NIN Opener / Rotation

[Alistaire]

He's right. Doton > Katon IF the pack of mobs is alive for 19+ seconds and agrees to stand in the fire, which is rare in my experience. Also, it's not much but, Katon is a .5 second faster cast and doesn't have a positional req. So, I guess it's good if you've traded your party's BLM for a tank with lead feet.

Not quite. doton = katon if mobs are up 18-20 seconds and are never moved out of the circle. 21 seconds is the time where it's a slight improvement, and it's kind of an unlikely situation. As far as katon vs doton positional requirements, you're in the middle of the group doing death blossoms anyway so that's a moot point.

But basically, doton is bad unless your overall dps is also bad.

Edit: also there will be cases when some mobs are up for 21 seconds and the katon still wins. If even 1 mob dies before the full duration, especially if it dies quickly, the katon on more # of mobs wins.