Opinions on Dancer?

[Renryuu]

So to keep a long post as short as I can, I've decided to be a dancer main this expansion, but I'm getting mixed messages in that some say dnc will never be wanted and others say dnc will always be wanted for parse padding. I went dancer to be a supportive style dps that is helpful to groups, but now I'm worried that I'm either gonna be just a benched job or a glorified push up bra. What do y'all think of Dancer and will it be a nice addition to groups or just a job that is either ignored or only taken for the sake of making other people's numbers look better than they really are?

[Kurando]

It's a fun job and personally it feels easy to use, but those procs just ain't going to cut it. You could go several minutes with barely any and then the next moment procs are coming from all places, it wasn't a good thing to have on SB MCH so not sure why DNC needs to have them this time around. I imagine when jobs do get some adjustments (which likely will become after the first savage tier), DNC will be a more reliable form of DPS that it isn't just support and RNG.

[Ceallach]

It's a fun job and personally it feels easy to use, but those procs just ain't going to cut it. You could go several minutes with barely any and then the next moment procs are coming from all places, it wasn't a good thing to have on SB MCH so not sure why DNC needs to have them this time around. I imagine when jobs do get some adjustments (which likely will become after the first savage tier), DNC will be a more reliable form of DPS that it isn't just support and RNG.

You get all five procs once per minute via Flourish, so it's more about managing feathers while hitting procs as you build up into your Flourish/Devilment window.

Personally, I think it's really fun. It feels too squishy, but that does make sense for dancer. I feel like there should be at least one more thing you can do with your Dance Partner, and Curing Waltz should probably not be based on Mind when you're a DPS.

[YanderePrincess]

Curing Waltz should probably not be based on Mind when you're a DPS.

It's based on the exact same thing as Second Wind. Honestly, the only thing that hinders Curing Waltz's effectiveness from what I'm seeing is that it's not especially needed because the healers can handle the healing without any significant trouble. This might change more when we get Savage, especially during progression, though, and that 400 potency AoE heal every minute will see much more appreciation. As it is, it's still at least one less Medica/etc needed after a stack mechanic, which is hardly a bad thing.

[kidalutz]

So to keep a long post as short as I can, I've decided to be a dancer main this expansion, but I'm getting mixed messages in that some say dnc will never be wanted and others say dnc will always be wanted for parse padding. I went dancer to be a supportive style dps that is helpful to groups, but now I'm worried that I'm either gonna be just a benched job or a glorified push up bra. What do y'all think of Dancer and will it be a nice addition to groups or just a job that is either ignored or only taken for the sake of making other people's numbers look better than they really are?

Lets put things into perspective. Back in the days when DRK absolutely sucked monkey marble a player that got worlds first clear was asked why they played Dark. Thier response was simply. "I like playing Dark Knight it's fun." world first kill with a job that before that had been ridiculed. Dancer is absolutely a class that will not be a bench warmer and it's amazingly fun to play.

[Saefinn]

Lets put things into perspective. Back in the days when DRK absolutely sucked monkey marble a player that got worlds first clear was asked why they played Dark. Thier response was simply. "I like playing Dark Knight it's fun." world first kill with a job that before that had been ridiculed. Dancer is absolutely a class that will not be a bench warmer and it's amazingly fun to play.

I think this is always an important thing to remember and kinda why I don't like the "meta" mentality. If you're going to pure optimisation at the top percentile, maybe it works, but the majority of the player base does not fit into that category. I see more value in people who love and are really into the job they play and get the most out of it than one who has picked it because it's "meta". Generally when somebody loves their job and dedicated to the roll, then they will find ways to maximise it and make up for its shortcomings. I was like this with ARR SCH, I know somebody who was like this with HW MCH (when they were rejected for MCH's low DPS), I've known a couple of MNK's like this and so on.


Personally, I love playing DNC and will be pushing to try and maximise my own DPS out of it and the group DPS. The only problem I have at the moment is if there is a dip in latency, it can interrupt the flow, but that's the same with similar jobs. I don't mind the RNG, because it's not infrequent enough to make me hate it but more procs wouldn't go amiss, it does play a little bit like HW MCH, but I also liked HW MCH. The latency may have something to do with being in the UK whilst being on a US server, however, I'm one of those RP weirdos and that's where the RP community at. There are a couple of VPN's claiming they'll improve latency, so I might try them, see how they do.

