I need a current and informed opinion on Dragoon

[Mythezza]

Don't listen to these people. Dragoon is the master class. I keep trying to play other things, but for some reason DRG keeps calling me back. It's funny, because I've never enjoyed DPS in any other MMO.

It's a little bit of a high-stress class at times - especially at end-game when losing BotD and are slammed back to your 50 rotation. That said, enough play, and you get accustomed to the rhythm of the rotation. We're not entirely made of paper, we have access to good self-heals. I find it to be a pleasurable game experience. Plus, DRG has the best class quests, especially as you move over into Ishgard.

[Arienal]

DRG is really...REALLY bad post-50. copy/pasting 1 attack onto 2 buttons, everything now hinging on a maintained timer locked behind a cooldown, a lvl 60 that kills said timer, and absolutely no leeway in a dodge-based, mechanics heavy game..any time you're forced to stop rotations for 1-2 seconds you lose a GK. 5-6 seconds and you lost blood. Iused to love drg, all the maintained timers like HT and DS weren't an issue because they could easily be reapplied after mechanics were done with just a few button clicks. Yet now, any time mechanics happen you run the risk of losing blood and then getting crippled for things beyond player control. Im constantly seeing drg's both in PF and DF getting killed because they're too afraid to lose blood and keep trying to roll rotations..if anything this has made the 'loldrg' stigma even WORSE.

[whiskeybravo]

Yet now, any time mechanics happen you run the risk of losing blood and then getting crippled for things beyond player control.

There has been no fight I've done (5% a4s enrage) that a mechanic has forced me to loose BotD while no one else was affected. Any time you risk losing it is because of something you did or didn't do, or it's a forced mechanic where everyone loses their stacks.

[KrazyBean94]

I personally didn't find Dragoon as fun to play compared to Monk and Ninja due to it's slower pace, but that's just me. I'm just too used to the speed and dancing which comes with being a Monk main.

[raela]

I'm a SCH main. Once things settled with HW, I pushed all my other classes to 50 to get an idea of how they played.. Found I really enjoyed DRG, so I took it to 60, then still liked it, so I practiced it to get the rotation down and used it for Alex normal and such. Joined a static that already had a sch, so I went for savage on DRG.
It's super fun for me, but I recommend playing all (leveling depending on how crazy you are / how much free time, but it's super quick now) and going with what you like. Other people's opinions don't matter.

[bounddreamer]

60 DRG is one of the most fun dps jobs to play, imo, as long as you don't mind having a very strict rotation. Ultimately I find Summoner to be more enjoyable because it's ranged, has rez, and Deathflare is bae, but DRG was my first 60 dps job and I still love it. The rotation is more intuitive, for me, than MNK or NIN.

[Sidra]

Of the 3 mele DPS, DRG is my least favorite to play. It uses more buttons than the others with a long rotation. It feels a bit like a chore to me. I enjoy the way Ninja plays the best. But it's all personal preference, it's a good job.

[Knahli]

It may be worth noting that post-50 gameplay mixes up your rotations a little bit more. I had to do what I hate doing and rearranged my hotbar in order to accommodate the fourth combo into more accessible and easier to press hotkeys for comfort's sake. So, let's say that your two combo rotations pre-50 are in skill slots... [1-2-3] and [(Shift)1-(Shift)2-(Shift)3], you may want to rearrange your hotbar sooner rather than later if you'd like the two fourth-combo skills to be placed next to the rest in slots 4 and (Shift)4 for example. Dragoon is one of those classes that are quite heavy on your hotbars if you're not a fan of click-to-use keys so if you don't mind spoiling the surprise of what new skills lie ahead, you might want to consider researching them in advance and deciding which slots you'd like to place them in to save you from rearranging them later.

There's some more practical advice at least, since I think everyone else covered the more directly related aspects.

[Sekundessounet]

DRG is really...REALLY bad post-50. copy/pasting 1 attack onto 2 buttons, everything now hinging on a maintained timer locked behind a cooldown, a lvl 60 that kills said timer, and absolutely no leeway in a dodge-based, mechanics heavy game..any time you're forced to stop rotations for 1-2 seconds you lose a GK. 5-6 seconds and you lost blood. Iused to love drg, all the maintained timers like HT and DS weren't an issue because they could easily be reapplied after mechanics were done with just a few button clicks. Yet now, any time mechanics happen you run the risk of losing blood and then getting crippled for things beyond player control. Im constantly seeing drg's both in PF and DF getting killed because they're too afraid to lose blood and keep trying to roll rotations..if anything this has made the 'loldrg' stigma even WORSE.

The point is to manage your timer in relation to mechanics. If you lose BotD because of a "5-6 seconds" stopped rotation, you didn't manage it well. And losign one Geirskogul is better than losing the buff itself. And it's a buff with a 60 seconds cooldown, so there are very few moments where you'll be fighting without it if a mechanic make you lose it. It's not "beyond player control" if you use your head a little, it's the point of the buff, like MNK's GL stacks. The class is way better and way more skilled than at lvl 50.

[Kuroashi]

I love DRG, my most favorite dps class. ^^ though I don't think I got a rotation down yet but I haven't had anyone telling me what to do in expert so I think I'm good. I done expert plenty of times with DRG usually when I don't feel like tanking.

It's my only dps class at 60 at the moment but I'm working on MNK right now so soon I'll have another dps class at 60.

I also try to work blood of the dragon in my rotation but every so often it drops off usually when there's a lot of movement because of dodging. There was a time when I didn't use it very often but one day I decided I should try using it more and now I do.