Is it worth it to be ranged?

[Spandia]

So I have been trying to level up a DPS character for when I am not healing, so far I really like lancer, archer, and monk a lot, but I've noticed my queue times are way shorter when I am melee and a lot of the times when I am the archer I get another archer in the group.

Will I have a hard time getting groups as ranged at 50?

If I like them both should I just go melee for the ease of access?

Are MNK and DRG competitive?

[Rikkustrife]

level all 3, one of my character is a main bard, the other is dragoon, while some have advantages in certain situations, for the most part they are all pretty balanced.

[Vyxion]

I can't comment on how different the queue times are compared to a ranged/melee DPS as I've yet to level MNK/DRG however, as a ranged DPS I don't find it particularly hard to find groups, obviously if you've mained a healing class then of course the queue times are going to be longer than a healing class but all-in-all the DPS queues aren't that long, at most for dungeons the longest you'll wait is 30 minutes and for CT the most you'll wait is probably an hour but there's plenty to do while you wait!

[FireHero]

Well it dose not make a difference melee or range for wait times unless your doing wolfs den but in 3 months there be a lot of rouge and ninjas running around so a lot more melee DPS to deal with.
So really just go with what you want but I did 1 of each so I could so in premade party's easy balance.

[Zakalwe]

MNK and DRG currently have short queue times, similar to healers. This is because they are less-played than ranged DPS and DF tries to pair up equal numbers of melee/ranged. But don't worry, the coming Ninja job will take care of those short queue times for melees!

But seriously, play what is the most fun to you. You'll never go wrong that way.

[subteraneanbird]

MNK and DRG currently have short queue times, similar to healers. This is because they are less-played than ranged DPS and DF tries to pair up equal numbers of melee/ranged. But don't worry, the coming Ninja job will take care of those short queue times for melees!

But seriously, play what is the most fun to you. You'll never go wrong that way.

Not entirely. The reason why is the Duty Finder tries to balance parties with the idea of one melee one ranged DPS in mind. While good in theory, in practice this means that melee DPS are given higher priority in queues.

However, don't let that dissuade you. Party Finder is always an option, and for endgame stuff it's common practice to use that or just have your own group (FC, LS, statics etc).

[Spandia]

So now I have the trouble of figuring out if I want to level MNK or BRD

[PArcher]

Will I have a hard time getting groups as ranged at 50?

Most likely no, as long as you're at least competent. Especially as a BRD, people always need BRD...

If I like them both should I just go melee for the ease of access?

If you're soloing and only using the DF/DR then melee is better for faster queues...but if you're going to try to find parties most do not want melee, or more than one melee. Especially new melee. You have to be very good at your job or you're likely to be replaced fast

Are MNK and DRG competitive?

MNK is top DPS, and DRG is 3rd (ish, likely will change thanks to BLM buffs though). However, its not easy to be at that level for a melee. At all. You have to be extremely good at your job to be competitive, as groups will not keep an "average" or worse melee around.

[Chiffre]

So now I have the trouble of figuring out if I want to level MNK or BRD

As my main class in bard i would say try the bard first XD I love to play with it.

Are meele getting faster into dungeon?
Sometimes my BF and I register at the same time in the duty finder. He as a monk and me as Bard and mist if the time he gets the invite much earlier then I do.
So i dunno why but it seems that meele are getting in a bit faster.

[Zakalwe]

Chiffre, look up 4 and 5 posts for the reason why ranged DPS currently have much longer DF wait times than melee. But again, once the ninja has arrived we can expect melee wait time to lengthen considerably, at least for a time.