[Takelli]

I play on the Alexander server, and every day I seem to run into more and more low level black mages. My last 5 parties I was with a black mage (one with two of them). And 3/5 of those parties, we where doing skill chains/MBs...

I thought I'd never see another MB since ToAU came out... I don't have an issue with this, infact I am glad. But are BLMs really starting to make a come back? And we are finally leaving the TP burn era of FFXI, and re-enteruing a SC/MB era?

[hexx]

Doubt it, reason why people level BLM is cuz they are a rare commodity nowadays. All LS's want them for events, but hardly anyone will help them level or re-cap buffers and such. Only reason I would level it is to get accepted into an endgame shell.

[Takelli]

Originally Posted by hexx

Doubt it, reason why people level BLM is cuz they are a rare commodity nowadays. All LS's want them for events, but hardly anyone will help them level or re-cap buffers and such. Only reason I would level it is to get accepted into an endgame shell.

:/

I love how BLMs deal damage though. They can deal huge amounts of damage in a party situation, and they can be used to gain faster exp/hour as well if people invited them in exp parties again. I HATED the ToAU expansion though. Colibri... I think that is what really killed BLM. A party of mine did SC/MB with RDM healing, and teh RDM was doing the MB, and we hit some pretty impressive numbers on the MB (AND we had a GREAT time doing it too.).

Well, if people start using the old leveling spots, then blm might come back for exp parties, instead of doing pure burn, or soloing. I do hope they come back as Mbing, and Scing was fun in the days...

[Malacite]

There seriously should be a server-wide protest by BLMs everywhere >.>

PLD too. You want us at end game events? Then invite us to EXP once in a f'ing while.

[TheGrandMom]

I highly doubt that the melee burns will go the way of the dinosaurs ever. In the lower levels, I find it easier to get a pt on blm now but as you advance it slows down and eventually comes to a screeching halt. Are more people leveling blm? Probably because blm is highly sought after in endgame. I'm sure there are more than a few people doing it to be versatile in their ls too.

[Pwnagraphic]

Well where'd they go to begin with?

[Malacite]

I did it for the "I have no life" hat, but also because I genuinely enjoy BLM ^_^

That said, leveling it was such a bitch and I'm lucky I got it done before the fortifications nerf. I AFKd in Eldieme for god only knows how long while reading books and doing other things. Honestly the lack of BLM-friendly activities ( by which I refer to Besieged, Campaign, Merits, EXP parties 54+) is really starting to piss me off.

So many end game events hinge on having enough BLM's on hand, but just getting there is a ridiculously hard chore. I'm tired though and we've beaten this dead horse to life & back (so it could feel our pain, duh) so with any luck this might be the long-awaited BLM EXP update >.> (I've long since given up on SMN getting any real fix)

[Coinspinner]

I might re-subscribe if they added more manaburn camps. I don't care about skillchains anymore. They were more fun than burning, but I doubt there's any way to get them working well enough to make them worth the effort.

[Evion]

I sure would like to see more BLMs... I'm on the COP 4-2 Oyru fight. BLMs should band together like BSTs and do some serious damage. (In terms of BCNM/MB Merit/Missions)

[admx9]

if they are not going to fix blm party wise atleast do something about elemental weaknesses and ressistance. It feels like, no all I do is cast thunder or blizzard. a well geared blm with merits gains nothing from weaknesses.

[Coinspinner]

BLMs "banding together" was part of what got them into this mess. I remember the shitstorm when it became common knowledge that you could throw an alliance of BLM at Divine Might and win in seconds. Or when manaburn first became in vogue and people had a hard time getting a BLM to join their party because manaburn was just much faster. Then there were nerfs, then ToAU, then melee buffs. And Average Joe McMeleeguy's equipment got better over the years.

But really, BLM is just not in synch with how other jobs operate. Fixing it so you want them in a traditional party would probably require some huge changes I don't even want to think about...

[Takelli]

Originally Posted by admx9

if they are not going to fix blm party wise atleast do something about elemental weaknesses and ressistance. It feels like, no all I do is cast thunder or blizzard. a well geared blm with merits gains nothing from weaknesses.

QFT...

I leveld both Blm, and Sch to 44, just to see how they where. Both where expensive, (Spell wise gear wasnt so bad, just had to keep decent gear until the seers set), and I enjoyed them both. I played with both of them at 44 (Nuking), and the Sch out nuked the Blm, even when I casted thunder on a worm, the Thunder did more Dmg than a Blms Aero (Seers set + Mp staff), on the same worm type.

Every time I came as Blm, I tried getting the melee to SC, so I can MB off the SC, saying that it will deal more dmg than the Tp Burn stuff. The two sams gained Tp at the same rate, so I don't see why they didn't want to skill chain, no point in just using a tach:Enpi at the same time. Wait a little bit, use a Tachi: Enpi -> Tachi:Goten, or what ever other elemental, and I would MB off it, but they never did. Before the party broke, the sams gave in, and tried to SC, they had issues trying to SC off each other, but after the fourth try, they did it, and I MBd off their SC.

The increased damage from the SC, and the MB, was doubled, that, of when just tp burning, and random nuking. It also was more Mp effencient, because I had to cast less, to deal more damage, which gave me more Mp to back up heal as well.

[odjnlinus]

I really miss playing as a Black Mage when I first started although, I was never really good at the whole Magic Burst thing (probably because I never tried). I wasn't playing at the time when BLM supposedly started to band together, but either way that doesn't mean Melee needs to be upgraded because of a simple job. In theory there are more party spots other than ToAU maybe not as fast or efficient but they do exist. As for Merit Parties, who said they had to be TP Burn only?, who announced that once you hit 75 the only party you need for merit points is a TP Burn Colibri Party? I'm pretty sure at 75 there are still plenty of areas where a standard party can make exp, maybe not as fast as a Merit Party but any merit points is worth none at all.

