This thread is motivated because I feel SE has done very little to improve bard over the past 1-2 years. If you consider how other jobs have grown from lvl 75-99 and compare that with bard, its quite apalling.
SE's release of group 2 merit adjustments seems to worsen bard, if anything. I was quite happy with the 5min recast troubadours.
If SE wants to make actual improvments, I think they should be a little more creative than what they suggest in [dev1081]. I would propose making troubadour/nightingale JA that u get at lvl 76, and remove them from group 2 merits entirely. Instead, add new songs. All the new songs from 76-99, with exception of ballad3, are pretty underwhelming and highly situational. Give bard massacre elegy and a regain song in the group 2 merits... whatever, just add some new songs that are interesting!
Considering the DD potential COR has (particularly wildfire), I think its reasonable that BRD would be a better support role than COR is. At present, this is not the case. While stepping up BRD's debuff role is certainly a good aspect to job adjustment, I think its extremely weak as a stand-alone strategy