lv63 Dead end..

[Andvari]

So I hit level with my highest job with BLM.. (WHM 63.. BLM63)
and now there is a dead end.. I have not had an invite in 4 days.. why do people not like BLM's at this level? i can do 500+ in one spell not MBd =/

don't say "make your own party" i was doing quests and stuff while seeking :cool:

[Mog]

It only gets worse, my friend. Due to the new update, TP burn parties reign supreme, making the need for black mages go into nothing.

I make my own parties nowadays. Theres the occasional situation where I'll get picked up. If you plan on leveling your blm anymore, take initative: solo xp, make your xp party, and duo with a 75 blm once you hit 69 or so. Otherwise, you will take at least half a year waiting for parties. Levels 65-75 are affected most by this, and you aren't even seeing the beginning of it.

[Ayrlie]

there are mobs out there that make good manaburn targets. elementals, slimes, clots. 4 blm, rdm, and brd is all you need. starting at 69, move into KRT for undead.

[Icemage]

Manaburn or bust. Square-Enix's recent changes and the release of ToAU have forced BLM almost exclusively into manaburn parties after level 62 since TP-burn parties are simply more efficient and easier to build.


Icemage

[Gwynn]

Manaburn or bust. Square-Enix's recent changes and the release of ToAU have forced BLM almost exclusively into manaburn parties after level 62 since TP-burn parties are simply more efficient and easier to build.
Icemage
This trend has always kind of bummed me out as RDM since I've gotten to the higher levels. Honestly, I really prefer a standard party setup to burns. I have a lot more fun in normal setups, but... got to take what you can get, I suppose.

[Jei]

I, too, had quite a hard time levelling my BLM up post 60 in ToA area. It gets better when you're closer to 70 tho, I got invited into manaburns more and more often the higher I got.

75, meh, it's been exclusively mana burning. Mana burn is easy, however... whether easy is good or bad to you.

[Clever Ninja]

Well meleeburns are easy too, and that's basically what 90% of merit parties are at 75. But basically, get used to manaburns. It may sound bad, but they're actually really fun from what I hear. By friend plays his BRD exclusively in a manaburn static he's in, and he loves how manaburn parties work overall that he never accepts invites to meleeburns. He's only 71 now, but he says he'll probably stick with his static even after he hits 75 for merits.

[Kirsteena]

I am in the same boat as you - my static dried up when I hit 63 (I had to take some time of because of real life, and I didn't want to hold the others back), so I was basically left on my own. This was two weeks ago, and I have gone from about 6k into 63 to 12k into 66 purely from soloing - and I discovered I actually quite like it! :eek: And it was not all at once either.

I can go at my own pace. Only got 2 hours to spare? Well thats at least 5k xp then. Snap to it! I get all the seals that drop. I rarely get disturbed. I have a duo partner set up when I hit 69/70, and there are enough blm in the ls that we can manaburn when I get high enough. It is hard work, but I find it incredibly rewarding.

[greydaze]

Maybe I'm alone, but I've had no problem finding XP parties at my level. One of the main reasons? People like Caedarva Mire, and when they can't TP b/c of imps, who's going to kill the mobs? I've had great success on Ramuh, getting to 73 in a matter of weeks. Sure, there are TP burns, but there are plenty of manaburns, too. Mainly, though, it's mixed for me.

Here's a little secret: This is a game of reputation. Knowing that, I pick one person (the best dressed, the best at their job, the nicest) and strike up a conversation during the party. Since I'm a good player, seeing my name so often reminds them to associate that with me. And i get a lot of call-backs on that basis. One of them even joined my LS. So, before you get too upset about the lack of parties, try networking. It really does do wonders. I get parties within minutes (at most, half hours) of signing on every day.

[Altariel]

Next time you pass up a mid level BLM or THF, think about it next time you bitch about the lack of them in end game. :)

[Icemage]

Next time you pass up a mid level BLM or THF, think about it next time you bitch about the lack of them in end game. :)
I never pass up thieves. When used correctly, they do amazing damage. The only time I tried to avoid them is when I was levelling Bard, since so few thieves know where to stand to receive the proper songs.

BLMs, on the other hand, are simply screwed in the 62-75 range now. ToAU zones offer the best XP rates, and nearly all are allergic to BLMs in XP parties, aside from manaburning. No amount of good play or tactics will make them "fit" well into a TP-burn party, and TP-burn is the optimal setup in most of those locations.


Icemage

[Mog]

Next time you pass up a mid level BLM or THF, think about it next time you bitch about the lack of them in end game. :)

{That's interesting}

Whevenever I make my own party, a thief is almost top on my priority list. Having a good thief means the tank is going to hold hate even better, plus they deal nice damage too.

[Empedocles]

I haven't played in the ToAU areas much, but I do know that one party I was in, we were doing Marids, and the BLM would nuke one-shot the Chigoes that popped, thus ensuring that we could get chain 4/5 on single Marids. It was 650-750 exp per chain (ok not exceptional exp, but I rate it as pretty damn good) there wasn't much downtime, plus we never ran out of Marids due to the low actual kill-time of each one. We were also a normal party set-up (PLD, DRK, RNG, BLM, RDM, WHM) :thumbsup:

[Kirsteena]

It just takes perseverance. If you can find a blm friend the same level the pair of you can duo quite happily and get good xp. I actually got a party last night, and frankly it sucked. I was kinda happier going solo...

