Dragoon or ninja help me decide please

Hey guys, Just got my WHM to 50 and although he is my main I am looking for a dps job to play. It is between Dragoon or Ninja and I have just a few questions.

1- Which of theses jobs has better survival?

2- How much more dps does ninja do then dragoon?

3- Which do you guys think is more fun ( although fun is subjective) would still like your opinion.

4- Which is easier to play? Thanks...

1. Survivability - DRG is overall more survivable by far, from a less self-damaging B4B, a stronger Keen Flurry (yes it is useful), and higher physical DEF and HP pool. That said, there are times where Perfect Dodge will let NIN do things DRG can't but generally DRG is the last melee to die these days. Survivability isn't too important and I wouldn't recommend picking a DPS based on their ability to live through mechanic or healer failure.

2. DPS - NIN does about 5% more I'd say in the same gear on a typical run. NIN's TA contribution to the raid is completely dependent on the group, it can be amazing or it can be pretty small. DRG's Disembowel contribution to BRD can likewise be in the 20s or it can be a bit higher but not by too terribly much. DPS wise I think most people agree NIN brings more than DRG to a raid.

3. I think DRG is more fun but it's because I hate Mudra lag and I feel NIN is more error prone than DRG, which for me personally messing up as a DPS is quite annoying.

4. DRG is easier to play IMO.

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Originally Posted by Artaniss

Hey guys, Just got my WHM to 50 and although he is my main I am looking for a dps job to play. It is between Dragoon or Ninja and I have just a few questions.

1- Which of theses jobs has better survival?

2- How much more dps does ninja do then dragoon?

3- Which do you guys think is more fun ( although fun is subjective) would still like your opinion.

4- Which is easier to play? Thanks...

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1) DRG has higher defensive stats, but NIN has actual defensive abilities (Perfect Dodge, mainly). I'd say that NIN wins, though in normal content this won't matter much.

2) Not as much as it used to, from what I hear about DRG buffs. It's still a little higher and I would say it provides more benefit to the group, especially with Trick Attack and Goad.

3) I personally don't like DRG for some reason. Nothing I can put a finger on, though, so take that with a grain of salt. I like NIN, but be warned that if you get used to NIN's speed, everything else starts feeling sssloooooow. Also, NIN requires a pretty stable connection to not have issues with ninjutsu. This can be a deal breaker.

4) DRG is less dependent on having a smooth connection. On the other hand, to get the most out of DRG, you need to be able to move to the flanks and backs of enemies. Some find that engaging, but in some fights it can be a nuisance. Basically, both have pro's and con's; it's just a matter of deciding which you want.

The real question is, what's your latency? If you're playing with below 100 ms, I might consider NIN. If not, DRG will probably cause less raging. I switched from NIN to DRG because I got too annoyed by Mudras. You'll also need a tank that times their pulls to your Ninjutsu timers if you want to make the most of your opener... which is rare and thus annoying. DRG is just much less of a headache for me.

1- Which of theses jobs has better survival?
Dragoon from my experience was way easier to level. Also I have only played it a select few times since the buffs.

2- How much more dps does ninja do then dragoon?
Depends on your skill level with each class. Ninja can technically do more but it is dependent on a lot of factors including lag and skill.

3- Which do you guys think is more fun ( although fun is subjective) would still like your opinion.
This is a tie. Ninja mudra's are cool but nothing beats jumping.

4- Which is easier to play? Thanks...
DRG is easier to play. No concern about mudra lag or trying to get 3 oGCD actions within a single GCD.

Really it's up to which you prefer based on your taste for the final fantasy franchise (afterall isn't that why we play??). It's easy to forever argue pros and cons of both from a gameplay/mechanics perspective. Ultimately the best dps is the one with the most experienced and vetted player at the reigns, so decide based of your taste, the rest will sort itself out.

perhaps the only thing worth taking into consideration is Nin's Slashing debuff VS Drg's 100% uptime Piercing debuff. This might persuade groups to prefer one melee dps over the other depeding on the setup of the rest of the party, but I wouldn't let this alter a decision personally.

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Originally Posted by Xenosan

perhaps the only thing worth taking into consideration is Nin's Slashing debuff VS Drg's 100% uptime Piercing debuff. This might persuade groups to prefer one melee dps over the other depeding on the setup of the rest of the party, but I wouldn't let this alter a decision personally.

