How to Dragoon per Second: A DPS Paradigm

[MiniTyra]

Surprisingly, I only have trouble with the 2nd GK. That's a hit & miss; You have to use BOTD -> B4B starting 1/3 - 1/2 through the GCD. The other GKs are perfectly normal, as you're stacking up to 30s so you can blow x2 GKs together closely, which always come after a "4th". Selene however, should fix it.

As for a Raids, if I had the gear, I'd definitely test it at some point to really test it. I'd definitely expect you'd need Selene uptime with Fey Wind and your BOTD timings will definitely be stricter. It's definitely worth looking into. Even if 490 is the far extreme limits you can push, 520-540 is also a perfectly good SS to aim for, with decent oCD placements.

[raela]

So I could use some insight/help too, though perhaps not strictly DRG related (though I am the DRG in this case). I'm in a static that just formed last week, with at least half of us without A5S clears/experience going into it. We're still learning the mechanics.

One of our members is sure that we should be skipping the first prey based on our gear, but we're not, so he's thinking the DPS are having issues with rotations. I'm of the opinion that it's more an issue of party comp/gear and not as much directly the DPS. No one has pentamelded i220, and only two DPS have A5S clears/drops. All do have i230 weapons (I'm at i224 overall on my DRG). Best parse of tonight here: http://www.fflogs.com/reports/wT1mMQ...e-done&fight=2

We're generally hitting 91~92% as the MT starts getting stacks, and get to the 90% before the tank buster goes out. Some of us feel like we should just forget the push for mechanic skipping for now, so that we can set up ideally for prey (and learn mechanics enough for a clear). But hey - does anyone spot anything glaringly wrong at this stage?

[aleph_null]

Best parse of tonight here: http://www.fflogs.com/reports/wT1mMQ...e-done&fight=2

I can only comment on the warrior and dragoon since I only play those two jobs for savage atm. It seems that your dragoon's heavy thrust and blood of the dragon uptime is quite low, but since you're still practicing it might be inevitable that you drop buffs here and there.

As for the warrior, I think since your party has a dragoon and a ninja he shouldn't build up 4 abandon stacks before using berserk since the buffs won't align well. I usually use berserk after my first storm's eye and settle with two fell cleaves during berserk. Also if I remember correctly to skip first prey you need to get the boss to 89% at around 30s mark, so if your warrior builds up 4 stacks before using berserk, that'd be around 16s after pull, he only gets 3/4 of the berserk duration before 30s mark.

[SunnyHirose]

One of our members is sure that we should be skipping the first prey based on our gear, but we're not, so he's thinking the DPS are having issues with rotations.

Correct on both counts. Now how important is that...? Eh, I don't want to single anyone out, but some of you could improve in big ways, and all of you could improve in minor ways.

Now, mechanics is why you're not clearing, it's true, but posing the question in a DPS forum is like asking a plumber to fix your car; they're gonna start by looking for leaks....

[raela]

Correct on both counts. Now how important is that...? Eh, I don't want to single anyone out, but some of you could improve in big ways, and all of you could improve in minor ways.

Now, mechanics is why you're not clearing, it's true, but posing the question in a DPS forum is like asking a plumber to fix your car; they're gonna start by looking for leaks....

Which is why I am asking here. I challenged him to point out exactly who is doing what wrong, and he fell back on "well maybe everyone should review their job rotation to make sure they're doing it right." If I'm the problem, be blunt and that's fine.

I checked HT/BOTD, and one gap was from being a bird for boost, and the other was from mechanic juggling (bombs I believe - so yeah I can improve there).

[MiniTyra]

Everyone in that team needs to improve.

http://www.fflogs.com/reports/wT1mMQ...=4&view=events

Why is your Ninja casting Suiton on the pull and attacking 6 seconds into the fight, leading with a Mutilate? Why is he using the Trick attack 15s into the pull, when it should be there at approximately the 3rd/4th GCD? Why is he using his IR/BFB 25s into the pull?

http://www.fflogs.com/reports/wT1mMQ...=7&view=events

Why is there an 8-second gap on your Bards casts? http://puu.sh/oqo3c/87f32fe54c.png Wot. There's a lot of gaps in his/her rotation.

Your Ninja and Bard are the two main culprits, why you're not pushing the phase imo.

As for not getting the clear, which is the real issue at hand, that's a mechanical problem. You guys just need more practice on the fight.

[raela]

Had time to look through videos, so here's one pull (that obviously went very poorly - MT said he'd pull boss to A, but didn't). Just to help us see how we can skip that prey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8xXWPGiFgI and parse from it http://www.fflogs.com/reports/wT1mMQ...pe=damage-done

The bard did mention she was lagging, but didn't realize it was that bad, and she said it was better at the start.. guess not. I'll let people know what you guys have suggested before we raid tonight, and see how it goes from there. Thanks!

