Hard time choosing my DPSer.

[PArcher]

SNIP

Pretty much, what I get from this is "a perfect MNK will beat out a DRG 100% of the time, no matter the situation"

To correct your first point, it takes 3 GDCs to get the initial Disembowel up; HT, ID, Dis. No idea what other two GDCs you're using, but I can tell you that you're doing DRG wrong (if you say Phlem and/or Fracture...). MNK can't get to GL3 that fast, as you just said. So there really wasn't a point to this point.

Either way, MNK DPS is still not "8.89% higher than DRG, assuming both are in their correct BiS and have the same skill with their classes. I don't think the difference in DPS between an ideal SMN, DRG, MNK and BLM in idea conditions for each class (since they all excel at something different) is that high either.

Ideally, no melee is getting hit by any avoidable AoE. If one is getting hit, assume the other is. Do not assume one is and the other isn't. A good fight to see how well a player is dodging is Titan (HM or EX). And guess what? As a healer, I don't see any difference as far as damage done to any DPS goes when everyone is dodging properly In fact, I see MNK with more damage after Stomp -> Plumes because they tend to be out of position a lot more (even the really good ones) and hit by random stuff (whereas a DRG doing the proper rotation will never need to be away from the stacked group during Plumes or LS to be at 100%. Actually, there's a whole thing about DRG and Titan EX synchronization that's almost scary). So that point gets knocked off. And the flaw to the "learning curve" argument: those learning never have the ideal gear, and often don't have the pieces that give the best survivability (read: body and legs), often having "better" accessories or just plain outdated gear, which lowers survival past the point the class differences matter (also, while leveling...DRG and MNK often use the same gear, so the point completely falls apart there)

I also enjoy you praising the INT debff while bashing the piercing debuff...one thing about the INT debuff? Its not a straight 10% damage reduction; just go to PvP or take off equipment (except for your weapon) to lower your STR by 10% and see for yourself. Also the piercing debuff is the same as the blunt debuff so an argument against one is an argument against the other.

Most enemies primary attacks are physical, not magic (big enemies that use magic primarily? ADS and Ultima, and the caster-type bosses [hi you ilithid]. I can't think of other major ones that have a primary attack that is magic. How to check? Does Eye for an Eye proc off the base attacks or not.) so using Kick to reduce damage to a tank usually doesn't do anything (if Eye for an Eye works...DK does not. Nice and simple). Again, AoEs, which are primarily magic...need to be avoided 100% by everyone (except for unavoidables, and there are some that are not affected by any buffs other than Stoneskin and Adlo, sometimes they even bypass those)

Outside a few very specific places, when is it a good idea to attack a secondary target that is going to live long enough for DoTs to matter while the primary lives and has enough HP? To say that Dis doesn't matter because a DRG and BRD are going to attack two different feathers in Garuda, or two different Nails in Ifrit is an outright bad argument (also, against multiple targets it takes 1-3 GDCs for a DRG to get to 100% against a specific mob depending on multiple factors, and those 3 GDCs all do a good amount of damage even unbuffed). And if you try to bring up trash mobs...how often is a MNK at GL3 against trash? And when are BRD singing MB against trash too?
Don't even kid yourself; we're talking about boss-encounters here, single targets and maybe adds, where everyone is attacking the same target with only a handful of exceptions, and most of them don't really matter for this anyway (adds dying too fast to make a difference or such)

Last thing: I hear a lot from MNK about how hard it is to keep up GL3 in some fights now...you use Perfect Balance initially, and then lose GL3 while its on CD...you're damage is killed for a good amount of time. A DRG loses Dis? ID -> Dis and its back.