Which dps class relies the least on cooldowns?

Started playing not too long ago and tried summoner 'cause it seemed fun. Although, i'm starting to get bored with the many long-ish cooldowns i hafta keep track of to maximize damage. Not to mention, making a mistake seems to really tank my dps.

Could anyone recommend a dps class whose output is more consistent, and relies less on cooldowns and stances? I'd rather not have 15 seconds of glory and then have mediocre output while i wait for stuff. Pretty much anything but monk i think.



EDIT: Hey guys, thanx for all the responses. ^_^

So it seems the consensus for, "non-MNK whose parser dps doesn't tank if you miss-time a cooldown or screw up your rotation," is BLM?

I was also kinda thinking this myself, but i was just hoping to reach out for some advice before i invest more time in another class. I was gonna try DRG, but people seem to say that if you mess up thier GL equivalent your output suffers.

Anyway thanx again. I'm gonna get this SMN to 60 before leveling a new job, so if anyone has any more opinions on the matter, more input is always appreciated.

Also, the only reason i didn't wanna play MNK is 'cause i usually play the punching stuff class in RPGs, so i just really wanted to try something different.

While all jobs do have CDs, I find DRG/BRD to be less reliant on them. But in return they have to juggle a few buffs/debuffs/positional.

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Originally Posted by InfiniteOmega

Started playing not too long ago and tried summoner 'cause it seemed fun. Although, i'm starting to get bored with the many long-ish cooldowns i hafta keep track of to maximize damage. Not to mention, making a mistake seems to really tank my dps.

Could anyone recommend a dps class whose output is more consistent, and relies less on cooldowns and stances? I'd rather not have 15 seconds of glory and then have mediocre output while i wait for stuff. Pretty much anything but monk i think.

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That is pretty much what Monk is..... takes a bit to charge up but once they hit their GL 3 they have the highest sustained DPS.

That's one of the things I enjoy about black mage. You probably have the least cooldowns to manage not only because there are so few, but also because they all line up so nicely since they're meant to be used together.

There's also the added benefit of filling the same role, and wearing the same gear as summoner. So it would be a pretty smooth transition as well.

Well, you could try blm, the only offensive cooldowns they have are raging strikes and enochian however I should warn you, while 1-59 blm is extremely easy once you hit 60 it becomes a lot more unforgiving since keeping up your 60 rotation involves juggling two timers (astral fire 3 and enochian) the recent buff to astral fire 3 is extremely helpful from what I've heard though. But I only know one blm main and haven't touched it myself since before the patch. Holy run on sentence Batman, whatever I'm on mobile and don't feel like fixing it.

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Originally Posted by Pence

While all jobs do have CDs, I find DRG/BRD to be less reliant on them. But in return they have to juggle a few buffs/debuffs/positional.

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what? Brds have lots of cd , IR , BFB , RS , Barrage, HE .

dont even try MCH if u dont like CDs...is way worse than brd.

BLM imo , u have RS and Leylines as DMG cds , Swiftcast makes next spell instant , and Sharpcast makes next spell procs 100% . Enochian too buts thats part of the rotation.

I can only think of BLM for this...
Enochian would be the main CD you would use, which has a 1 minute cooldown which isn't too long, the same as Aetherflow I recon. But since its duration can be extended till the CD itself renewes and everything about BLM is Bursty (even their DoT), it can be pretty fun regardless of you using CDs or not (again, except for enochian).

Tho, at mobbing, SMNer is a tad more fun to me, imo.

Also, the latest adjustments did marvels for the BLM!!

BLM. The best class. People say it's hard but honestly it's really not. Though if you play the class under lvl50 it makes me cry. Only cooldowns I find using is Rage Mage, Enoch, Ley Lines, Potion. Manaward and Mana Wall are also much appreciated.

And as a caster you can sprint at will with no repercussions.

I may be biased towards blm but perhaps give multiple jobs a try, Ninja may even be of your liking

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Originally Posted by Warlyx

what? Brds have lots of cd , IR , BFB , RS , Barrage, HE .

dont even try MCH if u dont like CDs...is way worse than brd.

