Highest DPS vs most fun

I know this is a loaded question and is up to personal opinion but I\\'m trying to find out what class has highest DPS and is fun to play.

I have a 32 NIN and already know I\\'m not going to like the mudra style stuff at all.

Just looking for opinions please.

My favorite color is blue. Hope this helps :P

Seriously, Jobs are mostly balanced and who's is supposed to know whats fun to you?

What you find fun is subjective. Some people like complicated jobs and being able to perform their mechanics in any situation. Like NIN, MNK, DRG, etc. Others prefer simpler mechanics that they don't need to think as much about so they can concentrate more on the specific encounter, like BRD or BLM.

Try MNK I guess. It's got high DPS and while the situational requirements can be a pain, probably is easier to deal with than mudras.

Like Spoekes said; the classes are currently very well balanced and all within range of each other. I'm sure some will shine in one situation more than another but all in all they are all capable.

As for fun? I personally adore my ninja. It's my favourite DPS. I love the speed they attack with, the burst they're capable of, and I love weaving in mudras.

IMO: my BLM trumps most DPS most of the time (end game gear and 135 relic) Only when a ninja or dragoon is able to stay on boss the entire time do they put out a bit more damage when equally geared. Really depends on fight. Love my BLM.

Because of the damage I have fun. I'm leveling BARD and enjoy the ability to jump all over the place. They have a more or less set rotation like BLM which may explain why I like it. Personally, I'm not a fan of melee so as others have stated, you'll have to determine if you like ranged or melee more. DOT DPS or not. For me, minimal doting and a ranged class.

How high on the dps chart is the bard? Is the bard looked for in end game content?

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Originally Posted by SamuelMSr

How high on the dps chart is the bard? Is the bard looked for in end game content?

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Lower than every other DPS, but most looked for.

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Originally Posted by SpookyGhost

Lower than every other DPS, but most looked for.

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What makes them useful if bad dps?

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Originally Posted by SamuelMSr

What makes them useful if bad dps?

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Songs to regenerate party TP and MP, and they can move while attacking which means they can deal with boss mechanics without losing damage output. :) And their DPS certainly isn't bad - they have very respectable burst DPS when using some cooldowns and with the Dragoon's Disembowel debuff on the target it's more than fine (dragoons and bards are friends - they give us TP and we give them 15% more damage).

I've mained DRG since forever and I love it, partly because I can put out insane amounts of damage and partly because it's so gloriously difficult to learn how to do properly. It's the same reason I prefer SCH over WHM when healing - there's just more to get right and more that can go wrong if you don't.

ALL jobs are balanced. ALL jobs have equal potential to pop the top. ALL jobs are capable of doing all the same things the others in their distinction can do. The only difference is play style. Most people that post about certain jobs being easy while others (the ones they actually main) are better. Truth is their all the same and the breakdown happens with you. I chose to max out all my jobs for full versatility so this opinion comes from having a working understanding of all the endgame classes.

I'm going to play bard, I like the idea of being support without healing (I healed in games for 12+ years, burned out on it.) I don't mind hard to play classes but don't want to play one right now and the NIN is not hard but I just don't like the mudra crap.

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Originally Posted by SamuelMSr

I'm going to play bard, I like the idea of being support without healing (I healed in games for 12+ years, burned out on it.) I don't mind hard to play classes but don't want to play one right now and the NIN is not hard but I just don't like the mudra crap.

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Great, and I just want to add another thing...

When you hear people say things about which job has higher DPS and which has lower etc. Most of the time, you have to consider the level of skill a player has... It's easy to say that MNK and NIN should be a fair chunk of DPS higher than a BLM for example, or that a BRD should be far behind the others, but people usually talk about the maximum potential of a job, which is harder or easier on different jobs.

I've played a lot of BLM for example, and while MNK, NIN and DRG should all be ahead of me on DPS on paper, that doesn't really happen too much. There are ofc players that can produce good numbers, but the majority of players don't, and jobs that are "easier" to play, like BRD, usually come closer to those melee DPS than they should on paper.

Just thought I should add that.

Someone playing Bard really well can do more DPS than someone playing a class with more DPS potential who is doing so suboptimally.

