(04-19-2016, 09:00 AM)SicketySix Wrote: So I guess my question is very basic: What do I need to do to become relevant in raiding?
A lot of what I'm going to tell you is stuff that's already been said, but...
1) You need to get your subclasses up for cross-class abilities. Your Pugilist is fine if you don't intend to have a second mantra in your group (not a necessity!) but you need to get your Lancer up to 34 for Blood for Blood. 10% extra damage might not seem like a lot, but if you're trying to get into raid content you need to optimize and as a DPS every ounce counts, especially in the Heavensward meta.
2) Upgrading your gear, particularly your weapon. As a DPS in particular, no single piece of gear weighs as heavily towards your overall dps as your main hand weapon. Seeing as how you're just now getting into 8-man content, my best suggestion would be to get your i210 Berimbau first by running Void Ark to get a Mhachi Farthing, which can be turned into an Illuminati Gobdip, and then traded in to Seika, the gear upgrade npc, in Idyllshire. After that, focus on trying to down Sephirot for an i220 weapon until you can get your i230 from Lore/Midas. As for your other gear, if BRD is the class you're going to main, start farming Lore gear for it asap. This means getting those experts unlocked and running them daily at least. i220 is nice and all, but if you're serious about raiding, you've got to invest a good portion of your time into making sure your gear is up to date.
3) Before you even find a group, you should be trying to study, optimize, and memorize your rotations on BRD. Watch videos on youtube, read guides, practice on any training dummy you can find. The new Stone, Sky, and Sea dummies are great as they let you measure your dps against current raid content! If you can't beat the dummy, or its a close shave, you need to gear up or revisit your rotation. More often than not, most people have the minimum gear requirements to down content, even raid content, but their rotation needs work. Getting your hands on a dps parser is also a good way to practice and improve. Do not kid yourself into thinking you will not be parsed in an endgame raid group. (Savage content, mostly.)
4) Start unlocking and downing content, even if you haven't found a group yet. If you can do it in DF/PF, you can do it in a steady group. It's not necessary, but I'd also try looking into the old raids as well as unlocking the new. Mechanics get recycled often in Raid, so having a basic understanding of old mechanics will drastically help managing the new. The content is old and easy now, so poking at the old stuff just to see the inner workings shouldn't be a huge feat.
5) Find a group you mesh well with who is at your skill level. Don't start by setting your sights on getting into a group that can immediately down content in a matter of a few hours or days. Since you're just starting raiding, look for a group that's also newer to raiding. It may take you a bit longer to learn and down all of the content, but you're months behind the curve anyways, so speed isn't really important. Most often, when you have groups of mismatched skill levels, it ends very quickly in a breakup. Weak links get kicked, or over-skilled players leave lower tier groups for more progressive ones. You may go through a few groups before you find one that's right for you! Don't be discouraged.
