Most Sought-after DPS class?

I'm a tank main here( not sure how good I am since I've not done much actual raiding) wondering about some other class I can play (easier to run stuff the first time as a dps after all, no tank anxiety). I'd prefer something that people actually want/need plenty. I'm sure this can differ from server to server and even time of day, but i'm overall just curious. Who is the most sought-after dps class, given optimal dps output?

2 Melee / 1 Ranged / 1 Caster
Melee: Dragoon, Ninja, Monk
Ranged: Bard
Caster: Summoner

2 Melee / 2 Ranged
Melee: Dragoon, Ninja/Monk
Ranged: Bard, machinist

3 Melee / 1 Ranged
Melee: Monk, Dragoon, Ninja
Ranged: Bard

1 Melee / 1 Ranged / 2 Caster
Melee: Ninja/Dragoon
Ranged; Bard/Machinist
Caster: Summoner, Black Mage

1 Melee / 2 Ranged / 1 Caster
Melee: Dragoon
Ranged: Bard, Machinist
Caster: Summoner

Mmh, I don't see RDM anywhere, considering it's a really great DPS class for progression/casual raiding. But as many people will probably say it soon, play the DPS that attracts you the most. Only BLM and SAM seems pretty much shunned by the community, even though all class are viable at raiding. If you however wants to be sure to find a quick spot in any roster, play NIN/BRD/DRG.

Eh, to be fair you can fit Red Mage in any caster slot, though in a 2 caster set up there's not enough physical for Embolden and Summoner already has the emergency raise.

All this advice primarily applies if you plan to try the harder content. Your savages and whatnot. If your goal is to do normal dungeons, normal raids, and alliance raids - you know, DF stuff... if thats your goal, then your choice of class is almost aesthetic. Sure, it makes a bit of difference, but the difference between someone who knows their class and someone who doesnt is much greater.

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Originally Posted by Dhaid

I'm a tank main here( not sure how good I am since I've not done much actual raiding) wondering about some other class I can play (easier to run stuff the first time as a dps after all, no tank anxiety). I'd prefer something that people actually want/need plenty. I'm sure this can differ from server to server and even time of day, but i'm overall just curious. Who is the most sought-after dps class, given optimal dps output?

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To be honest phys range and for melee DRG or NIN and you will pretty much always have a spot in a party if you are one of those I'm a caster main and casters just don't have the synergy and for groups pushing high dps you will not see a caster slot...I would avoid BLM and SAM people are obsessed with what you offer the party and those two raw dps just doesnt make up for what they don't offer the party...

If I had to pick one I'd say Ninja. Its utility is just super good, and people seem to main it a lot less than the other highly sought melee, Dragoon. Bards would be too but they are one of the most common DPS I think, going by polls released now and then.

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Originally Posted by Nobuyoki

Mmh, I don't see RDM anywhere, considering it's a really great DPS class for progression/casual raiding. But as many people will probably say it soon, play the DPS that attracts you the most. Only BLM and SAM seems pretty much shunned by the community, even though all class are viable at raiding. If you however wants to be sure to find a quick spot in any roster, play NIN/BRD/DRG.

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And that's all it's good for. RDM has low dps compared to blm/smn and its raises arent useful outside of progression. Compare RDM to SMN. SMN has a Swiftcast>Raise. If you need to raise more than 2 times or so a minute (also considering cohealer), then you'll likely wipe to enrage anyway. Also compared to SMN, it has no rdps contribution. So SMN has significantly more personal DPS, and has Devotion for rdps. Embolden is almost a joke. It should really be at most 90s like Devotion.

If you play DRG/BRD/NIN, you will never be denied from a group (obviously this isn't considering if they already *have* one).

The problem is how hard it is to be a good player on those jobs. For SigSavage, BRD/DRG are at 38k and 35k parses respectively, and the next highest is NIN at 30k. And an unpopular job like MCH is 11k.

SAM... I can hope.

Echoing what others have said:

For melee, DRG/NIN
For ranged, Bard
For casters, Summoner, but casters overall are less popular than ranged from what I hear.

