How to Dragoon per Second: A DPS Paradigm

[xJimmehx]

more important question - what weapon are you using?

Thanks!
Also, Brionac, the i210 weapon.

[JackFross]

Thanks!
Also, Brionac, the i210 weapon.

You should do one of the following:
1. Make sure you hit up A8N every week for a Midan Gear - get 7 + 1000 Lore to buy a Slipstream Partisan.
2. If you'd rather not spend Lore on that, get to work on the Anima quest line. The 240 Anima in 3.3 will be better than the Augmented Slipstream, but harder to get.

thank you for your comments they are a great help! is it important to only pop GSK before a CT or FT ? or do you just pop as and when you have enough tics left?

The best way to use Geirskogul is to hardwire it into your rotation for every fight. Use it at the same time every run. Some people learn best by not using any at the start until they get the hang of how the phases go. I tend to go for broke at the start (use first in the opener, second during the second FT or third CT, depending how things go, then third one on the combo where I'll re-up BotD.

The exact timing isn't important except for the second gsk in 1 minute - and even then it only matters when you have 2 minutes of sustained DPS (like the opening phase of A8S or the phases before Boost 1 in A5S - those are the only two spots in Midas Savage where this really happens. Brute Justice might have long timers like that - I haven't gotten far enough to know for sure. In that situation, though, you wanna use it sometime between the 4th hit and CT/FT of the combo before the combo where you'll be re-casting BotD, or you'll run the risk of clipping a GCD to re-cast it or skipping a gsk.

[YodaBear]

Hey,

ooking for some serious advice, any feedback would be appreciated!

So i've been a Dragoon for awhile now, you could call me a filthy casual or whatever, but now I'm starting to raid... and with this I learn I'm a noob.

Currently running with a cool group and they have encouraged me to try maximise my dps. I've been advised to follow the rotations on this thread, which Is what I already do doh...

To confirm my rotation is - Heavy Thrust -> Impulse Drive -> Disembowel -> [Blood of the Dragon] -> Chaos Thrust -> 4th Tier Combo -> Phlebotomize -> True Thrust -> Vorpal Thrust -> Full Thrust -> 4th Tier Combo -> Repeat

and i weave cool downs in between as and when they pop.

is this rotation up to date? - and are there certain cooldowns i should only pop at the same time as others? can small details like this be vitally important?

Also if anybody has a good opener please share, i have one which I believe is okay but any recommendations is helpful!

(1/2)

[YodaBear]

(2/2)


so currently on A6 we are up to the 3rd boss. DPS stats on average below....

ME (Drg) - 1400-1200
Mach - 1600-1300
Monk - 1600-1300
Summoner - 1700-1300

these are probably not very accurate, but the message I'm trying to get across is that I'm always at least 100 dps behind. im ilvl 225 atm, no 140 pieces yet

Also, does anybody have any tips or videos on how to manage A6 as a fight?

Also melds! what should I stack? I have a mix of Det and skill speed at the moment... is this okay? or are you going to tell me I should be stacking crit hit rate out on EVERYTHING?

I am seriously hoping i can get my dps up by another 100-200 with your help and hopefully be kept on permanently with this static!

Cheers
Yoda Noob.

[YodaBear]

It would be easier to evaluate a fight you cleared rather than a fight you're progressing on.

okay well what about rotations, opener and melds too equip?

[JackFross]

Okay just a few things to keep in mind.

The rotation you have IS up-to-date. That's how you should generally maintain DPS. There's certain optimizations here and there where you won't do that, but it's a good baseline.

As far as an opener is concerned, that is completely different based on the fight in the current raid tier. I don't use potions, and my openers for each turn are:

A5S:
[SSD]>HT>[LegS>BL]>ID>[IR>B4B]>Dis>[BotD]>CT>[PS]>4th>[Jump]>Ph>[gsk]>TT>VT>[LifeS]>FT>4th>[LegS]>HT>etc.
SSD to close because he's small with a large aggro radius. I hold DFD to drop on the snake when it spawns.

