Thinking of Expanding My Repertoire...

I currently main red mage and summoner. I was considering adding a DPS job that isn't black mage to my list of jobs, but I'm not sure where to start. I do have at least a cursory knowledge of all jobs, but I thought I'd ask here...

What would be good to start with as a DPS Disciple of War, especially for someone who's used to being a Disciple of Magic and particularly if I chose a melee job?

I think it really comes down to personal taste. I always rolled healer and caster but pleasantly enjoyed Dragoon but hated Monk. Although Bard would be a good choice as it retains the ranged play of casters but is a physical job with utility. One that I enjoyed somewhat in ARR but have not touched since SB came out after leveling through PotD to 60 in HW.

Hope you find a good fit!

I had played SMN in the beginning of heavensward and switched to AST about a third of the way through. When stormblood came out I went for SAM first and picked that up relatively well I think. Also fiddled around with NIN, which was pretty fun too. If you are worried about positionals, neither of them have too many and the SAM is probably the most forgiving with them.

I recommend Ninja, its really fun to play it, lots of button hitting. I love it :)

I would suggest unlocking the other physical DPS jobs and just play with them for a while (up to about 15-30) to get an idea of how they play then make a decision from there.

PotD may not be the best way to learn a job (since everything dies to a sneeze in there) but it does give you an idea of how the jobs play at 60, and with knowing a good rotation can give you an insight to if you would want to play that job for 60-70 levels.

I think all dps jobs are very fun to play right now (except smn, but I never really liked smn to begin with). As Lildragora said though, I suggest you pick a ranged dps since you're used to doing dps from a distance. Not because melee jobs are harder, but simply because having your character under the boss' arse for the whole fight can be confusing the first few times. I personally prefer MCH gameplay, but they are both very enojoyable.

Well there are other ranged DPS like BRD and MCH. BRD being good utility to the party and MCH kinda in limbo but taking baby steps to where it ought to be. However, if you're looking to move away from both the cast bar and the ranged distance, melee is gonna depend on what you want out of it. Samurai is relatively easy, if you're looking for something easy, with the added cheat of being level 50. But everybody is different, I spent time levelling each. But one issue with going 15-30, is that some jobs don't bloom until later levels, which is frustrating to anybody wanting a taste. For example, I didn't start enjoying DRG until some time after level 40, whereas MNK I even enjoyed in Sastasha. MNK is also a good job to learn if you ever want to tank, why? Because you'll appreciate positionals much better and know how frustrating it is when somebody keeps turning the mobs. :P

For the most basic melee experience Monk is very straightforward. Out of all the melee Monk has the most positionals but getting used to them is important if you want to expand into other melee jobs. The rotation is also very simple at it's core, you have access to two combos of which steps are interchangeable, making it a very fluid job to play.

Samurai is also very simple at it's core but does require a little more foresight as to what you can pop and when. Very OGCD heavy job as the majority of your damage comes from Hissatsu: Shinten spam. Few positionals.

Ninja and Dragoon both fall into the same category of being very timing sensitive and requiring knowledge about your other party members. While their core rotations are not difficult either, they do have more things that you need to keep track of and time correctly to make the majority out of your job.

TL;DR: Monk if you just want to punch things very hard. Samurai if you want to do the same and have slightly more knowledge of other jobs. Ninja or Dragoon if you want to be a buffbitch (Just kidding, I love you guys.)

If you've never played a melee job before, you might not know how to read the target circle yet. The gap in the back is "rear", and to the sides of the gap is "flank".
Screenshot:

http://i.imgur.com/HVP2IBW.jpg

Well... I mean with that title you pretty much have to go Bard.

I would have to say try ARC (and of course BRD).

I'm a tank first, healer second (though I'm slowly reversing the two)... I leveled NIN to 60 during HW and now I've been doing SAM (which I love!)

Well, my ARC was sitting on 16 because of some other class, oh yes, back before the BLM Physick nerf I was in the middle of leveling that and had to do ARC to 16.

Well lately I've been doing ARC again and I've been loving it. I took it into PotD and even without the BRD crystal, I'm staying near the top of the threat meters when I'm in a full group of DPS classes/jobs and I've even gotten commendations. Being able to move around so much while doing DPS can be fun, kiting mobs is fun, holding hate but yet staying at range from the Floor 60 boss is fun.

I think the next DPS class I'm going to mess around with other than maybe NIN (it's already 60 with tomestone gear) will be BRD. Just need to get it to 30 to get the Crystal and then get back to more PotD!

Only bad thing I'd say about ARC is that until Level 30 (not sure what BRD is like after), the rotation is... mind-numbingly easy and it stays easy, unless BRDs get a lot of stuff between 30 and 60. As a 60 ARC, 1 buff colldown, 3 instant attacks (one applies status, and the other sometimes triggers the other to be better), an execute, and a semi-cooldown attack. That's...... it. I would hope BRD actually adds frequently used abilities because that seems even more lean than PLD.

Oh wait, I have 2 status debuff attacks, nevermind. still getting used to that one. Rarely get the chance to fire them both before whatever I was targeting is dead though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ceallach

I was considering adding a DPS job that isn't black mage to my list of jobs

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Shush

Go Blm...

I'm torn between dragoon and ninja at the moment.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Finkledoodoo

Shush

Go Blm...

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You shush! XD

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ceallach

I'm torn between dragoon and ninja at the moment.



You shush! XD

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With being down to the two jobs, I'd for sure say level them both up to at least 30 and see how they feel. I'd imagine one would seem more in your favor than the other by that point.