A challenge. Make Bard more Bard.

[NiroB]

Should have been Class:Archer/Job:Ranger then Class:Bard/Job: Dancer

[Endu]

1. As many have said Bards in fantasy settings were generally offshoots of rogues. So using a bow isn't far fatched at all.

2. Please DO NOT change the FFXIV bard into a magical girl who makes giant musical notes fall from the sky & turns enemies into shuffling penguins like the one in Aion. No. No. No.

3. Add more support and utility songs to bard as it is now. I like being able to attack as well as support, playing Bard in XI was just boring.

Bard is mostly fine as it is IMO. They just need to add more support, utility & debuff songs and an actual singing animation.

[Andrien]

Agree OP.

I have a nice solution that could solve this problem quite well.

1.Make all bard weapons like the bard relic weapon. When they are on our back they will look like a instruments, no only a harp, make others instruments that will become a bow or something similar.

2.Make all the new weapons to have specific status that will help a specific type of song. for example a harp brd weapon could have "Ballad+10", while this flute brd weapon could have "Minuet +20". This won't only create more options and conditions for the bards in FFXIV, it will make bard a true support job again. One reason we feel bard is not a support job is because we can only gear it towards more dps, if SE released stats that will increased bard performance on the support side people will see bard true main job again, being a support class.

3.Make then shoot energy notes from the weapons instead of arrows(since we have unlimited arrows now). This will make people think "oh, they don't shoot arrows, they must be bards" I hope lol.

I like this idea so much so I have to quote it.

[Lollerblades]

I actually really enjoy Bard the way it is , while I agree it does need new songs / instruments - I'd rather they didn't take away the bow and arrow aspect. It would be a godawful boring job then ...

[Maxwell]

Be careful with what you wish for...

[Masamune1004]

Be careful with what you wish for...

Someone didn't read the OP fully. If you go back and read the OP, you'll know what I mean.

[Hyrist]

Armory system is here to stay, please settle into that reality.

As far as the idea of 'Shooting Notes'... I'm not keen on it.

Then again, I was NEVER keen on the FFXI or previous iterations of bard in FF games, ever. Every single iteration of the character seemed pretty much like a gimick, and it was only really good in FFXI because it ignored all other prospects of combat and gave Haste and Refresh - the first of which was the single most breaking mechanic in FFXI, the second was on such a short supply that it was critical to have any and all amounts (which is now pretty much unneeded.)

So no, I actually LIKE the concept of Bard as an Archer variant, I just wish there was more stylization for Bard to make the instrument aspect of it apparent, such as having instruments as a secondary weapon that they use for their songs, akin to how a Paladin has their shield.

As far as more abilities to make it identify more with the bard role, that should come when every job has more job abilities to do the same - meaning every job should get more job abilities.

Beyond that, people are just arguing against aesthetics. I thoroughly enjoy the fact that Bard has a function besides only casting songs. It actually makes it a bit more realistic that they have a method to fight that's not whimsical instruments being thrown into the air, which just looks gaudy and tacky. (Aion's concept of bard is... nauseating.)

There are better ways of dealing with the hybridization of mechanics than to eliminate them, and I'm glad they made bard functional as a ranged class on top of a support class.

That said, I still want them to provide the "Ranger" job as the second Job variant of Archer - however I'm willing to hold off until the second round of jobs. There are other classes that can be created first.

[Riv]

Please don't make it like that OP video. Please.

I thought XI BRD was fine, but i also think XIV BRD is fine. I would like more songs, but that's it.

[Syrokko]

Someone didn't read the OP fully.

Someone takes things a tad bit too seriously.

[Ingolf]

Should have been Class:Archer/Job:Ranger then Class:Bard/Job: Dancer

God no.

Dancers pretty much always oppose Bards in FF lore. I would be upset if they shoe horned me into Dancer.