HW bard- channeling?

[Dervy]

sorry but i have to point this out, being easier to optimize does not mean by default you should beat the other dps, and balance changes shouldn't be made that way either,

But that's how it works in all games. Certain classes, roles, actions, spells, weapons and potions are more effective in certain fights than others. There will always be one Job that operates "better" in each turn, and one Job that isn't as favoured. Unfortunately, it's extremely difficult to balance fights between job equality and mechanics.

if the classes were balanced by that the melle that do manage to optimize would be so far above the other dps it wouldnt even be funny

It's funny, because that's exactly what is going to happen in 3.0. There's still to this day, players who do not know how to press buttons in the correct order receive an efficient DPS output. The complexities added in Heavensward will definitely differentiate those DPS between:

• Those who know all the ins and outs of their job, have all the timings perfectly down as well as the interactions between different off-cooldowns, to optimise for the situation at hand.
• Those who understand their rotation well enough to break it down and know how it works.
• Those who acknowledge the rotation and follow it through like a bible and don't fully optimise their rotation, aka textbook DPS.
• Those who don't do anything.

Every job is getting a ticking buff/stance which they need to manage to execute certain skills or receive a damage boost, one new powerful attack which punishes the user for improper use, two skills at a minimum they need to juggle around depending on the timers of their buffs/DoTs, on top of the 2.X stuff, such as DoT and oCD management. There's a lot of things the player, regardless of their Job, will need to pay attention to, and this is before we even add Boss Mechanics into the mix.

This expansion will definitely plant a thick wall between good and bad DPS.

[pandabearcat]

Just FYI you do NOT want to be the top dps on paper.

Because you will get nerfed.

So...yea. That isn't something you want to wish for.

[Zophar]

Yep. A big part of any job is knowing how to reduce those mechanic penalties to their very minimum, whether it be knowing when to save procs on blm, or when to save moves like spineshatter on drg for a gap closer, or perfect balance on mnk when you KNOW you're about to lose your stacks and myriad other tricks. Optimizing a dps is more than just having the perfect rotation.

[pandabearcat]

Mostly because no class has any real moving parts, so fights are the entirety of the randomness and "skill" that comes into playing a class.

Otherwise you're essentially just playing on auto.

[Dante_V]

Overall it seems like a very nice addition IMO. The ability to diversify tactics and give up mobility for more dps is huge and could really boost a bards dps. Obviously there are unknown intricacies involving auto attacks, barrage, and other moves but I'm sure the developers have taken this into account.