Ninja vs. Dragoon

[Alahra]

Also, I think it went with slashing less for the fact that there were already 2 piercing dps, as they fact that there were 0 slashing dps.

You could essentially make the same argument for Machinist to use bludgeoning DPS, though. We currently only have one of those, and right now we have 2 piercing. If Machinist is piercing, that would mean 1 bludgeoning and 3 piercing, whereas 2 bludgeoning and 2 piercing would strike a better balance in variety. It really comes down to how SE decides to describe it (and also what they feel is better for overall group composition balance). Some pen and paper RPGs have classified black powder bullets as bludgeoning before, so it's probably not really out of the question.

With both BRD and Machinst getting "caster" stances, I think it's fairly possible their DPS will be more comparable to caster DPS in the expansion when they needed for utility. What that will mean, if true, is that if Machinist *is* piercing, DRG+BRD+Machinist will likely be fairly potent (outside, of course, of fight mechanics requiring magical damage).