So about Summoner...

[Capn_Goggles]

Now that's some hyperboles.

RDM is great in progression and with "not-top-level-players". Because you can prog and clear O8S while being somewhat a casual player. Then, when you clear the content consistently, RDM doesn't become "useless", it becomes "not optimal".

"Not optimal" in this case meaning contributing the least DPS to the raid compared to any other job except for *maybe* samurai and having nothing else to offer because its two pieces of utility are a really crappy damage buff and a safety net. While useless is a hyperbole, calling it "not optimal" is just being pedantic when it offers nothing to the group that isn't done significantly better by other jobs.

If I follow your reasoning, how come RDM should have as much damage as SMN while being easier to play and less buttons to push, and no pets to manage ?

That's an excellent question, the answer to which is "it shouldn't". When it boils right down to it, RDM and SAM both require a lowered skill floor and a raised skill ceiling, a necessity to them being able to perform at the potential they need to stay competitive with other jobs.


On the sidebar of the sidebar:

On DRK side (lulz), the main issue IMO is people complaining its too easy to play because of the 1-2-3 spam meme, but can't play it properly because it's actually more complicated than that.

DRK was more complicated than that, back a few patches ago when TBN had a 5 second duration; the reason it was complicated was because you were praying to catch two auto-attacks within its duration to pop it, otherwise you just wasted resources on nothing. Compare this to HW's Dark Knight, which was yet even more complex. It had to be much more conscious of its resources, had a much higher APM without resorting to constantly forced double-weaves, and generally had more things to manage at once in terms of DoTs, Procs, and debuffs. Now the only complexity in playing DRK is having enough MP to use TBN, not capping on resources, and staying in engagement rage, all being things that apply generically to literally every melee job. It's funny that you harp on mindlessly spamming Dark Arts, because that is precisely the optimal way to play the job.

DRK is the only high-cpm fast-paced tank, please don't dumb it down to WAR's level.[...] I played both PLD and DRK this tier, and PLD's DPS is streamlined as much as DRK's. DRK can actually manage its own "burst" windows, pooling ressources for Trick Attacks for example. It's not because you don't have a "10s +50% dmg buff" that you don't have any burst.

All three tanks are equally easy to play, and anyone trying to claim which is the hardest by this point is like winning a competition for who can eat the most crayons. Fundamentally, DRK's burst is inferior because it stretches out the damage increase over a longer period of time, where PLD and WAR are able to concentrate their damage for key moments (trick attack, buffs). I like blood weapon, because who *doesn't* like going fast? Unfortunately, many fights don't like this type of burst, and most raid buffs don't either.