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Forgot Trick Attack

Each has its own good things, you might try both and decide. I would do all DRG quests before the expansion, the DRG lore is a bit related to the one we will meet at the expansion.

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Originally Posted by Viridiana

1) DRG has higher defensive stats, but NIN has actual defensive abilities (Perfect Dodge, mainly)

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You're forgetting that Dragoons can cross class Foresight from Marauders. It's provides a 20% buff to defence for 20 seconds. Not to mention they also get access to Bloodbath for self healing. Dragoons definitely have more survivability than Ninja's.

Trick attack is pretty much like your entire party popped a 10% damage up cool down. That great for pushing dps to the absolute limit.

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Originally Posted by BristolRuss

You're forgetting that Dragoons can cross class Foresight from Marauders. It's provides a 20% buff to defence for 20 seconds. Not to mention they also get access to Bloodbath for self healing. Dragoons definitely have more survivability than Ninja's.

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Forsight is nearly useless. It's 20% defence up is like 2% mitigation and useless for magic damage (most massive aoe's are magic) you can't parry or block magic and blood bath won't help you survive or avoid getting one shot by something you shouldn't have gotten hit with. BUT the higher hp, higher defense and the now on par magic defense will. Both ninja and drg still are about the same survivability wise.

DRG will survive more

Not enough to make a difference. Though I love having a nin for trick atk and goad.

When my mudras flow like water and the animation for the ninjutsu executes quickly....it feels sooo good seeing the animations just flow. Gives me the feeling of when I monk. But when it doesnt....i dont even wanna play the class. DRG I dont have to worry about that, since I can mash buttons. DRG being the centerpiece of Heavensward and having some cool looking armor helps the feel of it as well. Dont forget that godly burst either. Being able to strive towards maxing dps w/o having to worry about mudra issues makes me want to lean towards drg for more fun. If I could have the same consistency on NIN as I do on monk/drg with the queuing of abilities, then I'd say they are about even.

Easier to play for me is...hmm..I guess DRG. After the buff drg has the same consequences as monk for missing positionals....except they only have 2 positionals >.>.

Do you have Mudra Lag?
Yes - Play DRG
No - Play NIN

I'd go DRG, Mudra lag destroys the job for me.

I dont have bad mudra lag and i still see mudra as more of annoyance than strength. Its good but eh


Also dragonfire dive ftw

Feel like survivability is a paper-stat discussion.

All dps have the same survivability issue in truth, it's dodging the mechanics in trials/raids effectively more than defense CD A vs defense CD B.

Drg is at higher risk of animation lock with their jumps and from that observation a Drg is much more likely to faceplant than any other dps.. Nin have the same danger with Assassinate, but it isn't as frequent.

As for doing open-world content solo like beastman tribes, as long as your ilvl is high enough you can take on every mob in large pulls. Running through Sapsa Spawning Grounds use to annoy the hell out of me, but then I realized it's better to do it as DRG then WAR.. even though WAR is king of the solo, DRG dps numbers will wreck all those mobs in a 1/3 of the time & it's actually faster than just trying to bird through the aggro with heavy debuff.

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You're forgetting that Dragoons can cross class Foresight from Marauders.

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I don't think MNK/DRG should bother slotting Foresight. I'd take Fracture, Bloodbath, & Mercy Stroke, the other 2 slots for BfB & Invigorate (if monk), or Internal Release + Secondwind/Mantra (for drg)

1) Well, I suppose you are considering the suvability just so you can live through mechanics in case you mess up since its your first Melee DPS, right?
If so, NIN is much less forgiving than DRG.

Sure, NIN has perfect dodge, but dodging is not taking a punch to the face.

Also very important to consider if in content like CT you often end up taking up the adds off the rangeds (lets face it, its rare to see tanks that actually tank them all asap :/).


2) Personally I think TA is a nice bonus but its more for "others to DPS more" than you yourself doing more DPS.


3) I main NIN so Im biased to say NIN is more fun, but actually ROG mechanics are EXACTLY the same as LNC, so its almost the same... Im just not a fan of spears.


