DPS best practices

[Spartan926]

This might sound like a stupid question, but I wanted an answer from the forums on what is the proper way to choose a target as a DPS? Should I just pick a target unless the tank has one marked, unless it's a situation like the bee's in Qarn or the maids in Haukke manor?

I've been running most of the game as a tanking class. As I started running the mid level dungeons (roughly Haukke Manor to DD) I noticed that some dps would pick a target to strike down when pulling trash. It was often a separate target than the one I chose, but it didn't matter much because holding aggro became rather simple. Yet if I'm going to be running dungeon's in another role I'd like to know what the generally proper way to go about it is from the community?

As a side note I do not usually mark targets since I play with a controller and have limited button space and my fingers aren't really nimble enough to jump between attacks and marking.

[Zojha]

Feel free to attack any target as long as you do not get aggro, typical priority targets aside. You'll quickly notice if you attack the wrong target simply by the way the aggro bar fills - in that case, you wanna switch.

It really isn't much more complicated than that - everything's fair until something flails at you. Sometimes, focusing a target someone else is focusing can yield synergy effects, such as Disembowel and Bards/MCH, but yeah.

My own standard procedure is to simply apply a DoT on everything and then hit the target the tank seems to be hitting, unless I use shadewalker anyway. Though 3+ enemies means AoE, so...most of the time it's a non-issue.

[Underdog2204]

I attack the tanks first emnity combo target unless I see the other dps attacking something different then I'll switch to that target too just to make things easier for everyone.

The only times I don't do this is when I know a certain mob needs to be killed asap, the pull goes horribly wrong or if I'm AoEing.

[vp_cmc]

What to do when tank pulls 6+ mobs, but then marks some of them as 1,2,3? (he shouldn't, but what if this happens?)

[Underdog2204]

What to do when tank pulls 6+ mobs, but then marks some of them as 1,2,3? (he shouldn't, but what if this happens?)

I just go into my AoE rotation anyway unless I know they can't hold agro.

[Darkstride]

What to do when tank pulls 6+ mobs, but then marks some of them as 1,2,3? (he shouldn't, but what if this happens?)

If they are pulling that large, you should be doing AoE unless there is a particularly dangerous single enemy lurking in the group. If a tank has pulled them, then they have accepted responsibility for holding aggro on all of them. It would be foolish to kill 1 by 1.

[Khalithar]

What to do when tank pulls 6+ mobs, but then marks some of them as 1,2,3? (he shouldn't, but what if this happens?)

I will usually follow the kill order and prioritize those if it's a situation with a particularly dangerous or annoying enemy, not that I really ever see those in this game. Hell off the top of my head I can't think of any trash mob in any dungeon that's particularly dangerous or annoying except for that one turtle in St Moc, the bomb generators in pharos hard's final room before the last boss, the books in Gubal, and maybe the beetles in the first few pulls in Amp hard mode.

[Hasrat]

Personally, unless it's an AoE situation, I'll focus down any mob that has its own AoE attack. It's not often I see a group following that procedure, though. But for me, just makes the most sense to burn down anything that could have players scrambling to not take damage, or otherwise requiring healer to spread their focus.

[ChaozK]

If its a small singletarget pull, you should start with the target that the tank used shield lob (or something similar) on. If Aoe isnt worth it you could then proceed to dot up every mob, which is a dps gain on almost any job.

[Critical-Limit]

Depends on what my party make up is. If whm is spamming holy/assize, and you got a ranged dps dotting everything and doing AoEs.

As a monk for example I'll drop my dps a little by target switching on single hit moves to kill them close to same time so my party buddies get maximum useage out of their dots/aoe's

But I've had people attack my style and force me to single target kill. Just do what you think is best and then if it calls for it adapt to your party wants needs.