How to spend AP. Skill Rank Priority
Critical Hit
Smash Mastery
Fiery Chainswing
Blazing Spine
Dragonspine Mastery (Rank as required)
Armor Mastery (Rank as required)
Scorching Streak [Dash]
Battle Respiration (to Rank A)
Coiled Strike [R]
Tail Impale [LR]
Ravaging Claw [LLR]
Spiny Kick [LLLLR]
Fiery Assault [TabR]
Stamina Mastery (to Rank 9)
HP Potion Proficiency (to Rank 9)
Standing Endurance (to Rank 9)
Stone Skin (to Rank 6)
Defense Mastery (to Rank 9)
Life Flare (to Rank 9)
Campfire (to Rank A)
Slice and Dice
Call of the Dragon
Hacking Spinethrow [LLLR]
Ancestral Garb
Hot Streak [Dodge]
Spinethrow [DodgeR]
Willpower Mastery (to Rank A)
Health Mastery (to Rank 9)
Combat Mastery
Agility Mastery (to Rank A)
Secondary Weapon Prof (leave at Rank F)
Meditation (leave at Rank F)
Equipment
* With the nerf with Chainswing's SP 25 -> 15, Cat Statue Artifact is better in fast places which have no cutscenes, otherwise Paw is better, with a few exceptions.
** Paw in: Balor, Aes, Rupacitus, Macha, Agares, Brilliant Lugh, Selren, Marject, Aodhan, Caesar
** Cat if fast run, but Paw if very slow run in: Dullahan, Arcana
** Cat in: Neamhain, All Level 90 raids, Claire, Eternal Elchulus
* Reduce SP on Blazing Spine and Ancestral Garb. (Not 22s CD reduction on Garb because you still can only use it once per Raid anyway or twice per Redeemers)
* Increase Damage on all other Skills.
General attacking tips during Raids
Abbreviations:
L or Parry = Normal Attack
R = Smash Attack
R spam = Coiled Strike
BS = Blazing Spine
FB = Flamebreath
Dodge = Hot Streak
Dash = Scorching Streak
Fly = Scorching Streak during Garb
TabR = Fiery Evasion Fiery Assault
Garb = Ancestral Garb
Call = Call of the Dragon
Trans = Dark Knight / Paladin
Stacks = Wyvern Magic from Chainswing / Fiery Assault
CD = Cooldown
* Chainswing to build 3-5 Stacks.
* Parry whenever possible if you do not have Hydra, are low on SP so you need the Stack (you lose a Stack when you are hit), or are building up SP for Garb.
** Hydra gives
+20% Damage to Chainswings. Try to keep Hydra buff active by Parrying instead of Dodging. Only Dodge when absolutely necessary or you know you can Parry again shortly after.
* Parry while having 3-5 Stacks to use the Stack to gain SP and Stamina.
* Try to keep 1 Flamebreath remaining, unless you are going to use BS right away after it or if the boss is about to leave/die.
* While low on Flamebreath or already have 5 Stacks, LR or spam R to gain SP until 930 SP (or 1000 SP if no Waking Stone) for Garb.
** R spam does more damage and gains more SP if you get it to hit, you will need to learn which bosses and when to use it effectively.
* R spam can also be used to move around the map faster as well as to
avoid some attacks that can't be Parried without needing to use Dodge.
* You generally want to use Garb as early as you can, you don't want to waste Garb time at the end if the boss dies, and you don't need to worry too much about SP management.
* Garb animation can be skipped two ways.
** 1) Hold W the entire time, Dash, Garb, Shift.
*** The cancel occurs when you hit Shift to start running. So if you don't want to cancel right away for invulnerability timing reasons, you can delay pressing Shift. But if you do cancel right away, you can use BS even if you don't have enough SP. Try not to get hit during Dash as that stops it.
*** W for walk but it can be in any direction, here I used D instead of W.
** 2) Have at least 1 Flamebreath available so you can use Tab instead of Dodge to keep Hydra. Use a Phoenix Feather, use Garb almost right as you start using the Feather, if successful, Garb animation is cancelled but you are still using the Feather, so TabR out of that.
