Bards - Help me understand

[pinder2009]

I've noticed some bards not using Wanderer's Minuet at all in an expert dungeons.

These are bad BRDs. They are the equivalent of the DRGs that don't use heavy thrust, a NIN that doesn't use mudras, etc. If they don't want to use WM that's their call but they have to realize they are not using their job to its fullest potential.

[Croisciento]

My bard is only lvl 55 but I've played a lot on my friend's account which has a lvl 60. I didn't want to waste my time leveling it up. Now lvling it up on my acc...

At first it feels terribly clunky as you can only use one offgcd ability. I was used to spam bloodletter manually everytime after using a skill, and now I really have to pay attention to them because I can't use a proc after empyreal arrow or I will loose an extra skill. This song felt fluid when fighting against bosses, since you have to dodge while outputting maximum damage.

Although I wont say some aspect still feel clunky at 60 (like bloodletter being unusable because you have to use either emp arrow or other cds) I kinda got used to it. If people don't like the change Bard has taken then they should just pick another job instead of wasting everyone's time.

[SayuriHime]

Honestly that kind of snarkiness is uncalled for. I could reply "Ok so for you, the going a bit slower in a dungeon is a strange feeling. No longer having the instant gratification of seeing the mobs melt makes the dungeon less fun to play. Thank you for your honesty!" If you like being obnoxious and expect perfection from everyone, go play with premades.

I want to apologize if I came across snarky, I certainly didn't mean too. I was expressing understand for the person's position.

I want to add that I am not advocating for Wanderer's Minuet being a good addition the Bards tool kit. I am saying that right now, it is a reality for the class until SE decides to change it.

[Temjiu]

Ok so for you, the cast bar is a strange feeling. No longer having the instant gratification of your abilities makes the job less fun to play. Thank you for your honesty!

I've been running allot of instances this week catching my DRG up with my WAR. I was in a Main Scenario instance when i quietly lamented to lack of bards swiftsong. What shocked me was i looked back over the week, and i can't honestly remember seeing any bards in the higher level instances I ran.


Now, with the amount of bards in the forums saying they're playing, I know that there are people out there playing them...but im so used to seeing bards in the instances I run. I see quite a few less now...which to me isn't suprising. In all honesty, even with the damage buffs, i simply lost my desire to play them when the cast bars were introduced. my bard hit 53, and stopped. my WAR sped past her, and now my DRG is as well.

Im not a fan of ranged classes, and cast bars even less. It was suprising to me that when i started playing FFXIV, my main became a ranged class. but in retrospect, the reason is clear...it's the first ranged class I've played that felt allot like my favored melee classes. Well...it did. futures portending towards watching cast bars made me feel far too much like my fledgling BLM, which has barely crept into her 20's. She'll probably stay there, and there's little chance that my beloved Bard will make it past her mid 50's. perhaps Ill solo her up to 60 just so she'll be there...I dont' have to use the casts to solo things i suppose. who knows. But yes...I think that many people are dissolusioned with the Bard now, and it seems to me at least that it shows in the group content I've been playing (Random dungeons for the most part).

[Clarkamite]

IF you can stand still, exactly my point. In real scenarios when mechanics are involved, WM will not provide much, if any DPS increase due to interrupted casts, and not being able to use OGCD's as effectively.

Black "standing still and using Enochian to blow shit up with really long cast times just fine" Mage says hi.

[Ranen]

snip

It's possible that there's no other class that they enjoy. In my case I just got Ninja to 60, and while I like that class the mudra lag is a complete loss of dps for me and therefore renders it unplayable, and there goes the only melee class I enjoy.

I tend to prefer being ranged anyway..and well the only ranged are all casters...and I dislike those...so I'm pretty much stuck with bard or MCH (and not a fan). I'm still gonna try SMN and see how that goes, but until then I'm stuck with the new Bard....yayyy.

snip

Lol I'd love to find out why they say that, cause clearly they don't understand how frustrating it is to be lvl 60 and only able to use 1 ability from the 50-60 range outside of WM. We might as well just remain lvl 50 and be done with it. xD

Black "standing still and using Enochian to blow shit up with really long cast times just fine" Mage says hi.

Except that BLMs/SMN/Healers all chose that class knowing what they were getting into..and that is cast times. Bards were advertised as a class with mobility and now it's pretty much taken away. And saying we don't have to use it..well see above point.

Anyway this isn't really a thread for that...but meh. It's here to stay and slowly but surely I'll get used to it and those that are intent on playing the class will have to do the same. Sad thing is being out of WM isn't an option if we want to progress in the game, be it the EX primals, and even savage alex..I just hope SE finds some way to work out the kinks.

[AFinch]

As a bard that does utilize it I can explain to you why people don't. It quite literally breaks the class. Bard was not designed around cast times it was designed around instant casts with weaving oGCDs. They put the song in without fully adjusting the way the class is meant to be played. So even though I "mastered" it the way it is now, it feels incredibly clunky and the exact opposite of smooth. Get what I'm saying? Just think of it as you're a righty and you're playing baseball and they tell you you need to bat left handed now. It feels that awkward.

THIS. OH MY GOD THIS. I agree with just about every complaint about WM, but this is the fundamentals of the problem on the money. People say "oh BLMs don't need to move, why do you?" Well WM is like giving BLM a powerful set of mobility skills. It just doesn't work. I truly hope someone at SE reads this. I know it will probably never be fixed, but it really ought to be.

[Aleph]

I'm very thankful that people have continued to voice their concern with this issue. I am/was a career bard but am struggling to enjoy any endgame content while using it, despite my numbers being pretty good. I had since given up and switched to MCH (has a very similar problem with GB but does feel less clunky in its design compared to WM).

Also thank you to OP for hosting a place for this continued discussion without immediately dismissing our complaints and being very civil and genuinely curious to our plight.

[AnnietheCat]

To be quite honest, I love the damage I can do with WM. But I dislike the cast bar and the standing still. It makes the job just feel intensely rigid. During 2.x I managed to max three jobs, and still went back to brd because it was the only play style I enjoyed. And with a Drg in my party, I had no complaints about my numbers. Archer/bard has been my main since I first started, and I even tried other classes when the support/dps hybrid factor came into play. Even though I have never liked the support aspect of the job, I still loved the play style and so I decided to tank up(lol) and deal with it. With this, there is no tanking up for me. I just legitimately don't enjoy it at this point. I've hung up my bow and started focusing crafting because of the lack of enjoyment.