Is bard in a bad spot right now?

[Cithaerias_pyropina]

Cmon, that is reaching.
So are you satisfied if Bards hum some tunes during the three songs?

If Bards used the harps and flutes they wrest out of thin air more frequently than they do I would be a lot less indignant toward Bard.

Bloodletter, for example (which is still an animation from 2.0 btw), could have been upgraded/updated with that level 84 trait to a more musically inclined theme/visual, but alas, it is still that really old looking visual. Pitch Perfect same thing, strum/play random instrument instead of bow magic. Could have also made Bard strum a harp for Apex Arrow (which has harp sfx) and Blast Arrow. Rename Apex Arrow to Apex Cadence and Blast Arrow to ___ Cadenza and there we go, Bard's theme of magic archer married with musician fixed without uprooting the job in its entirety.

I won’t judge Radiant Finale until launch and I’ve seen lazier skills tbh, but it’s more flexible than divination which doesn’t even exist anymore and can be said is a “lazy rehash of <insert Generic buff skills with 120 seconds here> skill”

That moment when Endwalker Divination is a better version of Radiant Finale in every way. Astro will no longer need to navigate an obstacle course for Divination which will be a static 6% damage increase, if media tour potencies are unchanged in live, and 120s cooldown which syncs with the 60/120 raid timers but Bard with the really awkward 90s timer and 45 second song duration will need to. But you have Battle Voice which will be reduced to a 120 cooldown and have no strings attached (but won't benefit the Warriors in your party)...so yay? Also Dancer's Technical Finish is a 120 second cooldown, will always sync for 60/120 raid timers and will always have the 5% damage increase, RDM's Embolden is being buffed to affect all damage, SMN's Searing Light lasts a whopping 30 seconds, in media tour potency, and both can be used instantly without any prerequisites. Radiant Finale lookin' great and flexible when you'll almost exclusively use it during Mage's Ballad especially if there is a warrior, or any job that has auto crits/DHs baked into their kit, in your party. Not really sure what world you're on if you can't already see the problem Radiant Finale has on paper.

Why should Bard be punished with a janky raid buff when RDM, SMN, DNC and Astro can just fire off Embolden, Searing Light, Technical Finish and Divination with any hurdles?

I can already foresee codas being removed and Radiant Finale becoming a static 4% damage increase generic 120 second cooldown that you'll exclusively use during Mage's Ballad or Wanderer's Minuet but never Army's Meme if Bard is underperforming or outclassed by DNC. Or changed to a pbAoE that puts a mini Trick Attack on all nearby enemies like old Foe's Requiem. Here's to hoping Bard is not destroyed by Dancer or, the gods' forbid, a double caster meta, in Endwalker because the danger of that happening is there.