I chose BRD for swift gameplay, if I wanted to cast I would have chosen a Mage.

[Intellion]

Though I apologize for hinging this again on wordplay (e.g. 'mechanics' vs. 'characteristic') I feel like I ought to ask: if you were to add actual mechanics to the job that would make the job more interesting without turning us into casters, what would they be?

If I was given the chance to expand on Bards without turning us to casters, I'd change it to something like this:

1.) Wanderer's Minuet = (Song. Insta-cast) Boosts the damage of all weaponskills by 20%. MP rapidly depletes while WM is turned on. Cannot be used with other songs. Mobility and auto attacks are retained even in WM. Skills are still insta-cast.

2.) Empyreal Arrow = Now usable outside of Minuet. Everything else can stay unchanged.

3.) Iron Jaws = Now usable outside of Minuet. Everything else can stay unchanged.

4.) Barrage = Returned to its 2.55 effects.

5.) Wide Volley/Rain of Death/Quick Nock = Returned to their 2.55 versions.

6.) Foe Requiem = Boosts caster damage by 30%. Buffed so that it doesn't get invalidated by the new Wanderer's Minuet.

7.) Mage's Ballad/Army's Paeon = Damage reduction can be increased to 20% again, just like 2.55, for balance purposes.

8.) Sidewinder = It can remain on its 3.01 version for balance purposes.

9.) Warden's Paean = Removed. Replaced by...

10.) Final Assault = Weaponskill. OGCD. Has a cooldown of 3 minutes. Depletes all of current MP to unleash an ultimate shot at a single target. Potency depends on how much of your max MP was depleted. For example, if 100% of your max MP is consumed, the potency would be 500. 99%-75% would be 300, 74%-50% would be 240, 49%-25% would be 170, and anything less than 25% of MP would only deal a measly 80 potency.

This core mechanic expansion forces you to sacrifice your MP either for party support or pumping out DPS, but never for both. If you choose to pump out high DPS despite already being a mobile run-and-gun class, you pay for it dearly with your MP and your party utility.


If SE changed Bards to this, I and many Bards would be happy because it expands on our core mechanics without making us overpower casters/melee or forcing us to become casters.

[Gallus]

If I was given the chance to expand on Bards without turning us to casters, I'd change it to something like this:

1.) Wanderer's Minuet = (Song. Insta-cast) Boosts the damage of all weaponskills by 20%. MP rapidly depletes while WM is turned on. Cannot be used with other songs. Mobility and auto attacks are retained even in WM. Skills are still insta-cast.

2.) Empyreal Arrow = Now usable outside of Minuet. Everything else can stay unchanged.

3.) Iron Jaws = Now usable outside of Minuet. Everything else can stay unchanged.

4.) Barrage = Returned to its 2.55 effects.

5.) Wide Volley/Rain of Death/Quick Nock = Returned to their 2.55 versions.

6.) Foe Requiem = Boosts caster damage by 30%. Buffed so that it doesn't get invalidated by the new Wanderer's Minuet.

7.) Mage's Ballad/Army's Paeon = Damage reduction can be increased to 20% again, just like 2.55, for balance purposes.


If SE changed Bards to this, I and many Bards would be happy because it expands on our core mechanics without making us overpower casters/melee or forcing us to become casters.

You are basically asking for BRDs to stay the same. Your new minuette is basically an illusion, because it would either triviallize foe's requiem or be useless on the first place (depending on which one brings more damage onto the table), which by the way brings me to my next issue...drama on every raid because the BRD is being an elitist jerk and is using minuette instead of foe because this way their own DPS is being inflated more despite foe adding more real raid damage. This is a scenario I know SE wants to avoid at all costs.

[Raiker]

You are basically asking for BRDs to stay the same.

Yes, like all other classes that had something added to them. Other classes did not change completely.

[Gallus]

Yes, like all other classes that had something added to them. Other classes did not change completely.

You may want to have a conversation with a level 60 DRG.

[Raiker]

You may want to have a conversation with a level 60 DRG.

I have; they didn't change, just had stuff added. Post 50, had some positional stuff added under the effects of Blood of the Dragon which can be re-added using said abilities. But it didn't add a cast timer on to all of they're melee attacks if I'm not mistaken.

I said 'added' a bunch.

[Gallus]

I have; they didn't change, just had stuff added. Post 50, had some positional stuff added under the effects of Blood of the Dragon which can be re-added using said abilities. But it didn't add a cast timer on to all of they're melee attacks if I'm not mistaken.

I said 'added' a bunch.

What's the difference between "changing" and "having stuff added"?

[Raiker]

What's the difference between "changing" and "having stuff added"?

Two examples: BRD (before) Could move around, lower potency, always attacking. BRD (now, with new ability active) Rooted in place to do damage, no auto attacks, cast bar to do everything.
DRG (before) Could melee, jump around, stab things, had a big stick. DRG (now, with new ability active) Melees, jumps around, stabs things, has a big stick, with Blood of the Dragon move to an enemies side or rear to do some new moves.

BRD = change, DRG = addition.

[StouterTaru]

Yes, like all other classes that had something added to them. Other classes did not change completely.

A new skill that is a boost to damage but could turn into a damage drop if you try to use when you need to be moving around. I'm glad they didn't add something like that to BLM.

[Raiker]

A new skill that is a boost to damage but could turn into a damage drop if you try to use when you need to be moving around. I'm glad they didn't add something like that to BLM.

You are correct. Don't get the validity here. Did something happen to them that if they moved while under the effects of Blood of the Dragon they stopped auto attacking? Or did they add a casting time to jumps or something?

See where I'm going with this. Besides, we're not discussing dragoon.

[Intellion]

...which by the way brings me to my next issue...drama on every raid because the BRD is being an elitist jerk and is using minuette instead of foe because this way their own DPS is being inflated more despite foe adding more real raid damage. This is a scenario I know SE wants to avoid at all costs.

I think my suggestion might still be interesting though, because it can potentially separate good Bards from bad ones. The good ones will know when to prioritize their MP for party support over their own DPS, the bad ones will just spam the new Minuet and Final Assault all the way through and be a hindrance.

Either way, at least my suggestion only adds to the Bard's core mechanics instead of changing us into a completely different character, something that I believe is what most Bards are asking for, not the one we have now. With my suggestion, whether a bard is good or bad, they can still play it the way most of them have always loved to play it: like Legolas.