How to Dragoon per Second: A DPS Paradigm

[Thendiel]

Hey, fam. I posted some speculative word salad on reddit if anyone's interested.

Anyway, as I'm continuing to think more about the 4.0 opener, I believe I'm starting to close in on a near-optimum one, so I was hoping to get some more eyes on it in case I'm off-base. My assumptions are that:

• double-weaving non-jump-attack off-GCDs is possible
• our GCD rotation is HT-ID-Dis-CT-WhT-F&C-TT-VT-FT-F&C-WhT (the 4-hit-combo and 3-hit-combo rotations people are suggesting might turn out to be superior, but I'm skeptical, so I'll wait on the final math)
• the Dragon Gauge begins with zero Eyes
• our GCD length is around 2.5s (though this should be equally viable in the 2.3s or 2.4s ranges as well, I think)

My proposed opener is:

HT (BL + BotD) ID (BFB) Dis (Dragon Sight) CT (Jump) WhT (GK + Mirage Dive) F&C (SSD) TT (DFD) VT (Mirage Dive + LifeS) FT – F&C – WhT

...and, if we trace its long-term ramifications on BotD and LotD timing over time, we get:

HT (BL + BotD) ID (BFB) Dis (Dragon Sight) CT (Jump) WhT (GK + Mirage Dive) [15s on BotD with 1 DG] F&C (SSD) [22.5s on BotD with 1 DG] TT (DFD) VT (Mirage Dive + LifeS) [17.5s on BotD with 2 DG] FT – F&C [22.5s on BotD with 2 DG] WhT [30s on BotD with 2 DG] HT – ID – Dis – CT – WhT (Jump) F&C (Mirage Dive) [30s on BotD with 3 DG] TT – VT (GK) FT – F&C – WhT – HT – ID – Dis – CT – WhT – F&C (Jump) TT (Mirage Dive) [27.5s on BotD with 4 DG] VT (LifeS) FT (SSD) F&C – WhT (GK) [LotD activates! 30s] HT (BFB) ID (Nastrond + Mirage Dive) [25s on LotD with 1 DG] Dis – CT – WhT – F&C (Nastrond) TT – VT (Jump) FT (Mirage Dive) [7.5s on LotD with 2 DG] F&C (Nastrond) WhT – HT [LotD deactivates! ??s on BotD with 2 DG] ID – Dis (GK) – etc.

Stuff I like about this opener:

• all of our initial off-GCD attacks are buffed by all of our buffs
• Geirskogul timing works out really well, with Geirskogul #3 coming off cooldown at just the right moment in terms of BotD duration and BFB timing
• the first Jump is not placed between Wheeling Thrust and Fang and Claw
• there is no real need to delay any off-GCDs within the first minute (just need to delay Mirage Dive off of SSD #2)

Finally, I think that this opener can be modified somewhat simply, if awkwardly, to accommodate a potion if they are still viable. This would give us:

HT (BL + BotD) ID (BFB + Dragon Sight) Dis (Potion) CT (Jump) WhT (GK + Mirage Dive) F&C (SSD) TT (DFD) VT (Mirage Dive + LifeS) FT – F&C – WhT

Anyway, let me know if I'm missing anything or if there's room for improvement. GG if any of my assumptions turn out to be wrong, of course.

EDIT: Actually, the timing of Geirskogul #3 in this setup gets pretty iffy if your GCD is around 2.4s, since it would put your LotD activation at a moment with less than 30s on BotD. Hmmm...

EDIT2: Now I'm thinking that a sub-30s LotD start-timer isn't even a big deal. As long as you can fit in all three Nastronds, you should be golden, and that could be achieved with as low as 21s on the clock.

EDIT3: Maybe BL and BotD should be switched? It might be possible to ride Battle Litany all the way through to Fang and Claw, which would be more beneficial than getting an extra 0.4s or whatever on our BotD timer.