Not sure DPS

Ok so I love healing as a WHM. I need to get a DPS job to pick and can't decide.

Now I like to dps but I don't want it to be so bad that I'm spending maybe more time moving then not. I get it maybe blm but would love something different.

Well since you already like WHM, maybe give Summoners a try. You should already have Arcanist to atleast lvl 15 for WHM, and if you find you don't like it you ALSO have Scholar leveled up for a different type of healing that you may like. You also only need to move in order to get out of AoEs.

How's machinist?

Well mine is still in the 30s so I'm going off things I've heard here.

30-50 its very similar to Bard, 50-60 also still very similar but I think the gameplay diverges a bit. As well you get the Gauss Barrel (Wanderer's Minuet for Bard) that makes you more powerful by turning you into a caster essentially.

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Originally Posted by XeroXelence

How's machinist?

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Just got mine to 60 a couple days ago and it's been fun.

All the classes are good, there is no right or wrong choice, you gotta be a bit more specific with your questions if you want better answers!

I'd say - pick one of the melee jobs. They're fast (nice change of pace from a caster) and practice with them will give your better understanding not only for the DPS, but for the tanks too.

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Originally Posted by Dualblade

Well mine is still in the 30s so I'm going off things I've heard here.

30-50 its very similar to Bard, 50-60 also still very similar but I think the gameplay diverges a bit. As well you get the Gauss Barrel (Wanderer's Minuet for Bard) that makes you more powerful by turning you into a caster essentially.

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I disagree?

I loathe Bard - the combat is incredibly boring and non-interactive in my own personal opinion - though I only have it to 26.
Machinist is much more fast-paced (to me) and has far less upkeep to worry about. Every 30s you hit a couple buttons and the rest of the time you spend using your main damage skills, which proc for quasi-combos. The combos can be forced to proc using the Ammo skills (1 per 15s and 5 per 60s, caps at 5 ammo) which makes the job really much more dynamic than Bard, at least in my opinion.

Like - they're similar in that they're ranged physical dps who gain cast bars at level 52.
However, they're vastly different in that Machinist is all built around getting procs and capitalizing on them whereas Bard is built around maintaining DoTs and capitalizing on a handful of important/powerful off-gcd skills while managing a 15s cooldown off-gcd gcd skill. Plus, Machinist has a turret buddy that is essentially an auto-attack with built in party damage buffs that don't cost a gcd and a half to activate.

The playstyle is vastly different, despite them both filling the same role. Saying they're very similar with minorly divergent gameplay is akin to bringing that same argument to MNK and NIN because they're both quick-hitting melee dps.

However, yeah. I recommend picking up a few and playing them for a bit. Everyone has different preferences and play styles, so it's best to give different ones a shot and see which fits how you'd rather play:

Dragoon - strict combo-based melee dps with a small amount of RNG and moderate levels of resource management.
Monk - fast-paced melee dps based heavily on positional requirements and effective resource management.
Ninja - mixed-attacking quick melee dps based in a more fluid combo rotation with very light resource management.

Bard - DoT upkeep and juggling half a million off-gcd skills to maintain dps while juggling movement and short cast times. Large support capabilities.
Machinist - Proc-based gameplay that similarly juggles a million off-gcd skills with a turret that augments and amplifies party damage. Large support capabilities.

Black Mage - static caster with a strict rotation of Fire > Ice > Fire > Ice with heavy resource management and massive penalties for moving improperly.
Summoner - mobile caster with very few cast-time spells with a rewarding (or punishing) resource system that sees you shifting between heavy damage and upkeep phases throughout the fight.

^ Well you prob loathe Bard because your only an Archer and not actually a Bard?
Kidding aside, i say OP to try multiple classes and see which one interests you more. Ninja, Monk or Dragoon may even be of interest to you.
While i have never mained Dragoon, i always found it to be fun

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Originally Posted by Maero

^ Well you prob loathe Bard because your only an Archer and not actually a Bard?

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Such sass Ish. But in all honesty it's a good point. I pretty much find any class before about 40 to be dull and mundane. Having played my wife's bard at 50, I enjoyed it. Leveling archer to 26 was like pulling teeth. MCH is quite fun but you have to like cool down micro management. I find it fun but it is not for everyone.

I'm in the same boat. Got DRG to 51, and realized keeping the massive set of combos up, while avoiding boss mechanics seemed daunting. Got MCH to 51, and discovered that for the movement sacrafice, the DPS just didn't seem to be decent enough. Started working on BLM(36), but i can see where massive movement fights are really going to irritate me. I have to make a choice between MCH and DRG, and just stick with it, but i can't decide. I like the aesthetics of all three dps classes, but i've yet to find one that has that ideal dps payoff per skill or con. I'm seriously thinking of just sticking with MCH at this point, but idk...

WHM being an MP-user, I'd suggest SMN or BLM.

I started as CNJ, but went BRD as my first DPS class. I am a NIN main, now, though.

