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Hello everyone and welcome back. Yayake, who we have only spoken with once back in like the second update, has a new quest for us.
As we've seen so far from all the job updates, these quests are hilariously short. So we're not going to be doing just the level 30 quest today. No, across this and maybe the next update, we'll be taking BLM all the way to 50.
Ginger. I've been waiting for you-in a way. Please, let me explain. Do you know of the Marasaja Pit? It is a prison, here in Ul'dah. In prison, a man will do most anything to keep his mind occupied. Of late, one inmate claims to hear the voice of Nald'thal. No doubt he has lost his mind after serving one hundred years of a life sentence.
But, he knew of you by name, Ginger, and maintains the Traders demand you win the Gem of Shatotto and exchange it for his release. A farce, no doubt. I make it for nothing more than the maniacal ravings of a cell-crazed, sweaty-toothed madman. But I fear the only way to be sure is to free him of the Pit.
I really hate that Garland Tools' font uses smart text. It creates so much extra work for me because the hyphens above come out as proper emdashes. And it's every time NPC dialogue has quotes, apostrophes, hypens, or ellipses in it.
These are the untold woes of doing screenshot LPs.
The prisoner's name is Ququruka Tataruka, and as if his story were not proof enough of his lunacy, he also styles himself a black mage.
But such magic was lost to Eorzea centuries ago. Who does this senile charlatan think he will fool with such rubbish? <sigh> Nevertheless, he has invoked the name of Nald'thal, and so the Order feels it unwise to ignore his words. Though I am still no believer, you have come, as he said you would.
So let us get to the bottom of this, shall we? It may be that you are an agent of fate, or perhaps you are merely a crooked old man's accomplice. In either case, I ask that you travel to Highbridge in eastern Thanalan. Seek out the planar fissure-a rift between this world and the next. Fell whatever beasts might lurk there, and water the earth with their blood.
According to our gaoled mummer, doing so will give rise to the Gem of Shatotto. The gem is no more than a pretty stone oft mentioned in bedtime stories and the tales of faeries. We shall see if it truly exists. I shall await your findings here. Return to me when the deed is done.
Yayake is one of those people who lets a petty amount of power go straight to her head. She's the receptionist for a major temple in Ul'dah and so now she's positively brimming with Karen energy.
We'll use the map to teleport to Drybone and hoof it across the desert from there. We need to kill some stuff near Highbridge.
I am eternally amused that Ginger's level 30 caster set is the same between DPS and healing. So this dangerous thaumaturge looks like a conjurer. It's kinda cute.
We just need to kill a bunch of jerks.
Revenant-style enemies like this are annoying because their AI script prioritizes using Malice above all else. So as soon as it's off cooldown, they drop everything to cast it. I haven't dissected the game or anything like that, but anyone who's fought one of these assholes will tell you the same.
We just needed to kill three of them, and the first two came together. So this doesn't take very long, even dodging Malice every 5 seconds.
Thaumaturge, hear me.
Ginger, understandably wary, pulls her wand out.
Put up your weapon, friend. Kazagg Chah means you no harm.
So you are the one of whom Ququruka's prophecy speaks. By your hand was the blood of these creatures spilt upon this earthen vein, was it not?
That was me, yeah.
Then you have earned this Gem of Shatotto. Take it. You will know what to do with it when the time comes. With this, my part is done. Farewell, for now.
That's a soul stone.
Back to Yayake. Yay(ake).
Well, you certainly smell as though you've been off spilling blood. But it will take more than a waft of foulness to convince me you are an agent of divine will. I take it yours was an eventful journey?
I got a soulstone!
<gasp> I-It is exactly as described in the tales! Could it truly be...? The Gem of Shatotto? Twelve be good, I can feel the magic pulsing within it! The tales tell that only souls blessed by the grace of Nald'thal are entrusted with the keeping of the gem. This is beyond mere coincidence. I must investigate further.
And you must assist me, Ginger. This now involves you as much as any other. Still, I cannot shake my inner skeptic. If Ququruka somehow made contact with the outside world, he may be manipulating adventurers such as yourself for ends yet unknown to us. I will call an emergency council of the Order. Please, wait here.
That will not be necessary.
