Quote Originally Posted by whiskeybravo View Post
Trying again tonight. Several hours worth of trying can be viewed on my twitch.tv/whiskey1bravo if you want to see how bad it gets lol
Watched one of the recordings of your attempts (http://www.twitch.tv/whiskey1bravo/b/654989155) and I'd like to offer some tips that may help:

1.) You seem to use SP -> BB, sometimes even SP -> BB -> BB. This isn't a good OT rotation no matter what your goal is with it. Eye -> Path will result in higher DPS for you, the MT, and the NIN (especially the NIN as it will allow him to drop the slashing debuff bit of his rotation) as well as 100% uptime of both debuffs. SP -> BB -> BB is especially bad as it will drop Path for a brief period.

2.) Sometimes you're a bit slow on the add pickup, or you aren't there when the add is about to spawn. You actually did fairly well on picking up some of them, 25:17 is a good example of where you executed correctly. The reason it turns is because you didn't use anything else and BB's animation takes 500 years to register aggro, so using Brutal Swing there would've probably kept it solid quicker.

3.) You stay in Defiance between Shadows, which isn't necessary and does nothing but lower your damage. If you use Infuriate before/as the Shadow is about to spawn, it will be back up when the next one spawns - this means there is a full 60s between each Shadow spawn. 60s of nerfed Defiance damage where you aren't tanking anything that needs that extra HP.

4.) Just a small thing in regards to my first point, after the first Shadow dies you can use SE first over SP since the Flatten is going to be Hallowed. For the other 2 Shadows, however, you want to pre-build an SP to put on the boss for the upcoming Flattens.

5.) Another sorta small thing, you don't open with Infuriate -> Unchained -> combo buttons until Unchained wears off -> IB -> drop Defiance -> etc. That's a free fully buffed 300 pot attack you could be using.

6.) It's worth it to interrupt your combo to pre-load a SS vs a BB for the Shadow. SS is much easier to manage than BB, though obviously BB will give you more initial aggro. I'm usually fine on aggro with just a combo'd SS as long as it's just Med 2 ticking.

7.) You don't always need to use IB for each Shadow. Your Infuriate usage should be Unchained -> IB -> Unchained, Thrill + Conv/Veng for the first one and then whichever you didn't use for the 3rd. Remember, Unchained allows for a free IB on the boss and that's a good chunk of damage to be missing out on.

Xeno did a guide on various small things you can do to better your WAR in 13, which I'd recommend checking out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqgpxqqmkLA

You actually seem perfectly fine for 13, there's just things you'll want to change to help your group overall and maximize your (and other's) DPS output. The higher your group DPS in progression, the more chances you have to see later phases and the less mechanics you have to deal with. You've also got the right idea for the Shadows, you just need to work on using an off GCD after your initial GCD (preferably Brutal Swing).