Allow me to explain why I prefer opening with DoTs over Straight Shot.
1) Starting with Straight Shot means missing out on a potential Bloodletter reset, a 150 potency attack.
2) If you start with Straight Shot you need a Straighter Shot proc in about 3-4 GCDs (10% chance isn't exactly in your favour). If you don't get that proc, your options are as follows: a) reapply Straight Shot early, wasting potency and TP over a Heavy Shot (70TP for a 140 potency move vs. 60TP for a 150 potency move); b) clip your DoTs (again, a waste of potency); or c) reapply DoTs without Straight Shot which defeats the purpose of the Straight Shot opener completely.
3) With the opener I use, Windbite and Venomous Bite are reapplied with all of the buffs up without having to clip them. On average, I reapply my first DoT whenever it has 2-4s remaining, and by the time my second DoT is reapplied my first buff used, Hawk's Eye, still has 4-6s of duration left before it falls off. You don't need to have your first set of DoTs buffed, and besides...
4) With the traditional Straight Shot opener, to stack your buffs and get the biggest increase you can on your skills, you would have to hold them all long enough that you'd end up losing DPS. From another perspective, if you were weaving your cool-downs as soon as possible, you would only have some buffs up for your first set of DoTs and some buffs up for your second set, which isn't as good as having them all up for your second set of DoTs and none at all for the first.
As for Quelling Strikes, I omitted it due to its usage being on a case-by-case basis. If you have a tank who can hold aggro against top-notch DPS, there is no need for it other than to buy breathing room. If a powerful add needs to be grabbed by the tank, Quelling Strikes can help let the tank grab it safely (i.e. Clockwork Dreadnoughts in T8). If you need Quelling Strikes for anything outside of adds or speedrun pulls, that says more about the tank's ability to hold aggro instead of the lack of using Quelling Strikes. This is coming from someone who runs both BRD and WAR on a frequent basis.
This is the gear I use outside of SCoB, by the way: http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/O5A5
No problem. If missing Straighter Shot procs and not reapplying DoTs before they fall off are your only issues, that should be quick to remedy. After using Heavy Shot, wait a bit before using it again to see if you get the proc. With a 2.4s-2.5s GCD (depending on your skill speed), that should give you plenty of time to wait for a proc. For DoT reapplication, the best time to refresh them is around 2-4s on the first DoT. As DoT damage is based on server ticks and not the duration of the DoT itself, it's best to reapply them around that time lest you miss a tick soon after a DoT falls off.thanks for all the info, i will be sure to try out some of the things i am not already doing in this list.. i think my problem is mostly missing straight shot and or dots.. only by a few seconds.. but a few seconds can be significant.. i already double buff between GCD skills so i am glad that came up.. glad i was doing something right :P
Good on you for double-buffing, by the way! It gets tougher to do with higher skill speed and animation locks on certain skills, but damn is it good. Maybe Square will reduce the animation locks for a lot of skills like they did with the DRGs Jump abilities this patch one day? Anyway, keep working on your BRD and continue to strive for improvement!
Last edited by SlyRoyale; 10-30-2014 at 03:12 AM.
I didn't feel like going into greater detail. Frankly I doubted it would change your mind, and thus only add clutter. Nevertheless, the short and sweet of it is basically summed up as follows:
Re-upping dots before 2 seconds is clipping them. The first at 2s, the other at 5s is the re-up window. You've given 2 instances of 2s holes at this point. That is nearly a gcd, and shouldn't happen optimally speaking. If you're really worried about the 10 potency of needing to re-up Straight Shot, how does 2 seconds or nearly another gcd skill not translate to a dps loss as well?
When you reapply your first DoT when it has 2s left on it, you don't miss out on the server tick and chance for a 150 potency attack that's off GCD for its recast timer to reset. By that time your first DoT is about to fall off and your second will soon follow. Clipping it earlier like around 5-6s just to reapply DoTs before buffs fall off is losing out on up-front DPS. Should you reapply as the DoTs actually fall off instead of just catching them before they do, you miss out on a server tick which is a loss of DPS. As for worrying about a difference of 10 potency, you are also forgetting the difference of 10TP. During battle, TP refreshes at 60 per tick. While Straight Shot does give a 10% critical hit rate buff, that is based on the specific stat rather than a flat 10% increase. On top of that frequently using a move that costs more than 60TP per GCD will eventually leave you TP-starved in longer fights should the management of the resource be an issue (there are BRDs who don't cross-class Invigorate or play a Battle Voiced Army's Paeon for 30-45s for a quick burst of TP regen. Heavy Shot has 10 more potency and costs 10TP less than Straight Shot, and has a 10% chance of proccing Straighter Shot which is a guaranteed crit worth the 70TP. The only time you should use Straight Shot outside of that is to reapply the buff. It all boils down to reliable and consistent DPS, which is never a DPS loss.
On a personal note, do not hesitate to go into detail. If you do not feel like delving into it, why bother posting when another person like myself doesn't mind explaining their case when asked? An exchange of information is never "clutter," and I seriously hope I'm not wasting my time on you if you actually think that way.
Yep I said that about dots. However in your posts you mention a 2 second window. Example:
That's my issue. If you are re-upping dots at 3 or 4s left, you've clipped them. And if you did it at 4s you likely wasted a gcd in the process. Bringing up bad Bards, who don't understand TP management, or who lack the proper cross-skills does't change that. While TP management might have a place at the table during talks of optimization. Lacking the proper cross-class does not.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
Cookie Policy
This website uses cookies. If you do not wish us to set cookies on your device, please do not use the website. Please read the Square Enix cookies policy for more information. Your use of the website is also subject to the terms in the Square Enix website terms of use and privacy policy and by using the website you are accepting those terms. The Square Enix terms of use, privacy policy and cookies policy can also be found through links at the bottom of the page.