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When it comes to classes in Final Fantasy, the Dragoon has always been one of the coolest and flashy of the bunch, and that remains the case in Final Fantasy 14. There is nothing quite like soaring through the air as a lance-wielding knight and dropping on your target with tremendous, piercing force.
Out of the five current Melee DPS Jobs in Final Fantasy 14, the Dragoon remains one of the more unique and badass, and that’s even when going up against the likes of Reaper and Ninja. Furthermore, with Endwalker finally giving more screen time to our beloved Dragon Knight, Estinien, who wouldn’t want to become one themselves?
Updated January 16, 2023, by Seth Parmer: Patch 6.3 is upon us, and while the Dragoon saw minor adjustments, we still wanted to update this guide to put it more in line with our other Job guides. We have added a fleshed-out Off-GCD Section and updated the Best In Slot section to showcase the true power of the Dragoon!
Taking Up The Lance
Before becoming a Dragoon, you must first master the arts of being a Lancer. To do this, you can either choose it as your Starting Class or can speak with Jillian in the Lancer’s Guild found in Old Gridania (X:14.1, Y:5.8). Since Lancer is a starting class, you only have to be Level 1 to accept the starting quest “Way of the Lancer.”
From there, you will have to level the Lancer Class up to Level 30, which shouldn’t take all that long with loads of new, fast ways to power level new Jobs in Final Fantasy 14. Once that has been accomplished, you can then take on the “Eye of the Dragon” quest, which can be accepted by speaking with Ywain in Old Gridania (X:14.3, Y:5.8). Completing this mission will grant you the “Soul of the Dragon” Soul Crystal, allowing you to switch to the Dragoon profession.
Rotations
As with any Job in Final Fantasy 14, your rotations are crucial and will allow you to get the most out of your Job in terms of damage and cooldown management, and is essentially the bread and butter of the game’s combat system.
For the Dragoon, the rotations are relatively straightforward but can be challenging for newcomers to the role or class in general, especially if you stack the Job’s many jumps, buffs, and other Off-GCD on top. Before we cover the breadth of what the Dragoon is capable of, we are going to start off with the Basic Single-Target and AoE rotations of the Job and will cover its Off-GCD Actions and Opener later in the guide.
Basic Single-Target Rotation
- True Thrust > Vorpal Thrust > Heavens’ Thrust
- True Thrust > Disembowel > Chaotic Spring
The Vorpal Thrust into Heavens’ Thrust rotation will grant you Fang and Claw bared and deal significant damage to a single target. While the Disembowel into Chaotic Spring rotation will grant you a damage buff alongside the Wheel in Motion action.
Basic AoE Rotation
- Doom Spike > Sonic Thrust > Coerthan Torment
It’s essential to have a solid Area-of-Effect rotation, and the one seen above is the best one available for the Dragoon Job. As with most AoE rotations in Final Fantasy 14, we recommend using this when there are three or more enemies in a group. This rotation provides a damage buff and also readies Draconian Fire.
Positional Attacks
When adequately positioned, landing attacks will reward you with more damage potency and upgraded attacks. Aim to hit the attacks below within their respective positions for optimal damage. Ignoring an attack’s positional enhancements will leave significant amounts of damage on the table, so it’s best to get the hang of them as soon as possible. There will be moments where you cannot properly get to the side or rear of an enemy, which is fine, but you should always strive to position yourself properly whenever you can to deal as much damage as possible.
- Flank: Attacks deal +40 more potency when attacking the enemy from the side.
- Rear: Attacks deal +40 more potency when attacking the enemy from behind.
- Chaos Thrust
- Wheeling Thrust
- Chaotic Spring
Buffs
Applying buffs to milk more damage from your rotation is an essential part of any DPS Role, especially when participating in high-level content such as Trials and Raids. Knowing how to optimize your buffs will have you outputting much more damage than before.
Like every Off-GCD Action, buffs should get sprinkled throughout your rotation while preparing for the following GCD Action. We give some examples of when to use each buff below.
Lance Charge
The Lance Charge skill increases the damage dealt by 10 percent and lasts for 20 seconds, making it the best buff at your disposal. Anytime you have this skill ready, use it.
Life Surge
Due to Life Surge having no effect on damage over time skills, it is best when paired with the Fang and Claw ability, especially if you can land the positional.
