Easiest class rankings?

[Arkdra]

The correct answer from easiest to hardest is

SMN, MCH/DNC, BRD/RPR, RDM/SAM, DRG, MNK, NIN/BLM

A / represents a tiering separation due to various factors

I more or less agree with this list, though I would swap rpr with dnc and nin with mnk personally. Dnc has more going on than rpr and I feel like their burst phase is wilder. I personally have more trouble dealing with all the if/thens of the monk basic rotation than I do the high apm and ninjutsu combos of ninja.

[VictorSpoils]

My ranking from hardest to easiest at 90 is probably:
BLM>NIN>MNK>BRD>RPR>MCH>DRG>SAM>DNC>RDM>SMN

• BLM has long casts, random procs, the worst survivability, the worst weaving, the worst mobility, etc. I still don't like this job.
• NIN has six (really four) Ninjutsu skills to go with its job gauge and two vulnerability debuffs, and Shukuchi is still more complex than other movement abilities. BTW, did you forget Enhanced Shukuchi exists? Because I did.
• MNK could be above NIN because it has three statuses to constantly reapply, but they're not too difficult to maintain, though doing it for an entire fight with no mistakes is another thing.
• NIN, MNK, and SAM all have permanent speed buffs, the latter two being heightened at higher levels. BRD also gets one from a song.
• BRD and RPR suddenly have a lot of resources to manage. BRD especially has a random GCD proc, Bloodletter charges, a 15-second and 60-second oGCD, a constant song rotation, a job gauge, two DoTs to keep up, and some support abilities. Better not use Iron Jaws too soon or too late.
• RPR and MCH bursts are high-APM and easy to clip. RDM as well to a much lesser degree.
• MCH gets two resources to manage, Reassemble skills have to be used at different intervals with Hypercharge, Wildfire and Barrel Stabilizer can't be used if you're not ready, and you'd better not waste any Gauss/Ricochet charges.
• DRG has a surprising amount of weaving and you can't double-weave jumps. Very tempting to use Geirskogul too soon. Kind of a diet version of MNK with its statuses.
• SAM is definitely easier without Kaiten/Seigan and it still probably hits the hardest of them all, so it's nice all around. Just remember to (re)apply Higanbana when needed.
• DNC has random procs and you can waste feathers and Saber Dances. Changing dance partners isn't quite as easy as Kardia.
• RDM at least has a resource to manage and more things to weave than SMN. Magick Barrier and Manafication can be a bit finicky to use too.
• SMN doesn't even have to use Swiftcast anymore and most of its strategy comes from using AoEs on as many enemies as possible in dungeons, which also means using summons in the right order. Oh, and having enough spell speed to get that 6th cast reliably.

[ZiraZ]

My ranking from hardest to easiest at 90 is probably:
BLM>NIN>MNK>BRD>RPR>MCH>DRG>SAM>DNC>RDM>SMN

• DRG has a surprising amount of weaving and you can't double-weave jumps. Very tempting to use Geirskogul too soon. Kind of a diet version of MNK with its statuses.

You can 100% double weave jumps, you can even double weave jumps with other jumps with low enough ping, only exception being Stardiver* which can't be weaved at all. edit: * meant cant be double weaved.

[Rongway]

• BLM has long casts, random procs, the worst survivability, the worst weaving, the worst mobility, etc. I still don't like this job.

It's fine if you dislike it, and you don't even need a reason for doing so. But at high levels BLM has reliably forced procs and at least 30% full mobility from instant casts and also access to short cooldown teleports. This makes them more on-demand mobile than RDM, whose long duration mobility is only useful if the movement allows 5s in melee range and requires a ramp-up of 8 dualcasts (40s). BLM also has a lossless shield, which makes them more survivable than RDM in high level practical applications.

[Mithron]

Why do people consider NIN so hard? I've always found it to be the easiest melee personally, it's my go-to when I want to play melee or learn new fights on. I can execute and optimize it far easier than any of the other 4 melee by a significant margin. Obviously difficulty is subjective but NIN is just single weaving constantly and minimal positionals, what are people finding difficult? I know SAM on a base level feels easier, but I find optimizing it much more difficult than NIN personally.

[VictorSpoils]

You can 100% double weave jumps, you can even double weave jumps with other jumps with low enough ping, only exception being Stardiver which can't be weaved at all.

My ping is fine and they still clip reliably, though weaving them with something like Feint might barely work. Stardiver is also weavable, at least up close. Otherwise, it would've just been a GCD.

Why do people consider NIN so hard? I've always found it to be the easiest melee personally, it's my go-to when I want to play melee or learn new fights on. I can execute and optimize it far easier than any of the other 4 melee by a significant margin. Obviously difficulty is subjective but NIN is just single weaving constantly and minimal positionals, what are people finding difficult? I know SAM on a base level feels easier, but I find optimizing it much more difficult than NIN personally.

It could just appear harder in contrast to most of the other jobs.

[ZiraZ]

My ping is fine and they still clip reliably, though weaving them with something like Feint might barely work. Stardiver is also weavable, at least up close. Otherwise, it would've just been a GCD.


It could just appear harder in contrast to most of the other jobs.

yeah I meant Stardiver can't be double weaved at all, but with <40 ping you can double weave jumps with other jumps that are not stardiver even with with 2.46
any non stardiver jump should be very easily weaved with any buff/role, gsk/nas, wwt, md even if you have like 100 ping

[Equitable_Remedy]

Why do people consider NIN so hard? I've always found it to be the easiest melee personally, it's my go-to when I want to play melee or learn new fights on. I can execute and optimize it far easier than any of the other 4 melee by a significant margin. Obviously difficulty is subjective but NIN is just single weaving constantly and minimal positionals, what are people finding difficult? I know SAM on a base level feels easier, but I find optimizing it much more difficult than NIN personally.

As I NIN main, my impression is that NIN is one of the easiest melee jobs. It doesn't have a bunch of short term buffs to manage nor does it have any particular long-term complications in its rotation. Further, outside of burst, NIN is chill is pretty chill, which is great for doing mechanics, etc.

Perhaps NIN looks harder on paper than it is in practice - that was certainly my experience. When I started playing during ShB, I nearly didn't play NIN because it came across as quite complicated. Once I actually played it, I found that it wasn't particularly complicated at all (but felt very good to play).

[Aikaal]

As I NIN main, my impression is that NIN is one of the easiest melee jobs. It doesn't have a bunch of short term buffs to manage nor does it have any particular long-term complications in its rotation. Further, outside of burst, NIN is chill is pretty chill, which is great for doing mechanics, etc.

Perhaps NIN looks harder on paper than it is in practice - that was certainly my experience. When I started playing during ShB, I nearly didn't play NIN because it came across as quite complicated. Once I actually played it, I found that it wasn't particularly complicated at all (but felt very good to play).

I'd think for NIN it ping dependent. Bad ping will ruin your ninjutsus.

[Yeastyloins]

Why do people consider NIN so hard? I've always found it to be the easiest melee personally, it's my go-to when I want to play melee or learn new fights on. I can execute and optimize it far easier than any of the other 4 melee by a significant margin. Obviously difficulty is subjective but NIN is just single weaving constantly and minimal positionals, what are people finding difficult? I know SAM on a base level feels easier, but I find optimizing it much more difficult than NIN personally.

From my perspective having done 6.0-6.1 as SAM to swapping to NIN a week before 6.2 is that NIN can be punishing should you goof a mudra or desync potential big CDs, things like that. Punishing is different from difficulty of execution and the amount of effort it takes to optimize I find NIN to be very easy in those respects.