A6S:
HT>[delay-BL]>ID>[IR>B4B]>Dis>[BotD]>CT>[PS>LegS]>4th>[Jump]>Ph>[SSD]>TT>[gsk]>VT>[LifeS]>FT>4th>[LegS]>HT>etc.
Normal opener, sans DFD, which I hold to use on the Blaster Mirages.

On Swindler, it's even weirder, since I'll Life Surge the first 4th hit and use two CT combos, followed by HT>TT>VT on Swindler into FT>4th>HT>DFD on the gobwalker that spawns at the north.

A7S:
HT>[delay-BL]>ID>[IR>B4B]>Dis>[BotD>LegS]>CT>[PS]>4th>[Jump]>Ph>[DFD]>TT>[SSD]>VT>[LifeS>gsk]>FT>4th>HT>etc.
Standard opener, except I shift Leg Sweep 1 GCD forward so that I get it in before needing to dodge Hammers, because of how my group handles them. PS on the run, back in before the 4th hit GCD refills.

A8S:
HT>[LegS]>ID>[IR>B4B]>Dis>[BotD>PS]>CT>[Jump]>4th>[DFD]>Ph>[SSD]>TT>[gsk]>VT>[LifeS]>FT>4th>[LegS]>HT>etc.
I hold BL for Blaster and shift Leg Sweep earlier, since otherwise I wouldn't use it until after TT, which feels like way too long to hold a 20s cooldown.



As far as melds are concerned - lots of people ask "what should I meld?" and there's no right answer to that question. The priority order is (generally) ACC to cap, followed by Crit > Det > Sks. Crit IV is better than Sks V, Sks IV is better than Det IV, and other than that it's relatively linear with that priority.


This raid tier is all about doing DPS effectively and efficiently - NOT about burning everything as soon as it's ready. Study other Dragoons and learn when they hold and when they pop and how they DPS different phases of different fights.


//EDIT: OH YEAH AND. It's not a MAJOR gain, but Blood for Blood, Battle Litany, and Internal Release will all affect 1 additional GCD during their duration if you delay casting the buff until ~halfway through the recast of the GCD (if you double-tap ie. IR>B4B you'll absolutely get the +1 on B4B) turning B4B/BL from 8 to 9 and IR from 6 to 7. It's not major, but can help a lot, depending what that 9th GCD would have been.

[YodaBear]

thank you for your comments they are a great help! is it important to only pop GSK before a CT or FT ? or do you just pop as and when you have enough tics left?

[BalmungAzuresky]

Hey guys, I am currently on A6S and would like to get the best gear I can get before reaching A7S and A8S.

Here's my char :

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...acter/2972761/

I just bought the ilvl220 crafted body (no materias on it yet) and I don't wanna mess up.

Here's my actual gear on Ariyala :

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/U8QR

I can probably get one more part of the Lore set this week (don't know which one I should get and what kind of materia to put on it) and same goes with the crafted body (someone told me to go full DETER on it). I would like to upgrade to something good enough to keep going till A8S and from there, if we ever manage to clear it, farm the Midas stuff.

Any recommendations ?

Thanks !

Edit :

Tried my best to get something "decent" before I ever get the chance to farm Midas stuff and this is what I can get without messing too much with SS etc.

Update :

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/U8SB

Which provides the following stats :

STR : 1192
ACC : 705
CRIT : 1041
DET : 534
SS : 657

Recommended SS seems to be 652 so I would be a bit above that, but not sure if it's going to affect Geirskogul.

If you think I can get something better than that, let me know please.

Edit (2) :

Tried another setup :

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/U8VA

STR : 1197
ACC : 712
CRIT : 1045
DET : 563
SS : 645

Less SS and more STR, ACC (enough for A8S), decent CRIT and DET. I feel like I could be using this until all A6S/A7S/A8S stuff can be farmed with my FC, but I'll wait for you advices before jumping on it.

[JackFross]

ACC cap for A8S is 699 frontal, not the 710 or w/e it says in the first post. It hasn't been updated lately.

I would personally aim for:

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/U91N

You drop SKS to a nicer ~600 value while bolstering Det, Crit, and Strength. You also maintain necessary Accuracy. All I changed was the two Det +6 melds to Crit +9 and swapped your boots to the Slipstream with 1 Acc IV and 1 Crit IV melded in.