The State of Machinist in DT - Let's talk about it (again).

[brinn12]

Machinist issues will always worsen with the release of new melee jobs, which has happened in the last two expansions (for balancing purposes, Picto is considered melee). If these new jobs are overpowered by design, as Yoshi-P mentioned, they'll eventually have to buff most DPS jobs in the game to close the gap since no nerfs will be applied.

If MCH is released weaker than Bard and Dancer, MCH mains will have to accept that the job will remain weak throughout the entire expansion. Bard and Dancer will get buffed in every patch even if they are not directly buffed, which has been the case for Bard in Dawntrail. Considering that Square is hesitant to see Physical Ranged jobs dealing melee DPS numbers, this trend is likely to continue until MCH receives a raid buff or the entire role is reworked. I also don’t see how this will improve in the next expansion if they release an overpowered Physical Ranged job, stronger than the current BRD. People might just play the overpowered ranged job rather than the other three.

MCH is paying a tax within the Physical Ranged role, which is already taxed for not having cast times or melee weaponskills. With every new expansion released, "ranged tax" increases. MCH/BRD/DNC/SMN/RDM receive buffs across multiple patches, but these buffs become irrelevant when the level cap increases by 10 again, as SE inevitably scraps the work it has done during the previous expansion. Ranged players were asking for mechanics to justify the existence of a tax, SE gave us these mechs, but taxed the ranged even more with the release of Dawntrail, pushing more players away from the role. This issue is mitigated by DNC and BRD with very good teammates, as these jobs not only have raid buffs, but more buffs than any melee or caster. MCH cannot compensate in the same way, and cannot be buffed to the top of the charts like BLM/VPR/SAM. It should have received a 5% raid buff in Endwalker already. Just put a buff in Barrel Stabilizer and decrease the job's personal potencies. This will not break job identity, as it's going to play the same way.