Yoshi-P on Character Growth

[MomomiMomi]

That's correct, but only after the game got adjusted. With all the nerfs and welfare gear that's being thrown at them, they are now able to clear the content just fine. If these changes would have not been made, we would be back right here in the forums, people screaming and crying about changes because they can't play as they want or beat content. Good try tho...

You get a staw man! And you get a straw man! Everyone gets a straw man!

No, BLM A and B are both players of equivalent skill. They can both clear the content at the same time. Because a less than 1% loss of dps isn't (shouldn't be) significant enough to prevent them from winning.

[LunaFaye]

And to elaborate, in good choice systems, BLM B's rotation might be more forgiving, or they might provide additional utility to the party in some way. This is analogous to the differences between DRG and MNK, the former of which does less personal DPS but has greater raid utility.

And what utility would that be? Maybe I missed something here. Oh wait... APOC, now I get it.

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

Tbf, 50 dps isn't very indicative of a different build, but more like an unlucky lack of crits for B, or a very lucky string of crits for A.

[MomomiMomi]

Tbf, 50 dps isn't very indicative of a different build, but more like an unlucky lack of crits for B, or a very lucky string of crits for A.

That's because a build isn't determined in DPS, it's determined in how it plays. The DPS is simply the end result.

You can't look at two different DPS numbers and determine that one is using a different build.

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

A dps number of that small a difference would mean that B's build would be better than A's if it has more support in it, which would make it more optimal than A.

[MomomiMomi]

A dps number of that small a difference would mean that B's build would be better than A's if it has more support in it, which would make it more optimal than A.

Never said it provided anything else. All I said is that they both do similar DPS.

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

I was going off Alahra's assumption earlier.

[Reynhart]

Tbf, 50 dps isn't very indicative of a different build, but more like an unlucky lack of crits for B, or a very lucky string of crits for A.

We all know and love how BRD was changed in HW with Wanderer's Minuet.
What if BLM had traits to make the opposite change. Reducing damage to supress casting time. And as a result, this new BLM does 5% less than your turret BLM. Will you still say that they don't play diffrently ?
Heck, for all we know, the whole turret BRD could be a build...

Oh, by the way, the first sentence was a joke

[Alahra]

And what utility would that be? Maybe I missed something here. Oh wait... APOC, now I get it.

This was a hypothetical example. It wasn't based on the classes as they exist now—but if there were to exist player options of these sorts, one avenue is for one build to have slightly lower personal DPS but have other advantages, and utility is one way to differentiate.

A dps number of that small a difference would mean that B's build would be better than A's if it has more support in it, which would make it more optimal than A.

It would depend on the type of utility, sure. If the DPS value were that close, it would be more likely that B's utility would be something more support oriented and not DPS-related (i.e., things like Goad or Dragon Kick).

Folks are getting very hung up on numbers when these are all hypothetical examples intended to be illustrative of the kind of choice peoples would like to see.

Again, consider DRG and MNK. They're close in DPS but one has more utility than the other. Is the choice between them an illusion?

[Reynhart]

Again, consider DRG and MNK. They're close in DPS but one has more utility than the other. Is the choice between them an illusion?

No, of course not !
MNK is the better choice...oh, wait, if you have a BRD and MCH, DRG piercing debuff can be useful, so DRG is a better choice, and you want a BRD for Requiem if you have BLM...but if you don't have a DRK and face a magical foe, then Dragon Kick is invaluable...so MNK is the best choice...or is that NIN ? No, NIN is only really good if you already have a WAR for Eye...but you might end up with a PLD...