*** Second method is harder and slower to do and messes up the camera, so I prefer to use the first unless Dash is on CD.
* Good time to use a Stamina Potion during Garb. Spam Chainswing as much as you can.
** If you run out of Stamina and the boss isn't going to let you Parry for Stamina, you can use BS to restore some Stamina (or use a Merc Recovery Potion Plus from events or VVIP).
*** BS during Garb costs 30 SP instead of 180 SP.
** In the Controls, I like to bind Mouse Wheel Down to Smash. Outside of Garb, I Right Click, during Garb, I find it easier with the Mouse Wheel.
* If you have enough DEF, tank the hits and Parry only when the timing of the boss attacks match your Parry so you don't waste time waiting.
** If not, TabR if the boss attacks during your Chainswing. If you know the boss is about the attack, wait to parry if there is not enough time for another Chainswing.
* TabR can be used even if you have 0 Stamina or have a Stamina debuff. This is very useful in Redeemers if you do get hit with the debuff.
* Note that there are 4 types of Chainswings, two of them have a large displacement, so you can use that to avoid attacks. You can also use directional keys to slowly move to avoid attacks during Chainswings.
* When Garb ends or while you don't need to save SP or if you haven't Garbed yet while you have a lot of SP, proceed with Chainswings, Blazing Spines (BS L BS) and Parry.
* Blazing Spine is good to use during longer boss openings or while you are just out of range of the boss's attacks.
** For short runs you don't need to be conservative with SP and Parry everything. If you have enough DEF, spam those Chainswings and Blazing Spines.
** For long runs you will want to manage your Flamebreaths and Parry. You won't want to run out of SP before the end, so you need really good knowledge of how the boss moves to time your Parry. Try not to use TabR outside of Garb.
* If you are hit with a Stamina debuff, you can still use Tab BS while having no Stamina. If the debuff ends before BS hits, you gain Stamina some right away.
* In the last third of the bar, you can use Slice and Dice instead of BS if you still have it.
Raids
* Note this is generally about what I do during each raid, so it is for fast runs. It may or may not differ in slower runs.
* It is also not really a guide about the raids themselves, so I won't list everything about the raid.
* Unless stated otherwise,
the general tips right above this will be applied to these raids.
*
Garden of Tears/Corrupt Queen: Regina
*
Island Ruins/Twists in Time: Braha
*
Temple of the Fallen Moon/Light and Shadows: Glas
*
Radiance/Shining Lugh:
*
Agony and Despair/Under the Surface: Eochaid
* I prefer to not grab on, instead just
stand under the ledge since it is easier to Dash Garb BS.
* Before he comes down, you can time a BS to hit just as he lands.
* When he does a red jump attack, Tab BS.
*
Denizen of the Deep: Abomination
* Shield = do 80% damage.
*
The Missing Soul: Dullahan
* Shield = do 65% damage.
*
The Price of Failure: Aes
*
Iron Fist: Arcana
*
Distorted Truth: Rupacitus
*
Surprise Attack: Claire
* Build up SP to Garb as soon as you can.
* At around 8.5 bars (and again later around 5 bars), get into the small circle and BS RR (move during the Chainswings to avoid the red back slash)
** If you fail to get into the circle small, you can waste a Call to avoid getting KOed.
* At 5 bars, she runs out, avoid the circles (or rather, run towards areas with lots of circles and enter after they land), stay near the middle, when she runs back in, you can
time a BS to hit her before she lands and then L to Parry the shockwave/landing then proceed with up to 4 Chainswings. Repeat this again. Then again on the third time there is only enough time for 1 Chainswing.
* At 3 bars, there is a cutscene, you will all be pulled into the same location so you can use your mouse to click a Feather to revive someone if someone is dead.
*
Devil's Tower: Elchulus
*
Red Stigma: Macha
* Before 9.5 bars, lure her to the middle of the map.
** If she goes too far, I like to remain in the middle and spear whoever is at the edge for lols (and to see if they're bright enough to come to the middle)
* If the red tiles are on the same edge, you can stand on the appropriate square between them and break both.
* If the red tiles are in opposite corners, stand on whichever one is closer.
