Bard - they broke my job

[SirSaber]

SE didn't break the Job, they've changed it and that change is a killer for some people.
And yes people are still going about it, I think that shows how much the players disliked the change.
I mean this post is at 134 pages atm, it shows that some didn't like it.
I'm one of them but hey I just wanted to voice my opinion, SE always wants feedback so I gave 'em mine.

They can do with Bard whatever they want, if it doesn't please me I can always go play another job.
Like BLM for example!

Anyways, still waiting for my Red Mage.

[Linadae]

Haha I do the same thing. Currently leveling bard by doing only high roulette on it and also did the old relic quest until I got Animus for glamour. It's slow but it doesn't matter seeing as there are plenty of other jobs I can use for clan marks, fates and leveling roulette.

OMG...why haven't I thought of that yet...I love bard...but I love 2.0 bard not this 3.0 bastardization they call a bard. You two are absolutely brilliant and I could just kick myself for not thinking of that sooner. You two may have just breathed new life into this game for me.

[SlyRoyale]

Say, here's a crazy idea:

What if WM didn't enforce a cast timer but kept the damage boost and auto attacks disabled? On top of that, they could do a QoL change of making the animations for certain actions shorter (i.e. Heavy Shot and Bloodletter) so they reduce GCD clipping? If SE plans to make any further changes, I would at least expect a reduction on animation locking.

Of course, if such a change should occur then GB should be adjusted in a way to make it more appealing. Since some people claim that GB is well suited for MCH, SE could re-enable auto-attacks during the stance but have the damage boost parameters altered to have it only apply to weaponskills and abilities, and perhaps reduce the damage boost a bit since re-enabling auto attacks would be a substantial increase.

Just throwing this post out here because why not. Feel free to expand or suggest other ideas.

[RiceisNice]

...

I'd be satisfied if the bloodletter resets were reworked to accommodate for the fact you don't have as much freedom to weave oGCDs (let alone two of them in one GCD) as a bard...such as a stacking buff that boosts the potency of the next BL/RoD or a stacking "ammo" buff that allows for use of said skills. And fix the friggin proc detection for straighter shot.

Though I'd much prefer that WM or GB function differently from each other to diverse their respective job's playstyle, like one lowers GCD and TP costs without the damage boost. One appeal to me for ranged physical dps in constrast to typical casters was that their damage came from a lot of small hits (including auto attacks in this), rather than fewer big hits. I like to see many numbers rather than big numbers.

[SlyRoyale]

.

Given our past talks about BRD and how you find GB to be a better fit for MCH, I think having the stance shorten the GCD would be better for MCH over BRD. If I remember correctly, you mentioned MCH actions being quick or having shorter animations, and their proc system allowing them to weave in their oGCDs with ease. Should SE go that route for MCH, they could re-adjust their native TP restore to give more TP as some jobs with shorter GCDs like MNK and NIN tend to run low on the resource during heavy uptime.

BRD, on the other hand, could do with simply having cast bars removed from WM. This would allow us to capitalize more on double-oGCD weaving and avoid a lot of GCD clipping (especially when trying to get two buffs up just before Iron Jaws). That way, it would regain most of how the job used to play back in 2.0 sans auto attacks. Having Straight Shot's damage be instant with its animation could help with Straighter Shot detection, too.

[RiceisNice]

...

You got the gist of it. If you compare split shot's animation with heavy shot, they are both skills that procs a buff to use another skill. The problem with heavy shot is that it's so long, you wont get the buff proc until after the GCD finishes. This isn't the case for something like Slug Shot or Heavy shot, but you never hard cast these abilities (so you always have a 2.5 second reaction time to wait for the proc), and there's no reason for you to ever mash clean shot after slug (unless you have ammo to guaranteed the proc).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWvxvL13-K4

Like you can see it here, and I even canceled heavy shot's animation with bloodletter; I won't get the buff's bonus (instant cast and 100%) crit until the icon of the skill is highlighted, and that doesn't occur until after my heavy shot had started casting.

My suggestion would't work too well for machinist either, or really any class that makes use of procs, it requires the job to be designed around it. Let's say that we make the stance give a 1.5s GCD with 1.5 second cooldown, that'll never give any reaction time for procs. You can't get rid of cast times because you need something to make them remain stationary, otherwise it'd be a stance with no downsides. It'd only really work for bard the way it is right now because honestly they have no way of playing reactively to their procs anyway.

[Mikedizzy]

lol, you can't be serious. If they changed BRD into a healer that uses songs, would you automatically like it just because they still call it "Bard"? Would it be ok for them to add a pet for us to manage, make us stand in melee range, change us into a healer

No the question is are you serious? The did not make any changes like you are talking about. We lost a little bit of our mobility and if you know how to play the job properly you did not lose any mobility. You don't sit there like an idiot and never move. You set up and get your opener in and then you have mobility knowing how to use the 1.5 cast timer and if you have to move more than just a bit then you turn off Minuet and go into old school mode until you set up again and mechanics allow it.

[seorin]

The problem with heavy shot is that it's so long, you wont get the buff proc until after the GCD finishes.

Even as a BLM accustomed to Firestarter, SS procs feel like they take forever (and like half the time it hard casts anyway). Fixing that would be great for QoL.

snip

You missed the point. I wasn't talking about WM. I was talking about your no true scotsman fallacy.

You said, "If you really like a job you will roll with whatever changes they make." I'm saying they could make changes which even you wouldn't "roll with". There's no objective set of qualities that make a bard. Everybody has their own idea of what feels right to them, and your subjective experience holds no more weight than anyone else's. So don't act like you're the sole arbitrator for what constitutes a bard.

Have a little sympathy for people instead of denying they were bards in the first place.

[Judge_Xero]

I currently main MCN but thought I would level BRD to 60 as a backup. (currently lvl 56)

The only gripe I have with BRD over MCN is movement while using WM.

MCN, when you get a weaponskill proc, then your next skill is Instant cast, which makes movement during Gauss Barrel pretty easy.

BRD has this, but only through Straighter Shot, which is pretty rare compared to a MCN proc. BRD needs some other mechanic change to give it a bit more flexibility while in WM.

* IMO Empyreal Arrow, Sidewinder, Iron Jaws should be instant cast
* The Straighter Shot proc should either have an increased timer in order to hold it, for movement, or the Proc chance should be increased while under WM to 30%-40% - from 20%

[Reinha]

OMG...why haven't I thought of that yet...I love bard...but I love 2.0 bard not this 3.0 bastardization they call a bard. You two are absolutely brilliant and I could just kick myself for not thinking of that sooner. You two may have just breathed new life into this game for me.

Yup I still love the old bard and don't want to give it up. If you haven't done the relic quest I really recommend it for the xp. I got 50-52 just by doing books for the animus. Old fates, monsters, leves and dungeons add up fast. The best part is trying to solo mega pulls in undersized dungeons. Lots of kiting :P