Quote Originally Posted by Gserpent View Post
[words]
The experience of playing against something is not at all the same as piloting it yourself. I played most of the cast, settled on Bard for bronze to crystal, and then went back to playing variety after getting there. I say that you do not have the full picture of how Bard functions.

It's easy to feel when you get silenced and killed by an opposing Bard, but that's only one part of Bard's kit - and a Machinist will erase someone far more easily. No, Bard's unique advantages run deeper, are far less visible, and are very attritional. One of those unique quirks is that it's filler at range is much more powerful than that of other classes. Filler casts not only hit harder, wearing down the enemy over time, they also generates your burst damage charges - and you lose all of that value every time you get a cast canceled (casts that slow you down, making it even harder to maintain LoS). It doesn't help that the camera becomes your foe on VH, too. You almost never notice the camera issues on VH as a melee, but when you need to create space and survey the field from a distance it becomes a miserable experience having your camera constantly squashed by the walls. All which is why Bard suffers particularly badly in VH. No match is ever unwinnable in CC, there are too many variables at play, but playing Bard on VH is putting a tangible extra weight on the scales against you. Why bring a partially functional character when you could bring an entirely functional one?

(For the sake of completion, the other unique advantages Bard brings are Paen's amazing cleanse and the invisible but powerful team damage buffs, which also shine particularly bright when playing an attritional strategy.)