How to Dragoon per Second: A DPS Paradigm

[JackFross]

What about swapping IR with BFB for the second rotation? That way, IR drops off just before the buffed FT + LS, and BFB remains for the 4th after that.

If you use IR near the beginning of your gcd spin (which is the case when IR>BL), it'll last for a bit more than 6 gcds, but won't quite catch the 7th. Using that after Impulse Drive causes it to catch: Dis>CT>4th>P>TT>VT and the following gsk, falling off before LS>FT connects. If you use it earlier, you'll miss both VT and gsk with IR. B4B where it is catches the following 9 GCDs if you pop it "properly" (~1s into the gcd spin): ID>Dis>CT>4th>P>TT>VT>FT>4th. Shifting it one gcd over and swapping it with IR means you'll simply lose ID and not pick up an extra GCD under B4B (because you're now popping it early in the gcd spin to fit BL in there as well). Strictly worse to swap them.

Basically, you have 3 skills which could pick up 1 bonus GCD if you use them late in the spin that you wanna use early on, and getting 9 hits out of both B4B and BL is gonna likely be ideal over 7 hits out of IR. The only real other alteration I could see working would be:
HT>[B4B]>ID>[IR]>Dis>[BotD>BL]>CT>...

But then your B4B and BL are hardly overlapping at all, and you're changing that Dis from B4B+IR+BL to B4B+IR while changing the second ID in rotation to BL. Eh?

[CookieMonsta]

Basically, you have 3 skills which could pick up 1 bonus GCD if you use them late in the spin that you wanna use early on, and getting 9 hits out of both B4B and BL is gonna likely be ideal over 7 hits out of IR. The only real other alteration I could see working would be:
HT>[B4B]>ID>[IR]>Dis>[BotD>BL]>CT>...

But then your B4B and BL are hardly overlapping at all, and you're changing that Dis from B4B+IR+BL to B4B+IR while changing the second ID in rotation to BL. Eh?

Ahh I see, derp I can't math

[ThatOneBat]

Hello. ^^ I'm a new lvl60 Drg and I've been wondering: If there's two or more Drgs in a party what is the order for Battle Litany usage?

[Thendiel]

Interesting topic, as I'm levelling up my DRG right now...
Hey Thendiel, is it ok for me to translate your first four posts into French ? Could be a good idea, as it's a bit hard sometimes, even for me...

Feel free to translate Dervy's work into French! He says he doesn't mind.

Anyone any guide visual/written on how to push more dps during thordan ex?

I seem to be slacking lmao, atm i201 gear. but seems to me that drg can't get higher than 1000 dps on that fight being i201 :c

All of the advice on this thread for Thordan has been very good. Here is a video of a strong clear of mine, if it's any help, although my recording quality is poor and I have not included any audio commentary.

[Hawkesm]

Anyone know what defensive cooldown to use and when to use for Thordan ex?

[Aquaslash]

I've got no...tool that must not be named cause of being a PS4 player, but is there a point when I know that I've legitimately "got gud"?

Also how do you guys go about keeping a constant supply of pots and food? All the HQ stuff just annihilates my eternally limited funds

[JackFross]

Hello. ^^ I'm a new lvl60 Drg and I've been wondering: If there's two or more Drgs in a party what is the order for Battle Litany usage?

There's no real rule for it. Just either call first Litany or let them take it. Whoever uses it second should just pop it after the first one wears off to get ~40s of uninterrupted +15% crit rate.

Anyone know what defensive cooldown to use and when to use for Thordan ex?

There's no real uses for defensive CDs in Thordan for Dragoon. Most damage is AoE and the targeted stuff is weak enough to not kill you with sufficient heals. A few good spots I've noticed, though:
1. Initial Tether/Ice spread, pop Keen Flurry before you run out; if you have a tether, spin to face mid after getting to the edge. You *CAN* parry the hit.
2. Final phase Lightning Storm rotation: Pop Second Wind after Lightning Storm hits you - it's a solid +2000 health, which is very useful if you have anything that's not Dragon's Rage. Use Keen Flurry if you have the tether and face mid once you're in position. It might work on the dragoon dive, too, but I've not personally ever tested it. I *have* parried a tether charge, though.
3. Bloodbath after the fire&ice split can be the difference between life and death if some party members screw up the mechanic.

That's about it. I also tend to use Bloodbath and Second Wind if Zephirin is a thing to deal with, because there's a LOT of aoe damage there and it never hurts to have an extra bit of health.

I've got no...tool that must not be named cause of being a PS4 player, but is there a point when I know that I've legitimately "got gud"?

Also how do you guys go about keeping a constant supply of pots and food? All the HQ stuff just annihilates my eternally limited funds

Honestly, on PS4, there's no real way to know. If you follow all the tips in the guide, you're probably doing more than good enough, though. If you really need to know, have someone parse you and upload to fflogs, so you can compare yourself against others.

I only use food and potions for *progression* raiding - currently A3S. I don't use pots, like, ever, but you can buy super cheap Mega-Potions of Strength in the markets in Ishgard, which are shitty as hell, but good enough if you want a cheap alternative.

And don't believe the Drac Pot hype - HQ X-Pots are the same benefit as NQ Drac Pots for a fraction of the cost. I don't use HQ Drac Pots because too expensive. I also use Flint Caviar since it's way cheaper than Pipira Pira and gives like 4 less Crit, which isn't gonna make or break your dps.

[JackFross]

I know I'm comparing a wipe to a clear, but...

http://www.fflogs.com/reports/compar...18&view=events

I'm honestly really confused by this. Hak's dots are an average of ~100 higher than mine throughout the entire duration of this parse. We have similar buff usage and everything, yet no matter where I look, Hak's beating me by this same margin in the dot ticks. I'm sure I'm failing to optimize elsewhere, but this is kind of silly? My own testing is showing numbers in line with what my parse shows. Is ACT really this bad at reading dots? Do Hak's dots really do that much more than mine? I'll accept whatever answer, I just am really confused by this.

[Orlandeu]

Could be a difference in skill speed.

[JackFross]

Been messing around with that to see if that would have enough of an impact, and it absolutely does not. My friend mucked with their stats to get 850-ish skill speed and saw an average of +5-10 over the normal 600-ish skill speed that the two of us normally use. There's absolutely no way they're running enough to boost their dot potency by 40%.