Thanks for the replies thus far, guys! It's interesting. I particularly like the note about having to break casts to dodge AoEs, that's a viable argument. The personal 'good experiences with a Dragoon' are satisfying, but not REALLY what I'm looking for, because everyone has had good experiences with all classes at various points in their play. Someone trying to prop up Bards, for instance, would quote times that a Bard was quintessential, for instance because of manasong or somesuch.
People seem to be under the impression I'm despairing over Dragoon DPS, which is not true. As I said in my opening posts, I out-threat, which typically means out-dps, almost everyone. I USE all Dragoon tools, trust me. Even in 2.0 when they sucked, I snuck in Jumps when they could be viable. Now, I use them all the time. I even throw in between-GCD-stuns because they DO damage, against enemies for whom stunning isn't a key mechanic (not wanting to screw over interrupts).
But doing damage is only one part of raid utility. ANY dps class can do excellent damage, if taken to the limit by a player who is GOOD at it. What I'm looking for mostly is UTILITY, which Dragoons don't have. Even Monks have Mantra, for example, and Silence AS WELL as Stun, AND they can remove buffs. BLMs have CC and mad AoE, BRDs have songs, etc.
Do Dragoons JUST offer damage? Seems so. Do we offer enough MORE to compensate our lack of utility? Not really! The proof is in the pudding. No one asks for Dragoons on raids, unless they have had very specific good fortune with them.
Admittedly, I've never done Coil! Maybe they're uniquely suited for some fights? I'd love to hear about it. Limit Break is neat and all, but is that it?
People seem to be under the impression I'm despairing over Dragoon DPS, which is not true. As I said in my opening posts, I out-threat, which typically means out-dps, almost everyone. I USE all Dragoon tools, trust me. Even in 2.0 when they sucked, I snuck in Jumps when they could be viable. Now, I use them all the time. I even throw in between-GCD-stuns because they DO damage, against enemies for whom stunning isn't a key mechanic (not wanting to screw over interrupts).
But doing damage is only one part of raid utility. ANY dps class can do excellent damage, if taken to the limit by a player who is GOOD at it. What I'm looking for mostly is UTILITY, which Dragoons don't have. Even Monks have Mantra, for example, and Silence AS WELL as Stun, AND they can remove buffs. BLMs have CC and mad AoE, BRDs have songs, etc.
Do Dragoons JUST offer damage? Seems so. Do we offer enough MORE to compensate our lack of utility? Not really! The proof is in the pudding. No one asks for Dragoons on raids, unless they have had very specific good fortune with them.
Admittedly, I've never done Coil! Maybe they're uniquely suited for some fights? I'd love to hear about it. Limit Break is neat and all, but is that it?
![[Image: MBLxxyE.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/MBLxxyE.gif)
