Song Mechanic and Heat Mechanic {Theory}

[EdwinLi]

auto-attacks? and it may not get the entire 30% back, all the other jobs lost Raging Strikes right? does Archer still have it?

even back in 2.0 Bard was still lacking with Auto-attacks. As the developers said they revamped each Job based around their new Mechanic thus by my theory keeping up the Song bar may be required if bards wish to perform at their highest DPS to keep up their 30% damage boost or else they're stuck with 2.0 DPS rate.

It is maybe a revamp measure to make players always play Bard the way it is intended thus avoiding the continue issue we have now where Bard players completely ignore the Songs because they see no person gain from it.

From the skill trailer it seems that the skill the BRD is using is somehow tied to the song and the stacks right below the song HUD

If I have to guess it is mostly likely a build up to the Song's effects. The closer to the end of the Song Bar the more marks obtained thus increasing the effects of each Song but once the Bar reach the end the Song end thus requiring Bards to switch to a new song to keep up their music for party buff and their own damage buff.

It is like classical music where the beginning is weaker then at the end the Song gets their strongest effect to the audience listening to the music for the Grand Finale.

I just don't see any of the mechanics being enough to compensate the fact that they can now ignore boss mechanics and keep 100% damage up time compared to melee classes. They are bound to lose direct damage as a result to balance it out.

Well that is basically the issue Yoshi-p said the development team was facing when balancing Bard and Machinist. Bard and Machinist are the easiest Job to keep that their 100% damage without any consequences which is why Bard are very popular for players who want easy DPS Job to play as due to havine almost zero risk to their gameplay style.

Certain amount of players voice they wanted Bard to perform at the same Damage rate of Black Mage and Melee Jobs with their DPS while maintaining their Mobility and lack of consequence but Yoshi-P said that would make them too OP so dvelopers gave use what we have in 3.0 where we got higher DPS that we wanted but had to sacrifice mobility. Now people got their Mobility back due to high demand of players wanting to maintain their High DPS while having their high mobility but now it is most likely adjusted so that bard and Machinist still have their high mobility and DPS but they must always maintain their Job mechanic to maintain it.

Machinist still has more risk than Bard in 4.0 as they are getting some close/mid-range skills as part of their weaving skill gameplay style. Ya most players hate the Weaving Focus gameplay style on Machinist but it is how Machinist plays being the Burst Damage Mobile range Job while Bard is the Sustain Condition damage/Support Job.

[Ghastly]

I just don't see any of the mechanics being enough to compensate the fact that they can now ignore boss mechanics and keep 100% damage up time compared to melee classes. They are bound to lose direct damage as a result to balance it out.

Bard: Making music keeps you in place. Side effect is you spend time not doing damage
Mch: Being close to boss keeps you in the same danger melee is in. Side effect is you spend time getting to the enemy or moving away from enemy and might lose damage.

So it balances.

[MomoOG]

Bard: Making music keeps you in place. Side effect is you spend time not doing damage
Mch: Being close to boss keeps you in the same danger melee is in. Side effect is you spend time getting to the enemy or moving away from enemy and might lose damage.

So it balances.

Seems like wishful thinking to me.

I didn't see any close range abilities to MCH. He was standing pretty far back on the flamethrower easily out of range of most close range boss mechanics.
We don't have any proof the bard has to stand still for the songs. If he does have to stand still for the songs and casting of them is frequent enough than how is that different from previous implementation of them being immobile with WM? It is the exact same thing and no new mobility has been gained. So why would people be overjoyed than?

[basketofseals]

even back in 2.0 Bard was still lacking with Auto-attacks. As the developers said they revamped each Job based around their new Mechanic thus by my theory keeping up the Song bar may be required if bards wish to perform at their highest DPS to keep up their 30% damage boost or else they're stuck with 2.0 DPS rate.

It is maybe a revamp measure to make players always play Bard the way it is intended thus avoiding the continue issue we have now where Bard players completely ignore the Songs because they see no person gain from it.

Auto attacks are a SIGNIFICANT portion of your dps. In fact back on release when WM was only a 20% increase, it was actually a dps loss in all situations.

[FeliAiko]

As others have said, the 30% loss will be compensated by the return of auto-attacks just as the loss of auto-attacks in HW was compensated by the stance boosting your damage while active. Add to the fact that autos can be done while facing any direction now and that's more than enough.

[EdwinLi]

Auto attacks are a SIGNIFICANT portion of your dps. In fact back on release when WM was only a 20% increase, it was actually a dps loss in all situations.

As others have said, the 30% loss will be compensated by the return of auto-attacks just as the loss of auto-attacks in HW was compensated by the stance boosting your damage while active. Add to the fact that autos can be done while facing any direction now and that's more than enough.

Well this is all just theory due to the readjustment to WM and introduction to the Song Mechanic.

That aside it is most noticable that Bards will be required to always be playing a Song now due to the Song Mechanic to access their strongest skill thus they can't ignore the songs if they want access to majority 3.0 and higher skills.

Unless they enjoy spamming only the Bard's 2.0 rotation for the entire time plus that one new poison condition skill but that would be a great dps loss due to not using Empyreal Arrow, Sidewinder, and the new Magic Arrow skill.

not to mention that Iron Jaw is instant cast now so ignoring the Song mechanic is not ideal for players who want to always keep up their condition damage.

Seems like wishful thinking to me.

I didn't see any close range abilities to MCH. He was standing pretty far back on the flamethrower easily out of range of most close range boss mechanics.
We don't have any proof the bard has to stand still for the songs. If he does have to stand still for the songs and casting of them is frequent enough than how is that different from previous implementation of them being immobile with WM? It is the exact same thing and no new mobility has been gained. So why would people be overjoyed than?

It noticeable that the Machinist appears to be standing at a medium range area to the target dummy compared to the Bard which is at a longer range zone. They may be going for the Medium range type combat style.

[FeliAiko]

Well this is all just theory due to the readjustment to WM and introduction to the Song Mechanic.

If you think BRDs will be retaining the +30% damage, on top of autos and the ability to still move whilst doing said damage then you're naive about SE's aims when it comes to Job design.