Is it worth it to be ranged?

So I have been trying to level up a DPS character for when I am not healing, so far I really like lancer, archer, and monk a lot, but I've noticed my queue times are way shorter when I am melee and a lot of the times when I am the archer I get another archer in the group.

Will I have a hard time getting groups as ranged at 50?

If I like them both should I just go melee for the ease of access?

Are MNK and DRG competitive?

level all 3, one of my character is a main bard, the other is dragoon, while some have advantages in certain situations, for the most part they are all pretty balanced.

I can't comment on how different the queue times are compared to a ranged/melee DPS as I've yet to level MNK/DRG however, as a ranged DPS I don't find it particularly hard to find groups, obviously if you've mained a healing class then of course the queue times are going to be longer than a healing class but all-in-all the DPS queues aren't that long, at most for dungeons the longest you'll wait is 30 minutes and for CT the most you'll wait is probably an hour but there's plenty to do while you wait!

Well it dose not make a difference melee or range for wait times unless your doing wolfs den but in 3 months there be a lot of rouge and ninjas running around so a lot more melee DPS to deal with.
So really just go with what you want but I did 1 of each so I could so in premade party's easy balance.

MNK and DRG currently have short queue times, similar to healers. This is because they are less-played than ranged DPS and DF tries to pair up equal numbers of melee/ranged. But don't worry, the coming Ninja job will take care of those short queue times for melees!

But seriously, play what is the most fun to you. You'll never go wrong that way.

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Originally Posted by Zakalwe

MNK and DRG currently have short queue times, similar to healers. This is because they are less-played than ranged DPS and DF tries to pair up equal numbers of melee/ranged. But don't worry, the coming Ninja job will take care of those short queue times for melees!

But seriously, play what is the most fun to you. You'll never go wrong that way.

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Not entirely. The reason why is the Duty Finder tries to balance parties with the idea of one melee one ranged DPS in mind. While good in theory, in practice this means that melee DPS are given higher priority in queues.

However, don't let that dissuade you. Party Finder is always an option, and for endgame stuff it's common practice to use that or just have your own group (FC, LS, statics etc).

So now I have the trouble of figuring out if I want to level MNK or BRD :(

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Originally Posted by Spandia

Will I have a hard time getting groups as ranged at 50?

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Most likely no, as long as you're at least competent. Especially as a BRD, people always need BRD...

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Originally Posted by Spandia

If I like them both should I just go melee for the ease of access?

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If you're soloing and only using the DF/DR then melee is better for faster queues...but if you're going to try to find parties most do not want melee, or more than one melee. Especially new melee. You have to be very good at your job or you're likely to be replaced fast

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Originally Posted by Spandia

Are MNK and DRG competitive?

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MNK is top DPS, and DRG is 3rd (ish, likely will change thanks to BLM buffs though). However, its not easy to be at that level for a melee. At all. You have to be extremely good at your job to be competitive, as groups will not keep an "average" or worse melee around.

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Originally Posted by Spandia

So now I have the trouble of figuring out if I want to level MNK or BRD :(

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As my main class in bard i would say try the bard first XD I love to play with it.

Are meele getting faster into dungeon?
Sometimes my BF and I register at the same time in the duty finder. He as a monk and me as Bard and mist if the time he gets the invite much earlier then I do.
So i dunno why but it seems that meele are getting in a bit faster.

Chiffre, look up 4 and 5 posts for the reason why ranged DPS currently have much longer DF wait times than melee. But again, once the ninja has arrived we can expect melee wait time to lengthen considerably, at least for a time.

I started to level WHM. After unlocking the job, I decided to put it on hold to work on getting Swiftcast. I fell in love with THM and now my BLM is almost caught up to my WHM. I don't know if it has longer queue times than melee because this is my first DPS, but find a job you love and queue times become worth it.

Everything has a gimmick and purpose and viability, and they can always make adjustments when something is falling behind, so I would say play the roles you enjoy. The melee dps can do big single target damage especially with the limit break factored in, while bard edges toward hybrid support/dps. Generally teams are best with a mixture of different jobs so I would say all of them are good!

I main Dragoon, but have Bard, Warrior and Black Mage to level 50. I have never noticed any difference in my DPS queues. HOWEVER, I feel that Bard is far easier to play.

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Originally Posted by Spandia

So I have been trying to level up a DPS character for when I am not healing, so far I really like lancer, archer, and monk a lot, but I've noticed my queue times are way shorter when I am melee and a lot of the times when I am the archer I get another archer in the group.

Will I have a hard time getting groups as ranged at 50?

If I like them both should I just go melee for the ease of access?

Are MNK and DRG competitive?

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There is no difference in Queue times. Bards, Monks and Dragoons are all listed as DPS in the doody finder. As far as effectiveness in combat, they all have their uses

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Originally Posted by Starplayer

There is no difference in Queue times. Bards, Monks and Dragoons are all listed as DPS in the doody finder. As far as effectiveness in combat, they all have their uses

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You're wrong. It has been extensively tested and shown that ranged dps have longer waits. Though you as a player see it as one big dps category, the game doesn't. Guess which one matters?

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Originally Posted by FireHero

Well it dose not make a difference melee or range for wait times unless your doing wolfs den but in 3 months there be a lot of rouge and ninjas running around so a lot more melee DPS to deal with.
So really just go with what you want but I did 1 of each so I could so in premade party's easy balance.

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it will be like SMN/SCH; there was a tsunami of ACN/Carbuncles, but most didnt make it to cap, or stopped after capping.

There's probably more BRD around than melee, cause most melee get hit by everything, and die.
I have a BRD, but dont play it so much now-days, but i haven't really noticed if it has longer que time...and even with melee, it's rarely short.
Ofc all DD are competitive...It's about who plays the job, not the job.

Dragoon is actually one of the most populated jobs across all servers. It's not a numbers thing so much as a hidden priority system.

melees enter dungeons waaaaaaaaaaay faster than ranged, on my drg i wait 5 min top , on my brd 15 ~ sometimes even more (expert roulette)

and dont get me started on things for 8 man, primals ect , on drg is like instant (yeah!) , on bard? 30 mins +, the amount of brd/blm/smn trying to join 8 man content :rolleyes:

gearing the 1 job is the hardest part of this game once u get 1 job geared , the 2nd is easy , u can gear it with myth in 3 days , get loot no1 wants (coil extremes) ect

Melees are about 2 min-10min~ queue due to everyone playing BLM and BRD.
Ranged are about 10-30min+~ queue due to everyone playing BLM and BRD.

Easier to get into Party Finder groups as a melee due to the same reason as above. BRD/BLM/SMN spots fill really fast, but specific MNK/DRG spots take a while to fill.

Around when CT1 was first released melee DPS were instant queue in CT, ranged was like 20 mins.

Depending on how they make the CT2 queue, I would assume the same will happen unless they forgo the 2 ranged 2 melee at least algorithm they use for everything else and just take all dps in the order they queue since it's 5 dps this time. CT2 will be a zerg ball anyways.

I'd say don't pick BLM. It's a great job but there are a bajillion of us competing for party spots.