Basically as long as you’re DRG/NIN/BRD you’re nearly guaranteed a spot in most parties

In terms of most popular job I’d definitely say Bard, it’s the easiest to do well on, has absolutely no limitations to its dps (like positionals or cast times), has a ton of party utility that doesn’t affect its dps, doesn’t require being close to the boss, no combos, class mechanics are entirely rng based and thus don’t require management (you can’t use abilities that affect your mechanics outside of Empyreal Arrow).

If you want the easiest time, use Bard, as most already do

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Originally Posted by Nobuyoki

Mmh, I don't see RDM anywhere, considering it's a really great DPS class for progression/casual raiding.

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Rdm kinda still has its own place through out all the dd-cls' imo... they are great and outstanding for content like Palace (its still just a RDM who holds the Necromancer title) or Eureka - and well like you said for progression to push further phases... but the back-draw for these advantages is the actually the endgame... there is no given reason to take one for speedkills/farms in the end cause they'll always would either bring a loss in personal dps or even worse in grp-overall-dps : /

for the topic-question I would also say depending on grp comp Nin/Drg for Melees, Smn for Caster or Brd/Mch for range would always be a good choice - all of them are pf-friendly and have advantages in synergy/utility.

I would rather have a skilled dps player rather than what some “meta” says. Though I gotta say I am getting sick of doing dungeons with bards playing zero songs or redmages hard casting(yes at lvl70).

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Originally Posted by Luin

And that's all it's good for. RDM has low dps compared to blm/smn and its raises arent useful outside of progression. Compare RDM to SMN. SMN has a Swiftcast>Raise.

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I'm confused here.

How is
Swiftcast -> Ressurection
any different from
Swiftcast -> Verraise

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Originally Posted by Makeda

I'm confused here.

How is
Swiftcast -> Ressurection
any different from
Swiftcast -> Verraise

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It isn't. Summoner, however, does substantially higher damage and brings superior raid utility.

tl;dr The most rare kind of DPS, ones who are competent.

The most sought dps class is ninja by far. Along with that you'll want a drg. However, it's very easy to find a drg because a lot of people play it, contrary to the ninja. So ninja is clearly the most sought. It's actually really really hard to recruit a ninja for a static. All rotation are made to align with raid buff, but mostly to align with Trick Attack.

So if we were to rank the DPS in terms of how sought they are...

Starting with most to least?

Are we looking at something like:

Bard
Ninja
Summoner
Dragoon
Machinist
Black Mage
Monk
Red Mage
Samurai

Or do I have this order all wrong?
I don't play DPS really - I play tanks and healers. But I've got 2 alts I've been working on "on the side"... and this thread is basically telling me my Job picks are going to lock them out of raiding (Monk and Red Mage - they were Ninja and Bard but I switched recently for the animations of monk and because I found myself doing 1/3rd the DPS of even other Bards with Bard and couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, while om red mage I can beat other red mages by 10-100% - all of this in leveling content though).

But I am curious if that's correct, and what the general take is.

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Originally Posted by Makeda

So if we were to rank the DPS in terms of how sought they are...

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So i'll try help with understanding what's going, you've to understand that the "most sought classes" is defined by the META, embodied by less than 1% of the players. I'll try to map it for you based on my experience and my knowledge of the game. I must add that any class is good enough to clear and what actually matters the most is, the skill of each player.

The most historical and set composition is : PLD - WAR - SCH - AST - NIN - DRG - BRD - MCH.
Since the last buff of the monk, it seems that a triple melee could have a chance I can't confirm it right now : PLD - WAR - SCH - AST - NIN - DRG - MNK - BRD.

Therefore, you've up there the most sought classes as they're META in terms of optimization and speedkills. Speedkills means that if someone dies, they'll wipe and restart so there's no need of raising for example. Take in mind that depending on the fights, META is not set. It seems that SMN could be META in o7s for example.

Now, to "prog" and to prog really quickly, you want the ability to raise to see the upcoming mechanics. If you look at the world first race, they always use a RDM that can raise like crazy. They'll also use a WHM thanks to his insane capacity to heal and top up players really quickly. Note that I'm refering again to highly efficient players who clear day 1, in less than 24h. They basically see a mechanic once, then perfectly execute it on the next try. They also deal an unhumain amount of DPS which let them actually use classes that DPS less than others - with higher learning curve because optimization in dps is not really the thing at this point.

The typical META prog : PLD - WAR - WHM - SCH - NIN - DRG - BRD - RDM.

