Returning player, looking to try Melee DPS

[enthauptet]

DRG at 70 is more like what monk was at 60 and monk at 70 is now more like DRG at 50 lol...

For me personally DRG and NIN are the most fun at 70, then SAM and way far behind is MNK.

RDM also does auto attacks during instant casts so while not really a melee, it does help playing it like a melee lol. Not sure if it always does or not but I do notice them pop up.

[wereotter]

I ran through the whole story a ninja living in California while the servers were still on the other side of the continent. Latency is only really a major issue with the job if you're not attentive, and if you're trying to do intensive high-end content, otherwise you should be fine. I occasionally get issues were the middle move of a three-mudra combo doesn't register, but that's rare enough that I wouldn't consider it a big deal.

Monk is a lot of fun up to the mid-60s then the job kind of goes off the rails, and it's apparent that the devs didn't know what to do with it this expansion.

Samurai is pretty approachable, and starts at 50, so it's good for a returning player.

Dragoon is the one I have the least personal experience with, but the really long chain of moves that they have do to before their combo starts over was just too much for me. Especially once you hit level 70 and your full rotation of moves is 11 moves long, it was a bit overwhelming.... especially as RNG determines what order you perform your moves in, made it really difficult to develop any muscle memory for the combos.

[RenOkamiya]

I can't echo this sentiment enough. DRG was one of my favorite classes until the 60s, then trying to wedge each move in at just the right time killed the fun and the freedom for me.

Agreed, I miss the old 27 moves rotation of the ARR dragoon, it was so much more fun than it is since Heavensward...

[Selova]

Snip.

Dragoon is pretty bland and dry in the early levels, especially at 50 where the only thing you're really doing is the same 1-2-3 combos, making sure your CT dot and piercing debuff don't fall off, outside of that it's just weaving in your 3 jumps while keeping HT up. Dragoon becomes way more fluid and smooth once you get your Lance mastery trait at 64 that let's you use both your 4th tier abilities back to back which means more frontloaded damage and more botd uptime. At 70 it's incredibly fun and rewarding to play, you'll never get bored with how well everything flows together.

[RylaBee]

Snip.

So 1-2-3 is "bland and dry", whereas 1-2-3-4-5 is "incredibly fun". That seems odd.

Can you by a chance compare your results from Savage and EX fights to other dps?

Savage Omega fights does not disturb the rigid rotations?
How does fights like Shinryu treat positional attacks, when the boss is facing you with front all the time - is this somehow addressed by devs as for example that Shinryu's hitbox is treated as "all sides" at once?
[EDIT] - as some other posts mentioned, this is likely the case (Shinryu has no "different" sides)

[SwarleyMcSwarls]

Both ranged dps are quite strong right now. Machinist especially if you are more dps focused over utility. With that said, here's my general thoughts on the melee right now (listed from top to bottom, easiest to hardest):

GCD Rotation
Ninja
Dragoon
Monk
Samurai

Cooldown Usage
Samurai
Monk
Ninja
Dragoon

Latency Issues (easiest to hardest to play w/ latency issues)
Samurai
Dragoon
Monk
Ninja

From there, it just depends on how you are looking to play, what you find enjoyable, and what you feel is easier or harder for you as a player.

[Selova]

snip.

You might have had a point if dragoons rotation was just "press these 5 buttons" everytime and you win, but its not. On the small chance that you're willing to listen, I'll say this. Dragoon changes quite a bit from 60-70, once when you get your Lance mastery trait at 64 then again once you get MD and LoTD. Their rotation isn't as cut and dry as simply pressing 123 over and over, Outside of their core FT and CT rotation, your not only weaving your jumps but also MDs and making sure you don't lose botd while your building your eyes for nastrond. Also, nastrond isn't supposed to be dragoons "ult.attack" the only thing nastrond is is a slightly more powerful geirskogul with a lower cd, regardless of how strong it is, its still a dps increase because of how often you can use it in your lotd phase. If for some reason this isnt enough info, I recommend checking out momos guide on YouTube, he explains it better than most.

[RylaBee]

On the small chance that you're willing to listen, I'll say this.

On the small chance that you actually remember what this thread was about:
OP was asking what is newbie friendly melee DPS. It was not about you, preaching to others and being condescending.

70lvl DRG is currently overbloated with buttons, heavily dependant on positional attacks and prone to lose whole ramp-up from boss forcing downtime whether by AoEs or Invulnerability. It is NOT newbie friendly at all.

Despite that, it is sometimes fun to play - when its not frustrating as hell.

[Selova]

snip.

I'm not preaching, just correcting false information you keep giving. Also, no Dragoon isn't not even in the least bit "bloated with buttons" and I'd hardly call 4 abilities=heavily dependent on positional attacks (Monk says hi). As far as the whole ramp up issue that you are apparently having, that is resolved with experience (something you are obviously lacking when it comes to dragoon) and knowing encounter patterns and timers. As for your final point, no job in this game is "newbie friendly" when we are talking about end-game play, which is nothing practice and reading a guide won't fix. All in all i disagree with your assessment of dragoons being "frustrating as hell" and really wish you would stop trying to spread information about a job you clearly know nothing about. Thanks.

[IchiExorz]

I personally loved Dragoon in 3.0. Since 4.0 not so much anymore but since they changed the amount of eyes required for LoTD to 3 i'm having i'm having a lot more fun again.

About which melee is the most noob friendly and has an easier time dealing with latency... i'd assume SAM being the best for you.
Then probably DRG or MNK.
NIN is prob the worst when it comes to dealing with latency.