Intimidated

[Ogulbuk]

So I am "new" (I played long ago, for a few months but casually.) I came back and was interested to get in deep into the game as a DPS (DRG for now.) So, in my time away from the game I have been doing my homework about DRG and how to play them effectively.

I may be getting way ahead of myself, but I am looking at some ridiculously complicated rotations suggested everywhere I look…. So here is where I go: Do I really need to master these things? I want to raid, mostly to see every bit of story content (even non-main scenario) and to get the cool gear, but how far behind would I be if I don’t play the perfectly optimized rotations? Will I potentially cause failure states due to low dps? Or are we just talking about 2%-5% extra damage just for the sake of bragging?

Honestly, prospect of getting to the end game and find me incapable of keeping up scares me, but I would appreciate brutal honesty. Should I forget about raids if Im not willing to use the optimal rotations?

[Dement]

You will need to have a solid grasp of optimal rotations and how to maximize DPS. Lots of endgame fights have had fairly high DPS checks which require everyone to perform above average for their job. On the other hand, everyone makes mistakes from time to time which may make their rotation get a little wonky.

However, what you aren't realizing is that you'll have tons of practice doing these rotations by the time you reach endgame. It becomes more muscle memory than you would think. Also, the development team has stated that they are going to simplify the jobs to some extent in 4.0. However, no one really knows that that's going to entail.

[Powe]

Well honestly you could wait to the new expansion to start raiding, even then there's Extreme trials you could do to try and test your skills in till then, also it'll take you a little while to get to the equipment level needed to do the current end game raiding, also to let you know, it took me about a year to finally get how to play summoner, you can fill the time till the new expansion trying new jobs and getting to really learn your job( BTW real end game is glamour, its never ending ).

[ZhaneX]

Personally never much cared about doing the "Optimal" rotations. I wound up settling into a slightly different pattern than the really in-depth guides recommend, just because I found myself falling into a sort of pattern as I learned to play the class.

Up until 3.4, DRG was my go-to for raiding, and I've never had any trouble keeping up with damage dealing and helping pass checks.

[Grant_Wilshire]

Sorry to derail, but I have a piggyback question to add on the op's question.

Are these rotations easy to do on PS3/PS4 also? I have been playing on a console so far and hotbars start to become a mess quick.

[Dement]

Plenty of people manage to do it with a controller, it's all about building the necessary muscle memory.

[Grant_Wilshire]

Thanks for the reply! I can do my simple low level rotations now. The part that gets crazy for me is fitting everything in the hotbar. Maybe I am packing out too much stuff.

[Dement]

You will have to use a 2nd hotbar most likely. I have two for both Warrior and monk with all of my main offensive and defensive GCDs on the 1st hot bar with things like stance switching and very situational things on the 2nd hotbar. You can set it up to where if you hold L2 and hit R2, it goes to one of your second hotbars and viceversa which can help. You are right that there is pretty much no way to get everything onto 1 hot bar, though.

[ZhaneX]

I play on PS4. It's really pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it. The trick is to sort out your Crossbars, prioritize skills, and assign buttons that work comfortably for you.

I've got all my hotbars worked out to create a "Flow" so I can easily remember and perform my rotations.

[Atoli]

I want to raid, mostly to see every bit of story content (even non-main scenario) and to get the cool gear

At least in HW, the raids have no own story that you can't just experience through normal mode, which is a lot easier.
The gear is also pretty much the same, just a different color/dyeable, so you aren't really missing out on anything if you do not beat the savage versions.
It has been strongly hinted though that that's going to change with the expansion next summer, but for now, main reason for raiding would be enjoying the challenge (and additional mounts).

As for optimal rotations:
Like others said, a (at least fairly) optimal rotation is necessary to beat DPS checks and just in general smooth fights out too.
It is of course possible to succeed in raiding even with sub-obtimal DPS, but only if others are pulling your weight, and I don't think that's what you are shooting for.

Don't worry though, you will get used to things naturally as you level up/go through content, and it won't be AS overwhelming as it seems now
Ah, well, and you have to realize that these rotations are the absolutely optimized ones and you won't be able to fight like that in real battles anyway (by fight design alone).
And that some of it IS a bit over the top and unnecessary

In raiding, there is also a difference between players. If you are aiming for world first you need a lot more optimization than if you "just want to beat it sometimes before the next patch releases".