* Failing to break the tiles results in a party wipe (unless you stand at the edge of the map) and Macha becomes enraged.
* Enraged = do 75% damage, take 50% more damage.
* After the cutscene at 8 bars, use all Chainswings then Garb.
* At 5 bars if you still have Garb left, and your party fails to throw the swords back, you can fly away and wait for the red KO shockwave, waste a Call to avoid it. Otherwise I Trans.
* Alternatively, you can Garb after throwing the swords back at 5 bars. You can use Garb to avoid failing the sword throws, then at 3 bars use Call to skip the possible second sword throwing phase. I prefer this when there is a Delia in the party or you know the party will skip the end.
* For the sword throw phases, I tend to align myself with L before the Tab so I make sure I tab away from the circle and not sideways.
* If the party doesn't skip the phase at the last 2 bars, stand at the middle-ish right side (look at the minimap) of the map next a rectangle on the ground. You can sit/dance/stand there and wait until the outer big circle closes in. Dodge towards the middle, then walk and Parry the middle smaller circles.
* At 1 bar, a small cutscene occurs, start a BS before it ends, aim and land it when it ends.
*
Grave of Madness: Agares
* Look out for him to roar (looks like he is beating his chest from the side, but he isn't), then into this stance:
* After about 3 mins of Hammer mode he changes back to Pillar mode and the process is repeated. Changing to Pillar mode will remove all marks if anyone was marked.
*
Brilliant Lugh: Palala
* Be ready to Parry he shockwave when he holds his spear straight. It's an easy queue to Parry, but getting hit by it gives a Stamina debuff. If you lag, you can Parry TabR to make sure you avoid it. Chainswing for a bit and TabR the strong downward smash that comes after it.
** As long as you stay close, you don't need to worry about the bursts of light that also gives a Stamina debuff.
*
Eweca's Nightmare: Succubus Selren
* At 8.5 bars, she fires a bunch of homing orbs which if it hits gives a stamina drain debuff and also you are forced to walk towards her, followed by a target-like ground area where you die if you stand in the red area. She will do this again later.
** Easier to dodge it if you hold S and then Tab dodge.
** Start BS from the safe area if you didn't get hit.
** If you are hit, mash W (or any one directional key or E) to free yourself.
** This move can be cancelled by flinching her.
* At 7.5 bars, after a 10s cutscene, the lights dim and she marks 1 random player. She teleports behind them and slashes, if it hits anyone, they die in a 22s cutscene.
** Between each slash, she returns to the middle of the map for a quick attack.
** The marking doesn't last too long, Garb when it stops (lights brighten again) or after someone dies from it.
* Also she starts to randomly uses a special move that lasts 9s, where there is a cutscene and then she fires a large number of homing orbs.
** Dash up quickly to avoid them and proceed with attacking asap. If you have Dash on the quickslots, click it with your mouse to Dash during cutscene.
*
Dungeon Laboratory: Marject
* At 8 bars, 17s cutscene. Garb after this (even better if you wait for Paw CD to be <= 40s). Stay away from middle.
* 2 mins later, 10s cutscene, again every 2 min.
*
Remembrance: Aodhan
* Garb whenever; early is better, less electric attacks.
* Occasionally after 8 bars, he uses lightning to strike everyone who has the Electrocution debuff. The shockwaves hit hard and can hit everyone so try to get away from other people when he does this. (Or use Call of the Dragon as soon as you see the lightning circles before shockwaves)
* At 5 min 50 sec, small cutscene then lightning strikes for a while, stay near the edge when he disappears.
Battle of Rocheste: Cesar
* Mobs at the start and a Golem miniboss. Nice time to gain SP and get Hydra.
* Garb when Caesar starts (after 0 FB) if you can't avoid the KO attack, otherwise Garb after the 7 bar cutscene.
* At 7 bars, 10s cutscene, start rotating laser (can easily Parry this). During this phase, avoid being uppercut into the air to be KOed by his cannon.
* 1 min later, 5s cutscene, stop laser, some bombs with shockwaves fall.
* 2 min later, 10s cutscene, start rotating laser.
* 1 min later, 5s cutscene, repeat at laser.
