Buff Bard - The Invisible Nerf

[Aramyth]

SE has recently said they are looking at nerfing BRD, well I say it's not necessary to do so, in fact I'm calling for a buff. A buff to songs.

We only have three songs usable in battle:

Mage's Ballad - Refresh MP - uses our MP and reduces our damage by -20%
Army's Paeon - Refresh TP - uses our MP and reduces our damage by -20%
Foe Requiem - Reduces all enemy elemental resistance by 10% - uses our MP

While this looks great on paper, there really is minimal reason for BRDs to have these songs up consistently. BRDs are supposed to be a support/DPS class and while they do bring buffs to the group, they need to be used carefully because these songs do eat the BRDs MP and then when you REALLY need these songs, you may not be able to cast them. So they are used sparingly. Not to mention the fact the only classes who really need Ballad are other BRDs, WHMs and PLDs.

What they need to do is decrease the MP taken from the BRD to keep these songs up, this way we have them up for a greater duration during fights and you inadvertently nerf BRDs by forcing them to have their songs up for longer a duration.

They could even add a few new songs into the rotation to force BRDs to have their songs up more frequently.

All The Following Songs have attached -damage dealt percentages on them. Could all be 20% or varying values.

Valor Minuet - Increases Determination
Sword Madrigal - Increases all stats by +20 (or whatever value)
Earth/Wind/Fire Carol - Reduces earth/wind/fire damage taken by 5%. (Three separate songs.)
Advancing March - Increases auto-attack speed.
Victory March - Reduces the Global Cooldown by .5 seconds

[LoLo]

they never said they are nerfing Bard. They said there is no need to add anything to Bard because its powerful right now.

[ForteXX]

they never said they are nerfing Bard. They said there is no need to add anything to Bard because its powerful right now.

■Job Balancing

• Bards
  We currently feel that the bards are a little too strong due to the amount of damage they can do without being impacted that much from the fight.

Balancing, and too strong. So yes, they are likely getting a nerf of some kind.

[LoLo]

Balancing, and too strong. So yes, they are likely getting a nerf of some kind.

no where in that quote does it say that it will be nerfed.

[Lux_Rayna]

no where in that quote does it say that it will be nerfed.

He said specifically that bards were a little too strong, so there will be adjustments. There will clearly be a nerf of some sort to bring bards down a peg. On highly mobile fights the dmg diff is a bit too wide for all that bard brings to the table, so its only natural they will be toned down.

[LoLo]

He said specifically that bards were a little too strong, so there will be adjustments. There will clearly be a nerf of some sort to bring bards down a peg. On highly mobile fights the dmg diff is a bit too wide for all that bard brings to the table, so its only natural they will be toned down.

I saw that he said bard was strong, but no where did he say he would nerf damage. Right now everyone is guessing what balance will be. Maybe they will buff the other jobs and not add anything to bard. Who knows.

[Llan]

He said specifically that bards were a little too strong, so there will be adjustments. There will clearly be a nerf of some sort to bring bards down a peg. On highly mobile fights the dmg diff is a bit too wide for all that bard brings to the table, so its only natural they will be toned down.

People must remember that, while other DPSs are able to use a Damage LB, Bards are stuck with a Healer LB, so If you have a party with 2 BRDs in a group of 4, you wont have that massive final Hit if you need it, It's only natural that BRDs do more damage.

Llan Hana.

[Rivienne]

While I don't necessarily think there would be a problem with adding more...Only useful to WHM, PLD, and BRD? Where did you get that idea?

Army's Paeon is very useful for Monks because of Fracture (I assume this also holds true for drg skills?), and wouldn't it also be useful for WAR? not just PLD?

Foe Requiem can be very useful for BLM damage, especially their limit break.... I am not sure how good it is for SMN though I would imagine it would be useful for them as well.

[Inferiae]

While I don't necessarily think there would be a problem with adding more...Only useful to WHM, PLD, and BRD? Where did you get that idea?

************

Not to mention the fact the only classes who really need Ballad are other BRDs, WHMs and PLDs.

And I agree with OP. BRD should be more focused on support than damage. I don't usually use songs because they don't last long and are very situational. I'm a bard who doesn't sing, that makes no sense to me.
Giving BRD new songs and the opportunity to use them should make things interesting and acutally 'nerf' it a bit, since people say it's too strong.

But still, I can see how much of an advantage we have thanks to mobility and no real need for positioning, so I can understand any incoming nerf.

[UBERHAXED]

Er... The reason Bards don't have songs up consistently is because they can't. MP costs and all. Mutual exclusivity. Even hearing distances. This is not really the issue at hand here. It's just horrible players getting out damaged by good players with weapons with less attack damage, swearing that their battle log parsers say that bards have low DPS. >.>