is BRD a better support choice than MCH in 4.0?

[silverlunarfox]

I'm going to say Bard at this time, however we wont know till SB hits.

[Aeliott]

thank you so much for corrected me on those informations!!! do we know for sure if Foe either reduces dmg taken or increase dmg taken by 3%?

I don't think we have anything definitive...in the active footage of BRD that's been uploaded there does seem to be a slightly higher amount of damage on skills when Foe is active, but 3% is such a small number that it's hard to separate from natural damage variance. So I wouldn't say 100% yes right now, but it does seem likely - and makes more sense considering the passive crit and battle voice would not be able to compete with Hypercharge alone.

Random side note: I noticed Foe drains MP much faster now.

[Empty-handed]

foe has always drained mana at a faster rate than other songs. i wonder if its even faster now?? Dismantle being the new Disable is an amazing and welcomed change. however there is a slight edge for bard with the single target mantra.

[LunarEmerald]

Bard spanks Machinist in support now but Machinist is going to do significantly more damage. Bard's damage looks gutted.

[Greywolfamakir]

BRD looks more Defensive utility oriented with Single Target Mantra and with Troubadour (Troubadour is full defensive buff, it doesn't bring damage, for english tooltip) and MCH looks more Offensive utility oriented with Hypercharge, but im speculating like everyone here.

[xNewbx]

I'm guessing BRD is the best dps support currently but it looks like you're paying the price of being the lowest damage DPS. Just look at the fact every other DPS has enmity reduction (besides MCH as well).

[EdwinLi]

Bard spanks Machinist in support now but Machinist is going to do significantly more damage. Bard's damage looks gutted.

That is the price Bard pays for being all around the Party Support Job for this game.

Machinist is now the Pure DPS Range Focus Job thus splitting Bard and Machinist into two different roles players can choose either picking Bard for Range Support Job or Machinist for Range DPS Focus Job.

Even now in 3.0 MCH is more focused on causing damage design wise than Bard.

[RhaegarFFXIFenrir]

Splitting the jobs up like this was a smart move. AAR BRD essentially took Bard and Ranger from XI and mashed them together. When MCH came along, it was designed to be more or less a clone of BRD where either job is potentially equally capable. Now, we're getting the support role Bard and the DPS role Ranger split apart. This honestly might be a case where people are going to want to have both leveled and geared, as with some fights you might be better off with BRD's superior support, but other times you're better off with MCH's basic support and superior DPS. Ultimately, it's going to be a wait and see. Raid content will ultimately decide which is the "better" job.

[Jilliebeans]

With the MCH dmg is increased by a lot, I think they trying to get both class to synce well together in raid. Mch can go pure dps with a few utilities while brd can go support.

[Gamer3427]

To me, MCH has always played more as an offensive support that focuses on increasing damage and dealing it out, while Bard has been more of a general support that had lower personal offensive capabilities. This patch just enhances those differences by giving MCH better raw DPS and Bard more of an emphasis on the buffing aspect. I think composition wise though, it'll honestly come down to whether the party needs more support for their healers and tanks, or whether they need more support for their DPS. Bard is probably still going to be the better "support across the board" class, though I don't think the differences will be strong enough to make one a "must pick" over the other except for specific party comps......