I'm disgusted with the bard nerf.

[Viridiana]

The thing is, we don't have auto-attacks. We need that extra weapon damage to compensate.

BLM and SMN get way, way more magic weapon damage than any other DPS class in the game. That should already be enough to compensate for the auto-attacks. Nevermind that a lot of SMN players hug the bosses in order to use their auto-attack, because SMN auto-attack can add up to a fair bit of damage over the course of a fight. Keep in mind that a SMN has as much physical weapon damage as every non-BRD class, on top of having a magic weapon damage stat 40% higher than that. If you think they need 40% more weapon damage and 30% more base action damage in order to compensate for auto-attacks, I have to wonder how powerful you think auto-attacks are.

BRD, meanwhile, has a 20% potency buff trait. That almost equals out a NIN's poison, DRG's Heavy Thrust, or a MNK's DK+TS, if you speak very roughly on percentages (a little over in the case of Heavy Thrust). Then add in the 6 weapon damage difference. A BRD with T13 weapon is wielding something between i110 and i115 for the other classes. That's how big of a DPS difference we're talking. Then figure in the buffs I didn't mention, like Huton and Greased Lightning. Or things like Chaos Thrust by itself being almost as strong as Barrage, only it's on a 30 second timer instead of 90 seconds.

So, yeah, BRD could use some love. I'm probably switching to NIN main, so it doesn't affect me as much, but it's still something I'd like to see happen.

[Dervy]

[lxChrisxl]

If there hasn't been such a huge gap, maybe we could have a more varied team composition without sacrificing firepower? You are more than likely to bring a BRD with you anyways, why do you want to wait to see his/her DPS gap widen to a pathetic state before getting a fix.

Yes, BRDs are mobile, they have unique and quite indispensable utility but that doesn't mean that they should eventually be lagging behind by a margin.

finally somebody gets it! i can't understand why all of these people want bards to do like no damage at all just because they're supposed to be support. to the other person that said we get a 20% base increase like it's a big deal we're also the only class that has to suffer with -20% as well. the only thing that gets accomplished by having the bards get weaker and weaker is it makes clearing the latest coils more annoying and makes people use less classes. it's hurting everybody more than it's helping

[Brannigan]

This thread is old as hell and even though I think Bards overall are fine, I hate seeing dumb additional effects on abilities. Please rework Rain of Death into something more useful or cool in the expansion. Everyone caps accuracy anyway, and letting healers hit things a bit easier isn't worth the TP cost or GCD.

While you're at it make One Ilm Punch useful outside of PVP and rework Shield Swipe and Awareness.

[Shurrikhan]

This thread is old as hell and even though I think Bards overall are fine, I hate seeing dumb additional effects on abilities. Please rework Rain of Death into something more useful or cool in the expansion. Everyone caps accuracy anyway, and letting healers hit things a bit easier isn't worth the TP cost or GCD.

The one thing cool about Rain of Death is that even while Bard can mostly stick to back or flank accuracy on bosses, they might not be able to do so when AoEing trash mobs because of how they crowd around the tank. The evasion down therein allows a normal accuracy value to still work fine in AoEing them. Heck, even when I'm playing my Monk I sometimes appreciate that, in case I'm using Rockbreaker from the front mid-dodge. In PvP though, not that Bard AoE is particularly useful there regardless, it's can be used to strip off a lesser Featherfoot's worth of dodge from a flag crowd, but that's about it. That said, it seems a bit strange that there's no single-target equivalent to this, especially if it were one that you can't keep up 100% (which would otherwise allow for higher dps gear sets while Bard supports the party's acc needs...)

Old thread, but my opinions haven't really changed since back when this thread opened: 15% (rather than the 20% now) is plenty reduction for Paeon/Ballad, skill speed ought to affect song cast times, and Bards really ought to benefit from Skill Speed more than they do, given that they are constantly handed out SS gear. A mechanic or two more within the spam skills would be nice. Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing some minor Bloodletter nerfs to make that last two parts happen in return. Slightly increased damage on Repelling and Blunt would be cool too (110 and 80 rather than 80 and 50, for instance).

[AxelDH]

Before their buffs, Dragoons and Black Mages were often side lined from raid groups, in place of Monks and Summoners respectively. So it was only fair that they got some buffs, to level the playing field a bit.

But Bards aren't really outclassed by anything directly; the benefits they can offer the party are unique, and pretty much all raid groups will bring one along. So its a little difficult to justify boosting a class that is already top tier!

And besides, while Bards DPS may be the lowest on paper, on many fights the gap is narrowed considerably due to the others losing more DPS while they dodge attacks or handle the mechanics.

I think if Bards do get a DPS boost, Id like to see this via some positional attacks or combos (Point blank shot > Repelling Shot > Mid range shot, for example!).

[Dashuto]

"I want to have utility that no other DPS has, ok? But also be better than another pure DPS. Or be counted among top DPS"

Sigh

No.

[Erana]

So...





Source

[Adormus]

"I want to have utility that no other DPS has, ok? But also be better than another pure DPS. Or be counted among top DPS"

Sigh

No.

How about: "I want to fill in the role I chose when I created my character!" - Which would be a DD and not half a DD with support. Seriously, the transition from Archer to Bard is arbitrary as hell. When I created that character I would've never thought it'd be like that.

[ServerCollaps]

The thing is, we don't have auto-attacks. We need that extra weapon damage to compensate.

skilled caster stay in autoatk range and deal additional dmg with autoatks when possible