FF 5.X Alternative Raid Buff Alignment and Openers

[Oxdarock]

The fact you have to ask this speaks volumes on why you aren't qualify to theorycraft. Delaying buffs without rhyme or reason is a net loss. Earlier you claim delaying buffs comes down to if you'll lose a usage. While true to an extent, your delays on Dragoon work against it. You aren't buffing the strongest ability in our wheel house, and needlessly delaying all our oGCDs. I actually tested your rotation on a dummy compared to the actual Dragoon rotation and the differences are staggering. Simply retaining the oGCDs doesn't account for the fact you're delaying them with absolutely no benefit. Chaos Thrust is stronger than Full Thrust by a whooping 160 potency due to the DoT. Holding buffs for the weaker ability results in a loss no matter how you slice it. And the results don't lie.

These aren't alternative openers. They're simply inferior guesswork with zero purpose.

I like how you skipped the list of abilities that are supposed to fit within all raid buffs and went straight to end. I know my reason behind this alignment and creating this list. I'm asking for a reason everyone else believes this is completely subpar. I've already stated several times that if early raid buff openers gain you an extra cast overall, then go with those. It's interesting because it's commonly accepted to delay raid buffs towards the end of an encounter apparently, which is the exact same reasoning behind this raid alignment for the opener. So aside from that, what's the reasoning people seem to see that I don't?

As for your DRG test, I place Battle Litany right before Raiden Thrust. It's a 20 second buff, so you should fit in 8 GCDs. How are you not fitting in the second Chaos Thrust? And you stay it's staggeringly different lower, but by what criteria is this going by and are you doing the rotation correctly? I can say for a fact that if you save LotD for the third GsK, if you start Life with StarDiver, you're going to miss the third Nastrond as it comes off CD right before FT, which is when you'd use LS and LC again.

[ForteNightshade]

I like how you skipped the list of abilities that are supposed to fit within all raid buffs and went straight to end. I know my reason behind this alignment and creating this list. I'm asking for a reason everyone else believes this is completely subpar. I've already stated several times that if early raid buff openers gain you an extra cast overall, then go with those. It's interesting because it's commonly accepted to delay raid buffs towards the end of an encounter apparently, which is the exact same reasoning behind this raid alignment for the opener. So aside from that, what's the reasoning people seem to see that I don't?

As for your DRG test, I place Battle Litany right before Raiden Thrust. It's a 20 second buff, so you should fit in 8 GCDs. How are you not fitting in the second Chaos Thrust? And you stay it's staggeringly different lower, but by what criteria is this going by and are you doing the rotation correctly? I can say for a fact that if you save LotD for the third GsK, if you start Life with StarDiver, you're going to miss the third Nastrond as it comes off CD right before FT, which is when you'd use LS and LC again.

Because your alignments are irrelevant. Not only do they hinge on every job following these sub-par openers, they're a loss for the job themselves. The issue is you keep claiming these are an alternative—implying they have some legitimacy—when that is objectively wrong. You have zero statistics supporting your claims; have been told by several people spanning various skill levels and knowledge your assessments are wrong, but you keep presenting these openers as an option. It isn't about simply gaining an extra cast. Your openers are flat out bad. As for delaying buffs, this is done to align with pots not simply on a whim. Ideally, you want 3 minute buffs like Litany to line up with 60/120s buffs. In the event you know you won't get a four use, holding it until an agreed point in the fight is a net gain. Doing so randomly in the opener, is not.

With that in mind. I wasn't talking about the second Chaos Thrust but the first. Delaying Litany in the manner you do means it will fall off at Chaos Thrust. Therefore, you buffed Raiden Thrust and Disembowel instead of Fang and Wheeling—essentially trading 820 potency for 650. The same applies to Lance Charge and Dragon Sight buffing weaker potency GCDs for no reason. Furthermore, you loss >10s on Hi-Jump; more on Spineshatter and Dragonfire. In fights with several down periods like E1S, E3S and E4S, this will cost you a Hi-Jump—a massive loss. In regards to LotD, delaying it beyond your third Geirskogul means you'll either be sitting on it, which is bad, or you'll miss a Nastrond under buffs, which is worse.

That criteria is going by the math you continuously dismiss. And yes, I did your rotation just fine. It's noticeably inferior to the standard Dragoon rotations found on Balance by people with far more qualifications.