Now, some findings:
Firespit: High: 650 Low: 500
Eyes on Me: High: 600 Low: 500
Mind Blast: High: 375 Low: 270
Regurgitation: High: 500 Low: 300
These were tested on the Aerns in the Grand Palace of Hu'xhoi using BLM sub. My total stats were:
INT: 115
MND: 99
CHR: 105
Magic Accuracy: 14
I am missing 10 INT, 13 MND, and 17 CHR in gear, which seems like it'd cap out at about 750 Firespit/Eyes on Me, maybe a 450ish Mind Blast, and 500+ Regurgitation, all before Day/Weather bonuses and Convergence.
Of all the spells, Regurgitation is my favorite because of its low recast time, low MP cost, and Bind effect. I'm not sure if I like Mind Blast a lot, but it is very cheap and the paralysis effect appears to last quite a long time. All 4 spells have approximately a Damage-to-MP ratio of about 6.5.
Considering Breaths for a moment, if I could sub MNK, I could get 1780 HP during the day. Add Carbonara, and you get 1960 HP. If I could get my hands on a Bloodbead Ring, that'd break 2k, making a 1.1k Heat Breath without Monster Correlation. The best part is, I can wear full Skill gear for this. While Saurian Helm might add 20 or so damage, it'd also cost me 5 skill and 300k. Likewise, anywhere I'd like to add a little extra HP will cost 2-3 skill or accuracy. Oh and hey look, 1100/169 = ... 6.5. The singular difference would be that Heat Breath can be cast at my Skill cap, 312, with +7 or so magic accuracy, while the nuking spells can't reach that high without suffering a reduction in INT/MND/CHR.
It may be possible too that those spells are more accurate, especially when breaking 120 of the relevant stat, but I can't know that for sure. I'll have to test the nukes out on boss types and such to make sure they don't completely flounder without +skill.
I suppose it's worth mentioning that Cannonball, with /THF's Sneak Attack and Chain Affinity, has an MP efficiency of about 12, 17 if you happen to have Double Minne. With 300% TP, you approach an MP efficiency ratio of 30, even higher with STR merits, Azure Lore and/or Enchainment. It's also not skill dependent for accuracy because you always have Sneak Attack to fall back on.
Bottom line is that while Cannonball is hunkydory, the other builds are good to fall back on when: 1. SA and/or TP are not permitted, 2. Magic Damage is superior 3. Other support functions are called for. That and I suspect the nuking build is the only viable solo build for enemies that are 80+.
17 comments:
You're missing 3 elements of why Regurgitation is good, although two of them can't really be taken advantage of when solo.
If you're talking about range (say compared to Mind Blast), that's kind of a given on a Bind spell and/or a nuke. Other BLU nukes are actually kind of silly for being 15' or less, as if mid-range would allow one to melee more or some nonsense.
The "Increased damage from behind" could be exploited if the enemy is sleepable. As for the Knockback effect, I've never seen it PvM.
Yes, the range on most of our spells is one of BLU's greatest weaknesses. Regurgitation remedies that.
The knockback effect wasn't so much what I was referring to for number 3.
Hmm your numbers are a slightly meaningless, as you don't list what buffs were up >_>;
Food is included in my INT report. I was using a Creampuff.
I may or may not have been using Amplification. I try not to use it, as Rapakya gets stupidly good numbers without it, so it feels like a crutch to me and a waste of MP/casting time if it can be avoided.
Burst Affinity?
And ya, solo I wouldn't use Amplification aside from maybe at the start.
For some low man stuff, it would also result in some enmity issues, depending on how fine a balance you're working with- partially negating the benefits of Regurgitation.
I don't believe the Burst Affinity myth, so I only use it for Magic Bursting Aspir.
I used Elemental Seal once, but the extra accuracy was only useful against BLM-type mobs. All other mobs had no resist issues, though the WHMs had high innate MDB.
Uhhhhhh >_>;
Oh, well fancy that.
I don't believe it adds any magic accuracy, but it does seem to affect potency some. My specialty has been in Breath spells up until now, so I haven't used it outside of Skillchains.
It affects potency in the exact same way that Chain Affinity affects physical spells- exact analogues.
I'm sorry, but if you want to criticize other BLU, you need to know what your own job abilities do. I really would like to be less blunt, but there's really no other way to put this. Knowing how your spells and abilities work, and thus their strengths and weaknesses, is critical to fully mastering the job.
I'll grant you though, Vanar is a fairly frustrating fool.
There's no conclusive evidence on Burst affinity granting an accuracy bonus. Some believe it does add a -minor- magic accuracy bonus, but there is not enough proof to go on. Even in the event that it does, there is emphasis on the word minor. minuscule. tiny. itty-bitty.
And I suppose you do, because you know everything about Blue Mage, Kyte?
This is my blog. I haven't written anything misleading or incorrect here. In fact, I have stated in earlier posts that by trying to offer advice to others, I've learned a lot myself, and I try to clear up any misinformation as best as I can.
The bottom line is I have something to say about BLU, I have something to say about other BLUs, and you stalking my blog to find any tiny loose thread to make me look like I don't know what I'm talking about isn't going to stop me.
Oh, and I'm not sure what reverse engineering you've been doing or reading about, but Burst Affinity cannot, by definition, affect spells the same way that Chain Affinity does.
Since magical spells have no TP modifier to affect additional effects such as accuracy, damage or duration, I'm not sure how Burst Affinity and Chain Affinity could be the same. You could store 300% TP for a physical spell, but a magical spell has no direct equivalent.
Please, teach us, Kyte. My readers and I would like to know.
I'm trying to help you, for whatever reason. I have absolutely nothing to gain by helping you. I look on here occasionally out of boredom, and I do notice things that are either incomplete or incorrect.
Anyways, let me start off by asking you this: What does Chain Affinity do?
I'll start by ending this right now.
Since you started commenting here, you've left nothing but Holier-than-thou "advice" and cheeky passes at errors I've made. For all intents and purposes, this is a place for my friends to read what I do and what I find. If it's not perfectly reversed engineered to your liking, find some solace elsewhere.
You can get off your high horse because you aren't fooling anyone. I've had about 10 different readers all agree that you're just looking for excuses to bust my chops over anything you can find. If that's not the case, that's really too bad because you come off as a smarmy jerk without even trying.
Just for you, I'll enable comment moderation. It's the closest I can get to blacklisting you here, since you obviously didn't get your fill on Siren.
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