Is mechanist weak early on or I'm doing something wrong?

[Aldath]

I'm still trying to find the class I'll be using to complete the MSQ, got my other alternatives (RDM, SMN, DNC) at level 60, and I'm trying to take my MCH to 60 so I can continue where I left (Post-Alexander, continuing HW). I have done my MCH quests up to the point you get Auto Ballista, since he's level 52.

Thing is... although I like the aesthetics, I feel I'm doing less damage to open world mobs than what my Summoner and Red Mage were doing at that point in the game. I have to use pretty much my entire kit to take out anything my level at Sea of Clouds.

I am using the full Ironworks armor set, and I got some accesories from marketplace to get my ilvl to 118 (still need a couple Ironwork accesories because I used my tomestones for Shire gear).

This makes me a little confused. I know in raid/dungeons you want to use your whole kit in a rotation, but fighting mobs in the overworld and having to do that?

[Supersnow845]

Scaling of classes is kinda whack at the lower levels and isn’t always great

For example SMN absolutely destroys every other class at level 70 because of the way their kit works but is on the lower end of DPS at level 90

In general the devs don’t really maintain kit balance at levels other than the level cap so if you notice a class feels kinda weak at lower levels just keep pushing through because outside of specific situations they are all well balanced at 90

[Aldath]

Scaling of classes is kinda whack at the lower levels and isn’t always great

For example SMN absolutely destroys every other class at level 70 because of the way their kit works but is on the lower end of DPS at level 90

In general the devs don’t really maintain kit balance at levels other than the level cap so if you notice a class feels kinda weak at lower levels just keep pushing through because outside of specific situations they are all well balanced at 90

This seems like good news.
Are the mobs in early HW areas overtuned, or that's just me? From what I remember I could kill them but I would leave the battle quite damaged, and my RDM took a little longer to kill mobs than my Summoner. At level 60, my DNC, SMN and RDM pretty much take on the Dravanian Hinterlands level 60 mobs at the same speed, take less damage, and need less button presses.

[Supersnow845]

This seems like good news.
Are the mobs in early HW areas overtuned, or that's just me? From what I remember I could kill them but I would leave the battle quite damaged, and my RDM took a little longer to kill mobs than my Summoner. At level 60, my DNC, SMN and RDM pretty much take on the Dravanian Hinterlands level 60 mobs at the same speed, take less damage, and need less button presses.

Mobs more scale based on ilvl than level itself and ilvl is messy because there is strong vertical progression at the level caps

For example

Lvl 1-49 = ilvl 1-50
Lvl 50 = ilvl 50-130
Lvl 51-60 = ilvl 130-200
Lvl 60 = ilvl 200-270
Lvl 61-70 = ilvl 270-290
Lvl 70 = ilvl 290-400
Lvl 71-80 = ilvl 400-440
Lvl 80 = ilvl 440-530
Lvl 81-90 = ilvl 530-550
Lvl 90 = ilvl 550-660

Every 40 ilvl’s is roughly equal to an almost doubling of your overall character strength, so youll likely notice more changes in your classes based on changes in your gear rather than changes in your level even if upping your level gives you more skills

[ZiraZ]

MCH is a little underpowred until Drill and annoying to play without Barrel Stabilizer if you are losing your gauge due to teleporting to different maps constantly and never being able to Wildfire from the start.

[ReissyBoi]

MCH doesn't really start to get going until level 60 where you unlock 1 of your 3 most potent skills in the form of Drill (58) and potency upgrades to your 1-2 combo. MCH can be one of the strongest jobs for level 60 content just because of Drill, which is a 600 potency skill every 20 secs. It falls off a little bit between 60-75 until you get Air Anchor (76) then Automaton Queen at 80

Also, as Supersnow845 said, item level is a big factor in your damage, more so than your actual level. If your SMN/DNC/RDM are using Shire gear but your MCH is still using Ironworks gear, then it will definitely do much less damage