So you can already see the pattern here : the most wanted DPS classes are Ninja, dragoon and bard.

Ninja being the less played class by the mass, can be considered as the most sought in that sense even though they're all three super wanted - also being called "The Holy Trinity".

Now for the ultimate prog (UCOB), many group would often replace the RDM by the SMN because of its insane DPS, some utility and the capacity to raise (not like the RDM tho). Also the turn was harder, more punishing, more wipe hence more time to practice which would allow classes with lower learning curves. You could see different compositions but the only class that would remain was the ninja.

A general ranking would be more like :

- Ninja - Solely because on my experience it is hard to find a ninja.
- Dragoon
- Bard

- Red Mage - Summoner - Depending on the difficulty of the turn and the DPS of the group. If your group prog really fast and has enough dps, rdm is a good choice. If your party do not aim to rush the content (in a day, or in a week) or struggle with DPS, SMN would be a better choice. Heavily populated jobs.
- Machnist. Heavily sought for speedkills and good substitue for the bard, very low populated class.
- Monk - It's a really nice class because it has mantra and brotherhood which makes it totaly fine but nowhere close to the NIN. Will usually be considered if getting a ninja is too hard. Moderatly populated class.

- Black Mage.
- Samourai.

I hope this can be helpful.

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Originally Posted by Kaimishi

So i'll try help with understanding what's going, you've to understand that the "most sought classes" is defined by the META, embodied by less than 1% of the players. I'll try to map it for you based on my experience and my knowledge of the game. I must add that any class is good enough to clear and what actually matters the most is, the skill of each player.

I hope this can be helpful.

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Thanks, that does help.

I've got an Elezen that is at 55-RDM 54-BRD and a Hyur at 60-MNK 34-Ninja...
- two alts I just started to refocus on.

I could switch what I'm doing with the Elezen and go back to Bard. The Hyur looks like a long slog in Palace of the Dead if I want to do Ninja.

Spent the morning with the Bard guide open on one window and playing the Bard in "Palace of the Dead" where I got lucky to group with other bards 3 times - thus far notice I can never match to even half their DPS. If I switch to Red Mage, I can usually flip that and be double of any other red mage, and reliably #1 for the run. That of course is Palace of the Dead where people just spam random stuff... but their random stuff outdoes my 'solid attempt to master a guide based rotation, by double...

I also notice Bards in general in there are usually the bottom end of the DPS. I get that they bring buffs but do they sacrifice a LOT of DPS as a result? It seems like you might be boosting group DPS by 3%, but bringing 30% less DPS than the next class up. And that's for even the other bards that are putting me to such shame.

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Originally Posted by Makeda

Bard
Ninja
Summoner
Dragoon
Machinist
Black Mage
Monk
Red Mage
Samurai.

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NIN (this is the unicorn class lol)
BRD/MCH (they should share this spot)
DRG (heavily needed for phys range dps)
SMN (great dps, nice utility)
MNK
RDM (only good for progression, low dps)
SAM (easiest to play dps without even trying)
BLM (steep learning curve doesn't surpass SMN dps until 90+ percentile which is insane)

Just some insight and than from there you can look at meta comps which honestly arnt always used unless you are in some speed run group..

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Originally Posted by Aomine1992

DRG (heavily needed for phys range dps)

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Range? Admittedly I've only played Lancer (Dragoon) to level 21... but I'd swear I've never seen a ranged one.

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Originally Posted by Makeda

Range? Admittedly I've only played Lancer (Dragoon) to level 21... but I'd swear I've never seen a ranged one.

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He meant Bard and Machinist, which are physical range jobs. Dragoon buffs both of their damage, especially Bard, through Disembowel and Battle Litany. Without a Dragoon, Bard and Machinist can drop anywhere from 300 to 500 DPS. Hence why Dragoon is among the most sought after jobs.

O.o

So I'm not fully wrong in noticing how bad Bard DPS is. In leveling content I keep falling below healers... Which makes me wonder if the boost Bard gives to others is enough to offset it's own score.

I mean I assume I'm bad at it at present... but it's not 100% just me I guess... maybe 93%... :)

Kinda wish I hadn't installed a DPS overlay... I felt pretty 'amazing' playing my Bard until I saw the numbers... Now I wonder if the jobis even worth using outside of a raid.

