Dragoons: A Rotation Reborn

[Itseotle]

I am actually slightly disappointed that they completely took the need to flank away entirely and that they moved the rear requirement from Impulse Drive to Chaos Thrust. That's going to take me forever to get used to =\

On the plus side though, Power Surge lines up slightly better with Jump, although a 5 second cd reduction on PS would have been nice. Life Surge is still a bit odd if your holding it for BFB, even more now with the additional 10s reduction. Not needing flank accuracy should help a bit on some fights too.

Much needed Magic Defense yay but changing the way I have to play DRG boo

EDIT: In case anyone missed it, new Relic spear is named Longinus.

[Ceront]

Nah, you still need to flank for ring of thorns combo and for 170 pot. It's like Monk now, you flank for full damage, but if something screws up and the mob turns or some such, you're not stuck using heavy thrust all over again for the buff. Staying behind the enemy for Chaos Thrust for the extra pot will be weird, but changing the requirement frees us up to use chaos on any target from any angle.

[SupraViolet]

All math calculated in i135 gear



Rotation DPS:
Pre-2.45 DPS: 520
Post-2.45 DPS: 546

We're still out DPS'd by the monk, but only by 18 DPS. Monks rotation at i135 is around 570. Remember, this does not include BFB, DFD, Life Surge etc. This is nothing more than the raw base rotation. If you include BFB/Jumps, the DPS difference will be much, much closer (10ish)

EDIT: Changed a word not to give false meaning.

Also, regarding stat-weights. The changes are in the thousandth decimal, literally makes no impact on gear.

Previously calculated:
WD 9.355
STR 1.000
DET 0.329
CRT 0.234
SS 0.194

Post-2.45
WD: 9.349
STR: 1.000
DET: 0.327
CRT: 0.233
SS: 0.198

EDIT 2: Just realised I overcalculated the DPS gain pre-2.45 by 6, oops :P

The final DPS rotation numbers are based on how much time in what type of encounter?

[Apoc]

Thanks Dervy ^^

[mosaicex]

Doesn't Impulse drive buff completely destroy the needs to use TT > FT in earlier leveling? Not that it matters much, of course.

[Itseotle]

Nah, you still need to flank for ring of thorns combo and for 170 pot. It's like Monk now, you flank for full damage, but if something screws up and the mob turns or some such, you're not stuck using heavy thrust all over again for the buff. Staying behind the enemy for Chaos Thrust for the extra pot will be weird, but changing the requirement frees us up to use chaos on any target from any angle.

Ah yes, misread the path notes. They took the directional boost from Impulse Drive away, which is fine. I still don't like the extra rear potency from Chaos Thrust, they should have added that to Impulse Drive instead imo that way the play style would remain unchanged. Now in order to maximize dps we should aim for a rear attack on 2 hits instead of one. I'm not saying its the end of the world though, just something I find slightly annoying.

Doesn't Impulse drive buff completely destroy the needs to use TT > FT in earlier leveling? Not that it matters much, of course.

Well, spamming Impulse Drive does cost a bit more TP, so there is that, but really at that level it doesn't matter much either way. What this does mean though is that the rotation for killing low-hp mobs, such as boss adds, might be a little different.

[Nyalia]

Doesn't Impulse drive buff completely destroy the needs to use TT > FT in earlier leveling? Not that it matters much, of course.

I believe the optimal rotations for low level lancers are:

• Level 1-3: TT > (repeat)
• Level 4-7: TT > VT > (repeat)
• Level 8-9: ID > (repeat)
• Level 10-11: [Opener: ID > Sweep] ID > (repeat, use Sweep whenever off CD)
• Level 12-17: [Opener: HT > Sweep >] ID > ID > ID > ID > HT > (repeat, use Sweep whenever off CD)
• Level 18-25: [Opener: HT > Sweep > TT > LS > VT >] ID > ID > HT > ID > ID > (repeat, use Sweep whenever off CD, when LS is off CD, swap a pair of IDs with TT > LS > VT)
• Level 26-29: [Opener: HT > Sweep > TT > VT > LS > FT >] HT > TT > VT > FT > (repeat, use Sweep whenever off CD, when LS is off CD, use between VT and FT)

That last one recasts HT when you should still be able to squeeze another skill in, but since you can't interrupt your FT combo with HT, that skill would have to be ID. Compare (170+150+200+360)/4 = 220 average GCD potency with (170+150+200+360+180)/5 = 212 average GCD potency. Also, since your rotation is 10 seconds instead of 12.5 (assuming minimal SS due to low ilvl), your LS procs should line up better with FT.

The above assumes you don't have any cross class skills. If you do, just use IR whenever it's on CD. And, I suppose you can throw in Fracture in a few places, since it's 220 potency cross-class:

• Level 1-3: [Opener: TT > IR > Fracture >] TT > (repeat, use IR whenever off CD, use Fracture when it wears off if your TP is high enough)
• Level 4-7: [Opener: TT > IR > VT > Fracture >] TT > VT > (repeat, use IR whenever off CD, use Fracture when it wears off if your TP is high enough unless TT was just used (then use it after VT))
• Level 8-9: [Opener: ID > IR > Fracture >] ID > (repeat, use IR whenever off CD, use Fracture when it wears off if your TP is high enough)
• Level 10-11: [Opener: ID > IR > Fracture > Sweep >] ID > (repeat, use Sweep and IR whenever off CD, use Fracture when it wears off if your TP is high enough)
• Level 12-17: [Opener: HT > IR > Fracture > Sweep] ID > ID > ID > ID > HT > (repeat, use Sweep and IR whenever off CD, use Fracture when it wears off if your TP is high enough)
• Level 18-25: [Opener: HT > IR > Fracture > Sweep > TT > LS > VT >] ID > ID > HT > ID > ID > (repeat, use Sweep and IR whenever off CD, use Fracture when it wears off if your TP is high enough, when LS is off CD, swap a pair of IDs with TT > LS > VT)
• Level 26-29: [Opener: HT > Sweep > TT > IR > VT > LS > FT >] HT > TT > VT > FT > (repeat, use Sweep and IR whenever off CD, when LS is off CD, use between VT and FT (Fracture does not increase your DPS anymore at this point - same potency over time, but more TP spent))

[Jeckyl_Tesla]

Guessing no one can tell me if the ilvl110 crafted chest piece is worth getting?

[Zankes]

Guessing no one can tell me if the ilvl110 crafted chest piece is worth getting?

I would personally get it. Mine was melded like this DET IV, DET IV, DET III, DET III, DET III. I felt like it was good increase in DPS when I switched to it. If you have money for it go for it. You gain so much DET and CRIT compared to other i110 options.

[Dervy]

Guessing no one can tell me if the ilvl110 crafted chest piece is worth getting?

Multiply the gears stats by the Stat-Weights I just posted. Which either item has the most "weight" (higher number) theoretically gives the higher DPS.