The Beast Within -- A Guide To Blue Mage

Alternative tp sets are provided on the front page of this thread. If you dont like Adhemar, look into geltis body instead. Gketis legs are also solid but I find i have a *** of a time capping haste without Malignance legs on. I always have kirin belt on my tp sets so can't make up haste there.

Also, for what it's worth, I use those Adhemar swaps in Dynamis a d never have issue with survivability. Don't understimate barrier tusk, cocoon and occulation.

My issue with the front page is it does not handle the difference between AM3 up/down (or cor rolls) which is a huge deal

AM3 down Eponas beats chirich +1 AM3 up its reversed
AM3 down Adhemar gloves is a big boost in TP speed. but with AM3UP its slight slower compared to malignance and missing the defensive traits
AM3 down DA cape beats STP cape. AM3 up STP cape beats DA cape
AM3 down coiste bodhar eats augur orb +1 with malignance set. but AM3 up is reversed.

AM3 and Cor rolls are huge impact on the balance between MA and STP in your TP set. keeping the same cape along can be a loss at up to 5% speedup of TP gains

It's a guide for new players. By the time a player gets Tizona + full malignance, they are going to be better off using the All Jobs python tool to min-max their own gear vs. a specific target, or getting into the weeds with other BLU here in the comments, rather than going with prefab sets.

There's nothing stopping you from writing your own guide if you disagree, however.

The author of this guide passed away earlier this year, so it's unlikely the front page will be updated again.

Savage -> Expi (Distortion) is probably ideal anyway to maximize DPS when self skillchaining, right?

I'm a relatively recent Tizona R15 owner, and while Expiacion is comfortably my spammable go-to for pure WS damage, I've had to adjust to Expi not SCing with itself like so many other jobs' notable WS. Since Savage with Tizona is pretty solid too, I've assumed (but not tested closely) that, in general, if I'm not getting SCs interrupted by others, Expi->Savage plus the additional Distortion damage is probably enough to make up for the decrease in WS damage from using a Savage Blade. Do people here disagree?

FWIW, using TP bonus Thibron offhand and pretty high end but not flawless WS set (e.g., no R30 Ody gear).

Some report savage->expi=distortion works best, others say requiescat->expi=darkness is better. I think it depends on target weakness so depending on circumstances both can pull ahead.
Advantage from darkness is you can add the occasional burst affinity tenebral MB on top which you'll have equiped most of the time and will have to cast for the def down anyway.

please read the context of which you are replying to.
I was not saying the guide was bad. I was responding to the prior post on why I wasn't just looking at the sets in the front pagee as he suggested

This debate started with me asking for thing I missed to swap in TP set for AM3 up/down.
Atrox78 then said "read the front page" not understanding why that is not the answer to my question
So I clarified why that is not the answer to my specific question.

besides weaknes you also have highly different dps factors here
SB +EXP = 2strong ws + 0.6 of a strong ws
Req +expir = weak WS + strong ws +1.0 of a strong ws

Napkin math you req has to do more than 0.6 of the damage of EXP/SB with you to come out ahead

in other word if you req sets is poor SB+exp is going to pull ahead

No set is going to make Requiestcat do close to 60% of Savage / Expiacion damage... atleast on any target that matters.

With "besides weakness" he already whiped away the case where I assume people observed it pulling ahead, not to mention the burst affinity TC MB.

I guess if you have high/max nyame augs it tilts in favor of savage->expi more often than not because I think both WS scale a lot better with it than what ever odyssey armors do for requie. If you're still dealing with a mix of adhemar +1, herc, ambu and REMA armor +2/3 imho it's a closer race between the two.

If you're in mostly beginner gear, getting up AM3 then spamming CDC isn't a horrible option

It's good to know your SC options regardless. Not only for when you can score the extra damage by hitting them but also so you can know when to NOT. Such as when *** mobs rage when they get hit with water element SC's or when you are forced to have WS variance by the WS wall(I hate you sortie).

Poor wording on my part if it sounded like i meant othewise. I agree with this
Maybe it should have flipped it said said if you SB WS set is crappy and req is good it could pull ahead.

But yeah SB +exp is my go to when not spamming ws with others

IIRC day/weather also impacts SC dmg. Dark weather is pretty much omnipresent in FFXI current endgame, so this should be considered, unless your distortion and darkness deals cap dmg by default.

Good point
I believe SC has chance to proc weather bonus, and you can force it with obi just like with spells

Fellow Blue Mages, I'm interested in trying BLU, but don't think I've seen a single one in any content I've done. What content are you able to play BLU in regularly?

