Quote Originally Posted by Terrini View Post
When I DPS I usually BLM though, so I look at the party make up, if the tank is a PLD and the other DPS are single target Melees, I'll sleep. WAR have more AoE damage moves, SMN tend to spread the DoTs around, BRDs have a lot of AoE damage, as do NIN, DRG and MNK not so much. So I sleep and single target when that's the make up of the group...
This is a good approach, but it requires a good understanding of all the different classes/jobs, what sort of skills they have as well as when they get them. It's one of the reasons I advocate playing all the classes in the game a fair amount, even if you plan to focus on a single favorite one for endgame content. Having played them all gives a better understanding of how they work than simply having played alongside them all, and that understanding makes people better at coordinating with the rest of a team.


Quote Originally Posted by Terrini View Post
... a lot of AoE damage, as do NIN...
An example of the "when they get them" part being important: NIN only have useful AoE at or near endgame. They have none at all until 35, and then only a single AoE that shares a 20 second cooldown with all other ninjutsu skills until level 42 when they get Death Blossom, the only spamable AoE for the class. I remember a Haukke Manor run a while back where the tank was gathering up huge groups of mobs apparently expecting us to AoE them. I was a ninja, but even if I'd unlocked any AoE skills (which I hadn't yet) I'd have lost them to the level sync there.