How to Dragoon per Second: A DPS Paradigm

[Greyfrost]

My recast time is also at 2.41 and I don't think having 0.01-0.02 difference will hurt much as long as you still pump mainstat if you're witholding upgrade. Unless you're doing extreme raids that require you to min-max everything.

The 2.40 GCD conundrum is based on the theorem that every oGCD like BFB/GSK connection synergizes with each other producing optimum result(s) and also situation that you're given a free time frame to "whack the dummy", which is what we aim for, even in raid environment, having less than 2.40 is also recommended by A4S clearer such as Sunny/Yan Dere, they both have crazy high SkS.

They got faster damage deliverance and more room for error, which is what we seek during encounters

Although those who're more expert in Dragoon-ing might want to chime in and correct me where I'm wrong.

[ColdestHeaven]

2.41 is the bare minimum. If I drop the 190 chest for a SKS-less one, such as the Valerian one, I drop to 2.43. I still haven't reached the third Geirskogul consistently at 2.43 GCD.

[Orlandeu]

2.35 GCD before Selene. Get on my level boys.

I really wanna use the Gordian Trident as my BiS weapon but(and I hate to say this) skill speed has more appeal to me than Det. The set I might use would put me at 900 crit, 300ish Det and iirc 700+ skillspeed.

[siverstorm]

What accuracy does that put you at? The only set I can think of would put you at like 639 with pipra to get those substat values. I'm guessing the strategy you employ for A4 involves you not dealing with adds?

[Orlandeu]

Yeah its 639 with Pipira. I'm not on add duty so I don't really get to hit things up front, except for maybe 2-4 GCDs in the last phase.

[JackFross]

Avoid holding GCDs just to get the Geirskogul in under a minute. GCDs contribute more than 10 times the potency of Geirskoguls. Better to just stretch it to 3 / 84 seconds than slow down the pain train.

Since I don't pop a potion in my opener, my initial BotD comes 1 gcd later, letting me squeak out 3 Geirskoguls before phase transition. At the end of the rotation I end up hitting ID>ID>[ID] (last one doing nothing to the boss and just re-upping my combo) which is probably not ideal. After, I slap him with Disembowel, wait about 1s for BotD, hit:
BotD>CT>IR>4th>HT>Leg+PS>TT>Jump>VT>Life [wash away]>SSD>FT>4th>gsk>phleb>CT combo>HT>FT combo+Jump>wash away>DFD>...

I haven't decided if I like that or just hitting CT and shifting everything else forward one, dropping Life+BotD on wash away just before I SSD>FT. It seems to work out better when I delay, though that might just be confirmation bias of me wanting it to work out better that way. :P

From there I don't know my full hard-and-fast rotation yet; still trying to iron out exactly how many gcds I get in between Hand of Prayer/Parting and Equal Concentration.
I generally drop another CT on the main hand along with a gsk, keeping botd flowing before I burn it and re-up it for Equal Concentration, where I do a full opener+potion without DFD.

Any advice on how to optimize better here would be more than welcome.




Also~ @discussion above: There's a set that's in the OP with 650 ss / 900 crit. It's "technically" bis, using the stat weights in the OP. I say technically because I still prefer Dervy's (since suuuper low det), though with his I'd likely still swap in Brio because the SS is too low for me.
650 ss: http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/RM94

From there, though, you can swap to the Gordian booties and drop accuracy to 639 while boosting SS to 708, which is probably the set that's being referred to.
http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/RM95

[SunnyHirose]

2.4s isn't needed to have HT buff itself because of animation/debuff/buff delay and how attacks snapshot on the start of the attack, though when you are over 2.40 there is a slight delay where HT will drop and any oGCD's or autoattacks in that brief period may not have the HT buff - I'm not sure this is really worth getting the SS as well. For people with bad ping the extra SS helps maintain the HT buffed HT when double weaving or if jumps eat into your GCD.

I've modeled it a bit... yeah, it's not really worth worrying about the auto-attacks that won't get buffed. More SS probably hurts people with bad ping, since it aggravates the clipping they get.

