So how would you buff bard? (Just like to hear peoples thoughts)

[Chasingstars]

Not saying I don't have the same question for Bard's DoTs as they exist right now, too, but...


...Why though?

If you only apply the DoTs twice per first enemy and then just once again per simultaneously- or near-simultaneously-spawning wave of enemies thereafter... why spend 3 buttons on that at all? Frequency and the ability to leverage snapshotting each add interest, even if in individually mild fashion. An infinite-duration two-part DoT, though, is like exercise in intentional button bloat.

I'd far rather see those skills made individually more interesting, including by greater frequency, and improve general UI as necessary to accommodate that if they remain DoTs (e.g., placing the current/latest target DoT timers... on the DoT's icons + allowing one's DoTs to be tracked from the enmity list if realistically likely ever to waste duration if a reapplication is mistimed).

I get that your response is built around "If the devs want to further simplify X", but... must we even ponder that route, let alone supply yet more ideas that would be as terrible as those we've seen in that vein from the devs?

Seems you misunderstood what I said.

Iron Jaws (reworked): Level 56 trait. Stormbite and Caustic Bite have infinite duration.
New button: Level 56 ability. Spreads Stormbite and Caustic Bite onto nearby enemies.

First effect: New button is used for trash packs and whatever adds are spawned during a boss fight.
Second effect: Stormbite and Caustic Bite don't have to be tracked by the player after the initial buff window. Meaning you have technically 3 less buttons to track as the fight continues.

Reason one: Look at what happened to black mage's thunder in dawntrail. Look at what happened to old summoner endwalker. Either de emphasized or removed entirely. And what has happened to bard? The dots are de emphasized.
Reason two: If CBU3 cared about a job that is reliant on dots, they would have taken old summoner and repackaged it as a new job with traits and abilities that emphasis dot usage as a means to make it more distinct from new summoner.

[Shurrikhan]

Seems you misunderstood what I said.

Iron Jaws (reworked): Level 56 trait. Stormbite and Caustic Bite have infinite duration.
New button: Level 56 ability. Spreads Stormbite and Caustic Bite onto nearby enemies.

First effect: New button is used for trash packs and whatever adds are spawned during a boss fight.
Second effect: Stormbite and Caustic Bite don't have to be tracked by the player after the initial buff window. Meaning you have technically 3 less buttons to track as the fight continues.

Reason one: Look at what happened to black mage's thunder in dawntrail. Look at what happened to old summoner endwalker. Either de emphasized or removed entirely. And what has happened to bard? The dots are de emphasized.
Reason two: If CBU3 cared about a job that is reliant on dots, they would have taken old summoner and repackaged it as a new job with traits and abilities that emphasis dot usage as a means to make it more distinct from new summoner.

No, that is exactly what I understood the idea to mean and what I responded to. Again, what point is there in detailing out what the devs should do if they wish to de-emphasize a gameplay component further? We have no reason to want that and there's no compensatory favorable changes postulated that would require theorizing which unwanted thing we get stuck with.