Being a Tank sucks.

Having mained a Tank for a while, and feeling the weight of the pressure that one would feel, I want to take a break from it and try a DPS. I already have a NIN at 50, but I'm looking for a few things:

• Ease of Mechanics
• General 'fun' level
• Not having to worry too much about situation awareness
• Worry-free gameplay

What comes closest to this list? I'll take 3/4. My thoughts are BRD or possibly THM, but I'd like to hear some suggestions. Currently a Highlander, if that makes any difference. Thank you all in advance for any replies.

Mechanics are mechanics. They apply to every role. Fun is rather subjective. It sounds like you messed up quite a bit which puts more pressure on tanks since it often is end of story when a tank does.

Your last two points don't really make sense to me. I don't understand why a DPS should be worry free or can have less awareness. Sure, you can get away with slacking or, you can get carried a bit w/o people really noticing it.

If you however want to be one of the better DPS, nothing changes other than that you can mess up more often w/o wiping the whole group. I'd say go for BRD in that case. You can move while dpsing and the basic rotation is quite fast to pick up. To push your DPS, you will need all of those points you mentioned.

PS: I'm talking from a Coil perspective. If you're doing 4man or 24mans only, any DPS would do since half of the people there just afk play to get loot. :P

I think that's why they have the challenge called ''Someone has to do it''

Ehh being tank sucks but each role has a part they have to play that still applies pressure no matter what


Tanks-Mechanics , Agro, CD rotation , WAR(Damage output maxed)
Healers- Mechanics, Keeping Team Alive, WHM(Mp Management and agro management) SCH (DoT Placement and Pet Control )
DPS- Mechanics, Damage Output and Rotation Focus , Bard ( Overall group support management) SMN (MP manage) ,

I mean I could have went more in depth on DPS but do you understand what I'm saying, Tanking isn't as pressured as its made in comparison to other jobs I know for a fact none of us live without the other doing their role/job so it equals out ...

But as far as switching it up.....Melee would be the easiest transition job......THM still have to focus on positioning right time to cast etc etc , SMN (MP) and Bard you need to know what's the perfect time and how to manage your songs......

I guess i have not much room to talk because 3 of my 4 jobs are either healer or tank, high responsibility roles.

What I will say, though, is that tanks have it much easier in my book than healers, because while both their jobs are about awareness and reaction, healers also have to deal with:

• Mana management (whm)
• Looking at 8 people's health (sometimes 24)
• Dealing with the frequent people who just stand in AoEs and get damaged
• Dealing with the blame for people dying (in most cases)
• Most of the aoes aren't targeted to the tank and if they are, tanks can move more easily (no cast times)
• If you want to increase your group DPS, you have to go out of your way to do it
• And lastly, in dungeons, you can go at your own pace as a tank, as a healer you just have to keep up even if you or the tank is undergeared.

There's a lot more to being a healer (and a lot more to being a tank, for that matter) but these are the main points in where I think tanks have it easier than healers.

As for damage dealers, I believe you're right and they have it super chill, especially bard since you can just trololo around and steal deal optimal damage (lock-on or strafe pls, thx)

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Originally Posted by abzoluut

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Sorry, perhaps I should edit my first post and elaborate on them. By 'worry-free' I want to be able to enjoy myself without having to worry about having to worry about being the best DPS in the group. I can settle for being 3rd DPS in a Raid, but I don't want to have to stress being the best, because that kills my enjoyment of a class. When I say worrying about situation mechanics, I mean things like the positional requirements for MNK. It seems possible, but confusing at the same time.

To be fair, I probably did mess up a fair amount as a Tank, but tanks are sometimes given an unfair amount of pressure, and nobody wants to take the time to explain to new tanks. I've had groups that were fine, but then there were others that basically talked trash without even giving me a chance. It's...kinda painful to feel that. Especially when the community has been amazing, so far.

Bard has to deal with more mechanics than you'd think. Anything that's ranged oriented is usually placed on the Bard due to being able to move around while still DPSing.

In high end raids, every DPS has some sort of responsibility. The least responsible is usually the melee DPS, though they're also blessed with much longer rotations to keep their minds busy.

If you're just doing casual content, I'd recommend BRD. Anything beyond that I'd say pick whichever you find the most fun. Monk, as an example, is a lot of fun and has very little responsibility but does require you keep up GL3 and multiple DoTs/Buffs/Debuffs.

