Dragoon's Piercing Talon: Remove or Rework

[Shurrikhan]

On topic: Maybe upgrade Piercing Talon baseline and then again, later, into Dragonkiller at level 64 or so when having progressed a combo. Dragonkiller would then deal additional potency based on your current combo progress and count as if having used True Thrust or Doom Spike. This would, moreover, allow for a forking rotation by putting the potency of having used Dragonkiller to end a combo early and more quickly advance the next situationally equal to or, in cases of CT misalignment, even greater than continuing your combo as normal.

I feel like there should be a cost for not timing your combos around melee-downtime, but unlike Samurai who can swap around Yukikaze vs Gekko/Kasha and its Iaijutsu casts, Dragoon can't... realign anything. Arguably Fuma, Raiton, and Hyosho probably ought to have a larger impact on pacing to allow for a knowledgeable NIN to complete a combo just before melee downtime as well, but even then it likely needs to regain the rotational flexibility it had when Shadow Fang wasn't merely a CD in order to regain control over timing/pacing for melee-downtime.

There should be GCDs which, when aligned to through good use of one's kit, the ranged skill is purely free damage, but all other GCDs should have some manner of cost, some even exceeding that of merely waiting for up to 1.5 GCDs to attack again. And, personally, I like that the Doom Spike combo might see use in single-target.

[Syrus_Draco]

And, personally, I like that the Doom Spike combo might see use in single-target.

I've used Doom Spike combo when I am forced out of melee range for a very long period of time (Shiva Savage Icelit), it's just further annoys me how we're given Piercing Talon, but there's no point when Doom Spike combo is way better. It'll break my rotation combo sure, but it eclipses Piercing Talon.