have trouble when I was raising my BLM. What LV is your BLM 6-11? You've barely even started the job. If down time is the problem, you should go ahead and buy some juices for mana regen.

Each job has it's own purpose, if you find BLM to be frustrating, maybe sticking to the melee jobs is what you should do.

[Roogle]

It takes certain people to be able to be a mage! Maybe you're just not one of them.

[Vaprice]

..........

I'm sorry but have you ever played as a WHM? Or a BST? WHM has more downtime if you don't know how to solo the job properly.....

if your a BLM you should be able to beat down the monsters easily. Just nuke the heck out of it~ The more important thing is staying alive.

If you've eevr played as a WHM you'd understand the downtime is much more painful and dangerous.......

[DJZen]

I sorta off and on level a BLM and a WHM. BLM is probably the most fun I've had in the game so far.

[Lionx]

Or maybe you are taking the wrong steps.

Soloing Pre-Bind you should take out your weapon at a long distance away and hit with your hardest nuke and just chain nuke. After you get Bind you bind em in place and kill them without being touched even. Whats so hard about that? WHM is definetly harder...lack of firepower AND HP...all we do is do the war of endurance which even i do at higher levels without Hexa Strike..i dont see whats wrong. IF you are lvl BLM for WHM sub then you have Cure too and thats even BETTER.

Every job lvl up after..lvl 6 slows down and thats when soloing is a chore and boring as hell.

In a party theres only very few artilery jobs out there. Only real job that can replace you is a SMN, with possibly another melee, RNG, or RDM. With exception to the RNG maybe, you can do more chunks of dmg than any of the other jobs. Magic Bursts can go over the limit of dmg very easily for you and you are best doing a large ammount of dmg in a short ammount of time. It is very useful to have a BLM when doing large exp chains and managing your MP is important to achieve that chain.

[Miriel]

I like Black mage, it's my favorite job after white mage. It gets a little boring after awhile but I guess that can be true of any job. I looooove magic bursting though. And I <3 drain.

[DJZen]

Armando totally told me to conserve MP and just cure while levelling BLM or WHM. I totally cried when he said that. It was like every good thing in the universe had simeltaneously been destroyed.

[Lionx]

Well not JUST cure..however when MP comes to being critical and its sorta like a 2hr situation..a Cure can help more than a Nuke most of the time unless the mob is almost dead. Hence why i am against BLM/SMNs who just DIE when things are going bad with a gallon+2 worth of MP.

[DJZen]

No, he said JUST cure and only fight EPs. That's like watching a puppy get hit by a bus.

[Lionx]

Thats cuz he is Elvaan :P It works better for them...

[Vaprice]

xD just using Cure and Banish and Dia are very helpful in battle, but only use the ones that cost a lot of MP when your in battle with a DC and get aggored well darn if you get aggroed run away man~

[lordblazer]

ok is it juts me or does the black mage job suck an incredible amount of ass.......

my mate got the game the other day and ahd to pick a job....

he picked black mage...so i decided to lvl my black mage to sub to my white mage.....

we soon began to realise how much god damn down time there was....especially when you hit the lvl 6 - 11.....damn i really do hate black mages.....not just because fo this...but even before this....an inexperience black mage in the dunes can cost you your life....

opinions ?
suck it up us Bard's got waaay more down time at those levels.

[Lionx]

I acutally thought BRDs were one of the fastest. Paeon and Minuet along with a Sword is pretty good...if you sub WHM theres almost no downtime. Your looking for another mob is the only downtime and you get healed in the meantime..that and you dont die to crawler and fungar poison.

[KamiTidus]

In my personal opinion WHM and BLM have alot of downtime, but thats simple to fix. Go out and fight some EM to get use to job quicker, you may lose exp, but if you get use to the job it's easier to handle. Sounds kinda dumb but it works. It's what I did for RDM till I got use to it. They dont got much downt time, or I dont atleast cause I know how to conserve MP, but even so. Just fight some EM and get use to conserving MP and learn when and when not to cast. Thats the easiest way to do it imo.

