Why do people hate BRD?

[Rayne6665]

Bard main here. Everyone has their own taste and play style . Sure it may seem boring for some people but i really love the class. Some enjoy it , some dont which is okay its not for everybody

[ForteNightshade]

Bard main here. Everyone has their own taste and play style . Sure it may seem boring for some people but i really love the class. Some enjoy it , some dont which is okay its not for everybody

The issue though is for Bard veterans, their preferred job was watered down to appeal towards players who either couldn't be bothered to learn how it played or weren't around for its past iterations. Dancer should have been the job filling this niche due to it being new.

[PlushyprincessMusa]

I love bard but... I hate how bard is paired with archer the reason y is the same with ninja i like the job but it angers me that due to the pairing we cant have a true ranger or real theif..
Id like bard if it stood on its on.. Im fact aura kingdom,dnd i play bard alot.

[Jirah]

The issue though is for Bard veterans, their preferred job was watered down to appeal towards players who either couldn't be bothered to learn how it played or weren't around for its past iterations. Dancer should have been the job filling this niche due to it being new.

I don’t personally think BRD was that watered down, mana skills and TP skills effected all the jobs and doubt they removed then because of BRD. The system was watered down not just BRD. With that Foes can’t exist, Refresh, Tact, and even some other role stuff like palisade. What they should’ve done was make a new gauge for BRD and have foes work off of that, similar degeneration to like say, Fey union where it decreases every tick. But that’s just random thoughts and the BRD in SB cane easily be replicated in SHB without it being clunky. As such they should just work with whats left.

As persistent as the veterans are, I don’t believe the devs would like to cater to them but instead go far south and cater once more to a crowd that never liked it similar to how DRK SMN and MCH are doing

[Mindiori]

The reason for not catering to them is purely numerical and financial. That doesn't however make veterans wrong. A sense of worth has not been preserved in job design. Bard has a crippled identity no longer congruent with what the questline, or typical understanding of 'bard' even is. Arcane archer with tacked on hasbeens, is nearer the mark. Anyone content with the direction, could use an overhaul of their limited intelligence.

[TheAzureDream]

Another Bard main here. I love the class and it's been my go to for the full 8 years playing this game.

I struggled through the disaster that was the class in Heavensward (Bow Mage) and was glad that the revamp in Stormblood was such an improvement.
Has it been watered down a bit in Shadowbringers? Yes - so has pretty much every job. I miss Foe Requiem and it definitely got the short stick vs Dancer. That said I've done all the Raids as Bard in this expansion with my static and I've had a great time.

I have all of the Ranged Classes at lv80 and still consider Bard the most rewarding and interesting to play. Dancer I find a bit boring if I'm honest and whilst Machinist does feel good to play it can be pretty braindead at times.

[HappyHubris]

I've recently tried dancer and it feels so much smoother than bard. Overall I prefer bard's complexity, but not worrying about DoTs and DoT procs makes for a much smoother experience...especially in dungeons or other places with weak/AoE enemies. We have to get our DoTs up to use our class mechanics, whereas others can burst with depth.rrrrrrr

One interesting change would be doing away with DoTs entirely to proc our songs off of "buff ticks." E.g. every 30 seconds a tank, healer, or DPS buff is generated that you have to place in your party to generate periodic procs. That way we would be less hurt by invuln phases or short-lived mobs. It would also reinforce being a Bard instead of an Archer.

[Jkap_Goat]

I love bard but... I hate how bard is paired with archer the reason y is the same with ninja i like the job but it angers me that due to the pairing we cant have a true ranger or real theif..
Id like bard if it stood on its on.. Im fact aura kingdom,dnd i play bard alot.

I feel this exact way, why make ffxiv bard lose support and give it to DNC? You might as well call xiv BRD a Ranger because that's what it is

[ForteNightshade]

I don’t personally think BRD was that watered down, mana skills and TP skills effected all the jobs and doubt they removed then because of BRD. The system was watered down not just BRD. With that Foes can’t exist, Refresh, Tact, and even some other role stuff like palisade. What they should’ve done was make a new gauge for BRD and have foes work off of that, similar degeneration to like say, Fey union where it decreases every tick. But that’s just random thoughts and the BRD in SB cane easily be replicated in SHB without it being clunky. As such they should just work with whats left.

As persistent as the veterans are, I don’t believe the devs would like to cater to them but instead go far south and cater once more to a crowd that never liked it similar to how DRK SMN and MCH are doing

It wasn't simply Refresh and Tactician that contributed to the watered down feeling for many veteran Bard players. The loss of crit scaling meant they no longer had any influence on their DoTs and snapshotting buffs. This alongside Foe's management allowed a degree of player skill expression to be shown and helped distract from what is otherwise a fairly dull rotation. Shadowbringers removed all of that, offered no replacement and even highlighted that dull rotation with Apex Arrow. Which is basically just a super buffed Burst Shot you hit every two minutes before forgetting it exists.

Turning Foe's into their gauge mechanic is something I've also said they should have done. It would have kept an aspect of skill for the job. Likewise, while I understand the need to balance crit scaling. Give Bard a separate system that isn't attached to such a widely scaling subset. Or hell, make it Direct Hit instead. At least you wouldn't have the power creep then. Regardless, it's the lack of any innovation that irks so many Bard players. ShB Bard is essentially SB Bard but without any of the flair. It's an Archer in everything but name.

[Easayia]

I've recently tried dancer and it feels so much smoother than bard. Overall I prefer bard's complexity, but not worrying about DoTs and DoT procs makes for a much smoother experience...especially in dungeons or other places with weak/AoE enemies. We have to get our DoTs up to use our class mechanics, whereas others can burst with depth.rrrrrrr

One interesting change would be doing away with DoTs entirely to proc our songs off of "buff ticks." E.g. every 30 seconds a tank, healer, or DPS buff is generated that you have to place in your party to generate periodic procs. That way we would be less hurt by invuln phases or short-lived mobs. It would also reinforce being a Bard instead of an Archer.

I dont agree here I think the dots are what make bard fun and enjoyable. Some will say oh it limits the job but the only thing limitting it is both the player playing the bard and the fact we cant have a skill trigger a dot spread to all mobs. That second one really fixes the issue in terms of setting up for all the mobs as you said.

Currently in a dungeon Bard should be while the tank is gathering the packs applying as many dots to every enemy as possible so you basically have things triggering the whole time while you clear the pull. and swapping between your mages, and armys peon then saving that strong song for the opener of the boss.

I think the dots though the way they trigger things is good design and is what makes bard interesting. its playstyle is unique from the rest and rewards good play. obviously they need more party things which Endwalker seems to be doing with that new song after all 3 songs I mean thats just what we need it adds to the kit. And if rumors are to be believed we got the 2 charges on bloodletter that just helps for when things dont proc.

As a Bard main the only area I feel bard is lacking is more party skills, and its early leveling experience which is horrible. Bard Shadowbringers is 100% different then bard heavensward. They need to increase the proc rates at lower levels even if it means cutting potency early on to balance it. because hitting only burst shot hoping to proc straight shot and getting the rare AF bloodletter with mages is not ideal and actually I have seen this turn people off completely from leveling the Job when in Shadowbringers its an enjoyable job and is very quick your never not hitting buttons.