Spot the level 45 job armor. It looks pretty close to a traditional black mage outfit, but you can get closer with a little creativity. Eevee already did a pretty good job of showing that off in the second or third update of the LP! I'm still proud of coming up with that glamour. 
Ququruka!? What are you doing here? How have you escaped the Pit?
Watch your tongue, you insolent fool! Master has passed a century in meditation communing with Nald'thal. You will address him with the proper respect!
The gaolers of the Marasaja Pit are very different from the heretics of your Order. Suffice it to say they had wisdom enough to listen. Must I remind you again? The will I speak is that of Nald'thal Himself. The true criminal is he who ignores the words of a god.
Beware, Ququruka. The Twelve seldom spare those who claim Their voice. This mummer's farce will bring disaster to us all.
The cause of the disaster to come will be no words of mine-of that be sure. Nald'thal spoke unto me. By His own declaration, the seal on the voidgate will be broken. Once thrown open, it can be closed once more by none but she who bears the Gem of Shatotto.
Yayake goes to look for the soulstone and Ginger's already holding it. Ququruka is good. I like him already!
I speak of you, Ginger Pepper. The gem you hold is the mark of a mage of the black. With it in hand, you must now set forth to gather the keys needed to seal the voidgate.
Ququruka and Lalai start leaving...
Wait! You can't- I mean, you don't have the right to- I...I can't just let this happen!
Ququruka is done with Yayake's shit.
You take for yourself the title of thaumaturge, and so I will not suffer you to claim ignorance. You know as well as any of the existence of a netherworld rife with shadow and monstrosity-the void. As the power of the void waxes, the barrier between it and our own world wanes.
Eventually, that barrier will falter, and the voidgate will open. Once it has, only the black magic of eld can reseal it.
This... This is sacrilege!
As one who now commands the forces of destruction, I bid you go forth, black mage. The Gem of Shatotto is our sigil-the mark of the magi devoted to the true dark art. In it, you already possess the first key required to see the voidgate sealed.
You have taken the black, but time is needed before the black takes you-before it permeates mind and body, and colors every fiber of your being dark as pitch. Visit Milvaneth Sacrarium, and there hear the words of Lalai.
Do not fear the power to destroy. Master it, and with it destroy that which would destroy you.
While there's no direct port to where Lalai hangs out, we can get reasonably close. I like going to the Miner's guild, but she's equidistant from two different aetherytes. So it's not really a problem. Also for whatever it's worth, this little plaza here is where the BLU trainer eventually sets up shop.
Master is meditating in his chambers. For Nald'thal always speaks, and Master must listen. He has entrusted me with guiding you on your path-but you must walk alone yet. Come again when the black has grown stronger within you.
Black Mage is the job I feel the most conflicted about. On the one hand, I love how it plays at low levels. But on the other, I simply do not have the ability to play it at higher levels. There's too many plates to spin.
But for now I'm quite happy with it. BLM plays awkwardly between levels 30 and 35, but as we'll soon see, 35 is when it really starts coming into its own.
Manafont, for what it's worth, restores 30% of your MP on a decently lengthy cooldown - 3 minutes. While that doesn't sound immediately useful because of BLM's nature as an infinite mana battery, I've found that at least once per dungeon run I have need of it.
You see, Transpose stops being useful about level 34. Why? Well...
This quest here is the reason. The level 35 skill is a huge game changer. For what it's worth, Fire III comes at level 34. Using it takes a huge chunk of mana, but it instantly gives you two(three past level 40) stacks of your job gauge. Those stacks directly affect how much damage spells do in astral fire, and how much mana you recover while in the umbral ice phase.
So the trick is you use Fire III while at maximum umbral ice stacks and it goes straight between the two without having to use transpose. But between 34 and 35 there's no way to do the same between fire and ice.
Hold that thought and let's do the quest.
I sense the black magic within you has grown stronger, Ginger. You have earned the right of my audience. I am pleased to see that you do not fear your newfound powers. But then, you adventurers were ever wont to embrace the new.
You are now ready to set forth on your journey-to find the keys required to seal the voidgate. Hear me well, for mine are Master's own words, and his those of Nald'thal Himself.
"The next key requires the blood of sacrifice.
"Travel to the Sagolii Desert in southern Thanalan. Slay what fiends emerge from the planar fissure there, and slake the land's thirst with their lifeblood.