Clan of Darkness: Nyle (Neberez)
* Mobs at the start and a Golem miniboss. Nice time to gain SP and get Hydra.
* Garb when Nyle starts (after 0 FB) avoid the later things which waste garb time.
* He applies shacked debuff with the screen going white, you get KOed if you are hit with the spinning sword.
* Tab/Dash/RR away when you see red attack. Use Blazing Spine if early. Keep RRing to dodge the rest of the hits and prevent being pulled in.
Appendix:
Above chart uses the average Chainswing times. This one here breaks that down.
Optimal DPS for sandbag is to end on Chainswing 1. So if you do this, you do about 4% more damage compared to BS L BS Rx5 repeat, which ends on Chainswing 3.
This is the Parry delay for Chainswing 3.
Recharge time based on Attack Speed
Comments
Most stuff i can tell is correct by experience and doesn't surprise me, but a few things i have though some different feelings about.
-First of Slice and Dice as top dps move. It is true it has the highest standalone dps, but in combat i only find it good in certain situations. To keep it short, it works as move to get back chainswinging, to stagger a boss or (like you said) to hit a boss who is soon to be dead and you got too much sp, but i wouldnt stop chainswinging to use it because the downtime between stop chainswinging use this move then go back chainswinging seems too big and just keep chainswinging seems like having the better dps. (Trans-Spear is even worse affected by this since you cannot chain into chainswings after.)
-Talking about downtime after a hit, second thing is about Blazing Spine ->Blazing Spine... vs Blazing Spine -> L -> Blazing Spine... . To me it feels (slightly) faster if you use L after Blazing Spine to cancel the animation.
For the same reason i do not use BS->RR->BS-RR but rather 3x BS (with L) and then Chainswing (5-7 times, depending on boss health and my SP).
One thing i would have liked to see in the comparsion is the dps/sp gain outside garb mode from: L+2xR vs L+3xR vs L+4xR vs L+5xR.
Naturally one would have to do these combos a minute or so, because in short term L+5xR is quite a bit superior.
When I do exactly 2 BS in a row, I can get very minimal delay often. It weird, but it is overall slightly faster than BS L BS but occasionally it can be slower.
But when I do more than 2 BS in a row, the delays seem to vary quite a bit in the higher times so yeah 3+ BS in a row will be slower than 3+ BS with L in between.
BS L BS L BS = 6.594 - 6.619s
BS BS BS = 7.079 - 7.603s
I didn't do a comparison of that because it's not really something you should be forcefully doing, just parry if the timing matches regardless of 3 stacks or 5.
What was missed is Tab Fiery Assault vs Tab dash Chainswing outside of Garb, and Call of the Dragon.
It seems what i wrote was missleading because i wrote it that way to make it less of a pain to read. What i meant with L+2xR is LMB->RMB->Chainswing 1 time vs Chainswinging 2 times vs 3 times vs 4 times.
You're still not going to deliberately choose how many Chainswings you do based on the results of that. It will always be based on how much SP/Flamebreath/Stacks you currently have.
If it's the start of the battle, Cat Statue as it loads, CF and by the time you use all 8-9 Chainswings with two Parry, you can probably use Cat Statue again, that's already enough SP for Garb regardless of the combination of Chainswings.
However, if is near the end of the battle or in Trans or something, when you don't care about wasting SP and don't need to Parry, you'll be spamming BS instead of LR.
In that case, the optimal damage should be Chainswing until you have 1 Flamebreath. BS L BS (You should just get +1 FB from natural charge time) Rx5 repeat. (If you didn't get +1 FB from natural charge, do another L BS and then Rx7)
EDIT: If you are going to use BS right away, you can Chainswing until 0 Flamebreaths, as you will receive no charge time penalty.
Regarding previous stuff, i meant only that 3rd and 4th Chainswing take longer than the first 2 and theoreticly doing only first 2 Chainswings and then l r again feels more fluid (more dps) than doing l r after 3/4th chainswing bcs theres a lot more delay after those ones. Its true, its depending on some factors but at beginning of battle after parry with no Stacks/Full Flamebreath and some 100-200 SP thats the time im talking about, however its prolly some misc dps gain but it was neverless of some interest for me.
