Sustained. It is more predictable, more reliable, and as the name implied, is something that lasts for the long-term. Burst anything is usually something that is less efficient so causes excessive downtime. That isn't to say that burst doesn't have its place because you do need burst to quickly respond to some event/situation quickly, after which you settle back into the sustained to finish the fight.
Kilsin said:What Matters Most To You - Burst (Damage, Healing, Aggro) or Sustained (Damage, Healing, Aggro) and why? #MMORPG #CommunityMatters
I think sustained damage is important. I also think Burst damage is important. Being able is build up significant bust damage over time by using abilities
is what matters most to me as a ranger.
Speaking to just burst damage:
One of the cool things about having the ability to do a lot of damage all at once is it can almost be like a whole new ability.
Consider you are a wizard fighting with a group and things have been going well killing monsters at a steady rate. Pulls have been going well no extra adds etc. As the wizard though you have been holding man in reserve just using enough to do constant good DPS. But on the next pull half way though the fight a roamer attacks. You do not have CC and if not handled correctly you could wipe. This is when that burst damage can almost feel like its own power. You start burning mana as fast as you can ignoring any attempt to being efficient with it and nuke the original mob to death almost instantly.
Forgive the bad attempt at describing the scenario but you get the idea. In EQ a wizard sometime could feel like this.
For fighter classes (especially DPS): Burst.
For spell classes (especially clerics): Sustained (mana and HP sustained healing is usually more effective in the long run than burst).
For mages sustained damage is more useful and saves a spell slot or two in succeeding rounds of combat.
