MNK vs SMN ?

[OmegaSinX]

I've heard that SMN are BEST DPS Classes in game and i've seens videos of SMN with over 400dps tho.... Although thats debateable if they are top, Its still has be harder for MNk to reach those type of numbers since they rely on Grease Lightning and Position right ? Outside of Tank and Spank fights, You would think in most fights SMN will have more dps right ? Or am I missing something ?

[OmegaNovaios]

continued

Such as Garuda EX, you can't AOE your DOTs 90% of the fight or you will kill spiny, if you want to DOT both Chirada and Suparna then you have to apply them to Suparna first otherwise by the time you DOT Chirada then Suparna disappears with Garuda and you have to wait. Half the time I just roll on BRD because I can hit high numbers w/o all the work.

But when it comes to 2-4 mobs SMN is king because you can literally apply 75%+ of your single target DPS as AOE.

Also, a lot of people complain about SMN not being able to burst DPS, and sometimes SMN is excluded from party for this reason. However if the burst is needed on an add that pops beside a boss then the SMN has one of the best (if not the very best) burst mechanic in the game. Which is to apply your DOTs just before an add pops, AOE your DOTs instantly as it pops and Fester.

[OmegaSinX]

SMN is almost a jack-of-all-trades if you want to play that way, but if you just want to push max DPS 100% of the time you might find the class annoying at some points of the game.

Yea and thats what appeals to me about SMN is that they can Tank, Heal and DPS. Very Versatile. Does using Marco's make SMN easier to play ?

[OmegaNovaios]

Yea and thats what appeals to me about SMN is that they can Tank, Heal and DPS. Very Versatile. Does using Marco's make SMN easier to play ?

I personally don't use any macros on SMN at all, and this is coming from a person that macros the hell out of BRD. I haven't really looked into that much, but it just doesn't seem like you can cut out very much of your work w/o using /wait commands which IMO isn't playing SMN optimally.

[OmegaSinX]

Not even pet Macro's ?

[OmegaNovaios]

You can make Summon macros with Swiftcast > Summon or an Enkindle Macro with Rouse > Spur > Enkindle, but other than I can't think of a useful macro for pets. Letting your pet do it's own thing is a good way to start out, but if you really want to push SMN you will have to micromanage each pet for both DPS as well as utility, but that's the #1 reason why I play SMN. If you just want a particular pet's action on your hotbar then you can drag that action from the action menu.

[OmegaSinX]

Thanks for the Tip.

Score: MNK 3, SMN 1.

I'd really like more feedback from some Hardcore SMN to get more insight from SMN PoV. Would also appreciate more feedback from players who play both.

[Mskala]

I don't have either of them leveled, but another thin you should consider is where you will be n the fight.

As a melee, you lose dps not only when the tank moves, but when the mob uses an AOE and you have to stop to dodge it. Smn gets full dps from all sides, and has several of its abilities instant cast, meaning you can use them even while dodging something.

That, and if you have a bad tank, your mnk will suck and it won't even be your fault.

[T0rin]

Well, I'll be your hardcore SMN advocate. I got into the game a few months ago because a friend was playing. Initially, I was planning to roll a WHM, not knowing at the time you could switch classes so easily. Before I did though, my friend had just met a surprisingly capable SMN who really impressed him, and his FC at the time was lacking in magical DPS, so he told me to roll SMN. So I did.

A few months later, I'm just now getting aroung to leveling WHM, but I wouldn't want to play any other DPS class. I haven't played any other classes, but being in an end-game-content FC with many coils groups, I get the opportunity to run with a lot of different people on a lot of different content. Everything in the end-game atm (Coils, Extreme Primals) is my domain. I haven't met anyone who can consistently out-DPS me, and that is using log parsers that intentionally do not give me any credit for DoT crit damage, Contagion duration or Shadow Flare ticks. I'm coming out ahead, all that considered, and that makes me happy. Because in reality, I'm coming out even further ahead.

SMN, like someone mentioned earlier, is way more complicated than a 5 button rotation, and may well be the reason they didn't like the class. I very frequently use at least 22 (counting off the top of my head) different skills, and find there is a lot of strategic use of resources (MP, aetherflow charges) that make me _think_ about what I'm going to do, before I have to do it. To me, it is a very engaging class. It has a lot of good mobility and allows me to keep my DPS up even when I'm having to dodge mechanics.

Then you have the pet management, which varies from fight to fight. Sometimes you can just put it on Obey and leave it alone until need need Aerial Blast or Contagion. Sometimes you have to move it around a lot to dodge big damage mechanics that would eventually kill it. Sometimes you need to move it around a lot to enable your group to survive mechanics, and it can be an integral part of the group in those times.

Then you have the hardest fight in the game (Twintania, Binding Coils Turn 5) which is more or less built to cater to all of SMN's strengths, where we far and away excel over other classes.

I won't really even consider playing another DPS class at this point, that's how much I enjoy playing SMN.

[Kona4me]

When you try PvP Lv.50, they tell you kill SMN first.