Bards are stagnant

I hold the belief that SE no longer has any idea how they can improve on bard other than songs. Having played the job some

I have posted before, that SE did not think that the game would progress past 75 and
have written themselves into a corner for where bard is concerned and have no real idea how to improve the job as any more boost would make bards too powerful.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...rry-Emp-2-gear

SE put no upgrades for Gjallarhorn and Daurdabla, and Carnwenhan at 119 has the same type of buffs as any of the 119 REM buffs, skill to the weapon, parry or guard, and magic accuracy (except for Nirvana(smn), which SE went out of their way to buff). Which yes the ONLY stat that applies to the true nature of bard is the magic accuracy(non DD bard).

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...for-Carnwenhan

Gjallarhorn increases quality of songs.
Daurdabla increases the quantity of songs.
Carnwenhan increases duration of songs.

The ONLY stat left possible that I can think of IF SE does not wish to go past +4 on Gjallarhorn and +2 more songs on Daurdabla and 60s increase on Carnwenhan is song cast time, which already is covered by alot of gear(fast cast included)

So what else is left for bard other than songs.(Yes I am still a 3 song bard but am working on the 4th song)

I can think of only 3 songs that will benefit bard at the current state of game(delve + beyond).

1) Massacre elegy(100% slow)
2) 3rd tier march(although this seems not needed IF you have 99 Gjallarhorn, as BRD/WHM can cap magical haste with 2x march + haste(from whm sub))
3) A regain song(TP x amount per tick)

Based on this I believe we bards are stagnant, as from SE's previous adjustment they've wrote themselves into a corner with very few options left to go without bard becoming more powerful than it already is.

Granted yes, few bards will reach this level(main reason it takes so long to get Carnwenhan), but on Asura I believe we have around 10 Carnwenhans completed. So there are some of use who have hit this wall, but would still like to improve furthur.

And yes some say, "well it's time to level another job". But for me bard is the ultimate support job already and the one I want to play. Anyone that obtains REM for one job probably enjoys playing the job alot.

Assuming it follows the patterns of lower tier March spells, I feel the biggest benefit to a third Tier March song would be that you could Marcato it (assuming March+5), apply regular Haste and have capped Magical Haste. This would then open up a song slot for a majority of the time, which would be pretty nice. Brd being able to provide capped magical haste by itself would also be incredibly useful.

As much as I'd love a TP regain song (Mythic AM!!), I just can't see it happening sadly.


As far as Brd becoming stagnant, I would have to disagree at least for myself. Personally, I've been playing around with /sch and nuke sets lately and have been having a ton of fun, while also being pretty effective for certain events.

Also, I'd still love if SE added a job trait similar to Elemental Celerity for Brd. Brd's that don't precast songs would get a great boon out of this, and Brd's that do precast could free up some inventory space (which would be fan-frickin-tastic!!).

OH!!

And Tier II Etudes shouldn't decay.

Like seriously, they're useless given the fact you can't overwrite them easily due to song duration stuff.

Edit: OHHH! And personally, I would still really like a song that lowered the enemy's MDB, given the fact I've become attached to /sch recently! :p

Based on the info that magic haste caps at 43.75%, I tested my march +5 value for haste based on recast times of mazurka and came up with 31.67% + haste from /whm +15% = 46.67% which exceeds magical haste cap already.

As for bard stagnation I'm talking about main bard only, not what can be done by changing sub. For me atm once I 119 Carnwenhan, I plan to try to focus on being a more DD brd with /nin or /dnc, dualweilding 119's.

My main point is that I don't think SE has a plan on what they can do for bard, other than adding a few songs, as they kindof went all out on Emp+2 gear is why we still must wear that gear upon completion of songs for the boosts.

Sorry, I should have clarified that Brd/xxx would be able to give capped Magical haste with just Marcato Tier III March and Victory March, which I feel would be really useful, especially for soloing as DD Brd. Trust me, I'm already well aware Brd/whm can already give capped Magic haste lol

Quantity, quality, duration, check check and check. Maybe something that allows us to sings songs faster, but they're already so fast with appropriate pre-cast gear. Something like the COR Fold ability would be nice.

Maybe more debuffs, more opportunities to use more songs. I've always liked the idea of MDB down that was mentioned or even a song "nuke" that does direct damage.

Agreed on decaying Etudes, what's up with that?

Final thought: I truly feel bad for CORs who are still stuck doing 2 rolls when BRDs can have up to 5 songs.