The auto-retrieve attribute seems handy and makes the skill, on paper, good enough to include in the rotation. But what about…
1.) In terms of AOE damage?
2.) In terms of usage/execution?
3.) In terms of Zone attribute benefits?
4.) In terms of synergy with other skills or within the rotation?
5.) In PVP?
Also for the Dragoon3s here, what are your skill distribution at the moment?
TIA!
15 soar
8 tooth
1 serp
1 bulg
10 dethrone
5 fall
1 helm
Thanks @Remiri! Glad I didn’t immediately use my extra skill points.
Does Tooth’s casting time still increase with level or it’s fixed now? At lv.1 it seems a bit lengthy for comfort already.
It is similar to ice bolt now, where ranking it up does not increase the total cast time for MAX rank, so you can rip out a lower level if you need to quickly, or full charge.
MAX rank cast time is the same regardless of level, so if you just have lvl 1 tooth you will have to wait the full cast time to use the skill.
It’s okay, but not as reliable as your other skills since you need to take distance to use it.
It’s a lot better with the auto-retrieve attribute, but as I said, you need to take distance to use it, so it’s not that great sometimes.
They’re great. They give an underrated +8% patk/matk and pdef/mdef buff for 15 seconds.
The debuff applied to the boss gives a +15% physical dmg boost iirc. With the zone buffs, it’s +23% for phys DPS characters. It’s good to use before the skill rotation and to buff your party if you’re fighting in a fixed place (e.g. Challenge Mode and many boss fights).
It sucks. Well, actually, it’s very tricky to use it in PvP since it’s a telegraphed attack. You need to disable the zone attributes too, or else you’ll be in a bad situation if you happen to encounter enemy Sappers. Dethrone and Dragon Fall are better tools of delivering “ranged” damage. Anyway, you can use Gae Bulg as a zoning tool and/or to disrupt the enemy team positioning.
idk yet if I should go balls deep in Dragontooth or max Dragon Fall. I’ll probably go with the latter to make things easier in higher challenge mode stages.
yeah…max dethrone and fall imho. Tooth is just for the points left over.
@Pokart thanks!
Sorry I don’t follow - what do you mean when going against Sappers with the zone attributes?
My final distribution would be as follows:
I have another question. My current Hop3 distribution is as follows:
1.) How good is Pierce now in terms of putting it in rotation for general use (PVE/CM, Bossing, PVP)? Right now my rotation has no gaps with Hop3 Dop1 (Cyclone) Goon3 skills so I’m not sure if its worth picking Pierce up once I reset my skills. I really didn’t like it before due to the pre-cast and post-cast delay.
2.) I used to find Synchro only good for Murm builds. Is it worth picking for a Goon3 build now, considering it will replace something in my already full rotation?
3.) I find Long Stride now has improved in terms of damage but still crappy in the animation department. I’m yet to test it with a good weapon in PVP (I’m still lv.341 so can’t wear 350 gear yet) - is it worth leveling beyond lv.1? Or just leave it at lv.1 for the knockdown/escape utility?
4.) Spear Throw seems nice for picking up stragglers, as filler in rotation gaps, and the bind attribute seems handy in PVP but the damage isn’t that impressive even at full distance. I’m yet to test it with a good weapon though. Is it still worth leveling beyond lv.1?
Extra points from Long Stride and/or Spear Throw will probably go to maxing Stabbing and then the rest on Pierce if I have to.
Thanks in advance for your inputs!
CC @Remiri
Hi dragoon here about gale bulg since the multihits change, gale bulg is probably dragoon best pve skill due to the gale bulg debuff itself split the attack into two which actually make u able to hit over the cap on some skills (ex. my dragoon fall hit capped at 777k,when i used gale bulg on the boss + serp+lunge + moles my dragoon fall can hit for 1.4mil dmg .
And as remi and pokart said, gale bulg is hard to pull off in pvp unless u are able to zone the other guy into a corner or sth, but still better than dragoon tooth in my opinion due to the high SF alone.
also dragoon build https://tos.neet.tv/skill-planner#1134448fff.253555.153545.1f3f517161.14253571.11213c4f5a7581
I have the same build, except I maxed Synchro Thrusting over Stabbing. But now that Stabbing is both stronger and faster, maybe that’s wrong? I still have one skill reset potion left.
