The state of DPS and why I both love and hate RDM

[Draxxion]

I know a lot of people are not a fan of how easy the job is and how it doesn't pimunish you for making mistakes, but that to me means they got work to do on the other jobs. They were able to design RDM and SAM from the ground up and had a totally different as well as effective design philosophy with them that they should be easy to pick up and the abilities should be easy to understand. This is something they are trying to do with the other jobs, but are stuck having to keep them functioning similar to the way they have or end up alienating those who have played said job. As such RDM and SAM being brand new get to be the gold standards of this new design philosophy and the other jobs end up feeling clunky by comparison.

[jamvng]

I don't have a problem with it being "easy"/"simple". That's fine; some jobs can be more complex and some can be easier. I don't think balance should necessarily be done with simplicity as a factor. Being easy just means the skill ceiling is lower than other classes and it'll be easier to play the class at a high level.

The problem I feel is that even at the top level, where everyone is playing each class at near max capability, RDM is just better than the other two casters. They do more damage in fights while having more utility & mobility. They're also the DPS with the least punishment. DPS should be balanced (as Yoshi himself brought up) partly by their susceptibility to mechanics. Being less punishing, RDM DPS is much less effected by mechanics than BLM or SMN. BLM can lose Astral Fire/Enochian/Foul stack from moving for more than a second, or lose a Fire IV; positioning to maximize casts is necessary. SMN needs to optimize all their CDs and Bahamuts to each fight differently.

[Crewman]

BLM can lose Astral Fire/Enochian/Foul stack from moving for more than a second, or lose a Fire IV; positioning to maximize casts is necessary.

See I haven't had a problem with BLM losing it's Blizzard/Fire IV because transpose has a short enough cooldown to keep at least 1 shard active. Eventually it will fall off, but you can take measures to prevent it a little bit. Yeah it's work, but I typically can keep it up long enough for Enochian to reset it's cooldown in case I need to start over.

[jamvng]

See I haven't had a problem with BLM losing it's Blizzard/Fire IV because transpose has a short enough cooldown to keep at least 1 shard active. Eventually it will fall off, but you can take measures to prevent it a little bit. Yeah it's work, but I typically can keep it up long enough for Enochian to reset it's cooldown in case I need to start over.

It's still a DPS loss though if you transpose. You'll have to stay in Umbral Ice longer to get enough mana and then cast F3 at practically full cast time.

[Crewman]

It's still a DPS loss though if you transpose. You'll have to stay in Umbral Ice longer to get enough mana and then cast F3 at practically full cast time.

You are right it is. It's a timing game for me really. As long as I have swiftcast ready to instantly regain my 3 shards with Fire 3 I will be okay, without that there is a small drop off. if you really screw that up it's even worse.