The Beast Within -- A Guide To Blue Mage

Radial, as in radius, caster centered, and subduction is caster centered.

Cones have radii... And there are a plethora of conal AoE BLU spells.
Hence my confusion.

And was Subduction caster centered? It's been months since I've been on BLU for anything realistic. (Eg: last time was just to learn the new spells.)

a cone in 2d representation is simply a part of a circle, central point is simply the caster.

but enough semantics, yeah sub is caster centered.

Any Tizona Blus try out savage / expa one handed with war sub?

Could load up on zanshin store tp etc etc.

Hello all. Baby fresh BLU here just starting out. I have a Tizona BLU in my LS, but he's not online much during most of my play time to offer his expertise from experience.

I'm looking at possibly getting some incite on the class since I only just began with it a few days ago. I'm 48 now and have a handful of spells already. I have a few that I would consider "priority" but I'd like the community's input on what actually is and isn't. My first question is do I go out and get all the spells I can learn right away or just wait until I cap out to finish up hunting?

If I do go out to hunt, what are THE spells to target? So far, I have 30 spells and the ones I have that I think are important are Wild Carrot, Blood Drain, Blood Saber, MP Drainkiss, Soporific, Sheep Song, Cocoon, Healing Breeze, Bludgeon, and of course, Head Butt. What are others that are important to get?

As much as you will hate this response, any spell with a trait u plan on using, all DW, MAB Double atk, T hunter. Sweeping gouge, Erratic Flutter, sudden lunge, regenration, winds of promyvion. All your VW proc spells... its really a matter of the more you have the more / better you can do. A complete blu (spell) set will get you a VW spot even if you are half nekid.

Subduction is a range 12 centered-on-caster spell. So if one mob is 11~ units to your left, and the other is 11~ units to your right, casting on either will still, obviously, hit the other. If you're purposefully trying to hit multiple mobs, obviously you want to ensure your position is optimum for both.


Anyway, what I actually came here to post was about outer ra'kazner skirmish. In yorcia, occasionally a dithering heartwing will appear and it supposedly gives additional drop slots if it's killed prior to completing primary objective (according to wiki). However, tonight doing yorica, I noticed that a heartwing popped in ORK323. We had just ran through a hall, i noticed the Pink Yumcex, we went enganged it, I checked widescan during the fight looking for our next targets and lo and behold i see 'Shaking Heartwing' on WS in the room we had just passed through (may have actually been shivering heartwing like the normal mob in khamir, writing this after-the-fact & lost the name due to chat spam). So i've done a bunch of ORK Skirmish, probably around 40+ runs, and I've never seen that mob gracing the halls of ORK(U) before. Ever. And I'm wondering if anyone else has.

I can't really tell what it did drop wise, but one thing I did notice was when we passed back around after killing it, the pink yumecex had respawned, which I can't say i've ever seen happen before. As I was certain they were pretty uncommon as is.

Any thoughts?

Subduction is 10 AoE, not 12.

I've seen it too and killed it, didn't see any treasure bonus or anything. Who knows what it does honestly. I've only seen it in Tier 5's.

Ran into that heartwing a few days ago in a hallway in a 111 out raz run. Killed it, didn't notice anything different after clearing.

it gives you an extra party drop slot

I use subduction a lot in salvage and I start casting at 12 yalms.

Anyways, how is Tizona BLU on current content? (Incursion, Delve,etc) I'm hearing Savage Blade > CDC for light is fun too. Not like there's a lot to do atm so I'll more than likely be making one.

Is there any up to date TP sets?

Not too much has changed as to what's in the OP.


I'm pretty close to finishing Tizona but where does Almace 119 sit in the Sword hierarchy atm with the CDC changes (Just came back few weeks ago)? Still passively worst than the D130 swords I'm guessing (didn't bothered with Usonmunku since I didn't get much chance to play BLU anyways)?

Also wondering where Sombra (+1) sits compared to Iuitl with DA+1 (hate this system zzz).

Assuming you can take advantage of the full DW on Sombra legs, even NQ Sombra win over max Iuitl+1 in most situations from my spreadsheet testing.

However, if you can get the DW in other slots Sombra lose their value and Iuitl+1 (either DA+1 or DA+2) are back on top. FWIW, Quiahuiz (either STR or DEX augs) are next if you lack SP1 access or the will/luck to win the Skirmish augment torture-game. I think original post was last updated before WKR gear augments were a thing, maybe why Quia aren't listed above Qaaxo/Mani legs.

For reference, below is a selection of "how much DW do I need to cap delay reduction" situations. All assuming (1) capped gear haste, (2) capped magical haste - easy these days, 2x Marches and haste (or if using Trust +0 Marches, need Haste II... no issue for BLU with Erratic Flutter). Without any marches (i.e. solo Dyna/Salvage), BLU can use all the DW you can get.

