I have several concerns about the Bard Archetype in AoC. Of course, we have not seen a skill tree yet, but I fear once we do, it will be too hard to change things since I think the base theory behind the class as posted so far is problematic. Once Alpha2 comes out I will be giving as much feedback to the devs as possible to assure that the Bard (and other concerning archetypes like the Summoner) is as much fun to play, AND as viable as possible.
First a little about myself. I have been a ‘gamer’ since the 80’s and played a DnD continuous world for 4 years with the same group of 8. Then a break for higher education, a dabble into Everquest and finally DAoC. DAoC RvR servers were zerg fests, but when the PVP servers came out I went to the Mordred fulltime PvP server. On Mordred I had three RR5+ characters, a Rogue (Shadowblade), Melee DPS (Savage), and a Minstrel (Bard). I was in a small guild, but we had a keep and it was the best gaming experience of my life.
The Minstrel/Bard classes in DAoC were CC classes with group casted CC, instant single target CC, light heals, and group run speed buff (+200%). The playstyle was definitely NOT that of a BUFFBOT.
And herein lies the potential problem. Steven has said that Bards will not be a Buffbot that 'buffs and then hides in the corner for 30 minutes'. And then he states that the actions that the bard does while playing is a ‘multiplier’ for the group using proximity attacks that buff. Most likely these will be damage buffs for the dps, damage reduction for the tank, and heal augment for the healers. While many might think this sounds like great fun to play and certainly not a Buffbot, but I would argue that this is essentially the SAME thing. Instead of a Passive Buffbot, you have created an Active Buffbot!!!
The implication is that they see Support classes as player introverts who like to hang back and passively help their team without exposing themselves. In DAoC many classes could buff, and the >>Healers<< led the charge. This was essential because your group had to get off CC first, so only classes with group CC drew first blood. Then proper target selection, snares, roots, and stuns would follow. While the enemy would blow cooldowns, do the same, and try to position for advantage. It would rarely become a DPS race, and it was much more complex than learning rotations and spamming buttons for big crits. Tactics, both individual and group, played an important role and were crucial on a second by second basis. But enough about a dead game.
It all boils down to two salient points and their intrinsic relation with one another.
1. Why is this Archetype fun to play?
2. What is the method by which this Archetype provides benefit to the group?
Too often the novice player will think that a Tank is fun to play because it can absorb the most damage, a healer is fun because they can out heal the incoming damage, and a DPS is fun because they can put big damage numbers up. These things are all true, but they are also one dimensional and ultimately will be boring to play.
So lets think about what the current Wiki says about the Bard and see if it will be fun to play. Granted we don’t know much yet, but its an interesting thought experiment:
-The Bard provides buffs to the group either by buffing DPS, tanking, or healing actions of the other player. This is the ‘multiplier effect’ mentioned by Steven. In a group of 8 you will likely have one healer, one tank, one or two support (Bard and/or Summoner), and four or five DPS (melee and/or ranged). As it stands now, the Bard will be in the back, with a flute or stringed instrument, and do abilities that will augment the other classes. This is an active buff. Steven has said that in his opinion this will provide more benefit than having another DPS. This is a good start. But boy this will be boring.
While thinking about this I happened to watch the video by Vlhadus Gaming on utility going too far in current games like WoW (as opposed to Wow Classic):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqDe7i8c61E
In the video he posits that DPS should have 2 active utilities and 1 passive, Tanks/Healers should have 4 actives and 2 passives, and Support (Bard and Summoner) should have 6-8 actives and 4-5 passives. I am not sure about the numbers, but this sounds about right to me. How better to help your group in PvX than to have extra Utility? The flavors of these utilities can be defensive or offensive in nature (and indeed passive or active buffs), or situational. But certainly, for PVP there should be all the CC and counter CC abilities worked in. What a boring job it would be to just spam active DPS proximity effects every PvP fight.
How does this fit into the lore? Well first of all, I don’t think fitting into any lore is really important. As Asmongold has said dozens of times, if the combat is great, the game is going to be good. But for the Bard this does fit into the lore. I imagine the Bard having multiple single target insta cast CC cleanses. These may be arcane cleanses (Mez/sheep), Nature cleanses (snares and roots), or physical cleanses (hamstrings and slows). As well a castable (3 sec cast time, with long cooldown) group cleanse. Depending on spec, maybe these will also be offensive abilities? For PvE it would be easy to have these cleanses work against boss debuffs and DoTs, for example, if bosses are not designed to do much CC.
Lastly, we want a game the rewards practice, knowledge and skill. We don’t want a game that gives the advantage to whomever brings the most bodies to the fight. The best way to allow a smaller group to overcome a larger group is with CC and Utilities, not increased damage, mitigation or healing buffs since all of these are achieved with more bodies. Without such abilities a group of 8 will always lose to a group of 12, and that shouldn’t always be the case.
TL;DR
Current discussion by devs state that Bards will not be Buffbots, but instead use active proximity abilities to provide benefit to the group. In essence they are planning to make them Active Buffbots.
Instead of creating Active Buffbots, devs should focus on giving the support classes more actual UTILITIES other than just buffing DPS, Tanking, or Healing.
