Easiest to hardest DPS job to play

[Nephisto]

Is there some kind of ranking of easiest to hardest DPS job to play? I know it's a bit subjective, but is there a approximative ranking? I played a lot the BLM, but I want to try something else. Right now, I'm playing RDM (pretty easy) and MCH (I don't know yet, I'm just level 39). I'll maybe try a melee, because I always played ranged DPS. I play on PS4, so I'm looking for a easy job to play with a controller. Thanks!

[zeylos]

Is there some kind of ranking of easiest to hardest DPS job to play? I know it's a bit subjective, but is there a approximative ranking? I played a lot the BLM, but I want to try something else. Right now, I'm playing RDM (pretty easy) and MCH (I don't know yet, I'm just level 39). I'll maybe try a melee, because I always played ranged DPS. I play on PS4, so I'm looking for a easy job to play with a controller. Thanks!

easy wise, I think DNC and RDM are easier than everbody else. In terms purely fo rotations, BLM is also very easy, but you have to account that since its so immobile its neccesity of knowing the fights ahead of timei cnreases its dificulty severly. Im nto too expirienced with SAM but I didnt find it particularly hard personally. The hardest ones are: For casters, imo SMN (the rotation is like 3 mins lol its huge) but its quite debatable between SMN and BLM tbh, MCH NIN and MNK I'd say

[Kalise]

I'd say that BLM, DNC, RDM, SMN and SAM are fairly easy to play.

Few, if any, oGCD's to use and a core rotation that doesn't use a ton of skills.

DRG is fairly straightforward, but has several oGCD's it wants to use, which can use up a lot of action bar space.

BRD and MCH have periods of spamming oGCD's that can get difficult to keep up with (Especially while moving to deal with mechanics AND keeping GCD skills being used)

NIN and MNK are probably the hardest, due to the speed at which they perform (Both get strong attack speed increases), but also with the ordering of their skills (Trying to use the right Ninjutsu for example. While MNK doesn't just do 2 different 123 combos as it depends on DoT and buff durations). With MNK also having positional requirements on every one of their attacks, as opposed to just the finisher of a combo.

[MeanDragon]

Hmm I haven'd done BLM , but I hear that is the hardest!

For easiest I would have to say DRG. Straight foward rotations and buffs. Only 2 positionals. Close second would be DNC, which I personally think has the best AOEs in the game.

RDM is pretty easy too.

[Seraphor]

I find it easier to divide them into their roles. Mainly because some people find certain roles easier than others, to the degree that it trumps a lot of other aspects about the job. For example, the easiest job might be RDM, but to a person who can't get on with Casters, DNC might be easiest for them.

Casters: RDM > BLM > SMN
Ranged: DNC > MCH > BRD
Melee: SAM > DRG > NIN > MNK

This is personal to me, maybe you'd swap a couple around, but I'm pretty sure the easiest of each role is more-or-less consensus.

[wereotter]

So "easiest" also is subjective since one playstyle will just click for one person while another "easier" one will cause them to struggle. Also sometimes the complexity doesn't come from the rotation but from everything else you need to know. For example, summoner is much more flexible in being able to effectively play the job without knowing a fight than black mage is. So black mage you can have the rotation down, but still have to really study every fight as they come out in order to actually do your rotation.

But for me, I'd say I'd rank them this way easiest to hardest:

Caster
BLM on rotation alone, but harder when it comes to adjusting to each fight
SMN
RDM (I used to have this easiest, but I haven't ever been able to get the rotation flow to feel good and natural since the changes in 5.1)

Ranged
DNC
MCH
BRD

Melee
SAM
MNK
NIN
DRG

[thrashette]

I'm surprised BRD isn't considered the easiest job. Maybe it's just because I'm used to it, but it's very easy to play and especially easy to play optimally. You literally have four GCDs. You spam one unless you get a proc, have to refresh DoTs, or if you're ready to use Apex. Since the ideal duration of your songs is 30-30-20, it gives you a lot of leeway when it comes to deaths and boss "jumps." If you configure your UI properly, BRD is a piece of cake. DNC feels busier in its burst phase, and you have to manage lots of different types of procs all the time and pay a lot more attention to your positioning. BRD is a very simple and forgiving job that I would recommend to new players, and it has just enough nuance to be fun to pilot for years to come.

[Silverquick]

Casters

Easiest:
Red Mage, easy at first, but later gets to be more complicated as you have to manage the Mana Guage and Procs. This requires a lot more concentration than it appears at first due to proc management maximization for Melee Combo + Verholy/Verflare + Scortch. Not to mention emergency situations like Verraising half the party and covering for a downed healer.

Hardest: two way tie.
BLM: easy at low levels hard at high levels. Maintaining Enochian and fire stacks is a serious balancing act and there's more to it than meets the eye. Lack of mobility also makes this job disgustingly tough to play in high level instances that require a lot of movement, like... well just about any Eden Raid.

SMN: Great mobility but the entire job is based on stacking damage and maintaining it. So the enormity of the multi tasking required to run this one is huge. You're maintaining DoT timers + Pet Attacks to gain Ruin 4s + Aetherflow stacks + Demi Timers + Dreadwyrm timers + Multiple Egis that each have a different purpose and different attacks. Weaving all of this togather while simultaneously dodging mechanics.

[Esmoire]

If a WAR main like me can play RDM, anyone can. I can't imagine anything easier than keeping two bars even.

[CrystalRainbow]

Wow, the order pleople are saying.
Ranged, brd is stupid easy.
Melee, drg because of easy positionals
Mage, they are all harder then above.

But finally.
They are all easy to play but to really push dps to its max that is a different question.

I find brd easy than dancer,
Brd is just shot, move, hit procs, keep songs up.
Dance, is attack, partner, mini game avoid aoe, stack cures.

But I like dancer.