DPS Misconceptions

[givemeraptors]

I've played around as a DPS, healer and tank at level 50 and highly recommend everyone do the same before settling in on a favorite class. I'm definitely a much better healer and tank for having DPS'd and vice-versa etc.

However two common ideas are always brought up on the forums and it bothers me because they're just blatantly untrue.

1) Tanks (or healers) know the fight best.

I take umbrage with this as I find myself far more aware of fight mechanics as a DPS than either a tank or a healer. I suspect this is because healing and tanking inspire a kind of tunnel vision, since a large amount of your attention is devoted to looking at the party/enmity list and not the actual battlefield, and also because reaction times need to be faster on average.

Now why do I say this? Tanks are supposed to take damage and healers can prioritize their health over anyone else in the party (minus the other healer). A DPS has no fallback; learning boss patterns, when and where adds spawn, fight mechanics and phase changes is critical to avoid taking damage and risking a KO because the healer is too busy elsewhere. Healers can also take up static positions in many fights, whereas DPS are usually constantly on the move, chasing adds etc. and going in and out of "safe" zones, a hazard that healers don't have to deal with. Why do DPS have to experience these hazards? Because we are also usually tasked with things like feeding snakes (T1), feeding worm (Copperbell HM), killing eggs (Pharos) etc. which make us aware of boss stacks, hidden timers, etc. Additionally, I frequently find myself running all over the place chasing adds, especially in CT, and twice as much if the other DPS isn't doing their job and I have to run halfway across the map BECAUSE DAMMIT KILL THAT NAPALM @$#$@! /rant.

Anyway back on topic, I don't mean to say that healers are lazy and stand in one place spamming Physick/Cure. But I find my movement is much, much lower as a healer than a DPS and I can often find a "safe" spot to remain for the majority of the fight. This is almost completely irrelevant for a tank, obviously.

2) DPS derps/bad DPS aren't noticeable.

Now there are many DPS checks in the game where if the DPS is too low you wipe, but that's not really what I'm talking about. I'm talking about DPS who don't follow marked targets and pull aggro. Or DPS that's too low on trash mobs and require me to blow CDs to survive what should be a fairly routine tank and spank. Reading the forums and being subjected to the whole "ehh DPS whatever" attitude I was completely unprepared when I started tanking and realize what a pain in the a** a bad DPS could be. After running a dungeon a few times, you definitely know when you have good dps and bad dps. I concede that their influence is less noticeable, but it isn't invisible. A tank or healer screw up is like a heart attack or stroke, instant and obvious. Bad DPS is like a cancer, maybe it takes a while to notice but it will definitely kill you.

Anyway, please stop spreading these misconceptions. It's probably the reason I frequently run into SMNs who don't use dots, BLM who think they can get away with spamming Blizzard, and DPS of all classes who blatantly ignore fight mechanics because they think they are somehow absolved of all responsibility to do more than just button mash.

P.S. Everyone should really try playing every class at lvl 50. I find myself enjoying healing a lot more than DPS which surprised me. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would actually find other roles more fun than the one they originally chose. Also it really does round out your knowledge about the fight, thus making you a much better player. Also then you can think to yourself, "wow, I didn't realize how much easier/harder it is on the other side" (I'm looking at you Titan).

[AmyNeudaiz]

Combating a misconception about DPS knowing less by creating a misconception stating DPS knows more is not exactly the best of ideas.

All 3 roles are equally as important, this is fact. But a downed/bad DPS is easier to recover from than a downed/bad healer or tank (because there are more of them) and this is where the idea that DPS is less important comes from. It's as simple as that.

Also I beg to disagree that DPS know mechanics better. It is a player trait if someone can pick up on mechanics easily or not, not a role trait.

[Alcyon1]

Also I beg to disagree that DPS know mechanics better. It is a player trait if someone can pick up on mechanics easily or not, not a role trait.

Common sense is rare, you should be proud of yourself for having one.

[Lyrinn]

You cherry pick certain abilities and mechanics and ignore others. Who have to watch for Mountain Buster? Who have to watch for double Wicked Wheel? Who has to know where to position the bosses to make things easier for the DPS to freely wail on them? Just because DPS have to deal with mechanics that require more movement doesn't mean they know more or pay more attention - oh, and the only reason some of those mechanics get delegated to DPS is because healers are busy, you know, healing. Knowing every detail of a fight isn't specific to any role. If you think healers tunnel vision on hp bars, or tanks tunnel vision on enmity bars, you're just as guilty of simplifying a role's responsibility as the ones you're trying to condemn.

Personally, I like to know all the mechanics of the fights so I can call bad DPS out (I've actually had groups ignore Satin Plume on Garuda - that was fun) or even help out (looking at you, Allagan Napalms).

