DNC Suggestions

[VanceKenyon]

Saber Dance really needs to be made oGCD. As it stands, it's a very underwhelming button to unlock.

[YanderePrincess]

Saber Dance really needs to be made oGCD. As it stands, it's a very underwhelming button to unlock.

600 potency GCD isn't underwhelming to me and I feel like we have plenty of oGCDs with the fan dances.

[Raikai]

600 potency GCD isn't underwhelming to me and I feel like we have plenty of oGCDs with the fan dances.

Saber Dance is quite strong, I agree... But the feathers are gated behind RNG, so you might find yourself in a situation where your rotation feels kind of dull and stiff because there's no oGCD's to weave in for a while. Saber Dance being off global cooldown would mend this, because it has a rather steady income. But of course, the damage would have to be nerfed to account for that, but speaking for myself here, I'd prefer a guaranteed smooth playstyle than seeing big numbers, if the overall dps result would remain the same. Plus I'm already quite content with SS and TS hitting like trucks, lol.

[Ayuhra]

Could someone explain how DNC is supposed to work to me like I'm an infant?

[Raikai]

Could someone explain how DNC is supposed to work to me like I'm an infant?

The basic combo for both single target and aoe are with a 2-step combo as below

SINGLE TARGET
Cascade (*Reverse Cascade) > Fountain (*Fountainfall)
- the * are what these skills can proc (they are separate abilities though), and you should use these procs because they are stronger than the standard skills and they can award a Feather

AOE
Windmill (*Reverse Windmill) > Bladeshower (*Bloodshower)
- the * are what these skills can proc (they are separate abilities though), and you should use these procs because they are stronger than the standard skills and they can award a Feather

Feathers (can be hoarded up to 4) are used to cast these oGCD skills:
- Cast Fan Dance 1 - for single target
- Cast Fan Dance 2 - for aoe
- Both 1 and 2 can proc Fan Dance 3, which is AoE, but can be used in single target as well, and it doesn't cost a feather like the other two
* Fan dances are your ogcds to weave in your regular gcds.

Then there are the dancing part, rotationally:
- Make sure you have Closed Position cast on who you want to be your dancing partner. Your dancing partner duplicates some skills of yours, like Standard Step dmg and buff.
- Use Standard Step on cooldown - Your rotational Single Target abilities will turn into the dancing steps during this. You need to press them in the right order (changes every time). Hits quite hard.

Extra:
- Saber Dance is a ST (AOE as well) skill used to spend Esprit, you get it at later 70's - Esprit is generated mainly by you and your dancing partner. Hits hard, don't let your esprit be capped.
- Technical Step is the other dance, and should be used as your burst phase, it also buffs the whole party and hits much harder because it's longer to execute than Standard Step.
- Devilment is a big crit buff for yourself and your dancing partner
- Flourish auto-procs all of the single target and aoe combo *abilities and gives you a free Fan Dance 3. Make sure to have this ready for your burst phase. Outside of that, Flourish is best used to try and "fish" for feathers, use the AoE procs, even on single target, if you desperately need feathers during this.
- Shield Samba is a defensive. Use it when you foresee heavy AoE
- Curing waltz is a mild aoe heal (with very short range) that irradiates from both you and a second one from your dance partner. Best uses is when the whole party is stacked


I guess that sums the basics. Once you get the hang of it, then is time to perfect your burst phase: in theory, shoving as many damage as possible during Technical Step buff - I think reddit people made a infographic for this, if I manage to fetch it, I'll post here, but rule of thumb, is to make sure you have at least 3 (ideally 4) feathers saved for the burst phase, for extra extra dmg.

[Ayuhra]

snip.

What about at low levels? I am trying to wrap my head around this job and I am doing horribly. Like, I die if I aggro more than one mob. And all my attacks aggro.

Don't have this same issue on most other jobs, I just burn things down.

[Raikai]

What about at low levels? I am trying to wrap my head around this job and I am doing horribly. Like, I die if I aggro more than one mob. And all my attacks aggro.

Don't have this same issue on most other jobs, I just burn things down.

If you mean dungeon runs, the tank should be having all the aggro...

As for soloing, it's really recommended to use your chocobo as a healer and use it as your dancing partner, so you can use the Standard Step to the fullest

[YanderePrincess]

Saber Dance is quite strong, I agree... But the feathers are gated behind RNG, so you might find yourself in a situation where your rotation feels kind of dull and stiff because there's no oGCD's to weave in for a while. Saber Dance being off global cooldown would mend this, because it has a rather steady income. But of course, the damage would have to be nerfed to account for that, but speaking for myself here, I'd prefer a guaranteed smooth playstyle than seeing big numbers, if the overall dps result would remain the same. Plus I'm already quite content with SS and TS hitting like trucks, lol.

But it'd also then have the issue of when you've got plenty of feathers and you've got too many oGCDs to weave between your GCDs.

[Raikai]

But it'd also then have the issue of when you've got plenty of feathers and you've got too many oGCDs to weave between your GCDs.

Honestly, from personal experience and watching feedback in many media platforms, there's a consensus that DNC is oGCD starved, but maybe someone might be graced by having feathers proc' all the time, and even so, you can double-weave if you find yourself with way too many resources.

[YanderePrincess]

Honestly, from personal experience and watching feedback in many media platforms, there's a consensus that DNC is oGCD starved, but maybe someone might be graced by having feathers proc' all the time, and even so, you can double-weave if you find yourself with way too many resources.

It might just be because I'm coming into Dancer off of RDM and BLM, but it doesn't feel oGCD starved to me. Like, there's definite droughts when getting bad luck with procs, but yeah.