Dragoons: A Rotation Reborn

[Arland]

Can't say i missed in turn 5 yet. I'm exactly at 470acc. (Todays drop brings me to 474 though) But i only got so far as to see phase 3 of the fight, so there might be some changes further in.

[Mantrus]

I have a few questions.

- How is critical damage calculated? Most games it's like double damage, but that doesn't seem to be the case in FFXIV.
- Is determination better to get over skill speed, even when they contribute the same quantity of stats according to the strength equivalency table? It seems like having skill speed has the liability of DoT clipping and such.
- Does it matter if I use my high damage off-GCD actions (mostly jumps) before or after Disembowel? I usually use my lower damage off-GCDs early in my rotation and save my high damage ones for after I get my buffs, but this doesn't seem to be focused upon in the write-up, so I'm wondering if it matters.

[himehime]

bis bracelet/boots in turn 5 only

depressing~

anyway, DRG isn't exactly the strongest class to bring in coil, and is overshadowed by MNK in a few aspects, but they work fine for turn 1-5`

[Maero]

Yikes lots to absorb for a newbie,
Drg sounds like a class for those that are experienced. I was going to switch from Gld to this, now not 100% sure. Great write up.

[Ayvar]

I have a few questions.

- How is critical damage calculated? Most games it's like double damage, but that doesn't seem to be the case in FFXIV.
- Is determination better to get over skill speed, even when they contribute the same quantity of stats according to the strength equivalency table? It seems like having skill speed has the liability of DoT clipping and such.
- Does it matter if I use my high damage off-GCD actions (mostly jumps) before or after Disembowel? I usually use my lower damage off-GCDs early in my rotation and save my high damage ones for after I get my buffs, but this doesn't seem to be focused upon in the write-up, so I'm wondering if it matters.

1) From my experience crits are 2x damage, there is just some variation around all damage in the game so it wont be exactly 2x your full damage each time. If a hit can vary from 90-110 you might crit for 180 sometimes or 220 others. There also might be issues with some buffs falling off prior to whatever ability you are critting. However, this could be wrong and someone else can feel free to use math to defeat me.

2) Dunno how you got DET and SS as equal given stat weights, DET is at 0.22 and SS at 0.146, so DET is worth a good deal more.

3) Aim to use your best damage abilities (PS/Jump, Life Surge) after Disembowel. It isn't focused on, but is implied by the off-GCD rotation in the first post.

Yikes lots to absorb for a newbie,
Drg sounds like a class for those that are experienced. I was going to switch from Gld to this, now not 100% sure. Great write up.

It's actually quite an intuitive class as the GCD ability rotations can only ever consist of three groups of abilities. Either your True Thrust Combo, Impulse Drive Combo, or Heavy Thrust/DoT(s) "combo". Once you get in that mindset it flows quite well. Also I love this thread because everything is here, you don't have to scour multiple websites/resources for your answers. And anything that isn't here you can feel free to ask and you'll receive a speedy reply from the very helpful (and mostly knowledgeable) Dragoon community!

[aray0002]

Amazing but sadly I think this will be extremely difficult to pull off on the ps3

I agree, I am on PS3 and even though the cross / hotbars are customized to ones liking. It's cumbersome and sometime just plain painful to watch my thumbs and fingers push the wrong buttons because of a left brain / right brain malfunction.

For you Guru's that are posting this.. you think you can put together a MACRO for us PS3 users.

I'm not talking acronyms either. Some of us who play this game are actually just casual gamers. The algorithm examples listed in this thread make my freaking HEAD hurt. I just want some basic simplicity in the example of a Full Rotation / Macro

This game is killing me man. When i fought the Demon Wall in AK i swear my DPS was freaking LOW and yeah I had Ifrits weapon.
Something was wrong and i guess it was me spamming the same skill over and over. Help a brother out.

[aray0002]

Can't say i missed in turn 5 yet. I'm exactly at 470acc. (Todays drop brings me to 474 though) But i only got so far as to see phase 3 of the fight, so there might be some changes further in.

My DRG just got done with Ifrit HM and.. after 61 times (36 wins) with random peeps using DF. I finally got Ifrits weapon.
Next on my list was farming CM for some darklight gear as well as AK for some lvl 60 greens.
Question i have is.. So far i purchased Dark Light ( maiming ) gear as it adds Accuracy while Dark Light ( striking ) adds Critical
My NERF'd DRG stands at 460 Accuracy with total of 5 peices of Dark Light Gear. None by the way are ARMOR other than Helm.
All my DRK LIGHT gear is Accessories. Should I save my self time running CM and resources by not buying anymore gear as 460 should be ideal for COIL.

[ColdestHeaven]

Back on the limit break topic, there were some theories about monk's LB being stronger than dragoon's LB. Is there any truth to that?

LB is scaled on the global "gearing" of the group. Its not only your and it's indeed influenced by dps buffs.

So would it matter if everyone activated at once all their damage buffs at the moment the DPS uses the LB?

[Vies]

I agree, I am on PS3 and even though the cross / hotbars are customized to ones liking. It's cumbersome and sometime just plain painful to watch my thumbs and fingers push the wrong buttons because of a left brain / right brain malfunction.

For you Guru's that are posting this.. you think you can put together a MACRO for us PS3 users.

I'm not talking acronyms either. Some of us who play this game are actually just casual gamers. The algorithm examples listed in this thread make my freaking HEAD hurt. I just want some basic simplicity in the example of a Full Rotation / Macro

This game is killing me man. When i fought the Demon Wall in AK i swear my DPS was freaking LOW and yeah I had Ifrits weapon.
Something was wrong and i guess it was me spamming the same skill over and over. Help a brother out.

The best suggestion I can make here is to invest in a keyboard/mouse compatible with the PS3. That might not be as helpful as suggesting macros(I haven't played around with those myself yet), but it's a much better control scheme than a controller.

[ChaozK]

I dont see the problem with using Dragoons on gamepad, i am doing fine with it personally. I use some very minor macros to save up some clutter but thats it. The gamepad actually even makes movement a bit more comfortable. Its a bit harder to attack while moving on keyboard and mouse.

This game is killing me man. When i fought the Demon Wall in AK i swear my DPS was freaking LOW and yeah I had Ifrits weapon.
Something was wrong and i guess it was me spamming the same skill over and over. Help a brother out.

Did you know that you can still get flanks on demon wall? Get your heavy thrust! Other than that make sure your Phlebotomize and Fracture are always ticking. After the Knockback use a Spineshatter Dive or Dragonfire Dive to get back to the wall as fast possible.