The Beast Within -- A Guide To Blue Mage

So for the second time in a month I have done testing on something I knew was wrong. There are a few tiny situations that make Almace a decent mainhand, these include and are 100% limited to, Monsters that take huge SC dmg and Fights that require you to make light skillchains.

SO here we go!

9%? over Tizona/Thib? Not in any remote realm of possibility. I went out and tested this, It's not even close. what are your dps numbers? I ask because I fought the same mobs, with actual bis slot gear. No geo buffs at all because none is better than trust trash. No cor Rolls, no brd songs, no food.

Tiz/Thib is 298.985% higher dps than Almace/Seq
Tiz/Thib is 149.800% higher dps than Almace/Naeg
Tiz/Thib is 258.789% higher dps than Seq/Thib
Tiz/Thib is 157.654% higher dps than Seq/Naeg
Tiz/Thib is 311.755% higher dps than Naeg/Seq
Tiz/Thib is 192.066% higher dps than Naeg/Almace
Tiz/Thib is 173.401% higher dps than Tiz/Almace

Why this stuff keeps getting questioned I have no idea. So as always ignore this, hate it, call me crazy, I don't care.

I mean it gets ignored because there is literally no way possible ANY sword combo is 300% better than any other sword combo.

Dudes testing is horribly flawed, probably not even acc capped with thibron. But as Eiryl said, nothing is 300% ahead..

In regards to spells like Thrashing Assault and Sinker Drill, since we use those more than others for Light/Dark Skillchains with Chain Affinity...

Would it be beneficial to individually gear for each spell?

Such as Machi Earring +1s for Thrashing Assault(8DEX each and 10 Acc), over Tati Earring+1s? - Or is that Physical I set just a general-purpose set for all spells for the lazy-boi that doesn't want to clutter inventory with more equipment for specific spells.

Likewise with STR Mods for Sinker Drill? I believe Ranged Attack affects this too, no?

When do the amount of mods added start to outweigh the defaults we use for Magical Nukes?(Shiva Ring +1 for example).

Would 5 STR 5 DEX beat 9 INT and 3 MAB? Unsure if the mods matter with BLU Spells as much as Mods work with Weaponskills now.

I don't mind the extra storage space, as I have MW 3 & 4...However, I want to be as optimal as possible, and if it will be significant enough to matter, I'd be willing to invest the time into getting gearset mods for specific spells to plop into my LUA.

Thank you for your answers and sorry if they are dumb to suggest.

Aside from the whole 300% is bs thing, you're probably being ignored because you sound like a zealot. It's true that Tiz/Thib is best in the vast majority of situations, and can generally be considered the king combo, but Almace is not a weak weapon. It works very well soloing non trivial mobs who take at least normal skillchain damage. It also works well in amnesia heavy fights, where the AM and probably improved dDex will make a more meaningful impact on overall dps than it would otherwise. The whole absolute bis-or-nothing thing is not the only way to play the game.

Possibly, but there'd be a couple main considerations there.

First is, like you mentioned, the degree that it'd really be worth bothering with. It's fairly rare to rely on physical spells for damage these days, even for CA. So, personally, I don't think it'd be worth adding to what you're carrying for those. That said, if you're already toting along appropriate pieces (per your example, Mache +1 are already something you'd want for CDC) then sure, might as well.

The second thing applies more to nukes as well, and that's the overall stats of gear in those sets. Items with a good amount of MAB tend to be paired with INT. Physical spells were adjusted to utilize ATT in the Adoulin era, along with main hand DMG. So, similarly, you end up with things with a lot of ATT paired with STR, which is largely the direction the sets in the guide go.

There are exceptions, like how Pixie Hairpin +1 wins out for anything relevant, or how big a benefit the obscene MDMG is on Abmuscade weapons for nuking. Overall though, the general sets given tend to combine multiple things you want.

The what if scenarios are always present but Tiz/Tib is very much a head of other options.

To the point that if a mob has amnesia I’ll be in full pinga+1 meva build before swapping in a different MH.