Having greater leeway for Gsk is a good justification, and I will continue aiming for 2.40s.
My original question, though, was whether 2.40s was really *needed*. The guide emphasises this in bold, underlined text. Yet 2 posts up we see a BiS set with 579 SkS.
When new DRGs come along and read the guide, will they drop ilvls or delay upgrades just to keep 590+ SkS, when they could do better with 2.41s or 2.42s?
I suppose all this doesn't matter outside of savage anyway.

That is an issue I have with the guide. Healer attack speed buffs will mess with this, and they always were going to.

The 2.40 GCD conundrum is based on the theorem that every oGCD like BFB/GSK connection synergizes with each other producing optimum result(s) and also situation that you're given a free time frame to "whack the dummy", which is what we aim for, even in raid environment, having less than 2.40 is also recommended by A4S clearer such as Sunny/Yan Dere, they both have crazy high SkS.

I don't recommend any particular level of skill speed; I just don't have the spear drop. I think it's one of the few points where personal preference and circumstance come in, because the theoretical differences between the BiS sets worth considering is on the scale of single-digit DPS (I felt this way about 2.x monk as well). Sometimes less than .5 DPS. You can easily lose more DPS than that by just sneezing.

From there I don't know my full hard-and-fast rotation yet; still trying to iron out exactly how many gcds I get in between Hand of Prayer/Parting and Equal Concentration.

That's about where things fall apart for me, since tanks are not robots.

What I do for the hand phase (now that I'm in the clear for discussing specific fight tactics outside the FC):

- ID 2 or 3 times right before hand phase so you don't lose one of your debuffs
- For first Wash Away, attempt to use Jump to cheese the knockback. If unsuccessful, use Elusive Jump (good luck everyone else!). HOLD Spineshatter Dive.
- For second Wash Away, another Jump attempt. Use Spineshatter Dive before your assigned hand gets out of range.
- When it's time to high-five the hands, use as many Doom Spikes as you can get away with. Of course, don't do this for Equal Concentration (regardless of the mechanic, you don't have the TP for it). This is where RNG can screw you
- If the hands have to be un-clapped before the tornado phase, Spineshatter Dive should be up just in time for you to chase one of them. If not, well, ooh a cooldown (poing).

My DPS is notso hotso on that fight, but a big part of that is because I didn't buy pants until after A3 this week.

[Sleigh]

You can use Jump to stop a Wash Away? What's the timing on this?

[Ilyanat]

I've seen jump work sometimes on interrupting a knock back, generally I use spineshatter or elusive though. Basically as soon as your character starts to move you'll want to use a jump. If you use it too early you'll still end up being knocked back. I find elusive and spineshatter far more reliable, plus jump deals more potency than spine so I try not to use it for odd purposes like that. Either elusive sits there not being used, or I use it.

[JackFross]

Jump can stop any knockback. It tracks your position based on when you hit the button and returns you to that spot. If you time it JUST right, you'll cheese to the point that you'll only get knocked back a very tiny bit and the rest is negated. The timing is pretty tight so I tend not to try, but I suppose I should.

I usually just hold DFD on my opener in A3 and use it after the second wash away for the chase. I absolutely hate the delay that's inherent in turning around to use Elusive Jump; the only spot in current raids (that I've done so far) where I use it... I'm on 0.5 in A1S so I elusive back to it after my first B4B combo on the not-0.5, and I use it after blowing up my first gobtank in A2S to get back to the other tanks and hop in before Wave 7 so I can squeeze in as much damage as possible on the widow.

That said, I would pay SE money to make me an inverse of the /facetarget command so I could macro it to Elusive Jump.

I might actually end up doing the Doom Spike "cheese" there... I have an excess of TP assuming healers don't let me die to Sluice in P1, and the amount of GCDs I have before Equal Concentration is awkward as hell... Also makes it so I'm focusing less on attacking while I do Digititis \o/ win/win/win. And yeah, pants are a huuuge get. I'm stuck in loot hell - 3 weeks without any meaningful upgrades (Eso boots being the only piece I've gotten in the past 3 weeks that I can actually use in A3S) and next week I STILL won't be changing gear unless literally any one of the four pieces I don't currently own drop for me. The week after I gain about as much weight as when I purchased my weapon, though, so I can't complain TOO much. (Eso chest+head+gordian neck+2 coats+I can use my eso belt)