DPS: Strengths and weaknesses

[Jaminos]

So I have been pretty much devoted to leveling my Paladin. But now that I am level 40, I am starting to think about which class I want to play next. I have played around with some of the DPS classes, and I almost went Lancer/Dragoon my first time I started playing the game.

While I plan to continue playing my Paladin even after level 50, I am a long term raid tank after all. I do want to have a break from the hard to kill, but hard to kill others, Paladin.

I was curious about DPS classes from players who have been playing the class for a while. (30+)

My questions:

Highest burst damage
I think Black Mage does the highest burst damage in the game, but I am curious who follows in high burst damage. I think Lancer is a fairly good Burst DPS class, but I have never taken the time to actually research until now. PUG/Monk also seems to do high burst DPS, but I hardly see any in the 30+ range, at least on my server.

Highest DoT damage/Debuff
I have looked into the DoM classes least of all, save for Black Mage. But I have seen plenary of DoT/debuff from that side of the game. I know almost nothing about Archer/Bard. I have seen them both do DoT/debuffs and Burst Damage. I'm not sure where they fit into it all.


Thanks guys. I would love your input. I like to make educated decisions about choosing my next class. Additionally, is there a chart from highest possible DPS to lowest for DPS classes? I know each class has a role in the game. But I'm curious who are the damage kings. I know Paladin/GLA ranks near the bottom. Seeing as we are tanks and all.