Usefulness: Bard or Dragoon

[Saisha]

Hi all,

Which class do you think is most useful for grouped end game content. My FC has too many tanks at this point and I have been leveling Dragoon. I also have my archer at 15. Which class do you believe overcomes the other when it comes to general usefulness?

I don't exactly want this to be a DPS discussion as I don't think there's any way to prove either class has a leg up, but I moreso want a feeling of which class people prefer in their group.

Thanks so much!

-Saisha Shade

[xyaie]

This game has damage meters, so one class having more DPS can be shown. But if we are looking for a pick of a DPSer without basing it on dps i guess utility?

bards give:
TP at the cost of personal damage
MP at the cost of personal damage
elemental resist debuff
Root
Kiting

dragoons give:
2 stuns
slow (not snare)
pierce resistance debuff

So bards would likely win in that area

[Medivan25]

Bards have more utility and the ability to continue to do damage while on the move (IE most Hard Mode fights and end game dungeons) which is a huge advantage. Starting out at level 50 they're great DPS, from what I hear they don't scale as well for Damage though. So basically Utility = Bard, Damage = Dragoon.

[Draemos]

Bard and its not even close.

[MalcolmReynolds]

bards give:
elemental resist debuff

Wait...I thought SE didn't want elemental attacks playing a role in the game from the player's perspective? I mean, I know we have elemental resistances but I was under the impression our attacks, even for mages, didn't actually do any sort of elemental damage.

[Powercow]

I know we have elemental resistances but I was under the impression our attacks, even for mages, didn't actually do any sort of elemental damage.

Many attacks do elemental damage. The difference is all enemies have the same elemental defense values, so a fire spell will hurt Ifrit just as much as a Thunder spell would. Same with Aero on Garuda. The 10% elemental defense down effect essentially boosts all elemental spells by 10%, which is very nice if you have a black mage in the party and really quite weak if you don't.

The one big part of a bard's utility, and something I never see people mention, is that they can apply a 10% damage dealt debuff to an enemy. This is like, the BIGGEST and MOST USEFUL part of the entire support skillset and nobody ever freaking talks about it. It's seriously better than the mana song, the tp song, and the elemental song combined in terms of its overall usefulness.

[MalcolmReynolds]

Many attacks do elemental damage. The difference is all enemies have the same elemental defense values, so a fire spell will hurt Ifrit just as much as a Thunder spell would. Same with Aero on Garuda. The 10% elemental defense down effect essentially boosts all elemental spells by 10%, which is very nice if you have a black mage in the party and really quite weak if you don't.

That's kind of lame. So why even bother differentiating between the elements? It should just be magic resistance as opposed to fire/wind/earth/etc resistance like we currently have in our stats. A fire spell should heal Ifrit, not hurt him. Kind of a dumb move on SE's part IMO.

[Nibb]

That's kind of lame. So why even bother differentiating between the elements? It should just be magic resistance as opposed to fire/wind/earth/etc resistance like we currently have in our stats. A fire spell should heal Ifrit, not hurt him. Kind of a dumb move on SE's part IMO.

That would make BLM 100% useless on Ifrit. Bad idea.

[LunarEmerald]

Many attacks do elemental damage. The difference is all enemies have the same elemental defense values, so a fire spell will hurt Ifrit just as much as a Thunder spell would. Same with Aero on Garuda. The 10% elemental defense down effect essentially boosts all elemental spells by 10%, which is very nice if you have a black mage in the party and really quite weak if you don't.

The one big part of a bard's utility, and something I never see people mention, is that they can apply a 10% damage dealt debuff to an enemy. This is like, the BIGGEST and MOST USEFUL part of the entire support skillset and nobody ever freaking talks about it. It's seriously better than the mana song, the tp song, and the elemental song combined in terms of its overall usefulness.

Eh. It only lasts about a minute then your MP is crippled for a while. If a healer wants Ballad and have no MP because of Requiem then you're in a bad spot.

[ilJumperMT]

Bard.

More utility, easier to play, more damage.