Im a newbie to BLM (I understand nothing) Help?

[sirina]

Ok first I would like to say this....I have not really been playing since I got this game , I did lv my theif to lv 32 and warrior to 17 bla bla but thouse are mele and lower levels so I hear and I never paid much attention to the many terms of anything or really knew how skill chains worked , I knew but I didnt know enough and no one expected any skill chains from me apparently till lv 25 and that was SATA which I still never got down (reason i went mage bla bla ) anyway I would like any help i can get on basic Need to knows for black mage even if i have been playing for months Im still a newbie in this way and I would like help and encourgment if possible rather then critisisum for not knowing enough , because that doesnt help at all ; ; . My WHM is level 19 and My BLM is ...10 I would actually like tips for whm to but I wanted to lv blm today and for the next week till I hit lv 20 so I mainly need some basics on BLM. Like for instance anything even the term nukes would be useful haha , ya i know im pathetic....Iv tried reading other threads ...again with damage /skill game launguage I dont understand ...I really want to hit around 60 or 70 in whm by the new year if possible so help is very needed.

[neighbortaru]

give these threads a read:
New to FFXI, BLM party basics

Started with an BlackMage

and for any terms you don't understand, you can look it up on http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/index.php/Main_Page

[Gwynn]

General tips and terms for BLM:

Nuke: This is an all encompassing term for spells that hurt the mobs. Your general bread and butter nukes are your Elemental spells (the different levels of Stone, Water, Aero, Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells). Drain (a spell that takes HP from the mob and gives it to you) and Aspir (spell that takes MP from the mob and gives it to you) are also under this category.

Debuffs/Enfeebles: Spells that weaken the mob, such as Dia, Bio, Blind, Poison, Burn, Choke, Rasp, etc.

Buffs/Enhancing: This isn't really BLM territory, but these are spells that help out you and your party members such as Protect, Shell, Bar-element spells, etc.

Another important group of spells for BLM are Warp, Warp II, and Escape. Warp allows you to return to your Home Point, Warp II returns others to their home point, and Escape will take the entire party out of a Dungeon-type zone.

General tips for BLM:

Don't overnuke. Space out your damage spells so you don't get too much hate and draw aggro. Generally start out the battle with some enfeebling spells, then wait until the tank has sufficient enough hate to start nuking.

Cure when needed. You have your /WHM sub for a reason. If the tank is dying, don't be afraid to throw out healing spells to bring him/her back up to decent health. This should be the WHM/RDM/SMN's job, but sometimes you have to help out as well.

Keep your spells up to date. A mage is useless without the proper spells for the job. Try to carry your spell scrolls with you when you EXP so that you can use them right when you level.

Use the right sub. /WHM and /RDM are going to be your two subs of choice, so use the right sub for the right party.

Use food. Either use cookies (Ginger cookies are cheap and effective) to regain MP faster when you /heal, or use pies to boost your INT and MP.

Don't neglect your gear. Buy gear that focuses on raising your +MP while healing, INT, and +MP.

Take time to raise your magic skills. Try to keep your Elemental Magic, Enfeebling Magic, and Dark Magic skills up as high as possible, as these are an important factor in the effectiveness of your spells.


There are many more things to consider than this, but these are the basic guidelines to follow in EXP parties. I hope you found this useful.

[Mog]

General tips and terms for BLM:

Nuke: This is an all encompassing term for spells that hurt the mobs. Your general bread and butter nukes are your Elemental spells (the different levels of Stone, Water, Aero, Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells). Drain (a spell that takes HP from the mob and gives it to you) and Aspir (spell that takes MP from the mob and gives it to you) are also under this category.

Debuffs/Enfeebles: Spells that weaken the mob, such as Dia, Bio, Blind, Poison, Burn, Choke, Rasp, etc.

Buffs/Enhancing: This isn't really BLM territory, but these are spells that help out you and your party members such as Protect, Shell, Bar-element spells, etc.

Another important group of spells for BLM are Warp, Warp II, and Escape. Warp allows you to return to your Home Point, Warp II returns others to their home point, and Escape will take the entire party out of a Dungeon-type zone.

General tips for BLM:

Don't overnuke. Space out your damage spells so you don't get too much hate and draw aggro. Generally start out the battle with some enfeebling spells, then wait until the tank has sufficient enough hate to start nuking.

Cure when needed. You have your /WHM sub for a reason. If the tank is dying, don't be afraid to throw out healing spells to bring him/her back up to decent health. This should be the WHM/RDM/SMN's job, but sometimes you have to help out as well.

Keep your spells up to date. A mage is useless without the proper spells for the job. Try to carry your spell scrolls with you when you EXP so that you can use them right when you level.