"Once drunk, its essence shall be borne away upon the aetherial veins of the earth, and thence serve to notify our friends in the wastelands that the time has come.
"Complete the task before you, and the black mage testimony you carry will shine full with a new light. Light to envelop and absorb evil. Light to show you destruction and guide you to righteousness. This light is the key. Take it into you, where it will forever burn bright."
...That is all. Do you understand and accept what you must do?
We gotta go to the far southern part of the Sagolii desert.
Flight is so nice, y'all. It's been active in the ARR fields for 11 months and I'm not tired of it yet.
Like before we need to kill a bunch of voidsent to get blood. We then dump that blood into the portal.
Fire III, by the way, is really impressive. BLM is the job to play if you love huge explosions.
Relatedly, did you know that there are some people who play BLM as an ice mage? Because they're terrified of running out of mana. And so they never venture outside of the phase where they have infinite mana but do shit-all for damage. I've encountered a few myself!
We dump the blood in the portal and we're done!
It is done, then. But the blackness you have awoken has yet to settle within you. Time is needed, Ginger. Pray be patient. Continue to practice your mastery of the arcane, and come to me once more when the dark art is as much you as you it.
The reason for all that preamble up above is because of Freeze. Freeze is the other half of that statement from before. It deals AOE frost damage, and immediately sets your job gauge to the maximum number of umbral ice pips. So let me break this down...
I don't know if this is optimal, but anyone who's worried about optimization before max level should be ignored. Wait where are you going? What I do is start combat with Freeze. I then slam the enemy with thunder to get a DOT rolling. Then after the mana ticks back up to 10,000, I hit Fire III. Due to job mechanics, spells of the opposite alignment are cheaper and can be cast faster.
Maxed out umbral ice immediately turns into maxed out astral fire, and Ginger can start her burn phase at full power instead of having to ramp up to it. This burn phase is still casting Fire I. Fire III deals more damage, this is true, but it is a lot slower to cast and eats up mana like nobody's business. You can stay in the burn phase for longer by just chain casting Fire I. To put it simply, you deal more damage by only using Fire III to swap between the two.
This behavior is going to change in 5 levels. So bear with me.
Once you're low on mana, you hit Freeze again to swap back to umbral ice and then it repeats from there. Transpose is now something we never have to hit if we don't want to because with one cast we can start combat at maximum power.
So now Ginger is 5 levels later.
The level 40 quest offers a single target replacement for Freeze - Blizzard III. Also level 40 42 introduces a trait that occasionally makes Fire III free to cast when you cast Fire I. In that case, you can either use it as a free nuke during your burn phase or you can hold onto it for a free swap from the next regen phase.
At low levels the difference doesn't really matter. And at higher levels you can force the issue with a specific skill. So just use it wherever you think is best.
Ginger, I see in your eyes the look of a woman prepared to take on the daunting responsibilities of the black mage. There are few who know of our existence, even among those versed in the ways of magic. You will not even find mention of us in all but the most esoteric of texts.
Yet the secrets of our dark art lie encrypted here, within the forbidden library of this Sacrarium. Master himself deciphered and read the texts, some hundred years past. It is said the first of our kind were the favored of Nald'thal, and it was He who entrusted them with the duty of sealing the voidgate.
But as you well know, the power of black magic lies in its great potential for destruction. The slightest errancy in its use may give rise to the most tragic of disasters. Of the disappearance of the black mages from Eorzea, Master says only, "We must not repeat the errors of the past."
Ginger, Master has made known to me what it is you must next do. Listen to his words now, with all your being...
"The land has drunk deep of the blood you spilled, and by this act, three souls of three races to Thanalan have come.
"The fires of our Order once burned black and full. Yet long ago they were left to wane and very nearly die. These three souls are the keepers of the embers that remain-of all that we now are.
"In the hands of one who will usher our return, the Gem of Shatotto, testimony of our creed, will shine with new light. And by that light, the three keepers will be made your allies.
"An Amalj'aa by the name of Kazagg Chah awaits at Burgundy Falls in the east of Thanalan. Go to him."
...That is all. Dwell not on the fact that the Amalj'aa are the sworn enemies of Ul'dah. It is not your place to question Master's will-for it is the will of Nald'thal Himself. Go forth, black mage, and see the voidgate sealed.
