Bard's future

[ExcogEnjoyer]

Yea and my point is that changing's its vfx to fart musical notes that don't functionally do anything that Bard already does is not going to solve anything other than make it's already shallow gameplay even more apparent.
I was one of the biggest critics of Square's decision to separate its DoTs from it's songs, and I ALSO have been a critic of the fact that bard's song's have felt lacking since 5.0.
These decisions make very little sense to you because you're likely a WoWfugee exodus and don't understand what Bard used to be like in previous expansions, and cannot see the wider pattern of square enix's design philosophies.
I don't care if I've swayed you from your position because quite frankly your position is stupid and I don't care to entertain it further.
In the meantime, have you tried playing a different class instead of suggesting things that would ruin bard?

[aveyond-dreams]

I've played this game since it launched. I have tried Bard in every expansion. I simply like classes that let me deal damage from a distance. Bard for me was most fun in ARR and Stormblood - in ARR because I liked being able to regen TP and Mana and SB because of Foe's Requiem. For future reference I recommend against defaulting to accusing people of being WoW refugees when you disagree with them.

What I can see is that SE needs to get it together when it comes to jobs in a state of crisis like Bard is in right now where there's no clear direction that it's going in. Summoner's rework is unfinished but at the least they have something to aim and push towards, the same can't be said for Bard though.

Adding dots and songs that do different things is hardly a way to ruin Bard. Continuing to add throwaway magic archery skills however only worsens the issue of the class having no focus. It's clear that neither the Ranger players nor the Bard players can be pleased at the same time so long as SE decides to continue propping up this failed Robin Hood/Leliana hybrid. Divorce is the best solution:

Bard - uses bow, high focus on songs and buffs and provides unique buffs like Battle Sprints and Regens to set it apart from Dancer. Huge emphasis on maintaining their Song stance as well as maintaining Song dots on the target/targets that can be spread by a Bane equivalent. Some few arrow skills that work as filler at lower levels. Bonus: give them a Sage Eukrasia button to let them switch their instrument from Harp to Flute in order to switch between single-target and aoe song variants.

Ranger - uses crossbow, high focus on poisoned arrows for dots or barrage skills. Maybe even give them the new WoW system that lets charged attacks hit harder or cause different effects. Given how Blue Mage takes up a caster slot, it isn't outside the realm of possibility for them to add this rDPS job in 7.0.

[ExcogEnjoyer]

Changing how Bard plays now for the sake of a class that would be gimped beyond measure is ruining bard, yes.
Also for the record, Bard does have a focus, it uses its Archery to deal damage and uses its musical magic to augment its attacks and provide buffs to its allies. While its buffing end is rather shallow (because a lot of it was removed), its not a class without focus, like Reaper or Sage. You simply don't like the focus that it does have and want it to be something else.

[aveyond-dreams]

Bard's buffs can hardly be felt outside Radiant Finale in level 90 content. For 89 levels it's nothing more than magic archer. This isn't working. I'm sorry that you are apparently attached to this combination but that won't matter more than the attachment that Warlocks had to old Summoner when it received its rework. Let Bard focus on music. It's a Bard.

What I've suggested does more to suit its fantasy and accounts for the desires of those who prefer to be archers/rangers. Certainly does a lot more for the class than tacking on yet another arrow skill. I fail to see how Bard as a class with its own Eukrasia button, able to still rotate and proc more thematically relevant abilities with song stances, being rewarded for maintaining its dots, all while providing damage buffs/utility is ruining the class.

Carrying on the current road is leading to nowhere. Perhaps when the 7.0 job trailer releases and Bard only gets Apex Arrow 2 you will recall my suggestions.

[ExcogEnjoyer]

I'm sorry that you're more enamored with the symbol on the soul crystal than creating a class that could actually function in 2022 FFXIV. Archer is a part of Bard and its here to stay. What you're suggesting simply creates more issues, especially in the realm of balance. What happens to Nu-Bard when square decides it has too much utility and is crowding out other classes? Bard works fine, it simply needs more of what it used to have, namely Foe Requiem and Refresh.

What you're suggesting does NOT suit bard's fantasy, it ignores and devalues the class it's built on, for the sake of people who don't even like the class to begin with. This would piss off people who like how the job plays now, and people who LIKE playing with a bow. All of its abilities and skills are thematically relevant, you simply do not like it. Bard does not have to play like FFXI's Bard for it to fulfill its role as a battle singer. It just needs more of what it used to have.

And buddy, we already have Apex Arrow 2. Its called Blast Arrow.

[aveyond-dreams]

continued words

I have already offered you the solutions you demanded. It doesn't take much to fix them. Bard+Archer is unhappy marriage and I look forward to the day that SE finally sees sense and grants them their long awaited divorce from each other, so that better classes tailored to the tastes of both groups can take their place.

[ExcogEnjoyer]

Play a different fucking job dude holy shit stop suggesting square enix ruin something people like. Square enix isn't going to cater to your shitty taste literally just go play fucking machinist or dancer. I'm so glad square doesn't listen to these forums. Go play ffxi and leave us alone.

[aveyond-dreams]

I fail to understand how your present attitude serves your position or garners support for keeping Bard as a hybrid with no clear direction to go in. Even those who still advocate for old SMN's glitched pet mechanics were not as enthusiastic, and at least could make a coherent case for themselves. In any case, FFXIV Bard isn't a job I can recommend to anyone who wants to be an Archer or a Bard. The hybrid experiment has been a failure for not only this job but also the catastrophic marriage of Arcanist/Warlock to Summoner.

I hope that whatever changes come leave the class in a better state than it is now. However, with a battle team that saw fit to remove Kaiten from Samurai it is only a matter of time before they decide (again) that Bard will be unable to hear it's own songs or perhaps they'll have them singing only to themselves. Or perhaps rather than returning dot interactions, the job will receive little more than potency buffs to its dots and still have no way to spread them, if not having them outright removed and left with even less filler and stuff to do.

[ExcogEnjoyer]

words words words

Literally no one who currently plays the job wants this split.

[aveyond-dreams]

Summoner players were the loudest voice coming from within that led to their split, and there no small amount of Bards who want their focus to be on music. There are also a lot of "Bards" who got roped into the class despite being originally sold on the premise that they would be archers on the Character Creation screen. I imagine those players will jump at the chance to play Ranger and leave the song magic behind. A love of class lore is probably one of the weakest attractions to the class as it is now, and would hardly be missed if it was altered to fit a new gameplay kit.

The same pieces that were on the board then are here again now. I can see history repeating itself easily with an eventual rework, one that comes far too late in the game's life cycle but still warranted nevertheless.