question about machinist.

[aishwab]

Good evening everyone, I'm normally a tank (WAR/PLD) but now I'm stuck trying to decide on a DPS job for when I need a change. I've played bard a bit and enjoy it but have been curious about machinist.

How is the job since 3.2? I know it used to be said that it takes more work for similar performance to bard, is it the same or has it improved?

Apart from the blatantly obvious (gun vs bow) what are the main differences between it and bard?

Thank you in advance for your time and any information you can provide.

[LunarEmerald]

Machinist has more mobility than bard because machinist has frequent procs that allow for movement while attacking.

Machinist can be harder to play well because it requires more concentration. You have to juggle a lot of cds and ogcds. It's easier to be a bad machinist than a bad bard.

Machinist buffs physical damage with hypercharge while bard does not. This makes machinist more favorable in raids. Bard's foe requiem is better in dungeons since they can foe every pull.

Machinist has the highest burst in the game. Nothing touches their dps during their opener.

Machinist has high aoe burst damage but bad sustained. They run out of TP quickly with their aoe skills. Bard can last nigh forever with free rain of death procs.