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Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place 5+ days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
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Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place 5+ days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Bard feedback P2
Spif
Member, Alpha Two
I have to say, I really love playing the bard. Much more fun ranger/mage/cleric which I played in P1. Part of that is because I like a mobile and versatile class. Another part might just be it's a little OP solo. And maybe too useful in groups...but I'm not sure about the second part. No one really complains about a 3 mage group for example....aside from the mages themselves because of loot competition.
Jest, mock, flourish, melodies, songs, dances, etc all come together in a great way. I really thought I was going to hate the 25s cooldowns (and it's rough the first 10-15 levels), but that just drives the class to be more weapon/resonance focused, which I think works too. As opposed to the mage where you just auto-attack for freeze and cooldown redux then get back to casting
Some things that I think should be changed:
Resonance
I think it's good that the bard's buff/mana ability is tied to a very active skill. This keeps bards from being bots
* This spends itself (up to 4 stacks) with every finisher. That means I'll burn 4 stacks for the regular finisher and 4 stacks for the extended finisher. I think the spender should only trigger once per combo.
* Menacing+resonance is too good. But pensive+resonance seems weak in that you have to work the resonance gains very hard to keep your party casting freely
* I don't use the other melodies unless in a 3-bard group or traveling with epic but this is more an issue with the melody than the resonance for the melody. Although using resonance to heal with Cheerful looks daunting. I'd feel like I would be constantly pre-casting a heal (doing the first few auto-attacks, then not using the finisher if nobody needed a heal) over and over again.
* I think that active melody choosing the effect that resonance gets is a mistake. Resonance could be chosen by the currently active theme(s). I may make another post about this.
Melodies
I really really want to twist melodies and change them up as the situation requires. But I can't, because they control resonance spending. The closest I've come to twisting is when being a mana battery, I can switch to menacing for a burn phase. Possibly this would get better if dances gave more res stacks (see below), as I wouldn't have to save every stack of resonance for giving out mana.
* Cathartic is an odd melody, and never seems to get used. I guess I can see it in a duo/trio/quad with no other healer? It's a good DPS healer, but Tank healing is what's important in groups. If it gave the group more damage (IE, via % chance to cause bleed?) as well as lifeleech, then it might see a lot more use
Dances
These are in general pretty good. I especially like that they can be used at full move speed.
* It would be interesting to have a dance (or a passive/second skill point in a dance) that had a beneficial effect for a party member as well as debuff/damage for enemies.
* The need to burn dances for resonance sucks. Adding a second resonance point to the dance that triggers on the last tick would be great. This would give bards a reason to choose the right dance more often, rather than just blowing through 3-4 at once for resonance.
* Avert your Gaze is very annoying to use. It's difficult to see where mobs are facing in a group. If removing the mobs-facing component meant it had to be an AE Demoralize for balance (a significant reduction compared to Humiliated) I'd be ok with that.
Sagas
I just don't use sagas. Maybe I should, but the skill point cost, the long build time, and lack of flexibility on cast just make them unappealing
Themes
Just one Theme stack would be fine. I've never mixed and matched. I never say: "Hey, I need 10% personal damage, but 10% more magic regen would be handy instead of another 5% damage". No, I want damage OR mana regen OR healing. If going with the idea themes picking the way resonance is spent, then allowing 2 different themes active would allow 6 choices: RR, BB, YY, RB, RY, BY (where RR is 2 reds, IE double Tragedy). This might also make sagas more appealing.
* Condensing these into just 3 group buffs would be nice. +Crit or +damage or +health
Choices
* So many skill points for songs, can only use 1-2 at a time. So many skill points for themes, can only use 1 at a time. This is actually another reason to not use sagas. Too many skill points for themes and saga.
* Burning on Fierce Wit is bad for a class with 2 CC's that can be broken by DoTs. I'd rather Fierce Wit raised Mock's damage similar to Dark Lullaby, or did something else. I need Fierce Wit for the Tripped, but don't want the burning.
Miscellaneous
* Song mastery: Harmony feels restrictive. If you're playing THIS melody, this one 25s ability gets a buff. I'd prefer a cooldown redux by 30% rather than increased effect by 30%
* Song Mastery: Dissonance. Discordant notes are also very dangerous in dungeons. Maybe modify Dissonance to give the bard resonance instead of giving 3 people Discordant Note? That would give another reason to swap songs, as that would be a way to stack resonance.