Using Tiz/Trib, everyone still using the same BLu spells? Or are people removing the skill chain damage and crit hit damage for accuracy or DA etc.

Guys, So for the second time in a month I have done testing on something I knew was wrong.

I have R15 Tizona and all BIS gear. My GEO and BRD alts don't have R15 idris and carn, so I just went naked with no buffs VS albumen. I waited in zone for two hours to make sure that my vorseals had worn off for each fight. I didn't use any kind of parse or log capture. I just eyeballed it and here are the results.

Tiz/thib 1983698.983763648790% ahead of #9
Tiz/thib 12384.87958759856534% ahead of #10
Tiz/thib 12384.87958759856533% ahead of #11
Tiz/thib 298734-08923-74.328723t342 % ahead of #1

Why this stuff keeps getting questioned I have no idea. So as always ignore this, hate it, call me crazy, I don't care.

why post this? everyone knows Tiz/Thib is the best, we don't need any numbers, real or not, stating it.

Adding to the dogpile on Faibel: the spreadsheet indicates that r15 Almace/Zantetsuken is about 2% better than r15 Almace/Naegling for pure CDC spam (the difference is almost entirely due to the 3% QA).

Empirically, I find Zantetsuken to be a generally better OH than Naegling for physical damage weaponskills. (Almace is still the better OH for CDC spam when you aren't mainhanding it.)

All things being equal though, r15 Tiz/thib expiacion spam is still far and away the highest damage combo for pure physical damage--even moreso in group content when you aren't reliably skillchaining.

Machaera +2 is perfectly fine if you don't want to grind out the Thibron (who does?); there is only a negligible difference between them.

Assuming you (1) are spamming Expiacion, (2) are using Tiz MH, and (3) have an irrational fear of using a TP bonus OH: Zantetsuken > Almace AG = Sequence > Naegling.

I personally change BLU spells all the time based on the situation; if you aren't making use of the crit damage boost trait from Sinker Drill or the SC bonus trait from Paralyzing Triad, then swap them out. I usually go for defensive spells to replace those slots (many options for both physical and magical damage reduction).

One question guys. If i want MAB V with 500 JP. i must set 24 trait points?.
Heat breath(4), reactor cool(4), magic hammer(4), dream flower(4), and subduction (8)?
thank you

No, at 500 you'd need 32 since you haven't gotten the second +1 trait gift at 1,200 JP yet.

https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Blue_Mage_Job_Traits#Magic_Attack_Bonus
I see 24 :S
I´m trying to understand how it works.

You want V

100/1200 gets you +1

You need to set IV to get V @ <1200

IV is 24 "set points"

3 / 9 / 16 / 24

It's confusing because they use "set points" not "trait points"

You need 32 "trait points"
Magic Attack Bonus – [Increases magic attack. I: +20, II: +24, III: +28, IV: +32, V: +36, VI: +40][Cursed Sphere (4), Sound Blast (4), Eyes On Me (4), Memento Mori (4), Heat Breath (4), Reactor Cool (4), Magic Hammer (4), Dream Flower (4), Subduction (8), Spectral Floe (8)]

Understood. Thanks a lot. Didnt see that each trait tier is 8 points

For those wondering, the DPS numbers I have recorded down are:

Legend: MH/OH/DPS/Acc MH/Acc OH

Alm R15/Nae/3850/~1350/~1350
Tiz R15/Thib/3500/~1400/~1120 (had to use food to acc cap OH)
Alm R15/Col/3550/~1350/~1350

A few additional notes:

• As I said earlier, I was trying my best to do an unbiased study to see which combination is best and I got these numbers, which contradicts the common belief that Tiz/Thib is better. I am just trying to contribute to the community and to those who care about finding the truth, and not about being right or wrong. Unfortunately I seemed to have offended a few by sharing the data I have collected, which was not my intent.
  