[givemeraptors]

Also I beg to disagree that DPS know mechanics better. It is a player trait if someone can pick up on mechanics easily or not, not a role trait.

This is what I mean though. Oftentimes these misconceptions are stated as a inherent part of the DPS role, instead of player ability. I should have made that clearer. I don't mean to say that DPS will ALWAYS know it better, just combating the idea that tanks and healers will always know it better specifically because they are tanks and healers and not simply because they are being played by good players. I've seen DPS lead (not physically of course) parties where the tank is new and it works just as well as when a tank knows, and I understand why it's the default that people defer to the tank for leadership but it's created this idea that the DPS just run around and pew pew without a whiff of awareness.

oh, and the only reason some of those mechanics get delegated to DPS is because healers are busy, you know, healing.

See above for a response to the majority of your post but I just wanted to highlight this separately because I don't understand what point you're trying to make with this statement. I'm not saying DPS get those mechanics delegated to them because they know the fight better, I'm saying they know the fight better because they get those duties handed to them. For instance, if you play as a DPS/tank, then healer I think it's surprising to see how much stuff you were concerned with as either of those classes that simply don't concern you as a healer and for which you need to have exactly zero knowledge of to do a good job. There's no reason a healer knows the fight better because they're a healer. In some cases a healer is the person who can know the least amount and get away with it. Same with a tank.

[AmyNeudaiz]

I don't mean to say that DPS will ALWAYS know it better, just combating the idea that tanks and healers will always know it better specifically because they are tanks and healers and not simply because they are being played by good players.

And this is why I have a problem with your post. You don't combat a misconception by creating another.

You are saying over and over DPS will know fight better because they are DPS (even though you turn around and say player skill is involved). This is an inaccurate statement just like the statement "DPS know the least because they are DPS".

Also as a main healer I resent your remark that healer gets away with knowing the least about a fight. Sure, in an easy dungeon where any role is cake, I'll agree. But have you even tried doing Twintania or Ifrit EX or even Pharos to a degree as healer without having knowledge of nearly all of the mechanics?

[Lyrinn]

For instance, if you play as a DPS/tank, then healer I think it's surprising to see how much stuff you were concerned with as either of those classes that simply don't concern you as a healer and for which you need to have exactly zero knowledge of to do a good job.

I main healer, and I do play DPS; in fact, I'm 50 in all but LNC/DRG with relics for all of them, so I know perfectly well how fights work from a DPS perspective and I can tell you that most fights can be simplified down to "avoid AoEs, kill adds." The fact that you think the same works in reverse says only one thing: knowledge of fights has nothing to do with roles, only players willing to learn all the details.

There's no reason a healer knows the fight better because they're a healer.

In some cases a healer is the person who can know the least amount and get away with it. Same with a tank.

Yes, I think we've already established this Mr. Repetitive. The problem here is that, like AmyNeudaiz is saying, you're arguing against oversimplification of DPS by oversimplifying tank and healer, hypocrite.

[LukeyP666]

To put this into context, our White Mage in our Static, who we've been clearing Coil with for months now, only realised this week that the glowing panels during the Cad fight in Turn 1 spawned the Slimes :P 'I was wondering why the Bards start randomly taking damage...'

I'm in agreement with the OP to some extent, having now played every Dungeon and fight on my Tank and DPS (with the exception of Coil), and the majority on my White Mage. But just because you're a DPS doesn't just make you know the fight more. I just think each role learns the mechanics which are more relevant to them, but if a DPS learns the full mechanics, then great, but it doesn't make you a bad DPS by not knowing how EVERYTHING works either.

Titan XM as an example, on my Monk, all I need to do is avoid the AOE, kill the adds and kill Titan, while maintaining my stacks of GL, and as long as I can avoid stuff, the pattern isn't so important. As a Tank I need to know the pattern in order to pre-buff for Mountain Busters and when to tank switch, how to grab the adds, etc.

[Alcyon1]

Titan XM as an example, on my Monk, all I need to do is avoid the AOE, kill the adds and kill Titan, while maintaining my stacks of GL, and as long as I can avoid stuff, the pattern isn't so important. As a Tank I need to know the pattern in order to pre-buff for Mountain Busters and when to tank switch, how to grab the adds, etc.

And against Titan HM, when we were <i70, the white mages had to know the pattern to cast an aoe heal in the middle of the tumult.

[Mephistopheles]

This is horribly biased, no single role knows more than any other role. It is purely down to the player and only the player. Everybody has a job, whether you do the job well is the players fault. An example being I was doing a low level roulette and this bard kept on pulling off the War (who was still new and didn't know optimal rotations) and he got horribly offensive when I told him he should slow down his DPS, yet it is entirely his fault that he pulled. Some players are either lazy, conceited, or stupid.