SMN when do you use your bursts in O10?

[TelosNox]

O10 is something special because there is a lot of downtime + there is an add that does not affect boss at all.

At first I did my normal rotation until add and then used bahamut right when the add phase started. This leads to a lot of DPS on the add but won't help with the boss at all.
In addition: If the add dies to fast, we won't be able to burn our bahamut trance, so we have Aetherflow rdy and can't use it.
If the add dies slower we are able to use the bahamut trance but most time we still will have to use deathflare early.

In the end I came up with using bahamut earlier (after ice), so a bit more dps on boss and less dps on add. Unfortunately this bahamut will not do all wyrmwaves due to missing Aetherstacks.

Then use bahamut trance, so I can use Aetherflow right before the add dies.

Now the tricky part:
When boss lands and we can do dps Aetherflow will be rdy again. So what will be better here: Use bahamut trance for the full duration and start bahamut later or "skip" bahamut trance to use bahamut right after?

If we get Aetherflow on CD fast enough, next Aetherflow will get ready at some time when orbs explode. So squeeze out 3 Fester and then instantly start Bahamut Trance again to get Deathflare out before Boss disappears again.

Is this the best we can do to optimize dps on the boss? Or is there some better handling?

[Mansion]

I'm not playing SMN main on this turn but I can still try to help!

Now the tricky part:
When boss lands and we can do dps Aetherflow will be rdy again. So what will be better here: Use bahamut trance for the full duration and start bahamut later or "skip" bahamut trance to use bahamut right after?

If you come in the boss-landing phase with aetherflow up and DWT ready, I'd suggest burning through the first DWT. I think I would put my dots there (your dots benefiting from the DWT potency buff), burn the Deathflare, and take your bahamut out with 3 aether stacks, Addle and Tri-disaster. Keep in mind that at this moment, Potion is back from cooldown and the other raid members will use their buff too. In my static we choose to make a second "opener" at this time, delaying some buffs that are available earlier, so this is a good burst phase for all DPS with all buffs active, rather than using them on the nails/dragon add phase.
Maybe there are some maths to be done there but I think you will have a better DPS doing it this way, even if you lose a bit on the previous Bahamut as you chose too, because this one will benefit from the overall raid buffs.
Now I dont actually know if you can use 3 proper fester and a full DWT before the hot tail thing and Midgar to disappear again. If it means cutting the DWT, then I would rather keep it for when Midgar comes back and do the exact same thing : pop DWT, dots buffed 10%, Deathflare, Aetherflow and then Bahamut.

[TelosNox]

Boss seems to get untargetable around 3:20
And get's targetable again about 2mins later
Then we got 70sec for DPS until the next 30sec of downtime.

We need 6-7GCD in opener to get Aetherflow on CD again. So this is at least 15seconds in fight. With optimum reactivation of Aetherflow we got 5seconds left (3:15) to use 3 Stacks. No chance to get DWT rushed here.
So we HAVE to use DWT in Add Phase.

Even if we do a rush opener we will need 2 GCD to burn the stacks and then 1 more GCD for deathflare. So still about 8 seconds gone. Maybe it would be possible then to get the last DWT rushed before add but it is a really tight timing. And I don't know if it is worth the gain because we will loose some dps in opener then.

Anyways: We should end up with 3 stacks and Aetherflow rdy when we can attack again. And we have 70sec time for that.
If we do it like normal opener then we need about 15sec until deathflare, then directly go for bahamut (needs about another 20sec). Then we can start DWT again for another 20sec. So 55sec are gone here. And we have about 15sec left to get 3 festers out.
Then keep DWT ready until downtime ends and finish DWT when Aetherflow get's rdy again. Should work if I did not miss anything.

[Karshan]

When you have questions like that, also try going on the Balance discord for direct tips to your exact questions from best SMNs

In the mean time there is something you can do on your own : go on FFlogs
- Look up some of the bests and check what they do (to do that, go in the menu up left, select your fight by clicking on name of boss, then choose "Player Damage", and select SMN instead of "All Jobs". Then click a name. (https://fr.fflogs.com/zone/rankings/...&spec=Summoner)
- select a log and go in "Analyze" > "Timelines" > "Casts" (https://fr.fflogs.com/reports/qHPvrd...&view=timeline)
- you can also go in "Replay", click on play in the bottom left corner and click on a player to see his casts throughout the fight (https://fr.fflogs.com/reports/qHPvrd...=6&view=replay)

