How to Dragoon Per Second: A DPS Paradigm

[Dervy]

Cooldown Management

H-P-IDC4 vs. H-IDC4-P

In the above post, I briefly touched on this. The PPS calculation demonstrated that H-P-IDC4 was a very slight PPS increase over H-IDC4-P...



This image above is the primary reason why we use H-IDC4-P over H-P-IDC4.

Look at the amount of skills which aren't buffed our 4th Combo in the end. On top of that, due to the forced Draconian-Pot placement, Phlebotomize isn't being buffed either. You'll want Full Thrust over Phlebotomize as it's 10 Potency Higher.

H P IDC4 has 1835 Potency * 105 STR (Pot on ID)

H P IDC4 has 2045 Potency * 105 STR (Pot on DI)

H P IDC4 has 2115 Potency * 105 STR (Pot on CT)

H IDC4 P has 2105 Potency * 105 STR (Pot on DI)

H IDC4 P has 2175 Potency * 105 STR (Pot on CT)

There's a huge Potency difference just from the Pot alone.

And not only that, as IR + BL aren't buffing your Wheeling Thrust, that's around (1+0.5*35%)= 1.175% of damage that you could potentially be missing out on.

Geirskogul

The first oCD we need to discuss is Geirskogul.

If you do not reach 21s when you use a 4th Combo, then using Geirskogul at any point in your rotation is risky and will make you lose BotD. 21s is your indicator that it is safe for you to use a Geirskogul. It doesn't matter if you hold it for 8 seconds or so, as long as you hit that threshold, you're safe to use it.

Blood for Blood

Blood for Blood usage is slightly different than it was in 2.0.



In this chart, we can see all of the optimal places to use Blood for Blood. In order of highest PPS, you should use BFB before this skill:

1) Vorpal Thrust
2) Impulse Drive
3) Disembowel
4) Full Thrust
5) Chaos Thrust

Now, you might be wondering to yourself, "isn't it best to use BFB before VP then in the opener?" No. The reason is pretty simple. Using Blood for Blood before Impulse Drive allows you to have a fully buffed Chaos Thrust, which is also being buffed by a Potion. Using Blood for Blood after the Potion application (which is also after Chaos Thrust) is very heavy hit to potential DPS output.

The next Column shows you the potential PPS if we delayed BFB by 1 GCD usage, to check that there isn't a situation where we should hold this skill.... And there isn't.

So the general rule of thumb is:

• Use BFB before Impulse Drive in Opener
• Use BFB on cooldown

Life Surge usage

With the introduction of Wheeling Thrust and Fang & Claw expanding the overall GCDs being used, it throws off the timing of Life Surge rather dramatically over our old 2.X method of CT/FT rotating.

One other problem is our GCD has reduced quite significantly, changing the total amount of actions being used per Life Surge cooldown duration.

50/2.5GCD = 20 GCD actions
50/2.4GCD = 20.83 (21) GCDs per
50/2.3GCD = 21.7 (22) GCDs per
50/2.2GCD = 22.7 (23) GCDs per.

As we're only ever going to be operating at 2.4 GCD, we'll talk about that.

Click the spoiler, as the mathematics are rather long:

If I land a Full Thrust without Life Surge--assuming that Heavy Thrust and Disembowel are both active--I end up with a raw potency of 360 x 1.15 x 1.10 = 455.4 potency. However, there is a chance that we might get a critical hit on that FT. Let’s use a Critical Hit Rate of 593, which is what we end up with using full i180 Law gear plus one i170 Law ring and a Hive Spear. At 593 crit, we have a 10.5% chance of getting a critical hit, and critical hits deliver a bonus of almost exactly +50% to base damage.

So, that 455.4 potency hit becomes 455.4 x 1.50 = 683.1 potency, 10.5% of the time. A little number crunching tells us that the average potency of your Full Thrusts over time (crits and non-crits averaged together, across infinity uses) comes out to 479.31 potency.

(455.4 x 0.895) + (683.1 x 0.105) = 479.31

By using Life Surge on a Full Thrust, we get a bonus of 683.1 - 479.31 = +203.79 potency.

