I'm working on gearing my BLM and just wanted to make sure I'm going in the right direction. I like /SCH over /RDM or /WHM, if that helps at all.

Here's what I have currently (this is only temporary until I get better stuff):

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- Baqil Staff augmented with MAB +10 and MACC +30
- Hagondes Hat only augmented with MB +5 (Also have Helios augmented with MACC +25, Occult Acumen +10 for MACC set, will likely add MB augment)
- Hagondes Pants augmented with MAB +16 (won't change, hate augmenting)


Here is my next progression goal:

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- Psycloth Vest will be augmented with INT+7, Elemental Skill +20, Enmity -6 (Path D)

I have been using the DPS spreadsheets to help with prioritization. Order I plan to take is: Staff > Head > Waist > Hands +1 > Ammo > Earring


This is my "ideal" set. It's not perfect by any means, but based on my play time, this is what I think I'd probably cap out at:

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- Staff augmented with Path A: MP+80, MAB+25 and Enmity -5 (I may try to go for a Lathi, but not sure to take Path A [MP +80, INT +20, MAB +20] or Path C [INT +15, M ACC +15, MAB +15])

Here, the staff is the biggest improvement to the set, but body is also a great upgrade.

One interesting note... no matter what gear combinations I have in the DPS spreadsheets, Shiva Ring > Acumen. This is using Tojil as my reference point for damage in the spreadsheets. Is that normal?

Unless you are a career BLM with tons of JobPoints I would always say Lathi C) is the safe option. Can change it any time anyway with 3000 silt.

Empy body materials are cheap as hell and gives you a ton of MACC.

Be sure to pick up AF Body 119 for those moments you want to nuke MP neutral -GA spells or suffer from MP shortage.

If you cap at your ideal set you'll be a mediocre blm, you want at least bis burst set and most stuff you listed is outdated.

are these sets for crap mobs or ilvl140+?

The limiting factor here seems to be his playtime and he is fine with being a medicore BLM.

Also the final wave of items is very close now which might or might not define the ultimate BiS till the end of time that is worth working towards.

This is just my nuking set (my MB and M ACC sets arestill a work in progress). I haven't actually used my BLM for anything yet, since I don't have the right gear.

I'm not going for career BLM, I'm looking to get something geared well enough that if we need a BLM for an event, I can jump in and actually contribute. I typically do Vagary, Escha T1-2 (sometimes T3), Incursion, Unity, Merit Battles (typically D). Others do more challenging content, but my lack of playtime makes it tough for me gear up my jobs to contribute so I just don't go.

Kind of bummed that my ideal set is just mediocre... was hoping it was at least a "B" grade.

Just for grins, would someone with BiS mind posting their sets? Would be helpful so I know what to aim for.

Amalric, Amalric everywhere !

(but head)

It's funny, because I've been so focused on getting my Adhemar for BLU and COR, I have no idea how I forgot about Amalric...

I did some comparisons in the DPS sheets and it looks like legs should be my first move (7.5% increase in avg. dmg., 7.9% increase in MB). From there, priority looks like Lathi (Path C), Mizukage (for MB, can't believe I missed this), then a choice between Amalric Hands or Feet (Path D).

Welkin Crown, as far as general MAB and MB, seems to outperform Amalric on paper. Many pieces seem to only give small improvements in certain areas (like Amalric Path D adding .9% over Wicce +1 for general MAB.).

Thanks for all the help!

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Helios pieces have macc/mab + occult + burst.

You can buy everything listed assuming you have the gils and will to do so. This set is for burst which blm is all about these days, agree with Tychefm though, november could bring some better items but as today this is what you should aim at.

Remember lots of power comes from jp's too.

Have people been using a lua that has sets for bursts and the functions to use them?

Hey guys, for the blm empy is there any of the pieces that you would recommend getting as macro pieces? I was thinking as a ele precast but I'm not really sure. This is my first magic job and I'm really enjoying it so far :D

Also, staff wise, is the JSE 99 worth getting or should I just stick to the skirmish staff until something better?

Ya can use Hat for Ele precast. But definetly get Empy Boots. Manawall is an epic JA.

For staffs at the moment Lathi is your goal. Now it's up to you on how easy hunting that is and how much money you are willing to gamble on it. And of course 3 weeksish remaining to find out what your final Staff goal in FF11 might be.

Just lurking I fee like I have half assed my nuke set back to health after 2.5 years away. Anyone like to post a decent drain/aspir and enfeebling set?

The rings in this set can be swapped out with others.
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swap out the sch back, and if you don't wanna deal so much with augment wheel, there should be some AF1/2/3 with dark skill in a few spots.
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edit: enfeebling: forgot blm wasn't on the list for hands.
{Hagondes Cuffs +1 > Lurid Mitts > Psycloth Manillas}

Ok , why Toro Cape Over JSE Cape ?

also here is a VERY Noob-ish Question:

WTF does Magic Damage do ?

Back when I played it was all about MAB+

So wondering which be best to shuve on BLM

MAB or Magic Damage ?

Please explain the difference if you can in a few words and keep it simple ^^;

Simple is nice!

IF you have seen these formulas before, it should be simple to understand the difference between mDMG & MAB.

D = mDMG + V + (dINT × M)

Damage Dealt = D × MTDR × Staff × Affinity × SDT × Resist × MB × MBB × Day & Weather × MAB/MDB × TMDA × Potency Multipliers.

Get an iLv staff, the TotM staves are no good if you resist and the magic accuracy on 119 staves is not something to go without.

Focus on MAB with an understanding that mDMG is basically an increase in 'D' on a weapon for melee jobs. and the starting 'D' is specific to each spell.

