Bard Rework Concept

Hello everyone,
As a player who has been disappointed with the direction of job design over the past few examples, I decided to intermittently work on redesign concepts for my favorite jobs. The ones I ended up putting together are varying degrees of complete, but my subscription is now running out, so I'm posting the one I feel is closest to where I want it. So, here's my concept for how I'd rework Bard given the chance.

Overall Goals:
In the lore of Final Fantasy XIV, bards are archers who sing on the battlefield to inspire their allies. In keeping with this theme, I have split the skills and abilities into archery (the GCD core of the class) and music (the oGCD flavor).

I wanted to avoid creating an entirely new job. While this is a substantial overhaul of Bard, someone who has played the class since the last rework should find things familiar.

Make resource management a focus for optimizing Bard gameplay.

Create a better leveling progression for the job, emphasizing establishing the core kit before 50. Beyond 50, abilities and traits should add depth to that core, or increase potencies for balance.

Disclaimers:
Numbers are omitted entirely or offered as rough suggestions because the focus is on concept, not balance.

Names are unimportant, and given just to make discussion easier.

While I, personally, would like Bard (and all ranged physical) to offer more support tools, this would only compound issues currently facing healers. The game needs changes to be made to core gameplay, or to other classes in conjunction with these changes to allow for more support to be good for the game.

Gameplay Summary
As with the current version of Bard, the flow of the rotation revolves around the songs. This rework discards the existing difference in feel between the various songs in favor of a cycling gameplay loop centering around resource management. I’ve done this because I feel that striving for such distinct song playstyles is what has saddled us with Army’s Paeon as it currently exists, and I struggled to come up with a compelling and distinct 3rd playstyle to replace it.

Pitch Perfect is now used with all songs, and Repertoire stacks carry over from song to song.

Empyreal Arrow is gone, and its Repertoire generating effect has been added to Bloodletter/Rain of Death.

Additionally, the cooldown reset currently provided during Mage’s Ballad has been tied back into the DoTs as a baked in part of the kit instead of being tied to a song.

Army’s Paeon has been reimagined as a short-duration, long-cooldown song that provides the Battle Voice buff when Pitch Perfect is used. This leaves Wanderer’s Minuet and Mage’s Ballad as the two songs a Bard will primarily use as part of their rotation, each with 45 second durations, and 60 second cooldowns.

Wanderer’s Minuet provides a buff to personal damage, and Mage’s Ballad buffs group damage. When Mage’s Ballad, or Wanderer’s Minuet are used at full mana, their buff doubles in power, but drains your mana over time, ending the doubled effect when your mana runs out or when you switch songs. Casting Pitch Perfect restores mana.

The goal of the mana-draining songs, rolling Repertoire stacks, and 3 charges of the Repertoire generator is to create a gameplay loop of resource management. Depending on what’s going on, or coming up, you will have to make decisions such as ending songs early to preserve mana for an upcoming window, or deciding whether to hold or expend your Lyrical charges and repertoire stacks to extend a Chorus or not. The long song durations with only slightly longer cooldowns are meant to encourage flexible song weaving to this effect.

The decision between Wanderer’s Minuet and Mage’s Ballad is an attempt to allow the Bard to prioritize (to a small extent) either personal damage, or group damage. Which you prioritize could be a result of the type of content being done, the composition of your group and your position in it, or even what’s going on in a particular phase of a fight.

New skill progression:
• Level 1: Heavy Shot (Weaponskill)
Unchanged

• Level 2: Venomous Bite (Weaponskill)
Unchanged

• Level 4: UPDATED: Straight Shot (Weaponskill)
Can only be executed when under the effect of Archer’s Focus

• NEW: Archer’s Focus (Trait)
Adds to Heavy Shot a 20% chance that you will be granted Archer’s Focus

• Level 6: Raging Strikes (Ability)
Unchanged

• Level 10: Bloodletter (Ability)
Unchanged

• Level 15: Quick Nock (Weaponskill) Class Quest
Unchanged

• Level 18: Repelling Shot (Ability)
Unchanged

• Level 20: Increased Action Damage (Trait)
Unchanged

• Level 22: Windbite (Weaponskill)
Unchanged

• Level 26: UPDATED: Bite Mastery (Trait)
Adds to Windbite and Venomous Bite a 20% chance that you will be granted Archer’s Focus

• Level 30: Rain of Death (Ability) Class Quest
Unchanged

• UPDATED: Mage’s Ballad (Ability) Job Quest
No longer requires a target or deals damage.
Duration: 45 seconds
Recast: 60 seconds
Grants Mage’s Ballad to self and all party members within 30 yalms, increasing damage dealt by X%.
Additional Effect: If the caster has full MP, Also grants Mage’s Chorus increasing damage by an additional X%. Own MP is drained while singing. Mage’s Chorus ends when the singer’s mana is depleted.
Additional Effect: Has a 40% chance to grant Repertoire on cast and every 3 seconds.
Repertoire Effect: Allows execution of Mage’s Pitch Perfect. Can be stacked up to 4 times.