About the Guide, well some things.
- Getting the reaility distortion on chest is nice for a few things like Sword Phase of Macha so if your party fails (Especially the second as you will be in Garb mode then) you dont need to rely on your luck or waste Call and can SP Chain her still from end of x3. Other than that its usable aswell for other things like moving during certain cutscenes.
- Agares does his "Callidus Debuff" once his hp hits x6 (so yellow bars) if he hammers his chest for the first time then its usually the debuff. If he hammers his chest at x7-x8 its the combo which you can ignore. Sometimes he does do combo first at x6 but thats pretty rare and he then usually hammers his chest instantly again (after the combo) so just stagger him then aswell and you got the first debuff blocked 100%.
Yes they are, but at my current 91 speed (101 with weap skill), I don't notice much of a difference so I didn't get around to seeing exactly how much longer and just took the average of them for the table.
I suppose knowing how much longer would help with Parrying too. I'll edit a table in when it's done.
EDIT: This is harder than I thought, the difference is small and when each chainswing starts is hard to see.
EDIT 2: I used the slow motion bug. Hopefully it scales well.
and a bonus, Chainswinging into a corner does not change the time it takes to do the Chainswings, neither does holding WASD during the Chainswings. Also, BS instead of L seems to be pretty similar if it's not the same.
EDIT 3:
So.... against a sandbag, standing start with 6-8 FB, optimal is to lead with BS to get to 8 FB then:
CS 7 times so you stop at CS1 with 1 FB
BS L BS so you're at 6 FB
CS 3 times so you stop at CS1 with 3 FB
BS L BS so you're at 8 FB
repeat 7 and 3
If you start with 2 FB and lead with BS L BS to get to 7 FB:
If you start with 5 FB and lead with BS to get to 7 FB:
CS 7 times so you stop at CS1 with 0 FB
BS L BS so you're at 5 FB
CS 3 times so you stop at CS1 with 2 FB
BS L BS so you're at 7 FB
repeat 7 and 3
If you start with 1 FB and lead with BS L BS to get to 6 FB:
If you start with 4 FB and lead with BS to get to 6 FB:
CS 3 times so you stop at CS1 with 3 FB
BS L BS so you're at 8 FB
CS 7 times so you stop at CS1 with 1 FB
BS L BS so you're at 6 FB
repeat 3 and 7
If you start with 0 FB and lead with BS L BS to get to 5 FB:
If you start with 3 FB and lead with BS to get to 5 FB:
CS 3 times so you stop at CS1 with 2 FB
BS L BS so you're at 7 FB
CS 7 times so you stop at CS1 with 0 FB
BS L BS so you're at 5 FB
repeat 3 and 7
Summary table:
And for this effort (instead of using BS L BS RRRRR repeat), you get....
(2.234+1.710+0.799+1.050+0.824+0.879+1.299+2.234+1.710+0.799+1.050+0.824+0.879+1.299) = 17.59
(2.234+1.710+0.799+1.050+0.824+0.879+0.799+1.050+0.862+2.234+1.710+0.799+1.050+0.862) = 16.862
4% more damage.
I used to have Reality Distortion. It's great in Glas, Claire, Lugh, Macha. It can be used in Aes and Arcana to a lesser extent.
Wasting a Call and Reality Distortion are just a back-up plans if stuff failed, it's not like you need to use it every time you do those raids.
Also, since I can't synth it onto lv100 armor so I use Instant Protection instead. I find "invincibility" for 24s really nice especially during Garb and can work in every single run.
Can you expand on how you move in some cutscenes?
I can move fine without it by clicking with my mouse on items on the quickslots, then occasionally someone will use Reality Distortion (P) just to force people to dance, I don't see them move, but they cancelled my feather or Dash and clicking those items don't get out of dance..
Cool. Added.
Also amended that Agares changing back into Hammer mode is based on time, not bars.
Well only Raids who hurt a bit are 100s (As i only use dulla armor ~23,5k def) and the 3,5k shield would only last 2-3 hits sadly. Would be nice if it prevents stagger or kd, bcs some 95s do stagger/kd a good bit and thats annoying during garb.
