All physical range DPS are perfect now!

[Hakuohsama]

DNC and the MCH rework really made this a mess for BRD players.

MCH is now the DPS King of the physical range dps.
Dancer got all the Buffs but has the lowest dps.
BRD has Battle Voice and 2 support skills which barely matter and dps whise between those two.

Wardens Paean and Minne should be buffed or removed for something else..
In Raids both arent usefull enough.

[Gaethan_Tessula]

DNC and the MCH rework really made this a mess for BRD players.

MCH is now the DPS King of the physical range dps.
Dancer got all the Buffs but has the lowest dps.
BRD has Battle Voice and 2 support skills which barely matter and dps whise between those two.

Wardens Paean and Minne should be buffed or removed for something else..
In Raids both arent usefull enough.

I mean, Square Enix could also start trusting their players enough to give them encounters where a preventative cleanse and a healing support buff actually matter.

Do the same for the Ranged DPS CC kit (we kept heavy and bind, let's USE them) at the same time.

Anyways, yeah, bring the music back to BRD please.

[Taranok]

I mean, Square Enix could also start trusting their players enough to give them encounters where a preventative cleanse and a healing support buff actually matter.

Do the same for the Ranged DPS CC kit (we kept heavy and bind, let's USE them) at the same time.

Anyways, yeah, bring the music back to BRD please.

I'm honestly surprised they got rid of the crit buff on songs. It was always a fun design and represented a relatively minor DPS gain as far as support abilities are concerned. Foe I can understand getting rid of, because it's incredibly forgettable for inexperienced or middling bards. But the permanent crit buff? Even just adding that back would make bard feel like a bard again.

Or, I'd go even further. Change the buff depending on which stance you're in. Crit for Mage's Ballad, Direct Hit for Army's Paeon, and raw damage for Wanderer's Minuet. Tune them to be around the +0.5% damage range and adjust Bard damage accordingly.

If they wanted, it could be +Magic Damage (Mage's Ballad), + Physical Damage (Army's Paeon), and generic damage (Wanderers) and really make it thematically more interesting.

But even something tiny like a passive, constant, but weak aura would work wonders towards making the class feel like a bard again.

[Connor]

As others have said, I agree with the general sentiment that while Machinist and Dancer are very well designed now, I think the fact that they are so well designed just highlights the issues with Bard’s identity problems.

Can’t speak for others but personally I feel like the damage dealing kit is perfectly fine design wise (aside from Apex Arrow potency weirdness). As a Ranger type job it’s great. As a Bard though, it feels lacking

[RyoXander]

I am fine with DNC being the lowest DPS because it does have pretty amazing buffs, but it's DPS is still TOO low according to numbers some people have been posting. It needs to stay under BRD's but not as low as it is right now. Even the bonus raid dmg from the buffs aren't enough to bring it up to par with other DPS currently.

DNC also needs a couple of it's abilities revised. Specifically Curing Waltz and Improvisation. Both are relatively useless at the moment. There are several rare occasions where they do help, a tiny bit, but they both still suck.

I think BRD needs a few of it's support abilities back, even if they are mild compared to DNC's.

[Rika007]

Agreed with many others. I'm sure those who wanted a more Ranger based, less support more DPS oriented job, current Bard makes them happy. But the thing was, Bard was already a popular job as it was being that hybrid DPS/Support job. It was one of the most popular jobs in the game, and SB Bard where they really brought that support function to the forefront was one of the most well received reworks in the history of the game. Bard didn't need to become more of a Ranger to please players. They already were pleased. And there was already another less support more DPS option available in MCH that just received an amazing rework that many players are loving.

We already know there is no way they will split BRD off like SMN and SCH into RNG. They've made it very clear split classes will never happen again. And they are not going to retcon the lore of the job. Way too much work and would also tick off the players who identify with it after 6 years. The best hope is they toned back Bard's utility this expansion just to try and tone down the meta and give DNC it's time to shine, and will add to it's support kit in a more thoughtful way down the line. Especially with how great it's DPS rotation feels, adding more support next expansion instead of damage would be a great way to make sure a solid DPS rotation doesn't get messed up.

That and just give us a non castable Foe's back on like a 2 minute cooldown. That would probably make most support loving Bards very happy. Woudn't even be OP really. You would use it far less over the course of a fight then you did in 4.0 due to no refresh options for a second use or extended burst, and it would in no way make Bard's support anywhere close to as powerful as Dancers.

[Xieldras]

snip

For sure Bard was very popular and felt perfect in SB (it's why we had the bad Bard meme lol).
I personally really enjoyed the potential MCH's Heat Gauge had, badly implemented but interesting management. I'm sad that it's gone but the class is more popular now than ever so it's still a win to me.
MCH and DNC have had good implementations and I'm happy for them, but other than our DPS gameplay Bard is far from perfect.

Having DNC get "its time in the sun" while BRD lost half its kit goes counter to what the Devs apparently learned from 1.0: Don't forget your roots, Don't forget your fans and the mindset that it can just be fixed next expansion.



Is it lack of funding (probably)? Lack of time? Stubbornness? And I know Game Dev is very hard work but I'm not shy of throwing the word Complacency in there as well.

All in all, 2 out of 3 have great implementation this expansion but it can be better.

[Nerfworthy]

I partially agree that MCH/DNC are awesome. BRD could use some work in the "bard" department as it plays more like a pure ranger now.

[Jonnycbad]

Make Bard into Ranger. Change songs into traps or arrow types or something. Create a new healer called Bard that uses instruments to sooth and heal with various songs

[HyoMinPark]

Make Bard into Ranger. Change songs into traps or arrow types or something. Create a new healer called Bard that uses instruments to sooth and heal with various songs

And do what with BRD’s existing lore? Retcon all of it? I’d rather see BRD return to its roots—not be overhauled (again) and turned into a completely different class and in a completely different role at that. If people want a Ranger, it would be more feasible to just design a new DPS job into it, and return BRD to what it was before without all the need for overhauling a job deemed near perfect in the last expansion by many and retconning its BRD lore into Ranger lore.