[Zyneste]

When you have questions like that, also try going on the Balance discord for direct tips to your exact questions from best SMNs

In the mean time there is something you can do on your own : go on FFlogs
- Look up some of the bests and check what they do (to do that, go in the menu up left, select your fight by clicking on name of boss, then choose "Player Damage", and select SMN instead of "All Jobs". Then click a name. (https://fr.fflogs.com/zone/rankings/...&spec=Summoner)
- select a log and go in "Analyze" > "Timelines" > "Casts" (https://fr.fflogs.com/reports/qHPvrd...&view=timeline)
- you can also go in "Replay", click on play in the bottom left corner and click on a player to see his casts throughout the fight (https://fr.fflogs.com/reports/qHPvrd...=6&view=replay)

Links and screen shots to fflogs can get you perma banned. Post at your own risk. The mods on these forums are very capricious with it.

[lulunami]

This is what I do (probably not the most optimal).

Demi-Bahamut at start of adds. Use Dreadwyrm Trance (DWT) to finish on adds. Keep your pet on Obey during all the dodging, lightning and cauterizes. Re-opener with Ifrit/Garuda pet swap (Radiant Shield/Contagion). Rush through DWT and quickly end with 3D and Deathflare. Aetherflow and Demi-Bahamut rotation quickly before he jumps away after doing the flamethrower and Hot Tails.

These fights with lots of downtime favor going through your DWT 1, DWT 2, and Demi-Bahamut if available. If you hold on to stuff, you lose usage of DWT and Bahamut as the fight progresses with more downtime and jumps.

[Karshan]

Links and screen shots to fflogs can get you perma banned. Post at your own risk. The mods on these forums are very capricious with it.

I was not aware of that. I suppose it falls under retroengineering ? However several things :
- FFlogs is pretty much a collecting site. The data it gets may have been obtained by ways that are only "tolerated" but the collector itself, but it is ACT that is under scrutiny.
- here it was used to help, not slender.
- Also a player using it is here to get better, so spend time IG, and let the subscription run. And I believe that's why ACT and logs have been tolerated so far.
- Finally, yes I do post at my own risk, but when there is an optimal answer you want to give it, not let strangers whose level are unknown give advice. Rather teach to fish in nice spots than just give fish with questionnable origin (not saying that everyone here is bad far from it, a lot are better than me, but you just can't know the credit you can give ; while numbers don't lie about effectiveness of doing one rotation over another)

I do believe circumstances are important here.

[Zyneste]

I was not aware of that. I suppose it falls under retroengineering ? However several things :
- FFlogs is pretty much a collecting site. The data it gets may have been obtained by ways that are only "tolerated" but the collector itself, but it is ACT that is under scrutiny.
- here it was used to help, not slender.
- Also a player using it is here to get better, so spend time IG, and let the subscription run. And I believe that's why ACT and logs have been tolerated so far.
- Finally, yes I do post at my own risk, but when there is an optimal answer you want to give it, not let strangers whose level are unknown give advice. Rather teach to fish in nice spots than just give fish with questionnable origin (not saying that everyone here is bad far from it, a lot are better than me, but you just can't know the credit you can give ; while numbers don't lie about effectiveness of doing one rotation over another)

I do believe circumstances are important here.

Husband was banned for posting a redacted picture of his MP over time graph in a fight on RDM. He was a ps4 player at the time. Just letting you know. Mods seem to be randomly cracking down.

[Karshan]

wait you mean in game banned ?

[Grimoire-M]

Honestly I just try to use them ASAP. It is not worth saving bahamut through the add phase. You'll lose a use of him if you do that. I multi-dot during that regardless of the value it brings and delay the festers I use inbetween each Bio III to get the full value out of them. My group's DPS requires me to burn all of my aetherflow on ED/Fester/Painflare + immediate DWT Deathflare on the dragon if I can to get the most out of the dodging that comes after. The Jump phases are simply awful if you're stuck mid-aetherflow and racing ahead of them is the best option to avoid that. Popping DWT early is probably worth it even if you can't use it on the dragon depending on your cooldown.

Our group is still arguing about what to do for Hot Tail so I don't know how I'm going to handle that but you'll have to do your next Bahamut during Bulwark no matter how you try to avoid it. It's just the best option from what I've seen.