Use the right sub. /WHM and /RDM are going to be your two subs of choice, so use the right sub for the right party.

Use food. Either use cookies (Ginger cookies are cheap and effective) to regain MP faster when you /heal, or use pies to boost your INT and MP.

Don't neglect your gear. Buy gear that focuses on raising your +MP while healing, INT, and +MP.

Take time to raise your magic skills. Try to keep your Elemental Magic, Enfeebling Magic, and Dark Magic skills up as high as possible, as these are an important factor in the effectiveness of your spells.


There are many more things to consider than this, but these are the basic guidelines to follow in EXP parties. I hope you found this useful.

Guess that saves her the trouble of searching it.

[Srxjo]

follow what Gwynn said and incase you dont know

Aggro is when the mob attacks you
Hate is the same as aggro basically, and your tank need more hate so you wont get hit so dont over nuke like Gwynn said

IMO BLM is really hard to lvl in the dunes

[Icemage]

...I really want to hit around 60 or 70 in whm by the new year if possible so help is very needed

Most of your questions were answered above, but I'd like to point out that going from WHM19 to WHM60 in 2 months when you don't understand the fundamentals is a very tall order.

Why such a hurry? The game servers aren't being shut off any time soon. Take your time and enjoy your playing experience. This isn't a race; you're not going to magically "finish" the game when you hit level 75. I've been level 75 for almost 3 years now and I've yet to do everything in the game. Not even close.


Icemage

[sirina]

Most of your questions were answered above, but I'd like to point out that going from WHM19 to WHM60 in 2 months when you don't understand the fundamentals is a very tall order.

Why such a hurry? The game servers aren't being shut off any time soon. Take your time and enjoy your playing experience. This isn't a race; you're not going to magically "finish" the game when you hit level 75. I've been level 75 for almost 3 years now and I've yet to do everything in the game. Not even close.


Icemage

I dont know Ive been playing since march and I never really leveled that much and I feel so weak , All my online friends are around level 50 or 75 and I never get to hang out with them , I really want to hurry and level so I dont have to think about the fact that I havent . Then I can also do a bunch of quest and things with out depending so much on other people ...but the rushing thing...I think thats just cause im a bit of a perfectionist...

[Kitalrez]

Hmm, well the first thing I would suggest to any lower level BLM, (having grouped with a ton of not-so-great ones), is the following:

1. Let people hit it a little before you start casting.
2. Your first spell should always be an "enfeeble", unless the skillchain starts the battle, then go with a magic bursting "Nuke", and "Enfeeble" a little later.
3. Wait in between spells, maybe this is a good time to take a seat and heal some mp.
4. When you do start nuking, unless you're bursting on that spell, maybe you want to use a slightly lower level nuke instead of your shiny new one. You'll notice those lower spells are a bit more mp-efficient until you raise your Elemental Magic skills some.
5. Look around you before you use an Area Effect or "ga" spell. Pullers rarely clear the camp site completely if something's not going to aggro/link, and doesn't give great exp.
6. DO NOT burn all your mp down whenever possible. If you're in a dungeon, especially, get used to saving some mp in reserve. Escape costs about 100 mp, and is very very helpful when you don't want to walk ALL the way back to camp if things are going badly and you might wipe.
7. If you're working with a Ninja tank, Flood or other AMs are probably not your wisest choice for damage. Yes, you might crit for 3k, but that does no one any good if three seconds later you're face down with 400 mp left.

[Buzer]

One thing that you really should remember: Don't attack monster before it's on tank (except if puller got link & you are positive party can manage to kill one while keeping other one slept and in that case only use Sleep on the other), especially if you have a thief in party who knows howto do SATA to get some decent initial hate on tank. If you do, there is a high chance it will go after you right away, no matter how small spell you casted.

And about skillchains, ask from party in the begin which skillchains they are going to use. If they don't tell (usually due to fact party is mixed JP/NA and either doesn't know howto use auto-translator properly), try to keep an eye on enemy and see if there will be some kind of special effect on it after weapon skill. If there is, wait unitl enemy is dead and put chat on full-screen mode (+, enter) and check which skills were used to make it. After that, try to follow when the initial skill is used and then get your MB nuke ready & wait unitl the next is used. You will learn the timing when to use it eventually (for me it's usually when I see that it's used on chat). Of course, sometimes people use WSs without intention on SC, so just wait a while to see if the other person is following or not. If they aren't, go back to do whatever you were doing before the first WS.

Oh yeah, and a good weapon to get is Pilgrim's Wand. It's pretty easy to get, but really useful during early levels (I used it 18 (when I got it)-51 (when I started using Dark Staff) for resting). http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Pilgrim's_Wand