Thread: 3.2 Patch Notes

Still don't understand how much more convoluted BRD needs to become, since reworking Wardens Paeon to be a dps version of esuna or leeches is totally what this class needs. I've only used Wardens Paeon for Odin, any other instance the healers already had debuffs cleansed making this skill a waste. But it's whatever I'm sure I'll get used to being a status cleanser tp mp regenerating debuffing caster.

Originally Posted by Jetstream_Fox

Still don't understand how much more convoluted BRD needs to become, since reworking Wardens Paeon to be a dps version of esuna or leeches is totally what this class needs. I've only used Wardens Paeon for Odin, any other instance the healers already had debuffs cleansed making this skill a waste. But it's whatever I'm sure I'll get used to being a status cleanser tp mp regenerating debuffing caster.

I mean being fair, Bard's always been a supportive role in not just FF games from the past, but in almost any rpg.

I just wish they would have started us with some of our supportive skills, rather than threw them all at us during 3.0 after we had 2 years or more to get used to how it played as it was before, then it's suddenly "lol have fun".

Originally Posted by Kaoru_Nagisa

I mean being fair, Bard's always been a supportive role in not just FF games from the past, but in almost any rpg.

I just wish they would have started us with some of our supportive skills, rather than threw them all at us during 3.0 after we had 2 years or more to get used to how it played as it was before, then it's suddenly "lol have fun".

But....BRD has had support abilities since 1.0....are you one of those Bards that never knew how to play magic song?

Originally Posted by Pence

But....BRD has had support abilities since 1.0....are you one of those Bards that never knew how to play magic song?

I said "some", not "all".

Realistically though, songs were our only real support skills all through the game up to 3.0. It was when 3.0 dropped that we started getting other stuff (like Warden's, though frankly the way it worked before made it all but useless in most situations, happy they changed it to act more like an Esuna). The added damage given by WP was honestly needed a while back solely for the fact most Bards refused to play their songs because of the dps hit. And frankly even now I see non-bards telling bards not to play songs because of the dps hit, even if we're in WP and pop our cooldowns to make up for it. Bard was never meant to be a high damage class and idk why people don't realize that.

It's baffling how many people don't want Bards to play their class properly.

Originally Posted by Kaoru_Nagisa

even if we're in WP and pop our cooldowns to make up for it. Bard was never meant to be a high damage class and idk why people don't realize that.

Because you can deal high damage with it..?

Originally Posted by jssanderson747

Because you can deal high damage with it..?

We deal better damage now with WP + cooldowns, but I'm just saying that if a healer needs MP super badly, I'm prioritizing Mage's Ballad over dps output because if the healer goes down too much on MP, that's a great scenario for a wipe.

What boggles me is when the healer themselves, with only 500 mp left, are telling me to turn off Ballad because it's cutting my dps. Friend, I know that - I don't care, I'd rather my dps go to crap for a few seconds than have the tank die because you can't even get off a heal due to no MP.

Like I'm sorry, but my job is a hybrid support. I'm gonna support when it's needed, and I've played the class for 2 years so I feel like I can fairly well judge when I need to drop into a song and deal with a little bit of dps cut.

Originally Posted by Kaoru_Nagisa

What boggles me is when the healer themselves, with only 500 mp left, are telling me to turn off Ballad because it's cutting my dps. Friend, I know that - I don't care, I'd rather my dps go to crap for a few seconds than have the tank die because you can't even get off a heal due to no MP.

Like I'm sorry, but my job is a hybrid support. I'm gonna support when it's needed, and I've played the class for 2 years so I feel like I can fairly well judge when I need to drop into a song and deal with a little bit of dps cut.

While it is great to provide support, I feel that we're missing a lot of info here. If a healer is telling you to turn off ballad when they have 500 MP left, it's likely because they don't need the MP. A few things to consider:

1. Each healer has it's own MP refresh (Shroud, LA, Aetherflow)
2. If the mob is almost dead, your 20% damage loss may be enough for the tank to take an extra hit. It's better for the mob to die faster than it is for to healer to heal more

Generally speaking, you should never need to play Ballad during a dungeon. Further (I believe), in most scenarios Army's Paean is also a net reduction in damage output. For your songs, you're generally best to Foe as the tank is pulling, let it run out - regen MP. Repeat. Paean can also be great to use between pulls to top up TP for the tank and melee. In a raid encounter, this changes, but you're best to plan your song usage with your team. For example, I often have our MCH/BRD play MP refresh during jumps. This not only helps with healers, but a SMN could then spam Ruin III prior to the jump for added DPS and not worry about draining MP.