Originally Posted by
Sparthos
You obviously haven't played BST or PUP. There is no "strong offensive output", unless we're talking about punking some terribly geared gimps.
BST is supposed to be a generic DD but since half the class is stashed away on an NPC not receiving buffs, you wind up losing to classes like SAM, WAR, DRK easily.
Even against comparable 1handers like BLU, THF or NIN, the lack of DW and the reliance on 1hand axes - a slow weapon by nature -leaves BST in an uphill climb to keep up. The class has no offensive JAs so unlike WAR your Rampages are going to suck and subbing WAR means losing out on an offhand.
Now, I say to myself "well, BST isn't supposed to be a good DD duh, that's what the pets for." and then you come to the realization that even if the BST gears completely to buff the pet that current gear leaves much to be desired. Pet haste, attack and acc are in short supply, magian axes are pretty much the largest bonuses you can get and such a build will cripple the offensive output of the master.
Backline BST would give the job a niche if anything (like SMN but more focused on DPS rather than hateless damage) but the current environment leaves the class in limbo.
-The pets are too weak to fight on their own.
-The ability to cure status effects is still tied to the Reward timer.
-Offensive pet gear is a nightmare to acquire.
-Pets get smoked even in low haste scenarios where they have the advantage.
If BST had some JAs to reduce it's offensive output in exchange for increasing the pets then perhaps the class would begin the long march out of irrelevance.