When dps dont aoe should they just get kicked from the start?

[Naberrie]

For me it depends entirely on the pull (the size and what particular mobs are in the pull), the group and how the tank is holding hate, and what job I'm on at the time.

If I'm on SAM, I'm usually trying to keep up my speed and damage buffs while mixing in AOE, but those buffs are from single target skills, so no, I'm not AOEing 100% of the time on SAM (it's only 64; maybe that changes later).

On BRD I no longer have Flaming Arrow or Wide Volley, I can't spam Rain of Death, which leaves me with Quick Nock. With Tactician and Invigorate I can spam it for quite some time, but not forever, and there are times when there's a single target that needs to be focused down first. If the tank pulls something like that plus a huge amount of trash, I will focus down the one big mob that's likely to cause a problem first before I switch to Quick Nock. Plus I'm always trying to keep up my bites for the procs on songs, so I need to make sure I don't miss an Iron Jaws before the bites wear, or reapply to another mob.

On RDM I often use AOEs, particularly Scatter, but I also pay attention to my Ver procs so that I'm not losing the mana points for Enchanted attacks, one of which is a really nice AOE. Contre Sixte is great, but I can't spam it, and I've pulled hate using it too early, so I have to wait till the tank has established hate on the entire group.

It's situational. What job am I on? What's the pull? How is the tank holding hate? Is there a particular mob that needs to be focused? How's my TP? Are Invigorate or Tactician ready? I don't just blanket go in and spam AOE. I treat every pull differently and react to what the situation is. Just last night I was running Kugane in expert and the tank was struggling to keep hate, so I had to make adjustments to what I normally do. I look at the situation presented and ask myself, "What's the best approach for this fight?"

So should a player be using AOEs? Yes, absolutely. But, IMO, they also need to be mixing in other single target skills, depending on the job and the situation. But I would never kick someone for not using them. I would politely recommend it would increase their damage output. But if they refused, no, I wouldn't kick them. It's not something that would even remotely upset me. I'd shrug, adjust, and move on.

[AkashiXI]

On BRD I no longer have Flaming Arrow or Wide Volley, I can't spam Rain of Death, which leaves me with Quick Nock. With Tactician and Invigorate I can spam it for quite some time, but not forever, and there are times when there's a single target that needs to be focused down first. If the tank pulls something like that plus a huge amount of trash, I will focus down the one big mob that's likely to cause a problem first before I switch to Quick Nock. Plus I'm always trying to keep up my bites for the procs on songs, so I need to make sure I don't miss an Iron Jaws before the bites wear, or reapply to another mob.

It's not as complicated as you're making it seem, especially at 70. While the tank is gathering a big pull, Straight Shot -> Windbite every target you can, pop Mages Ballad after the third Windbite and spam Quick Volley after they're gathered. You will get a lot of Rain of Death procs with this method. After Mage wears you pop Army, and go back to spamming Quick Nock. If you're worried about the stronger enemies, place an additional dot on them for sidewinder, and focus your Barrage on them too. Simple stuff.

[Naberrie]

It's not as complicated as you're making it seem, especially at 70. While the tank is gathering a big pull, Straight Shot -> Windbite every target you can, pop Mages Ballad after the third Windbite and spam Quick Volley after they're gathered. You will get a lot of Rain of Death procs with this method. After Mage wears you pop Army, and go back to spamming Quick Nock. If you're worried about the stronger enemies, place an additional dot on them for sidewinder, and focus your Barrage on them too. Simple stuff.

That's basically what I'm saying. There are still single target skills you have to use. I may have made it sound more complicated. My point is, you still need to work in single target skills.

[HyoMinPark]

On BRD I no longer have Flaming Arrow or Wide Volley, I can't spam Rain of Death, which leaves me with Quick Nock. With Tactician and Invigorate I can spam it for quite some time, but not forever, and there are times when there's a single target that needs to be focused down first. If the tank pulls something like that plus a huge amount of trash, I will focus down the one big mob that's likely to cause a problem first before I switch to Quick Nock. Plus I'm always trying to keep up my bites for the procs on songs, so I need to make sure I don't miss an Iron Jaws before the bites wear, or reapply to another mob.

With regards to this, if the DPS is even semi-decent, a pack should be dead or near dead before your DoTs expire. With regards to Iron Jaws, unless you're going to get the benefit of at least 30~50% of the DoT duration, don't worry too much about refreshing each set of DoTs on individual mobs. Obviously, if they're taking longer, and you will get 15 seconds or more out of another IJ, IJ. But, if you're only going to get 5 seconds out of it? Don't Iron Jaws, and just focus them down with AOE.

While the tank is gathering, Straight Shot > Windbite 3~5 mobs > Caustic Bite one for Sidewinder > Mage's Ballad > Quick Nock/Rain of Death. Things will melt; you will be getting so many RoD procs, you won't know what to do with them. After Mage's is done, Army's Paeon > same thing: 3 mobs DoT'd, Quick Nock with 4 Repertoire stacks, weaving in your oGCDs (Rain of Death, Sidewinder, Empyreal Arrow). With Minuet, DoT 3~5 mobs, use Pitch Perfect at 2 stacks and oGCDs, weaving in Quick Nock/Rain of Death when its off CD. BRD AOE is extremely simple; don't overcomplicate it. Invigorate at 500~600 TP. Next large pull, use Tactician. If you are focusing down a larger threat, like, say the giant magitek thing in the second large pull after the second boss of Ala Mhigo, you can still weave in, at the least, Rain of Death, which is a higher potency overall over Bloodletter with at 2 or more mobs.

With other people contributing to AOE, as they should, things should die fairly quickly, before your DoTs expire and/or your song ends. TP shouldn't be an issue since it regens pretty quickly outside of combat.