In Dragon Nest, the most asked question of all time is “Which is the top DPS class?”. Sieg of Freedom guild gives a review on the current status and DPS rank of each classes.
Firstly, DPS is a very complicated subject.
There are classes who perform better solo, classes who perform much better with other classes, classes who are restricted in certain line-ups or content, classes who don’t have a chance to attack in high burst parties despite having high personal DPS.
It is imperative to point out that while class differences exist, what determines the REAL damage output comes from the player’s skill, the party’s line-up, the party’s coordination, the mechanics in the content (and your luck with them) and most importantly… GEAR.
Raid-wise… I must admit that I am clueless about the reason why people have told me Moonlords and Engineers now exceed Raven in DPS. While searching for numbers and articles related to them, I have yet to see any legitimate proof that Raven has been outdone as the top DPS by either of them. Engineers might come close on the DPS parser, and are probably very good substitutes for Ravens, but I have yet to see any conclusively outdo Raven (the reverse occurs far more often = =”).
Moonlord on the other hand is a very special case. As far as I could determine, their individual damage capacity was raised by around 4x after the revamp- outside of raids. That makes them the number one undisputed DPS king outside of raids. In raids however, from the data I have gathered for the 65 passive’s huge contribution to the damage cap, I have yet to see any Moonlord out-do a good Majesty, not to mention the other top tier DPS chars. = =”
An easy way to tell how serious people are is to observe if they put their money where their mouth is. I have yet to see any other class being geared as fanatically with 70L+13/14 as Raven on the duowan forums – whether that holds true elsewhere I have no clue.
The question about the Bringers’ DPS have been asked so often… it is without doubt that every single Assassin class is top tier DPS. Bringers do have their work cut out for them in Black Dragon Nest though, I got very irritated with the summon clearing mechanics.
With no order to ranking, the (admittedly mind bogglingly long) list of top tier DPS (and regardless of whatever scenario they excel in) that most people acknowledge include -
Let’s start with a more acknowledged Dragon Nest CN list that excludes Kali (excluded as the author was not fond of her chest ^^)
A very brief translation of that article
Raven – still the most popular DPS class. Dark physical damage, comes with the unique def reduction debuff and dedicated crow, dps remains number one. Regardless of ML, Crusader and Engineer boosts. With perverse cast time and safe DPS environment, Raven will forever be a front-line, main DPS.
Moonlord – non-elemental magic damage. 160% int -> mdmg, 6000% board damage with 14s cd. Comes with inherent 80% damage debuff, ml is that perverse. without the 2x cap, ml is definitely the first, and is one of the classes that benefit the most from elemental conversion. however, the devs are stupid (referring to the 2x cap)
Adept – ice/fire dual elemental magic damage. 8000% board damage, comes with inherent ice resist reduction, none can match her burst damage. boosted by 3x instantly, from hell to heaven, from being kicked to being a hero, one wave era, pitiable counterpart (referring to phy). if only slime could only freeze (without the other effects), one of the most tuhao classes, but what should they do in the age of dragon jades?
Abyss Walker – dark physical damage, can heal can support, burst damage on par with adept. perverse board damage with an outstanding buff, you sure this class’ design is reasonable? with long cast time and hyperactive bosses, not recommended for unskilled players (i personally disagree lol), go play light fury.
Engineers – non elemental phy damage. board damage will scare you, actually they weren’t weak, but weren’t suitable for the one wave era. “now the world is mine” boosted by 3x in one shot, not many classes receive this kind of treatment. SS says “my life is all about reload and massacre” GM says “what is 100m damage? come compete with my tower”
Crusader – light phy/mag damage. i don’t wear hp jades, i’m proud of being a tuhao, let’s compete board damage if you find it unacceptable. $$$=DPS, buried by the 2x damage cap and the high light resistance, but crusader is actually very strong. the most tuhao class, every stat must be stacked, and is still looked down upon. crus says “after my boost, let me show you the judgement of light” (Boost already occurred, my friend IS doing crazy damage)
Majesty – dark mag damage, burst damage on par with Adept (I’m sick of this line), has the strongest buff (TA) and resist reduction, being favoured is natural. mirror, steal magic, ascension, switch, life is just so simple, wait!! boss, don’t run! actually i miss the majesty of the cerberus era (wtf, class change at 32?), i feel that the majesty now is nothing. dps, dps, is there any meaning?
Gladiator – non ele phy dmg, once established himself with only finishing attack, has to stand up for himself in the shadow of his counterpart (ml) now. after the boost hacking stance is very strong, the most unsuitable class for unskilled players, the graceful comboing is not achievable by just anyone. actually gladiator too is being suppressed by the 2x damage cap, outside of raids a skilled gladiator is (insert whatever you want, can’t think of suitable way to translate this phrase while rushing)
Saleana – fire mag dmg, high board damage, high aoe, % chance to burst, saleana allows monsters to experience hell. however, cannot escape the standing still (cast time), every skill takes 2-3s, charging appears strong but in actual fact is just a show. without the standstill, can saleana compete with raven? alas, look at that 80EX
Artillery – non-ele mag dmg, was once the top of the top, the main hope of archers now. without the bug arti is not that bad, for bosses like a lump such as prof k beetle arti is still top tier, queen of solo.
To the list, you can add Ripper, Light Fury, Sniper, Inquisitor, both Dancers. If the above list considers raid damage mainly, you can add Soul Eater. Physician would be a contender as well. That would be a total of 11 on the list, plus an additional 6 to 8 classes. That would be 17-19 out of 28 classes? ^^ (Excluded classes would be Tempest, Windwalker, Guardian, Elestra, Smasher, Dark Summoner, Saint, Destroyer, Barbarian)
This first tier DPS thing is a pile of crap to be honest, and that’s why some people come up with “Raven-tier” to describe Raven and classes at a similar DPS level. The only truth I have ascertained so far is that Raven was and from the look of the DPS Parsers, still is the king of DPS in a raid. Outside of raids, ML holds the throne. Even then, the class does not ensure one will be the top, so it’s still really dumb in the end. I hope that kind of answers the question… people should decide for themselves what the truth is.