Alright everybody can ignore my sidetrack about Bard DPS. I figured my stuff out...

Since I liked the 'playstyle' of both Bard and Red Mage about equally but was getting such horrible results with Red Mage despite following Bard guides as well as I thought I could... but basically just 'rolling my face over the keyboard' on Red Mage... I'd figured Bard was not for me...

But I forced myself to spend a few days working on Bard, running Palace of the Dead as if I was in a raid, and not the usual spamfest people do in there... and after the first day I started seeing my results spike up a lot.

So yeah...

Sorted out my stuff... Ignore my anti-bard rants. :)

Take what people say with a grain of salt. Excelling at DPS on any job, even tanks and Healers, is a matter of theory and putting theory to practice. If it seems like you're low relative to your gear and others, then, no offense meant, you still have some to learn.

Samurai might be 'easiest' to see results with, but it just has a high baseline compared to other jobs, and requires as much optimization to hit magic "Take me I'm awesome" numbers. It is also possible that certain playstyles just don't mesh well with you.

DPS generally fall into Set Rotation and Priority Rotation.

Set Rotation is a strict ABC set up and generally is where Melee are. (Dragoons, Samurai, Paladin, arguably Monk, mostly Ninja outside Ninki expenditure)

Priority Rotations are about competing ability choices for any given moment, and generally involve making use of Procs. (Bards, Black Mages, some of Red Mage)

Yeah but... I think the concern to find a highly sought after DPS is pretty valid...

I've been locked out of raiding across several MMOS for the past couple of years because... oddly... I generally only play tanks. And it turns out tank is the LEAST sought after role... because it is the most... as in... people fill their roster by getting tanks first. And they go to their friends, their FC leadership, or themselves (tanks tend to be running the raid). If you're a tank out there shopping for a group... chances are they already filled your spot before they made their recruiting public. Over in WoW I kept finding they'd filled to spot 10+ years ago...

(It is the reverse of the dynamic in dungeons)

I see this also with DPS in various raids... if you're on a class or job that is saturated (more people play it than the current meta needs), you only get to raid if you have a buddy who is a raid leader... or you have the charisma to start one and get people to join you. That said... DPS have an easier time getting into a raid than tanks - because more of them are needed and the competing players often include a lot of people who will fade away over time - spots open up. If a raid loses a DPS they replace it. If a raid loses a tank the entire group often breaks up before I can find it and apply...

(That's kind of why I'm working on my DPS now here... but posting with my tank because the DPS are not yet leveled)

So... people's specific advice about playstyle is one thing... but if the community has a consensus that 'nobody needs any more X, but we need a lot more Y' - that's advice worth taking.

Nothing is worse than spending months getting all ready, and then finding you can't get a spot anywhere because your niche is already filled...

While true about Red Mage being at the "lower end" dps wise most players do not know how to play their class properly anyhow so chances of a Red Mage being better then other casters is always possible, lol
The content is clearable in any job really even the ones with little to so support (Sam, Red Mage, etc..)

Also running Bard (or any job for that matter) in Palace of the Dead is no way at all a good indicator on how it can perform.
Stone, Sky and Sea would be a better option even

BLM can do simmilar or more RDPS contribuition as a SMN on a fully single target encounter. So in the end if you're running a caster either is fine really. RDM is a good really pick for pick up groups.

If you want a DPS that is always good that'd literally be DRG or NIN. No matter what, they'll be strong.

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Originally Posted by Maero

Also running Bard (or any job for that matter) in Palace of the Dead is no way at all a good indicator on how it can perform.
Stone, Sky and Sea would be a better option even

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I partially agree. I did pull back from my criticism of Bard after figuring out what was off in my use of my abilities. I went from bottom of the pack to near or often top of it after adjusting and finally learning the 'muscle memory' of my chosen Bard keybind setup...

