SE, Here's How You Make SSS Mean Something:

Item Level Sync.

If the content the dummies are tailored for aren't ilvl synced, why should the dummies be synced?

Standing still and nuking an unmoving dummy says very little about how one will perform when also having to pay attention to mechanics, dodge whatnots.

So it would be really cool if the dummies actually used AoE attacks, which get more and more hectic as its health depletes. It doesn't have to kill you, just throw you out of the fight or something.

That would be a great way to practice doing a precise rotation while having to dodge stuff, without having to worry about wiping a group in case you mess up.

I'm not holding my breath for mechanics or whatnot.

But an ilvl sync would be super easy to implement and make sure that if someone clears the dummy they did their rotation flawlessly.

As it stands right now, you can overgear the fucking dummies. Soak that up for a second.

They should be a rotation/skill check, not a gear check.

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Originally Posted by Syzygian

As it stands right now, you can overgear the fucking dummies. Soak that up for a second.

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I'm pretty sure that's intentional.

Example: A guy goes into the Thordan EX dummy in i195 and fails to clear it. He gets better gear and goes back in at i206 and clears it. He feels more confident now and goes to do the actual Thordan EX.

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Originally Posted by CGMidlander

I'm pretty sure that's intentional.

Example: A guy goes into the Thordan EX dummy in i195 and fails to clear it. He gets better gear and goes back in at i206 and clears it. He feels more confident now and goes to do the actual Thordan EX.

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That is a good point, but I feel that it would still be a good feature to have at least have an optional ilvl sync. Even if the person in your example fails to clear in i195, the time/percentage remaining on the dummy at the end should give him an idea of how much gear he needs (or how much DPS he's missing from his rotation).

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Originally Posted by Syzygian

I'm not holding my breath for mechanics or whatnot.

But an ilvl sync would be super easy to implement and make sure that if someone clears the dummy they did their rotation flawlessly.

As it stands right now, you can overgear the fucking dummies. Soak that up for a second.

They should be a rotation/skill check, not a gear check.

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It's BOTH rotation check and gear check.

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Originally Posted by mosaicex

It's BOTH rotation check and gear check.

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The point is you can make the former meaningless with the latter.

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Originally Posted by Syzygian

The point is you can make the former meaningless with the latter.

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Then I raise you other point.

What is considered a 'perfect' rotation to you?

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Originally Posted by mosaicex

Then I raise you other point.

What is considered a 'perfect' rotation to you?

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All jobs have an optimal single-target rotation, not sure what you're getting at.

Anyway, the idea is that you should have the option to enable an ilvl sync to see if you can meet the check with your rotation alone. I dunno why people are opposed to that. If anything it would make SSS a more accurate depiction of what a player needs to work on.

You know, why not add it as an option feature like how min ilvl sync is for DF? Not only can you see how you do in your current gear, if you feel you only really passed because of your higher ilvl/just for funs you can ilvl sync down and do it that way too.

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Originally Posted by Dualblade

You know, why not add it as an option feature like how min ilvl sync is for DF? Not only can you see how you do in your current gear, if you feel you only really passed because of your higher ilvl/just for funs you can ilvl sync down and do it that way too.

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And FINALLY... on the second page, someone gets it.

To be fair you posted right before I could~

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Originally Posted by Syzygian

All jobs have an optimal single-target rotation, not sure what you're getting at.

Anyway, the idea is that you should have the option to enable an ilvl sync to see if you can meet the check with your rotation alone. I dunno why people are opposed to that. If anything it would make SSS a more accurate depiction of what a player needs to work on.

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And there are two types of people. People who care, and people who don't.

People who care already know this SquareEnix™ approved rotation and already maximized their potential in this 3 minutes time frame. People who don't will simply brute force it with item level like previous poster stated, and is the purpose of having SSS in the first place.

Also some Jobs, like Machinist, benefits more from not using their optimal rotation in SSS due nature of their playstyle, so it simply wouldn't work, but I digress. Apparently people only 'get it' if they agreed with you.

I think it's because the entire point of SSS is to let players see if they have enough DPS to clear a fight. It's not about perfecting your rotation. If that was the case, they would've actually just told you what your rotation was and had you play dance dance revolution instead.