[Hezzlocks]

I think this is always an important thing to remember and kinda why I don't like the "meta" mentality. If you're going to pure optimisation at the top percentile, maybe it works, but the majority of the player base does not fit into that category. I see more value in people who love and are really into the job they play and get the most out of it than one who has picked it because it's "meta". Generally when somebody loves their job and dedicated to the roll, then they will find ways to maximise it and make up for its shortcomings. I was like this with ARR SCH, I know somebody who was like this with HW MCH (when they were rejected for MCH's low DPS), I've known a couple of MNK's like this and so on.


Personally, I love playing DNC and will be pushing to try and maximise my own DPS out of it and the group DPS. The only problem I have at the moment is if there is a dip in latency, it can interrupt the flow, but that's the same with similar jobs. I don't mind the RNG, because it's not infrequent enough to make me hate it but more procs wouldn't go amiss, it does play a little bit like HW MCH, but I also liked HW MCH. The latency may have something to do with being in the UK whilst being on a US server, however, I'm one of those RP weirdos and that's where the RP community at. There are a couple of VPN's claiming they'll improve latency, so I might try them, see how they do.

Absolutely agreed. I've always been of the opinion that you should play what you find *fun*, not what you hear is the meta. The meta has only ever mattered in absolute highest level of play, where every % matters. Anywhere below that, and it no longer matters, because not only are you probably not really good enough to make that % count, but also you're probably at the skill level where you're going to perform better with something you enjoy, rather than whatever is the "best".

[Crushnight]

I find it absolutely fun to play, yea rng is rng but i had fun with brd/mch in SB so rng doesn't bother me much.

What i love most is i feel like i actually benefit my party like any support job should, this is my preferred playstyle, it is why it resonates with me, why i love ast as my hlr, i guess it is just how i am i'd rather be able to buff my friends up than deal huge damage :P

[HyoMinPark]

I find DNC to be a lot of fun. It can be pretty busy at max level when you have procs from Feathers and Saber Dance flowing in, especially during your Technical Finish window. The RNG is not terrible at later levels, especially since you get a skill at level 72 to force-proc all of your Flourished abilities every 60 seconds. I personally don't understand the complaints about RNG, because the more you level the easier it gets to deal with it. But I also played SB BRD, which was another heavily-RNG job. Unlike HW/SB MCH, DNC's base combos for single-target and AOE aren't 100% RNG. Just the Flourished procs, which are not part of our combo.

It does have lower personal damage, but we don't know yet how it's rDPS will pan out to be. We won't know until the release of Savage, more than likely. It is likely that DNC will be brought for padded runs, and for runs that want to stack what raid buffs are left in this game, but we will know more about those meta, again, once Savage is released and we see more hard numbers. For the casual raider, it doesn't matter as much.

It's a fun job and personally it feels easy to use, but those procs just ain't going to cut it. You could go several minutes with barely any and then the next moment procs are coming from all places, it wasn't a good thing to have on SB MCH so not sure why DNC needs to have them this time around. I imagine when jobs do get some adjustments (which likely will become after the first savage tier), DNC will be a more reliable form of DPS that it isn't just support and RNG.

The DNC RNG isn't bad at all the closer you get to 80. Sometimes you have so many procs during a Technical Finish window you can't fit them all in there. At 72, you learn Flourish, which force procs all 5 of your Flourished skills, and you can use it every 60 seconds. So it will always be available during burst windows (e.g., Trick Attack, Technical Finish, Chain, Litany, Battle Voice) for you to push out damage. At 76, you get your Esprit gauge and Saber Dance. During Technical Finish windows where you're gaining Esprit from the entire party, I find myself wishing Saber Dance was oGCD because sometimes I get so much Esprit my gauge hits max becfore I can empty it on the skill.

It's only at lower levels where RNG seems slow, I guess, but I didn't find DNC to be any worse than RDM VerRNG, personally. Especially once you're able to force proc with Flourish.

[Kurando]

snip

I did get DNC to lvl 80 though still I think there are one too many processes, perhaps at least Fan Dance III could be guaranteed or maybe something else (without resorting to Flourish). Rising Windmill and Bloodshower also require you to have targets around you (to proc) so sometimes you have to time these to avoid aoes and whatnot. We get Flourish every 60secs which is all good, and yeah we can end with a lot of Espirit being generated at times but there is a lot of RNG without a doubt and RDM at least has reliable burst damage when you get it.