BLM imo , u have RS and Leylines as DMG cds , Swiftcast makes next spell instant , and Sharpcast makes next spell procs 100% . Enochian too buts thats part of the rotation.

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He said their output isn't as reliant on the buffs that they use, not that they don't have many. I don't know much about many of the other classes but I think he simply means that you don't need to put much thought or planning into how you use them, at least relatively speaking.

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Originally Posted by Knahli

He said their output isn't as reliant on the buffs that they use, not that they don't have many. I don't know much about many of the other classes but I think he simply means that you don't need to put much thought or planning into how you use them, at least relatively speaking.

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If thats the case, MNK wouldn't be the nearest hit? I mean, all the real planning MNK do is on downtime O_o;;

Not BLM. You're entire DPS is balanced around juggling timers that are pretty tight.
For the opener you have to use Quelling Strikes, Ley Lines, Sharpcast, Raging Strikes, Enochian, Convert, Swiftcast and all but the last two are before you even start your rotation.
Further BLM are super gimped by mechanics and AoE puddles (because Ley Lines is like an AoE magnet).

TBH SMN is probably the place to go.

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Originally Posted by Pence

While all jobs do have CDs, I find DRG/BRD to be less reliant on them. But in return they have to juggle a few buffs/debuffs/positional.

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Drgs probably have the most offGCDs to manage, well, maybe 2nd to bard. Not a good recommendation IMO. But i do personally find drg easier to manage than smn.

OP - if want less to manage my rec would be monk or blm. I havent played blm at 60 but monk is pretty straightforward.

Monk. DPS is all sustained without much fluctuation as a result of cooldowns. Very few buff cooldowns (like 2 really) and all ur OGDs are essentially just used whenever they come up again, for the most part. :p

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Originally Posted by InfiniteOmega

Pretty much anything but monk i think.

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Edit: Also why don't you like Monk???

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Originally Posted by FunkyBunch

Not BLM. You're entire DPS is balanced around juggling timers that are pretty tight.
For the opener you have to use Quelling Strikes, Ley Lines, Sharpcast, Raging Strikes, Enochian, Convert, Swiftcast and all but the last two are before you even start your rotation.
Further BLM are super gimped by mechanics and AoE puddles (because Ley Lines is like an AoE magnet).

TBH SMN is probably the place to go.

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Summoner is the place you go if juggling DoT timers is your preferred art form along with the occasional 2 minute one time non nerfed Flare. And all your spells kinda well suck. And 1/3 of your DPS is tied to your pet. You'll be a great boss killer though with good mobility and a resurrect. However you have no defensive measures whatsoever. Then again I'm biased when I can pump out so much potency as a BLM that I AM A LIMIT BREAK.

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Originally Posted by MagiusNecros

Summoner is the place you go if juggling DoT timers is your preferred art form along with the occasional 2 minute one time non nerfed Flare. And all your spells kinda well suck. And 1/3 of your DPS is tied to your pet. You'll be a great boss killer though with good mobility and a resurrect. However you have no defensive measures whatsoever. Then again I'm biased when I can pump out so much potency as a BLM that I AM A LIMIT BREAK.

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I'm a BLMain too, but it's not easy. I think juggling dots is much easier than not being able to cast spells because of a dodge mechanic or another lava pool getting placed on your ley lines.

As a few have said, monk is the best way to go. It seems you're looking for a class that doesn't punish you for not having optimal CD management. As with any job, proper management of CDs is the way to get the most out of the job but with monk you'd only be losing out on a bit of higher sustain. As long as you maintain gl3 and keep dots up, you dps can't be bad. Regardless of how you lined up your CDs. Just use things as they come off CD and you'll be fine. Now this isn't to say that monk is easy. You'll still have to deal with all the positionals and you'll need to get used to using any down time (even 5 sec) when you can't attack the boss, effectively. And since monk's don't offer much raid utility, it's pretty important to play it effectively since a lot of the time your personal dps is all you bring to the group. But Based on your post, monk is the best way to go

Lol just seen that last bit about "anything but monk". Blm I guess

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Originally Posted by Arkenne

If thats the case, MNK wouldn't be the nearest hit? I mean, all the real planning MNK do is on downtime O_o;;

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I wouldn't know, sorry. I was just offering my impression of what the poster meant.

