SAM out classing all other DPS

[Lastelli]

oh stand corrected all I've done is look through the job skills and noticed no mention of any positional requirements on any of its skills

Be warned: sam skill ceiling is quite high. You can do pretty good damage even if you're not playing optimally, but perfect use of hagakure and kenki + sen management is not easy at all. Also optimal play requires the correct use of third eye, which means that you have to know exactly when aoe damage is coming. I was a nin main in creator savage and previously a mnk main and I honestly think that sam skill ceiling is higher than these jobs' during heavensward.

[Silverquick]

Be warned: sam skill ceiling is quite high. You can do pretty good damage even if you're not playing optimally, but perfect use of hagakure and kenki + sen management is not easy at all. Also optimal play requires the correct use of thirdeye, which means that you have to know exactly when aoe damage is coming. I was a nin main in creator savage and previously a mnk main and I honestly think that sam skill ceiling is higher than these jobs' during heavensward.

Honestly I think you're right. From the parces I've seen, the majority of SAM's have been a good 600 or more DPS below me. It took a long time to find one that understood the job, and even he wasn't able to beat me by much. And obviously from some of the other people in this thread, its not just me seeing it.

So I think SAM is in the same shoes as BLM... does lots of damage on a training dummy but can't translate it well to actual combat due to movement, positionals, etc.

It's going to take a seriously skilled player to do this one right, and then the mechanics in an instance might still screw you over.