BRD/MCH in 4.0

[LunarEmerald]

I think GB is fine for MCH because the job was designed around it. WM was just tacked onto BRD and it makes the job feel awkward. They should honestly toss it and give bard another identity.

[gumas]

i want to have at least 1 mobility skill for us BRD, repelling shot didnt count for me because you need to hit an enemy to do so

baelsar wall last boss is quite a nightmare for BRD because we didnt have a skill that can make us go from point A to B fast enough, you should know which boss aoe iam talking about. BLM has that aether tele, DRG can just use that stun jump skill to instantly tele to target, so does monk, ninja can smoke bomb tele covering quite range

us brd? nothing, we run lol

[gumas]

Also i always wonder why bard strongest attack skill (sidewinder) has 60s cooldown? Isnt that a bit overkill?

Other dps class, their strongest attack skill can be use with little to no cooldown like NIN and DRG which is pretty much their combo rotation (no downtime), BLM fire 4 (little downtime but if you manage your enochian right, you can pretty much spam fire 4 nonstop), even SMN deathflare only has 30s cooldown

All of it has potential above 300 while us BRD only at 260 potency.... With 60s cooldown, pls tell me iam not the only who see it strange at this skill

[ShaneDawn]

All of it has potential above 300 while us BRD only at 260 potency.... With 60s cooldown, pls tell me iam not the only who see it strange at this skill

The "strongest" skill Bard has is an Empyreal Arrow buffed with Barrage. It is actually Stronger than a Ninja's Duality + Aeolian Edge if we count pure potencies.

Simple answer would be: classes are balanced in a different way. A lot of Bard damage comes from dots and frequent Bloodletter/RoD procs, so some of our other skill set may seem a bit underwhelming in comparison. You also have to take into account, that Bard can fight from range and has more support options than say, Black Mage.

Example: If we compare pure effective potency:
Misery's End - 190 Potency, 12s recast, ranged, no animation lock, instant ogcd
Assassinate - 200 potency, 40s recast, melee-range, heavy animation lock, instant ogcd
Mercy Stroke - 200 potency, melee-range, restores HP if dealt as a Killing Blow, instant ogcd

Obviously the Bard variant of the skill is vastly superior in almost all aspects, unless you can only use it once and there is no restriction to melee-range or things to worry about with animation locks either. Does that mean, that all of these skills should be brought down to the same cooldown and range, or modify them to have the exact same effective damage? No they shouldn't, because the classes are balanced differently. Comparing single skills between classes is not a meaningful thing to do, when we should be looking at the big picture.

Bard DPS is not in a bad position.

[Pour]

Don't forget that Barrage triples the potency of Empyreal Arrow. So we got another really good nuke. Yeah, there is a high cooldown too but the damage is pretty ridiculous.

edit: Wow, what a timing!

[gumas]

speaking of barrage empyreal combo, is there a story why we cant barrage + sidewinder combo?

anyway, thanks for the explanation, if you think about range advantage i guess it does make sense now

[ShaneDawn]

speaking of barrage empyreal combo, is there a story why we cant barrage + sidewinder combo?

anyway, thanks for the explanation, if you think about range advantage i guess it does make sense now

Sidewinder is classified as an "Ability", while Empyreal Arrow is a "Weaponskill". Barrage only works with Weaponskills, and that's why we combo it with an Empyreal Arrow and not Sidewinder.

[Z-er0]

I love playing Bard but I also do feel like WM needs to be reworked. You can move at the last second of the cast time if you time it right but it is challenging to play.The DPS is not where it should be it does fall a bit short when compared to other DPS.
I do love our L3 LB its so Kool lol
And Yea EA and BArrage is lile WOa!
On my Server Bards don't get a lot of Love

[ChloeGrace]

Barrage triples the potency of Empyreal Arrow.

Unless it crits, which is usually about 1 in 3, then you're screwed. Why they decided to tie a damage boost to non-critical damage on a job that is completely based around critical hits is utter stupidity.

[Yhoiryo]

I feel like this has turned into "what would you change brd into with 4.0"

Anyways the one big gripe is MCH's gun fire sound from split shot. Sounds like a wet sponge.
Either way I feel like mch sounds should have a little bang to them :P

Other than that I enjoy both brd and mch equally. Though removing some unused skills and replacing them with better stuff would be nice, this mostly goes towards the side of mch though.