[Reverent Knight]

Ive not really mastered blu TBH. Ive been absolutely murdered bt DC tabar beaks when I was trying to learn sound blast so I'm a bit wary of trying against EM mobs,

As far as blu solo do you use Nin or dnc, i prefer the surviveability that /dnc gives over the shadows. Solo I just tend to run in and blast the crap outa things with my biggest spells like jet stream and hope my mp holds out long enough to kill the mob before i run outa mp. I really need to learn how to solo blu efficiently. Something to look into.

[Ameroth]

Originally Posted by Reverent Knight

I really need to learn how to solo blu efficiently. Something to look into.

Yes. IMO, soloing on BLU is more fun than exp partying. And it's really not that hard to get the hang of. I started using /NIN for shadows mostly. Depending on what you're about to fight, shadows + cocoon + metallic body will give you a pretty big edge over the mob at the start of the fight. You can time it right to get shadows back up right when stoneskin wears of and keep spamming headbutt.

Headbutt. I shouldn't have to tell any BLU how important it can be to spam that headbutt.

If you have picked a certain mob to fight (as opposed to just fighting whatever), make sure to set spells that take advantage of the ecosystem traits.

I bring cookies with me to help resupply the MP I need faster.

And finally, you just need to be comfortable timing spells and healing any damage you take. BLU can easily solo almost anything EM at any level it seems. Some mobs will naturally fuck you up anyway, but most just take a little strategy to defeat.

[Reverent Knight]

Ive never realy looking into the strength weakness chart, I just find it incredibly tedioius to learn all those spells, Ive got everything pre 45 except venom shell, to just stand there and Head butt Bludgeon head butt bludgeon all the way through xp and solo. Ive seen blus in lower parties that do just that.

I always start with my debuffs poison vit down and slow then use a random assortment of spells, including those too. find uppercutt can do nice dmg at high tp and jet stream is fun too. I just seem to run out of mp too fast so in parties I limit myself to a few spells so Ive got enough mp to fight in the next one. Its tough as a blu because you cant rest at all really betweern 1 mob dying and another arriving.

[Durahansolo]

Originally Posted by Reverent Knight

Ive got everything pre 45 except venom shell

Make sure you bring plenty antidotes...they use it alot....I took 2 stacks of antidotes and they were all gone by the time I learned the spell, and I still had poison on me afterwards lol.

[Reverent Knight]

I'm not going to get venom shell for a while yet, not going to use it and Blue mage hunting Grounds recommends 42 for a safe solo on it. Ive got the event body that transports me there so its only a matter of nipping there and go getting it.

I couldnt learn it atm anyway, i need to skill up my blue magic skill. gimp city

[Armando]

On the topic of BLU soloing: Use your judgement when it comes to spells. Ecosystem relationships are important but they won't make bad spells good. They can make good spells great though.

Head Butt is a must for any solo BLU (actually, it's a must, period.) I recommend you make a macro that allows you to skip the animation. If you do, you can use Head Butt when the mob is at ~26-28% HP to take its HP below 25%, and immediately run away from its impending TP move. In addition to this, it can be used on /NIN to facilitate shadow recasting further - Head Butt the mob as soon as it attacks you, then put some distance between you and it during those 2 seconds that you can't cast other spells.

Feather Storm is an oft-overlooked spell. It's highly MP-efficient, comparable with Bludgeon on targets that are piercing-weak. It also won't feed the mob large amounts of TP, and it poisons the mob.

I don't have much experience soloing at 37+, but it's generally not wise to spend much MP on enfeebling; most BLU enfeebles don't give you enough of an edge to justify the MP cost. 12 or 16 MP will pay for a Head Butt/Feather Storm or take a significant chunk out of the mob's life. VIT down doesn't increase your offense much.

[Durahansolo]

Originally Posted by Reverent Knight

I'm not going to get venom shell for a while yet, not going to use it and Blue mage hunting Grounds recommends 42 for a safe solo on it. Ive got the event body that transports me there so its only a matter of nipping there and go getting it.

I couldnt learn it atm anyway, i need to skill up my blue magic skill. gimp city

You're right, it'll be a better idea to get your Blue Magic Skill up first. I learned it at 41, but I died once and it was my own fault. Once I figured out how to kill the the mobs correctly it became easy.

[Tokitung]

Also look at Blu/Dnc for soloing. It's awesome as long as you have a decent tank type setup. Aspir Samba + Ethereal Earring (3% damage taken goes to MP) + Magic Drain Kiss/Magic Hammer is just sickening. Add in your Auto-Refresh, AF2 Body, and Sigil/Sanction and you've already got a base of 3MP/Tic. I'm a Galka Blu, so I don't have a huge MP pool. With this setup though, I never run out of MP.

[hexx]

Originally Posted by Armando

On the topic of BLU soloing: Use your judgement when it comes to spells. Ecosystem relationships are important but they won't make bad spells good. They can make good spells great though.

