Is Bard Poorly designed at its core?

  • Bard needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.
  • I don’t like the idea of a Bard class.
  • Bard just needs balance changes.
  • Bard is fun just like it is.

0 voters

I know a lot of people have stated different issues with every class and I may just be in a small group that has different opinion, but to me it seems like Bard is really unliked in its current state. I just wanted to check if it was just us.

3 Likes

I feel more like the bard needs to have some major changes. But I won’t call it “rebuilt from the ground up”. Things like the notes need to be more diverse to hear, more focus on making music then just hitting notes in a random order and faster generation of the attacks that it doesn’t feel you are doing nothing for 10 seconds before you can attack/heal/buff once. And redesigning the layout of the UI. More aiming abilities. etc

6 Likes

Your options are a bit narrow, with 2 highly negative, one just balance, and one everything perfect.

I’d say it need some patching adjustments on attacks, a less repetitive tone to knock out on charging, and a better way to control the damage over time effect.

2 Likes

Same, clicked just balance while actually hoping there are couple major things changed which were mentioned on the forums. But from the ground up is ofc exaggerated and no option in between.

We can always go deeper if the initial poll heavily leans one way, or take the top two results and refine it further from there. Or perhaps change “full rebuild” into multiple categories: “full rebuild of instrument for how to physically perform as bard”, “full rebuild of abilities bard utilizes”, and “full rebuild of bard HUD”

1 Like

I love support roles, the bard sounded great and I was super excited for it. I loved the idea and support jobs are by far my favorite to play, but I am 100% in the rebuild camp here. At least in terms of how to physically perform the job. I don’t mean to offend, and I definitely appreciate all the work that was put into it, but I think this poll is important and something that needs to be considered by the devs before it’s far too late.

I find the mechanics of bard not satisfying for a number of reasons. The HUD is cluttered, drastically narrowing your field of view. The marimba is awkward to play and consistently hit, especially while moving and often you unequip songs when trying to use their crescendos. The background sound doesn’t fit the timing of the balls falling, at a very minimum needs it’s own volume slider, and personally I’d rather a metronome take it’s place.

I think an instrument overhaul is what’s needed. The abilities and utility of the job is great, but the execution just isn’t enjoyable. I think a conductor’s wand would be the way to go.

Think a cross between Wind Waker and how Warrior in Orbus currently works. Maybe a system where you either perform different combinations of movements for different effects, or have glowing balls pop up on screen of where to move your hands next (if you want to keep the more structured style bard currently uses).

Hover over and hit the trigger on your off hand to ready a crescendo, and aim/fire with your off hand as well (thereby removing the only fire straight forward aspect). Hover over and use grip to choose and change which songs to use in battle.

Again, I love the idea of bard but I just think we need a cleaner and more fluid way to play the job for it to be enjoyable.

8 Likes

Axile shares the same feelings I have about the class perfectly. In its current state it will be an untouched class left at lvl 1 for me.

3 Likes

Unless it’s reworked that class will be staying at lvl 1 for me as well. Axile nailed my feelings about bard.

3 Likes

I was thinking we would be learning different songs with more chords and such that are hard to play and then use them for effects that were reliable, I was hoping so but no. Though imagine this class with the steamvr knuckles which allow for individual finger control and different instruments.

3 Likes

Off topic I also realllly want more then 5 keys btw. Would unlock much more potential songs to play :grimacing:

…
Did you play the last beta?

Tell me Burn? What do you know I don’t?

Pretty sure they made no changes in the last 2 beta tests for bard other than ability range

Sorry @Scott color change made me think they added one more. Il take that back

Okay so first off, on the poll, I don’t really know if it’s necessary/helpful to do that, as honestly even if 80% of the community hated the way a class plays, if 10% love it, that might be totally fine. We are trying to push the boundaries on what’s possible on some of the new classes, and that might not be everyone’s cup of tea for sure, and that’s okay.

The other comments in this thread though are much more helpful in terms of pointing out actual issues with the class that people are seeing and providing some constructive feedback.

Generally speaking, I am happy right now with the Bard’s actual abilities and their role in the group from what I’ve seen when people play it. I think there are still a few instruments I’d like to add if I can, and obviously it doesn’t have talents or a super yet (like any of the new classes), so keep in mind there is still a lot of work to be done.

However, I too am not happy yet with the way the actual class interacts with the abilities. We actually tried a baton first before we did the current marimba setup, involving keeping the beat and then tapping on the instruments to use them, but I found it to be really repetitive and straining (more than I thought). But the current marimba setup is not great either, and especially right now there is not enough of a link between what you do on the marimba and the music that plays in general, that’s basically just a placeholder at this point.

In terms of what people can expect roadmap-wise, this next Beta we will have the 4th class in, and you will also see the start of some of the tweaks to existing classes. After I get the first version of the 4th class in, we will go back and keep working on the other classes to polish them up, add talents and supers, etc. And I would say of the new classes, the Bard is definitely the one that is the least finished in my opinion.

10 Likes

just needs more instruments, like war bongo, combat vuvuzela or even battle banjo

2 Likes

Thank you for your reply, and I’m so excited when I hear everything that y’all are working on!

From my own experience, I think part of the challenge is that everything is so close together. I think maybe something like war drums would be better, with one centered at about waist level, one on either side of it, angled towards the middle, and two more just above those two at about shoulder level, also facing towards the middle. If there was a big clock spanning from the top of your head to your waist, the drums would be at 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9.

That way you can keep your hands in the center and each drum is in a different direction, so there’s less chance of accidentally rolling your mallet through a bunch of keys at once. And it doesn’t have to be drums instead of xylophone per se, but as long as each note is somehow more spaced out and in a different direction. And I suppose notes could maybe come from directly in front of you, towards each drum, rather than up to down.

Also I don’t recall if there’s any force feedback when hitting a note, but it’d be nice to feel a quick vibration in the controller when making contact. That might already be the case, so ignore me if it is.

Battle Banjo :joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

1 Like

needs air guitar and maybe drums. marimba was a horrible choice.

I didn’t make it to be helpful really. That is why I put it in community. I personally wanted to know how people felt about it. Also, notice most people didn’t say Bard is not there cup of tea. Most want Bard, just not this Bard. I really didn’t mean to offend, I am just scared I will have to raid with someone playing Bard. That song got old really fast.

1 Like