[Lionx]

I acutally chain Easy Preys. They do pettiful dmg against you and i can gain 18-36 exp whereas in EMs i have to get 100exp, then stay down and rest. Whereas with WHM sub i can kill alot of EPs with red hp, cure a few, kill more, then rest. I feel its more efficient in that sense. That and WHMs cant take EMs and BLMs can risk dying using all their MP..from my experience.

[Garland]

I'm a career blm of 60. Blm is tough in the beginning. I recommend duoing with a melee once the solo experience begins to plummet around level 6 or so. Two of the reasons the 5-10 level stretch is so rough as a blm is because the mobs that give bigger exp now outlast your mp, and your hp is still too small to melee safely. I remember many times I would engage a Giant Bee (the second tier bee in saruta) and simply lack the endurance to win. Picking the right battles is crucial as a blm. The second reason the 5-10 stretch is rough is because it's long and boring. Having a friend out there with you can make even the most tedius job fun, it'll also provide you with the endurance to handle tougher mobs with less down time. A full party at this level won't be very efficient, but duoing always works wonders when I level new jobs.

As for what to do in a party, and curing- remember that you were invited for your main job first. I agree that every mage should be able to offer backup healing to the party. That said, you aren't the main healer, and your cures are best saved for emergencies. Your job is to make the enemy's HP drop in chunks, instead of slivers. There will be parties where you're the only one dealing noticable damage to a mob. Your job is to let the party get to chain 5, where they wouldn't have if the rest of the party had taken 10 minutes per mob. Along with Rangers, your damage capacity is top notch, and other jobs will have a hard time matching it. That's why you were invited to the party. Make the mob dead. After battle, if you have lots of excess mp compared to the main healer, use your excess to toss a curaga and top off the pt HP. If things go sour and you can save the party with a well placed cure, then by all means, do so, but don't let people give you the Summoner treatment.

[ff-fanatix]

thanks for the feedback

i have done whm before....and i found it comparatively easy compared to blm...im good with the mages...its just the blm...it doesnt like me :mad: ....

i will tame it yet.........maybe i juts need to change my approach....maybe play it afetr ive had some sleep....rather than playing blm aftern not sleeping for 2 days i dunno.....

i thought blm would be fun..... but nevertheless.....i shall prevail..

[Miriel]

White mage easier than Black mage? No. Just no.

What exactly are you having problems with?

[Vaprice]

WHM is easier to level XD

if you think about it. All you do is melee just to be safe. Plus with your benediction, and cure, if you do get aggroed or something your safe for a bit to either run away /help or say..."OMGOMGOMGOMGOM SOME1 SAVEY MES?!?!"

xD

all you have to do is know how to safely solo 1-10 it may take awhile but it is indeed easier than leveling BLM...

[Garland]

Blm and Whm? Easier to level? I'd say Blm is for the most part easier. For all intents and purposes, you have no responsibility as a Blm. As a Whm, the lives of the pt are your responsibility. Also, the pt pulls or has downtime based on the main healer's mp, and not the Blm's. A good Blm should be speeding up battles with lots of damage, and helping the Whm with misc support, but these things don't get noticed, for better or worse, by most pt's. When you're a Whm or a tank, people notice your every mistake. When you're a damage dealer, people only notice exceptionally large numbers. Aside from not hitting the magic bursts, I can't see a Blm being called on the carpet for anything. It really is an easy job to level.

[Ouch!]

I interpreted the easier to level discussion about which is easier to solo the early levels, in which case I'd say it depends. WHM without a sub is clearly easier than BLM without a sub, but once you can sub WHM to BLM it's much easier.

In any case, BLM isn't too hard to level anyway. The bind and nuke tactic works very well and if you move quickly, you can usually kill it before it can come to you, particularly if you're just fighting a bunch of easy prey, which as far as I'm concerned is the smart way to level.