Back to East Thanalan. Do you remember a dozen or more updates back when I pointed out a cave we were passing through? It was during the whole corrupted crystals mini-arc. I made mention that some BLM quests take place there. Well, we're going there now!
Kazagg Chah is the fellow we met in the level 30 quest. He's still hanging around so that's good.
This quest is incredibly dark. There's an Ixal, Kazagg Chah, and a Kobold all present.
Well come, Lalafell, chosen of Ququruka and bearer of the Gem of Shatotto. By the gem's power do our paths cross once more. At last the time spoken of in the prophecy has come, and yet I know nothing of she who would guide us. Come, tell me your name.
Ginger Pepper. I am Kazagg Chah, a sorcerer of the Amalj'aa, as were my forebears. I am the fourth of my line to walk this path, which brings me now to this land. As you well know, my kind bear the scorn of the Ul'dahns. It is for that reason that I must remain here, far from the city walls.
Great power, this one has. But enough, is it? Squaaawk!
Kazagg Chah is terrifying to behold. Yes, yes, but he is both wise and kind-good, warm, kind.
These are my brethren in the black, Ginger, and now they are yours, as well. Before you stand the Ixal, Dozol Meloc, and the 269th Order mendicant of the kobolds, Da Za.
You have fed the aetherial currents with the blood of fiends. That the Gem of Shatotto radiates as it does in your presence is proof of your deeds, and a sign of what must yet be done. It falls to me to bear witness to your awakening, and to pass on to you the knowledge entrusted to me. Know that you must face death before your purpose can be fulfilled.
It is to the Silent King in western Thanalan that you must next journey. There, too, lies a planar fissure, and there, too, must you slake the land's thirst with the blood of the fiends which surge forth from it.
Fear not, each of us shall journey to the Silent King, and there convene once more. Seek out first the Ixal Dozol Meloc, for your path is destined to first cross with his. When the deed before you is done, the Gem of Shatotto shall shine with new brilliance.
We're between Horizon and Vesper Bay to do our training.
To close planar fissure, strong black magic you need. You close, then come to Dozol Meloc once more. Squaaawk!
It's just more of the same as before.
Squaaawk! Kazagg Chah spoke true! Black is strong in Ginger. You go now. Go see Da Za.
Da Za is up the way.
Here lies the planar fissure-rift, tear, fissure. Use the power within you to seal it.
These trials have us fighting a single enemy each.
It is as Kazagg Chah foretold. You are chosen, Ginger. You must return to him now. Yes, yes, return and tell Kazagg Chah the deed is done-ended, over, done.
Kazagg Chah seems pleased at least. So back to East Thanalan...
The Gem of Shatotto burns bright. You are indeed the heiress to a dark and ancient power, as Ququruka foretold. I am reminded of a prophecy my great-grandfather uttered long ago:
"When four magi meet in a barren land,
Black powers of eld woven by their hand,
Shall see the fate of wickedness made stark,
And the path to light shall be lit by dark."
The black powers of eld require no explanation. And know that wickedness refers to the evil birthed by the void. That the seal holding the voidgate shut will falter and fail is beyond doubt. Yet your deeds speak of determination and ability, and in them I spy hope. I have learned all of you that I must.
I bestow upon you the knowledge kept by my line. Here and now, I speak an oath to discard old grudges. By our power combined, the voidgate will be sealed anew.
You have brought this old Amalj'aa much happiness. Few believed the words of my great-grandfather. He was mocked and ridiculed, and worse, ignored. Yet your coming has fulfilled the prophecy he spoke.
Ginger, the dark magic coursing through you shares a deep bond with the voidgate. Should that portal be cast open, you will come to great peril. Temper yourself, in both mind and body. When you are ready, return to this land and seek me out once more. Then, and only then, will I speak to you of your next task.
Like I said, Blizzard III is just a single target replacement for Freeze in the combat flow I describe above. Now that we have it, Freeze should only be used in AOE settings. Makes sense, right? It's always dealt AOE damage, but the mechanical benefits of using it single target were too great to ignore.
Anyway that's half the BLM job quests, which makes this a good stopping point. I really like these nice and brisk updates!
NEXT TIME: We polish off BLM!