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Originally Posted by Veji

I'm in the same boat. Got DRG to 51, and realized keeping the massive set of combos up, while avoiding boss mechanics seemed daunting. Got MCH to 51, and discovered that for the movement sacrafice, the DPS just didn't seem to be decent enough. Started working on BLM(36), but i can see where massive movement fights are really going to irritate me. I have to make a choice between MCH and DRG, and just stick with it, but i can't decide. I like the aesthetics of all three dps classes, but i've yet to find one that has that ideal dps payoff per skill or con. I'm seriously thinking of just sticking with MCH at this point, but idk...

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Not going to lie; in situations like that, I'd rather miss my positional and hit the mob normal than to NOT use the positional and risk losing my buff.

DRG is always a winner, and everybody loves seeing them in groups. MCH is fun, but it's much more work/upkeep than BRD for slightly more (or the same) damage as BRD.

Anyway, OP, play whatever your heart desires. I originally set out in XIV to be a MNK main, and it was my sixth job to 60...

Brd and MCH = low damage with high utility
SMN and MNK = death by a thousand cuts. MNKs have far more positionals to deal with but have almost no group support. SMN requires a bit of micromanagement and better support than BLM

DRG = Long setup with some nice burst. I find jumps to be some of the most fun abilities in the game. Added bonus they get the coolest gear...
BLM = Probably the simplest of all DPS. Lots of burst... especially in AoE.
NIN = Lots of utility but generally less damage than MNK or DRG. Less positional skills but Lag + Ninjitsu = bad

Need to play all of them a little to get a basic idea what they are like. If you really love being ranged then another ranged job wont be that much different. If you want to get a better understanding of fights but don't want to tank then melee would be best. To really know a fight you need to do it as range/heals and melee/tank.

DRG = Strict combo rotation and some positionals. Jump every 30 sec. Party dps buff.
NIN = Different length combos and lots of buffs and debuffs. Ninjutsu every 20 sec. Party support.
MNK = The most positionals and a flexible combo system where you have a choice of 2 or more skills for each step of the combo. A stacking buff that has to be kept up with combos. Suffers most from not being able to hit boss (I think?).

BRD, MCH = Priority rotations based on dot timers and procs. Party support.
BLM = Strict rotation based on timers, procs and mp usage. Suffers most from movement.
SMN = Priority rotation based on dot timers. Gains and uses Aetherflow and Aethertrail Attunement stacks. Pet control is required for optimal dps. Some party utility.

My favourite caster is SMN because of its mobility and easy basic "rotation". You just put dots on, use up Aetherflow to gain Aethertrail and use the correct filler cast in between. It's really easy to manage while dodging and allows you to focus on the fight. The most annoying parts are controlling the pet, swapping to adds if you don't have your instant-dots move available and losing Aethertrail when the boss goes invulnerable.

Out of melees I prefer MNK because of how flexible the combo system is compared to other melee. When boss adds come, you don't have to worry about being in the wrong combo. Swapping between single target and aoe is fluid. Their oGCD moves are straightforward aoes and they have something to do during boss invulnerability periods. The most annoying parts are trying to do positionals when the enemies are moving or their arse is in a puddle of fire, and losing their stacked buff (but unlike SMN it doesn't affect the rotation). You can recover from that fast every 3 minutes with a buff. I'm still leveling MNK but by looking at the skill list I can already tell it's my favourite melee.

If you don't want to level them all to try them out, I recommend at least searching their skill/spell list online and figuring out how the rotation works at level cap. Then discard the classes that have a mechanic you find really annoying and try out the rest.

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Originally Posted by Veji

I have to make a choice between MCH and DRG, and just stick with it, but i can't decide.

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It's important to note that the penalty for missing positionals with DRG is incredibly tiny. It used to be massive, but combos no longer break and effects still activate now, even when you miss it, so it's really not so bad. It's also literally two combos, not a massive set by any means.

H>IDC4>P>TTT4

Simple, rote, to the point. Pre-56, you're working with
H>IDC>P>TTT>TTT

But it's really not as bad as it seems? It's generally the HT>IDC>P>TTT part and mechanics will eat the rest of the HT timer so you just start over. :0

If you stop thinking about it as 8 buttons and start thinking of it as 2 combos, it becomes a lot easier to manage the chunks and understand how the Job functions and plays.

Maybe ill give DRG another go. Thanks Jack! I appreciate the advice.

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Originally Posted by JackFross

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Just going off some things I've seen from other posters, my exp with both is limited. Bard 51 and Mch 35 so I don't have a good comparison for their status endgame. About the only thing I have to say is that Ninja and Monk seem to diverge much earlier on...but that could also just be me.

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Originally Posted by Kazumac

Such sass Ish. But in all honesty it's a good point. I pretty much find any class before about 40 to be dull and mundane. Having played my wife's bard at 50, I enjoyed it. Leveling archer to 26 was like pulling teeth. MCH is quite fun but you have to like cool down micro management. I find it fun but it is not for everyone.

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you know it ;)