• I made a typo in my OP, Alm R15/Colada actually beats out TizR15/Thib as well (I ranked it as third)
  

• I have a seq, but when I did it OH, it was actually worse, so I didn't bother include in the numbers
  

• The DPS does not include any SC dmg, which would pull the AlmR15/XXX sets even further ahead

I'm wondering if it would help to specify my spell set I used for all my tests (which is more geared towards CDC)

Molting Plumage
Delta Thrust
Barbed Crescent
Thrashing Assault
Acrid Stream
Heavy Strike
Diffusion Ray
Sudden Lunge
Fantod
Sickle Slash
Tail Slap
Err Flutter
Mag Fruit
Sinker Drill
Nat. Med'n
Anvil Light
Para Triad
Glut. Dart
Cocoon


Those numbers do seem very different than what I got. Would you be able to elaborate more on the conditions you tested this? It's hard to imagine a 3x DPS difference between Tiz R15 /Thib and Alma R15/ Naeg when the WS dmg between expia and CDC in both cases are not 3x greater.

Like I pointed out last page. While it sounds absolutely ridiculous (because it is) You're running solo/trust numbers, no one cares about those scenarios. And they're just going to give you ***for it relentlessly.

Obviously the further you are from "maximum buffs" critical damage is going to be really good.

I promise you that absolutely not a single person on this forum (except you) cares about dps numbers without frailty/fury/no less than 2 regal rolls/and no less than +6 songs x3~4

That makes sense. I was hoping to test it in Dyna-D wave 3 with proper buffs, but my LS group has crumbled and I haven't been able to play much recently (in fact the data I shared is about 3 months old, but I wanted to see what the community thought about it). Personally I would like the Tiz R15/Thib combo to win out since I spent so much time building that set.

I wouldn't worry about offending those people who take offense to you simply questioning the wisdom of proselytizing Tiz/Thib as the "bis option for all scenarios".

However, my initial response to your "testing" is basically what was said earlier; you aren't attack capping in that test. This may seem inconsequential to you, but when you are severely under the pDIF cap for what you are fighting: attack buffs will greatly affect your dps--to the point where I find it likely the only reason you found Tiz/Thib to be so far below the Almace/XX combos was due to the lack of sword rating and attack stats on the Thibron.

Secondly, to anyone who thinks Tiz/Thib is only ever beaten when severely under attack cap (or never): you are wrong. Even at attack cap, if you are able to make use of CDC's Light SC property (i.e. solo DD situations; basically anytime you are soloing), Almace/XX or Tiz/Almace spamming CDC will do about the same (or slightly more) damage than Tiz/Thib spamming Expiacion if you count SC damage (and why wouldn't you count it?). In those scenarios, the balance tips even more in the favor of CDC spam if you can make use of Allies' Roll.

i have been away from the game too long can someone tell me what weapon is Thib is it the magian tp bonus ?

Right, Magian TP Bonus.

i may actually have the augments to make that sword work guess i'll build a tizona at some point

How much acc is too much acc for trying to build around tp bonus thibron?

This is what I'm using right now:

ItemSet 368249

Right now, the Tizona is rank 13, neck is 20 but I'm working on em. Also working on a Telos to replace the Cessance. Adhemar is all path A for more acc. Herc feet are 3Qa with a negligible (like 13) amount of acc.

Basically wondering if I should shift anything around once the tizona is 15 and the neck is 25. Maybe drop out the Kentarch for hq windbuffet again? idk

Anybody know if the Orpheus's sash works for Blu Magic? And if so, how much? 40-50 mil seems a bit extreme lol.

Its does and its great since you are typically standing near the target when casting.

Highly depends on the content/particular mob you are attacking. I would suggest making at least 3 tiers of accuracy sets: one max acc set, one middle tier set for general purpose item level content, and one floored acc set for old content/when superbuffed.

I would personally use Windbuffet +1 over Kentarch and set another tier of DW blu spell traits so you can use Telos over Suppa (Telos/Cessance/Dedition are all amazing options) for your set.

This is my highest tier acc set:

ItemSet 368272

Adhemar Kecks -> Samnuha, Rings -> Epona's/Hetairoi/Ilabrat, and Dampening Tam -> Adhemar Bonnet would make a decent middle tier acc set.

The key is to be flexible and update your sets if you find you aren't acc capped or are way over acc capped.