[Lionx]

Actually theres many things i can call a BLM on..wrong elemental enfeebles during party set ups, healing only yourself, wasting MP on nukes when a Cure would have saved that PLD, refusing to Cure because I R NUKARZZZ even when that Cure would save more MP and time in the long run, Dia then you use Bio to kill it even when you arent supposed to, not sleeping the monster, overnuking(making tank a living hell to do their job), not managing MP well for that Chain, and bad MND gear(yeah some BLMs go MND D: sad).

Mainly the most thing i have a beef of is that BLMs that do not use their Cures properly and that does not include backup healing, when the main healer is resting for more chains, you are to heal until the main healers get enough MP, otherwise usually the chain stops entirely and thats bad. I usually volunteer to keep the chain going because i will keep the tank alive until the main healing mages are ready. This usually does not apply to higher lvls which in case i hope the mages are in the know for what they need to do. But Curing applies to all mages.

[Khaotic]

I was a BLM, only level 58 though before I quit. I thought it was really fun, once you get more spells, and more experienced players in your party, and you start bursting ancient magic or high level aga spells, you'll get addicted quite easily. :D

[Takumaku]

Hi all, new guy here! The first 10 levels of BLM are pretty simple. Just nuke the newbie mobs once or twice with Stone, and finish them off with the staff/wand. After that, when you hit 11, you go to the far side of the dunes. From there you learn party dynamics, and MP conservation. In addition, you begin to learn what Magic Burst is all about.

[strawberryman]

It takes certain people to be able to be a mage! Maybe you're just not one of them.
How true.

Of course, could it be that you're fighting DC's or the like?
It's alot faster to kill EP's, as there is a less downtime to experience ratio.
Black mages are alot more fragile than melee jobs, and therefore can't survive in a EM fight solo in most cases ^^;

[Garland]

Mainly the most thing i have a beef of is that BLMs that do not use their Cures properly and that does not include backup healing, when the main healer is resting for more chains, you are to heal until the main healers get enough MP, otherwise usually the chain stops entirely and thats bad. I usually volunteer to keep the chain going because i will keep the tank alive until the main healing mages are ready. This usually does not apply to higher lvls which in case i hope the mages are in the know for what they need to do. But Curing applies to all mages.

Yeah, I used to do that from time to time - volunteer to main heal a battle while the whm got mp. It's a nice thing to do. I wouldn't hold it against another Blm that didn't, though. Taking on main healer role is above and beyond the call of duty. I did so because I wanted to stand out as a Blm. I've never come across another Blm that did much curing. As a Whm, I was lucky to even get a cure if I was red. I've gotten more post death apologies from Blms that didn't help me, than cures from Blms that saved my life. I'd recommend helping on the cures to any Blm who wants to stand out above the crowd.

However, I wouldn't recommend Blms taking invites to be the main healer. It seems to be a rising trend. People are beginning to realize that Blm/Whm and Smn/Whm have about the same curing potential. After all, you have skill caps to maintain. Elemental, Dark and Enfeebling magic won't cap if you don't cast them. The day that Blm becomes "The White Mage that can Magic Burst", as someone once so eloquently phrased it, is the day I stop partying as one.

[Lionx]

The call of duty for every single person in the party is usually to get the fastest experience possible. WHM sub is there for a reason, you can use it and make your job even more than it is. Just because you are SMN or BLM does not mean you are limited by it. Just like when i sub BRD, when theres no other BRDs. You get Madirgal and Ballad1 as well, if you are enjoying your job too much then you arent putting enough sweat into it. You are there to get the fastest exp possible for 6 people including yourself, for that long lasting chain, if you arent then you are just hindering everyone else. But yeah just saying D: its kinda depressing when the BLM vs an HNM could have saved us if he could have saved us a few precious seconds to gain that control over the mob back while the few main RDMs and WHMs rested...but instead we would get a wipe for the most ridiculous of things -_- Its nerve whracking x_x

I can MB on VTs on WaterII for 177 dmg :3 I feel l33t. Does that mean you will stop playing one? :D

[UltimateSpamGrover]

Bare with me, I only read the original post...

Maybe try the Red Mage job?

