Some black magic - test server findings

There are at least 20 things I could post about more interesting than my checking parameters for black magic spells (BG forum), but those other things would take too long.

That Breakga appears to last only 30 seconds unresisted is notable since the recast time is 50% longer (45 seconds). Compare this to single-target Break (30 second duration, 30 second recast). Even Horde Lullaby II lasts 60 seconds (with only a 24-second recast).

Comet's direct damage/MP efficiency doesn't compare favorably to Blizzaja and Thunder IV without the usual ice or lightning potency merits.

I also checked the magnitude of Kaustra's direct damage, but surprisingly the direct damage appears to be variable in a way that can't be explained by resists. With 85 INT on SCH95/MNK1 I managed to get 378 damage 3 times and 340 twice.

"Naked" Aspir and Aspir II at 400 dark magic skill

At 400 dark magic skill and with no Aspir-enhancing equipment/traits, unresisted Aspir I appears to have a maximum of 160 MP (actually observed maximum: 160 MP) and minimum of 80 MP. (The two lowest observed values, 74 MP and 76 MP, may reflect a resisted state.)

At 400 dark magic skill and with no Aspir-enhancing equipment/traits, unresisted Aspir II appears to have a maximum of 240 MP (actually observed maximum: 238 MP) and minimum of 120 MP (actually observed minimum: 121 MP).

Consistent with previous results, the variability of MP drained with Aspir II is higher than that with Aspir I, which appears to be a result of the range of possible values increasing as the maximum increases. (The maximum of Aspir II, for a given level of dark magic skill, is higher than that of Aspir I.)

Dot plot

Raw data (first column observed MP drained, second Aspir I or Aspir II, third order of data collection)

107 1 1
184 2 2
118 1 3
121 2 4
120 1 5
238 2 6
127 1 7
172 2 8
141 1 9
142 2 10
159 1 11
149 2 12
155 1 13
227 2 14
106 1 15
190 2 16
87 1 17
191 2 18
101 1 19
209 2 20
114 1 21
144 2 22
93 1 23
166 2 24
132 1 25
165 2 26
136 1 27
161 2 28
74 1 29
228 2 30
155 1 31
178 2 32
156 1 33
174 2 34
97 1 35
192 2 36
111 1 37
126 2 38
132 1 39
211 2 40
126 1 41
213 2 42
145 1 43
137 2 44
95 1 45
176 2 46
118 1 47
127 2 48
147 1 49
227 2 50
108 1 51
141 2 52
133 1 53
121 2 54
126 1 55
129 2 56
140 1 57
124 2 58
106 1 59
141 2 60
160 1 61
157 2 62
84 1 63
162 2 64
138 1 65
179 2 66
143 1 67
168 2 68
121 1 69
122 2 70
87 1 71
199 2 72
156 1 73
211 2 74
112 1 75
127 2 76
156 1 77
122 2 78
132 1 79
212 2 80
76 1 81
157 2 82
100 1 83
198 2 84
101 1 85
201 2 86
107 1 87
144 2 88
93 1 89
160 2 90
103 1 91
162 2 92
118 1 93
215 2 94
159 1 95
137 2 96
89 1 97
205 2 98
133 1 99
131 2 100