The Beast Within -- A Guide To Blue Mage

spell sets are the biggest reason i haven’t started on blue simulation at all, since there are so many options to set spells and so many that a list of individual spells would be really annoying.

More people need to understand this. Fundamentally, people need to understand that 1000 TP thresholds are simply anchor points.

Think if it like a graph with TP amount on one axis, and fTP Multiplier on the other axis...

For Savage Blade and a few other weaponskills, the line you would draw from the 1000 multiplier to the 2000 muliplier is far more pronounced than the one between 2000 and 3000; however this still means that 1500 TP will grant you a higher multiplier than 1000, meaning store TP can essentially just be treated as extra damage on your WS, regardless of whether or not you're at the next 1000 anchor point.

Of course, not all WS are the same, however, while Resolution benefits from this more linearly, it is still true for most weaponskills.

CDC differs from this a bit, but it still does improve your critical hit rate from being at a higher TP value, and of course follows a similar pattern, having higher rates at 1500 than 1000 etc.

Sorry for restating the point Oraen, I'm sure many people here understand this, but it's also likely that some don't.

In short; on many WS it's better to consider TP per second than hit builds, and that is generally true for all WS, but especially true for some specific WS.

Additionally the point of having a harambillion attack buffs needs to be stressed. Attack ratio's cap out, and when you have lots of buffs, there's only so much attack you actually get credit for. Granted this is more of a concern in large groups with lots of buffs, but it is still something you'll want to know in general. If you want more specific information you should look up the PDIF page on BG-wiki.

I mean... there is literally only one spell set. And it's the only one anyone cares about if we're being honest.

and if you use a lower dps spell set to accommodate situational spells, then no, not really.

Not to mention the optimal DPS spellset for Savage Blade and for CDC are not necessarily the same

Depending on JP and gifts too, it's not as simple as just one set

If you only ever use one spellset on BLU, you're probably *** terrible.

The ones that are terrible are the ones looking here for advice, so seems to be a perfect fit tbh.

and yet, it's still good enough to clear all t4 and master trial using only blu

you don't have to be terrible to recognize blu for what it is, a defensive dps who's best use is doing damage while not dying.. you might swap one or two spells but the dps traits are pretty much going to be the same

alternate sets are for people who blu everything instead of job changing

Sort of, I suppose. Though, while the guide itself is intended for newbies, as always the comment section is usually full of more senior players that look at these things with more nuance. It may simply be the wrong audience for that comment rather than it being completely wrong.

You can get by on BLU with just one DD focused spellset with occultation and magic fruit in it, and honestly, a great deal of BLU on this game would be better off just going with that and not worrying about it... The amount of times I see with someone with battery charge and diamondhide in their spellsets makes my head spin.


Also agree mostly, but not 100%.
I'll just spoiler my opinion so I don't take up the whole page.

I don't understand the role of the BLU/RUN you were just describing, or how it fits into any party configuration

i mean, i pretty much use the same set for everything besides one or two spells unless I'm cleaving, but for the purpose of my simulation, it wouldn't make sense to not have lesser options for the situations someone might find themselves in, be it lesser JPs and gifts or just a un-optimized party setup

i use 3 sets.
Cleaving which is magic focused.
Zerging which is damage focused.
Hybrid which is damage and utility focused for stuff like incursion, SR, HTB with multiple mobs

Let's say you're helping someone with Oryx. Oryx uses Lightning Spear which causes amnesia.

Using x2 unda, barfire and baramnesia with Staunch Tathlum and Hearty Earring you can resist this.

Given you have the choice of doing this, and TPing a bit slower but still getting to WS, or being locked out of WS and having to white damage the NM from full to zero, you can be the judge of which would be faster. It turns a T1 that you sometimes watch full parties embarrassingly wipe to into an easy solo.

This of course is only one example, and not even the best one, it can be used to resist a whole host of ailments, and of course is only worth it in cases where the monster frequently uses these moves, or the potency of the status ailment itself is very profound, but most people in these cases instead of adjusting, simply do not kill the NM, or do so much slower than they could be.

Alternately
If you have WHM and BRD you can simply get a charol with barfire, get baramnesra and set tenacity with spells and you can resist it while still /WAR. Having the Berserk/Warcry/DA may be helpful when you can't use offensive GEO bubbles on him anyway.

Frankly, most people don't even consider this kind of situation. I mean yes, it's situational, but that was our point in the first place.

To return to the point he was making in the first place about the simulator;

Yes even in these situations we only swap out a few spells, but swapping out a few spells can affect the outcome of the simulation, especially given to set situational things like Winds of Promy or Blank Gaze or w/e else, you generally have to give up some form of DD oriented spells unless you're okay with losing your shadows or magic fruit.

