SB Bard Changes: Good or Bad? Thoughts?

[xNewbx]

I played Bard and only bard in HW , and I have to say. Did you guys really think you're going to get a ton of utility and still maintain the old damage you had? Keep dreaming lol.
It's fun to play , but the damage took a big hit. You're a support dps.

[HyoMinPark]

I am reserving full judgment until I reach level 70 (just recently hit 64 after finally making it to the level 63 dungeon in SB), but I am leaning towards being slightly dismayed with the changes.

Here are the things I do like:
--Stormbite and Caustic Bite timers: love that they're 30 seconds and sync up well with the songs, especially since sometimes I space out when I'm mashing Rain of Death during a large pull and forget to tab through and continuously refresh my old 18-second DoTs.
--Song utility: I really like that added effects that songs have, and I am working on figuring out the best way to prioritize them. I lean towards Mage's > Minuet > Army's at the moment for any solo fights, because of the Bloodletter procs, and how RNG-reliant Pitch Perfect and Rep stacks are (especially since I don't have my EA level 68 trait), and I always use Mage's as much as I can in duties with AOE pulls. After Mage's wears off, if mobs are still standing, I tend to opt for Army's if I have another AOE heavy DPS in the group to increase their speed, and because mobs are usually almost dead to where I wouldn't really get the full benefit out of Minuet/Pitch Perfect.
--Barrage crits: Only a fool wouldn't like the fact that Barrage now allows for crits.
--Pitch Perfect WHEN you get the full 3-stack potency: If I can get a nice crit on that, I feel super happy for some reason.

Now, here's the things I don't like:
--Song utility doesn't affect us: I don't know why the developers designed the songs in such a way to not directly affect us. At least 2.x/3.x Mage's and Army's directly affected us while in use, even if they did lower our damage by 10%. Perhaps that was the trade-off: no more damage penalty for the songs having no effects on us.
--Loss of my oGCDs: I don't like that they removed Blunt Arrow and the Damage from Repelling Shot. I used both frequently, weaving them in between my GCDs to squeeze out every ounce of damage that I could. Now, I have neither, and my rotation feels very bare and skeletal without them.
--Loss of Bloodletter/RoD procs (outside of Mage's): This is the change I hate the most, I think. I loved my Bloodletter procs. Loved loved loved them. Now, when I don't have Mage's up, I feel like all I do is spam Heavy Shot, occasionally get a Straighter Shot proc, Iron Jaws every 30 seconds, EA and Bloodletter/RoD every 15... I just dislike that I don't have much to weave in between my Heavy Shots in extended fights. Feels very bland to me, even with juggling songs. Makes BRD feel very...slow. (Also, I really hate the nerf in Bloodletter's potency... took away its ability to proc outside of Mage's AND reduced its potency? I hate that so much; it seems like such an unnecessary nerf, since Bloodletter still procs just as much as it used to, from what I've noticed...not any more or any less.)
--Loss of Flaming Arrow: I always used this on trash pulls. I miss it a lot.
--Loss of basically all of my buffs: I miss Internal Release, B4B, and Hawk's Eye. I miss how well all my buffs lined up with my skills, and how strong my burst felt when I would just unload everything during the first 20 seconds of a fight.

As for my regained mobility, I don't really care that much, as I still tend to just stand still most of the time (and I even catch myself repressing buttons when I do move, like I'm reacting to a cast being interrupted). I miss my cast times because I felt faster with them (if that makes sense), and I felt more powerful. While I don't have hard data or numbers because ACT is out of commission it seems, I feel weaker. And I don't necessarily like that.

Also, still not quite used to Iron Jaws and Empyreal Arrow not having cast times yet.

Again, I'm reserving full judgment for when I'm level 70, but I just feel... a little disheartened with BRD right now. Hopefully it gets better and feels better at 70.

[GayFox]

trying to see the whole picture here and the bard feels the most promising atm PVE/PVP.
Let's see how it does at 70.

[Recklessfun]

I've only played a BRD since I started this game lol. Wasn't sure what else I wanted to lvl so bard was my main... I'm not sure how to feel about this whole thread since I'm not even 60 yet. I do know that I'm not sure how my rotation should be now missing things I had last week. Most of what u guys are saying about what to do this and how to do that doesn't really make any sense to me since I'm a newbie. Anyone have any rotation advice or should it really just be a thing once we hit 70? I'm not sure who is really paying any attention on ps4 to dmg but I don't wanna be garbage dps either.

[AngelXtreme]

I am out damage. Only at 61 yet I am doing much less dmg than I was prior to BS. I'm still not liking the changes made, yet I've become more comfortable with the rotation and use of songs. I can't seem to adjust to the free movement either. Find myself constantly standing still and worried my fired shot will be canceled if I move lol. I enjoyed it much more the way it was last week. Actually gonna drop BRD and focus on RDM. My crits dropped from about 7+ k toward a max of roughly 3.5 k from what I can see from my numbers in game and I'm not enjoying it at all. It was fun while it lasted though. If I were to continue playing BRD is there a set song rotation that works best after firing your DOTS?

[ExiaQuanta]

I played Bard and only bard in HW , and I have to say. Did you guys really think you're going to get a ton of utility and still maintain the old damage you had? Keep dreaming lol.
It's fun to play , but the damage took a big hit. You're a support dps.

Yeah, the damage nerf is probably there to keep some form of balance. Unconditional damage with mobility and at a safe range is pretty OP. Just like when 2.0 first launched. 2 Tanks, 3 Bards, 1 Dragoon, and 2 healers were meta at one point LOL.

[Shurrikhan]

As for my regained mobility, I don't really care that much, as I still tend to just stand still most of the time (and I even catch myself repressing buttons when I do move, like I'm reacting to a cast being interrupted). I miss my cast times because I felt faster with them (if that makes sense), and I felt more powerful.

I couldn't have stated it better myself, especially this last part. I miss that oGCDs felt urgent, important, and their opportunities vital.

I feel like there's one and only one redeeming factor to the changes: the addition of mechanical variance. But, depending on whether likes one set in particular (e.g. MB's River of Blood mechanic) more than the whole spread, even that's not going to be purely a good thing.

[Tonberrian]

It's just so funny to see "Bring back my cast timers!" compared to the exact opposite at the launch of HW! xD

[Aerolithe_Lion]

A lot of you are missing that HW bard was built around being level 60. So you can't compare endgame HW bard with level 61 SB bard, because it's not built around 61, it's built around 70. Once you get Refulgent Arrow everything changes. 300 potency instant cast that CAN be used with Barrage, making it a 900 potency button push. Plus, the attack can be used every time the straight shot crit buff pops up, which also makes it potentially the most spammable 300+ potency attack in the game.

Patience, and you will be rewarded.

[Escadora]

A lot of you are missing that HW bard was built around being level 60. So you can't compare endgame HW bard with level 61 SB bard, because it's not built around 61, it's built around 70. Once you get Refulgent Arrow everything changes. 300 potency instant cast that CAN be used with Barrage, making it a 900 potency button push. Plus, the attack can be used every time the straight shot crit buff pops up, which also makes it potentially the most spammable 300+ potency attack in the game.

Patience, and you will be rewarded.

Mhm.... Preach on.