I need a current and informed opinion on Dragoon

[Arienal]

If you lose BotD because of a "5-6 seconds" stopped rotation, you didn't manage it well.

Oh really, do tell me how someone 'didnt handle it well' when they get hit by random mechanics like titan gaol? or any number of randomly targeted mechanics that give no indication? sure there's heavily scripted fights where you just need to know the sequence, but the point is they fucked up BADLY. if they wanted it to be resource based they have several other systems in place that DO work. wrath stacks have a timer, but you dont lose fucking defiance for things timing out. atherflow has set # of chagres over its cooldown, but guess what, NO FUCKING TIMER. so you arent penlized for shit beyond your control. There's not a damn thing 'fun' about this shit, its nothing but 'pray mechanics didnt screw you over'. Some people enjoy being strangled that doesnt make it a fucking good idea.

[raela]

So hold a GSK if BOTD isn't close to off CD, or burn it when you see the marker.. It's not like a DRG without BOTD does 0 DPS.

[Yunona]

Thank you all so much, I've gotten to 35 now and still love DRG, as well I've had many 50 and 60 DRGs saying I've been doing very well for still learning. So heres hoping I will make it to the end!

[Sleigh]

Oh really, do tell me how someone 'didnt handle it well' when they get hit by random mechanics like titan gaol? or any number of randomly targeted mechanics that give no indication? sure there's heavily scripted fights where you just need to know the sequence, but the point is they fucked up BADLY. if they wanted it to be resource based they have several other systems in place that DO work. wrath stacks have a timer, but you dont lose fucking defiance for things timing out. atherflow has set # of chagres over its cooldown, but guess what, NO FUCKING TIMER. so you arent penlized for shit beyond your control. There's not a damn thing 'fun' about this shit, its nothing but 'pray mechanics didnt screw you over'. Some people enjoy being strangled that doesnt make it a fucking good idea.

All DPS hate getting trapped by Gaol or Wild Charge or Conflag. DRG is offended one of the least due to such a large window on Geirskogul's "use it or lose it," in fact I'm pretty sure the Quarantine magic carpet ride lasted longer than the average Gaol jail time and DRGs aren't hurting in A4S I promise you this.

[JackFross]

Oh really, do tell me how someone 'didnt handle it well' when they get hit by random mechanics like titan gaol?

A4S has the absolute worst mechanic in relevant content that impacts Blood of the Dragon - Quarantine. I've heard people complain about losing Blood due to being randomly picked for Quarantine, but 90% of the skill of the class comes from managing Blood properly and maintaining it through mechanics.

Every fight in the game is scripted. If you're losing your Blood due to a "random" mechanic that always activates at that time on a random dps player, you mis-managed your resources. It's not a fault of the class, it's user error.

A great example of this goes back to what I referenced - Quarantine. The first Quarantine in A4S comes right after your second Full Thrust combo, sometimes before, sometimes after the subsequent FaC/WT hit, depending on the timing of the first stun. If you hit Geirskogul during those two combos (The FT combo, where you'd normally wanna hit it), you will absolutely lose Blood of the Dragon during Quarantine if you're picked. If you hold it until after the Quarantine people are chosen, not only will you maintain Blood, but you also still get 3 geirskoguls on Leg 1 regardless whether or not you are chosen for Quarantine. (Technically, if you ARE chosen, the third Geirskogul hits the Manipulator, but that's neither here nor there.)

So, while I hear your complaints about the class, they stem from a "I suck at this job therefore it sucks" mentality, rather than an objective view of the Job and its mechanics, and your opinion, therefore, is suspect as hell.


That said, on-topic!

I find Dragoon incredibly fun. The additional mechanics from 52-60 add a lot of dynamic elements to a class that was static and, frankly, kinda boring at the end of the 2.x cycle. The rotation seems strict, at first, but if you view it as 4 "chunks" (Heavy Thrust / Phlebotomize / Chaos Thrust Combo / Full Thrust Combo) and consider a priority system of HT>CT>P>FT, you'll find that it's pretty malleable depending on the fight.

Managing Blood makes fights fun and interesting for me in a way level 50 Dragoon never did, and I mained it back then, too!

[AlereRaeder]

I don't wanna play pick the idiot on the forums so i'll stop myself now.

Aswell, on-topic!

I loved dragoon at Lv. 50 cap and I main it now at 60 cap. I can tell you that Battle Litany is amazing. Geirskogul is a fun button to press. 4th combos have cool animations though I prefer Fang and Claw yo _oy. gimme dat flank. The rotation is fluid and feels great to use. Mobility is full of swag. Your defences are A1. Keen Flurry is funny (80% increased parry).

[Sekundessounet]

Oh really, do tell me how someone 'didnt handle it well' when they get hit by random mechanics like titan gaol? or any number of randomly targeted mechanics that give no indication? sure there's heavily scripted fights where you just need to know the sequence, but the point is they fucked up BADLY. if they wanted it to be resource based they have several other systems in place that DO work. wrath stacks have a timer, but you dont lose fucking defiance for things timing out. atherflow has set # of chagres over its cooldown, but guess what, NO FUCKING TIMER. so you arent penlized for shit beyond your control. There's not a damn thing 'fun' about this shit, its nothing but 'pray mechanics didnt screw you over'. Some people enjoy being strangled that doesnt make it a fucking good idea.

Works like Monk's GL. Taking your example : when you know how Titan EX works, you know when the Gaol will come. So in prevision, if BotD comes off cooldown like 15 secondes before, you don't use it and keep it for after Gaol so you can activate it right after. If it's like mid-cooldown, you juste use GK right before you get caught and when you're free and go back on Titan, your timer will be up just before your Chaos Thrust.
See, simple. You just have to know your strat and plan when to use Blood of the Dragon and Geirskogul. Same goes with MNK's GL and Tornado Kick for example. The class just demand you to plan your actions and not just to follow mindlessly a set rotation like the lvl 50 DRG. They did not fuck up the job and the ressource management works perfectly fine. If mechanics do require you to be out of BotD, it will never be for long. If it's for more than 20 secondes, that's because you fucked up.

[Valkyrie-Amber]

DRG is a fun class but the jump lock animations and sudden aoes can kill you....

Fix the jump locks that I don't think exsist with any other class and DRG would be as fun as monk again.

[Sleigh]

DRG is a fun class but the jump lock animations and sudden aoes can kill you....

Fix the jump locks that I don't think exsist with any other class and DRG would be as fun as monk again.

NIN Assassinate and DRK Plunge have varying degrees of animation lock as well, though of course not so bad as DRG's multiple animation locks per minute.

[Februs]

DRG is the only Dps class that I have at 60, and I love it. The Rotation is precise and satisfying. It's all about time management. A Drg has to pay close attention to their Heavy Thrust buff, Blood of the Dragon buff, and their DoT's. Managing them all and keeping 100% up-time can be a challenge (especially if boss mechs pull you away from the boss), but if you have a slight obsessive compulsive streak in you, you will enjoy milking the Drg rotation for as much dps as possible.

It does, however, take a bit of hotbar wizardry to get the Drg rolling. If you don't have a smooth hotbar, Drg's can feel clunky and reactionary. 4th tier combos and an obstinate amount of oGCD's can be a bit of a pain in the ass to work with, especially if you are using a controller. Once you get them into a smooth working order, though, everything starts to come together.