Question on Bismarck Ex regarding one-shot chitin

[LineageRazor]

Well, DPS underperforming is definitely a problem at this point, largely because our DPS are spending a lot of time dead and our tank swapping is clumsy to boot. We're fresh to the content and still learning it, so it's not as though we've hit a wall or anything. We'll get it with due practice, I have no doubt.

What I wasn't certain of is why even practiced parties would use their cooldowns on the chitin when it seems much more logical to use them on the real threat. From the answers in this thread, it seems that these are the reasons:
- If you can one-shot the chitin with cooldowns, don't worry, you have enough DPS to take down the Suna'wa even without cooldowns.
- Mount stacks make two consecutive mountings awkward.
- Bismarck gets another hit on the island, or two if you skip the second mounting to avoid stacks.

Seems like a decent explanation, and that's what I wanted to learn. Thanks, all!

[Februs]

- If you can one-shot the chitin with cooldowns, don't worry, you have enough DPS to take down the Suna'wa even without cooldowns.
- Mount stacks make two consecutive mountings awkward.
- Bismarck gets another hit on the island, or two if you skip the second mounting to avoid stacks.

Yes, yes, and more yes. Keep in mind as well that, depending on the CD and what job of Dps we're talking about, your Cd's will rotate back up during the Snake phase anyway. Not initially, but the phase is long enough that you should get one more good burst. Monks and Drg, for example, can pop extra crits pretty quickly. So no worries. So, popping your Cd's on the Chitin is not a big deal.

For your Tank swaps, tell your tanks to keep an eye on their current Debuff (I know, that sounds like "well, duh'" advice, but that's not what I'm getting at).

Tank Dps should not be the fallback of the group, so what they want to do is watch the timer on their current debuff. When the timer drops below 5 seconds, they should start paying extra attention and use the time efficiently. That means that they have to get to their 2nd or 3rd tier of their enmity combo prepped and ready and then STOP Dps'ing entirely (even go so far swap targets in advance [not secure aggro, just target in advance], just in case) until they know what Debuff they are going to have next.

I know, most people would say "Stop Dps during a Dps check?!? That's crazy!" But, it's not. The reasoning here is twofold. 1. If they have to swap snakes and mindlessly keep outputting dps, they stand to take a sizable hit for hitting the wrong target, which puts unnecessary stress on the healers. 2. More importantly, IF they have to swap snakes, they will have a 2nd/3rd tier combo at the ready. That means that when they pop their Provoke on the opposite snake and run over, they can instantly secure aggro with their next combo strike. This makes for a very smooth transition (assuming they dodge the twisters that are flying around). If they get a repeat debuff, no worries. Just continue dps'ing as normal and don't sweat it. Even if one of the two Tanks accidentally jumps the gun and provokes, you can instantly take the aggro back by having that 2nd or 3rd tier combo at the ready.

Knowing how long it takes to successfully use a full 3 part tank combo is what makes this kind of timing work. Depending on skill speed, most tanks can cycle a full 3 tier rotation in around 7 seconds, so that 5 second mark on the current debuff is the failsafe. You don't want to go too far below it, or you risk being off GCD when the swap happens, but you don't want to stop too early, because you risk loosing the enmity bonus on your combo. They'll have to get a feel for how much time they have based on their own speed.

[raela]

Well, DPS underperforming is definitely a problem at this point, largely because our DPS are spending a lot of time dead and our tank swapping is clumsy to boot. We're fresh to the content and still learning it, so it's not as though we've hit a wall or anything. We'll get it with due practice, I have no doubt.

Yeah, took me a few weeks to get through with PFing half the party. If someone died it was pretty much a guaranteed wipe due to dps checks, but not one shotting the chitin was a good clue to poor dps.