Reaper Melding, Stat Priority, and Consumables — Dawntrail 7.3

The stat priority on Reaper is as follows:

1. Weapon Damage
2. Strength
3. Skill Speed to preferred GCD tier (see below)
4. Critical Hit
5. Determination / Direct Hit

Weapon Damage and Strength will almost always contribute more to your overall damage output than any substat.

Reaper interacts very little with Skill Speed. Most of its strongest abilities are locked behind Enshroud, which consumes too much gauge and isn’t affected by the substat, or behind fixed cooldowns. Moreover, adjusting Skill Speed alters your GCD alignment and can cause conflicts with Arcane Circle and Gluttony. To avoid these issues, the recommended GCD tiers are 2.49s, 2.43s, 2.37s, and so on — with a clear preference for the slower tiers unless forced otherwise.

Critical Hit currently provides the highest damage gain among substats. If you can’t meld Critical Hit, then prioritize whichever stat is currently lowest between Direct Hit and Determination. Alternatively, you can use the gear planner by WynnXIV, maintained by members of The Balance Discord server, to evaluate your options.

Potions, or gemdraughts, are fairly straightforward. Always use the one corresponding to your job’s main stat — Strength for Reaper. The high-quality version of the highest available grade is always recommended, as it provides the best stats and a shorter cooldown. For food, refer to the Gear section of this guide, as the optimal choice depends on your gearset.