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Originally Posted by FunkyBunch

I'm a BLMain too, but it's not easy. I think juggling dots is much easier than not being able to cast spells because of a dodge mechanic or another lava pool getting placed on your ley lines.

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My problem with Summoner is I find it much too boring. And the fact it's more a Necromancer then a Summoner. With BLM I guess I feel involved.

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Originally Posted by Pence

While all jobs do have CDs, I find DRG/BRD to be less reliant on them. But in return they have to juggle a few buffs/debuffs/positional.

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Bard???
Hawk's Eye, Blood for Blood, Internal Release, Raging Strikes...even Quelling Strikes if you're going ham enough to need it
Plus two dots
Plus making sure Straight Shot procs line up nice with Empyreal Arrow....
no so no

I'd personally think BLM has some of the least CDs and timers...they're still there of course but some of the least.

Hey guys, thanx for all the responses. ^_^

So it seems the consensus for, "non-MNK whose parser dps doesn't tank if you miss-time a cooldown or screw up your rotation," is BLM?

I was also kinda thinking this myself, but i was just hoping to reach out for some advice before i invest more time in another class. I was gonna try DRG, but people seem to say that if you mess up thier GL equivalent your output suffers.

Anyway thanx again. I'm gonna get this SMN to 60 before leveling a new job, so if anyone has any more opinions on the matter, more input is always appreciated.

Also, the only reason i didn't wanna play MNK is 'cause i usually play the punching stuff class in RPGs, so i just really wanted to try something different.

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Originally Posted by FunkyBunch

I'm a BLMain too, but it's not easy. I think juggling dots is much easier than not being able to cast spells because of a dodge mechanic or another lava pool getting placed on your ley lines.

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I see this argument made all the time and I still take issue with it. It seems like it's confusing two different ideas and giving an overall incorrect impression. Black mage has a rotation that has fewer steps than almost every other job considering it revolves around using the same skill as many times in a row as possible. When it comes to learning and playing black mage in most content, it is functionally one of the simplest classes.

Fights that require heavy movement are essentially the one weakness of the class. And while I agree that they can add challenge to an otherwise easy class, that concept alone doesn't seem like enough to argue that the class is "so hard". I fail to see how having your cast interrupted by an aoe suddenly makes the class "difficult". It's absolutely frustrating, as no one likes being interrupted, but I've played a majority of the classes at lvl 60 and I've yet to experience a dps that can easily sit around and treat every fight like a striking dummy and never experiences missed attacks or interruptions. Meaning the one thing everyone cites as making black mage "hard" would still apply to every other job that also has a more complex rotation.

OP: The class you're thinking of is MNK, really. MNK's only got two damage buff CDs (Blood for Blood, Internal Release) and four off-GCD skills (Steel Peak, Shoulder Tackle, Forbidden Chakra, Elixir Field). If you just sat there and pounded your buff rotation and your damage rotation without doing anything else, you'd be pretty much 80% of the way to Hot Deeps--maybe in the range of "shorts and T-shirt deeps".

Also, whoever said MCH doesn't rely on CDs for damage must have been high or mis-read the job abbreviation. MCH is exactly what OP didn't want--15 seconds of amazingly high burst damage, then 60 seconds of "eh" plinking.

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Originally Posted by InfiniteOmega

Hey guys, thanx for all the responses. ^_^

So it seems the consensus for, "non-MNK whose parser dps doesn't tank if you miss-time a cooldown or screw up your rotation," is BLM?

I was also kinda thinking this myself, but i was just hoping to reach out for some advice before i invest more time in another class. I was gonna try DRG, but people seem to say that if you mess up thier GL equivalent your output suffers.

