So, what's with the lack of Machinist in DF?

[ohmRICE]

Going by luckybancho's census: on Aether there are a total of 8571 players with level 60 MCH and 99252 players who have Heavensward.
Let's assume everyone who has Heavensward is at level cap and doing their thing. If everyone who had MCH at level 60 actively plays it that'd only be around 9% of the population.

But we all know that all those people aren't actively playing MCH, let alone sitting through DPS queue as one so the percentage only falls from there.
Personally, I enjoy MCH the most out of all the jobs in the game so I was a little shocked going through these numbers!

[Adire]

Just had a double MCH Aery group.

The other one's DPS was...not so great judging by our aggro differences.

We were falling behind on the group DPS check on the last boss as well, had to pop LB on the 3 drakes ASAP to the other MCH's dismay. He was wanting to use it on the boss I think. Had to let him know AoE LBs are better used as AoEs, especially during DPS checks.

No deaths though thankfully.

[Tizzy_Tormentor]

I love playing MCH, I think the main problem is the skill ceiling is very high to pull out good numbers, if you mess up your burst (or in the case of many MCH's in DF, simply don't use it) your damage will be pretty crummy, Hypercharge is kick-ass, but it won't make a run go much faster all things considered.

MCH's can put out some great damage and boost everyone else's numbers too, but most MCH's I see mostly try and wing it, which doesn't work with MCH unfortunately. MCH as a job is fine, just requires a lot more foresight because a lot of its damage comes from its burst rather than its sustain, so keeping some cooldowns for Wildfire makes all the difference.

[RocheKat]

Pretty sure the game tries to put melee and ranged together and I say that because as a monk I pretty much never see Ninjas or Drgs in 4 mans but I see Brd, Smn, BLm and Mch all the time. MCH is the rarest for high level content but I am almost always paired with a ranged dps. If I queue as a tank or healer I see all the dps jobs more often.

Keep in mind that MCH is new job and compared to Brd is harder to play, has to deal with RNG and after all that has a hard time keeping up with Bard.

[Jeykama]

MCH is like playing melee in dungeons. Super frustrating on trash but fun on bosses. MCH aoe is really TP hungry like melee's so you're wanting to TP turret, but the healers are aoe bombing and crying for MP turret so rock and a hard place. Easier just to play BRD if I'm going to go support and have easymode aoe and ok boss fun while not being frustrated.

[Docent]

MCH is like playing melee in dungeons. Super frustrating on trash but fun on bosses. MCH aoe is really TP hungry like melee's so you're wanting to TP turret, but the healers are aoe bombing and crying for MP turret so rock and a hard place. Easier just to play BRD if I'm going to go support and have easymode aoe and ok boss fun while not being frustrated.

My impressions are the total opposite. I feel like MCH aoe dps is sky high and that my single-target damage (post the short, sweet first 20-30 seconds burst) is pitiful.

I would kill for a "boss-fight" that is actually an aoe fight when on MCH.

[Jeykama]

My impressions are the total opposite. I feel like MCH aoe dps is sky high and that my single-target damage (post the short, sweet first 20-30 seconds burst) is pitiful.

I would kill for a "boss-fight" that is actually an aoe fight when on MCH.

Nah, MCH aoe is respectable with turret, but you need TP Promotion after 30s to sustain if there's a consecutive aoe pull. Well, unless you're with a bunch of people who are also aoe insane in the membrane, which isn't often in DF dungeons (I always seem to get physical dps so terrified of bottoming out of TP they single-target aoe pulls, and heal-only healers...) Bard on the other hand, dot 3 targets and spam Rain of Death forever, never have to Paeon for myself anyway so I can Requiem if someone else is actually casting. Bard's just less tedious balancing the support. But that's why I prefer not to MCH in dungeons - raids tho, different story.

[Synrin]

I swear, lvl 50-60, I got one in every single dungeon.

[Bigcat9715]

Would Machinist be better if they remove the % chance aspect from the combo? Of course they would have to lower the potency on the combo.

[Velhart]

Would Machinist be better if they remove the % chance aspect from the combo? Of course they would have to lower the potency on the combo.

Would be pro's and con's to it. SE did an update recently that helped us sustain damage a bit better by increasing Hypercharge's percentage. Its easy enough to sustain a high DPS number if fights are not too mechanic heavy. Its all about properly using your oGCD's and making the most out of each Wildfire you use, saving abilities for it or timing it so things line up as they should. It all depends on the raid situation.