Quote Originally Posted by Dualgunner View Post
We also spoke about an idea where it ends up all five ranged jobs are fighting for both slots, as opposed to Bard having one slot, and the other four fighting for the leftovers. We can, and should nerf Bard, not just because of Machinist, but because something should be a red flag when Bard is in every conceivable meta assortment. Grimoire-M's suggestion of getting rid of Mana Shift and Refresh and replacing it with a magic variant of Goad, I think, would work best in that circumstance.
Yes. And you accomplish that by addressing why Physical Range are always valued over Casters. Nerfing BRD is irrelevant in that discussion. I'm not even against the idea of a small DPS loss hence my speculation BRD won't get the full 5% back when Piercing, hopefully, dies. But it isn't going to change the raid scene due to MCH's current gameplay being almost universally hated. You balance all five jobs by looking at what separates them. And that is currently how much better Refresh is than Mana Shift. If that isn't addressed, nerfing BRD by 1-2-5% won't make a lick of difference.


Quote Originally Posted by Dualgunner View Post
If Bard weren't the bread and butter of every static, Machinist would definitely be more popular. As is, Machinists who aren't being asked to switch to Bard, because Bard is better than Machinist in every way that matters, are already switching to Bard because their favorite job is sandwiched between the Casters, whom it can't be too much better than or it would enforce MCH/BRD again and BRD, whom is one of the best jobs in the game.
Then why did BRD command a similar lead in Deltascape? Or back in Heavensward, where MCH was flat out considered better at various points? MCH has been dead last since its release. I also never said MCH wouldn't be more popular, I said it's popularity would abruptly soar—especially not to the estimations put forth. Even in its heyday, MCH just hasn't been liked. The only way this gets rectified is if they overhaul the job come 5.0. Which should happen. People are demanding it now though. And while it would be nice, we know that won't be in the case.