This comment was posted to reddit on Apr 03, 2015 at 10:44 am and was deleted within 4 hour(s) and 17 minutes.
Could use some BLM advice.
Quelling Strikes is useful to have. It's not essential in most dungeons and primal fights.
Generally, you will complete the Fire cast you're doing when you see the proc appear, THEN use it. If you have a Thundercloud proc, finish your Fire cast, then hit Thundercloud. By the time the TC is going, you'll see if you have a FS. At the end of your fire rotation, while you're casting your last Fire, if you hit Lethargy and then immediately press your Fire 3 button, you will force the server to check for a Firestarter proc. It's a little awkward and clunky, but once you figure out the timing it's awesome. (This is Fireweaving.)
Thunder costs and damage never change no matter your stacks.
Opener is T3 > F3 (Raging Strikes) > Fx?? (intersperse Firestarter and Thundercloud as necessary, use Xpot of Int after first Firestarter) > Swiftcast Flare (Convert) > F > B3 > T1 (repeat). Watch your casting bar during T1 cast; if you get a mana tick before the bar reaches the "r" in "Thunder", immediately press F3. If you do not get a mana tick, cast B1. Rinse repeat. AoE rotation is F3 > F2 til 900 mana > Flare > Transpose > F3 (repeat). It seems weird but it works. If you have 1119 mana, you can cast another F2 before your Flare. If you have 950 mana, you cannot.
The most useless spell is probably Blizzard 2, but both it and Freeze DO have uses. I use them to clean up the very end of trash pulls, so I have ice stacks for the next pull/boss. Thunder 2 is the least used Thunder. All other spells and cooldowns are fairly obviously important. X-INT pots have the same cooldown as Ethers, so in fights where you care, use INT pots, in fights where you don't, use X-Ethers for an extra Flare. (Mega Ether and Hi-Elixir also give you enough MP for a Flare).