What is Bard?

[ItMe]

I think cast time would give the job a better feel. I have always thought it very awkward how Bards can run around shooting the enemy while facing away. It’s a bit tacky.

If that's the way you feel you're welcome to go into the settings and enable that feature that forces you to physically face your target to attack it... like how the game used to be played.

[MilkieTea]

If that's the way you feel you're welcome to go into the settings and enable that feature that forces you to physically face your target to attack it... like how the game used to be played.

Wait wait wait... what’s this setting? I wanna troll my boyfriend.

[ItMe]

Wait wait wait... what’s this setting? I wanna troll my boyfriend.

If I remember correctly it's here, though I think there are a couple different ways to do it:



Test it out for yourself to make sure it does what you want before your prank, and good luck <3

[AceofRains]

If that's the way you feel you're welcome to go into the settings and enable that feature that forces you to physically face your target to attack it... like how the game used to be played.

No I really mean they should have a moment of pause when attacking. The idea of mobile Bard is absurd at best. Singing and shooting accurately takes focus. Hell, playing an instrument takes focus. On no planet should Bard have the freedom to run around as much as they currently do. Making it more a caster style but with physical damage would actually give it a more solid identity between DNC and MCH. Compared to BLM, SMN is a very mobile mage, so it stands to reason something like this could apply to Physical DPS ya know? Nerfing mobility also gives them room to put the power elsewhere, such as stronger support, or higher damage.

[MilkieTea]

If I remember correctly it's here, though I think there are a couple different ways to do it:



Test it out for yourself to make sure it does what you want before your prank, and good luck <3

You're a gem and I love you.

[ItMe]

No I really mean they should have a moment of pause when attacking. The idea of mobile Bard is absurd at best. Singing and shooting accurately takes focus. Hell, playing an instrument takes focus. On no planet should Bard have the freedom to run around as much as they currently do. Making it more a caster style but with physical damage would actually give it a more solid identity between DNC and MCH. Compared to BLM, SMN is a very mobile mage, so it stands to reason something like this could apply to Physical DPS ya know? Nerfing mobility also gives them room to put the power elsewhere, such as stronger support, or higher damage.

Oooh, I see what you're saying.
That's a neat idea, and a BRD I'd definitely be interested in trying.

You're a gem and I love you.

[TheMightyMollusk]

We had bard (and machinist) with cast times back in Heavensward. The majority opinion was that it was terrible.

[Haventale]

We had bard (and machinist) with cast times back in Heavensward. The majority opinion was that it was terrible.

I heard about that, but I started playing in SB, so I've never experienced it. It sounds interesting to me, but if most people felt it was bad, then I'll honestly take their word for it. I think ranged dps fills a comfortable unique role, seperate from casters because their mobility. They're my favourite dps role overall, in big part because of it, so I really wouldn't want it to be changed anyway I guess.

I think ultimately, the biggest reason bard doesn't feel like one is the aesthetic of it. If they just changed more of the visual effects of what we're doing into musical effects, I think that'd help a lot. I always thought it'd be interesting to have us be able to choose one of our performance instruments to be what represents our visual and sound effects in combat, rather than the premade ones. It'd be a really fun way to customize our bards to our own personal interests. But I understand that's probably an unreasonable amount of extra work for just one job.

[Jirah]

We had bard (and machinist) with cast times back in Heavensward. The majority opinion was that it was terrible.

And it was, hated those incarnations though I do miss HW MCH purley off stockholm syndrome. SB split the jobs into their own respected identities then proceed to butcher them in SHB. Hopefully EW can save them as BRD just needs a few tweaks and MCH needs a thread to its many many fragmented mechanics

[Eloah]

One thing that I am sure many people forget or aren't aware of is that there have been many iterations of Bards that used a Bow as a weapon; FFXIV is not the only game/story to do so. The key is finding a good balance between the Bard aspects and their weapon of choice. For FFXIV, SB got it, and was much loved because of it. And, although ShB didn't change them too much, they felt a bit more underwhelming because of the inclusion of Dancer.