[Andvari]

Y'see the problem on my server when finding a manaburn at my level is.. (anyone on Unicorn should agree) the RMT taru's.. We had an influx of RMT BLM taru's and when you make a manaburn these are the guys you don't want and well they are usually the only BLMs online.

The reputation thing makes sense. I get tired of seeing BLMs at my level (BLM65) wearing seer's stuff when fighting. I got the best gear I can at this level and actually read up on BLM like: I really didn't understand the elemental enfeebs so i came on here and asked around.. and now i do great on them now i know the order they can be used. But then i see a BLM in this party i was in the other day (2xBLM) she opened up with BlizzardIII and took hate.

I think along with the new areas BLMs get given a bad name because its one of those jobs that noobs ride through if that makes sense?

Rank 7, good gear and technique.. someone pick me up for a static please lol

actually, if you are on Unicorn looking to start a static.. /tell Priet
i would be interested.. it's ok if you're at lv1 BLM because i'll still be seeking when you hit 65 lol

[Kirsteena]

If you are 65, and have access to ToAU area, head down to the blue mage room and solo off Qiqirn Enterprisers - it is what I did. There are 5 in that room. Great thing about them - they are true ranger mobs, so stand back and shoot at you from their sweet spot. Ranged attack doesn't interrupt you. Work from your highest tier III spell down, drain every time it is up, if you run out of mp, sleep them, pop a cookie and rest up till you have enough mp to finish em off. They don't resist much.

Just make sure you pull them away from their buddies or they may go and run for them and link them. I think from 63 to 67 (when I moved up to their big brothers) I had one death, and that was due to a DC. If you get a link, just warp out. It doesn't take long to run back.

[framerate]

Y'see the problem on my server when finding a manaburn at my level is.. (anyone on Unicorn should agree) the RMT taru's.. We had an influx of RMT BLM taru's and when you make a manaburn these are the guys you don't want and well they are usually the only BLMs online.
The reputation thing makes sense. I get tired of seeing BLMs at my level (BLM65) wearing seer's stuff when fighting. I got the best gear I can at this level and actually read up on BLM like: I really didn't understand the elemental enfeebs so i came on here and asked around.. and now i do great on them now i know the order they can be used. But then i see a BLM in this party i was in the other day (2xBLM) she opened up with BlizzardIII and took hate.
I think along with the new areas BLMs get given a bad name because its one of those jobs that noobs ride through if that makes sense?
Rank 7, good gear and technique.. someone pick me up for a static please lol
actually, if you are on Unicorn looking to start a static.. /tell Priet
i would be interested.. it's ok if you're at lv1 BLM because i'll still be seeking when you hit 65 lol

Preit! I didn't realize this was you until I got like all the way through the post hah (this is Nitsuj). My WHM is 61, that's pretty close to you... I wouldn't mind helping set up a party sometime perhaps.

[Divi]

I also had a problem, I don't remember exact levels, but I think at 63 people are exping off of Colbri which do reflect so you cannot cast on them. I tagged along with some friends and was backup healing.

After that blm is great in Mount Zyhlom on the crawlers there. A good camp is zone into halvung, escape to Mount Zyhlom, take ur 2nd path to the left, follow down and when you see the crawlers theres your camps. If that is taken continue to the right and there are other spots. You can also do manaburns on these, but you won't kill them in 1 spell till your a little higher with 5 blms.

69-70 was kinda tough because exp got bad in Mount Zyhlom and caedavia mire was just a little outta reach, but just tough threw it. GL

[DrivenTooFar]

I also had a problem, I don't remember exact levels, but I think at 63 people are exping off of Colbri which do reflect so you cannot cast on them. I tagged along with some friends and was backup healing.

Yeah I would think this is a big reason. Blm is one of my preferred party members but I won't invite one if all of their spells will reflect on me.

[Neomage]

Just yesterday I threw up my flag and got an invite within 5 seconds.

Then I got booted because they thought I was a BRD when they invited me >.>

I can't help but feel BLMs are in a boat similar to THFs and PLDs now... I mean, I'm sure they have it worse, I've never heard of a PLD-burn, but it seems to me that the general mentality nowadays is mememememe. No-one is interested in helping others, not in the 2-3 Dragons, not in any mission for that matter... I've been stuck on Promyvion Vhazl for 2 months and ZM5 for 1, just because I can't get anyone to help me kill the NMs. The boss fight is the easiest part of vhazl to, and it takes like 30 min(thats the part I'm on) yet no-one who is farther in CoP will go back there.

Dispite this unwillingness to help others, many people seem to think that they deserve twice the help they didn't give. I can't help but feel 60+ generally follows the guidelines of "Paladins and Black Mages? Don't invite them, they suck at everythign but HNMs and Dynamis..." Well how are we supposed to DO HNMs and Dynamis if we can't level?

[Eauijhkuu]

I can't help but feel BLMs are in a boat similar to THFs and PLDs now... I mean,

:rolleyes:
The FFXI society has always been this way.
It's something you love about people when they consider a class to be 'inefficient'.