Blue mage is solid for Odyssey, whether it's segments or 2nd/3rd KIs on bosses or whatever, since it has strong slashing and blunt options. It's also good for low-man Sortie. And any content under these two things you don't lose much by bringing BLU to DD. I don't get a chance to play my BLU since it's on my alt that usually comes COR or GEO but I'd like to get more use out of it in party play in the future for sure.

It's an off-meta job with extremely useful (but mostly niche to some people) value, so you won't see it replace any of the primary jobs for the current endgame content. You can use it just fine in most endgame content, though, and it's superb in midtier stuff.

Things I use BLU for (mostly solo, but some group stuff): Tokens, Limbus, Ichor, Soloing Omen bosses, used to use it for HTBF but RDM is kinda better, solo or lowman Sortie, Dynamis-D (cleaving is fun), Segments (it's competitive, and you can land Frightful Roar on mostly everything to enhance DPS), several of the Gaol Bosses, Ambuscade, and probably a few other things I am forgetting. It's used the the currently-used Bumba strat. It's my go-to job for chores like Peculiar Foes, clearing Escha NMs for Aeonics solo, etc. When well-geared, it can be used in place of a meta job and perform satisfactory, even essential for some of the Gaol bosses at higher veng levels; it's not going to pump out dps numbers like a WAR, heal like a WHM/SCH, Tank like a RUN/PLD, or enfeeble like a RDM, but it has a decent niche.

I've said it before, but most off-meta jobs can "fit" in endgame content. You can use BLU in Sortie 8 boss if you want, just like Papesse finds a way to use SMN there at a high level. It has the benefit of not competing with Savage Blade wherever there is a WS wall, and it can use Black Halo if it ever needs to fall back on Blunt DPS. You can use BLU just fine in most spots, it's severely underrated. The combination of it being a niche job, coupled with the fact that not many "good" ones get to showcase what it's capable of is generally why they're not sought after.

Mboze, Bumba, can be used for Kalunga. Good for Gigelorum. Good for segments.

Can cleave in Dynamis [D] or in Sortie, though it's not as good as the meta builds.

Great for Delve, Incursion. Anything related to mythics.

The problem with BLU is that is could fit into basically anything, but it's rarely the best or strictly necessary for a lot of strats, so most people don't bring it. You CAN bring BLU to just about anything, unless the strat is really strict and there's no room for flexibility, which is rare.

If you can get over the meta and people's opinions, it's perfectly acceptable in most anything.

Its also good to solo most of the Omen Bosses including Ou (only Kei might be a struggle) and Shinryu VD if you dont know what to of your merits even tho Su4/5 RDM if is better here, it will still get the job done.

Very solid info, thank you all! I'll start working on BLU on the side and see how that goes.

Love BLU, to me its the job I get everrything done on, most mentioned above, but also abyssea its very versatile for procs and cleaving

Anyone have a recommended Flat Blade set?

What's the purpose of the set, stun land rate or damage? I've never heard of a Flat Blade set for BLU. 5/5empy/acc+macc accessories for land rate, nyame is fine for damage.

I asked what the purpose was because Flat Blade does terrible damage so nobody bothers gearing for it specifically outside of a catch-all WSD set, but BLU has Sudden Lunge and it's incredibly superior as a Stun move. I can't think of any reason to use Flat Blade over Sudden Lunge, unless you're creating a multistep SC, in which case Nyame and WSD pieces are fine.

Purpose is skill chain.

Red Lotus > Flat Blade = Fusion > Savage Blade = Light > CDC = Light. Currently I am using my Savage Blade set.

Head: Nyame
Body: Nyame
Neck: JSE +1
Ammo: Oshasha's Treatise
Ear1: Regal Earring
Ear2: Ishvara
Hands: Adhemar +1 (A)
Ring1: Epamindondas's Ring
Ring2: Sroda
Waist: Sailfi belt +1
Legs: Nyama
Feet: Nyama
Back: JSE Str and WSD

If it's just for SC then damage doesn't matter, it's a stun it won't do much anyway. Nyame for SC bonus and acc accessories to land it. WSD is not needed.

If you didn't know you can start the SC with Expiacion infront of Red Lotus. However, I find it gets sketchy even without another WS in the chain to reach TP quick enough sometimes without a sam role. I'd also focus on acc, maybe macc if you want the stun, but in my experience it doesn't land or last at all.

If you play solo a lot, which I assume you do since you're wearing sroda, it might make sense to add some STP in and maybe go for FTP necks and belt both for Red Lotus and Flat Blade. At least worth considering if you find yourself missing the window by just a bit every now and then.

Yes i am aware it can be started with Expiacion which then makes it a 5 hit.

Thank you. I will take that into consideration.