Jest, mock, flourish, melodies, songs, dances, etc all come together in a great way. I really thought I was going to hate the 25s cooldowns (and it's rough the first 10-15 levels), but that just drives the class to be more weapon/resonance focused, which I think works too. As opposed to the mage where you just auto-attack for freeze and cooldown redux then get back to casting
Some things that I think should be changed:
Resonance
I think it's good that the bard's buff/mana ability is tied to a very active skill. This keeps bards from being bots
* This spends itself (up to 4 stacks) with every finisher. That means I'll burn 4 stacks for the regular finisher and 4 stacks for the extended finisher. I think the spender should only trigger once per combo.
* Menacing+resonance is too good. But pensive+resonance seems weak in that you have to work the resonance gains very hard to keep your party casting freely
* I don't use the other melodies unless in a 3-bard group or traveling with epic but this is more an issue with the melody than the resonance for the melody. Although using resonance to heal with Cheerful looks daunting. I'd feel like I would be constantly pre-casting a heal (doing the first few auto-attacks, then not using the finisher if nobody needed a heal) over and over again.
* I think that active melody choosing the effect that resonance gets is a mistake. Resonance could be chosen by the currently active theme(s). I may make another post about this.
Melodies
I really really want to twist melodies and change them up as the situation requires. But I can't, because they control resonance spending. The closest I've come to twisting is when being a mana battery, I can switch to menacing for a burn phase. Possibly this would get better if dances gave more res stacks (see below), as I wouldn't have to save every stack of resonance for giving out mana.
* Cathartic is an odd melody, and never seems to get used. I guess I can see it in a duo/trio/quad with no other healer? It's a good DPS healer, but Tank healing is what's important in groups. If it gave the group more damage (IE, via % chance to cause bleed?) as well as lifeleech, then it might see a lot more use
Dances
These are in general pretty good. I especially like that they can be used at full move speed.
* It would be interesting to have a dance (or a passive/second skill point in a dance) that had a beneficial effect for a party member as well as debuff/damage for enemies.
* The need to burn dances for resonance sucks. Adding a second resonance point to the dance that triggers on the last tick would be great. This would give bards a reason to choose the right dance more often, rather than just blowing through 3-4 at once for resonance.
* Avert your Gaze is very annoying to use. It's difficult to see where mobs are facing in a group. If removing the mobs-facing component meant it had to be an AE Demoralize for balance (a significant reduction compared to Humiliated) I'd be ok with that.
Sagas
I just don't use sagas. Maybe I should, but the skill point cost, the long build time, and lack of flexibility on cast just make them unappealing
Themes
Just one Theme stack would be fine. I've never mixed and matched. I never say: "Hey, I need 10% personal damage, but 10% more magic regen would be handy instead of another 5% damage". No, I want damage OR mana regen OR healing. If going with the idea themes picking the way resonance is spent, then allowing 2 different themes active would allow 6 choices: RR, BB, YY, RB, RY, BY (where RR is 2 reds, IE double Tragedy). This might also make sagas more appealing.
* Condensing these into just 3 group buffs would be nice. +Crit or +damage or +health
Choices
* So many skill points for songs, can only use 1-2 at a time. So many skill points for themes, can only use 1 at a time. This is actually another reason to not use sagas. Too many skill points for themes and saga.
* Burning on Fierce Wit is bad for a class with 2 CC's that can be broken by DoTs. I'd rather Fierce Wit raised Mock's damage similar to Dark Lullaby, or did something else. I need Fierce Wit for the Tripped, but don't want the burning.
Miscellaneous
* Song mastery: Harmony feels restrictive. If you're playing THIS melody, this one 25s ability gets a buff. I'd prefer a cooldown redux by 30% rather than increased effect by 30%
* Song Mastery: Dissonance. Discordant notes are also very dangerous in dungeons. Maybe modify Dissonance to give the bard resonance instead of giving 3 people Discordant Note? That would give another reason to swap songs, as that would be a way to stack resonance.
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Comments
A mana-spec'd bard is not OP (unless you consider mandatory for a group OP). A solo bard not using menacing is not OP. And yes, I do see this occasionally in solo bards. They kill slower than tanks or clerics.