Ways to make Piercing Talon useful

[Ryaz]

Samurai at least has up to a couple GCDs of flexiblity by which to potentially time Yaten-Enpi to between combos, albeit at high demand to planning. DRG has no such capability. Without avoiding combo breaks, even if EJ-PT were to individually exceed DRG's level 80 standard ppgcd, it might still not be worth using in any single GCD of downtime due to future sync issues, yet the bonus from EJ would also only last that single GCD.

It will likely need a less singularly sourced solution.

True, though I think most Samurai use a Yukikaze combo instead, especially now that Hagakure has been buffed. I use Yaten more to avoid point blank AoEs than anything else, though it sucks that Enpi breaks combos. I think all melee ranged attacks should be off the standard GCD, like MCH Drill, so it doesn't interrupt combos.

[Shurrikhan]

True, though I think most Samurai use a Yukikaze combo instead, especially now that Hagakure has been buffed. I use Yaten more to avoid point blank AoEs than anything else, though it sucks that Enpi breaks combos. I think all melee ranged attacks should be off the standard GCD, like MCH Drill, so it doesn't interrupt combos.

I'm not sure what you mean by the underlined part...

Hagakure is still a potency trap, to be avoided (and minimized in Sen lost) except as absolutely necessary to keep TG and Higan within raid buffs and maximize their uses per fight. The same change that directly buffed it also indirectly nerfed it by adding an effective 133.3 potency to every Iaijutsu, which Hagakure of course detracts from by reducing Iaijutsu uses over time.

A similar point can be made for Yaten-Enpi, for while combos were each reduced by 20 potency, reducing Gekko/Kasha combos by 6.66 ppgcd and Yukikaze by 10, and thus nominally pushing standard ppgcd down below its near-equivalence with Yaten-Enpi (at 420 vs. 428), the addition of Shoha added 16.66 ppgcd to each combo skill, ultimately putting Yaten-Enpi in a faintly worse state than before even when ignoring sync issues.

Using a Yukikaze where you might have otherwise preferred to use Gekko or Kasha (e.g. where it really doesn't matter which you use because MKSS isn't about to come up, in which case... your only priority is melee-downtime alignment anyways) is prerequisite to using Yaten-Enpi, and made useful only through Yaten-Enpi. They're not mutually exclusive.

MCH Drill is on the standard GCD. GCD skills don't invariably break combos (see original Shield Bash, which had no extended cooldown beyond the regular GCD, was a weaponskill, was impeded by and inflicted the GCD just as any other normal weaponskill, and did not break combos). Whether a skill will or won't break combos is seemingly defined by a separate, arbitrary rule unique to that skill, or at least there are exceptions enough that we needn't place Piercing Talon on a longer secondary recast time just to allow for it not to interrupt combos.

[Ryaz]

I'm not sure what you mean by the underlined part...

Hagakure is still a potency trap, to be avoided (and minimized in Sen lost) except as absolutely necessary to keep TG and Higan within raid buffs and maximize their uses per fight. The same change that directly buffed it also indirectly nerfed it by adding an effective 133.3 potency to every Iaijutsu, which Hagakure of course detracts from by reducing Iaijutsu uses over time.

A similar point can be made for Yaten-Enpi, for while combos were each reduced by 20 potency, reducing Gekko/Kasha combos by 6.66 ppgcd and Yukikaze by 10, and thus nominally pushing standard ppgcd down below its near-equivalence with Yaten-Enpi (at 420 vs. 428), the addition of Shoha added 16.66 ppgcd to each combo skill, ultimately putting Yaten-Enpi in a faintly worse state than before even when ignoring sync issues.

Using a Yukikaze where you might have otherwise preferred to use Gekko or Kasha (e.g. where it really doesn't matter which you use because MKSS isn't about to come up, in which case... your only priority is melee-downtime alignment anyways) is prerequisite to using Yaten-Enpi, and made useful only through Yaten-Enpi. They're not mutually exclusive.

MCH Drill is on the standard GCD. GCD skills don't invariably break combos (see original Shield Bash, which had no extended cooldown beyond the regular GCD, was a weaponskill, was impeded by and inflicted the GCD just as any other normal weaponskill, and did not break combos). Whether a skill will or won't break combos is seemingly defined by a separate, arbitrary rule unique to that skill, or at least there are exceptions enough that we needn't place Piercing Talon on a longer secondary recast time just to allow for it not to interrupt combos.

I meant Yukikure (ie, Yukikaze combo eaten with Hagakure), which is used to keep you aligned with buffs, yes. I know some people were using Yaten-Enpi as a filler combo, but using Yukikaze/Hagakure or Gekko/Hagakaure depending on your sks tier is the norm.