Bards - Help me understand

As a healer, I am at a vantage point to see how different dps approach their roles. I have to watch them as a part of my job. Watch their hp and watch for things I might can esuna. Being in this position, I can see what buffs they are using and which they are not. I also can compare how fast a dungeon progresses with different dps.

I've noticed some bards not using Wanderer's Minuet at all in an expert dungeons. I've also noticed these bards are not moving at all while shooting. I understand the argument against using Wanderer's Minuet is it restricts movement. From what I understand, it is a damage increase and unlocks abilities that cannot be accessed outside of Wanderer's Minuet.

When paired with these Bards, the dungeons go much slower.

My question is, if they are not going to be moving, why on earth are they not using something that is a damage increase? I feel like I am missing something, please help me understand.

Side Note: I have been paired with some amazing Bards using their full toolkit and seen how fast we can blast through the dungeon.

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Originally Posted by SayuriHime

My question is, if they are not going to be moving, why on earth are they not using something that is a damage increase? I feel like I am missing something, please help me understand.

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Even tho I don't move that much (anymore) as Machinist, the issue is with the cast bar, I just don't like it.

And before somebody starts pointing fingers at me, I did use Gauss Barrel.. But anyways, since I got my another job leveled today to 60, I can just throw my gun to corner and never look at it again.

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Originally Posted by Anzaman

Even tho I don't move that much (anymore) as Machinist, the issue is with the cast bar, I just don't like it.

And before somebody starts pointing fingers at me, I did use Gauss Barrel.. But anyways, since I got my another job leveled today to 60, I can just throw my gun to corner and never look at it again.

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Ok so for you, the cast bar is a strange feeling. No longer having the instant gratification of your abilities makes the job less fun to play. Thank you for your honesty!

Seen this a lot too. DPS is really bad on these bards that refuse to use it "out of principle". It slows everything down and is a detriment to everyone on the team.

I'm quite surprised they don't want to use the full toolkit and output appropriate dps.

I played BRD briefly on my friend's account with Minuet just to answer this same question I had. Cooldown usage feels extremely awkward with Minuet, so it could be a comfort issue. I didn't care enough to REALLY dig into it, I was just experimenting a little.

However, I know what you're talking about. Expert dungeons every time I get in with a BRD that doesn't use Minuet at all is extremely, painfully slow. And then the tank still proceeds to do huge pulls when the BRDs aren't breaking 400 DPS and it drives me crazy. -_-

BRD's gameplay is extremely awkward with WM in the sense is that it has a very fragmented flow to it. Havin an oGCD that can reset its cooldown can happen at the most inopportune times and ends up delaying your overall skill cooldowns. And straighter shot's proc reaction is even worse than firestarter...

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Originally Posted by m3eansean

Seen this a lot too. DPS is really bad on these bards that refuse to use it "out of principle". It slows everything down and is a detriment to everyone on the team.

I'm quite surprised they don't want to use the full toolkit and output appropriate dps.

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While I don't agree with not using it and making things for others, it is not out of principle, it's because it feels like they put wanderer's minuet and never considered how it would affect the rest of the bard 's abilities.

And if a bard is only doing 400 dps, it is not because they are not using wanderer's minuet

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Originally Posted by Anzaman

Even tho I don't move that much (anymore) as Machinist, the issue is with the cast bar, I just don't like it.

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This ^.

With the cast bar it feels awfully clunky and out of place. It definitely takes some getting used to but still there's some issues that should be fixed. Honestly, I can't tell whether using WM gets things done faster or not. On paper there's a DPS increase with it on, but to me it still feels slow. I really wish they'd get rid of the whole cast bar BS, but it's here to stay so I might as well get used to. Or find another DPS class to main...which is what I'm looking for atm.

I still think it was lazy of SE to slap on the same playstyle they envisioned for machinist onto bard...because that's what it feels like they did without working out the kinks of it.. but what do I know...

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Originally Posted by m3eansean

Seen this a lot too. DPS is really bad on these bards that refuse to use it "out of principle". It slows everything down and is a detriment to everyone on the team.

I'm quite surprised they don't want to use the full toolkit and output appropriate dps.

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As a bard that does utilize it I can explain to you why people don't. It quite literally breaks the class. Bard was not designed around cast times it was designed around instant casts with weaving oGCDs. They put the song in without fully adjusting the way the class is meant to be played. So even though I "mastered" it the way it is now, it feels incredibly clunky and the exact opposite of smooth. Get what I'm saying? Just think of it as you're a righty and you're playing baseball and they tell you you need to bat left handed now. It feels that awkward.

Although WM is quite clunky to use, it is a large dps increase on AOE packs in dungeons, so any bard not using it in there is just bad or refuses to adapt to the 3.0 playstyle.