Is Bard an actual support ?

[Gilver Redgrave]

Played Bard till Lv 52 now and i am kinda dissapointed tbh.

The Support Buffs are extremely weak. I mean 1% more dmg for my group ? Really ? The only song i have i consider strong is the one that gives 20% direct hit for 20 seconds the others seem rather meh. The only good thing about those Songs are the self buffs but i am used to support my team when playing a Sup role and not myself.

Am i missing something ? Or is Bard just a damage dealer wolf hiding in a Supports Sheep Whool.

[Lixire]

if you liked Bard in older FF games and expected it to be the same then yeah. you will be disappointed tho you do end up getting more useful abilities in the higher levels like Troubadour which is a 15% mitigation raidwide or Nature's Minne which is a 15% buff for healing actions

I personally adore the job as it's basically a mix of Ashe and Sona from LoL in one for me. but if you are coming from other FF games with expectations then yeah. Bard isn't a full on support

[causality]

Originally posted by Gilver Redgrave:

Played Bard till Lv 52 now and i am kinda dissapointed tbh.

The Support Buffs are extremely weak. I mean 1% more dmg for my group ? Really ? The only song i have i consider strong is the one that gives 20% direct hit for 20 seconds the others seem rather meh. The only good thing about those Songs are the self buffs but i am used to support my team when playing a Sup role and not myself.

Am i missing something ? Or is Bard just a damage dealer wolf hiding in a Supports Sheep Whool.

On average those buffs add up a lot of potency over a long duration fight and they compound with other raid buffs, potions, ect..

[McLovin]

Battle voice, radiant finale, all those buffs add up. Bard is an extremely powerful support class. Level 90+ is going to really show you how insanely powerful the party buffs for bard is.

[Vlad Krapula]

Welcome to the post homogenization era where everything is pseudo something but actually is just a dps

[Gilver Redgrave]

Ok ok.

Just to be sure before i decide what about Dancer ? Looks Bardish aswell but...well....dancing. Which one lean more towards the support role ?

[Lixire]

Originally posted by Gilver Redgrave:

Ok ok.

Just to be sure before i decide what about Dancer ? Looks Bardish aswell but...well....dancing. Which one lean more towards the support role ?

You will usually put DP (Dance Partner) on the DPS that is going to deal the most damage. as someone who plays both jobs. If you are interested in a more supportive play style, keep on playing bard into the higher levels
I absolutely loathe playing Bard at your level range but adore it at 90+

[leo_gear]

Ultimately, if you like support DPS, wouldn't you aim to level all of them? Once you max out Bard, the others will be easier and it'll provide a different experience.

All in all, no, the supports in FFXIV are relatively minor compared to other FF games. It's quite the contrast from FFXI where bard was kinda bonkers to the point of being necessary in the early game and the others start to fill out their niches in mid-game to match...couldn't tell you about late game tho, as I really just solo stuff post 'migration'.

[MOSLEY]

The buffs that BRD and DNC bring are significant enough that you generally want one of the two in your group but they aren't support jobs in the traditional sense. They're just DPS jobs that buff the entire party's damage.

[MOSLEY]

Originally posted by leo_gear:

Ultimately, if you like support DPS, wouldn't you aim to level all of them? Once you max out Bard, the others will be easier and it'll provide a different experience.

All in all, no, the supports in FFXIV are relatively minor compared to other FF games. It's quite the contrast from FFXI where bard was kinda bonkers to the point of being necessary in the early game and the others start to fill out their niches in mid-game to match...couldn't tell you about late game tho, as I really just solo stuff post 'migration'.

You still pretty much always want a BRD or GEO in your party in FFXI endgame. COR is a really good support too but it struggles to solo support a party like a BRD or GEO can.

[xyz]

The game isn't designed around having support classes.
All classes have to dps a certain % relative to one amother.
True support classes having very little DPS to make others better would either be mandatory or never brought to raids.

[Under there]

Once upon a time they were. Not anymore. Same with MCH. The best you have now is The Warden's Paean, which is actually pretty good but with a 45s cooldown you're not doing much supporting as its pretty much your only skill. Maybe Troubadour too, but I mean a minute and a half for a paltry 15% doesn't make you feel very supportive. Not much class fantasy there.

[Gilver Redgrave]

So if i understand this right Bard is mor the AoE type "Support" and Dancer Single Target by buffing a partner ?

I find it kinda baffling tho that there are no real Supports in the game while the Bard iself depends on RNG to even deal maximum damage. The 20% chance is fumbling me ALOT the past few days and having another damage skill on "charges" doesnt make it better. Does Dancer have the same problem ?

[Under there]

Originally posted by Gilver Redgrave:

So if i understand this right Bard is mor the AoE type "Support" and Dancer Single Target by buffing a partner ?

I find it kinda baffling tho that there are no real Supports in the game while the Bard iself depends on RNG to even deal maximum damage. The 20% chance is fumbling me ALOT the past few days and having another damage skill on "charges" doesnt make it better. Does Dancer have the same problem ?

Dancer is arguably even more RNG based.

[Alternity]

Originally posted by Gilver Redgrave:

So if i understand this right Bard is mor the AoE type "Support" and Dancer Single Target by buffing a partner ?

I find it kinda baffling tho that there are no real Supports in the game while the Bard iself depends on RNG to even deal maximum damage. The 20% chance is fumbling me ALOT the past few days and having another damage skill on "charges" doesnt make it better. Does Dancer have the same problem ?

Having a true support Job would make it that either they would be required in raids or the possibility of nobody wanting them. It would break the balance the devs are trying to achieve where all jobs are viable in high end raids.

[Катюша]

There are no support classes in this game.