Things are getting bad for some jobs to where they have level sync to a ridiculously low lvl to gain exp for a merit point, which deprives that person who strived so hard and so far to get 75 of using all their abilities and learning how to use their job at 75.

I've only been playing for about 10 months now, having my first 75 at 3 months in, I noticed that meritpo invites gets low for some jobs but then I started exploring the world of Vana'Diel and noticed a few spots that could be use to gain some decent exp, although I'm still searching, I think this is an issue everyone should consider.

In truth I would rather find a regular party spot (Mamool camp SUCKS!!!! by the way), than to sit around for 4 hours waiting for a party to leave bird camp, praying to god you get an invite for a meritpo, then hoping the area is still open when you finally do get there.

But I'm rambling, this is a BLM thread, this needs to be somewhere else.

[Takelli]

Originally Posted by odjnlinus

I really miss playing as a Black Mage when I first started although, I was never really good at the whole Magic Burst thing (probably because I never tried). I wasn't playing at the time when BLM supposedly started to band together, but either way that doesn't mean Melee needs to be upgraded because of a simple job. In theory there are more party spots other than ToAU maybe not as fast or efficient but they do exist. As for Merit Parties, who said they had to be TP Burn only?, who announced that once you hit 75 the only party you need for merit points is a TP Burn Colibri Party? I'm pretty sure at 75 there are still plenty of areas where a standard party can make exp, maybe not as fast as a Merit Party but any merit points is worth none at all.

Things are getting bad for some jobs to where they have level sync to a ridiculously low lvl to gain exp for a merit point, which deprives that person who strived so hard and so far to get 75 of using all their abilities and learning how to use their job at 75.

I've only been playing for about 10 months now, having my first 75 at 3 months in, I noticed that meritpo invites gets low for some jobs but then I started exploring the world of Vana'Diel and noticed a few spots that could be use to gain some decent exp, although I'm still searching, I think this is an issue everyone should consider.

In truth I would rather find a regular party spot (Mamool camp SUCKS!!!! by the way), than to sit around for 4 hours waiting for a party to leave bird camp, praying to god you get an invite for a meritpo, then hoping the area is still open when you finally do get there.

But I'm rambling, this is a BLM thread, this needs to be somewhere else.

QFT.

This is a BLM thread, and that is one of the reasons why there are so few blms. No body wants to go to other areas where exp gain will be a little slower for the sake of a single job. No one wants to explore the world, and see how good that area is.

I remember when Eastern Altepa Desert used to be used instead of Yuhtunga Jungle. I remember when they used to use Beaucaden Glacier for Exp (for lvl 50? I cant remember the exact level range), all before this ToAU crap started up.

When FFXIV does come out, I do hope that SE doesn't make the same mistake they did with FFXI, single out one job, to make all others gain more exp at a faster rate, or make certain camps "Prime camps" even though there are other "Prime camps". The issue is that FFXI has no incentive for others to try other areas. Aht Urgan has a sigil which increases your exp gain, why bother to go some where else? Right?

Other areas need incentive like Aht Urgan. Maybe if they do that for Tavanzian Safe hold, peopel will be more willing to do Cop missions as well, and start parties in Tavnazian safe hold. That place is never used, and I love the sceneray.music. If a party was there, I'd go there rather than Aht Urgan.

[Ketaru]

When FFXIV does come out, I do hope that SE doesn't make the same mistake they did with FFXI, single out one job, to make all others gain more exp at a faster rate, or make certain camps "Prime camps" even though there are other "Prime camps". The issue is that FFXI has no incentive for others to try other areas. Aht Urgan has a sigil which increases your exp gain, why bother to go some where else? Right?

Because people do go to other places. Far better than to put your Seek up in Whitegate and sit on your hands...

The "problem" (if you want to think of it as a problem) is that SE added mobs that were inherently designed to melee burned. They repop every 5 minutes. They have low HP and even lower DEF. They have fairly innocent TP moves. It's easy to put put this up as the standard by which every job is meant to meet because, not only is the closest thing to a sham imitation 6 person party, but it easily yields the best EXP/hour in the game. If it could be done with 3 people rather than 6, they would be just as contraversial as Astral Burn parties.

It really is quite funny people have their underpants all in a knot about SMNs "Astral Burning" things to death, pointing judgmental fingers about how they should level the right way just like everybody else, but those same people would never think to invite a SMN to their own party. Even worse, misusing the word "exploit" when it actually is perfectly in line with the intended mechanics of the game, even if it's just as cheap as DRKs Kraken Clubbing things to death. It's cheap yeah, but it works as intended.

BLM is in a similar position as PLD at high levels. "Oh yeah, I expect you to have perfect EXP buffer before you come to events. But you won't get it in my merits parties! Ku ku~"

But just because merit parties are held as the accepted standard doesn't mean people aren't doing other things. There are people getting their merits through other means. Else you wouldn't have all those same Seekers who are sitting on their hands claiming they're having trouble finding a healer because none are lfg. People want their precious 6 person parties to be the one true way to get EXP. That's the only way they can feel entitled to saying player skill is worse than before because of those damn soloers taking advantage of all the new goodies SE has been introducing. And that's why people who get EXP through other means seem so invisible.

And that's why there's this whole "moral panic" about SE making it too easy for soloers...