Why do non-caster DPS do this...?

[ForteNightshade]

Means people switch before the first target dies. Makes sense on caster since you could sit there casting and have your cast go to waste because the target dies before it goes off. But melee don't really have to deal with that yet still switch (perhaps to not clip their gcd but it's dumb if said target doesn't die). True thing.

Usually because they have a big hitting GCD that will do more damage than the mob has HP. So it's better to put that extra damage on something else instead of it going to waste. That, plus if it dies before their animation registers, it'll cancel.

[Deceptus]

Prime example of "Bystander Syndrome" aka someone else will do it. I (job in question) don't want to waste MY big number on something that will die to a lesser ability.

[MPK]

muh parrrsseeee

[LalaRu]

The enemy is almost dead!

I asked my 14 kid, his reply:
It is because my deeeps will show low numbers if I hit 500 with my 2500 skill! After all, someone else will kill that, right? If it doesn't, I just can blame someone else for not AOE-ing so I'm safe.

[MOZZYSTAR]

I am not wasting my Midare Setsugekka, my Tsubame, or my 3 meditation stack Shoha on an add with less than 10% health left.

Same, more or less xD And then once I use up my stronger procs on a higher HP enemy, I go back to the lower hp enemy and take it down with a couple of normal shots.

[kaynide]

Depends on a lot. Switching is more about not wasting actions.
If you are doing AoE on a higher hp mob, it is less likely the mob will die on you and waste an action. Many AoE do more damage to their primary target.
If the mob group is about done, it might be better dps to hit with single target. Typically 3 or more targets = AoE. 1 or 2 = single target. (Ymmv depending on job/ability)
Also also, DoTs, non gcd abilities or tank hate AoE can easily finish off stragglers.

[Kaiserdrache]

Its just a matter of efficieny and using your brain, especially if you have aoe heavy dos in group and one that is not aoe heavy, but single target heavy and due to that alot more efficient against that to bring down targets with high health quick down to low health so that everything with low health can then be cleaved to death by aoes


Its just the smarter way of playing, unless the low health target is top priority to kill asap
Smart players do always use their most potent attacks against targets that have high health, because using them against targets eith like 5-10% left would be wasted potency

As a machinist you will quickly learn to constantly switch your targets and between priorizi g single target rotation over using aoes, because you are more effective with single target skills, if there are less than 4 targets sniping one down after another, than to use aoes that are weaker and when you know, the aoes of say for example the dancer in the group will kill anyways near desd targets, so its better for you to focus then on high health targets

[SaberMaxwell]

Honestly my only issue is consistency lmfao. As a caster I feel like I can't trust my team to not shank the enemy before I can blast it to giblets, so I switch. But when I switch, they switch... and then when I switch back, they switch back. It's like when you try to pass someone and you both shift in the same direction, then shift back.

All that said, personally I'd like the ability to be able to attack a corpse with the cast I was aiming at them when they were very recently not-corpse. Think feathers from Weapon's Refrain; they were nice like that. A lot of casters get goodies for landing casts, like Dualcast or a refresh on Astral Fire.

[DumdogsWorld]

As a melee DPS myself, the only time I ever do this is during low level dungeons, where I don't even have Doom Spike yet.

It's because I hate the idea of one enemy being "ignored."

Let's say you have a mob of, say, 5 enemies. When spamming AoE, they would all go down around the same time, or close to it. But when nobody has AoE, their HP is all over the place - 20%, 1%, 90%, 50%, etc. I want to replicate that dungeon flow that occurs with constant AoE. I try to equalize their health. I go for the one who has 90% health.

Sue me.

[QT_Melon]

Because as Bard, it takes approx 6 seconds to apply DoTs on a target. The server tick is at 3 seconds. To get the most effective use on Shadowbite OR Sidewinder, I'm gonna need to go to a mob with higher health