I'm pretty sure you're describing a gathering class. It's pretty worry free, simple mechanics, and little to keep track of in the environment. Fun is subjective though.

In all seriousness though, it sounds like you'd need to try out a few jobs, at least for a bit. If you have NIN at 50 then you might at least know if you want to play melee or try something new. Casters (I only play BLM as far as that goes) feel a lot different. It feels a lot safer and less demanding (to me) to be some distance away from the enemy. BLM can be very boring (for some) though because of the very limited number of attacks that you'll be using.

Honestly? I loved NIN, and I do love the idea behind MNK. I've always love fist-fighter type classes. And I've never really been good at mages and ranged types. But I don't know how well I'd do with a DoM or ARC/BRD, since I never really gave them a chance. I know that BLM is almost entirely switching between Fire I/II and Blizzard I/II (at least what I've seen of it, in the BLMs I've seen), but again, I haven't really given them a chance, so they could be more complex than that.

Maybe you're right. Maybe I should just because a DoL. Probably easier, haha.

BLM is for you. no position or mp issue, dps is very competitive even you don't know the job very well, and it's very easy to learn.
Since you have played tank, you know how important enmity is, that's the only thing you need to be aware of. No fire2 before flash etc.

Tank literally is one of the most brainless jobs in this game. Pretty much like every other job :L

lot of dodging and such for blm though.

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Originally Posted by SomnusNemoris

Tank literally is one of the most brainless jobs in this game. Pretty much like every other job :L

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more brainless than bad dps and healers that precast regen or spam holy till oom
totally

find a good war and tell me tank doesn't require any thought, especially in fights with lots of adds or specific mob positioning

holding aggro is intended to be easy so that se can add in weird shit and it doesn't instantly chew the healers face off

Mana management (whm)
- Easier than it sounds :) The only real issues I've had regarding mana was against some specific boss who requiere (shouldn't ?) massive raise. Like the first boss in WoD

Looking at 8 people's health (sometimes 24)
---> And no time to look at the ground >.< Also please, don't spam a healer about your bersek ending. We know. Looking away from hp bars to read the log can be risky in certain fights

Dealing with the frequent people who just stand in AoEs and get damaged
---> So true. It becomes particularly obvious to determine who isn't paying attention at all in a party, just by looking at the hp bars (stealing aggro, aoe-damaged..)

Dealing with the blame for people dying (in most cases)
---> That's not so true at lvl 50+, is my feeling. Those dying people would usually don't say a word, because they are experienced enough to know it was their mistake to begin with.

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Originally Posted by Hurk

Having mained a Tank for a while, and feeling the weight of the pressure that one would feel, I want to take a break from it and try a DPS. I already have a NIN at 50, but I'm looking for a few things:

• Ease of Mechanics
• General 'fun' level
• Not having to worry too much about situation awareness
• Worry-free gameplay

What comes closest to this list? I'll take 3/4. My thoughts are BRD or possibly THM, but I'd like to hear some suggestions. Currently a Highlander, if that makes any difference. Thank you all in advance for any replies.

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Honestly, I would say try BLM; the rotation is simple, you can put out high dps relatively quickly, hit very high AoE dps fast, contextually infinite mp, and offer some support buff/ debuffs as well as a few self buffs/ "oh shit" abilities.

BLM has a low learning curve, no positional requirements, no pet micro managament, little impediance to getting the fullest out of the Job due to latency, and what separates the more advanced players comes down to internal mp tick timings and a few abilities being interchanged because of this.

The tempo of a BLM seems more than ideal for you tbh.

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Originally Posted by aisustrong

more brainless than bad dps and healers that precast regen or spam holy till oom
totally

find a good war and tell me tank doesn't require any thought, especially in fights with lots of adds or specific mob positioning

holding aggro is intended to be easy so that se can add in weird shit and it doesn't instantly chew the healers face off

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I think you kinda missed the point in which I claimed that every job in this game is brainless as hell. But tanking is by far the most brainless though. Nice butthurt though. But in all seriousness. BLM is probably the most carefree, although not quite as easy to perform optimally.
Healer is in my opinion the most stressful job, at least in Coil. Tanking is in my opinion the easiest job when people have to perform. You do have to know the fight in terms of when to pop cooldowns. But to me, that never causes any stress because all of the fights are easy to learn.

