Easiest DPS to play for the lazy?

[ChaozK]

How do BLMs have no support? They can sleep and heal.

[NeoAmon]

How do BLMs have no support? They can sleep and heal.

In coil none of the BLM CC works except for bind & heavy on trash/small adds which is outright useless. The heal is meh.

[Lstkaws]

I play both brd and mnk (have whm too). Bard is definitely easier, but it is also a very fun class. I prefer monk, but I enjoy the hell out of bard when I do play it.

[Nettle]

Not being able to move while dpsing is NOT harder, it's just more inconvenient and dps inefficient. There is nothing difficult about stopping a cast time to move a few steps to the side. There is, however, a little inconvenience to it.

I can't fully speak for BRD since I've only played one up to about 30, but I have taken a BLM all the way up. They are both pretty basic classes.

BLM rotation is, fundamentally, very easy. Thunder 2/3 -> fire 3 fire fire fire fire fire -> blizz 3 thunder 2 -> fire 3 fire fire fire fire fire. Watch for occassional procs. Sure you can throw in cooldown and sleep/flare usage, but that isn't really inherently harder than BRD cooldown and song/silence usage.

BRD's priority rotation can be entirely macro'd to a few buttons. They become a little more interesting if you do everything manually.

They are both, IMO, on an equal tier of easy mode for most content. I would consider BLM more inconvenient in movement intensive fights. However, if we are talking endgame titan or coil, everyone has to be on top of the mechanics, BRD and BLM included.

[RazzleDazzle]

lol 'goon'

[Stryker]

I would have to say that I've seen equally bad players of every class. That includes PLD. But from my experience, I've run across more BRD's that can dps with the most ease.

Staying at a distance and attacking basically keeps you out of harms way. Makes it a lot easier since you should technically die less frequently.

But some people have been crying for a nerf so let's see if that happens.

[adahn]

We killed Chimera with one tank so I (a DRG) was on stun duty with one other DRG and MNK to help and we avoided dragon's voice by range. So all those bards saying silencing voice takes skill...try doing that while you are in a combo animation and trying to position yourself out of aoe. You guys still have it easier than the rest of us.

[SirDiscoFrog]

It seems all the brd defenders (and even bashers) are forgetting the OP's main question. He wants a simple DPS to play that he doesn't have to do a lot to still effectively play. He wants what is easier to play while distracted.

I'm not even going to compare the other classes as they are auto-no's. (SMN's pet/dot control, Melee's constant repositioning, Tanks and Healer's major importance in a team and not being straight DPS)

So that leaves BLM and BRD.
Both are ranged which helps a lot.

BLM has a pretty simple rotation and has one DoT but comes with a few utility spells that can distinguish a good one from a 'okay' one like Switftcast and knowing when to Sleep targets (I would love to see someone make use of Surecast lol). In a sense they can do a little bit of supporting in fights. They also have to be good at managing their mana (which to me is not so hard) but still requires paying attention. Also needs to say put to do any damage. Not so bad early and mid game but around end game can get aggravating when monsters like Titian and Chimera require everyone to be paying attention to large scale abilities instead of just staying away from cones and basic AoE's. Also Meteor LB. Yay lol

Now the BRD. Also simple rotation. Their job class has 2 DoTs instead of one with equal timers (so it could count as practically one). They have cool self buffs and debuffs as well as team buffs so they also have good support features (being a support/dps hybrid of sorts). No dmg LB unfortunately but you never know when you can use a clutch AoE heal to get out of a sticky situation. May need a cross class skill to help with TP management. Can easily dodge abilities and still keep the pain train rolling tho.

Both are pretty on par in the ease to play department but their main difference is mobility. And as a DPS having mobility makes things more convenient and efficient for you to do damage thus making your job as a damage dealer easier. How can you call yourself a good DPS (or anything other than bad) if you can barely do any damage? If you cant do any dmg because your casts are constantly being interrupted, it will require a bit of planning ahead and learning the fight to be able to know where to stand before letting off an attack or else you could be seen as useless(there were a few threads attacking BLM's dps in Titian for this reason).

And thats why many are saying BRDs are easier. They dont have to worry about constantly being interrupted by having to move out the way of cone moves or large scale attacks. BRDs can do that and still be a-okay with dmg, unlike a BLM who will be lacking in the dmg department because of their constant dodging which could frustrate the party and in turn frustrate OP. While being a GOOD BRD requires a bit more as you are maintaing your party buffs, WHM mana, etc., being a good DPS as a BRD is simpler than being a good DPS BLM because you can do the job more efficiently with a lot less complications.

While some of the BRD comments are harsh it is true that its easier to get good DPS and effectively play as a BRD. I'm not saying you just sit there and hit a win button, nor am I insulting BRDs or saying its mind-numbing/boring(playing as archer myself was quite fun and when I get WHM and SMN to lvl50 I will be planning on getting my ARC lvled up), just that its easier/less stressful to get optimal dmg out in a typical situation as compared to the other options.

[FastForward]

do you even 1 1 1 Atl1 1 1 1 ALt1 alt 1 W bro

[OmegaXtc]

This is a non-monetized video so I'm not trying to make money, but it does demonstrate how just a few macros simplify the bard rotation into a sleep mode few buttons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Fn_CJrgWM