DPS Job Breakdown

[WizardHowl]

Hello fellow Eorzeans!

I have recently come back to the game after taking a break, my main is geared to i169 if that gives you any idea how long its been as I don't quite remember the patch. The problem I am having upon return is wanting to change my main as I think SCH is just a bit too stressful for me. It will always be my favorite class and I really liked the difficulty as it really engaged me and rewarded me for putting in the time to learn the class. Though high anxiety is an issue I deal with even outside of the game I feel the class really burned me out in the end - which resulted in me having to take a step back. I plan to continue to play scholar but only on content I have mastered on another job first. So here is where hopefully you all can help me!

A lot of the job comparison articles I am able to find are a bit outdated and usually revolve around the questions of "Which class is the strongest or most desired?" or "Which class is the easiest or hardest?" These are not topics I am wanting to clear up, I plan to play relatively casually so these really don't apply to me. What I would like to know is some breakdowns on how the different DPS jobs mechanics work. The reason SCH ended up being too stressful was I felt there were too many things for me to pay attention to at any given time. Scholars have to watch ally health bars, ally status bars, ability cooldowns, Faerie ability cooldowns, target/favorite target bar for big hits to mitigate, general dungeon/boss mechanics, AND dot timers if able to maximize DPS. I really liked pushing myself and being able to pull off this balancing act but I think I want a class that isn't necessarily easier but doesn't put such an emphasis on awareness and reactive game play.

If any of you have any recommendations of jobs you would suggest it would be greatly appreciated, however some information on how each job works would be amazing so I can make the decision for myself.

[Canadane]

You can edit a post and you'll no longer have the 1000 character limit.
As for your issue about managing multiple things, all classes to this to an extent. But for the simplest rotation I'd say BLM may be up your ally.
It involves trying to put out as many Fire IVs as you can before needing to swap to ice mode to refresh your mana and enochian timer. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

[WizardHowl]

Thanks for the info on editing posts! Didn't know there was a work around for the character limit.

[Griffey]

Since you have Arcanist levelled maybe try summoner, you apply dots, use aetherflow stacks to build up a stance called Dreadwyrm Trance then burst for 15 seconds. Pretty straightforward.

Otherwise mnk is pretty simple to get the hang of and probably the most forgiving if you mess up the rotation .

[WizardHowl]

I have tried SMN a bit but am a bit overwhelmed with setting up the hotbar as I am playing it the first time at 60, I've considered starting an alt to get used to it a bit slower. I have gotten MNK to 55 and I do really enjoy it but ended up having a lot of issues seeing the flank/rear marker in 8 man content as everything gets a bit crazy. I plan to turn of ally animations to see if that helps as I didn't know this was a thing before. I know one thing that intimidates me about DPS is how unforgiving some rotations can be when a mistake is made so MNK does sound appealing.

I may end up trying BLM again as the few buttons needed for rotation does sound very nice, and I do like the lore and feel of BLM. However I've heard Enochian makes maximizing your DPS unforgiving, is that correct? Or is it just more unforgiving in new content when you don't know where you should set up your "turret" placement and less so once you've learned content?

Thank you both so much for your input! I know i really should get all jobs to 60 to really know what is best for me, I'm just itching to get back into FFXIV and want to race to current content so I can play with all my friends again.

[Lollie]

"from an casual point of view"
blm has the simplest concept, burn you mana dry in fire, recover in ice repeat, with comparativly slow casts
melees in general are equally complex, nin maybe slightly more complex due to a moded rotation if there is a war in party.
brd a mch roughly play the same, both proc based bowmages one with a pet.
smn will be similar to your sch dps, without the worry of the healing aspects.

[Mimilu]

Well:

~Bard: You mainly place your two DoTs and keep them up using Iron Jaw, place Flaming Arrow, keep Straight Shot up, cycle through your damaging oGCDs and Heavy Shot, and use your Songs accordingly. A lot of people didn't like the addition of Wanderer's Minuet but as a caster, you shouldn't have any problems adapting to it.

~Summoner: Summon the right pet for the right thing (Ifrit for trash and multiple enemies, Garuda for bosses and single-target), place your DoTs, tell Garuda to use Contagion (if you have her up) and if the fight needs it, placing her in a good spot, placing Shadow Flare, balance Dreadwyrm Trance and Aetherflow (this might be the hardest part of the job), and get Deathflare off before Dreadwyrm Trance ends. This might be easy for you transition into, seeing as you've already have Arcanist at 60.

