How about a non-support ranged dps?

[Shurrikhan]

True. That's honestly what I thought they were going to do with MCH for awhile, until we got more information about how turrets were going to work. I thought they were going to be a full DPS for the caster slot (and even pondered if they might have been INT-based "engineers" instead of marksmen). But I'm a dork and like to ponder different wonky possibilities.

I thought they'd be INT/DEX, using a sort of Scavenge resource that could be used to build turrets, augment ammo, or upgrade their weapons, and that Gauss Barrel would be either a simple rifle-grip style or a battlefield component that accelerates, redirects, or splits shots passing through it... Then disillusionment set it.

Still a damn fun job though, as far as I've gotten to see (lvl 55 atm, and many a lvl 60 dummy MCH dps video drooled over).

That sad, its current state kind of feels like a half-ass mix of an actual Machinist and a Marksman, which is fine except that it somewhat prevents purer variants of each from being worth developing.

Sure, given the current class spread I'd agree that MCH is a better fit for BRD's current role. I think there is room in the future for a ranged DPS that's physical in the current caster slot, though.

I'd just really like to get away from the Ranged = Support paradigm, honestly. Sure, bring a (longevity, rather than offensive) Support for every progression / serious 8-man, but I just don't see why it would have to be Ranged, or that in turn each Ranged would have to be that. It works, but I hope it won't carry any further.