Bard far better than Pala ?

[Paolini]

Trying to go into a sup class and from what i know and saw till now Bard is WAY better in everything (except survivability) than Paladin. Also since it looks harder to play it should be more fun/less brainded right ?, or am i missing something

ps: for clown/brel + legion raids only

[Darigaaz]

Brel would be for hardmode (and many now it seems not even normal on our servers) both not taken for G5+6 cause not enough dmg to make it in the time (only Wardancer and Gunlancer as pseudo support), hope it gets better with rebalance which buffs their dmg a bit

[Darigaaz]

But overall Bard and Paladin are equal only different playstyle

[Quarantine]

Pally main here i would never play a Bard lmao garbage class until March re work.

[Snow-Order66]

I play both, but I main paladin since I found the playstyle more enjoyable. I know people think it's boring, but I really like the fast meter generation (1 awakening = 1 blessed aura), the counters, the stagger, the cleanse and the fact that you can buff everyone in your party even if they are split.
In my opinion, bard is definitely better and easier to play if people understand how it operates (meaning, as a dps you have to play melee even if you're range because of how the bard skills work). You have bigger shields, lower cooldowns, burst heal (usually people can't dodge) or burst damage(if the party is good), guaranteed bubble on awakening and the most important thing something that people underestimate -> push immunity tripods. For example rhapsody of light is so broken ~because of that push immunity combined with damage reduction and shield~ at a point that you just tank patterns/mechanics that usually kill you in one shot. And yes, paladin is super tanky, but it has no push immunity meaning you still have to dodge all the patterns that can push you off the map. The bard can get similar defense as a paladin by running heavy armor and since there are not many engraving choices for supports, you can use it without wasting a slot.

[Nilin]

Bard!

[Id3alistic]

Paladin is pretty straight forward and braindead. But also very boring.

[Detergent]

If you play with a static then I would go bard.
If you plan to pug I would go pally.

[Purpleganja]

As main and one alt bards player, I always feel something is missing when I play my pally alt.
I feel like pally needs more proactive shielding or I fall behind on healing especially if The bosse moved away and I missed the dmg/charge part of the awakening. Having drops of ether instead of heavy armor as engravings is very nice tho. I often end up thinking "dont take too much dmg or youre on your own buddy. Enjoy the buffs." Maybe its just the lower level and slightly worse quality accessories idk.

When I play bard, I feel I can correct many more mistakes after the fact and adapt the identity usage on the fly to heal or reward teammates with dmg buff if they didn't take too much dmg.

The identity management feels much better to me on bard. I much prefer how you can chose to do one bubble heal just one attack before reaching the second one for extra heal after the cooldown or holding off for a multi bubble buff or even a quick one bubble buff depending on the situation.

The push immunity tripods feel very good to just cast through ennemy spells or just stay in red areas like they didn't matter. I get knocked down/skill cancelled a lot my pally when forgetting he doesn't have them ( or the competing tripod is better).

[TrojanKilla]

Bard imo has way better utility and heals. Also the heals are better too because they are rapid and not a slow trickle. You can full heal the group with bubble every 30 seconds or so.

Awakening gives a massive shield and a free bubble charge on demand. You have several smaller but beefy temporary shield skills that you can spam in between your awakening and heals (guardian shield and wind of music). They give 12 seconds total of shielding between bubble heals.

You also have spot 3 second damage mitigation of an 50% personal/75% party damage reduction that is personal push immune skill with rhapsody of light that can tank a lot of one shot attacks.

With pally there is a slow passive heal, you will often be forced to pot if you are in danger because the pally cannot burst heal the team as well.

When I have a pally as my healer I often need to pot because I took a hit and cant risk waiting for the slow heal to take effect. With a bard the main reason you need to pot is because they are saving their bubbles for a group damage buff to clear content faster.

[Aylea]

Paladin you press your shield every 30 seconds, meanwhile you take a nap or watch some netflix. Or just watch yours partners dealing tons of damage on the boss, with high doses of dopamine

[Detergent]

Paladin attack power buff is applied to everyone in your group even if they are out of position.
Same goes for the shield/heal (Holy Protection)
The other damage buff or debuff on the enemy (10% increased damage taken) also has 100% up time.
Blessed Aura, your identity is also a huge aoe aura that follows you. Its mostly a damage buff but also regens hps and damage reduction.
Since all your big buffs hit everyone in your party, even when they are out of position I think pally is better if you plan to pug stuff.
Pally also has 2 damage reduction circles he can rotate between so your team is always taking reduced damage. But only if your team decides to stand in it =P

With all that said... Bard is better
But imho only when youre in a static and talking in disc. Bard should never be using heal and only throw down damage buff. Communication with your team is what makes the Bard so strong. Igniter Sorc says shes ready, Arti says hes ready, next damage window the boss blows up.

[RoxxasTheDemonslayer]

yeah for damage the mage classes seem to output EVEYTHING else, espically at lower levels.. mostly cause they can deal elemantal damage.

PLD still a good class though. reecently picked up two skills that go BOOM or WHIRL and stuff is dead to mostly dead.

[jo667]

I play both 1500+ It is a matter of taste, the Pala is a little easier to play. Both can do the job. Maybe following could help:

Bard is the better support for melee if you play heavy armor engraving as 4th engraving (Shields, burst healing, ...)

Pala is the better support for ranged dps (Healing aura+ small healing in AOE shield skill, generic range of skills plus very good buffs)

[King Hadu]

Bard because it's a chick and can dress her up in slottie outfits and high heels, let's be real here this is the real benefit.

[baerra]

There is no content where it matters except for Hell raids, where you have to have better synergy with your attack buffs, your gauge buff, and your shields as Bard. PLD can instantly apply a strong shield, slowly heal and don't rely on a gauge to heal and don't lose anything for it. They also bring as close to full uptime on attack buffs, resulting in less precision required, and they do more damage than a Bard. Again, none of which matter unless you do content basically no one does.