Next, we’ll turn our attention to Fang and Claw/Wheeling Thrust.

Base potency for a 4th combo hit with Heavy Thrust and Disembowel comes out to 290 x 1.15 x 1.10 = 366.85 potency. Potency with a critical hit reaches 366.85 x 1.50 = 550.28. The average potency in the long-run with our Critical Hit Rate of 593 comes out to (366.85 x 0.895) + (550.28 x 0.105) = 386.11 potency.

By using Life Surge on a Wheeling Thrust or Fang and Claw, we get a bonus of 550.28 - 386.11 = +164.17 potency.

Now, let’s put those numbers to use. Obviously, a crit Full Thrust is better in absolute terms, but the real question is: How long, if at all, should we be willing to save Life Surge for Full Thrust for that pairing to be worth it?

Consider our rotation: HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th - Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th - (repeat)

Now, if Life Surge becomes available between Phlebotomize and Vorpal Thrust, there’s no question that we’ll want to pair it with FT. But there are two other, more complex situations: we can potentially decide to use Life Surge immediately after Chaos Thrust, or after Full Thrust, if it is available at these moments. I’ll label these two decision points (A) and (C).

HT - ID - Dis - CT -[Life Surge? (A)]- 4th - Phleb - TT - VT -[Life Surge! (B)]- FT -[Life Surge? (C)]- 4th - (repeat)

One thing I’ve noticed while practicing and using the rotation is that, at a 2.4 second GCD length, each Life Surge will be available to buff an attack exactly one GCD later in the overall rotation. (This is only for a 2.4 second GCD. More on that later.) Thus, if I buff TT-VT-[Life Surge]-FT-4th in my opener, LS is next available for TT-VT-FT-[Life Surge]-4th. There is, in other words, a 21 GCD gap between Life Surges becoming available, and this slightly staggers the GCDs we can pair it with.

One approach would be to pop Life Surge with the soonest possible Full Thrust, Wheeling Thrust, or Fang and Claw, regardless of whether we’re at point (A), point (B), or point (C):

HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT -[use Life Surge (B)]- FT - 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT -[Life Surge becomes available]-[use Life Surge (C)] 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th -[Life Surge becomes available]
HT - ID - Dis - CT -[use Life Surge (A)]- 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th
(entire pattern repeats)

A second strategy would be to only use Life Surge immediately before or after Full Thrust. That is, we could pop LS at points (B) and (C) without ever popping it at point (A). After all, maybe point (A) is close enough to Full Thrust that saving Life Surge for a few GCDs is actually advantageous.

HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT -[use Life Surge (B)]- FT - 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT -[Life Surge becomes available]-[use Life Surge (C)]- 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th -[Life Surge becomes available]
(entire pattern repeats)

Last of all, we could use Life Surge exclusively with Full Thrust, on the assumption that it delivers enough added potency to be worth the wait every time.

HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT -[use Life Surge (B)] 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th
HT - ID - Dis - CT - 4th
Phleb - TT - VT - FT - 4th -[Life Surge becomes available]
(entire pattern repeats)

In the first case, across the course of 70 GCDs, we end up with one LS+FT and two LS+4ths. That’s a bonus of 203.79 + 164.17 + 164.17 = 523.13 potency.

523.13 potency / 70 GCDs = +7.47 potency per GCD, or
(523.13 potency / 70 GCDs) / 2.4 seconds per GCD = +3.11 potency per second

Under the second approach, we get one LS+FT and one LS+4th every 50 GCDs. That’s 203.79 + 164.17 = 367.96 potency per pattern, giving us…

367.96 potency / 50 GCDs = +7.36 potency per GCD, or
(367.96 potency / 50 GCDs) / 2.4 seconds per GCD = +3.07 potency per second

Under the third and final approach, we end up with +203.79 potency across every 30 GCDs, for a benefit of…

203.79 potency / 30 GCDs = +6.79 potency per GCD, or
(203.79 potency / 30 GCDs) / 2.4 seconds per GCD = +2.83 potency per second

In the end, approach #1 (using LS as soon as possible with any FT or 4th hit) has the edge. It’s also a nicer approach in the sense that it frontloads Life Surge use, which could mean that you land an extra LS-buffed attack before an enemy jumps away or dies.