What you're asking for is something they didn't intend SSS to be. People complained that with the lack of an official parser, there was no way to see if you actually did enough DPS to pass the DPS checks in content short of just doing it and potentially wasting the time of 7 other people. SSS lets you find out if you're ready for content.

Could they add a challenge mode to SSS? Sure. They could add a challenge mode to a lot of things in this game but they haven't yet. For the most part, SE just lets the players challenge themselves.

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Originally Posted by Syzygian

That is a good point, but I feel that it would still be a good feature to have at least have an optional ilvl sync. Even if the person in your example fails to clear in i195, the time/percentage remaining on the dummy at the end should give him an idea of how much gear he needs (or how much DPS he's missing from his rotation).

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I agree with you on that.

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Originally Posted by mosaicex

Apparently people only 'get it' if they agreed with you.

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Apparently people who make a simple suggestion turn the stick in your butt sideways.

Stone Sky Sea is supposed to be a thing that tells you whether or not you are ready for a specific piece of content, damage-wise. Since your damage is made up of both gear and rotation, it makes no sense to item level sync it unless the content it is supposed to be preparing you for is also item level synced. Players who are worse at their job need stronger items to clear content in game, so of course they will need them to finish a SSS challenge. If you just want it as an optional challenge then spend your time getting gear of whatever item level instead of posting on the forums about it. Or do actual content with ilvl sync.

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Originally Posted by Syzygian

Apparently people who make a simple suggestion turn the stick in your butt sideways.

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It's simple for you, I guess.

What's perfect rotation for WAR opener? 3 FC or 2 FC which fits within TA debuff's time frame? What's perfect rotation for DRG? 3 GK in one minute forfeiting LS on FT and b4b on CT, or 2 GK and use those, Skillspeed stat(which, surprise surprise, is tied to item level) also play part in this. NIN's Backstab deal more damage and is better when no one is there to benefits from the TA debuff, this will result in better clear time for SSS, is that considered a better, or perfect rotation?

You can't just magically assign item level sync button and hope everything turns out OK.

Also, a note I posted on another thread. The game has not at any point suggested towards any "the one and only right" rotation. The only time the order of the skills matters, gamewise, is skills that only work in particular succession, like chain skills. All the other stuff about rotation is purely put up by the player base. Yeah, some orders of things might work better than others. Yes, some people have better reflexes, or connections. But the game doesn't say your order of things is right or wrong as long as stuff dies before you. As it should be. Be it gear or skill that makes the difference.

And as someone said, you can just put on lower level gear if you want to challenge yourself.

Many suggestions to "improve" the SSS are on the road to make it a content of its own right. That's not what it was meant to be. Of those suggestions the only one I agree with is that the dummy should take into accord the Accuracy checks accordingly.

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Originally Posted by Brian_

I think it's because the entire point of SSS is to let players see if they have enough DPS to clear a fight.

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Pretty much this. I know, that even with i200 weapons, my Bard and Monk should be able to clear with little issue, Sephirot EX. But, I need more practice with those Jobs, be it my opener (both of them), my priority rotation (Bard), or making sure I don't slip up (Monk). So I've been using Stone, Sky, Sea as less of a "is my gear good enough" (I did that for M1S for DRK... the results weren't pretty) and more of a "am I, as these off-Jobs, good enough?"

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Originally Posted by mosaicex

It's simple for you, I guess.

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Nah it's actually pretty simple for what he's suggesting. See if your rotation is set to meet the dps check for a fight, for people that care about optimizing their rotation, but haven't learned what that optimization is yet.

How that would be put in though, I'd say would require more than just a minimal ilevel as stated before, some jobs "best rotations" are given up in exchange for raid utility. Over all, I think I'd like something like this though since the game is already going out of it's way to hold hands through just about everything else.

IIRC the dummies were implemented as a counter measure to an official parser (which ppl felt excluded them or steered them away from certain content do to not producing enough damage or fear of)

Implementing mechanics would be counter productive in my opinion, you learn those in the actual fight. these time limits set for the dummies are ment to represent optimal uptime on a boss to ensure you can hold your own weight in a group scenario (DPS WISE) the rest is up to the player to learn and adjust what is being done wrong

Tbh sometimes i think clearing SSS should be requirement to enter said content, yesterday i saw enrage firstime in A8N because 2 top DPS were both tanks while DD jobs were pulling sub 400... i know shadowfang looks cool but please dont just spam it.