RDM vs SMN vs BLM

[gaymer77]

Can someone explain to me the difference between what the 3 different caster dps classes do? I was in beta which has obviously been a while ago & wasn't able to play that far into the game because of really crappy internet that prevented me from doing some dodge an attack this quest mob does or you'll get 1 shot but you need this quest to progress in the game (if that made any sense lol) quest. Now I'm doing a free trial (couldn't do one when I got good internet because of the couldn't have done beta restriction on trials) and looking into possibly getting the game if I enjoy it. But there's so little information online about the game it kinda concerns me. Any help is appreciated.

[dope_danny]

BLM is a glass cannon designed to stand still as much as possible and nuke enemies. SMN is a dot and pet based class designed around wearing enemies down slowly from a safe distance and RDM is a hybrid of mage and fencer. You use two ranged rotations to build up a white and black magic meter than use a gap closer to dash in and do a brief melee rotation with your rapier with an aoe and single target version and then they disengage back out to cast a holy or flare based on what black or white leftover is higher.

BLM is high damage but very turret based. SMN is great in pvp and pve in the world but in dungeons falls behind and RDM is a middle of the road but it has high mobility and the ability to heal and res allies.

[Dastreus]

I prefer RDM. You can heal yourself well, even.

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BLM is a glass cannon designed to stand still as much as possible and nuke enemies. SMN is a dot and pet based class designed around wearing enemies down slowly from a safe distance and RDM is a hybrid of mage and fencer. You use two ranged rotations to build up a white and black magic meter than use a gap closer to dash in and do a brief melee rotation with your rapier with an aoe and single target version and then they disengage back out to cast a holy or flare based on what black or white leftover is higher.

BLM is high damage but very turret based. SMN is great in pvp and pve in the world but in dungeons falls behind and RDM is a middle of the road but it has high mobility and the ability to heal and res allies.

When SMN lacked Sustain, the Titan-Egi had to sit and wait to recover to full health after every fight because it'd take just so much damage vs a single mob. Hated it. Didn't get to level 61, and I mained SMN from 2.1 to Stormblood. Then with RDM... no pause between mobs. One to the next. I heard they gave SMN sustain back. FFS.

[RapBreon]

Uh easiest way to explain it.

Mage = BLM. Turret, highest damage if can turret, decent snap mobility (teleports). Usually wipe groups like their life depends on it 'for one more cast'.

Warlock = SMN. Medium damage (compared to the other casters), some support, fairly mobile. Usually highest DPS in practical circumstances out of the casters.

Hybrid caster (Balance/Ele) = RDM. Lowest damage, highest mobility by far, absolutely absurd support options. Best prog caster in all circumstances but Ultimate.

[Deleted]

If you're looking to trial run these classes you can just skip RDM since you can't access it below level 50 anyway.

SMN is a nice class from 50/60+ before that it's generally not considered much fun because you have about 2 buttons to press. You'll also have to learn to manually control your pet if you want to get good at it. A high level SMN is well regarded in PvP and has some really cool skills, but again you'll need to put in the effort (and the subscription) before it gets interesting. Side note: if you go with SMN it will also unlock SCH for you, which is an interesting class on its own.

BLMs can do some serious damage early on, but since you can't move without interuppting you cast (without a pet to keep doing damage while you run) you need to settle in and nuke the crap out of everything you can asap. The nuking part works really well though, and it has a nice rotation that gets smooter as you level up higher.

So, as you can tell, I'm pretty biased towards BLM, but honestly on the trial you can still try multiple classes until you hit the level cap. So I wouldn't worry and just try whatever suits your fancy until you commit.

[Kazgrel]

I've mostly played BLM and RDM since SB launch; I have SMN at 70 but that's as a result of having leveled SCH.

BLM: Least mobile of the casters. Fairly straightforward "nuke all the things" caster. Not as bursty as in Heavensward due to losing Raging Strikes, but far easier to play than it was during HW. Powerful AoE capabilities. Only utility comes from the role actions, which all casters have access to.

RDM: Very bursty, but lower sustained damage than the other casters. Solid "oh shit" utility with Vercure and Verraise (not to mention being able to instacast either of them thanks to dualcast). Embolden for boosting group damage a bit on 2 min cd. Arguably the easiest job in the game to play at a half decent level. Moderate AoE ability; less than BLM and SMN.

SMN: I need to reacquaint myself with SMN since the 4.1 buffs. Haven't played it since late HW, where it was fun as all hell destroying dungeons when my FC folks and I would run a double SMN group.

[Katchii]

I can only speak to Red Mage and Summoner for leveling and at level cap.

Black Mage up to 60, and I imagine at cap is extremely turret-y so you park it and then blast shit. It's VERY satisfying to see your spells take huge chunks of HP off but takes some getting used ot and is not all that fun in things that die quickly since your casts take forever.

Summoner from 1-50 is easy and solid, but pretty boring since you have very few abilities to use.

50-60 it starts to get interesting, but is still pretty dull IMO as far as actual game play is concerned.

60-70 it gets awesome, but takes some finesse as it's got a pretty awkward rotation IMO. At max level you get to summon Bahamut to replace your normal egi but it takes a huge build (60 seconds minimum) up and only lasts 20 seconds and if not coordinated right (phase changes and whatnot) can result in a huge DPS loss. That said, it is still very fun to play (IMO anyway) and is visually impressive. I honestly just really like the aesthetics.

Red Mage starts at 50 and pretty much stays the same game play wise from 50-70, you just add new buttons to do the same job better. I really like it, it's very flexible and straight forward and doesn't have a huge learning curve.

I'd honestly just pick the one you find the coolest or most fun to play. Rule of cool is a thing here, since you can easily change classes and they're all very closely balanced so no need to feel locked into one over the other. Also, they share gear so there's also that =)

[Vargarii]

Why are people calling smn medium damage? It's the highest dps caster, has silly aoe for regular dungeons, it's just got a bit of a skill curve.