Thread: Question regarding patch 5.3 Sleeve Draw

Originally Posted by Jaelommiss

In 5.0-5.2 Sleeve Draw would draw a random card. After playing that card, you'd automatically draw another card. After playing that second card, you'd automatically draw a third. There was a 15 secs time limit on the automatic draws. None of the seals were guaranteed. Three sequential cards absolutely justified the three minute CD.

Players, in particular console players, found that the rapid targeting of allies to play cards on was too much of a hassle and complained about it. In response, in 5.3 SE reduced Sleeve Draw to a single card with a seal that you do not currently have. This reduces the number of cards that need to be played in rapid succession. This also means that AST cannot get enough seals for Divination at the start of a fight unless the party waits at least 30 secs before pulling to let Draw come off CD. It also reduces AST's rdps contribution by reducing it from 18 cards every six minutes (nine Minor Arcana) to 14 cards every six minutes (five Minor Arcana).

There's a strong case to be made that this change does nothing to address the root of the problem. At its core, the problem with cards is that party members need to be manually targeted to play them and that the UI is not designed in a way that makes this easy for controllers. M+KB can directly and immediately target specific party members using either the cursor or the F1-8 keys while the controller needs to navigate down party members one at a time in order to reach a specific player. The change to Sleeve Draw reduces how often controller players run into this issue but does not fix it.

There are only two solutions to the controller problem: 1) recognize that the controller is an inferior interface in this regard and drop support, or 2) change cards so that targeting individual players is no longer necessary. The first isn't going to happen for a long list of reasons. The second could be implemented in many ways, but SE doesn't care enough about healers to take the necessary time to understand the problem and find ways to fix it.

This answered a LOT of my questions. I always forget that such a large portion of the FFXIV player base uses controllers. Thank you for such a thorough explanation, seriously!

With all of that being said, how should Sleeve Draw be weaved into AST rotation? Do I use it first (because of its cooldown) and then Draw? Do I use it after Draw or after using all of my Redraw charges? Do I use it and abuse it?

Originally Posted by smoochiepook

This answered a LOT of my questions. I always forget that such a large portion of the FFXIV player base uses controllers. Thank you for such a thorough explanation, seriously!

With all of that being said, how should Sleeve Draw be weaved into AST rotation? Do I use it first (because of its cooldown) and then Draw? Do I use it after Draw or after using all of my Redraw charges? Do I use it and abuse it?

-0:30 Draw
-0:01.5 Malefic > Lightspeed
+0.01.0 Combust > Play > Draw
+0:03.5 Malefic > Play > Sleeve Draw
+0:06.0 Malefic > Play > Divination

I rarely use Redraw during my opener. Delaying the opening Divination will throw you out of alignment with other raid buffs both during in the opener and later in the fight. Depending on your exact comp and if you can double weave without clipping you may be able to Redraw your second card once. Sleeve after Draw in the opener increases the chance of a three seal div from 33% to 67%, or from 40% to 93% with one Redraw.

Use Sleeve Draw on CD after that. If you notice that Sleeve Draw will be available before your next Divination you can plan around that to save some Redraws for later. Your Divinations will line up with a regular Draw (2, 4 mins). Generally you will want to Minor Arcana that card in order to maximize the damage bonus. Card damage multiplies with Divination and other raid buff damage boosts. Your 6 minute Divination will line up with both Draw and Sleeve Draw. Your timings will likely have shifted a little bit by now. It depends on the exact fight, but I aim to Draw, then Divination, then Play (often double weaved with Div), then Sleeve Draw. If Draw is delayed too much I will Sleeve Draw > Divination > Play > Draw.

My general card play looks something like this:
0:00 Draw + Divination + Minor Arcana
0:30 Draw + Play (one seal)
1:00 Draw + Redraw if necessary + Play (two seals)
1:30 Draw + Redraw if necessary
1:55 Play (three seals)
2:00 Draw + Divination + Minor Arcana

If Sleeve Draw will be available in between Divinations then I change to:
0:00 Draw + Divination + Minor Arcana
0:30 Draw + Play (one seal)
1:00 Draw + Redraw if necessary + Play (two seals) + Sleeve Draw + Play (three seals)
1:30 Draw
1:57 Minor Arcana
2:00 Draw + Divination + Minor Arcana
By holding the card at 1:30 I have an extra card during Divination.

If it's a ranged card I will play it on the DNC around five seconds before my Divination because Standard + Technical Steps are massive damage. Tech is a huge 2 minute CD like Divination so it lines up perfectly. If I don't have a DNC I try to buff the BLM when I see them starting their fire phase (watch the MP and cast names. Full MP and Fire III means big fire damage is coming). A RDM can be buffed at the same time as DNC because their 2 min CD Embolden boosts physical damage and they try to get their melee combo in at that time. I don't play with a SMN frequently. If there's a Bahamut or Pheonix toss them a card. I think MCH also lines up with 2 mins, but I haven't raided with one before. BRD is on an 80 second rotation. I'll toss them a card if I see Raging Strikes, but otherwise leave them alone.

I don't know as much about melee. My static's DRG does similar damage to our SAM so I give cards to whichever one has Dance Partner that pull. DRG has burst CDs on 90 and 120 secs CDs. If you buff a DRG at 6 mins they'll be your best friend. A cursory look at this tier's logs shows that SAM seems more constant. Lower during DRG's bursts, higher during DRG's lows. Looking at some more logs, MNK is high around 2 mins and gradually declines until the next 2 mins burst. NIN spikes hard every minute and is low in between that.

These are just general rules for equally performing players. Last tier I had such a strong BLM that his low points usually exceeded our DNC's burst phases. If you're interested in maximizing your card output you'll need to assess the specific players you have using certain logging websites. Unless you have a static it'll be hard to do. Without a fixed roster you'd need to assess party members between pulls. It also doesn't matter 99% of the time. Unless you're specifically aiming for high parses or struggling with zero death enrages you'll probably not notice the difference.

You'll also need to adapt to dynamic factors as well. If melee suffer 2 GCDs of downtime because of a mechanic you'll need to hold your card. If your stronger dps has weakness then you'll usually want to buff someone else. When a NIN in the party you'll want to save your 0:30 and 1:30 cards until 0:55 and 1:55 to ensure they line up with Trick Attack.

I'm going to leave it here because I'm starting to veer into raid leadership and buff coordination. As an AST you'll need to be aware of what damage boosts other classes offer, when they are available, and how to make the best possible to use of them. If you're interested in reviewing some logs so you know what to look for in the future or if you want more information on aligning cards with raid buffs, contact me on Discord. Qina#4625.