• UPDATED: Pitch Perfect (Ability) Job Quest
Effect: Execute Mage’s Pitch Perfect if singing Mage’s Ballad, Wanderer’s Pitch Perfect if singing Wanderer’s Minuet, or Army’s Pitch Perfect if singing Army’s Paeon.

• NEW: Mage’s Pitch Perfect (Ability) Job Quest
Delivers an attack to the target, and restores MP to the caster. Potency and amount of MP restored varies with the number of Repertoire stacks.
This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

• Level 35: UPDATED: Wanderer’s Minuet (Ability) Job Quest
No longer requires a target or deals damage.
Duration: 45 seconds
Recast: 60 seconds
Grants Wanderer’s Harmony to self and all party members within 30 yalms.
Additional Effect: Grants Wanderer’s Minuet to self, increasing damage by X% for each ally affected by Wanderer’s Harmony, or by 4X% if only 1 target (self) is affected.
Additional Effect: If the caster has full MP, also grants Wanderer’s Chorus to self, increasing damage by an additional X% for each ally affected by Wanderer’s Harmony, or by and additional 4X% if only 1 target (self) is affected. Own MP is drained while singing. Wanderer’s Chorus ends when the singer’s mana is depleted.
Additional Effect: Has a 40% chance to grant Repertoire on cast and every 3 seconds.
Repertoire Effect: Allows execution of Wanderer’s Pitch Perfect. Can be stacked up to 4 times.

• NEW: Wanderer’s Pitch Perfect (Ability) Job Quest
Delivers an attack to the target, and restores MP to the caster. Potency and amount of MP restored varies with the number of Repertoire stacks.
This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

• Level 38: Barrage (Ability)
Now grants Archer’s Focus instead of Straight Shot Ready.

• Level 40: NEW: Musician’s Touch (Trait) Job Quest - Replaces Enhanced Empyreal Arrow
Upgrades Bloodletter to Lyrical Arrow and Rain of Death to Lyrical Rain.

• NEW: Lyrical Arrow (Ability) Job Quest
Recast: 15 seconds
Delivers an attack with a potency of X.
Additional Effect: Grants Repertoire when Lyrical Arrow is used.
Maximum charges: 2
Shares a recast timer with Lyrical Rain

• NEW: Lyrical Rain (Ability) Job Quest
Radius: 8y
Recast: 15 seconds
Delivers an attack with a potency of X to target and all enemies nearby it.
Additional Effect: Grants Repertoire when Lyrical Arrow is used.
Maximum charges: 2
Shares a recast timer with Lyrical Rain

• Increased Action Damage II (Trait)
Unchanged

• Level 42: NEW: Wide Volley (Weaponskill)
Radius 8y
Delivers an attack with potency of X to target and all enemies nearby it.
Barrage potency: X+
Can only be executed when under the effect of Archer’s Focus.

• Level 45: NEW: Lyrical Inspiration (Trait) Job Quest
Grants a 40% chance that damage over time inflicted by Venomous Bite or Windbite will reduce the recast timer of Lyrical Arrow and Lyrical Rain by 7.5 seconds.

• Level 50: UPDATED: Army’s Paeon (Ability) Job Quest - Replaces Battle Voice
No longer requires a target or deals damage.
Duration: 20 seconds
Recast: 110 seconds
Grant’s Army’s Paeon to self.
Additional Effect: Has a 40% chance to grant Repertoire on cast, and every 3 seconds. Using Army’s Paeon outside of combat grants 4 stacks.
Repertoire Effect: Allows execution of Army’s Pitch Perfect. Can be stacked up to 4 times.

• NEW: Army’s Pitch Perfect (Ability) Job Quest
Delivers an attack to the target, and restores MP to the caster.
Additional Effect: Grants Army’s Muse to self and all party members within 30 yards increasing direct hit rate by 5% per stack (matching Battle Voice at full stacks) for 15 seconds
Additional Effect: Ends Army’s Paeon.
This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

• Level 52: UPDATED: Iron Jaws (Weaponskill) Job Quest
Recast: 120 seconds
Delivers an attack with a potency of X.
Additional Effect: 20% chance of granting Archer’s Focus.
Additional Effect: Unaspected damage over time
Potency: X
Duration: 21 seconds
Additional Effect: Has a 40% chance to reduce the recast timer of Lyrical Arrow and Lyrical rain by 7.5 seconds every time Iron Jaws deals damage.

