Wanderers Minuet fail

[rakali]

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I was strongly considering maining a bard until I learned that Wanderer's Minuet existed.

I understand if some people want a ranged support with cast times. I don't understand why both bard and machinist need to mimic each other. Why not give only one of the two the cast time stance and give players a choice in playstyle?

[ShaneDawn]

Wanderer's Minuet is not as bad as it feels like initially. The cast times are the best kind you can get: short, and you can clip the cast by ~0.50s to move before the cast finishes. With Feint, Straighter Shot procs, Stance-Dancing and Repelling Shot you still maintain a plethora of mobility.

I did not like the changes at first either, but I got accustomized to them and they started growing up on me as well. As a pre- and post-HW Bard main, I'll have to say the change was necessary. In ARR, Bard could effectively deal with most raid wide mechanics with almost no DPS loss, while the class was not exactly difficult to play either. SE had a choice of either changing the way they design fight, or change Bards, and they went for the obvious, easier choice of the two.

[Avenfell]

Its always funny reading the replies on this topic, they are basically all; "well at first I hated WM, more then anything, was the worst thing ever made, but eventually I got used to it".......
Ok so that's the defense?! By that logic its the same as; "well I really liked using my right hand but it was chopped off by a bloodthirsty marauder, so now I use my left hand to eat and wipe"
That does not mean its optimal to use your left hand, WM and Enochian SUCK, stop perma-white knighting for Yoshi 24/7.

[Chevronone]

The worst part about bard is watching the Bloodletter procs and it spinning like crazy and you're stuck in a cast...

[ShaneDawn]

Its always funny reading the replies on this topic, they are basically all; "well at first I hated WM, more then anything, was the worst thing ever made, but eventually I got used to it".......
Ok so that's the defense?! By that logic its the same as; "well I really liked using my right hand but it was chopped off by a bloodthirsty marauder, so now I use my left hand to eat and wipe"
That does not mean its optimal to use your left hand, WM and Enochian SUCK, stop perma-white knighting for Yoshi 24/7.

Don't like something initially->try a new thing out->like it after all->OMG WHITE KNIGHT!!!

I agree, that the change was too sudden, but I disagree with the change being an entirely bad thing. 2.x Bard had end-game problems that needed addressing to, one way or another. That solution, albeit not the best one, turned out to be Minuet.

[gumas]

they are basically all *snip*

What kind of answer are you hoping anyway?

Either you get used to it or you dont like it thus you try other class or never use WM in your entire BRD career, what else is there?

[rakali]

Bard had end-game problems that needed addressing to, one way or another. That solution, albeit not the best one, turned out to be Minuet.

What was the problem, though? Too much mobility? I wasn't around in 2.x, so I'm genuinely asking, because I don't understand how mobility on a character that already does less damage than the others (because it's a support dps) could be considered an end--game problem.

[ShaneDawn]

What was the problem, though? Too much mobility? I wasn't around in 2.x, so I'm genuinely asking, because I don't understand how mobility on a character that already does less damage than the others (because it's a support dps) could be considered an end--game problem.

The thing is, a good Bard with a Dragoon (Disembowel improves direct DPS by 10%) used to be a very potent damage dealer, in addition to what used to be unsurpassed mobility. The old Bard had the highest activity percentile out of all classes due to being able to DPS everywhere and anywhere, even whilst dealing with crucial mechanics. The ability to DPS under almost any situation by itself closed gap against more potent DPS classes by itself as well. All in all, Bard did just too much: you could trivialize mechanics while losing hardly anything.

As for "support DPS": I would suggest all Bards try to deviate from this line of thinking. While we have quite potent support abilities, generally MP/TP songs that cripple you will be sang during downtime periods, so most of the time the damage penalty is not really prevalent. All in all, the only times when the damage penalty applies is a.) During early progression or a long fight with no down-time b.) Someone fucks up c.) Inefficient use of songs. Bard has never been a Monk, but we were and still are very potent damage dealers, paired with Dragoons.

Bards could've been addressed in other manners than with Minuet, but that's what we got. I'm not telling everyone to be happy about it, but it's also not as much doom-and-gloom as many people make it out to be. As mentioned earlier, we still have strong mobility with short casts, Feint, Straighter Shot procs, Stance-Dancing and Repelling Shot. Maintaining the same activity% as before requires more work, and it's not as simple to trivialize mechanics, but it's still largely possible with good, coordinated plays. Bard is still really good, and the composition regarded as the "best" (relative to the context, but this one as largerly regarded as the overall best) atm is NIN/DRG/MCH/BRD, which has 2 supposed "support dps" in it. It is just not as trivial to either damage or deal mechanics with it compared to 2.x.

I beat all the Coils in 2.x, as well as clearing the latest Savage Raiding tier on my Bard. I have a lot of personal experience on the class both pre- and post-changes, for what it's worth.

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

Personally, I only picked up BRD because it got WM in the expansion. It was just too boring before, when one could literally zone out and still do good deeps. Still regret picking it up as my first job when there were other much more fun alternatives.

[aabe]

hey cool it's that "bard is a blm" meme again