Well first of all you cannot move during every cutscene. (Actually only in very few) Besides that most bosses are immune to damage anyways during cutscenes so i wouldnt tell ppl to get Reality Distortion just for that. In fact all you do is press dance and then directional keys, however as previously mentioned, it only works on few raids and is no game changer.
Mainly Elchu its nice as after the ride phase at x7 he crashes and becomes vunerable inside cutscene already and you got a good couple seconds to dps during cutscene. On Claire x3 it works aswell but Claire is immune during it but it allows some classes to charge their skills and hit em when she becomes vunerable, tbh not much use here though.(prolly more useful during arrow phase if you feel like it) On (Brill) Lugh for Tathu if you fail or to save Team its nice aswell, use it almost every Run.
So ya long text short, i got it mainly for Machas second swordphase as we Miris are screwed if team fails and i dont like being reliant on em. One thing to add though, is that the camera switches in cutscenes a lot and you cant change it. So keep an on mini map to see whee your character faces so you know which direction pressing e.g. w will lead you.
While i currently use P one i considering switching to solo one so you could use it for some more stuff like Agares pillar spawn red wave and wouldnt piss of your team with it. (Unless thats what you got it for)
PS: About Garb cancel with dash, you dont need to hold w permanently, you can let go of it during dash but need to press it together with shift to cancel garb. (Or w and then shift as you dont need to press the keys at same time but merely both need to be pressed to cancel)
It'll be optimal most of the time. If not, it's just a delay once before being optimal again.
Added a gif above to show how much of a delay the Parry in CS3 is.
Improved on "Red Stigma".
If I Garb after the cutscene at 8 bars, Garb usually ends before the end of the sword swings. So I just Trans if it fails, and then 2nd Trans if the second swing fails. I rarely use Trans so it's always there for me.
I tend to walk in a direction I want to Dash first, so it's already held down, so I may as well leave it down the entire time, seems easier.
Well its true that thats the best way regarding use of garb mode but usually parties do skip x2 and depending on party dps miris sp is needed as its one of the longest.
Yes, it's merely misc.
About Macha, i usually start with Dash -> Dodge ->Smash->LMB ->CS, not that i think it makes any real difference.
About Hammer hits when she destroys platforms before x8, i usually just parry it even though it's hitboxes feel random sometimes. Would feel bad if i R too early and make her not hit platforms.
PS: Gimme your +16, gotta gap the last few k to even number on parry and CS. +cry
Added this to Eoch:
* I prefer to not grab on, instead just stand under the ledge since it is easier to Dash Garb BS.
Added gif to:
* R spam can also be used to move around the map faster as well as to avoid some attacks that can't be Parried without needing to use Dodge.
I find that the camera sometimes randomly faces to the side instead of towards the boss. So leading with Dash moves me really far away, so I stopped leading with Dash and use R instead which I can recover from with Dash.
If the camera is forward as it should be, then Dash Dodge R L is about the same time as a R Dash but with the extra damage from the smash.
I usually just take the hits.
Maybe I'll just not mention R. Depending on the distance, as long as the angle is right, you can even just stand far enough for her to break the seals and not be hit.
Well it might be, but i simply jump down a couple seconds before eoch will appear at middle then dash garb bs, naturally that takes some timing.
Have started to use R on gate aswell recently but from a different position though. Helps if some teammates dont move to normal spot and neam crashes somewhere far away. On another note, you can use CS on some of Neam attacks to dogde like when she does her two hit ->stab combo. parry the 2 hits -> smash then stab comes and you chainswing and evade it that way. Make sure to not stand toward middle of map though so she doesnt move too far.
Thats true and it happens more often than one might think so i usually check the minimap at start of battle, works for me.
Well that first hit looked weird, she hitted so far beside you. Is the hitbox of that hit only a cone in front and behind her? so hourglass shape? It aswell seems to have a delayed hit at her backside if i dont mix things up here.
* If you are hit with a Stamina debuff, you can still use Tab BS while having no Stamina. If the debuff ends before BS hits, you gain Stamina some right away.
Yeah that's the normal way.
But this way, even if you miss the timing (like typing in chat) you don't get hit.
I also put that there in case you miss the grab.
