When Update Notes Fail to Impress You

Things look grim for XI's future as all of its development team talent is busy breastfeeding XIV. I hope the WotG missions were finished before the transfer, because otherwise we might see some serious quality control issues. As the final version update news trickles in, I find myself, not excited with the content to come, but rather wanting to close my account. And that, my friends, is sad.

Job Rebalancing: Who Goes Where

Above, BLM AMII Damage,
Restoring Original RDM < BLU < BLM Damage Distribution

BLU was a pretty weird job. A lot of its high MP cost/Area of Effect spells were supposed to parse it somewhere between RDM and BLM as magical nuker. Of course, the mistake (or perhaps success) the developers made was to make the damage differential between physical and magical spells too low, the MP cost spread too large, and the cast and recast times of the physical spells too attractive. BLU became a DD, not a nuker.

Se Me Fue La Mano

I think SE might have overdone it a little in this update. From what I hear from other players, Vanity Dive does 700-900 damage for ~55MP and 2 Set points (and Accuracy Bonus). Benthic Typhoon, for about the same MP cost, can do upwards of 3000 damage with Sneak Attack and adds DEF Down and closes Darkness. Quad. Continuum, perhaps the craziest of all, appears to consistently hit between 2500 and 4000 damage even on EM+, assuming you're using Chain Affinity/Efflux.

Your New Endgame Build Just In

Cannonball is a beloved favorite of Blue Mages because it can be cast at such a great distance from the target. However, as I have mentioned in previous posts, Cannonball will eventually die because its damage will eventually cap. It appears, however, that Cannonball is already dead, and in its place, we have Benthic Typhoon.

Taking Back Skillchain Artistry

Unbeknownst to me and doubtless a lot of other players, in addition to Savage Blade>Goblin Rush = Light, we also have Expiacion>Benthic Typhoon = Darkness. There's some important things to note here.

Magus, Mirage, Mavi

Oh, damn you, SE. You've finally learned that people want to look more like the job they play, not less. This was the sole reason I started playing XI, and this may be the reason why I come back. It will really depend on how time-consuming and tedious it will be to upgrade these pieces of equipment. PS I called "enhances Job Ability" JSE.

I'd also like to see what these new spells are like. It seems SE is pandering to current playing styles, as we see a huge influx of DD spells and self-support spells since the level cap increases. Debuffs and nukes appear to still be fairly uncommon.

Be expecting some new layout changes.

Learning (Blue Magic)

So, according to preliminary info on wiki, Plenilune Embrace appears to be 50% more MND-efficient than Magic Fruit with a higher cap. That alone makes the buffs added like icing on the cake. Cimicine Discharge is approximately equivalent to Slow II when used by Gnats, but I'd have to test it in Brenner or something to confirm it. Battery Charge appears to be 4MP/tic for approximately the same duration as Refresh. Regeneration is only 2 set points and restores 5HP/tic for 5 minutes for a total of 500 HP healed; that's more than Regen III...

I wonder if Animating Wail really is above 15% magical Haste. These new support spells are an absolutely amazing addition to the Blue Magic arsenal.

6/21 - Update Notes FFFFUUUU

"The scholar ability 'Accession' does not affect the white magic spell 'Haste'." 

"Enmity generation for the following spells has been adjusted: Sleep, Sleep II, Dispel, Blind, Blind II, Bind"   

Oh, SHIT. Inb4everyonequitsthegame.

Why Double Attack?

Why does SE keep adding gear with Double Attack for jobs that can't use it? Well... I think it's time for a little math:

June 17 - Job Adjustments

"Several new Blue Magic spells will be added."

No... really?! Although I guess we're getting more spells than any other job, but seriously, SE? Not a single unique trait/JA for Blue Mages? We had better get some badass new set traits from these new spells. Tier I traits don't count for much as it is, unless you're giving us something like Double Attack... 

June 11th - Level Cap Concerns

1. DRK/SCH: Zomg. Manifestation Drain II.
2. No Afflatus Solace/Misery/Yonin/Innin.
3. Acc Check to Shadowbind... K...
4. Manifestation/Accession triples Recast Times. Oh no... >.> because a 60 second recast on Haste will disincentivize Hastega >.>... Anyway! RDM/SCH and WHM/SCH rejoice :o! 

• Caveat: I suddenly feel a lot less special for getting Animating Wail unless it happens to give more than 15% Haste... I wonder if this will just keep RDM the top choice for parties...

Intrigue!

June 10th Dat Mine - Blue Magic

Haste Makes Waste

If the denizens of Vana'diel had a religion, it would be the Church of Haste. We would pray 7 times a day facing the Holy capital of Haste. The bishops and clerics would renew our faith in Haste with their sermons during our ritual visit to the "BG." And God would say, 'Let there be Haste,' and there would be Haste. We're living in 2010 A.H., the year of our Haste. 

Now, don't get me wrong. I am a Haste-fearing, Forumgoer just like you. Haste is awesome. It makes an otherwise painfully slow game move faster--what's not to like? However, in the last update, Square-Enix decided to unleash upon the player base two... unusual items:

and

Vanafest 2010: Practical Applications

"Up until now, most job adjustments have been implemented with ease of party-forming in mind. From this point onwards, we plan to shift the focus towards ease of participation in endgame content. The role of each job will also come under review."

Blue Magic Ideas

Ideas after the jump.

'Crappy Hour' -- Why I Hate Dynamis

This is something I've been noticing ever since I started Dynamis one-and-a-half years ago. For some inexplicable reason, I appear to experience a period during each Dynamis in which all my physical spells' potency and/or accuracy are diminished for reasons I can't explain. It seems to have nothing to do with mob-type or zone--it just seems to come in cycles.

MP Efficiency

First of all, omg I'm on the first page on Google Image Search for "Blue Mage"! :O

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

Well Played: Rapakya

This guy puts Keiko to shame (well maybe not, but still pretty badass):

• How to duo Mother Globe
• Soloing Fenrir

Blue Mage 101: Monster Correlation & Its Effects

Welcome to Vana'diel University.

This is Professor Eremes' Introduction to Blue Mage class. If you are in the wrong room, kindly make your way to the door. Thanks.

Monster Correlation

As most of you know, there are 6 generally-accepted schools of magic: Elemental, Dark, Divine, Enfeebling, Enhancing, and Healing. There exist also Ninjutsu, Summoning, and the various Bard magics, but since those are of... questionable origins, we shall leave them aside. In my class, we will be learning about Blue Magic, a curious strain only recently developed. As such, much of the extant literature is disturbingly uneven.

Things Blue Mages Should Have Gotten (But Didn't)

Spells

Goblin Punch (Beastmen - Physical)
Damage varies with TP.
STR+1 DEX+1
Lv.12 22MP Blue Magic points 2

Historically, Goblin Punch has been a low damage, blunt physical attack. When used against a monster that is the same level as yourself, its attack power is raised dramatically. A spell that would help BLUs in Fields of Valor or managing agro against Even Match enemies and a Bludgeon +1 for 75BLUs without the TP feed.