Bards get far less credit then they deserve tbh, i have out dpsed other classes even with Ballad up ;)
But yes it is supposed to be the lowest dps class but brings much needed to the group, mana refresh, tp refresh, elemental weakness, and dots so they are always needed.
Since many of the classes you will need cross class abilities i say level them all up to at least 30 and decide from there :)
All classes have their plus and minuses so do not go by the "Elite" players that say my class out dps all others and bleh bleh, do the class/job you will enjoy in the end and maximise your rotations and just have fun
PS Ninja has extremely high dps potential, but lag is the main issue with it currently. So yes it may not be for you

Bards can do really good DPS in certain situations that drive other jobs nuts, like frequent boss jumps and forced motion. Uptime is the best DPS buff.

Well, based on the point that you dont like the Mudras, then I guess NIN isnt for you anyway.
As a NIN I've seen myself outdpsed by the understimated ranged DPS more than once, specially because there are fights you just can't stay close of the boss all the time.

BRD uninterrupted DPS (even if gimped) really plays out well, you might enjoy it (I did enjoy lvling mine).
Some BLM on the other hand can dish out quite the nasty amounts (specially with the blessings of the RNGods)

Bards are dps with support potential, not support with dps potential. They are fun in their way of oGCDs and buffs.. I enjoyed brd a lot leveling despite my strongest impulses not to (i didn't want to fall in love and end up gearing up another post50 class, already limited on armory space T_T )

Monk is a lot of fun, and if you're not into weaving oGCDs into GCD (your Ninjistu comment) I think that one's worth a look. They still do, but not to the extent of some others, at least off the top of my head

Both questions are highly, highly circumstantial.

On a static target...
Monk > Ninja >= DRG > BLM > SMN > BARD.

In most instances though, that can change dramatically. T9 for instance, is REALLY great on ranged. It isn't uncommon at all to see a ranged out-DPS melee on it. T10 and 12 are extremely friendly on Casters too.


Fun depends on the person lol. As a megalomaniac, large numbers= <3 so BLM is the best.

What has most dps? Probably well-played BLM or MNK

What's my fav? Bard of course. And yes, I can beat BLM who aren't at the top of their game with their rotation.
Personally I don't particularly like MNK at all, even if it pulls the highest melee deeps, I just. Can't. I hate it. I love my BRD though. Getting to run around while firing, playing songs for my mates, it's great. Also I hate being up-close so getting to be as far away as possible is great for me.

Monk is arguably highest DPS but this is just for single target and achieving that DPS is usually fairly difficult. They can dish out insane damage but usually the party has to accommodate things for you. But damn, monk is so much fun.

Spoiler alert - this is going to come off as kind of elitist

Highest DPS only matters if you actually play your job well - A poorly played monk is going to do low DPS no matter how "optimal" it may be as a DPS option.
Further more, the optimal is based to an extent on the content you are doing - I pull higher numbers on summoner in T13 than our black mage usually does because of double-DoTing and other stuff, but I get spanked in T10.

Pick a Job or Jobs that you enjoy playing and don't worry about being optimal - Unless you are playing with a team of server-first clear seekers for high end raiding, the meta doesn't apply to you. I've done WoD runs with mnks pulling 101 dps (How I don't know but they pulled it off) and people coming in on Arcanist without a pet summoned (52 dps...) and guess what? we still cleared, got drops, and despite my complete and utter confusion, everyone else seemed to have fun.

All jobs with gear can meet the minimum DPS requirements for final coil at the moment. Again - it only matters if you're trying to bum-rush the content week 1, and if you are at the moment only level 32, i doubt you will be pouring hundreds of millions of gil into over melding crafted gear to be the first on your server to clear alexander any time in the immediate future.

Just enjoy the game :p

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Originally Posted by RissotoMissoto

Spoiler alert - this is going to come off as kind of elitist

Highest DPS only matters if you actually play your job well - A poorly played monk is going to do low DPS no matter how "optimal" it may be as a DPS option.
Further more, the optimal is based to an extent on the content you are doing - I pull higher numbers on summoner in T13 than our black mage usually does because of double-DoTing and other stuff, but I get spanked in T10.

