Lvl 50 peoples attitudes...... Needs some major fixing.

[RyuDragnier]

Absolutely false. Full DL" is not required to not get one-shotted. For a caster, it's a close call, but the general benchmark is that if your HP is 3400 or higher, you have enough health to survive the fight. Higher is better, of course, but the OP, being a Dragoon, does not need anywhere near full DL to reach that amount of health. One thing that is pretty much explicitly required however, is a weapon from Ifrit or preferably Garuda. Damage is important, and weapons give it best.

Then that guildie I was talking with didn't know entirely what they were talking about. This is useful to know regardless. Guess I really am going to have to spam Ifrit and/or Garuda for the bow then.