RIP Bard

[Lillia]

All these Bards trying to act like they weren't going to be Dark Knights anyway...

you say dark knight, I say machinist! ;o

[Pomelo]

I never liked Bard in the current state of things, but unlike everyone else who seems to now hate the "new" Bard. I am loving the sound of Wanderers Minuet, it actually sounds quite skillful and tactical.

[Reinha]

Bard is my current main class for two reasons: it's rotation is based on priority and procs and it's the only job that isn't completely crippled by the amount of combat lag I have. Sometimes the red aoe indicator merely flashes just before the hit happens. Sometimes if I focus on the enemies' cast bars, the casts end before reaching the end of the cast bar. Essentially I have less time to react than other people and that often leads to me tanking the floor or taking unnecessary damage. (Yes I'm working on solving the lag.) Playing bard allows me to run around, leaving trails of aoe circles/rectangles behind me without getting hit by any of them. Just some perspective on why you see some bards running like crazy. :P

I will probably end up not using Minuet in certain content but at the same time I'm happy it will become an option for my fellow bards. Machinist sounds very interesting and I hope it's not a complete turret like BLM.

[Kat_Manx]

I am sorta getting the feeling people think I am opposed to jobs that have to move or use casting timers. /shrugs

Oh and Bards play songs? No way! Hint: Sarcasm. By the way, playing a song has rooted us into place for a while in the past, and I have survived. Go figure.

Would you all just try to relax and wait until the expansion pack comes out? o.o Speculation is nice and all but all I thought was "I might not like it." and ya'll freaked out. Keep it together man, keep it together...

[Keylus]

I think that the supportive role of the bard right now is an important part of being bard, with the inclusion of the machinist that will play a supportive role too it could feel like that people don't need a bard if they already have a machinist in the party
That new song will make that if you don't need to play a supportive rol then you can play a more damage dealing rol
something like: "Don't you need my songs?, then I will be a turret"

[Warlyx]

u dont have to use it u know? u can ignore it...u will lose dmg but keep the movility....

im going to use and enjoy it , i only hate the charging animation (reaching the quiver really?) , but its all i have been asking for , more dmg ! , i give up the moving and shooting ? yes , but if the dmg boost is enough to compensate , im more than happy

remember that u arent ROOTED u can still move, u will lose the cast like BLM does now, but u can start casting again....it will suck when u are learning a boss ? yes , but once u learned it u will love the dmg boost that this stance give u , a few bosses ask to move 100% of the time not even the old titan extreme....ask u to move all the time, and even as i said turn the buff down and play like always or keep it up and do more dmg while u arent moving.

maybe finally now Battle voice does something for Brds too (one can dream!)

lets wait and see

[Teno]

u dont have to use it u know? u can ignore it...u will lose dmg but keep the movility....

You miss the point. If it's here, it means bard dps is balanced around it. It also means you'll have to use it if you want to be good and actually clear content (not talking about trivial and on farm content). Not using it will mean that someone willing to use it will bring more and be more useful than you.
I don't play bard, but can understand the complaint on what has been announced.

[Lewtskie]

u dont have to use it u know? u can ignore it...u will lose dmg but keep the movility....

im going to use and enjoy it , i only hate the charging animation (reaching the quiver really?) , but its all i have been asking for , more dmg ! , i give up the moving and shooting ? yes , but if the dmg boost is enough to compensate , im more than happy

And this is what bothers me. Now I know I can't tell you to not play Bard, but you've been wanting so much so to do more damage, and you're willing to sacrifice mobility? Why didn't you ever just pick up BLM? This whole playing Class A thing but wanting it to function like Class B without just playing Class B thing, it's kinda some backward thinking. It's like eating a Granny Smith and hating that it tastes kinda sour, so you start making requests it should start tasting like a Red Delicious. But you know, some of us want that taste from the Granny Smith, and you can very well eat your Red Delicious.

[kyuven]

snip.

Even with the change, BRD will play very different from BLM. It'll likely play closer to SMN. First off Wanderer's Minuet might likely only be efficient for DoT setting, since being able to rapid fire Heavy Shots and Bloodletters has thus far been the entire point of the BRD's DPS outside their DoTs. Unless it's a HUGE damage upgrade, it would still be more worthwhile to get more hits off with Heavy Shot in a short amount of time than it would be to increase each one's damage.
But also as a perk, it's up to the bard themselves to make this call. This allows for differences in playstyles, as well as circumstantial adaptability. The BLM will ALWAYS be pinned down, the BRD won't be. Being able to have decisions to make is a good thing.

[Ayuhra]

I wish this ability worked a bit more like Sniper Training in WoW where after being still for 3 seconds, damage goes up and the buff falls off when in motion. Stopping in every momentary lull to sing means singing a looot if you want optimal up time on the buff. To me that's not challenging, it's clunky. There are a ton of movement heavy fights in this game.

edit: looks like movement does NOT dispel Wanderer's Minuet so recasting won't be necessary as often if you are just hopping left out of a targeting area. It still seems like optimal dps from Bards will focus on Bards being turrets, though. I can stand still as a Bard and often do but the reason I took it up as a second class was I liked to do all I could do while being in motion if I had to. It was a welcome change from my main class (BLM) even if I don't put out the same explosive numbers. My own opinion though, obviously people who main Bard feel differently.