General

Play what you like. This is literally how I feel as well. Thanks RebootMS for this vid. Please just listen to this video..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iz39RGPZjM

demon avenger: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwYecPZCTU0tASJS8jT90FzZDal3DVgSk

@sadvirgin: yea I do have them all 140+, unfortunately it didn't make the choice any easier.

Aran, Aran, oh and Aran

Try them all and then the one you end up sticking with the longest is your long-term main.

@wall gud bloss you get double engineer to mention you

@eternalmemory: oh god why are you back. Leave already!

@wall is right. Play what you like. If you beed example of how each work, youtube is your friend.

@bubbeuy: what about funding thresholds, won't it be impossible to fund bow master to an optimum level on reboot?

@wall: i like all maple classes outside mages.

@healer55: Lets simplify this. Cause overall they are very similar classes what has almost no differences but one with better qualities in some areas over the other and vice-versa.

BM: Has two important skills: Enchanted Quivers and Arrow Platter
One platter itself seems plain but with Quiver, you add a whole new level of usefulness.
-On bosses with potion lock, you can lock it to drain if you need to and almost never care about your HP.
-Training >>> Poison
Hurricane can move around/jump with which means you can always attack while on the move not dropping in DPS along with platter. If you are not in need of HP, lock it into Extra arrows and that deal a lot of damage from quivers due to Hurricane being so fast along with Final Attack.
Has a back Jump which can be used as a secondary source of flash jumps since you can only use one flash jump normally. Has Up Jump.
Has a status resistant skill which goes up to 100% and blocks off a status but goes into cooldown for x secs.
Has a hook which grabs on to a monster and goes past it with an i-frame from monster's contact damage but doesn't save you from rocks like in Magnus if you touch it.
WA:
Has Hurricane which is stationary meaning you'll fall in damage if you have to constantly move and reactivating.
-Can semi mob
-Very fast triggering their final attack + the magic arrows which idk what to call them...
Has flash jump and up-jump.
Has wind walk which can help keep you in the air for longer and act like the warriors rushing skill to move quickly. Also a very good move for mobility.
So ya... Like I said, almost no difference.
So the main difference for choosing one over the other is:
BM, you get platter which can help in healing you meaning you can take more damage in maps with potion lock

WA, wind walk to help in avoiding attacks/damages meaning you can't make mistakes which will lead to your death.

that is really what I see the things you give up when talking about these two...

@bubbeuy: your explanation on drk vs DA is solid but I am not convinced with BM being superior than WA.

@tubring22: I don't know what DA "pure" means but they are pretty low on the chart without the gimmick that is putting them into #2.

In terms of fun I personally think:

DA>DK
WA>BM

I dont think there is too much of a damage difference in between the classes to justify picking one over the other because of damage.

Just checked the 5th job DPM chart (single hit) and both my picks are higher than it's competition

Dark Knight is basically better than DA mainly due to cross surge. Both classes have healing skills so it comes in handy especially with bosses that has potion lock. DA has 2 of them IIRC; one being a hold down skill with a cooldown (not really good especially on bosses like Magnus where you should be moving around a lot) and the other being a move you can use after using a total of 20 exceed skills at the cost of damage dropping because you dont have 20 exceeds used. But don't forget that DA uses HP at all times when using their skills which makes the healing skill very dire usage. On the other hand, DrK can has this hyper that IIRC can use every few secs ( DA in both survibility and damage. The only real benefit i can see for DA is the bind but that shouldn't be a problem as in the 5th Job patch, every job is getting a Binding Skill.

As for BM and WA.. i have nothing to say about it...
BM has platter but that skill has synergy with their Magical Arrows (Drain, Poison, and/or extra arrows) Also, platter bypasses triggering DR so if u need to heal at all times, lock yourself to drain arrow and with platter on the side, you'll see the HP go from 1 to max in like ~2secs.... Also if u need to damage, set it to Extra Arrows and u will basically have 2 Final attacks triggering hitting like trucks. If training, set your arrows to poison and your platter in areas you don't go to often and the Poison x3 stacking will finish the monsters within secs (assuming your damage is just enough to kill the monster with your mobbing skill). So ya.. BM is all about using the platter efficiently.

I have played WA as well and IMO just a "boring" version of BM... They are really the definition of stand in one location holding down Hurricane. They are also very held back by their Hurricane being a stationary skill unlike BM's movable hurricane. The pro of WA's hurricane is that it can be a semi mobbing skill as well but lets be honest.. how many major bosses requires a mobbing primary attack? Also the only benefit is WA's wind walk which is basically a rushing skill which IMO HELPs a lot though! If BM has this skill, I have to say BM is without a doubt the most Versatile class in the game once 5th job comes out but then, can't have them all xD. So ya... WA in a way has multiple Final Attacks just like BM but IIRC, they don't have self healing skills which can be a big back lash on bosses with potion lock. But from my experience right now, the only boss that BM will excel 10x better than WA is Magnus. The DOT for not being in the blue aura hurts a lot and WA will not survive as long as long as BM who might just live through the whole fight not even being in the aura.