Bard or Machinist?

[Capn_Goggles]

MCH is a terribly designed job in my opinion, whereas Bard's toolkit actually feels like it makes sense. BRD can be a bit overwhelming because you have a LOT of things to keep track of at once, but it's not severely punishing if you mess up, there's always something going on and something to keep track of without feeling like you're being pigeonholed. MCH has a toolkit that revolves entirely around doing nothing until you hit your burst window and everything goes to hell, its DPS can be pretty significantly influenced by factors beyond your control like server latency, and honestly just feels like a total mess to play.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

MCH has a toolkit that revolves entirely around doing nothing until you hit your burst window

Nothing: Prepping for your burst by building heat while DPSing, then at the threshold, properly using your tools to set up procs in order to give yourself the best arrangement for a strong burst.

[Gr1mwolf]

Nothing: Prepping for your burst by building heat while DPSing, then at the threshold, properly using your tools to set up procs in order to give yourself the best arrangement for a strong burst.

Heat builds automatically while using 123, and "prepping procs" is technically part of the once-per-minute Wildfire rotation, which involves using like 2-3 abilities before blowing cooldowns.
Your opinion that MCH is fine is definitely a minority one, and I don't think you're helping anyone by saying they'll enjoy playing it.

[Dualgunner]

Heat builds automatically while using 123, and "prepping procs" is technically part of the once-per-minute Wildfire rotation, which involves using like 2-3 abilities before blowing cooldowns.
Your opinion that MCH is fine is definitely a minority one, and I don't think you're helping anyone by saying they'll enjoy playing it.

Heat builds up naturally, yes, but there's nuance. When you're finally to the point where you're ready to wildfire, do you immediately flamethrower to get into it, or use Cooldown to hold it off for a GCD? Do you want to push it back to better line up with an off-cycle TA that is liable to happen in 7s and 8s?

That 50 seconds between wildfires is frought with strategy and choice in how and when you're going to wildfire, and gives plenty of time to activate resources like mana song, tp song, palisade, and dismantle. I personally never feel the downtime, because I use the downtime to plan what I'll be doing in coming mechanics, where to stand, how many ticks of flamethrower I'll need, and how best to line up with the next trick. Not to mention supporting the party however I can.

Could the job be designed better? Sure, it definitely could. I'd love if I had a method of firing bullets without using ammo to preserve my bullet could for a burst and keep the reload CDs cycling. It'd also be nice if DRG wasn't mandatory. But the job is very rewarding when played correctly, seeing a 20k+ wildfire pop off in the middle of the fight feels amazing because it feels earned.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

Heat builds automatically while using 123, and "prepping procs" is technically part of the once-per-minute Wildfire rotation, which involves using like 2-3 abilities before blowing cooldowns.
Your opinion that MCH is fine is definitely a minority one, and I don't think you're helping anyone by saying they'll enjoy playing it.

Not only did I not say that, I actually use my Reload twice per minute. Helps with the timing of the clockwork. But go ahead and generalize it. Surely that's a more effective answer to the question than the more detailed descriptions I've given.

Could be if you're "doing nothing until your burst window" or just building heat automatically via 123, maybe that's why it doesn't seem so enjoyable?

[AvenoMatt]

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I love both of your views on machinist. I'm currently leveling machinist and even though I know it not the most popular job or the easiest to play I enjoy it and I think that's why I enjoy it. I also owe a thanks to you ThirdChild_ZKI for that 121323 rotation because it makes so much sense for maximizing dps.