If you want to be a good dps, then all the things you're trying to avoid are things you're going to need. If you don't mind being one of those BRDs who goes to WoD and just autoattacks from the back the whole time, then BRD or BLM is probably your best bet. But if that's the case, you might want to rephrase your question to "How do I get away with being bad and lazy?"

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Originally Posted by SomnusNemoris

I think you kinda missed the point in which I claimed that every job in this game is brainless as hell. But tanking is by far the most brainless though. Nice butthurt though. But in all seriousness. BLM is probably the most carefree, although not quite as easy to perform optimally.
Healer is in my opinion the most stressful job, at least in Coil. Tanking is in my opinion the easiest job when people have to perform. You do have to know the fight in terms of when to pop cooldowns. But to me, that never causes any stress because all of the fights are easy to learn.

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once again, all i can say is learn how to push damage
if tanking is so easy to you, do it with your tanking stance off
man that shit up

Alright then, mate. alright

I have PLD, WAR, WHM, NIN, DRG, and BRD at 50.

Personally, I consider myself as WHM main. But NIN has been working in my favor lately. There are the "Noticable" jobs, then the "Unnoticable" jobs.

Noticable:
Jobs you can't really afk on during battle. You're there to only do your role as tank, heal, or damage.

Unnoticable:
Jobs where if you die or screw up rotation or mechanic, it can be fixed.

Of my jobs, PLD, WAR, WHM, and BRD is Noticable. Afk as tank, you lose hate. Afk as WHM, someone die. No Ballad for healers...yeah. As NIN, if I die, they try to continue for a bit and will raise with Swiftcast. If I die as BRD, one healer or SMN will cast raise normally.

I'm ok with feeling needed, but I just prefer to kinda stay hidden, and if we wipe, it's not the NIN's fault lol

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Originally Posted by Malevicton

If you want to be a good dps, then all the things you're trying to avoid are things you're going to need. If you don't mind being one of those BRDs who goes to WoD and just autoattacks from the back the whole time, then BRD or BLM is probably your best bet. But if that's the case, you might want to rephrase your question to "How do I get away with being bad and lazy?"

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I wouldn't say I'm trying to avoid it. I suppose what I'm looking for is something a little less intense. Like Jim_Berry said, I'm looking for something where I'm not exactly going to be extremely detrimental to the party if we wipe. My very first Titan HM, I ended up main-tanking because a more experienced tank couldn't do it. So, obviously I had to be doing something right. I'm just looking for something less extreme, right now.

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Originally Posted by xenowind

BLM is for you. no position or mp issue, dps is very competitive even you don't know the job very well, and it's very easy to learn.
Since you have played tank, you know how important enmity is, that's the only thing you need to be aware of. No fire2 before flash etc.

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no position issues.?? what... seriously you lose los and then your cast is cancelled, stand to close you have to move for aoe's or die. you have to know where to stand and which direction to face and pay attention to the tank and where he/she is pulling to otherwise you'll be in the wrong place and unable to cast.

no mp issues, tell that to all the blm's who screw up the rotations and have no mana left casting bliz 1 after 3 secs, to get enough mana to bliz 3, with probs a 6-9 sec delay in attacking... which by the way can be deadly in speed runs.

also as blm you need to know when to aoe when not to, manage hate cus blm are massive hate gainers especially in aoe. what to do when you do pull hate.. and no that doesn't mean run to the tank and stop dps'ing.


to op..

truth be told the way most dungeons are run nowadays you cant really afk dps and not be noticed. not that anyone can really do anything about it mind. some dps classes seem easier than others at the average level of play, which by the way sounds like where you'd want to be. take your role seriously but don't expect to be carried through stuff.

and as for mechanics, sorry to say you have to deal with more as dps I would say than tanking.. especially in places like ct and coil.. but even some dungeons have dps specific mechanics that can and cannot be ignored depending on how good the dps is.

if you want to take a break from tanking, by all means pick up a dps class or heals class and try it out but don't expect it to be so much simpler that you don't have to do much.