Pick a Job or Jobs that you enjoy playing and don't worry about being optimal - Unless you are playing with a team of server-first clear seekers for high end raiding, the meta doesn't apply to you. I've done WoD runs with mnks pulling 101 dps (How I don't know but they pulled it off) and people coming in on Arcanist without a pet summoned (52 dps...) and guess what? we still cleared, got drops, and despite my complete and utter confusion, everyone else seemed to have fun.

All jobs with gear can meet the minimum DPS requirements for final coil at the moment. Again - it only matters if you're trying to bum-rush the content week 1, and if you are at the moment only level 32, i doubt you will be pouring hundreds of millions of gil into over melding crafted gear to be the first on your server to clear alexander any time in the immediate future.

Just enjoy the game :p

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TL;DR - Classes are mostly balanced and it depends on playerskill

nothing elitist in saying that

It goes NIN >DRG >MNK then the casters then brd assuming everyone is decent at their job

No job beats MNK in fun factor tho

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Originally Posted by ErzaScarlet77

It goes NIN >DRG >MNK then the casters then brd assuming everyone is decent at their job

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Doesn't really matter for this thread, but it's actually MNK > NIN > DRG > BLM > SMN > BRD

If you're basing it on dummy parses, it's not fair, because while NIN and DRGs DPS is really high on a short parse, it will slowly go down throughout the fight, MNKs is fairly low early in the fight and then increase and stay high throughout it. So in a long fight, MNK will come out on top, which is what matters, because raid fights are long.

But like have been said, it comes down to skill

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Originally Posted by Craiger

Doesn't really matter for this thread, but it's actually MNK > NIN > DRG > BLM > SMN > BRD

If you're basing it on dummy parses, it's not fair, because while NIN and DRGs DPS is really high on a short parse, it will slowly go down throughout the fight, MNKs is fairly low early in the fight and then increase and stay high throughout it. So in a long fight, MNK will come out on top, which is what matters, because raid fights are long.

But like have been said, it comes down to skill

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Monk's damage advantage is debatable.
They aren't actually top on anything on DnT's leaderboard and Lucrezia's recent T10 speedrun had the Ninja outdamaging the Monk by a fair bit.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=722665224
https://twitter.com/Darkwis00/status/588015938542370817

T10 SRs aren't really the best places to judge DPS since they're basically built on cheesing AOE.

That said, NIN > DRG/MNK.

NIN contributes more overall party damage and does roughly the same DPS as MNK, if not slightly higher. All without having positionals. Weeee.

DRG also does fantastic DPS, but is behind MNK - it makes up for this by increasing the BRDs DPS. The problem with this is that the BRD needs to be exceptional or at least good to warrant DRG over MNK in terms of DPS.

MNK buffs Ifrit's DPS and provides an all-important INT down which is pretty much a god-send for progression (also the only useful Mantra). The INT down allows for the healer to potentially DPS more, depending on how the fight works and all that stuff. MNK's major downside is that it falls flat in fights where it consistently loses GL3, whereas DRG/NIN don't have that problem.

That saaaaaaaid the only real point besides speedruns to have min/max DPS is for progression. You will, 9 times out of 10, want a MNK for DK and Mantra over NIN/DRG for their pure DPS output. You can basically play any of the 3 and be fine, but MNK receives a huge boon in progression content due to their utility.

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Originally Posted by CGMidlander

Monk's damage advantage is debatable.
They aren't actually top on anything on DnT's leaderboard and Lucrezia's recent T10 speedrun had the Ninja outdamaging the Monk by a fair bit.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=722665224
https://twitter.com/Darkwis00/status/588015938542370817

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NIN essentially has the DPS of MNK without the worry of positionals or GL stacks falling off. On a target dummy, they will end up very close to each other.

I have never seen a NIN out-DPS me when I play dragoon. Monks, occasionally, but never a ninja. Maybe I've just not met the right ninjas yet, but yeah.

Despite not having a MNK myself, I do feel that their GL stacks should be tweaked somewhat - as it is now, I hear it's very difficult to LB3 without losing your stacks. That just sounds too harsh. I don't mind being on LB duty in my static, but I think it's unfair to the monks.