But if I were to compare between Palace of the Dead and Stone, Sky, Sea... I would definitely put Palace of the Dead ahead. The mobs hit back, and they move. So you're not just testing an 'ideal' rotation... you're also testing your ability to play the job and role as a whole;

1. Can you be aware of your surroundings when doing that rotation (most platform DPS and nearly all healers fail at this... with moves like pulling agro from a pat coming from behind. or walking into a trap or fire, and so on... frankly many tanks fail at it too. If you EVER see a tank being attacked from behind, that's an example of failure here. As a 12 year tank main - I go nuts when I see this happening to any other tank... silently, but my eyes are rolling anyway),
2. can you learn to kite something to your team when you're out-matched,
3. can you keep to your priority list when under panic, or are you a player that starts mashing buttons and speeds up their own character's doom - this is a stress test when learning a new job/class...
4. For a class with support abilities like Bard, can you apply them to other people as needed.
5. For a class with positional requirements, can you get to rear and flank when that other person who has aggro REFUSES to stand still - this is a major issue I'm sure any melee DPS player can relate to. And many of them cannot do it. There are times as a tank where I have intentionally moved mobs around just to see if my melee was actually 'aware of what game they were playing'... :) Not often of course - but sometimes you get that feeling that that DRG or NJN over there is paying more attention to Netflix than the boss... (In another MMO when I did this I caught an AFK healer by noticing 'somebody' had put me on 'auto-follow' when their movements started matching me even to the point of walking that healer into the fire...).



Palace of the dead is by no means a proper dungeon environment... but at least it is testing 'while under fire' and not letting you get away with smooth perfection.

Target Dummies have only one place: learning your actual rotation / priority list. Basically teaching you to go from 'looking at the buttons while glancing at a guide on another window' to 'smooth muscle memory'.
- They can't tell you anything else of value.

Well top of the pack is subjective, lol
End Game is where real damage matters and that is why many use Stone, Sky and Sea because you need certain amount of damage to meet a dps check and maybe improve your rotation.
Dodging is only part of the equation, if someones rotation is awful well..
Palace while yes does give you live targets, things usually die too fast for one to actually learn proper rotations. It does give players some sort of an idea though.

In no way am i knocking down Palace as myself i used to enjoy it with friends and we almost made it to floor 200 back when it was first introduced
but alas one of the dps killed us all and we never went back, haha

Thinking about it i think if Eureka gave you actual levelling exp it would be great learning ground as well
Again we both have our own opinions and views so i was not knocking you down :)

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Originally Posted by Maero

In no way am i knocking down Palace as myself i used to enjoy it with friends and we almost made it to floor 200 back when it was first introduced
but alas one of the dps killed us all and we never went back, haha

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I actually detest Palace of the Dead... :P

I wish I could take my leveling toons into Eureka.

I also wish DPS queue times were shorter so I could use regular dungeons to level secondary jobs/classes and not PotD, but as a main tank since 2006, I get why it is what it is.

I get the target dummy use for perfecting a rotation. But I need "live" targets to perfect the whole 'gestault' of the process. Especially as I've always been a tank, so I need to relearn... and well... as we all know it is easier to see somebody else mess up than yourself... so as a tank I have long observed DPS that lack situational awareness and those that have it... with dungeons queues being so bad, PotD is the place "left to me" to learn the be in the latter rather than former camp... :)


So... to get closer to the topic...

On the most in demand class... Ninja. I am baffled about why... why is it in demand when I am finding it so fun to play that I expected it would be super popular and saturated...

I'm finding Ninja both amazingly fun and not all that hard to do the Mudras on... I am told this class is in hyper demand because nobody plays it... I don't get that... for me mastering it took almost as much time as mastering Red Mage... as in... super easy to get things down. Is it the issue of remembering what combination of Chi - Ten - Jin leads to what?

Because I figured out that all that matters is 'use 2 or 3, and what goes last'...
- Once you have that down... the combos just fill themselves in for you.

The only downside is I start to become hyper 'go go go' and find myself staring at tanks that stall before a pull and then glancing at the time left on my huton bar... and wondering if he'll noticed if I pull for him... :P

(Basically the class is training me to become the DPS that I hate when I'm a tank... but just like playing Fire Mage in WoW taught me, as a tank, why I should pull faster... Ninja is now showing me why as a tank here... I should pull faster...)


When I look at Ninja though... I kind of expected this to be the class that had the most people playing it... not the least. A short number of things to track, and a cool toolkit to rapidly expand the kinds of damage you do. I can do binds, slows, single and aoe, and more - all without having to make more keybinds...


I would have expected the most in demand class to have a reason for people to not be playing it... But I guess, if it's the mudras; the thing other people dislike is the very thing I like.