The Beast Within -- A Guide To Blue Mage

I asked this over a year ago, just curious if its changed at all. Prime still sucks for blue compared to other options?

The combined strength of aftermath and the utility of the MP restore on tizona just outlcass every other weapon for blu DPS.


Not so much about the sword sucking, and more to do with just how strong Tizona (and to a lesser extent naegling) are.

Thats how I understood it, it sucks in comparison to better options that I already have so to me it sucks lol

I don't own one but looking at Caliburnus I think DDing wasn't the driving force behind it's design.

In order for Tizona to deliver enough MP sustain you need to be engaged and primarily focused on meeleing cause once you start to cast too much you're MP consumption rises while white damage drops and respectively the additional MP effect procs less.

I assume they want you to combine caliburnus and sakpata's sword. The +refresh, -dt and +fc opens other slots in certain sets and might make it sustainable enough to main heal or tank in certain situations?

i need to see an 8(+) boss Sortie run using BLU as the tank asap honestly

Be the change you want to see in the world. Let's see your 8 boss run with BLU tanking.

I don't have a Caliburnus but I did just build a PLD so I can start tanking Aminon for my group - if I can convince them to let me try I'd be happy to give it a shot, as my BLU is pretty well geared (though not sure about all the niche stuff I'd prob need to actually give an 8boss run a shot as BLU tank).

Honestly not sure how viable it is (or could potentially be) but it could definitely be fun... and that's mostly all I am concerned with

I think its more likely SE designed a dud weapon than had any specific intentions for any job on it. really which of those jobs is gonna main hand it for refresh or DT? its a dps weapon with support stats...

if there were more attack, or PDL+ (n maybe better ws mod) it'd maybe be decent, but yeah it's just unfortunate most of the 1-handed prime are just kinda middle of the road

i am trying to convince my group to let me come BLU (which would be fun af) but i think realistically there is no way i would keep hate sufficiently to kite so we would have to switch from PLD kite method which i think is likely to get veto'd. i am lucky enough they still even let me come since i make them kill the ixion nearly nightly so not sure how hard i can push for this one

Eh sword sadly has Tizona, Burtgang and Corcea Mors to contend with that have dedicated stats for those particular jobs. Though they could have honestly just given it TA or DA and be done with it but they wanted to make a tanking sword that also had a DPS job attached to it. Which is also probably why its not DT II.

I would of been able to forgive it if was DTII, that would of been a huge boon for both blu and rdm. Yeah this all just reinforces my opinion the swords bad or just not good. either way not worth the muffns

BLU/RUN. Flash/Foil for hate, kite the kiting bosses (H, F). Stunlock AECG. Zerg the others. I don't know if subduction lands, but you can try it if your 8-boss group doesn't have RDM. BLU has all the spells and the set to crank up their magic defense to effectively tank Aminon and take minimal damage (magic barrier, saline coat, Diamondhide, Runes, valiance/vallation). White Wind for heals. Tenebral crush defense down. All that is necessary is for you or someone else to try it and report back. It can be done with BLU. Might even be the new meta if people weren't scared to try it.

subduction would need a immunobreak to land afaik so itd be best left to the rdm still. Asides that the rest should work fine.

Bigger issue for kiting imo is the opening salvo of hate gain, pld/run has a fair few tools piled ontop of sents enmity boost, blus biggest hate spike(diff exu) would require all to be in range, potentially also acted on the boss, not sure if thats required since it has everyone on its hate list on aggro.

For F, my group binds Gartell before the Stymie+Gravity II is applied. The same can be done with a BLU in the group. This would give him several seconds to spike hate (flash Foil vallation diffusion+magic barrier or fantod etc) then break bind and start running. From there you should be able to maintain threat with foil and fantod at range, but if not, the only real target likely to pull hate would be the DNC, who is probably sub DRG anyways, so that's not too. For H you probably can't land am initial bind to give a few seconds, but you could maybe ask the RDM to Spontaneity you and double foil at start after grabbing hate initially. Then start the kite.

My bigger worry is Aminon. He's mostly harmless once you get him under control, but the initial pull sometimes he can get a full dispel off if you don't execute it properly. You'd have to quickly throw up magic barrier/saline coat, establish hate and get it under control within the first few seconds to make sure he doesn't get a move off. It's no worse than PLD though, and as long as initial absorbs are going off, you should be able to reel him back in.

Just keep in mind you'll be taking 4x as much damage as PLD on Aminon, so plan for that. Also you're the main healer so make sure you're using lots of white winds.

Actually, considering the *likely* difference in Phalanx recieved sets, it's probably a fair bit more than 4x the damage but IDK exactly what it would be.

Oh this is interesting, does it pretty much land 1/1 on both hands?

Always lands

Wish I'd thought of that sooner. I'm assuming it's unreliable on Aita though?

I don't believe it would initially land on Aita, since he has to use a TP move first before he starts his elemental modes. He doesn't have a wind move either, so you're probably not going to get a better Bind mode than he already starts in. Idk, maybe an Ice Threnody, but that would defeat the purpose if you can't bind him first.

For important things like Aita and Aminon you'd definitely want to DIffusion Exuviation for massive hate spike. Also white winding yourself with some enmity added to the set for a large spike heal-ga will likely be a great hate tool since it has near 0 cast time. This is obviously in addition to flash/foil/RUN JA's/Fantod, but shouldn't be ignored, especially white kite tanking.

Worth noting that /RUN you'd also prefer to Stoneskin than Diamondhide as it caps higher.