-Monk: You want to keep Grease Lightning III up, watch your positionals, keep Twin Snakes and Dragon Kick up, keep Touch of Death and Demolish up, go through your rotations correctly, weave Meditate in to get your Fifth Chakra, watch out of AoEs, and watch your TP.

~Machinist: Very similar to Bard in that you cycle through oGCD and your combo, maintain Hot Shot, maintain Lead Shot, and use your turret's MP/TP recovery accordingly. Your weaponskill combo is RNG-based but can be easily manipulated using Ammunition for Reload and Quick Reload. However, your main goal is Wildfire and doing as much damage as you can while it is up, which can require a lot of button-mashing. Also, using Dismantle and Mind Rend accordingly during fights.

~Black Mage: A very precision-based and time sensitive job with maintaining Enochian, switching between Astral Fire and Umbral Ice, having your rotation dictated on how low you can get your MP before having to switch, and keeping a Thunder DoT up. It also doesn't have as many oGCD bursts like SMN does, so it's a bit more stationary, especially with Ley Lines (and no one likes Scathe for some reason). Mastering using your support and defensive abilities, Manaward, Apocatastasis, Manawall, and Aetherial Manipulation, is also a must.

~Ninja: Learn how to use Ninjutsu (Which can get messy with server ticks and lag), get Huton up and maintain it with Armor Crush, use Suiton for Trick attacks, use Doton and Katon for AoE, use Kiss of the Wasp and Kiss of the Viper stances accordingly (if you don't need to stun, use Kiss of the Viper the buff to Mug), use Goad when other TP-based jobs in the party need it, maintaining Mutilate and Shadow Fang, and, if there is no Warrior in the party, maintaining Dancing Blade. Also, use your other-non-Ninjutsu oGCDs, watch your TP, watch your positionals (they're all rear except for Armor Crush, which is flanking), and watch out for AoEs.

I'm not 100% familiar with Dragoon but from what I know: Maintain Blood of the Dragon using Fang and Claw and Wheeling Thrust, both of which are proc-based and require you to go through weaponskill combos to get, use Battle Litany whenever it is optimal, use Elusive Jump correctly, watch your positional, maintain Heavy Thrust, maintain Phlebotomize and Chaos Thrust, and use your other Jumps and oGCD attacks correctly.

[Reinha]

I find NIN quite a stress-free job. Keep up dots, keep up buff and debuff, use filler skills, use and stack oGCD abilities when they are available, keep an eye on party enmity and party TP. It doesn't have many positionals and the rotation is priority based. Bard is quite similar: keep up dots and buff, use filler, use and stack oGCD abilities, keep an eye on party MP and TP, buff casters. Summoner is yet another priority based job (dots, fillers, build stacks, spend stacks, use oGCD, manage pet, raise people) with a pet involved but less support involved.

The reason I find priority based rotations stress free is because of how easy it is to adjust to a fight. Even if you have to move away from boss or the fight has a pause, when you go back to fighting you follow the same check-list as usual. You don't have to change rotation like BLM might after dropping Enochian, or have to spend a lot of time building up your power like MNK. The list goes as following. Is my buff on? Is the debuff on? Are my oGCD available? Are the dots on? And when the list is checked move onto filler. It's like playing a SCH without the healing but with some extra buffs to consider.

[WizardHowl]

Thank you so much Mimilu and Reinha, this is exactly the kind of information I was looking for! I am not necessarily looking for the easiest job, but the point brought up that priority based rotations offer more flexibility when reacting to content has pointed me in the right direction.

[SeriousxSarcasm]

Dunno if I can add anymore, the peeps above gave out some good info. I can say SMN is not the way to go if you don't like the "my brain is going in a million directions at once" gameplay of SCH. XD Basically the same, but instead of heals, you get to juggle Aetherflow/Dreadwyrm, and your skill priority changes a lot depending on how your party members are performing (It's not uncommon to step back on DPS and take up backup-healer if shit is hitting the fan lol, or to take over as tank with titan-egi).

Good luck! I hope you find a Job you enjoy.