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.

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.

Spellset: Level 85

I can't speak from experience, but from what I hear, the Blue Magic arsenal continues to get better. In light of that fact, I've already started to consider what might be a good "full time" spell set. Here's what I came up with:

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.

June 10th Dat Mine - Blue Magic

Blue Mage 101: Trial of the Magians

So, I've been getting pestered a lot about the Magian trials lately. Either I get that they're pointless and not worth one's time or that the only useful weapon is the "Occ. Atk. Twice" weapons. I think I need to lay down a little knowledge for everyone:

Concordia: An Analysis

[1] Sword Weaponskills: Attack +14
[2] Sword Weaponskills: Critical Hit Rate +1-6%
[3] Darkness/Water/Fire-elemental Blue Magic: Magic Accuracy +3 
                      OR    
     Blue Magic: Physical Attack +3-6

Damage Per Second: 10.3
TP Per Hit: 7.1%

Analysis: First of all, it should be noted this is the highest DMG weapon a Blue Mage can use. Of course, higher DMG is always a plus, but at what cost?

Blue Mage 101: Subs, Traits, 'n' Merits

Good evening, class.

Today, I would like to discuss the particular abilities and traits, innate or otherwise, that your Blue Mage would derive the most benefit from, and the various situations for which they are useful.

Blue Mage 101: Policies, Etiquette & Disciplinary Action

Good evening, class.

First of all, my deepest condolences to Omari regarding the Silver Sea Remnants fiasco. Our hearts are with you.

Anyway, I should have discussed this on the first day of class, and of course I forgot to send you all home with a syllabus. Today, I would like to put a pause on our exploration of Blue Magic to discuss my particular class policies.

Teaching is Learning

So, I was playing around with my Mirage Keffiyeh today and found some really weird stuff. You'd think "Enhances Breath damage" would apply to things that actually come out of your mouth. SE doesn't seem to think so:

Well Played: Rapakya

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

• How to duo Mother Globe
• Soloing Fenrir

Addendum: Rare Swords

Good evening, class.

One of your peers pointed out that I missed a few important swords for Blue Mage during yesterday's lesson. Let's begin.

Blue Mage 101: Your Sword and You

Good evening, class.

Today, I overheard a conversation about a particular sword. Maybe you've heard of it:

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.

Whale Hunting

Omg there is nothing I hate more in the world than Walruses now. I hope BLUs poach them to extinction (which would explain why they don't exist in the present).

At any rate...

Cannonball Vs. Heat Breath - An Analysis

I've decided to write this post due to the severe ignorance that plagues FFXI's BLU community regarding endgame builds.

Now, most people are of the opinion that BLU have no place in endgame whatsoever. Nothing could be more untrue, but I will concede that the odds are stacked inordinately against Blue Mages. To be effective at endgame, BLUs are heavily gear and merit-dependent, and are called on to furnish expensive builds that they aren't afforded many opportunities to use. Even so, BLUs who truly love the job and are committed to it will go the extra mile to offer these builds in certain endgame contexts.