Should I just stop playing bard now? (not a rant..serious question)

So I have a 50 paladin and a 43 bard. I didn't enjoy tanking in this game as much as I though I would and decide on bard instead. Man I love playing this class...the freedom of moment is exactly what I look for in a range class for me. I hate being rooted into place while casting.

With that said...I haven't touch a bard past 50 and wanted the higher level bards opinions on much the cast times on the new songs change everything? How long are the cast times compared to cast ? Are bards basically casters now and theres no way around it? If yes I'm probably going to go a dps melee instead.

Of the three melee can anyone describe how the playstyles are?
I know monk is combo based..hit 1 gets 2 gets 3 ect.
What is ninja like? same as monk ? more proc based?
What about dragon, just a rotation type playstyle?

Any advice would be great.

Thank you

If you wanna do max dps you're going to go caster. Personally I dislike this bandaid fix.

I would rather bard dps be lower than casters on a standstill fight but still not feel restricted by their mobility.

However maybe the designers feel differently. But in short yes, the casting is going to be necessary to do competitive dps.

The cast is about a second shorter than your GCD.

I assume people who whine about Bard cast times haven't played a caster.

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Originally Posted by Edellis

I assume people who whine about Bard cast times haven't played a caster.

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This pretty much. I purposely leveled one type of role eacheck, to get a feel for all of them... you can barely move as a caster. This cast bar for bard is nothing in comparison

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Originally Posted by AskaRay

This pretty much. I purposely leveled one type of role eacheck, to get a feel for all of them... you can barely move as a caster. This cast bar for bard is nothing in comparison

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Right. But this isn't about caster comparisons (although the OP may have shot themselves in the foot by opening that door), this is really about the feel of a bard, and how the higher level skills have changed that. I too have been affected by this...although it doesn't seem like much, even 1 or 2 cast timers makes my bard feel different. there was a very real reason why my bard shot past my caster classes in level...

is it going to make or break the Bard? not sure, but i can guarantee you that many people played bard for a specific feel, and the new skills are going in the opposite direction.

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Originally Posted by Edellis

I assume people who whine about Bard cast times haven't played a caster.

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Well yeah...there's a reason that those sort of people picked bard over a black mage.

Stop now. I have been main Bard since launch and now we are literally casters. Minuet is not something optional. All the good skills can only be used during it. Forget about removing it because it's a 3 secs cast time so it's not even worth even if you have to move.

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Originally Posted by pandabearcat

Snip.

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Hum... it's actually the case. If you don't use your WM you'll parse as much as before back in 2.0

Yes you're now obliged to have cast time do the maximum amount of damage, but in the end WM is just a huge buff to bard.

Well, if all you want to do is DPS at a range without ever having to pause, you're out of luck. Both Ranged DPS classes have skills that make them Stationary temporarily in trade for more powerful attacks. It's a risk you take if you want to deal more damage. If not, you can sacrifice the extra damage and go without.

If you're that bent over about the 'feel of the job' you're kinda SoL at this point. Classes change. Dragoon now has Randomized Positionals. Summoner didn't get new Egis, BLM and WHM got their AoEs nerfed. Not every patch is going to go your way when it comes to the direction of the game. Adaptability is key when it comes to playing long term in MMOs.

I also forgot to mention that bard's auto attacks are a huge part of their total DPS. If you were moving all around the place you couldn't do high ammout of damage. Good bards knew to not move as much as possible.

WM is just there because if you wanted to parse correctly you weren't moving, now by doing the same exact thing you can get more dps.

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Originally Posted by Croisciento

I also forgot to mention that bard's auto attacks are a huge part of their total DPS. If you were moving all around the place you couldn't do high ammout of damage. Good bards knew to not move as much as possible.

WM is just there because if you wanted to parse correctly you weren't moving, now by doing the same exact thing you can get more dps.

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Barrage got changed and the effect of determination on Auto Attacks got decreased, so even without WM, auto attacks will overall play a smaller role than before.

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Originally Posted by SasakiNori

Barrage got changed and the effect of determination on Auto Attacks got decreased, so even without WM, auto attacks will overall play a smaller role than before.

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Yes, but barrage is also better since you can use it while moving. How many bards did I see using Barrage and running around at the same time. I think the change to barrage is actually pretty cool even without the WM.

Also, in my opinion it's too early to talk about determination. You forgot to mention that while the effect of determination on AA decreased, critical hit rate was changed as well. It might just be the same. Instead of doing constant flat damage, you could do less damage overall with your AA but then get the same DPS after doing critical hits. But again this is why I said it's too early.

The main issue I'm having with bard right now is the same problem I have with nin. With WM up, I can't weave oGCDs without cutting into my next GCD. ~_~

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Originally Posted by SasakiNori

The main issue I'm having with bard right now is the same problem I have with nin. With WM up, I can't weave oGCDs without cutting into my next GCD. ~_~

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This is my issue too... i wish we could use ogcd's during casts or just make Minuet work when standing still but have no cast time.

If the skill cast under Minuet is 1s less than the GCD you still have that time for weaving. But you wont be able to fit more than a single CD skill in that time frame so that is unfortunate considering bard relies on Bloodletter procs.

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Originally Posted by Judge_Xero

If the skill cast under Minuet is 1s less than the GCD you still have that time for weaving. But you wont be able to fit more than a single CD skill in that time frame so that is unfortunate considering bard relies on Bloodletter procs.

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Even double weaving (which was for the most part avoided unless necessary) during 2.0 was more forgiving since you had ~1.2 seconds for each oGCD. Now you have less than a second and can't weave before/after EA at all. =/

Also if you are spamming the ogcd skill you wont be able to queue the next heavy shot or w/e so you lose more time between skills.

I'm currently leveling mine to 60 because it's been my main for so long, but there's a good chance I'll be dropping it. The cast times are unavoidable and the class just doesn't feel right now, maybe something else will click with me instead at 60.

Ninja is not proc based. It's pretty steady damage with an amount of burst damage. Ninja also has combos like Monk, but they just have a different feel. For Monks, your combo leads to a damage and skill speed self-buff. For Ninjas, your combos lead to a slashing resistant debuff or just direct damage.

Ninja is pretty fun once you get to level 40ish. Dragoon is pretty fun when you get to level 30ish. Dragoon for me feels like a Ret Pally if you are used to WoW, and Ninja is like a Rogue.

IMO:
Monk = Constant movement between flank and rear depending on ability you use.
Dragoon = lots of different buffs and debuffs on different cooldown timers to maintain.
Ninja = lots of different Ninjutsu to manage.

Ninjutsu is an interesting mechanic that provides either straight up damage, buffs, debuffs, or a bind. So you constantly have to think on the fly which Ninjutsu you want to use for different situations.