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Originally Posted by Hurk

Having mained a Tank for a while, and feeling the weight of the pressure that one would feel, I want to take a break from it and try a DPS. I already have a NIN at 50, but I'm looking for a few things:

• Ease of Mechanics
• General 'fun' level
• Not having to worry too much about situation awareness
• Worry-free gameplay

What comes closest to this list? I'll take 3/4. My thoughts are BRD or possibly THM, but I'd like to hear some suggestions. Currently a Highlander, if that makes any difference. Thank you all in advance for any replies.

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step 1. uninstall FFXIV ARR.
step 2. buy a wii-u

play a dragoon no one expects anything from us anyways. If your good as a dragoon then people are impressed if you fail and suck then your just another lol dragoon.

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Originally Posted by Lyzern

What I will say, though, is that tanks have it much easier in my book than healers, because while both their jobs are about awareness and reaction, healers also have to deal with

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I'm not a healer and shall QFT this 100%, especially in FCOB. I play BLM as main and I have to say, my class is very easy to manage; This is why I've become designated as the early warning guy on VOIP. Meanwhile the SCH/WHM are busy keeping any derp DPS that get hit + mechanics while healing the tank (which occassionally forgets to pop a CD during big hits). Healers are the lifebloodof a party, they die, you know it's going to wipe. You can get clutch moves to survive that extra 10-20 sec of a tank being dead by popping a really expensive CD, but you can't replace that health bar once everything is blown. Hell I've tanked headlights before and we made a comeback.

Go Bard! Easiest class in the game, and they have a really fun playstyle due to the procs!

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Originally Posted by Tex_Mex

Go Bard! Easiest class in the game, and they have a really fun playstyle due to the procs!

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i dont like archer, it feels so cowardly
really hoping i wont need to level it to 34 for quelling for blm
triply so because of df wait time

I personally don't find playing a DPS class any less pressure than other roles. Sure in a lot of content you can play half assed and get away with it but really the same can be said for any role in those situations. For content that there is pressure to perform well all jobs have equal responsibility and are noticed if under performing.

Now on a personal level you may feel that a particular role is less stressful but that's more based on your preferences than any of us on the forums telling you one is less pressure than another. I personally find healing is least stressful in progression content than tanking or dpsing. But that's due to my comfort level with the job and role more than it being mechanically less of a lynch pin for the group.

I don't believe most answers here really answer your question at all.

I believe I'm in your same boat: I tank in endgame dungeons, but I just want to pew pew and deal damage without having to worry about a 40 moves rotation (drg), my position (drg, mnk), a double rotation (nin), healing everyone (let's admit it, healing requires more focus than tanking).

The answer I've come up is either Bard or BLM.

Bard has admittedly lots of pew-pew buttons to look at, but they can be arranged in just one big macro and 2 dots+heavy shot, for a total of 4 buttons without a huge DPS loss, and you're pretty much worry-free as you can move and dodge while dealing damage.
Drawback is well, by doing so there is an actual dps loss, even if not huge, compared to not having a macro, and you sometimes have to sing and deal with some mechanics which are just defaulted to BRDs.

Black Mage has unlimited mana, a very simple rotation to keep up, nothing to do whatsoever. Its only drawback is you gotta know when to dodge and how, or it might result in a dps loss, cause you can only situationally deal damage while moving (procs and stuff).

I'm pretty happy with Bard so far, it's my go-to job for anything but coil, I'm about to get 50 BLM and then I'll see, but I'll probably just use both.

I'm not usually a ranged guy, I'm a melee guy/ninja guy, but they're all too boring and annoying at the same time, I've given up on using them, I'm far too lazy.

Hopefully this gives you a clear answer, instead of some silly suggestions I've read.

As for responsibilities: I can watch a tv show while pewpewing on bard for any non-endgame content, be it expert or ct/st/wod with little to no damage loss, but as a tank I'm required to do slightly more slightly faster that it makes it harder to focus on my beloved tv shows. Healing would be worse, and melees just keep you busy all the time.

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Originally Posted by Lyzern

As for damage dealers, I believe you're right and they have it super chill, especially bard since you can just trololo around and steal deal optimal damage (lock-on or strafe pls, thx)

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False. If you want to deal optimal damage as bard it is not that simple. This notion that bard doesnt have to do anything to do optimal dmg is a buncha bs.

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Originally Posted by Kuroyasha

False. If you want to deal optimal damage as bard it is not that simple. This notion that bard doesnt have to do anything to do optimal dmg is a buncha bs.