'D'@dINT=/0~49/50~99/100~199/200+
Stone 1:/ 10/ 110/ 160/ 160
Stone 5:/ 650/ 950/ 1200/1600

hope this wasn't too lengthy.

I think the simple take-away is usually that +Magic Damage is most valuable on things like T1 spells and Helixes and the like. Stuff with low base damage, INT modifier, etc.

On mid/high tier spells, INT and MAB will tend to do more for you point-for-point.

I still prefer Archmage's(+1) gloves (reforged Relic) for my dark magic set for the raw skill, unless those more practiced can give me a good replacement argument (dark magic skill +17/+19, respectively), and I have a JSE cape augmented with +9 skill and +2 fastcast that is in my set. Legs I use Speakona's Tonban+1 (another +17 skill- btw Reforged Artifact). I'm always a fan of raw skill over just macc if given a choice, in particular with Dark Magic.

I second the request for anyone that has a .lua that has a MB set trigger rather than a set- while I can script "cleanly", I am far from knowing the limits of what Spellcast can do.

I am curious, for the Drain/Aspir set, what are the 2 ideal rings?
Evanescence Ring now makes 3 very viable choices, can't seem to find any testing on Archon Ring to see what overall effect that Dark MAB +5 really has.

What Dark(MAB) is:
http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/108199-Random-Facts-Thread-Other?p=6158404&viewfull=1#post6158404

Info About Drain & Aspir
http://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Category:Drain/Aspir_Spell#Equipment
*the first bulletpoint talks about dark potency stuffs.

#element(MAB) is additive with similar term atmas, atmacites, ToTM staves and in the case of drain/aspir also with the "Drain and Aspir Potency" term.

My own testing on dark(MAB) because everyone I knew at the time thought it was just normal MAB.
http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/108199-Random-Facts-Thread-Other?p=6208019&viewfull=1#post6208019

I too favor skill, striga crown is something i use over pixie.

So that is what i thought it was, which means for Drain/Aspir potency: Excelsis Ring = Archon Ring, then Archon wins via the added accuracy.

These are the sets I currently use for casting various spells on Black Mage. If anyone can offer some advice on what to change or suggest obvious upgrades I have missed I'd really appreciate it.

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If weather/day favors the situation the Eschan Stone is swapped out for Hachirin-no-Obi. Helios Band has Magic Accuracy+20 Magic Atk. Bonus+20 Occult Acumen+7 Magic Burst Damage+10% on it. Amalric Doublet and Slops are A Path while the Gages and Nails are D Path. Pixie Hairpin +1 goes in for Comet.


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Puts me at 45% through gear factoring in the Mujin Band. Do we know if the Locus Ring mirrors the Mujin Band and breaks the 40% cap? If so, do they stack? If so, this set is 50%.

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Helios Gloves and Helios Boots have fairly high Magic Accuracy and Magic Atk Bonus on them and both have Occult Acumen+7. I generally return around 650mp from a T6 nuke while using this.

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Primarily focused on Enfeebling Magic Skill and Magic Accuracy. Vanya Robe is C Path and Psycloth Lappas are D Path.

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Helios Spats have Magic Accuracy+20 and Drain/Aspir Potency+10. I think this one needs some work but it generally nets me good returns.

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Was it ever determined if Dark Magic Skill factors into Death's damage and resist rates? If not then should I go back to using Amalric Doublet/Slops? Gloves are in there because I generally don't cast Death unless I'm bursting it.

The rings don't stack. Locus does not break the cap. However, Amalric Gages breaks the 40% cap as well, and will stack with Mujin Band to get you to 50%

Oh ok, thanks for the information.

I'd find it difficult to take out the Archmage Gloves+1 for Amalric as that would put me at 40%. Should I be aiming for 10% on Helios Boots and use them over Amalric Nails? If I do that then I will hit 50%.

Edit: Oh damn. Turns out I didn't find it too difficult. I think I just killed my luck for a few weeks. First use of a Duskdim Stone+1 got me 10% on the boots. I'll put Helios Boots in for Amalric Nails for that set.

Yeah BLMs use helios head and feet atm for getting best +MB without sacrificing a lot. However in 3 days time everything might be turned upside down so not really worth investing into augments atm.

It has now been turned upside-down.

As expected. The theoretical maximum augments are pure insanity.


So far we know that with Pullucid stone the +MAB can go up to +40MAB with insane luck. From my own experience spamming mage gear I'd say you can get a roll of 30+MAB in about every 50 Pellucid stones used on average.

This outclasses NQ Amalric head of course, body, legs and feet. Hands will still be good for MBing. Even tho Merlinic hands have no stats towards BLM whatsoever they can still beat amalric for nukes outside of MB with godly augments.


Comparing HQ Amalric:
Head - same MAB with a +21 MAB augment
Body - same MAB with a +31 MAB augment for A) or +36 for D)
Feet - same MAB with a +35 MAB augment
Legs - HQ Amalric legs have 6 more MAB in path A) compared to perfect MAB Merlinic or 11 more with path D)
Hands - HQ Amalric hands have 10 more MAB than perfect MAB Merlinic

This is just going by the raw MAB. These new sets can also get a ton of +MACC, INT and MagicBurst.

So ya if you own HQ Amalric you use the Hands and Legs now to retain the set bonus while shooting for epic augments INT/MACC/MAB/MBbonus on the new armor. However you still might want some Merlinic legs for a full MACC set.

Returning player. Currently using the Magian staffs, what staff should I be shooting for as a next step

Maybe start at eminent and work on getting a Keraunos from Alluvion Skirmish then augment it. That was the previous best, I think the current best is still Lathi from Escha but Keraunos will get you in a situation where you can BLM endgame stuff.