Buff Bards or Riot

[LittleArrow]

I checked the JP forums, and it seems they too see a real issue with WM. Could be mistranslation, but I saw more threads about that than I did pretty much any other job. It's a shame they haven't picked up on the issue of MCH. Still, I feel MCH and BRDs are in the same boat. As a former BRD now MCH, I feel your pain. I hope both of our jobs get the attention they deserve. Usually devs listen to the JP community, so imo, it's looking good for WM.

[Mirakell]

I'm only (almost) lv55 on Bard and been playing around with WM - and not really enjoying how it feels.
I wouldn't mind it so much if it truly was an option for us to have the song up or not - but locking behind skills behind it means we are expected to have it up - as switching it on and off results in even more loss in dps as every song is 3 secs no matter what you do >.>

In my FC - our best bard who's played the class since day one and was proud of being able to keep up his dps numbers in end game content is now switching his main class as he just doesn't see that Bard is offering as much as it used it. And machinist is in the same boat - which isn't too much of a surprise since they've tried to make the two classes able to be swapped out for one another etc - just resulting in two 'support' dps slots that really are just seen as taking up a slot instead of offering any real type of support or help towards fights.

[Bluejay]

I am not there yet but I am seeing way too much concern about this in both the NA and JP forums for me to dismiss it as "WE DON'T LIKE CHANGE" whining. I am going to switch to NIN and level that up until this gets resolved one way or another.

[TheCount]

Sorry to go off-topic, but on the subject of there being complaints about it on the Japanese forum as well-- Is there a similar case for the Dark Knight? I wonder if they find there are issues with it over there as well.

[Edellis]

1) Wait for SE to roll out its first patches, they'll likely slingshot buff BRD/MCH into OP-territory and backlash nerf the others.

2) Anyone who expected BRD to be equal to BLM or something in terms of damage can just switch classes now. This is never going to happen, because the moment it does, BRD is going to be broken again.

3) Anyone who complains about not moving can...well, play another class too. It's really stupid to ask for competitive damage in one hand, and expect to still be able to derp in circles and sing resource songs on the other.

[MetaRed]

Sorry you lost all credibility when you said you've only ever used apoc once. Doesn't sound like you know BLM that well, yet here you are commenting on BRD

Quoted for truth....

On topic in general there is a lot of discussion about many of the jobs not being balanced since the expansion. Personally I think adjustments will come but at the same time we all also need to take the time to learn and adjust to the new ways the jobs all play with the abilities and whatnot. A year and a half of playing a job the same way and all of a sudden we get 5 new abilities and in some cases some pretty drastic changes to rotations and play styles. It's going to take time for the player base to adjust.

That said I do think some changes / adjustments are coming to several classes and are needed, specifically to bard, black mage, machinist and dark knight.

[Lemuria]

2) Anyone who expected BRD to be equal to BLM or something in terms of damage can just switch classes now. This is never going to happen, because the moment it does, BRD is going to be broken again.

3) Anyone who complains about not moving can...well, play another class too. It's really stupid to ask for competitive damage in one hand, and expect to still be able to derp in circles and sing resource songs on the other.

These things do not go together. You can't expect players to be happy with a job which functionally plays identical to Black Mage but at significantly lower damage. So, we either maintain our mobility and do lessened damage (old skool) or they significantly reduce the gap between the two.

For someone who has both jobs, why would I choose to bring my Bard when my BLM also fills a ranged DPS slot and hits harder? This isn't even a songs argument, since songs reduce our damage further than it already is when they're played anyway.

[FaerieAura]

In my FC - our best bard who's played the class since day one and was proud of being able to keep up his dps numbers in end game content is now switching his main class as he just doesn't see that Bard is offering as much as it used it.

I'm in the same boat. I've switched to being a Scholar/Summoner main because at least they get to maintain their mobility to a degree and they do decent enough damage to justify the cast times they have.

[kalasnikov]

Minuet sucks. I want my movement back! if i wanted to stay still with cast times, i would have picked a caster class.

[Edellis]

These things do not go together. You can't expect players to be happy with a job which functionally plays identical to Black Mage but at significantly lower damage. So, we either maintain our mobility and do lessened damage (old skool) or they significantly reduce the gap between the two.

For someone who has both jobs, why would I choose to bring my Bard when my BLM also fills a ranged DPS slot and hits harder? This isn't even a songs argument, since songs reduce our damage further than it already is when they're played anyway.

Yes I can expect that, because even before 3.0, if you played BRD, you are expected by default to do less damage than the other DPS roles because you're playing a support hybrid. Whether you're in Minuet or not, this is still the case. Whether or not our damage is currently where it should be is a different argument. And, you would bring bard because of what bard brings to the table, which is something BLM doesn't. Again, whether or not BRD's current damage is sufficient is another discussion. But this has always been the case.


There are really only 2 outcomes to this issue.

1) Square buffs Minuet to make it comparable to other DPS classes, while ignoring the offstance 2.0 gameplay for Heavensward content

2) Square just buffs the Archer skills in general, in turn buffing them both, giving bards a somewhat higher DPS ceiling but still not comparable to other DPS.

Keep in mind that if you're a good bard in endgame content you're likely going to be singing anyway, which is always going to lead to a lower DPS. They should do more DPS than they currently do, but unless they invalidate the 2.0 playstyle, it is highly unlikely Bard will ever be competitive with it, singing or not.