• Level 54: Troubadour (Ability) Job Quest
Unchanged

• Level 56: UPDATED: Nature’s Minne (Ability) Job Quest
Duration: 15 seconds
Recast: 90 seconds
Increases HP Recovery via healing actions for a party member for self by 20%.
Additional Effect: Grants a barrier to the target that absorbs damage equivalent to X potency.
Grants Nature’s Encore to the target and Repertoire when the barrier is completely absorbed
Nature’s Encore Effect: Grants a barrier to the target that absorbs damage equivalent to X potency.
Duration: 15 seconds

• Level 58: UPDATED: The Warden’s Paean (Ability) Job Quest
Additional Effect: Grants Repertoire when a detrimental effect is removed from the target.

• Level 60: NEW: Bloody Strings (Ability) Job Quest - Replaces Sidewinder
Recast: 60 seconds
Delivers an attack with a potency of X
Additional Effect: Deals an additional X Potency for every damage over time effect on the target inflicted by you.
Additional Effect: Spreads all damage over time effects inflicted by you on the target to nearby targets.
Range: 8y
Duration: Full duration on original effect

• Level 64: UPDATED: Bite Mastery II (Trait)
Upgrades Venomous Bite and Windbite to Caustic Bite and Stormbite respectively

• Caustic Bite (Weaponskill)
Unchanged aside from granting Archer’s Focus instead of Straight Shot Ready.

• Stormbite (Weaponskill)
Unchanged aside from granting Archer’s Focus instead of Straight Shot Ready.

• Level 70: Straight Shot Mastery (Trait) Job Quest
Unchanged

• Refulgent Arrow (Weaponskill)
Unchanged aside from requiring Archer’s Focus instead of Straight Shot Ready.

• Level 72: NEW: Enhanced Wide Volley (Trait)
Upgrades Wide Volley to Shadowbite

• Shadowbite (Weaponskill)
Radius increased to 8y

• Level 76: Heavy Shot Mastery (Trait)
Unchanged

• Burst Shot (Weaponskill)
Unchanged aside from granting Archer’s Focus instead of Straight Shot Ready.

• NEW: Bite Mastery III (Trait)
Increases the chance that Stormbite, Caustic Bite, and Iron Jaws will grant Archer’s Focus to 35%.

• Level 80: Soul Voice (Trait) Job Quest
Unchanged

• Apex Arrow (Weaponskill) Job Quest
Unchanged

• Level 82 Quick Nock Mastery (Trait)
Unchanged

• Ladonsbite
Unchanged. This is when Archer’s Focus generation increases to 35% for AoE.

• Level 84: NEW: Extended Lyrics (Trait)
Allows a third charge of Lyrical Arrow and Lyrical Rain.

• Level 86: Enhanced Apex Arrow (Trait)
Unchanged

• Blast Arrow (Weaponskill)
Unchanged

• Level 88: Enhanced Troubadour
Unchanged

• Level 90: Minstrel’s Coda (Trait) Job Quest
Unchanged

• Radiant Finale (Ability) Job Quest
Unchanged

Problems and Concerns
Wanderer’s Chorus/Minuet’s buff based on targets hit is new tech as far as I can recall of what’s in game, so I’m not sure if it would be workable.

I’m also uncertain if the game can actually support the concept of Repertoire stacks carrying over between songs, so they may have to be tied to the Bard, with the songs simply providing generation and Pitch Perfect variants. My original build had each song with different Repertoire maximums to add considerations for resource carryover, but I scrapped it due to this concern.

I’m uncertain about how strict the mana drain and restore of Mage’s Chorus and Wanderer’s Chorus should be. Likewise, I’m not sure how long you should need outside of Chorus to refill your mana from 0.

These changes make the already very active Bard rotation more active, adding about 4 CPM of offensive actions to a no SS dummy rotation. It also makes the opener even more full, with all of the complementary resources to work through, which could be pushing things too far.

I worry that adding the “Bane” effect to Bloody Strings will make Bard an unbeatable monster for dungeon trash pulls, as well as any fights featuring more than 1-2 adds. This may matter very little in the grand scheme, but I worry about any potential disparity that large. Possible solutions are modeling off of SB Bane, reducing the damage of spread DoTs, or preventing spread DoTs from triggering Lyrical Inspiration.

The level adjustments mean the kit is fairly front-loaded when leveling, and so base abilities may need to be weakened, and additional traits and buffs applied at the higher levels to maintain balance.

Conclusion
As I said at the start, this concept isn't to the state of polish I'm entirely happy with, but I wanted to leave at least one of these out here before I stop being able to post entirely. I’m honestly not even sure the core gameplay I’m looking to establish here is something that interests Bard players to begin with, so I look forward to and welcome your thoughts and feedback.