Conclusion: At a 2.4 second GCD, we should burn Life Surge on the soonest possible Full Thrust, Wheeling Thrust, or Fang and Claw (except during the opener).

HT - ID - Dis - CT -[Got LS? Use it!]- 4th - Phleb - TT - VT -[Got LS? Use it!]- FT -[Got LS? Use it!]- 4th

TL;DR: At a 2.4 second GCD, we should burn Life Surge on the soonest possible Full Thrust, Wheeling Thrust, or Fang and Claw (except during the opener).

HT - ID - Dis - CT -[Got LS? Use it!]- 4th - Phleb - TT - VT -[Got LS? Use it!]- FT -[Got LS? Use it!]- 4th

Basic Opener for Beginner Dragoons

This is a basic opening rotation for new level 60 Dragoons who want a feel of how the Opener and the Rotation works. The GK management in this opening oCD rotation has been set up for much easier play for players to understand the GCD, BotD and GK relationships.

H -> [BL+BFB] -> ID -> [DRAC-POT] -> DI -> [IR + BOTD] -> CT -> [PS+ LEGS] -> 4TH -> [GK] -> P -> [JUMP] -> TT -> [DFD] -> VP -> [LIFES] -> FT -> [SPD] -> 4TH -> Repeat

A few alternatives to this opener are:

• Precasting Battle Litany before the Pull
• Withholding Legsweep until after your Full Thrust Combo

In this basic opener, GK has been set-up to be used after the first Thrust combo, or Chaos Thrust. Using GK in this manner will always ensure you're using GK with 21s+ on your BotD timer, alleviating all pressure from the new Dragoon from knowing where to pop BotD.

BotD coming off cooldown

The biggest issue many people have is when, or how, to use BotD once it comes up off cooldown. If you used the above beginners opener, timing of everything been perfectly set-up so BotD is back up off cooldown in between a Vorpal Thrust and Full Thrust at exactly 64.8s into the rotation, resetting the BotD timer.

So, at 48 seconds into your rotation, you have approximately 17 seconds left on your Blood of the Dragon. You're also landing your Heavy Thrust at this point. You'd want to go like this: http://puu.sh/iJZUs/688fd3a27f.png The seconds of the rotation are in relation to you having a 2.4 GCD.

You essentially:
Burn your Geirskogul right after your next IDC4 Combo
Continue until you hit Vorpal Thrust
BotD comes off cooldown
Hit BotD in between Vorpal Thrust and Full Thrust.

You can now decide whether to use Geirskogul right after the TTT4 combo, or, hold it to use after your next IDC4 combo. The choice is yours, but personally, I'd pop it.

Due to the placement of the Gierskogul on the above Opening Rotation, BotD application in the linked image, you'll find that you're now placing Geirskogul after each of your TTT4 combos.

The trick is to rotate the placement of Gierskogul after each BotD usage.

BotD #1 = GK after CT combo
BotD #2 = GK after FT combo
BotD #3 = GK after CT Combo
BotD #4 = GK after FT combo

So on, and so fourth.

This makes it brain-dead easy for Beginners to start playing and practising the rotation, on top of learning the timings of BotD and the interactions between Geirskogul and your 4th Tier Combos.

A step by step rotation for a full "cycle" is:

HT - ID - DI - [BOTD] - CT - 4TH - [GK] - PH - TT - VP - FT - 4TH

HT - ID - DI - CT - 4TH - [GK] - PH - TT - VP - FT - 4TH

HT - ID - DI - CT - 4TH - [GK] - PH - TT - VP - [BOTD] - FT - 4TH - [GK]

HT - ID - DI - CT - 4TH - PH - TT - VP - FT - 4TH - [GK]

HT - ID - DI - CT - 4TH - PH - TT - VP - FT - 4TH - [GK]

-> Repeat