is a dripper a must for dwc?

i have a couple of buckets, all connected together with 3/4 inch tubing, and a control bucket. water will not be circulating. each bucket will have a airstone in it. for the lids i'm using those big mesh pots (i believe it's 10 litres) which will be filled with hydroton rocks, and of course the rockwool cube in the middle just below the surface. from my understanding, at the begining, i will have the water level come up, just below the rockwool cube,and i will manually water the rockwool to always keep it moist, until roots start growing then i will lower the water level a bit. i haven't set up any drippers. the guy at my local hydro shop is telling me, that i need to drip. that the rocks need to be wet all the way to the top, all the time. what do you guys think? i'm really not set up to add drippers. are they really needed?

No, dcw setups have nothing to do with drippers. Dunno what ur hydro guy was tellin u. Ur rockwool will get wet through the rocks, which get wet from the popping of the bubbles at the water level. u do need to make sure this happens by adjusting ur water level at a good position. Hydroton is very good at displacing water even if there is no top feed. Just to make sure u could mist the rockwool everyday to make sure its getting wet. rockwool is good for this becuase it holds alot of water for a reletivly longer period of time compared to grow rocks. so having them def. helps. gl hope this helps