Ninja Bard nerf?

[Sylari]

The problem I have with this supposition that "BRD should do less damage because it has songs for support" is that it's a mechanic that's literally already built into the class.

[Whiz]

Its speculated that the ninja bard nerf's were just tool tips that were corrected and not an actual nerf. There is no real change in brd dps. If you see a slight loss of dps it was because of the cross class changes but I have a full DL Zenith Brd and I don't notice a difference in dps honestly.

[LobsterBisque]

Its speculated that the ninja bard nerf's were just tool tips that were corrected and not an actual nerf. There is no real change in brd dps. If you see a slight loss of dps it was because of the cross class changes but I have a full DL Zenith Brd and I don't notice a difference in dps honestly.

Well they "fixed" Flaming Arrow and that wasn't mentioned in the patch notes. It now does its stated potency instead of 1.5 times.

[Prometheus1st]

One thing I noticed and mentioned to my FC when I was on my BRD last night before logging (meaning I didn't get a chance to test it) was that the level-38 skill "Barrage" seemed to have changed. If I am not mistaken, pre-2.1 it read "Increases the strikes per auto-attack to 3". Now it reads "2" instead of "3".

[LobsterBisque]

One thing I noticed and mentioned to my FC when I was on my BRD last night before logging (meaning I didn't get a chance to test it) was that the level-38 skill "Barrage" seemed to have changed. If I am not mistaken, pre-2.1 it read "Increases the strikes per auto-attack to 3". Now it reads "2" instead of "3".

That was always the case. Bards have a trait that increases it to 3. They get it at level 50 I believe.

[Black91CRX]

The dps nerf is noticeable, but it doesn't make the job useless. However, I feel I'm gonna skip using my Bard for 4 man content. It seems much more appropriate for 8 man support now.

[Prometheus1st]

That was always the case. Bards have a trait that increases it to 3. They get it at level 50 I believe.

Thanks for the heads up. I wasn't sure.

[RyuDragnier]

WHM/SCH/PLD doesn't need MP. Got it. Sorry I was under the impression that having MP to heal or Flash spam was good for speed runs was a good thing. Guess I was wrong. My apologies.

I laughed. In 4 man content, almost NEVER should a Bard be using Mage's Ballad unless the WHM is under 50% MP in a boss fight or Holy spamming...the DPS drop isn't worth it otherwise. PLD doesn't need MP if the DPS is killing the mobs fast enough. Plus they have a combo that gets back MP, albeit by the time it reaches the point they need to use it, you're probably down to 1 mob anyway. SCH...if they run out of MP they're not doing it right.

Again, in 8 man, the same rule applies. Hell, due to the way they set up stacking of classes now, the only place Mage's Ballad will really be required is during boss fights, and again only for the WHM.

At this point Mage's Ballad is reserved for WHMs, just like how Foe's Requiem is reserved for BLM. Every mage class (and PLD) can restore their MP effortlessly except for WHM, which is why I say this.

[Phai]

@Ruddi "BRD is wanted for songs as first then DPS as second."

That's 100% correct. It's a support job.. but NO ONE playing bard supports the party. I've only ever seen 1 bard the whole time i've been playing refill MP.. and not even on a regular basis.. probably hit the button on accident and forgot about it.

All bards want to do is spam aoe and high powered moves on targets the tank isn't even hitting even with marks.. Never met a good bard.. ever. Maybe this nerf will bring your head out of the clouds and help you realize what you should be doing.

Sweet baby Jesus, ur in this thread also....

Unsub, l2p, and come back....

[Kitkat]

From what I can tell there is no potency changes at all. Blood Letter still does 150 potency like heavy shot (Identical damage variance) and Straight shot is still within the tolerance range when checked against known formulas. My guess is they just messed up the tool-tip for it. Only thing I can see they did change, which was more of a fix, was correcting Flame Arrow so it doesn't 100% crit - similar to what someone else said earlier.