Cycle of Hurt: Final Fantasy XIV DPS Rotations

So, you either want to get into Final Fantasy XIV and want a class that deals a ton of damage to boot. Or maybe you’ve been playing for quite some time now and want to switch to a DPS role. If you’re either, then good news: we’re here to show you how to do FFXIV DPS rotations right!

What is DPS in FFXIV?

For long-time MMORPG players, DPS simply means damage per second. Eventually, the term went on to mean classes that deal damage.

In Final Fantasy XIV, they would be the following classes:

• Thaumaturge >> Black Mage – uses spells to deal damage.
• Arcanist >> Summoner – calls on a pet/primal that attacks on his/her behalf; class also has access to debuffs and damage-over-time spells.
• Archer >> Bard – the game’s ranged class that uses bows; Bard has party buffs.
• Lancer >> Dragoon – masters of the spear, lancers/dragoons do deadly piercing and jump attacks.
• Pugilist >> Monk – using their fists to fight, this class branch relies on combos to maximize damage.
• Machinist – another ranged class but uses firearms instead.
• Rogue >> Ninja – masters of the dagger, and upon reaching second class, ninjutsu, which are more like combo-based spells.
• Dancer – another ranged DPS that has supportive abilities.
• Red Mage – a unique Disciple of Magic that has a wide assortment of spells.
• Blue Mage – while not a full-fledged class, it’s a fun Disciple of Magic meant to make your low-level runs enjoyable.

Each DPS class has its own way of dealing damage, and it should already go without saying that each one has its own pros and cons. Thankfully, because of how classes work in Final Fantasy XIV, you can try them all for yourself and see which one suits your play style best, provided that you meet the requirements.

What is a Rotation in FFXIV?

Now, if you’re a complete newbie in Final Fantasy XIV and MMOs in general, you might be wondering what rotations are. To put it simply, rotations are repetitive sequences classes follow to achieve a particular role-related goal. For example, if you’re a tank, you follow a particular rotation in order to ensure that you maintain the enemy’s enmity (which deals a little damage), and then do another rotation in order to mitigate.

On the other hand, with DPS classes, you follow a particular rotation in order to deal considerable damage. Then, depending on the class you play, you follow another rotation. For example, if you’re a Bard, aside from your main DPS rotation, you have a rotation for party buffs. Or if you’re a Black Mage, you have two rotations: Fire III rotation, which is centered on dealing huge damage with Fire spells, and Ice III rotation, which is focused on reducing your damage and MP cost when using Fire spells, but at the same time speeding up your MP regeneration.

What are FFXIV DPS Rotation?

With that explained, here are the rotations of various DPS classes. These are made by fellow players, so it’s possible that you’d be able to find a better rotation, or perhaps come up with the better one yourself!

• Machinist – https://tinyurl.com/yyswzsc2
• Dancer – https://tinyurl.com/y6785edw
• Dragoon – https://tinyurl.com/y6mc2kof
• Monk – https://tinyurl.com/y2jnoc63
• Summoner – https://tinyurl.com/y6ta6ujh
• Ninja – https://tinyurl.com/y6c2znj5
• Bard – https://tinyurl.com/y67epaof
• Red Mage –  https://imgur.com/a/JlkaERA
• Blue Mage – https://tinyurl.com/yxqcmbkq

On the other hand, if you want to come up with your own FFXIV DPS rotation, you should go to http://ffxivrotations.com/, where you can choose a class and organize a sequence based on the abilities it has.

The DPS may not be the most decorated role and it’s often mocked as the “easiest” group of classes with queues for Duty being horribly long because it’s the most popular choice. However, if you don’t mind all of that and know what you’re doing, you’re a shining star that’s valuable to any party. Because no matter how good tanks and healers may be, dungeons and raids can never be finished without you!