I used to level Gae Bulg over Dragontooth, but I moved a few points to Dragontooth lately mostly so I could use it faster.
I thought of maxing Long Stride at first, since it should be strong with 90%+ weight, but it still feels awkward. Maybe if the new attribute removed the knockback effect.
Wow, didn’t know multi hit patch arrived. Been busy testing archers and wizard.
Why Corsair? I’m not being a troll or anything, just new and legit curious what corsair gives you? Is it for the Jolly Roger ?
Would you mind sharing your rotation?
High skill factor but the long CD lowers overall damage, it’s not particularly good especially due to a bad, difficult to aim hitbox.
Wastes a lot of time. You should never be wasting time not using a skill.
Limited use in PVE, pretty bad in PVP, the effects themselves are mediocre.
Due to the time wasted positioning yourself, and the heavy investment in the skill required to increase the debuff time it can be fairly limiting, the Gae Bulg+Dragon Fall combo is fairly strong but only on enemies you can max damage.
Really bad, zone is too small, slow to use, bad hitbox, difficult to aim.
https://tos.neet.tv/skill-planner#1111444fff.3f4a5f85.1f2c3f415171.1d214f5a7581
Not him, but it’s mostly pvp utility with Iron Hook.
Jolly Roger is ok.
Sorry I play sw3 - rodel2 - cors1 - goon3, it is my own niche pvp build focused on offense and status effects. My experience with Hotplate is limited…
That being said, my buddy Fugi told me that Pierce is really good now, so as a hop/goon I would focus on stab and pierce and just get 1 point in stride and throw.
Synchro is murm-only fare. So you are right in that.
I always liked Pierce and it’s even better now with 2 overheats and the synergy with [Shock] debuff. Use it after Dragon Soar, the damage is very nice.
I have Synchro Thrusting at lvl 1, but I have enough skills in my rotation, so I don’t have to use this, but it does pretty good damage for a filler skill.
I leave Long Stride at lvl 1 too, but I don’t have an use for this skill since my Dragoon isn’t designed for PvP (Sword1 Pelt1 Hop3 Barb1 Dragoon3), so I use it only to look cool. 
This is another skill I leave at lvl 1 too. Since I don’t have Cyclone, it’s what I use when everything is on cooldown and when I’m surrounded by many monsters.
It also brings me memories, since Dragoon was my first character and I still have my Geras Spear in my storage to keep it as a memento. If we had proper housing in this game, I’d put that spear on a wall to remember the old times.
I kind of disagree, if you’re using 1-handed spears Synchro Thrusting isn’t bad. It’s also much faster, so I maxed it on my Hop3-Cors1 I’m building for pvp.
But I can see how ST could be dropped, especially now that Pierce got another overheat.
My current skill allocation is this: https://tos.neet.tv/skill-planner#1134448fff.253555.153545.183f4f517165.152535.1821354f5a7581
Anything important I’m missing?
the thing is that for hop2 pierce dmg is more consistent since dragoon soar gibe shock its means that it would be pretty easy to proc the 6 hits on bosses which is actually stronger than syndro counter but it doesnt matter much since all u need for hop3 is lunge and stabbing 15 anyway
Yeah, but if you don’t care about maximizing boss damage it isn’t important. Most mobs just explode to dragon soar, but it’s a good skill to apply shock with.
I’m more wondering about max stabbing vs max synchro. Stabbing certainly is more damage, not sure how well it does pvp though.
I can only share my opinion about hoplite with you, because since the Gae Bulg retrieve bug i hardly touched dragoon. 
Pierce was a good skill before and its even better now, but would be totally awesome if Devs heard the word and reduce the staggering effect before and after the skill is cast or just quicken the animation. Right now it breaks the flow of your combo, and its so slow, in PVP players can walk out of range while you cast Pierce. The attack range can be bigger too. The C2 attribute which adds 2 additional attacks to the skill if targeted a shocked enemy is good, but its just a fake 2 hits. Somehow the new planners have a mixed up description and saying the 2 additional attacks only applies to stunned enemies.
Stabbing is good, though. If only you can be able to change directions while doing the stabbs, but thats probably too much too ask.
So hoplite is better with the rebalanc, but still not yet great . Hope the master circle is worth to wait.