[MiniTyra]

If you're really adamant on pushing the phase...

1) BLMs positioning is off. He/she should not of been running in like that. The BLM should of been pre-positioned to be in casting range as soon as the hit goes off and should've made use of Aetherial Manipulation if they wanted to be in position for the AOE buster.

2) There's a very high possibility (hard to see from the camera angle) that you never got the Rear positional on the CT/WT. It looked like you're in the middle, closer to the front of the boss.

3) If your ninja is really adamant on using Shasta's opener, the Shadewalker will have to be casted literally just before the tank runs in, the Suiton Ninjitsus should be timed to be used "on the run" and Suiton + Spinning Edge should be used as soon as the pull happens, exactly like how you started with the Spineshatter Dive. I'd recommend your ninja to open up with Spinning Edge -> Shadow Fang -> Mutilate, as with a Ninjas 2.05 GCD, he/she should be able to get all those abilities in fairly quickly.

http://www.fflogs.com/reports/tLGCx9...vents&source=9

This is a perfect example of a Ninja opening for A5S.

4) Your entire groups positioning is off. The MT should of been where the Warrior was standing (Against the wall) and the Warrior should be on the Left or Right side of the Boss. When the Tank/AoE buster comes, he/she has more than ample time to stack with the rest of the party. If you do get the Tank Buster on the OT Swap, then holmgang should be used here to soak the damage and mitigate the knock-back.

Not only that, if you're dead serious on skipping the phase, your group should be pre-positioned on the right side of the arena, rather than the left, as that's where you need to move Ratfinx anyway for the two Cobras. Less movement = more DPS uptime.

It also looked like your Bard completely missed the Battle Litany from where he/she was standing. It's kinda evident they were standing too far back; they never made it in time for the AoE Buster (same for your Scholar) hence why your group took so much damage.

5) Lock On. You "missed" so many Auto-Attacks... You should get used to strafing, or using Lock-On.

http://www.fflogs.com/reports/compar...lity=7&phase=1

Take a look at this comparison, as an example. In the same Window (Ending Phase 1/Prey), despite your phase being 11s longer, Dervy still managed to get the exact same amount of Auto's in. You missed out on 4-5 Auto's not facing the boss properly. A lot of people have trouble with this. Get used to Lock-On if you really want to do serious DPS, or learn to adjust your character properly to always face your target.

[Arkenne]

Why is your Ninja casting Suiton on the pull

Wrongly timmed pull, some buffs werent back so it wrecked my opener (thats why Mutilate, IR and BFB were so wrongly placed).
However Suiton is better used on pull while closing the gap, since that way I don't have to deal with a 3 mudra cast in-between GCDs 4 skills later.

[JackFross]

I'll chime in that the PLD there can be +100 over what he is, as well. As the MT, you get 9 GCDs before Concussion. With a NIN in the party, you should be getting Shadewalker, which means the pull should be:
Sheltron>FoF>FB>Swipe+CoS>RB>Spirits>GB>FB>SB>RA>FB>RB>GB>Concussion.

Your first GB should (regrettably) hit exactly as the boss' hitbox changes size. If you're even 1s slow on this, you'll fail to get the second GB.

That'll put you up over 550, assuming you don't have dps jump the gun. You need to face-pull to get that Shield Swipe proc before he gets big.
Even if you miss the GB (as I did here, since I stupidly threw a Shield Lob) - you should still be up over 600 with that opener. Which is a significant jump up from the 430 the PLD pulls in that opener. Just also be sure to not be me! Rampart+Awareness on the pull makes those initial punches hit like pillows.

That said, I will make the comment I always make in these situations - any DPS with a 230 weapon should be pulling 1300+ on that opener. If you're not, you need to re-evaluate what you're doing and improve it. BRD and MCH should be the highest there, by the way, not least because they can start their dots off before he gets big and then re-up them fully buffed at the end of the opener.

Those two have the biggest burst in the game, so in any situation where a 30s parse sees any other Job with a lead of 200-400 over the BRD/MCH, that ranged dps needs to look over what it's doing, imho.

There are Bards out there who can still push nearly 2000 DPS on the A5S opener while the boss is big, so yeah.

To compare bards:
Aiurily does (1987 dps)
RS+B4B+HE+Barrage pre-pull
[EA]>BL>WB>[IR]>VB>SS>[Pot]>Feint>[FA+SW]>HS>IJ>[BL>EA>BL]>HS>SS>[RA+BA]>HS>HS>HS

Mana does (1354 dps)
RS+HE+B4B+IE pre-pull
[EA]>SS>[BL]>VB>[BA]>WB>HS>[SW>Bar>EA]>HS>[BL]>IJ>HS>SS

This is both in the first 28s of the fight.
Aiurily is getting 12 GCDs in the same time Mana is getting 8, is the bottom line.