4) NIN is definitely more of a headache, DRG is a set dance, DRG can throw 2 oGCD without any trouble inbetween GCD since they dont care much about speed anyway.
NIN is very lag sensitive as many have said.
0~75 ping -> you'll be a bloodline inheritor NIN of the highest tier.
76~125 ping -> Still very playable and Raiton barely fits in GCD.
126~200 ping -> Things begin to get rough, Raiton will clip on your GCD.
201~400 ping -> Play DRG.
401< -> play BLM.

Are u susceptible to tunnel vision? ( do u find it difficult to focus on different things ) If yes, pick dragoon. Both classes involve maintaining dots and debuffs, but nin has the further speed buff and trick attack to also be mindful of.

Are you good at memorizing boss rotations? If no, pick nin. "loldrg" is basically a dragoon that dies in animation lock from casting wrong skills at wrong times. Very common to see this...

Do you like simple rotation? Pick dragoon.

Do you wanna pick the one that does more damage? Ninja.

Do you want to pick the one that doesn't suffer from not living inside the data centre? Pick dragoon.

Ninja is unquestionably more fun. Both classes are very similar. Both focus on maintaining debuff, buff, dots and when they aren't doing this, they do a 1,2,3 dps combo. Nin has this with mudras thrown on top. When they removed dragoon positionals they made the class a lot less interesting tbh. Less risky. Nin is a much higher risk class to play.

1. I would say the dragoon has better survival due to his higher armor and hp count
2. The dps isnt THAT much higher although i would say ninjas do more, they also can elevate the group/party with trick attack and goad
3. I really enjoy playing both roles, but i absolutely fell in love with the ninja on account of his justsu/mudra
4. Id say they are about the same diffuculty level, the dragoon has one buff that needs to be active pretty much the entire time while the ninja has no direction oriented attacks and thus can dodge and attack freely. That being said my ninja is IL111 and my DRG IL97 and yet i still find my drg hitting harder with some abilities.

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Originally Posted by Artaniss

1- Which of theses jobs has better survival?

2- How much more dps does ninja do then dragoon?

3- Which do you guys think is more fun ( although fun is subjective) would still like your opinion.

4- Which is easier to play?

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I play both, made a zeta on both, gearing both through FCoB and Poetics;

1- Both have comparable survival rate.
2- DPS is about even
3- Both are very satisfying, although I lean toward NIN because I love all things Ninja
4- All things being equal, the real difference between the two for me is playspeed. I love both jobs, but sometimes I get a bit bored on DRG with the slower GCD (although sometimes I'll get on DRG if I want to be a bit lazier lol)

Try both! It really comes down to personal preference, there's no clear cut winner between the two (besides mudra lag).

1) I have both DRG and NIN. My survival rate is nearly 100% on both minus unavoidable damage that causes raid wipe. However, I want to say that my NIN has a higher survival rate than my DRG because my response time is faster on NIN.

2) I'm not sure. I have no dps check program and I haven't touched a Striking Dummy in over a year. I will say, though, that based on hate list, my NIN does more dps.

3) I enjoy NIN more. Not necessarily for the fun, but because of the different things I can use to damage mobs.

4) If you're just using basic attacks, NIN is easier. When you need to get Mudras into the equation, things change. When is it safe to use Suiton? Should I use Huton or Doton since I screwed up Mudras? With DRG, there's just a rotation, and I find that easier to trigger than deciding if I should use Raiton or Suiton.

All in all, I liked NIN because people don't pay me any attention. I'm kinda just there to deal damage and Goad.

So, if you're kinda lazy, go DRG.

Ninjas move faster, have a better defensive cooldown, and I feel like dexterity provides more defense than strength does (even though the difference is pretty negligible). Ninjas also have higher effective dps but dragoon has more burst and better aoe. I have much more experience on dragoon but I feel like the "difficulty" of each class is fairly subjective. On ninja your abilities will come up faster so you will be hitting your abilites more often, but on dragoon you have more cooldowns to keep track of and your dps has some slight positioning requirements which ninja does not have for the most part.

Also, one joy of this game is that you can play both classes and see for yourself which one you feel like you do more dps with, or survive better with, or even just enjoy playing more. For me, I like drg because there's something about doing fancy elusive jumps and raining down death with dragonfire dive that just feels right.