Sorry if this was mentioned already but I tried looking for this but struggled a bit:
- Which spells do people usually use specifically for AOEing and STing? Some searching in the forums told me dark orb, tenebral, entomb, spectral floe.
The go-to primary nukes are the Adoulin elemental mob spells; Spectral Floe, Entomb, Tenebral Crush, Searing Tempest, Blinding Fulgor, Scouring Spate, Anvil Lightning, and Silent Storm. Usually you utilize whichever element(s) are favorable for your targets. Otherwise, among those Spectral Floe & Entomb are particularly useful since they inflict terror and petrification respectively. Those effects helps considerably when you're doing large group cleaves since it will pause incoming attacks for a period of time. Anvil Lightning has a stun effect as well, and Blinding Fulgor has a flash effect.
Special mention to Subduction; while not as strong as the Adoulin elemental spells, it is a very cheap cost and quick cast AoE spell that inflicts gravity. Useful for finishing off hanger-ons with low HP or if you need to suddenly start kiting because of a slip-up.
EDIT: As far as extra buffs/utility for when nuking; Sound Blast is very useful utility to have slotted in when you know you are going to be doing AoE'ing since it is an AoE INT debuff. This will assist your output if the mobs you are fighting don't die in a single cast. Memento Mori is also a short duration magic attack bonus buff you can put up just before performing nukes. Carcharian Verve gives you a very long duration and very durable Aquaveil effect to avoid interrupts. Occultation is a no brainer for blink shadows to dodge hits as well. Barrier Tusk for phalanx to help reduce incoming autoattack damage.
Damage wise, BLU will never compete with BLM or SCH for single target nuking by a longshot. You're likely to see yourself doing a few thousand damage up to 10kish range depending on gear, buffs, and targets. You can get some decent magic bursts during skillchains but you are limited by the requirement of Burst Affinity being activated and that has a 2 minute cooldown. BLU shines in situations where multi-target cleaving trash mobs is viable, which isn't always possible such as Odyssey where AoE damage gets nerfed. I mostly utilize it for exp & merit farming but I know I've seen videos of people utilizing it in Sortie for trash mobs. The petrification effect of Entomb comes in handy more often than you'd think.
