Need help choosing a class: Summoner or Bard?

[Aezryn]

I can't decide which class I want to main first. Usually in MMOs I like to play casters but I most enjoy dps/support hybrid or tank classes. I'm having a hard time choosing between Summoner and Bard so I'm wondering if someone can help give me perspective on what the play-style is like in endgame.

My thoughts so far:

Summoner: My biggest concern is that so far starting out it seems all I do is refresh DoTs and spam Ruin which might get old fast. I'm wondering if this is pretty much how I can expect the class to always play?

Bard: I find the GCD with all the instant cast abilities kind of annoying and awkward since I just kind of wait to press another button. I know later they get the spell to make their abilities have cast times but I'm having a hard time figuring out how this actually plays since I've seen a lot of Bards complain about it. I'm also having a hard time distinguishing this class from the Machinst.

[Anova]

The archer and machinist are almost identical. Probably the biggest difference really is that as archer, you want to keep your dots up in the hope of proccing specific abilities; whereas machinist uses ammunition or ability proc chains (like blackmage/whitemage).

You also have to throw out your turret as a machinist, which is mechanically like a summoner pet. Bard just has to move.

Summoner picks up and becomes more interesting after level 50, when they get aethertrail and you have to manage that when your aetherflow is expended. It's a definite improvement, but the basics of the class is just keeping dots up and throwing variations of ruin out in between. There's some pet management as you unlock more abilities too.

[AskaRay]

Bard life forever

Real answer: I also thought smn was really boring till after 50, it definitely picks up then. Personally I've mained bard for a looong time. Machinist has the turret to keep track of and in later levels the combo feels different, especially with Gauss barrel.
Also at 52 bard gets Wanderer's Minuet which adds a 1.5 second cast to attacks in exchange for stronger attack power.

[Aezryn]

Thanks for the responses! From the sounds of it SMN gets more interesting and I think I'll enjoy Machinist more than Bard so I'm going to stick with SMN as my main until level 50 at least. Thanks for helping me figure it out!

[Warboss]

Leveling multiple classes is always a good idea. A little tip for when you do finally get your machinist class:

You will want to level your archer to at least 26 (34 is if you want to add quelling strikes, which isn't terrible to have.)

You will also want to level your lancer to 34 to get Invigorate (restores 400 tp instantly) and Blood for Blood (10% damage bonus). Machinist can make use of skills from both of these classes and they are incredibly important to have for your dps.

[Aezryn]

Leveling multiple classes is always a good idea. A little tip for when you do finally get your machinist class:

You will want to level your archer to at least 26 (34 is if you want to add quelling strikes, which isn't terrible to have.)

You will also want to level your lancer to 34 to get Invigorate (restores 400 tp instantly) and Blood for Blood (10% damage bonus). Machinist can make use of skills from both of these classes and they are incredibly important to have for your dps.

Thanks for the tip! I didn't know one of the cross classes was lancer. The amount to do in this game is a little overwhelming but its awesome, I'll keep it in mind when I get there.

[Maero]

Also good to have and use on smn and blm (if you level it) is Raging Strikes and Quelling Strikes, both which are from Archer.
Myself i also have Mantra on my Bard and Ninja which is an ability from Monk, but very much not needed and just helps out healers is all.
Summoner is very strong in 3.x

[allygaterr]

I mained BRD for over a year and loved its simplicity and DPS/support playstyle. But when I tried out SMN, I liked it even more than BRD!

Playing a SMN is definitely far from boring. You'll need to be constantly applying DoTs on all mobs on the field. I always found the BRD rotation to be very boring. As SMN, you get to do DPS, debuff, micro pets and even heal (as a scholar). You pretty much get two cool jobs leveling one class.

Though, if you prefer mobility and overall simplicity, the BRD is not a bad choice. It's definitely a great first class. Machinist I would consider more offensive-oriented, if you like that kind of playstyle.

[Aezryn]

@Maero: Yeah it looks like archer is really good to level up to 34 for the classes I'm interested so I guess its good its at least level 20 so far since its the class I started with ^^

@allygaterr: The two jobs for one class really appealed to me with the Arcanist class and I think the simplicity is what bothered me most about Archer/Bard, so I hope that Summoner/Scholar stays really fun