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this is probably true, I've played with a lot of bards and the first time I played with nattack, the guy who got me into this game and who is a bard main, he generated so much more aggro than any other bard I've ever played with before. he actually managed to pull a mob off of me twice
so a lot of people that play bard must really suck

doesn't surprise me really considering about 60% of the bards I see don't even know how to dodge
and get hit more than blm

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Originally Posted by xenowind

BLM is for you. no position or mp issue, dps is very competitive even you don't know the job very well, and it's very easy to learn.
Since you have played tank, you know how important enmity is, that's the only thing you need to be aware of. No fire2 before flash etc.

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I play BLM more than any other job and I can tell you positionning is important for a BLM.
Then again, if you don't play any coils, well you can yolo dps with any class you want.

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Originally Posted by Kuroyasha

False. If you want to deal optimal damage as bard it is not that simple. This notion that bard doesnt have to do anything to do optimal dmg is a buncha bs.

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It is, actually. At least, way easier compared to any other DPS class i've played. There's no positioning to worry about, so no cancelled casting, combo screwups or DPS loss while moving. Long-range CC, off the GCD too, with a very fast animation to boot. The biggest thing about BRD DPS is DOTs and knowing when and when not to use your CDS, basically. But every DPS has that aspect.


The most engaging role in this game is easily White Mage. Positioning, Cooldowns, MP management, Enmity management, debuffs, responsibility of the entire party, with a possible significant source of situational DPS to boot. You're among the top candidates for go-to blame if anyone in the party dies, right below "dumb warrior" and "stupid lag".

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Originally Posted by Edellis

It is, actually. At least, way easier compared to any other DPS class i've played. There's no positioning to worry about, so no cancelled casting, combo screwups or DPS loss while moving. Long-range CC, off the GCD too, with a very fast animation to boot. The biggest thing about BRD DPS is DOTs and knowing when and when not to use your CDS, basically. But every DPS has that aspect.

The most engaging role in this game is easily White Mage. Positioning, Cooldowns, MP management, Enmity management, debuffs, responsibility of the entire party, with a possible significant source of situational DPS to boot. You're among the top candidates for go-to blame if anyone in the party dies, right below "dumb warrior" and "stupid lag".

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It's not actually. All you stated was pros of being a bard. My statement was about optimal dmg as a bard, not that they are harder than every other dps class. Just b/c you can move while atking does not mean that it is faceroll to do optimal dmg as a bard. It's easy to be average as a bard. If one wants to be one of the excellent bards in the game it will take some effort. Looking at the pros of bard on paper and actually doing what is necessary to output optimal dmg while dealing with the mechanics of the fight, the extra responsibility that a bard will have to take care of most likely b/c of the class mobility, while handling the regular responsibility that comes with being a bard are two different things. I surely dont see every bard doing 510-530 in coil.

Meh, whm bores me. Sch is more exciting imo comparing the two heal roles, but i dont wanna turn the thread into something about heals when OP wanted dps.

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Originally Posted by Hurk

Having mained a Tank for a while, and feeling the weight of the pressure that one would feel, I want to take a break from it and try a DPS. I already have a NIN at 50, but I'm looking for a few things:

• Ease of Mechanics
• General 'fun' level
• Not having to worry too much about situation awareness
• Worry-free gameplay

What comes closest to this list? I'll take 3/4. My thoughts are BRD or possibly THM, but I'd like to hear some suggestions. Currently a Highlander, if that makes any difference. Thank you all in advance for any replies.

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Hello OP. Have you considered trying the Fisher class? It meets at least 3/4 of your requirements, all 4 if you find it fun. Good luck!

I would suggest Bard, the king of lazy play.

Ranged makes it easier to do everything a dps ends up dealing with. Adds, more adds, stuff on the floor. This applies to Black Mage and Summoner too though.

Currently Bard limit break only matters if the healers are dead, and it is at three bars.

Bards have a simple rotation whether single target or three plus target. Cast foes occasionally if you have a dps caster, cast mana song occasionally for the healer, boom commendation.

If you want to be put more effort in you can and kite entire groups while still doing dps while the healer raises that dead tank, or the formerly dead tank runs back to the group.

Since you already have a frontline DPS you should go ranged - maybe even wait for the expansion.