This expansion looks very unfair for the DPS classes in general.

[SpeckledBurd]

As others have said, Red Mage and Samurai are probably purposely overpowered to entice people to play them.

The biggest issues in terms of being OP are Ninja and Bard. Ninja has as good or better damage than Monk and significantly better damage than Dragoon while also offering far and away the best party support via Trick Attack and aggro shenanigans. And no, Diversion and Shirk being universally available doesn't make Shadewalker and Smokescreen any less valuable. Bard is pretty similar, it has great damage and it's party support is unparalleled.

The big issues in my eyes are DRG, MNK, and MCH. Machinist is hard to play for basically no reward, it has the worst damage and it's party support is lacking. Dragoon has low damage, it's build up is so slow and prone to getting disrupted that it's probably a liability, and while it's support is good it's not as overwhelming as it was before. Monk is arguably in the best spot here since it's damage is pretty good, but it's still broken in the same it's been since ARE while offering less damage. Riddle of Earth is too situational to rely on for jumps and PB's cooldown is massive so it's still very fight sensitive, Brotherhood as far as support goes is very weak and locks Monk into physical Heavy comps in order to get its full effect, and it still has a ton of useless actions (lol rework) while also losing its most useful utility in Dragon Kick's intelligence down.

[Vallhallix]

Purposely overbuffing 2 classes while overnerfing the others does not seem like a good practice to draw in more players. If anything it would make more people put the game down because not everyone wants to jump to another playstyle just because the class they enjoy is no longer competitive. I for example will not be playing until they balance the classes more. Making other classes not viable is never good balance. DPS is the most played role, RDM and SAM would have been popular without extreme buffs. If anything, it would have made more sense to do this with tanks or healers. Doing such a thing with the most popular role seems backwards.

[Sparhwk]

None of the classes are difficult or complex. They're all relatively simple to play.
Some ARE easier than others, but only down to how many buttons you have to press.
The mechanics are all fairly simple.

A look at your lodestone shows you have SAM at 70 and most of the melee at 50. No reason to trust such a stupid statement from someone who hasn't even played the other classes at end game yet. Of course the easy class is going to make you think other classes are just as easy.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

A look at your lodestone shows you have SAM at 70 and most of the melee at 50. No reason to trust such a stupid statement from someone who hasn't even played the other classes at end game yet. Of course the easy class is going to make you think other classes are just as easy.

You don't even have SAM unlocked, how can you say its "the easy class" lol. None of the melee jobs were hard at 60, and they only made them easier.

[Riotpersona]

If you think DRG is imbalanced to play unfairly youve never played NIN or MNK. DRG is probably the easiest class to manage out of the three.

You're joking right. Clearly someone who has never played Lv 70 DRG. Nin and mnk can run their face over the keyboard and pull more dps than DRG right now. Their simplicity and flexibility doesn't even compare to how DRG is right now.

[Angelic_Dropout]

You're joking right. Clearly someone who has never played Lv 70 DRG. Nin and mnk can run their face over the keyboard and pull more dps than DRG right now. Their simplicity and flexibility doesn't even compare to how DRG is right now.

DRG is pretty undeniably the weak link of the DPS at the moment. There will likely be a balance patch presavage. Monk is either out parsing SAM or just pathetic depending on who you ask. I have seen both in Susano Ex so far so I cant really weigh in on that. I've rerolled ninja because I happen to like how fluid it is but I agree its potency is a tad stupid right now and can use a nerf. As for SAM's difficulty all the DPS in this game aren't particularly difficult but SAM is pretty punishing at higher levels. If they buff Dragoons potency slightly I can see it being very strong just because of how strong bard is right now.

[Ryaz]

SAM does have timers to watch... 4 of them. Slashing bonus, Shifu, Junpu and Higanbana and we have to keep track of where they're at to make sure we prioritize the right combo first so we don't lose our buffs or overlap Sen. And we've got to manage or Kenki in between all that.

It's not super difficult, but its not some auto-pilot class like some people are trying to claim.

[Cherub]

None of the classes are difficult or complex. They're all relatively simple to play.
Some ARE easier than others, but only down to how many buttons you have to press.
The mechanics are all fairly simple.

Maybe if you don't try to do optimal damage. SMN especially requires a lot of planning in the spot. Delaying things or not, if it would result in a DPS gain or loss.
SMN is a pain to play to due optimizing Tri-disaster usage, optimizing Aetherflow management, Optimizing Wyrmwaves. The Pets unresponsiveness more than often ruins your setup which results in a DPS loss because Garuda just wont use contagion for 10 years to come even tho you spam the button.
BLM will constantly have to look at their MP pool and if they get an MP tick last moment before switching to AF to see if they can cast 6 or 5 Fire IVs. They also have to fit in many casts into a 13 second window while dealing with mechanics. If you do a mistake, it results in a DPS loss. Or if it so happens, it results in a major DPS loss. Keeping up Enochian feels harder than before.

The rotation on paper is easy.
Executing the rotation while stuff is happening, yea it can slightly get overwhelming. The "Rotation! for these two jobs can mix up on the spot and you have to adjust it to make the best out of it.

I'm leveling RDM right now aaaaaaaand it doesn't seem very punishing to me. There doesn't seem to be any strict action restriction which you have to watch out for or it'll end up in an extreme DPS loss (Aetherflow) or you they don't have to manage any sort of timers (AF/UI).
Yet they do more damage. They have the same role abilities as SMN and BLM, Embolden being an extremely good utility skill. is a better raise'r than SMN and can actually heal very well.
While SMN got Aetherpact, which is fake utility and utterly and absolutely useless. I do not understand how SMN aetherpact made it into the game. It's such a ridiculously bad skill I can not fathom it.
BLM got well..... nothing utility wise. BLM is supposed to be the SAM for caster classes. Except it's not. It's superior in AoE but 1 fight out of 13 will probably be AoE heavy in the new raid savage tier.

[Erys]

I just want to know how the class that fells dragons from the skies isn't the highest damaging class.
Think about it, jumping on a living being that probably weights a few tons and grounding it. Then you have a ninja, who mostly assassinates people. If dragoons were assassin, they should melt their target with a jump. Just saying x'D

[BlackThought]

If you think DRG is imbalanced to play unfairly youve never played NIN or MNK. DRG is probably the easiest class to manage out of the three.

This is the hottest take I have read on these forums in quite awhile.