How to Dragoon per Second: A DPS Paradigm

[hagare]

BiS only takes account the hardest content.
BiS there though, don't mean BiS in other content.
One of the reason for that is the different accuracy requirement.

So yes, you "should" adjust gear for every different content.
But most people won't do that, they'll just go with BiS set which will work on any lower content. Though not as efficient.

[LiquidSwordz]

In a dilemma. Next week I'll have 4 pages from AS3 so I'm debating to use on a twine to upgrade a piece or wait 2 more weeks to buy the Gordian helm if it doesn't drop. My eso chest is already 210 along with gloves, waist, legs and boots all being Gordian. My helm is eso not upgraded. I remember earlier in this thread someone stated the 200 eso pants were still better than the 210 Gordian ones. If I get the twine should I just upgrade the eso pants, use on helm or maybe swap out for eso boots? What would be the best use for it in your opinion?

[JackFross]

Regardless what you upgrade, in my opinion you should swap out your Gordian legs+belt for the Esoterics pieces, even if they're still i200. It essentially trades 100 Accuracy for an equivalent amount of Crit, while maintaining all your other stats and giving a pretty marginal loss, comparatively, strength-wise. This would be made even better if you could nab a Coat for the belt and/or Twine for the pants.

If the Gordian Helm is part of the bis set you're aiming for, imo I'd wait for week 6 and just buy it. Twines will eventually be in surplus for your group. Pages will take much longer to reach that point.


Swapping 210 gordian belt+pants to esoterics:

------------ Str / Det / Crit / SkS / Acc
Before-: 1078 / 360 / 725 / 628 / 784
After--: 1066 / 335 / 842 / 658 / 648

(with Pipira Pira)

[Thendiel]

BiS only takes account the hardest content.
BiS there though, don't mean BiS in other content.
One of the reason for that is the different accuracy requirement.

So yes, you "should" adjust gear for every different content.
But most people won't do that, they'll just go with BiS set which will work on any lower content. Though not as efficient.

This mindset baffles me. People who run fight-inappropriate BiS sets in this way either don't understand how accuracy and secondary stats work in this game, or don't care. I inwardly groan every time I hear someone talk or ask about "DRG BiS" without reference to a specific fight, as if there could be some single monolithic gear set that was ideal for every encounter.

Using a "BiS" set with more accuracy than you need for the fight you're running is the equivalent of buying an expensive pair of heavy-duty waterproof hiking boots, and then wearing them for a leisurely run on a sunny day.

[SunnyHirose]

Considering the difference between a Ravana EX BiS and an A4 BiS is about 8.5 DPS, I'm not gonna be terribly concerned if someone only maintains one or two gearsets and plans around A4 accuracy. If they're, say, stacking skill speed over strength or something, then maximum overrustle.

[ReliaWylder]

In some cases the "BiS" set may have more accuracy than you need and still be the highest dps due to limitations in itemization. But yes, the Ravana EX BIS using only i210 items (572 acc or above) is probably this:

DPS: 1558.62926532614
Player Equipment:
Gordian Trident
Dragonlancer's Mesail
Dragonlancer's Plackart
Gordian Gauntlets of Maiming
Fabled Belt of Maiming
Dragonlancer's Cuissots
Dragonlancer's Schynbalds
Fabled Necklace of Slaying
Gordian Earrings of Slaying
Gordian Wristband of Slaying
Fabled Ring of Slaying
Gordian Ring of Slaying
Baked Pipira Pira
Player stats:
Str: 1111
Acc: 597
Crt: 828
Det: 510
Sks: 620

and the A4 BIS is only about 1.5 dps lower (according to my sim) and yet has 656 acc. It's not a big deal to plan everything around A4, unless you're having trouble completing a certain floor that you should then optimize for.

You can lower accuracy closer to 572 acc for the Ravana EX set, but you'd actually lose dps, not gain it, as switching the pieces around to get lower accuracy also results in lower offensive secondary stats.

[LiquidSwordz]

Are the eso boots better than the Gordian ones in general? I still need to lose some SS since I have way too much but next week I may just use my twine on the pants. Being currently on AS4, what is the potential highest dps set I should be aiming for?

[JackFross]

Are the eso boots better than the Gordian ones in general? I still need to lose some SS since I have way too much but next week I may just use my twine on the pants. Being currently on AS4, what is the potential highest dps set I should be aiming for?

This is a set Dervy had slapped together for me a few pages back when I asked for a set of that sort. I'm not sure how it stacks up with Relia's sim, but it's the set I'm currently aiming to build (minus Gobtwines) by the time I down A3S.

[Condottiero]

Hey guys. I'm having some difficulty with AS3 - I've changed the rotation to sub-in spineshatter dive much earlier in order for it to be up for the first knock back attack in the hand phase.

1. The gap closer allows me to get to where I need to be to trade debuffs with healers.
2. It allows me to continue my rotation and stay out of the way of those that are trading debuffs.

Is this dumb? I just can't justify standing around waiting for everyone to be in their proper places. If I run in, I may end up mistrading someone's debuff.

[Thendiel]

Hey guys. I'm having some difficulty with AS3 - I've changed the rotation to sub-in spineshatter dive much earlier in order for it to be up for the first knock back attack in the hand phase.

1. The gap closer allows me to get to where I need to be to trade debuffs with healers.
2. It allows me to continue my rotation and stay out of the way of those that are trading debuffs.

Is this dumb? I just can't justify standing around waiting for everyone to be in their proper places. If I run in, I may end up mistrading someone's debuff.

Uptime is never dumb, unless it somehow interferes with the mechanics of a fight in a detrimental way. What you're doing sounds perfect.

SSD shouldn't have to be used "much earlier," though, honestly. I typically just swap Spineshatter Dive with Dragonfire Dive in my A3S opener, so that SSD goes out between Phlebotomize and True Thrust. This way, SSD comes off cooldown again almost immediately before the first Wash Away goes out. There isn't really a DPS loss associated with this--it's not even a "worse" opener in any meaningful sense--so I say, go for it. You can also cancel the Wash Away knockback with a carefully-timed Jump attack, if you're comfortable with that.

The only reason I might recommend not using Spineshatter Dive at this point would be if you have too many members of your group gap-closing at that same moment (Aetherial Manipulation, Shoulder Tackle, etc.), and people end up walking all over each other and accidentally swapping Digititis debuffs.

Considering the difference between a Ravana EX BiS and an A4 BiS is about 8.5 DPS, I'm not gonna be terribly concerned if someone only maintains one or two gearsets and plans around A4 accuracy. If they're, say, stacking skill speed over strength or something, then maximum overrustle.

Fair enough. I'd still run a separate gear set for Ravana EX, personally, because DPS is DPS. I guess I'm really venting about the end-of-2.X era, when people would run T13 BiS in fights like Titan EX, literally stacking HUNDREDS more points of accuracy than they had to. Because we're so early in the 3.0 cycle, this isn't really an issue, but in another two or three patches, the differences between gear sets will become much more pronounced.