PvP Job Series: Dragoon

As we continue the PvP Job Series, we focus on the viability of the Dragoon job in a competitive PvP environment.

PvP Performance Statcard

Judging the ratings, Dragoon is a great choice for any PvP team. Let’s look at the reasoning behind that more below.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Dragoon

Abilities

Dragoon’s Jump enables it to remove itself out of play for a few turns and strike from above delivering high damage especially if equipped with a polearm. Jumping also has the benefits of taking the character out of play which in turn helps avoid incoming damage or cast-time abilities from landing. The more Speed a character has, the less time it takes Jump to land. Haste and Swiftness do not make Jump land faster. Since Jump’s skillset is basically learning further horizontal and vertical coverage we won’t go over that, but we will instead talk about some tidbits regarding Jump and other abilities Dragoons have access to:

Jump (action command) – Here are some important traits of this ability:
– Jump is considered physical damage and does not inherit the weapon’s element.
– Calculates using [PA x WeaponPower] for all weapons (does not interact with guns) and has a 1.5x modifier in addition when equipped with a polearm.
– You cannot be targeted by attacks or abilities while mid-jump, and status effects’ timers are paused while mid-jump.
– Jump does not work when on a map with a ceiling.
– It cannot be evaded, but can be canceled with Shirahadori.
– Jump does not benefit from Attack Boost, Brawler, and Vehemence.

Dragonheart (reaction) – Bravery% chance when taking physical damage to gain the reraise status, allowing your KO’ed character to return with some HP once their CT gauge reaches 100. This ability is good for mid-to-late gameplay as this can be useful for making a comeback.

Equip Polearms (support) – This ability isn’t for Dragoons since they already can equip polearms, but rather for other jobs that can utilize Jump and for maximum damage.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 120% | MP: 50% | SP: 100% | PA: 120% | MA: 50%
C-EV: 10 | Move: 3 | Jump: 4

Can equip: Polearms, Shields, Helmets, Armor, Robes

Dragoons are known for their fairly good HP bulk and Physical Attack. They can also innately equip shields to further increase their survivability and polearms have a range of 2 so they can avoid certain reaction abilities like Counter or First Strike depending. Their access to robes also makes Lordly Robe a possible option depending on how you are building them. Because of their bulky HP, they are a niche option for using the Summon, Golem since that is more effective with higher HP, albeit they have very little MP to work with. Though Jump is good damage on Dragoon, Thiefs and Ninjas can utilize it better due to their innately higher Speed as well as any other job that has inherently high Physical Attack.

Conclusion

Dragoons are a solid choice for PvP. They are fairly resilient and are a good choice at tanking damage, just like Knight. Because polearms give a damage bonus to Jump, they will always have solid damage and the ability to be an annoyance with dodging incoming attacks. Their 120% PA gives them a multitude of options from other physical damage skillsets.