When I said MNK > NIN > DRG, I meant Average sustained DPS in a perfect scenario

The spreadsheet showed above, is in Final Coil, and unless all of them do the fights 100% perfect, or at least exactly same as the others, those numbers are meaningless.

From my experience, both NIN and DRG have bigger DPS swings during a fight, and depending on different outcomes, while MNK is pretty stable throughout the fight. When people show DPS, they usually take the highest numbers they have ever seen, which won't vary much for MNK, while it certainly will for NIN and DRG

Another thing, while I don't know how it affect the parse exactly, but if you take T10 for example, there are adds phases, which is not a perfect scenario.

If we are to really test who's highest, we would have to do it on a dummy parse that's like 6+ mins IMO, so you would have to have a BRD/NIN around to help with TP, and another STR based DPS (otherwise NIN gets extra DEX bonus). If that's done many times, then I could believe something like NIN being higher than MNK.

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Originally Posted by Craiger

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Of course, and on a dummy I might struggle to keep up. Still, I don't know any i130 NINs so I really couldn't say for myself. As for non-perfect scenarios, if you take T10 for instance, for melees it's all about getting the add phase "right" if you want to keep your DPS above a certain threshold. For me, that threshold has been 500 when measured over the entire fight, but now that I've discovered the beauty of target lock (yeah, two years into the game and I've never used it!) I'm going to have to raise that a little, I imagine. Assuming party DPS is high in T10, I can finish the fight without TP assistance so I'm less dependent on my beloved bards there. DRG output takes a bit of planning, but as long as I always have Phlebotomize and CT on any target and Disembowel on my main target, my damage output will be fairly consistent throughout the fight.

Them using LB3 and losing their stacks is warranted in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by seekified

I have never seen a NIN out-DPS me when I play dragoon. Monks, occasionally, but never a ninja. Maybe I've just not met the right ninjas yet, but yeah.

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Yeah, you need to play with better NINs.

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Originally Posted by OneWingedSora

Yeah, you need to play with better NINs.

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Cosign. NIN>=DRG>MNK. MNK is just outclassed right now with gear scaling in the favor of NIN and DRG.

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Originally Posted by Ephier

Cosign. NIN>=DRG>MNK. MNK is just outclassed right now with gear scaling in the favor of NIN and DRG.

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Not sure if baiting.

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Originally Posted by KikoriL

Not sure if baiting.

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I am not joking. People are constantly repeating MNK is highest DPS, just because that is what they see when they search information about DPS all the time. With the introduction of NIN in 2.4 and DRG buffs in 2.45, the melee balance was evened out. Now that gear is so easy to come by, people are decked out in BIS setups and it has been proven, that MNK has indeed been dethroned as DPS king. I am not saying MNK is a bad class or anything, I am just saying at the current point in time with current gear, NIN and DRG are stronger than MNK. Even in terms of utility, as DK is not and never was necessary to complete content. Disembowel and Trick Attack increased raid DPS and improve overall burst on targets that need to disappear. Currently MNK is losing out in terms of utility (debatable, I have been lucky enough to have two good healers who can deal with lack of DK even during progression) and DPS. MNKs high risk, high reward play style is not able to keep up with the low risk of DRG and NIN. I really hope MNK is improved upon in 3.0.

Uh... huh.

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Originally Posted by OneWingedSora

Yeah, you need to play with better NINs MNKs.

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Originally Posted by KikoriL

Uh... huh.

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Parroting the "monk top dps lulz" dogma doesn't necessarily make it true.
The best monks are not necessarily able to perform better than the best ninjas, especially outside of a dummy scenario.

Having partied with a 600+ DPS MNK quite a bit recently (650 when we're all being tryhards), it wasn't so much parroting as just waiting for something substantial. It's not a number I see people hit much outside dummies.
"Substantial", however, came since my posts from the very same MNK mentioning he's most likely keeping his lead in his coil group explicitly because the resident NIN doesn't weave potions into his fights. Hasn't been tested, but if he's willing to say it about his own DPS being passable, I'll believe it.

However, NIN can produce the same numbers whilst buffing Raid DPS and Goading the MNK to allow him/her to maintain DPS.

EDIT: In what turns is the MNK doing that DPS?