And that's... valid, I guess, but the whole point was that "people who only use one spell set are terrible" is misleading in the way that this forum used to bark that "people who don't have every BLU spell are terrible" was

The fact of the matter is that most people have the option of changing the perimeters of a situation in such a way that they aren't required to use obscure configurations on BLU to accomplish a task. Is it great that you can? Of course. The ability to get things done in bizarre ways is one of the game's greatest strengths. That said, anyone who chooses to slum it with a single set that covers one's needs in almost all meaningful content is hardly a poor player

DD layouts typically only change by small amounts between situations, but even said DD layouts can change optimizations in a non-negligible way- especially once you start thinking about things like setting additional DW tiers. The whole purpose of a simulation is to take a look at small changes in gear- and spells can be considered an additional layer of gear.

Now if someone can't be bothered to change a couple spells to fit what's needed or what can at the very least make things easier (looking at the DD layout listed in the guide: Tenebral Crush isn't always useful, you sometimes want another accuracy tier, you sometimes can't afford STP V, you may want White Wind over Magic Fruit, a job-defining defensive spell like Occultation or Cocoon is sometimes needed, etc), then yeah- they're *** terrible.

Sorry if I was coming across as overly coarse, I agree with you completely on this. Just because a job is stretchy does not mean it's always the proper tool to use. I have been playing BLU pretty regularly for years and even I've not bothered getting all the spells, frankly it's unnecessary. As a personal anecdote the only ones outside the norm I'd recommend all who play BLU to get are Winds of Promy, Blank Gaze, and to have both Sweeping Gouge and Tenebral Crush, and maybe Paralyzing Triad.

That of course is just my opinion, but assuming you've got your DD spellset with shadows and cure, you don't need much else. Cocoon maybe, since it's just 1 point and 50% defense. Of course, there's another list of spells you may want to get if you use BLU sub for tanking, but that's an entirely different topic.

I got into this discussion a bit late, I wasn't intending to come across as antagonistic.

*edit* I do consider +/- 1 tier to each job trait being available to set within the norm, so still quite a few spells there, but certainly nowhere near all of them. After all half of these spells if you've done a broad swath of content, you'll probably end up learning them by accident.

Some spells have extremely limited use in the first place, like You see people all over using battery charge, despite that UNMS and Geas Fete refill your MP for each battle, and in AoE situations magic hammer is a far superior option... w/e I'm rambling at this point.

You were probably just rambling at this point, but I still feel the need to point out that setting higher tiers of accuracy in spells is rarely worth it, you're usually better off shuffling a bit of gear, to gain 13 accuracy you have to give up eight blue magic points, where 13 extra acc in gear is usually a trivial swap. You could do Frenetic Rip/Vanity Dive, but then that's 2 slots so... still not ideal

Add that to the fact that BLU is going to have at least Acc III set at any given time, if you're missing, everyone else probably is too. In those cases it's smarter to rethink party setup.

Not really; If we take a look at STP V, that's 8 points for 5 STP. 12 more accuracy is the same number of slots and only 5 points.

That's fair enough, it does return to the point Oraen made earlier though, Acc and Attack can be compensated almost anywhere, store TP on the other hand is a little more rare.

I'd say at that point it boils down to personal opinion.

Anyone who made relic feet +3, diffusion still 5% per merit?

yes, all relic augments are the same.

That's a goddamn shame, so far, there's no reason for BLU really to pursue any of the relic +2/3 gear, it completely lacks any job specific useful stats (Crit, TA, Store TP even). I'm sure ONE piece will have 10% WSD (like the AF body had +10% on the +3 version), it'd better not be the goddamn body again =| make it the head or the legs, but if they give us 2 bodies with WSD+10 on it, I swear, an army of BLUs marching down the streets of Adoulin protesting SE's horrible gear choices lol

i doubt any jobs relic is gonna double up on a 10% WS damage on the same slot as their AF counter part. That just be dumb

You must be new here. This is square we're talking about. Watch the empyrean body have the same wsd10 as well.

Is there really any precedent for that, though?

Requiescat :/

You mean x2 Tellos + Barthunder ? instead of Unda & barfire ?

(Lightning Spear being thunder based)

And cant baramnesia if blu/run ; however might worth a try as rdm/run

Not in use that I know of, but bst has the 7% meghanada +2 hands overlapping the 10%wsd totemic +3 hands. I think most don't have this overlap between ambu and artifact.

Dnc hands also.