Fans of Square Enix‘s Final Fantasy know the importance of party composition in any battle. As such, players of Final Fantasy 14 also know just how relevant having the right setup can get in any raid. Thankfully, FF 14 already established Job Roles to help players get acquainted with just how they should approach their battle tactics. After all, the right strategies remain essential for DPS roles that serve as the primary damage dealers in the party.
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However, DPS roles tend to have the most complicated damage setups. After all, they come not only in physical or damage DPS types, but also melee and ranged varieties. As such, newbies can get easily confused with just how they should approach their role. Thing is, just how can new players become more effective DPS in their party?
10 Make Your Rotations Muscle Memory
DPS stands for “damage per second,” meaning their primary role in a battle is to deal as much damage as possible. In FF 14, players maximize their damage output with the right rotation in the right circumstance. Unfortunately, this “requirement” seems overwhelming at first. As such, players should practice their rotations until they become muscle memory, akin to how fighting game combos become second nature.
Of course, players may encounter situations where they might not perform their combos at 100-percent. However, the important part here is that players know their best rotations at heart – meaning they can stop their rotations at any skill and know exactly what other rotations fit them. This factor adds a ton of versatility to the DPS character, especially in messy boss battles.
9 Mind The Animation Lock
When fighting bosses, it’s important to take note of Telegraphs – or the orange circles that signify a special attack. As such, players who see Telegraphs should leave the Telegraph zome as soon as the enemy casts a spell. Moreover, entering the zone again as soon as the spell timer is finished will “lock” the boss in animation but force them to miss players. Sounds cool, right?! Thing is, animation locks happen to players, too.
As such, players who practice their rotations should get mindful of how each component of their combos works. For instance, how far into the casting will the game allow players to break rotation? Would it be possible to use another skill in the middle of another ability? The split-second difference these make can win the battle, especially for the Dragoon with time-sensitive Jumps.
8 Ensure The Hotkeys Work For You
Like other MMOs, players can reposition spells in hotkeys in FF 14. As such, spells don’t necessarily have to appear in order, and can instead get arranged into patterns convenient for the player. Moreover, DPS players should try their best to make their rotations as easy to cast and switch around as possible.
For instance, they should try binding combos in keys that remain easy to press and access to maximize the time they cast skills. In addition, players shouldn’t hesitate to mess around with control schemes to make sure their abilities get cast whenever they need them.
7 Let The UI Do Its Job
Another raiding pro-tip DPS players use is ensuring their UI maximizes their performance. After all, as DPS, players need to focus on making sure their combos hit properly. As such, looking at minor details such as hotbars or even other UI bars can take away much-needed attention from battle. Thankfully, unlike other games, FF 14 allows players to adjust various aspects of the UI – and players should maximize this.
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Moreover, players should reposition HP and cast bars of their enemies and opponents to wherever remains convenient in the UI. It’s advisable that cast bars become larger than HP bars and are located to the periphery of the player. That way, players don’t need to constantly look away from the battle and have a quick reminder of when to dodge attacks.
6 Palace of the Dead
Due to the timing-based nature of successful rotations, it makes sense for players to practice them before Raids. Ideally, players can look for striking dummies to practice their rotations until they know them by muscle memory. However, pro-DPS in-the-making should probably try out the Palace of the Dead instead.
In this randomly-generated dungeon, players and their party begin traversing dungeon levels from Level 1. They slowly accumulate relevant gear and “experience” until enemies become too difficult for them. Unfortunately, the idea of having to “reset” to Level 1 in every instance of Palace of the Dead can get irritating. However, DPS players should use this opportunity to slowly familiarize themselves with their rotation, as their skills arrive at them “naturally” instead of mastering all of them at once.
5 Maximize Mobility Options
Players should think carefully about their existing mobility options as DPS. They should also remember that special attacks only happen after the cast bar finishes loading, meaning they have a bit of lag time to dodge. For Melee DPS, this means moving to dodge. Meanwhile, spellcasters loading an attack at the same time as an enemy should continue casting if their cast bar finishes first. Otherwise, they should move to dodge.
Moreover, players should look for nifty indicators for dodges. For instance, flashy spellcasters like Black Mages tend to occupy the battlefield with their spell animations. As such, it might be tricky to see whether a DPS character becomes a target of an enemy attack. In these situations, players should jump – as a marker that bounces with the player indicates they’re an enemy target.
4 Always Roll With Cooldowns
Just how enemies have a cast bar when using special attacks, players also rely on cooldowns before using spells. In FF 14, players already know that GCDs and oGCDs exist, which denote whether casting a spell triggers the cooldown of the entire repertoire of abilities the players have. In general, players should maximize when to trigger these cooldowns. If players wait until cooldown is finished, they’re wasting huge DPS potential.
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As such, DPS players should keep in mind to always have something to cast at any point in time. Their rotations should trigger fast enough that the start of another rotation gets primed as soon as the previous is finished.
3 Combo With Buffs, Debuffs
Players need to understand why they need to cast buffs before, during, or after rotations. That’s because timing combos with buffs maximizes the damage output a DPS character can provide. As such, it’s good practice to time hard-hitting attacks with the player’s best buffs. Meanwhile, they should also start paying attention to buffs their allies provide so they can apply the same principle to them.
Likewise, DPS players should time more powerful attacks whenever they notice their Tanks use a skill that produces aggro. That way, higher-damage DPS won’t get Enmity as the Tank snatches aggro away as soon as DPS produces them.
2 Always Remember Positions
Remember, unlike Healers and Tanks, most DPS Jobs rely on proper positions to maximize their attacks. As such, DPS players should know when to reposition themselves, especially when they accidentally steal aggro or when the Tank is still positioning the opponents. Ideally, Melee DPS should attack from the flank or the rear to benefit from most of their skills.
Meanwhile, Ranged DPS such as spellcasters should stay within line of sight to make sure their attacks hit while dodging line attacks. However, they should remain within line of sight of Healers, too, so they benefit from buffs and healing.
1 Dodge Whenever Necessary
As a damage dealer, DPS players benefit the party by providing much-needed attacks to take down opponents. Unfortunately, unnecessary risks on the part of DPS players motivate them to go all out on their rotations. However, this factor puts an unnecessary strain on the party, as Healers need to focus on healing them instead of the others that might need their attention better.
As such, on occasions where DPS players need to choose between dodging and attacking, dodging should be the first option. A DPS sacrificing a few seconds without dealing damage will be far more helpful to the party than a dead DPS waiting for a rez.
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