Reaper DPS Frequently Asked Questions — Dawntrail 7.3

Perfectio is tied to a sequence of conditions that we’ll break down below:

1. Upon usage, Arcane Circle grants Bloodsown to the Reaper and Circle of Sacrifice to the party (including the Reaper);
2. Whenever a player lands a damaging skill, their Circle of Sacrifice converts into one Immortal Sacrifice stack for the Reaper;
3. Once Bloodsown expires, Plentiful Harvest can be used to consume the accumulated Immortal Sacrifice stacks;
4. Using Plentiful Harvest grants two buffs: Ideal Host (a free Enshroud phase) and Perfectio Occulta;
5. The next Communio, which will come from Ideal Host, transforms Perfectio Occulta into Perfectio Parata;
6. Finally, Perfectio Parata unlocks Perfectio.

In general, Perfectio — as the Reaper’s strongest weaponskill — should be used during party buff windows. However, if holding it allows you to gain additional cleave potency or avoid resorting to Harpe during melee downtime, that adjustment should take priority over buff feeding.

During the first two-minute burst, Gluttony will naturally drift toward the end of the window. Afterward, it may continue to drift by up to two additional GCDs, depending on gauge levels and combo state. Unfortunately, this is an inherent consequence of maintaining a consistent rotation and cannot be avoided without resorting to inconsistent, non-Standard burst windows.

Planning an optimal usage for Harvest Moon will add a bit of extra DPS during an encounter. When deciding when to use it, consider the following priority:

1. In multi-target situations where you can hit two or more enemies;
2. When you must disconnect from melee range for one weaponskill;
3. Simply use it as bonus potency under a gemdraught window.

As mentioned in the Rotation section, due to its cast time and damage delay, the pre-pull Harpe effectively acts as a GCD with only 0.8-second recast once the boss is engaged, giving it a high PPS (potency-per-second) value. While skipping it may lead to potency gains, doing so requires rotational adjustments to avoid misalignment with your own and your party's rotations.

Between two consecutive uses of Arcane Circle, the rotation includes three Enshroud phases — each containing four Reapings and one Communio — along with 38 non-Shroud GCDs. This totals 120.5 seconds with a 2.50s GCD and 120.12 seconds with a 2.49s GCD. Since the latter aligns more closely with a 120-second cycle, we designate it as our first Standard speed. Additionally, the Standard rotation also functions at 2.43s, 2.37s, and so on, in approximately 0.06s intervals, though faster GCDs are not recommended unless forced by gear or haste buffs.