From the amount of health I lost (~900, def capped), it seems like a normal hit.
Right, my bad didnt pay attention to your health bar and just saw that you neither flinched nor took damage as the number was drowned by the quality of the vid.
More about artifacts added.
@ Claire i always SP-Chain @ 6,5, so i use Paw as even with a full 6k add + alr party i can get Garb way before 6,5. I guess Cat would be okay with max stats party, but with slower parties Paw is a lot better if you SP-Chain.
On Marject if the party doesnt have too much dps, you can use Paw at beginning of battle, then after cutscene wait until Paw has ~45 sec cooldown remaining and then go into Garb, so you make use of the full duration of Paw.
Guide is mainly for the new and average players that join random parties.
In Party Neam, Cat because debuff, and if you join random parties, they tend to spread out and it's too annoying to Paw when Neam goes all over the map. If you solo or are in an experienced party that DPS close range at the edge of the map, then you should Paw.
The parties I join rarely chain, but when they do it works fine even without Paw. In medium and fast parties that doesn't chain, Cat lets you use Garb early and uninterrupted apart from the get in the small circle part which is very short and allows for easy Stamina regain.
So if you join random parties, Cat is more consistent. if you join a party that you know will chain... how long does it take for you to gain that extra 500 SP without Cat? About 20s right?
(66484-34374)*20 = 642200 damage lost during the 20s.
102380*0.2*30 = 614280 damage gained if Focus Stim (20% speed gives less than 20% damage and you'll use Paw at most 28s, so the damage gained is actually less).
Cat wins regardless of party in Claire.
I do that, and It's exactly 40s if you cancel Garb animation. I actually haven't mentioned specifically when to use Paw for any of them as that depends on the speed of the run.
EDIT: Now that I checked the Paw only list, for all of them I Paw at the start, then Paw again during Garb. And it seems all the ones where if you shouldn't use Paw at the start (except neam), I use Cat instead.
Yes, it wasn't about being able to do 2,5 Bars of damage, as it usual works even with 2 weak players who dont SP.
Your math is roughly correct but the damage at start is a tad higher because you do get flamebreath for chainswings. Additional its rather rare for Claire to die right after the SP Chain, unless you got a real strong party, so you dont loose Garb mode time. (You loose some in cutscene ya, but its only a bit worse than small red circle) If you went with Cat, Garb would have already ended and you had to do BS R R which has lower dps than Garb mode chainswinging, so you gain some damage back afterwards.
All in all theres not much difference to me, so either is fine. The party DPS will decide it, as if you got an extremly weak party, even with Paw you have to wait to Garb so you can Garb during whole SP Chain... . Lets not talk about Claire without Sp Chain, it's horrible for Miri. (Prolly would then be Cat and asap Garb but in a high dps party... ya... crying in the corner)
Yes, 40 seconds, but around ~48-50 if you use SP Skill, which i usually do to stop him using his red breath... .Not a must but ya... .
Whats the usual pattern yall experienced miris do in skilled parties? My miris stats are pretty decent imo but yet i always end up doing 10-15% damage in lvl 100 raids. It seems like other players dish out wayyy more damage than i do. I thought miri was rank S, it doesnt seem like she is to me.. Its very frustrating and makes me want to quit miri, is it that my skills suck or specific stats?
I start by getting 3-5 stacks, then trying to parry then using SS to get back wy. magic to stack 3 again > chain > parry repeat. But alot of times im missing parries and/or running out of magic and stuck with doing lr lrr to try and get SP back which im guessing costs quite a bit of damage loss. I got an issue parrying on some bosses they just seem to sparatic with their movements and i end up spamming L and hope i land a parry..
my stats
57k power 257 tech
+13 right/valor astera ds (id put convic but dont have enough balance even with +2 bal accessories)
34.7 atk
167 crit
90 bal
78 speed
3500 add. damage
50 att limit
183 counterforce (30 from a temporary event item 7 days left)
Is it that my add. damage isnt maxed? Alot of people seem to have like 6k add. damage, does it make that much a difference?
This is your problem. It is indeed the thing that makes the most difference.
Thats what i was afraid of, so dang expensive to +15. +cry