Bard Nerfs Offically Confirmed

[Allyrion]

Everyone keeps saying how DRGs buff BRD damage.

I don't know if its true.

If it isn't true, I'll change the sim to indicate that =D

Without the buff, bards are consistently 5-8% lower than 100% melee uptime potency.

Add in their 10% WD penalty and they shouuld be down between 8-15% from optimal melee dps.

That is a bit low I would say.

I'm really surprised I can't find the damage type each class uses *somewhere* in the UI.
From the character screen to the ability tooltips, there must've been a place it could've fit in.

[Bardo]

Even if it WERE in the tooltips, I wouldn't trust them.
Take a BRD's Windbite, Venomous Bite, or Flaming Arrow. The tooltips all say these apply elemental damage, but they're not. They're physical.
Same for DRG's dragonfire dive and any damage done by Ifrit egi. It's all applied as physical damage.

Or look at the tooltip for Foe Requiem that states "Reduces all enemy elemental resistances by 10%", when in game that's not actually what happens at all.
The tooltip SHOULD say "increases all magic damage received (aspected or unaspected) by ~20%".

[pandabearcat]

Yea...hidden information bums me out.

Anyway, latest numbers are in:

Crit: 1200
Duration: 72000
GCD: 245
Number of trials: 20000
DRG Priority avg potency: 142274.44015 PPS: 197.60338909722222
DRG Rotation avg potency: 144298.46245 PPS: 200.41453118055554
BRD (no DE)  avg potency: 136362.5119 PPS: 189.39237763888892
MNK (FR/ID)  avg potency: 158428.4481 PPS: 220.03951125

Things aren't looking too good for BRD, esp because potency is not calculating WD penalty.

EDIT: however, I'm unsure of the actual effect of the "increase action damage by 20%" that bards get. I don't...I don't know where thats calculated, if other classes have it baseline, etc.

Bards are weird.

[Amas]

It is to illustrate bards do not ignore fight mechanics, they still have to move like everyone else. If you are going to make a statement, make the correct one. Bards can do damage while avoiding aoe. This is how they are designed and why they are the current lowest dps class. The only fight they are competing at the top is Titan HM, all other fights they are behind.

There is nothing reasonable about a bard damage nerf. A support nerf, sure. Bards however need a damage buff.

The one thing I would hope any reasonable BRD would agree is that the "complete package" is too strong at the moment. The combination of current single target DPS, AoE DPS, utility, mobility, and ease of use simply eclipses what any other DPS class can bring to the table. Not by such a great margin that every other DPS class is trivialized, but it's the only DPS class that is a near-certainty to find in any 8-man content and the most likely to be over-represented before Coil (and even in Coil to an extent).

I don't think a DPS nerf is the right thing to do, but even if it happens, nearly every group will still bring a BRD and look for other strategy/line-up optimizations to ensure passing DPS checks. It certainly won't make BRD a red-headed stepchild by any means, though I do agree that adjusting support abilities or reducing mobility would be preferable to straight-up nerfing DPS. Any negative adjustment to utility or mobility should be accompanied by a slight DPS increase for balance's sake.

[Arkh]

Reduce utility,mobility and buff the damage.

[Rochetm]

My guess is they are going to leave everything alone and adjust mobility. Being able to do as much damage as they do while on the run is where people are seeing issues.

[aswedishtiger]

I think Bards are fine as is, at iLevel 90 items they are outdone in dmg but any other DD counterpart. If anything I think other DDs need some tuning/buffs.

[GhibliTheSW]

I remember when I put Edward into my party, he uses a harp as a weapon and shoots music nodes at foes, dealing mediocre damage. I said to myself never put any Bards into my party when playing any FF. Then I play FF14... and still hate Bards and their attitude.

[Myrik]

to you people crying out for the nerf because of mobility do you really think this nerf will change bard mobility? no.. it wont.. it will just make bards stop dps while moving which will effectively make them monks. which is a class they are buffing because they suffer so much when they move.. seems to me if they just nerf the mobility they will be crippling the very mechanic that makes this job what it is.. adjusting a class is one thing but attempting to make it a job that no one wants to play or have in a raid seems pointless.. lets hope these changes are for the better and not just to appease a whining playerbase.

[Rochetm]

to you people crying out for the nerf because of mobility do you really think this nerf will change bard mobility? no.. it wont.. it will just make bards stop dps while moving which will effectively make them monks. which is a class they are buffing because they suffer so much when they move.. seems to me if they just nerf the mobility they will be crippling the very mechanic that makes this job what it is.. adjusting a class is one thing but attempting to make it a job that no one wants to play or have in a raid seems pointless.. lets hope these changes are for the better and not just to appease a whining playerbase.

Turn bard into monk huh? So when did mnk get awesome raid utility?

Raid leader: "Sorry guys Mnk is offline so we can't raid today."

^ that happens all the time

Riad leader: "Well no bard today but its not like they are useful."

^ also happens all the time