DW needed to cap delay reduction (base trait PLUS DW gear):
- Base: DW+36%
- with /DNC Haste Samba: DW+25%
- with DNC main Haste Samba (5/5): DW+7%
[Note - BLU accessible DW trait tiers are: DW4 30%, DW3 25%, DW2 15%, DW1 10%]

Personally, my default assumption is I can get marches and not Haste Samba, so I like to set DW3 and use 10% in gear (Suppa and Haverton) to just barely undershoot cap (79.69%). If I end up with a /DNC using Samba, just swap out the DW gear (say, Brutal/Trux or DA ear set, and Epona/Rajas for rings) and I'm still right there at cap. If I'm with a DNC main I can drop to DW2 trait.

Epona/Haverton crushes Epona/Rajas in any scenario I've spreadsheeted where Haverton's DW is needed to hit delay cap. And the 2nd ring is a better slot to use on DW than other options. For instance, not having to use DW earring set frees up an ear slot for Brutal DA+5% (a bigger value than losing Rajas), or not using Shetal Stone allows for Windbuffet+1. I know Haverton is something a lot of people don't have, but if it's something that fits your mix of jobs it can be put to great use for BLU TP sets.

thanx, informative.

does this include suppa ear in your testing or just Dw ear set?

Pretty sure the 36% DW needed only applies when capped equip haste and capped magic haste.

So with DW3, you need 11% DW in gear or just /dnc Haste samba to reach delay cap.

Without the above situation IE Salvage; you won't reach delay cap - so you can run as much DW as you can.

Anyone know any good Azure Lore combos with a standard DW4/TA spells setup?

So Suppa and DW4 is basically near cap. Any one kno of a current TP calculator that takes into account DW and DW gear.

Coming back from a stupid long break. Which peices of 119 af and relic should I prioritize and which are not worth making? I was also curious how the sets in the op hold up today. I'm mainly looking for what the modern tp set looks like as well as some of the hybrid dt or acc sets look like. Please and thanks =D

Bloodrake to Sinker Drill=Darkness

Tourbillion->Bloodrake=Distortion->Sinker Drill=Darkness->Bloodrake=Darkness #2

Usually what I use, but Bloodrake to Sinker Drill spam works very well.

Priority pieces would be AF and Relic bodies along with relic feet. To be honest, though, pretty much all of them serve a purpose for BLU, from magic acc to physical spells to augmenting certain job abilities. I'd still focus on the three previously mentioned, though.

The sets in the OP are still pretty up to date. There are only a few swaps that can be mentioned, such as Emet Harness +1 for PDT sets (which also has very nice accuracy), bleating mantle for just about any TP set if you don't need the acc, Nomkahpa mittens +1 if you're crazy like me and spend 8m for one bonus DA and a bit of extra STR, and Sombra Tights/HQ and Haverton ring for low-haste scenarios.

Not sure if anyone's posted, these are the properties for some of the newer spells. Anyone with access to BG feel free to update these, I don't have an account there so i'll just leave it here.

Sweeping Gouge - Fragmentation (a), Scission (b)
Glutenous Dart - Fragmentation
Sinker Drill - Gravitation (a), Reverb (b)
Paralyzing 3 - Gravitation(a), Scission (b)
Thrashing - Fusion (a), Impaction (b)

If feet are worth it, then Luhlaza head is worth it especially if you lack an Uk'uxkaj Cap.

Curious as to why you suggest the Luhlaza head. Other than breath spells and skill modified buffs like occultation and magic barrier, I haven't found much use for it.

AF=All of it, can forego legs I believe cause BA and pretty certain solid Hagondes Pants win anyway. I would do Body->Head->Feet->Hands

Relic=Body is solid for TP piece, unless you can get the skirmish body from the mega boss. 109 head for skill piece, same with feet, but hands/feet+1 I believe are BiS for some stuff (AF feet for spells, relic for WS if don't need acc) Don't bother with the legs.

I struggle to remember what head peice i was casting in when I returned, but if the player lacks uk'gualk, then the relic head is still a good option for physical blue. decent str/dex/vit. Skill boost pulls double duty, blu attack/added effect magic accuracy. And a large chunk of haste (almost 1/3 equip cap) for recast. It's far from the worst option.

That's true, my mistake. I jumped straight to Whirlpool, so I often ignored the acc/atk from blue skill from the head. That's definitely a decent stepping stone.

