How would you break it to someone that their DPS is awful?

Just tell them straight out that their dps is piss.
I had a few dps who ran the new dungeons with i49 accessories with a mix of i90 and 1 i110 gear.
I as a healer had to go thru the bs of low dps since AK pre nerf and damn do u know how many join in progress runs i got in due to demon wall and dps failig at bees and figuring out which target they should attack?
I tell em straight up cuz i don't have the patience anymore to wipe the whole run due to simply low dps ( even worse when i help dps and we still fail )
There's 2 dps, 1 tank & 1 healer in DF.

Everyone can deal damage but not everyone can heal or tank.
So why must the dps fail at their only job?
I play as high vit whm so i had my fair share of tanking moments lol

Ignore it and hope I never see them again, happened once with a SMN in Tam tara hard. Made it to final boss but I was unable to clear the adds before they got to the center solo we wiped twice, so I mentioned the lack of DPS on the adds and I ended up getting kicked. Moral of the story for me was to just shut up and deal with it.

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happened once with a SMN in Tam tara hard. Made it to final boss but I was unable to clear the adds before they got to the center solo we wiped twice, so I mentioned the lack of DPS on the adds and I ended up getting kicked.

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He might have just been bad in general, but it's worth pointing out that SMN is extremely disadvantaged with the adds in that fight. They're a DoT class. Their best burst damage (Fester) still relies on actually applying all three of their primary DoTs to the mob first. In situations where you have to burn down a bunch of scattered weak targets very quickly, SMN is probably the least optimal choice.

I had a run of that dungeon once with two SMNs as the DPS. The rest of the dungeon went fine. Once we got to this last boss though, there were many many wipes until we finally managed to win.

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Originally Posted by Fynlar

He might have just been bad in general, but it's worth pointing out that SMN is extremely disadvantaged with the adds in that fight. They're a DoT class. Their best burst damage (Fester) still relies on actually applying all three of their primary DoTs to the mob first. In situations where you have to burn down a bunch of scattered weak targets very quickly, SMN is probably the least optimal choice.

I had a run of that dungeon once with two SMNs as the DPS. The rest of the dungeon went fine. Once we got to this last boss though, there were many many wipes until we finally managed to win.

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This is just my experience, but I discover that for that fight as a SCH (so similar to SMN), it's better to just Ruin II + Energy Drain burst the adds. Usually two Ruin IIs and a Energy Drain will be enough to kill one add (unless I'm recalling things terribly).

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Originally Posted by Fynlar

I had a run of that dungeon once with two SMNs as the DPS. The rest of the dungeon went fine. Once we got to this last boss though, there were many many wipes until we finally managed to win.

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Energy Drain! I had the same situation with two SMNs before! Suggested energy drain as their burst for adds. Honestly the ranged instant cast burst of 2 SMNs and a SCH using energy drain on adds is quite respectable :)
^
Also a good example of helping others out successfully. Hey I've done xyz in this fight and it really improved my damage output or in this case burst.

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Originally Posted by whoopeeragon

This is just my experience, but I discover that for that fight as a SCH (so similar to SMN), it's better to just Ruin II + Energy Drain burst the adds. Usually two Ruin IIs and a Energy Drain will be enough to kill one add (unless I'm recalling things terribly).

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That's how I handle them myself. I like to put Garuda-egi on one add, while I DPS down another.

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Originally Posted by CGMidlander

Suppose that the person in question is that awful of a DPS player, but is a great tank and would be a shame to lose over quibbles because the person in question can be touchy about criticism.

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Seeing as how he has something you want (his tanking skills, which btw is the most sought after skill/role in the game) you don't say anything at all. He has every right to react harshly to any criticism. Although if you feel the need to say something cuz he won't be tanking anytime soon since is probably all about leveling up or trying something new it is best to not make any advice about you and not make it sound advice-y. Talk to them about how they feel about their role and what rotation they are using. And act like you are questions. Maybe buffer by crafting them an item at no charge you know they want and just act like it is no big deal. This makes people want to be better players.

It's rare for me to hear the term "Bad dps"

I mean to me is common to see a bad tank who gets tunnel vision and doesn't notice an add is killing the healer.

Or a healer that casts a spell before tank can get hate.

You know, common stuff like that, but a dps that...doesn't do much dmg? What? He's got bad gear? Huh? xD

My two cents coming from a background of professional tutoring: telling someone they've done something wrong without being willing to help them understand how to do it right is not only pointless, but counter-productive. No one benefits when you browbeat a teammate for poor performance; everyone benefits when you work diligently to help the teammate overcome their challenges and succeed.

As long as the OP referring to T9, the "low dps" guy (that, I recall, IS friend/static with the OP, so not a stranger) just needs be told "hey mate, your dps is terribad! please check it someway thank you!".

If context is T9, it means we aren't teaching to the casual on their first on a dungeon, so he just needs take note of that and check what's wrong. I guess he exp enough to fix that himself without parental guidance.