Drg buff usage

[Warghoul570]

While running Chaos norm yesterday the other drg asked my if I use the lancer buffs. I had no issue with this but couldn’t respond being a ps4. The only buff I can think of that I don’t use is B4B. In a fight where I know I’m going to take heavy damage I never use it because I don’t feel it’s worth taking the extra damage. I’m wondering if I’m wrong and should actually be using it despite the risks

[RicaRuin]

I suppose he meant Heavy Thrust, which should be active at any time.

Edit: There's also Life Surge which you want to use in a combo right before Full Thrust whenever possible.

[Warghoul570]

Heavy thrust I always use. That’s never down for more than a few seconds depending on what’s going on. Life surge I generally save for when I’m not at full health

[Wayfinder3]

You should be using all of your damage buffs ideally. Blood for blood is only really a bad when a high healing phase is coming and it’s like bleeding edge progression so you’re undergeared. Such as week 1 o12s and even then you still use it in between the healing phases

[SHLunchB0x]

I have to assume by lancer buffs they were talking about Battle Litany in particular. Since many dragoons pop it as part of their opener, if there are two dragoons in a group it's fairly common to ask when the other person is going to use it so both don't pop it at the same time wasting the buff. I know personally if there's another dragoon and there wasn't any communication, I'll hold off on using it a little later waiting an extra ~10 seconds to see if it pops up on my buff bar, then I'll just burn it. Figuring out who is going to use it when avoids this situation.

Also B4B should definitely be part of your opener. It's a huge damage boost and there are no risks considering 95% of the bosses in this game open with either a tank buster or non-threatening raid-wide damage. In the majority of situations B4B will only make a big difference if you're getting hit by an attack that can be avoided normally, so I wouldn't consider it a risky use.

[Elleia]

Definitely use life surge on cooldown before a full thrust. There’s no need to save it for healing when you have access to both second wind and bloodbath. And use BfB as well - as someone stated above, you’re really only in danger using it during high damage phases during bleeding edge progression of the savage raids.

[Syrus_Draco]

The only buff I can think of that I don’t use is B4B. In a fight where I know I’m going to take heavy damage I never use it because I don’t feel it’s worth taking the extra damage. I’m wondering if I’m wrong and should actually be using it despite the risks

You should ALWAYS use B4B on cooldown. It's a huge chunk of your damage, especially when it is paired with Life of the Dragon. The extra damage you take is minimal and it's not enough to make/break the bank and get you killed. If you're extra worried just pop bloodbath with B4B and you'll be fine.

[Warghoul570]

Getting a lot of good feedback. Got some good ideas on changing my hotbars to use it more

[KDSilver]

The only buff I can think of that I don’t use is B4B. In a fight where I know I’m going to take heavy damage I never use it because I don’t feel it’s worth taking the extra damage.

As long as you have the recommanded ilvl or higher, you should have enough vitality to survive any non dodgable party aoe.
Besides, that's why shielder healers exists and why almost everyone has mitigation tool.
Don't worry too much about healers as well. Aoe heals are very powerful and will heal you to full HP quickly.
And even if you are afraid, you still have Second Wind and and Bloodbath for self healing.

You should be using B4B whenever it's up to maximize your DPS.
Dev team know about that when designer fights. As long as you do mechanics, that "extra" HP you loose won't matter for healer ^^

The only time you could not using it is if you have vulnerability stacks. In that case, if there's no mitigation, then yes, you might die from party aoe. Otherwise, it should be perfectly fine.

I very rarely had problem when B4B kill my DPS, and when it was, that was on an undergeared Bard, back in Heavensward when it still was a cross skill.

[AppleJinx]

Healers that can't heal through blood for blood are bad. You can always help out by pairing it with second wind and bloodbath if you know a healing intensive phase is coming. You don't ever want to hold b4b for the increased damage taken though. Just meld vitality 6 to your accessories for extra health instead.