So I'm sure people have posted their results, but I've been tracking my usage of wailing stones for hagondes +1 set and I figured I'd share some results. Mathletes may opt to stop reading now and go eat a *** as I'll spare you having to comment about conclusiveness of the following figures by saying: I know they're not conclusive. And I'm sure it's old news, but I figured what the hell, I'll write it up anyway. This is more for people who might be returning than anything.

So with just 123 NQ stones tracked I've been able to discern a few obvious things. I assume that the order of probabilities goes something like: determine PDT amount, which is not an even probability seems to be weighted 3:4 in favor of -1PDT. Then there is the step of determining augments (if any) Not really sure if this is one or two steps, i.e. there being a random event to determine if an augment shall occur or not, and then, if there is, procedes to a secondary random event to determine which aug; or if the 'two' events are combined with "'no aug', MAB,MAcc,pMAB,pMAcc" all being possible outcomes with varying distribution.

Regardless, it appears for the time being that wheter or not you get augments, and if you do, which they are, that the probabilties are equivalent regardless if you scored a -1 pdt or -2. As of now, getting any augments is about a 55% chance regardless of pdt value. meaning, you apparently have the same chance to get MAB on a -2 pdt, as opposed to -1. You just have a far higher chance of getting -1 PDT.

I'd like to say that the probabilities of any specific augment are the same, but as of now, with the records i have, it appears that pMAB+ might actually be a bit more frequent and MAB+ appears to be the least common*. (According to BG, a NQ wailing should also present p:ATK/RATK. I've not actually observed this occur. At all. Considering i've observed all other possible options occur 10x-20x times over, I'm left to wonder if that table is accurate or the result of copypasta laziness. If accurate this result would occur at less than 1:123 frequency, while all others are 1:27~)

By far, the most common occurance is going to be -1PDT with an augment. Followed by -1 PDT with no augments. In fact, about 1 out of 3 stones will be 1pdt with no augments. So if you have a stack of wailing NQ, expect at least 4 of them (25%) to be 1PDT trash.

Third common will be 2PDT with an augment, and the least common will be a -2PDT with no augments.


As far as augments go, the highest value I've recorded on a NQ stone is 18. Keep in mind though, that the odds appear the same for these values regardless of PDT outcome. I mentioned earlier that pMAB so far has been the most frequent augment, and in typical SE fashion, this has also shown itself to be the least likely to give a value >9. As all pMAB records so far, with the exception of 1, have been less than 10. pMAcc hasn't shown better by much, but it has shown better.
MAB/MAcc however have shown to be far more forgiving in this area, with about a half/half ratio with 9 being the split/median. I kinda want to assume that max values go in multiples of 9, i.e. NQ gives 9/18, +1 would be 27, +2 36~. Of course this is simple speculation, based on inadequate results.


For MAB specifically, which is what i'm interested in, assuming an even distribution 1-18 with a 9 median, it appears that to get a -1pdt, MAB>9, it's about a 3% (.739*.098) occurance. Or odds of approximatly 1 in 33 stones. A -2pdt, MAB>9 appears to be about a 2.5% chance (.26*.937). Or Approximatly 1 occurance in 41 stones. So with 5 peices of Hagondes to augment, one should expect to obtain & use no less than 205~ stones to achieve moderate base MAB values. And a bayld expense of around 90,000. And yet, you could also be HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE lucky.

Personally, I would argue that one should not waste time augmenting NQ skirmish gear, prioritize transmuting them to +1 versions, then pop for a bunch of NQ wailing stones. At Phoenix prices, you should be able to purchase about 5 stacks of NQ for the price of 1 stack of +1s. This *should* net you a decent chunk of base MAB+ on a few pieces, maybe all, and dramatically improve your efficiency in skirmishes/general farming. I personally augmented each piece, starting with the slot I had the weakest MAB, until I got any value of MAB, then moved to the next. Once all pieces were augmented, I restarted, beginning with the least augmented piece that didn't have base MAB. Repeat this until you're content, just remember 10+ MAB on a piece, is a great place to start. Once the gear is 'seasoned', you would then use the +1/+2 stones you obtain from Skirmishes, supplemented by buying the odd one from AH and the Obsidian Fragment NPC (if you chose) to maximize augments even further. This seems to me about the cheapest possible way to get a moderate MAB set, (11-18 MAB on 5 pieces, in addition to the 48MAB inherent on the gear is nothing to scoff at) with the greatest probabilities of obtaining them.

Might want to do some mental resisliance exercizes too, these augments are suicidely infuriating. to wit: purchacing 24 NQ only to see "1 pdt|no aug" 5 times in a row. A feat for which I calculated the probability being near 4-thousandths of 1 percent. Then repeated the exact same scenario 3 trades later.

Just my thoughts.