Dragon Sight
Dragon Sight is an excellent skill that should always be used to buff your jump-in attacks, such as High Jump, Spineshatter Dive, Dragonfire Dive, and Mirage Dive.
Battle Litany
Battle Litany enhances your critical hit rate by 10 percent, along with nearby party members. While there are situations where it may be wise to hold onto it, you will be fine to pop it whenever it’s available to you.
Life of the Dragon
The Dragoon Job saw some pretty significant changes in Patch 6.0, with “Blood of the Dragon” changing from an Action to a Trait being amongst the biggest. Now, as a result, you won’t gain access to the Dragon Gauge until you reach Level 70 and learn the Trait “Life of the Dragon.”
Much like every Off-GCD Action, these should get interwoven between the GCD attacks present in your rotation for maximum damage output.
Mirage Dive
After performing the Action Jump or High Jump, Mirage Dive will become available to use. Using Mirage Dive will grant you one unit of Gaze of the First Brood. Two units are needed to activate Life of the Dragon.
Life of the Dragon
Life of the Dragon allows you to strengthen the Gaze of the First Brood when landing Mirage Dive successfully. When the Gaze is at two units, the Action Geirskogul will automatically activate the Life of the Dragon status.
Nastrond
When under the effects of Life of the Dragon, Geirskogul becomes Nastrond. Essentially, whenever Nastrond becomes available, use it and try to squeeze it into your rotations as much as possible before the Life of the Dragon status expires.
Stardiver
Stardiver is another Action available only when under the effects of Life of the Dragon. While another potent attack, we recommend only using it once during each Life of the Dragon activation to get the most out of the meter/rotations.
Jumps and Dives
One of the coolest, freeing things about the Dragoon class is their access to several jumps and dives, allowing them to evade incoming danger or quickly deliver absurd amounts of damage.
Jump/High Jump
The Jump and High Jump Action are some of the most crucial actions in the Dragoon’s kit as they grant the “Dive Ready” buff, allowing you to use the Mirage Dive action. In short, you need to weave these into your rotations wherever you see fit to enter Life of the Dragon status.
Elusive Jump
The Elusive Jump does what you’d expect, has you jump out of the way of incoming danger. While it does no damage, it helps prevent you from taking it, which is equally important.
Spineshatter Dive
The Spineshatter Dive allows you to cover great distances and deliver a crushing jumping attack on your target with a damage potency of 250.
Dragonfire Dive
The Dragonfire Dive is the Spineshatter Dive’s AoE counterpart, allowing you to deal 300 damage to your target and enemies in the area with a flaming aerial strike.
Stardiver
Stardiver is an incredibly potent jumping attack that is only available with the Life of the Dragon status active. For more information on this Action, look over the Life of the Dragon portion of this guide above!
Off-GCD Actions
While we did cover the vast majority of the Dragoon’s Off-GCD Actions in the sections above, we did not tackle all of them, some of which are crucial to understand for mastering the Job. So, before we get into the Dragoon’s Opener, we will include the complete list of Off-GCD Actions of the Job in the table below!
Action | Recast Time | Information |
|---|---|---|
Life Surge | 40s | Grants Life Surge effect, making your first Weaponskill a guaranteed Critical Hit. Effect lasts for 5s and cannot be applied to Damage Over Time actions. A percentage of damage dealt will be absorbed as HP. You can also store two charges of Life Surge. |
Lance Charge | 60s | Damage output is increased by ten percent for 20s. |
Jump | 30s | Perform a jump-in attack with a potency of 320 before returning to your initial position before the jump. Grants Dive Ready effect for 15s. |
Elusive Jump | 30s | Summersault 15 yalms backward. |
Spineshatter Dive | 60s | Perform a diving attack with a potency of 250. You can store two charges of Spineshatter Dive. |
Dragonfire Dive | 120s | Deliver a devastating fire-based dive attack with a potency of 300, dealing damage to all enemies in the area. |
Battle Litany | 120s | Raises Critical Hit Rate by ten percent for yourself and all nearby party members. |
Geirskogul | 30s | Attack in a straight line, dealing damage to multiple enemies. The first target is hit with a potency of 260, while the rest receive 30 percent less damage. Life of the Dragon is granted upon use if you are under the Full Gaze of the First Brood. Geirskogul changes to Nastrond when under the effects of Life of the Dragon. |
Nastrond Only while under the effect of Life of a Dragon | 10s | Attack in a straight line, dealing a potency of 360 to the first target and 30 percent less to all other enemies. |
Dragon Sight | 120s | Cast Right Eye on yourself, raising your overall damage output by ten percent. Targeting a Party Member will also grant them Left Eye, increasing their damage output by five percent. Both effects last for 20s. |
High Jump | 30s | Perform a jump-in attack with a potency of 400 before returning to your initial position before the jump. Receive the Dive Ready buff for 15s. |
Stardiver Only while under the effect of Life of a Dragon | 30s | Deliver a devastating fire-based dive attack with a potency of 620 on your target and 30 percent less damage to all other enemies in the area. |
Wyrmwind Thrust | 10s | Attack in a straight line with a potency of 420 on your target and 50 percent less damage for all other enemies. Costs two stacks of Firstmind’s Focus. |
Opener
Due to the Dragoon’s ability to dive onto enemies and enter the Life of the Dragon state, you must incorporate everything at your disposal into your Opener, making things very challenging for newcomers. The Dragoon can deal an astronomical amount of damage and look flashy doing it, so long as they have a solid Opener and stay on top of their rotations and positionals.
