#NerfBRD

[whiskeybravo]

Make MCH a superior option and suddenly way more people will play MCH. At the very least, ALL speedrunners will choose MCH over BRD.

Or... You just make MCH/BRD meta again

I don't think anyone would disagree that if a job is clunky, but effective, it will be played more than a job that is both clunky and ineffective. But I think MCH has suffered a bit of what DRK has had to go through this whole expansion, started out with ? marks which progressively became bigger and more apparent as content scaled up. The damage was done early on, and even now after significant buffs to DRK their numbers are still pretty low compared to PLD/WAR, so MCH is not likely to recover at this point regardless of buffs/nerfs.

SE could patch up some QoL features in the mean time. I don't think they'd rework BRD as Kitfox mentions, so the goal should be to make incremental adjustments that would put MCH in a better position moving into 5.0. Give MCH mains something to look forward to, a reason to level it up to 80 instead of switching to BRD because it's a safer bet.

[Kabooa]

Or... You just make MCH/BRD meta again.

Which is why this is a #NerfBard thread, not a #BuffMach thread.

We presumably all understand the ramifications of buffing Machinist to an equitable position compared to Bard.

[MoroMurasaki]

Which is why this is a #NerfBard thread, not a #BuffMach thread.

We presumably all understand the ramifications of buffing Machinist to an equitable position compared to Bard.

I hope nothing in the game going forward is buffed to the ridiculous level BRD is now no matter any disadvantages they've seen in the past. At the end of the day BRD is taking up far too much space and the only answers to that fact are ignoring it or bringing it in line with casters and MCH. Since BRDs seem very opposed to losing utility it seems like the best option becomes dps nerfs.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

I hope nothing in the game going forward is buffed to the ridiculous level BRD is now no matter any disadvantages they've seen in the past. At the end of the day BRD is taking up far too much space and the only answers to that fact are ignoring it or bringing it in line with casters and MCH. Since BRDs seem very opposed to losing utility it seems like the best option becomes dps nerfs.

The funny thing is, BRD was never buffed in Stormblood. This all occurred because they foolish don't balance BRD or MCH with a DRG in mind. Therefore, they wouldn't notice the scaling issues since BRD's pDPS without a DRG is quite low, especially because it procs less. While purely speculative on my part, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't really consider how much Litany and other Crit buffs impact the aforementioned scaling. It would explain why they didn't fix it whatsoever when this happened in Heavensward. I suppose they assumed RNG and a 5% piercing nerf would do it? Either way, the only reason they've finally considered removing Piercing outright is due to JP also complaining.

[MoroMurasaki]

The funny thing is, BRD was never buffed in Stormblood. This all occurred because they foolish don't balance BRD or MCH with a DRG in mind. Therefore, they wouldn't notice the scaling issues since BRD's pDPS without a DRG is quite low, especially because it procs less. While purely speculative on my part, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't really consider how much Litany and other Crit buffs impact the aforementioned scaling. It would explain why they didn't fix it whatsoever when this happened in Heavensward. I suppose they assumed RNG and a 5% piercing nerf would do it? Either way, the only reason they've finally considered removing Piercing outright is due to JP also complaining.

BRD being buffed in SB (or not) isn't the issue. I'm not saying I take issue with the journey, only the destination. I understand that crit scaling impacted BRD more than any other job for obvious reasons but I have to admit I'm hesitant to believe (if only because it would crush my already precariously placed faith) that the devs don't understand the way piercing and synergistic crit buffs have played a role in forming and retaining the core of the meta.

The point is that no one job with ultimately 8 others who could take their place should be making up 1/5 dps logs for a raid tier. The disparity speaks for itself. BRD is the lynchpin of what I see as stagnation in raid composition and I hope the devs can do something about that going forward, if not in 4.5 then at least in 5.0. There are certainly other changes that I hope come along and as someone who wants to enjoy playing BRD I don't want them to cripple it or anything but it needs to be taken down a peg or three.

[SpeckledBurd]

The funny thing is, BRD was never buffed in Stormblood.

It got buffed in 4.07 with a 10 second increase to Straight Shot’s Duration and a 10 second reduced Recast on Barrage.