Anyway thanx again. I'm gonna get this SMN to 60 before leveling a new job, so if anyone has any more opinions on the matter, more input is always appreciated.

Also, the only reason i didn't wanna play MNK is 'cause i usually play the punching stuff class in RPGs, so i just really wanted to try something different.

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Be aware that blm has a mechanic that is similar to drg. The biggest difference is that drg has an attack that reduces the time left on the buff, so you have to do some managing of when or when not to use it.

It's definitely Monk. While they do have a fair amount of cooldowns, they do NOT rely on them to be powerful. That doesn't mean don't use them.
Bards rely on their CDs to make sure their damage does not sink like a rock. Also rigid.
Machinists has the same problem as Bard. With less DoTs, crits, and much more CDs!
Dragoon, absolutely requires CDs, to make sure their signature attacks don't suck.
Black Mage has the same problem as Dragoon. But only after level 50, and they are not signature attacks.
Summoner from the start requires cooldowns to be awesome. DoTs, then Aethercharge this, Aethercharge that. AETHERCHARGE! Also RAWR IMMA DRAGON RAWR!
Ninja...Ninjistu. That is all.

By the sounds of it OP is treating oGCDs and cooldowns as one and the same. That pretty much kills every class except blm, to be honest. The exception to this is dragoon and monk. Dragoon has 11 oGCDs/cooldowns total, while Monk has 8, counting invigorate in both cases. Black Mage has 5, but their rotation is why they're difficult, if that turns you off, you're stuck with one of the melee classes, and honestly, I'd recommend dragoon for having the easiest rotation so you can learn how to manage cooldowns.

Then again, if you're not gonna escape cooldown management, why not embrace it?

Try Summoner. It's the easiest of the cooldown heavy classes to get into. It is a little weird due to the aetherflow mechanic, but despite having to track 11 cooldowns, the majority sync up every minute mark, so they're easier to manage than it seems. I'm factoring in three for garuda's pet skills, one for the aetherflow skills (there's usually only one you have to wait on each minute, fester during DWT, bane for adds during a boss outside of DWT, or Painflare on trash), and one for the aethertrail timer. It is the epitome of 15s of power followed by a period of downtime, but the down time doesn't hold your damage back. The contagion you put on your dots during tri-disaster during DWT makes them last for three quarters of every minute, and you're free to use Ruin III outside of DWT for burst or to burn MP that would otherwise go to waste due to aetherflow. Once that's mastered, the class becomes more about making decisions during downtime than it is about adhering to a strict rotation. A lower period of downtime might also warm you up to those power phases too.

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Originally Posted by Grimoire-M

By the sounds of it OP is treating oGCDs and cooldowns as one and the same. That pretty much kills every class except blm, to be honest. The exception to this is dragoon and monk. Dragoon has 11 oGCDs/cooldowns total, while Monk has 8, counting invigorate in both cases. Black Mage has 5, but their rotation is why they're difficult,.....

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It doesn't really matter how many cooldowns a job has. The topic is who relies on them the least. Like in the BLM's case, again after 50 (58 or 60 to be exact), it's just enochian with its bag of issues. Without Enochian, you can't cast Fire 4. And without fire 4, you can't play with the big kids. :C
Where as monk, doesn't have anything like that. They're either attacks, buffs to boost anything you do, and the new skills that are involved with downtime. Granted not using them is a VERY bad thing. It's just that monk doesn't have to deal with an enochian, blood of the jumping dragon, being weak without CDs, RNG without CDs, building up CDs with more CDs, like everyone else does.

It's why I love MNK. It feels like the job whose playstyle didn't drastically change in HW like other jobs did. Every patch it keeps getting better with little fixes here and there. In turn, all you need to do is hit your positionals, weave in other cooldowns, and keep GL3 up as much as possible.

I wanted to try DRG, but right now I'm just not liking it's playstyle. MNK allows me to be a little flexible.