The Dragoon’s opener can be long-winded but is all killer, no filler. Below is an Opener for a Level 90 Dragoon that incorporates its jumps and dives in with the many buffs, debuffs, and thrusts to create an onslaught of chaotic Dragoon goodness. All Off-GCD Actions are bolded and placed in parentheses, while the standard Weaponskills are untouched.
- Pre-Pull: (Sprint)
- True Thrust (Grade 7 Tincture of Strength) > Disembowel (Lance Charge + Dragon Sight) > Chaotic Spring (Battle Litany) > Wheeling Thrust (Geirskogul + Life Surge) > Fang and Claw (High Jump) > Raiden Thrust (Dragonfire Dive) > Vorpal Thrust (Life Surge + Mirage Dive) > Heavens’ Thrust (Spineshatter Dive) > Fang and Claw (Spineshatter Dive) > Wheeling Thrust > Raiden Thrust (Wyrmwind Thrust) > Disembowel > Chaotic Spring > Wheeling Thrust
There’s a lot to unpack when it comes to understanding the Dragoon’s playstyle. If you jumped straight to this section and need a better understanding of the Job’s Buffs, Jumps, and Life of a Dragon stance, please head to the sections above for more information!
Equipment And Materia Management
Aside from your Opener, the Gear and Materia you equip on your Dragoon is the most important aspect of fully fleshing out your Job and getting the most out of it. If you’re looking for what’s considered the “Best In Slot” for the Dragoon, we have you covered with the table below. The weapon is iLevel 635, while everything else is iLevel 630. While you can have more than two Materia slots present on gear, we decided to display two Materia per item as the vast majority of players won’t be able to craft iLevel 600-605 equipment. Additionally, if you have yet to reach Level 90 with your Dragoon, you can still reference the table as a way to see which Stats and Materia you should focus on when building out your Dragoon.
Equipment | Materia | Stats | |
|---|---|---|---|
Weapon | Abyssos Partisan |
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Head | Abyssos Helm of Maiming |
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Body | Abyssos Cuirass of Maiming |
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Hands | Augmented Lunar Envoy’s Fingerless Gloves |
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Legs | Augmented Lunar Envoy’s Trousers of Maiming |
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Feet | Abyssos Sollerets of Maiming |
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Earrings | Augmented Lunar Envoy’s Earring of Slaying |
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Necklace | Augmented Lunar Envoy’s Necklace of Slaying |
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Bracelets | Abyssos Amulet of Slaying |
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Left Ring | Augmented Lunar Envoy’s Ring of Slaying |
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Right Ring | Abyssos Ring of Slaying |
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As previously outlined, the Dragoon has many ways to deal consistent and relentless damage to their opponent. Nailing your Opener and having a solid build will more than be enough to emerge victoriously, but if you’re looking to tap a bit more damage out of your Dragoon, you can do a couple more things. First is to use a Grade 7 Tincture of Strength when carrying out your Opener, which we included the best opportunity to incorporate it above. The second method is to eat a hearty meal before jumping into an activity. As with most Melee DPS Jobs, Carrot Pudding hits the spot and targets everything you need it to for buffing the Dragoon pre-fight.
