Which dps class relies the least on cooldowns?

[InfiniteOmega]

Hey guys, thanx for all the responses. ^_^

So it seems the consensus for, "non-MNK whose parser dps doesn't tank if you miss-time a cooldown or screw up your rotation," is BLM?

I was also kinda thinking this myself, but i was just hoping to reach out for some advice before i invest more time in another class. I was gonna try DRG, but people seem to say that if you mess up thier GL equivalent your output suffers.

Anyway thanx again. I'm gonna get this SMN to 60 before leveling a new job, so if anyone has any more opinions on the matter, more input is always appreciated.

Also, the only reason i didn't wanna play MNK is 'cause i usually play the punching stuff class in RPGs, so i just really wanted to try something different.

[Symon17]

I'm a BLMain too, but it's not easy. I think juggling dots is much easier than not being able to cast spells because of a dodge mechanic or another lava pool getting placed on your ley lines.

I see this argument made all the time and I still take issue with it. It seems like it's confusing two different ideas and giving an overall incorrect impression. Black mage has a rotation that has fewer steps than almost every other job considering it revolves around using the same skill as many times in a row as possible. When it comes to learning and playing black mage in most content, it is functionally one of the simplest classes.

Fights that require heavy movement are essentially the one weakness of the class. And while I agree that they can add challenge to an otherwise easy class, that concept alone doesn't seem like enough to argue that the class is "so hard". I fail to see how having your cast interrupted by an aoe suddenly makes the class "difficult". It's absolutely frustrating, as no one likes being interrupted, but I've played a majority of the classes at lvl 60 and I've yet to experience a dps that can easily sit around and treat every fight like a striking dummy and never experiences missed attacks or interruptions. Meaning the one thing everyone cites as making black mage "hard" would still apply to every other job that also has a more complex rotation.

[fm_fenrir]

OP: The class you're thinking of is MNK, really. MNK's only got two damage buff CDs (Blood for Blood, Internal Release) and four off-GCD skills (Steel Peak, Shoulder Tackle, Forbidden Chakra, Elixir Field). If you just sat there and pounded your buff rotation and your damage rotation without doing anything else, you'd be pretty much 80% of the way to Hot Deeps--maybe in the range of "shorts and T-shirt deeps".

Also, whoever said MCH doesn't rely on CDs for damage must have been high or mis-read the job abbreviation. MCH is exactly what OP didn't want--15 seconds of amazingly high burst damage, then 60 seconds of "eh" plinking.

[Symon17]

Hey guys, thanx for all the responses. ^_^

So it seems the consensus for, "non-MNK whose parser dps doesn't tank if you miss-time a cooldown or screw up your rotation," is BLM?

I was also kinda thinking this myself, but i was just hoping to reach out for some advice before i invest more time in another class. I was gonna try DRG, but people seem to say that if you mess up thier GL equivalent your output suffers.

Anyway thanx again. I'm gonna get this SMN to 60 before leveling a new job, so if anyone has any more opinions on the matter, more input is always appreciated.

Also, the only reason i didn't wanna play MNK is 'cause i usually play the punching stuff class in RPGs, so i just really wanted to try something different.

Be aware that blm has a mechanic that is similar to drg. The biggest difference is that drg has an attack that reduces the time left on the buff, so you have to do some managing of when or when not to use it.

[RiisWolf]

It's definitely Monk. While they do have a fair amount of cooldowns, they do NOT rely on them to be powerful. That doesn't mean don't use them.
Bards rely on their CDs to make sure their damage does not sink like a rock. Also rigid.
Machinists has the same problem as Bard. With less DoTs, crits, and much more CDs!
Dragoon, absolutely requires CDs, to make sure their signature attacks don't suck.
Black Mage has the same problem as Dragoon. But only after level 50, and they are not signature attacks.
Summoner from the start requires cooldowns to be awesome. DoTs, then Aethercharge this, Aethercharge that. AETHERCHARGE! Also RAWR IMMA DRAGON RAWR!
Ninja...Ninjistu. That is all.

[Grimoire-M]

By the sounds of it OP is treating oGCDs and cooldowns as one and the same. That pretty much kills every class except blm, to be honest. The exception to this is dragoon and monk. Dragoon has 11 oGCDs/cooldowns total, while Monk has 8, counting invigorate in both cases. Black Mage has 5, but their rotation is why they're difficult, if that turns you off, you're stuck with one of the melee classes, and honestly, I'd recommend dragoon for having the easiest rotation so you can learn how to manage cooldowns.

Then again, if you're not gonna escape cooldown management, why not embrace it?

Try Summoner. It's the easiest of the cooldown heavy classes to get into. It is a little weird due to the aetherflow mechanic, but despite having to track 11 cooldowns, the majority sync up every minute mark, so they're easier to manage than it seems. I'm factoring in three for garuda's pet skills, one for the aetherflow skills (there's usually only one you have to wait on each minute, fester during DWT, bane for adds during a boss outside of DWT, or Painflare on trash), and one for the aethertrail timer. It is the epitome of 15s of power followed by a period of downtime, but the down time doesn't hold your damage back. The contagion you put on your dots during tri-disaster during DWT makes them last for three quarters of every minute, and you're free to use Ruin III outside of DWT for burst or to burn MP that would otherwise go to waste due to aetherflow. Once that's mastered, the class becomes more about making decisions during downtime than it is about adhering to a strict rotation. A lower period of downtime might also warm you up to those power phases too.

[RiisWolf]

By the sounds of it OP is treating oGCDs and cooldowns as one and the same. That pretty much kills every class except blm, to be honest. The exception to this is dragoon and monk. Dragoon has 11 oGCDs/cooldowns total, while Monk has 8, counting invigorate in both cases. Black Mage has 5, but their rotation is why they're difficult,.....

It doesn't really matter how many cooldowns a job has. The topic is who relies on them the least. Like in the BLM's case, again after 50 (58 or 60 to be exact), it's just enochian with its bag of issues. Without Enochian, you can't cast Fire 4. And without fire 4, you can't play with the big kids. :C
Where as monk, doesn't have anything like that. They're either attacks, buffs to boost anything you do, and the new skills that are involved with downtime. Granted not using them is a VERY bad thing. It's just that monk doesn't have to deal with an enochian, blood of the jumping dragon, being weak without CDs, RNG without CDs, building up CDs with more CDs, like everyone else does.

[Tracewood]

It's why I love MNK. It feels like the job whose playstyle didn't drastically change in HW like other jobs did. Every patch it keeps getting better with little fixes here and there. In turn, all you need to do is hit your positionals, weave in other cooldowns, and keep GL3 up as much as possible.

I wanted to try DRG, but right now I'm just not liking it's playstyle. MNK allows me to be a little flexible.