Quote Originally Posted by Akiudo View Post
snapple
Bard in ARR was running in the DPS category, against all other DPS. Role competition is something that is contemporary and did not exist back then, in the form that is current. Back in ARR, for quite a bit longer than one week, BRD outperformed both melees and BLM quite easily, giving SMN a run for its money. It also had the healer LB3, allowing it to reverse wipes. On top of that, the only group wide buffs meant for more than one party member as well as the support songs. It was at such a high level of damage and utility that people would rather take two bards than diversify classes for the limit break speed.

MCH only ever caught up to BRD, never surpassed it or took its spot. In the beginning of Stormblood they still shared the limelight, but when SMN was buffed, it was MCH that was thrown out of the comp, not BRD.

DRG was not always meta. It was kicked out high end raiding during Final Coil due to its low Mdef, not being able to activate positional combos in T11, and losing out in every way to Ninja and Trick Attack. That's why it was given Battle Litany and buffed twice going through the end of 2.5 into Heavensward. BRD only needed it in party to parse high, not to be a top tier party slot pick.

BRD has always been a top tier pick. It can wane for a while, if you'd even really call its current state waning. The situations brought up in thread are places where the game wasn't rebalanced due to how SE operates, not how the job actually performs in contemporary content.