Best DPS class in the game?

[Chocob0charmer]

I believe BLM pulls ahead in the longer fights while DRG and MNK have higher burst DPS dependent on their TP. Once they run low on TP their DPS tends to slow down, while BLM has virtually infinite MP and can constantly apply DPS over longer periods of time. My guess is MNK and DRG > short fights, and BLM > boss fights

What needs to be considered as well is the use of BRD's Army Paeon. Once that's in play DRG gets crazy TP regen and that burst dmg spreads out even longer!

[Hadrian_Harvey]

I think each DPS class is going to be best depending on the situation. All I can do is echo the previous posters, and say play whatever you'll enjoy the most. Enjoy burst melee DPS? Dragoon. Sustained melee DPS? Monk. Burst/Sustained ranged DPS? Bard. Sustained ranged DPS? Summoner. AoE/Ranged DPS? Black Mage.

[NoctisUmbra]

Extensive testing in Phase 3 had MNK with the highest DPS ceiling by a significant margin. Given Paeon from a BRD, this can hold true for extended battles just as readily.

That being said, some tweaks definitely were made, so looking forward to checking out the details after Launch. With the differences measured in Phase 3 in mind, and a quick look at some of the tweaks to both actions and damage calculations that I could tell from Phase 4 (like DoTs being affected by buffs now) I feel that all of the DPS being much closer to each other is a good hypothesis.

[KujinRen]

Based on beta 3, Pugilists deal slightly more damage than Lancers in longer duration fights whereas Lancers are better burst for shorter duration fights. Thaumaturge is good for both burst and sustain.

[rhazchan]

Pugilist is great, but doesn't have any Damage over Time skill, I wonder is there any change on FF XIV ARR ?
I love Archer better than Lancer, Archer can't attacking while running or walking, so they still useful even when they avoiding any AoE attack from boss.

[Spythe]

My guess is a well played MNK will be top DPS then Dragoon/Summoner/Black Mage will be relatively even. I'm still torn on what exactly to level but currently I'm leaning on the MNK since they will have the shortest GCD in the game from their Greased Lightning stacks. I didn't see a lot of people mention Summoner but as far as AOE goes Summoners and Black Mage will outshine both the melee DPS classes. It looks like Summoners will be the king of AOE since they can spread their dots every 10secs. At the end of the day play which every class you enjoy the most. Don't let armor, looks, or weapons determine what you play just let the gameplay decide.

[Spythe]

Pugilist is great, but doesn't have any Damage over Time skill, I wonder is there any change on FF XIV ARR ?
I love Archer better than Lancer, Archer can't attacking while running or walking, so they still useful even when they avoiding any AoE attack from boss.

A PUG has dots, he actually has 2 of them. Once he gets at 15 from the class quest, Touch of Death. And another one at level 30, Demolish. The Dragoon has 2 dots as well and so does the Archer. THM has 1 if you don't pull from any other classes and the Summoner has 3 I believe if you don't pull from any other classes.

[kensenshi]

LNC hits harder but PUG seems to hit faster so I guess both are even

[Eein]

What needs to be considered as well is the use of BRD's Army Paeon. Once that's in play DRG gets crazy TP regen and that burst dmg spreads out even longer!

Tp regen was increased from 50per 3 to 60per 3; It doesn't look like Bard will be needed for TP regen outside of AOE phases if people take invigorate from lancer/drg.

My current testing for P4 shows BLM > MNK > BRD > DRG in terms of standstill output, but this will likely be corrected with priority updates to my sim.
No idea on SMN yet, but we'll see if they fix the arcanist never missing bug. (carby still misses, just not the player. ever.)

A PUG has dots, he actually has 2 of them. Once he gets at 15 from the class quest, Touch of Death. And another one at level 30, Demolish. The Dragoon has 2 dots as well and so does the Archer. THM has 1 if you don't pull from any other classes and the Summoner has 3 I believe if you don't pull from any other classes.

I've tried testing these dots the best I could; Not sure if they are still broken right now (doing extremely low damage even with gear), but my testing showed that they aren't really worth using in a single target scenario, but best used when you have to move from the boss or there is a phase where you can't damage the boss but dots still tick.

[Rosencranz]

"Best" mean "best output of damage" or "best in doing his job"? For the first, i sincerely don't know, maybe blm, maybe drg. For the second, i must admit that arc and brd are pretty amazing, simply for the "ranged attack + mobility" thing. A BRD can run around away from mob range, kiting while doing his dps job, still doing pretty damage while alive, take less hits, and so doing his job "better". So, if we are arguing in a perfect world where dps take no hits, go with blm and drg/mnk. In a normal world when you must move + damage move + damage and again move + damage, choose BRD.