Sad newbie

I liked the idea of the archer class. But I rolled a pugilist with aspirations to become a monk.

Why? I'm not musically inclined and don't want to fill a support role. Yes, I know they can top damage charts, but that's not what I'm after. Being a physical ranged dps to me would have been fun, and the concept of an archer would have foot the bill.

It made me sad to find out they're pigeon-holed into becoming bards at later levels.

As a guy who likes swinging a giant axe around but hates tanking, I feel your pain.

You don't "have to" become a Bard. You could stay archer through out. You just may hear about it from other players when running party content though.

99% of Bards do not support at all. You wouldn't even feel it...

Honestly even though they are "Support DPS", there's not much "Supporting" to do. Just watch mages MP and pop ballad or Army's Paeon if you think it's a TP heavy fight.

Just go BRD. No one cares about you singing or not in casual content (go into coil/Alexander, on the other hand...). Also, don't expect to top any dps charts as arc or BRD, unless you're playing with some poor DPS or just plain out gearing them (or doing something that favors you, like aoeing vs a mnk); all the other DPS jobs should outdo you easily with similar gear levels and skill...

I play as a BRD since release and believe me, it has not much supporting to do.
You will cycle between 3 songs and use them about twice during whole fight, it is not that bad.

You're doing the right thing, Peerless. The last thing my nerves need is another bard who doesn't bother to play ballad when I've just raised half the raid, including the other healer.Monk is a fun class, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

First off they won't top damage charts under normal circumstances, they just have the most stable DPS while working mechanics as well as one of the easiest rotations in the game (matched only by DRG and BLM, though even those ones have their quirks. This is also all up to personal preference as BRD and SMN both involve watching and maintaining DoT stacks, with BRD dealing less damage with DoTs but more damage with their non-DoT attacks than SMN). but then again this type of thing seems to be the norm for archer classes these days.
Second, this game doesn't HAVE dedicated support classes. BRDs ARE the closest, but what they do add is *invaluable*: MP and TP regen, as well as making your BLM and SMN 10-20% more awesome for a little while. It's not hard to make use of these abilities, as your melee DPS/tanks (or you, when it gets too low) will let you know when they need TP, and you can always keep an eye on the healers' MP to use that.

As a WHM, I have a Shroud of Saint's macro that let's the Bard and/or party know to pay a bit of attention to my MP. With that, while Barding, I ONLY play Foe's at pull if there is a caster in my group (again at Max MP if they are good) or if told by a healer to play.

The problem is more with the job system then BRDs. Having jobs when they are mandatory, you aren't offered an actual choice of jobs; and they completely replace their required class feels like you are forced into a role too much.

No idea why they didnt give you actual choice; for example being able to become a warrior or paladin if you leveled gladiator.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aeyis

No idea why they didnt give you actual choice; for example being able to become a warrior or paladin if you leveled gladiator.

---

Blame 1.0. They wanted to make the classes more "versatile," but then tacked on jobs later.
Initially the developers wanted to do like they did with ACN->SCH/SMN and have multiple jobs branch off a single class, but that didn't end up working out so they scrapped the idea, but apparently left the originals in there in case they decide to come back to it down the road.

I'd like to see a BRD out DPS my DRG with the same iLvl

I've always wondered how a 'Hunter/Ranger' class would go over, mix Archer 30/Rogue 15

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chukkaque

I'd like to see a BRD out DPS my DRG with the same iLvl

---

Bards AoEing on large speedrun pulls can put out massive damage, or Bards can out DPS melee on movement-heavy fights where melee cannot maintain their combos, but considering that pure DPS output is not the point of Bard in the first place...

I agree with someone else on this thread who said that if OP has no desire to sing, you should stick with another job instead. Bards who don't sing are playing poorly, end of story, and if you go into the job not liking its primary feature, you are not going to play the job well.

Have you considered Black Mage instead? Very good damage while also being ranged and no support requirements... Caster versus physical ranged DPS isn't that massive of a difference given global cooldowns.