Subduction as with most BLU enfeebles... even if it lands it wouldnt last that long. I'd be much more comfortable leaving that to the RDM to ensure proper duration

I just remembered after I wrote this that you can't use Stoneskin and Magic Barrier together, only one effect can apply at a time. Maybe I had group application on my mind at the time.

Of course, but you'd use Stoneskin for everything but Aminon no?

Edit: Honestly, given how often our PLD needs to reapply stoneskin, i'd wager that you might get away with only 1 cast of Magic Barrier, maybe 2 on Aminon between MDB gear and Saline Coat. As long as you get a Phalanx2 from your RDM w/ +gear equipped-

I think you are REALLY underestimating Aegis.

If you're taking 150 damage per auto at 50% DT, an aegis PLD is taking 37.5, reduced by phalanx to 0. A BLU is taking 150, reduced by phalanx to...95?

PLD also has much lower int/MDB than other jobs too no? Certainly BLU would take more per hit than PLD, i'm not close to arguing that. My experience tanking Bumba was eye opening to how little damage you can take from a magic target though

That comment was more focusing on the fact that MBarrier is nearly* double a max potency stoneskin

It's definitely true that magic barrier > stoneskin, but 730 isn't exactly double 460, and more importantly, if you go from taking 10 a hit to 105 a hit, your increased stoneskin won't matter much.

I doubt BLU has a significant amount more INT than PLD. Not sure what, if any, difference there is in MDB. Would have to look at the sets each would be wearing.

Tbh, I think BLU could attempt to take PLD's spot in an 8 boss. I think it would be worse, but it could probably handle most of the functions.

I remain extremely skeptical about 9 boss or anything involving Aminon in any way.

BLU (barely) holds Bumba while nobody is DPSing it. That's very, very, very different to holding Aminon while 5 people do a million damage a minute to it while you're main healing the party.

Maybe it's possible. If people think it's possible, go for it.

Even if it is possible, you'd be so busy constantly casting to keep threat and keep yourself and the party alive, good look out-damaging PLD, which was supposed to be the reason you're bringing BLU in the first place, right...?

Just so we are clear, I have not made the claims that BLU would take less damage than a PLD, just that I think it has all of the tools to effectively tank Aminon. 8-boss should not be a problem at all because most of the threat is ranged on the harder bosses. It's all about whether Aminon's ability to break through Magic Barrier results in him getting a TP move off.

The reality is, with the cadence and balance of absorbs to actions ratio, it's kind of a dance; You DO want Aminon to get enough TP to make your absorbs large enough so everyone gets TP to WS faster, but not so much TP overflow that he throws a move and ends your run. Even if you do feed Aminon more TP, it's still a matter of making sure 4 absorbs keep him under, so the group would need to space it out a bit more than maybe they do under a PLD. Need to try it to see for sure on how the ebb and flow of that would differ under a BLU (maybe a slower and careful approach vs spamming under a PLD the moment you get 1k tp).

In hindsight, I had misremembered the cap at 400, where as double checking now showed me it's 475. I did say nearly* double, but that is certainly quite a ways off. Do you really believe the 25 MDT II loss will increase your damage per hit from 10 to 105? that seems like a big jump to me, but that's kind of why i'm pushing for someone to test this.

It had always been communicated to me by more career tanks that PLD had significantly lower values in those stats than other jobs. If that's not that case then so be it, but I'm going off that assumption from a few source that I believe did the research

What PLD is ever used for an 8 boss?
Barely? I suppose it depends how often your BLU is applying Fantod... but for the Bumba fight the blu is doing 1 action on pull, and spamming Fantod. NOTHING else. For this imaginary Aminon BLU Tank scenario, they'd be spamming White Wind cures, High spike enmity with diffusion, as well as the usual foil/flash etc. I think that's also a world of difference from what your implying. I do agree however, that the millions of damage IS a daunting amount of enmity to overcome, and that's the crux of this problem asking "will this even work"

I dont see how that's Any different than a PLD. They are keeping the party alive, keeping stoneskin up, spamming enmity, and WSing when Tact roll gets them there.

I believe the premise behind bringing BLU was; Similar or slightly faster Aminon kill speed due to Expiacion doing better damage than Knights of Round, but faster clears on other objectives w/ BLU's toolkit in play, or the ability to incorporate other side objectives like 15 flans easier/faster than the standard set up.... OR simply just to prove the comp is more flexible.
I have 0 doubts in my mind that ultimately, the 6 man comp that we have established will still be best simply out of convenience

I have not made this claim either, even if people seem to think I have.
Realistically I've seen PLD's lose stoneskin, take 2-4 hits and the group still manages the TP fine. If you're draining 250-300 per drain, that's kind of the sweet spot. Draining 40-100 is kind of too low, and while it's certainly safe, you're also not going to be getting enough TP to feed him more TP.. and the cycle kind of loses it's balance. I completely agree with your characterization of the fight being a dance

I could vouch for the damage difference, yes. I think going from Aegis PLD with decent stoneskin to a BLU with a BiS MDB/Meva set it'd be like going from taking 0-8 damage on PLD with no SS to potentially a 100 on BLU.

When I've been taking RUN to 9 boss runs Aminon usually hits me for around 60~ (for his non-elemental autos) keep in mind the near perfect Phalanx augs reducing that by a drastic amount. And the fact RUN has the highest native MDB. I think I have over 105-110 MDB in my Aminon tank set. (56 of those are from Job points/traits).