Head Butt is a must for any solo BLU (actually, it's a must, period.) I recommend you make a macro that allows you to skip the animation. If you do, you can use Head Butt when the mob is at ~26-28% HP to take its HP below 25%, and immediately run away from its impending TP move. In addition to this, it can be used on /NIN to facilitate shadow recasting further - Head Butt the mob as soon as it attacks you, then put some distance between you and it during those 2 seconds that you can't cast other spells.

Feather Storm is an oft-overlooked spell. It's highly MP-efficient, comparable with Bludgeon on targets that are piercing-weak. It also won't feed the mob large amounts of TP, and it poisons the mob.

I don't have much experience soloing at 37+, but it's generally not wise to spend much MP on enfeebling; most BLU enfeebles don't give you enough of an edge to justify the MP cost. 12 or 16 MP will pay for a Head Butt/Feather Storm or take a significant chunk out of the mob's life. VIT down doesn't increase your offense much.

This right here is so true. Remember, BLU isn't for the weak of heart. The job takes a lot of dedication and concentration to play to its fullest, but I've seen fully dedicated BLU's take out mobs that would normally decimate other jobs.

Think about what traits you want, as well as what kind of mobs you are fighting. Me for example, I have different spells sets depending on what my role is. If im soloing, I have one set of spells i equip, if im DDing, i have a different set, if im back or main healer, i have a different set. All of these spells are also supplemented by wearing the appropriate gear for them. When im JUST on BLU my inventory is about 65/70 and thats with leaving some items behind. Go to wiki, analyze the spells, and the traits they can give you when combined, it makes the difference between an average BLU, and a GOOD BLU.

[Clever Ninja]

I don't agree about ignoring the BLU enfeebles after 37+ unless you're Bloodtanking. Even though not as effective higher up, a Sprout Smack/Sandspin CAN help when you're trying to get Shadows back up, at least in my experience.

Just really know what spells to set when. As already mentioned, the mob ecosystem is VERY important, as well as the type of weapon damage the spell does. Setting Killer Traits can make soloing an EM-T mob go from difficult to easy. Knowing what has MP can make farming/soloing have SIGNICANTLY less downtime. Also, USE PROPER EQUIPMENT SWAPS ON SPELLS. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. So many times, even at 75, have I seen BLU's use their spells in TP gear, which may not exactly be optimal for certain slots unless your TPing in some gear I haven't heard off. It's sometime that will greatly gimp your output if you actually parse the damage of a party out over a period of time, and it's not something difficult to do since you should be gear swapping for WS's already.

I love my BLU, but I'm still taking a break from it because without Sea access, I'm missing ALOT of firepower in endgame stuff. It definitely does require a lot of work to do right. Also Venom Shell is a bitch to learn, even at that level. If you go, bring SEVERAL stacks of Antidotes, no lie.

[Reverent Knight]

I've learnt a few tricks and I'm able to sole T mobs in Western altepa desert quite easily for the most part, the Rng anticans are a pain tho, tear through shadows too quickly but there needed for the page 1 FOV. 920 bonus xp is nice.
My problem now is I'm soloing quite happily by spamming my blu spells and cause I'm not hitting much in getting no sword skillups )
Did a 47 xp party in quicksand caves and I had to put on my acc food /gear just to hit em and everything was high def.

Mite have to go out on another job drg or sam maybe and skill up sword, even a crappy rating weapon rating at 75 is prob better than a gimped sword at 46 for skilling up without fear of death.

[Durahansolo]

Originally Posted by Reverent Knight

Mite have to go out on another job drg or sam maybe and skill up sword, even a crappy rating weapon rating at 75 is prob better than a gimped sword at 46 for skilling up without fear of death.

Haha, I was skilling up sword for BLU in campaign on the Fortification with my 75WAR before they removed skillups in the update. Now I guess I'll have to do some "Real" skillups.

[Ellipses]

My strategy so far (BLU almost-38) has just been to get Blue Magic capped, then find EM/T and stick with nothing but Sprout Smack and Head Butt for offensive spells until my sword skill is capped (less damage spells, more sword swings), then haul through the rest of a level as quickly as I can. Signal and Tactics Pearls can help with that part.

[Nuriko]

Don't forget the ultimate lifesaver ... set an effective sleep spell, and use it if you need some downtime during a fight!

[Reverent Knight]

The sleep spells just dont last long enough to make it worth the effort. I dont use the AOE sleeps cause there just dangerous. for eg i was fighting an T antican rng and he got a bit clever with his ranged/melee and stripped my shadows critical hit through my stoneskin and was generally killing me faster than i was killing him

So i though Ill teach you pinecone bomb in the face and ill run away a bit. cast my spell and ran to cast utsemi and stoneskin. by the time i was casting stoneskin he was on my assa gain stripping shadows.

I won with 50 hp left and learnt magnetite cloud but he spikeballed me in the face as he dropped, fastest wild carrot metallic body ever. had me worried for a second