What Makes You a Top DPS Player?

[Berber]

I've been maining blm since launch, and i feel like i'm in the "understand the class, but am a mid-performer" group typically. i'm on ps3, so the only way i can even remotely judge my relative dps to the rest of the group is where i'm at on the hate list (which i know is a sketchy method at best). if it's a fight i know very well, i have a rhythm that i get into and will usually do very well. i may very occasionally screw something up, run out of mp and have to either transpose > bliz 3 to get back on track or the dreaded: transpose > realize that astral wore while i was running around avoiding random aoe so i wasted transpose > bliz 1 > bliz 3 > back into normal rotation (this is embarrassing as hell when it happens). but sometimes, even on a fight i know very well and do my normal rhythm, it seems like i just don't get the thunderstorm/firestarter procs that i should, which makes me appear as a rather bland dps.

[Sobia]

I think you should scour this forum for some BLM rotations, because that sounds pretty terrible. Transpose should only be used during AoE rotations, between battles to regain MP to full, or if you screwed up your single target rotation and somehow find yourself without enough MP for Blizzard III.

The only reason I do what I do is because Im not level 50 yet. I don\\'t have the opportunity to take advantage of things like fire starter or astral 3. I have a good rotation in mind, but one that I can\\'t do until later levels. All the guides are directed forward lvl 50, but I haven\\'t gotten there yet. But thank you for the input it made me look around a little more and I learned a few more things.

[PArcher]

I think you should scour this forum for some BLM rotations, because that sounds pretty terrible. Transpose should only be used during AoE rotations, between battles to regain MP to full, or if you screwed up your single target rotation and somehow find yourself without enough MP for Blizzard III.

Just an FYI...he's a lv35 BLM, according to the data under his pic...so Transpose is all he has really.

[BinaryJack]

As a lvl 50 SMN/ACN/SCH I still consider myself a noob at times and I am always willing to learn to better myself for my party and my FC - Metamorphosis.

DOT!DOT!DOT! My role is to spread the DOT all over the place and keep it spread all over the time of the battle.

Opening with Shadow Flare, with the basic macro of BioII/Miasma/Bio following immediately.
This basic macro is the staple of my DOT.
I amplify this with Virus when possible. Bane is my go-to for mobs to make it easier for the party.
Fester is my main single-target and high-damage skill.

My Ifrit/Garuda always gets Spur when it is available and I throw in Enkindle early on in the battle for single enemy bosses, as it is likely that it will become available later on when the additional damage is needed.

If I die, I die. I am more than happy to accept that it was my fault and will gladly lie there and wait to be raised when it is possible.
I also have Physick if need be to look after myself and my pet. I do not rely on the healer for my well-being, they have other things to concern themselves with.
If I see the Healer getting whacked by a mob I will always run and try and assist by drawing enmity off them and throw in a heal or two.
I see my role as Damage Party Support.

As always, let me know if there is anything I can improve.

[PiedPiper]

Thanks for the feed back!


It seems the major factor, as I suspected and many of you have persuasively argued, is up time. Making sure you are active as much as possible.

K, great, I can tell someone that but no one (who falls in the target "underperforming but wants to improve" category) is consciously sitting idle. If they were, then they'd know that's their weakness and fix it. Now, I want to ask:


How do you train someone to reduce their down time? Are there any good add ons that chart activity (so that at time x it shows you inactive for z seconds)? Ideally I need something that will get their attention that they aren't spell casting. Maybe a program that is set to buz if one of some pre selected keys (here you'd put all your spell keys) aren't hit every three seconds? I imagine this would be something usually unrelated to gaming.


Maybe someone already invented good drills for activity?

Again the goal of this thread is to learn how to teach people to improve.

[PiedPiper]

I am so dumb

The game can do it. Make a macro for every spell:
/macroicon "Spell Name"
/ac "Spell Name" <t> <wait.3>
/echo <se.2> <se.3>

If he inputs a new spell the macro will over write and he won't hear the fail buz.

Only concern: 3 seconds is still too long to be idle, but is a start.

[EasymodeX]

Ok that macro is actually funny.

[GeneralBeolve]

Well, I define a good player as a player that makes the right move at the right time and knows all the subtle tricks of his class. Does he know the right times to use Quelling Strikes. Does the DRG you see know how to effectively use elusive jump as both a gap closer and enmity drop? A player's awareness is huge when I'm judging a player. Anybody can learn the correct rotations and mechanics on any particular boss fight, but when the shit hits the fan, are they able to stay calm and navigate through the situation at hand preventing a wipe?

[PiedPiper]

snip

Be that as it may, and I'm not questioning the validity of your statement.

But this is sort of neither here nor there to the thread topic. Explicitly I am looking for ways to coach players who already do all those things but have low damage output numbers.

So here, a good player does everything you listed (awareness, calm, etc) while pumping out top tier numbers.

[Bixby]

Only concern: 3 seconds is still too long to be idle, but is a start.

Make it 2 seconds. If he's using macros for everything, he can't pre-queue actions, so he should be spamming the next ability before the GCD is close to being done anyway.

I'm pretty much in that middle ground myself. I'm above average, but I have to fight to focus well enough to really push my numbers. One thing I've done is go into CT now and then and force myself to tunnel-vision on my rotation etc. CT isn't dangerous enough for this to be a real problem, but the fights last long enough that I get in a good few minutes of solid focus. I just force myself to only pay enough attention to the rest of the situation to survive, and do my best to really nail each button press. I find it carries through when I'm doing something real and need to actually dodge and stuff; it's easier not to refresh a DoT too early or let a buff fall off or something.