I recently leveled Bard to 80, albeit begrudgingly, and I have been wondering for days now what exactly is Bard suppose to be in this game.
To me FF14's Bard is "A Dark Mage who has assumed a disguise as an Archer and can occasionally sing songs but primarily uses magical arrows to try to lay waste to their enemies." Because it feels as if it is multiple different archetypes tossed into a blender and poured into a glass and served as an aberration to what a "bard" is known for which is being primarily musically inclined.
Let's break down Bard's kit.
Why does Bard, a musically themed archetype, have three abilities, Sidewinder, Shadowbite and Iron Jaws, that look like and could be considered dark magic? Why does Bard, a musically themed archetype, have Venomous/Caustic* Bite and Wind/Stormbite*? Why does Bard, a musically themed archetype, have Quick Nock, Bloodletter and Rain of Death? None of those are Bard-like and all are reminiscent of what a Hunter or Ranger uses. Why does Bard, a musically themed archetype, have Pitch Perfect*, Empyreal Arrow, Burst Shot, Refulgent Arrow and Apex Arrow*? All of which look almost entirely magical in appearance and feel.**
*Pitch Perfect and Apex Arrow can be argued to be musical but they are not. Pitch Perfect is all but a swirling mass of blue effects. Apex Arrow lacks any semblance of music only it's SFX sounds musical. Caustic Bite and Stormbite look more magical compared to their predecessors.
The only truly musically inclined abilities Bard possesses are; Mage's Ballad, Army's Paean, Wanderer's Minuet, Troubadour, Battle Voice, Nature's Minne and The Warden's Paean. Which is saddening as they are all cooldowns and not used as often as Burst Shot and Bloodletter. And only Mage's Ballad, Troubadour and Army's Paean sound musical. The others just sound like wind.
**Bard no longer feels or looks like a regular Archer anymore and instead feels more magical to the point that it can pass as a mage with instant cast times which isn't an entirely bad thing if they go the full magic archer route and cull Quick Nock, Rain of Death and Bloodletter by upgrading all three into musically themed weaponskills and abilities. Which would solve my issue I have with Bard feeling like a mishmash of multiple identities and barely feeling like a real bard due to the severe lack of offensive musical weaponskills/abilties.
It's also sad to note that several bosses and Blue Mage are better bards than Bard.