[Garland]

If FF-Fanatix decides to level Rdm, s/he should level Rdm for what it is, and not what it used to be, or what the Brady Guide says it is, or what players want it to be. First and foremost, Rdm is a main healer and a support class. Untill 41, you'll follow meekly in the shadows of Whms, with no real claim to fame. Parties don't want your sword skill, and finding a Blm to serve as a nuker is no difficult feat (at least not on Quetzalcoatl). At 41, you'll more often compete with Brd for your place in a party as a source of MP regen, and not Whm. You'll never compete with Warriors or Black Mages for their spot in a party.

[Lionx]

You forgot that Enfeebling is very important and that without a RDM or NIN its impossibly hard to land Enfeebles...RDMs are good for that. Refresher and Enfeebler, Healing and Nuking second, HOWEVER they are to fit those roles when called upon to do so. Hence why BLM and WHM subs are preffered both to be lvled up.

[UltimateSpamGrover]

Yes, but he is complaining about the downtime of the BLM job at the early levels. He can level RDM to 18, get a subjob and switch to BLM and he will have a better Elemental skill from levelling RDM, and not to mention healing spells with a WHM subjob.

Edited to prevent confusion.

[Ouch!]

I don't know where you're coming from saying that /RDM would increase a BLM's elemental magic skill. As far as I know the only way a sub affected skill levels was if the sub had skills that the main job lacked. For example, subbing WHM you'd get a healing magic skill with the cap of the level of your sub. I do not believe that by adding /RDM (which has an elemental magic skill, obviously) to BLM would have any effect on the cap for elemental magic at all.

It's for these reasons why /RDM in almost any situation is vastly inferior. Not only does it add new spells slower (like cure at Lv6 instead of Lv1 with a WHM sub) but the healing magic cap would be lower and thus you would heal for less damage. Also, /WHM also a slightly better addition to your MP pool. Soloin' with /WHM is therefor far more efficient.

[Lionx]

Only time i would say RDM sub is good is vs Elementals in TuLia for Phalanx but they are VT therefore the only good time.

[Garland]

Red Mage is a good sub 64+ if your party lacks a reliable source of Dispel. Some Red Mages and Bards don't do this as fast as a party might need, some hardly do it at all, and some try to do it but can't get the spell to land. If getting that crab dispelled is the key to getting more chains, /rdm isn't a bad idea. I have a static with a good Bard, so I'm shielded from the realities of life, which include a whole plethora of Rdm's and Brd's that grabbed a free ride on Refresh/Ballad and never learned their jobs. Thus, I sub nothing but Whm, and I don't see that changing. Having the capability to do someone else's job when they aren't up to par is what a Blm's subjob is all about after all, and sometimes, it's not the Whm you have to cover. Fortunately, I have a great summoner in my static as well, so I'm lucky if I get to do any non blm spells at all aside from a few whm enfeebles. I had to ask to cast the Barspells before battle, just to keep enhancing capped.

[ff-fanatix]

hehehe.....ive been playing with the much loathed blm a lot more now.......tbh ive no idea what i was moaning about...i now love it to death......blm rulez...not as much as whm...but i never been one for following routine......

so no longer moaning about blm hehe.......

but can i ask why the hell the drain scroll is worth 90k??????? its pants....

[Miriel]

Much loathed? I think that's a bit of an overstatement. I always thought that Black Mage was one of the more popular jobs. I love playing BLM and I've never moaned about it. I think it's a thoroughly fun job.

Drain doesn't go for that much on my server, but I can understand why it's so expensive. Drain is a wonderful spell. Anyone who's partied with me knows how giddy I get when Drain does a a bucket load of damage. And besides, it's a very easy scroll to quest for. If you're at least rank 2 in Sandy, it should only take you a few hours to earn enough fame to do it.

[UltimateSpamGrover]

I don't know where you're coming from saying that /RDM would increase a BLM's elemental magic skill.

It's for these reasons why /RDM in almost any situation is vastly inferior.

I never said sub RDM to BLM, I suggested levelling RDM ahead of time to level your Elemental Skill (Because all skills affect ALL jobs ) and switching to BLM/WHM after he gets RDM 18, sorry I didn't make my point clearly.