I can understand not wanting the DoTs to feel trivial, BUT, if they're going to tie dots back into procs they need to give a DoT spreader for AOE and/or just rework Mage's Ballad entirely.

You forgot the most important addition to BRD: the fact that Radiant Finale gives an additional buff that does absolutely nothing other than tell you that you are indeed playing a most radiant finale

I definitely feel like they're going to be removing most dots across the board; I think they said there were too many before and it was actively said it was becoming a problem for their coding. I would love for them to make a new class or two that specialized in dots, like an Alchemist or a Warlock, but I wouldn't be surprised if they just removed them for simplicity and never added new ones.

Man am I glad you like Bard :)

Songs proccing on their own makes trash aoe much smoother which was the thing that was annoying me the most previously (from the pov how it feels to play). Dotting up a mob just to get procs to aoe them better felt clunky when everything dies by the time you proc.

Ive mained bard since I started last year, and i completed my EW journey with my bowharp and arrow. I love my job so much, even more with the tweaks!

I main'd Bard and Paladin all the way from 1 to 80 (I started playing about 8 months ago), and I am so glad they did great changes to both for Endwalker, so they are both my first 90s too. Having a blast (arrow)

everything about bard was soooo good. you pointed out the two issues that every bard (including me) has. dots just kinda feel like theyre there without much purpose, and mb was handed way too big of a nerf. besides that, bard feels really smooth and just had a lot of really nice qol for it.

I love the new Bard. Having 80% for one proc makes the job performance overall more consistent. The difference between unlucky and lucky bards is much smaller. And the RNG is still there, so it's still a fun, reactive job. I hope that they'll readjust the damage of Bloodletter because Mage's Ballad is the most fun song (even with the nerfed proc) and I want to spend more time in Ballad than in Paeon. The DoTs are in a bad place. Refreshing DoTs feels like busiwork and is not that fun. I either hope they introduce mechanics that make refreshing fun (like a guaranteed Straight Shot ready for refreshing DoTs that are about to run out) or they design a wholly new job around interacting with DoTs.

As someone who's not been able to do any of the new raids due to work and server queues I appreciate the warning at the beginning and will simply minimize the video.

The one thing I'll miss with ShB bard is absolutely destroying large packs of dotted mobs with Ballad. But overall I love the Endwalker changes.

It's super awkward conceptually to have the "DoT job" have no mechanics/actions related to DoTs (Iron Jaws being a refresh aside). DoTs not proccing songs is one thing, that while I don't fully like, I can at least understand the reasoning why. But then you have things like making sidewinder a flat potency instead of variable based on 1 or 2 DoTs up, that just leave me scratching my head when it doesn't make a huge impact either way given SW's CD length, yet it adds to the job identity being more muddled. They really need to pick a direction and fully commit to it when it comes to BRDs DoTs. It's the only really awkward part left on the job design.

I think I would be okay with dots staying as they are for this expansion and then them getting a new or reworked ability that interacts with them next expansion. I absolutely do not want them to remove the dots from Bard though. I really am not a fan of them removing as many dots as they have been.

Brd feels absolutely amazing.

As a person who experienced all the same frustrations with shadowbringers bard, I respectfully disagree. I don’t think that tying the song procs to dots made the job more enjoyable - it made it a headache. Additionally, I’m okay with the half-bloodletter procs. A few less buttons to click means I can focus on the fight more and stare at my hotbars less - if they wanted to make mage’s ballad stronger again, just increase potency of bloodletter. That said, I do agree that they should revert the apex arrow/blast arrow window to 30 seconds. Thanks for the video!

I think with Bloodletter I could also see them just buffing the potency. It is a bit strange at first glance that Bloodletter is 110 vs Rain of Death at 100. Maybe something like 250 would be a good balance and keep in line with the concept of Single Target at 1-2 targets and Aoe at 3. I'm not entirely sure I dislike the speed at which the cooldown gets lowered it's more of the damage output of the song.

Dot classes are my favorite archetype as well and it really saddens me they seem to be going away from the dot centric DPS. Summoner lost ALL dots and bards dots are just there now. I used to play Shadow priest in WoW and it was a big part of its idenity so I just naturally gravitate to dot DPS and it kinda sucks they seemingly are going away.

Honestly, I think this is the best Bard has ever been.

Ahhh brd was the first vid of yours I’ve ever seen all those years ago! I feel so old!

One thing I don't think you explicitly mentioned was the change of songs from being spells to abilities. When they were spells their recast was reduced by Army's which meant the rotation was actually a lot less rigid (one of your complaints) so it was possible to adjust song alignment during fights, and that dying was much easier to recover from (one of the previous big pros to being a bard versus dancer or machinist).

Sound takes. I think most people are in the general "there's a lot to like, but a lot of problems" boat. I'd be stunned if any sort of DoT proc came back though, just because it seems very unlike SE. The best we can hope for is probably we get cut down to Caustic as a lone DoT, and Iron Jaws and/or Stormbite are redesigned in a way that interacts with it somehow. As much as anything, I don't understand what stopped SE from making the call on removing DoT procs much, much earlier - it's not like there was any surprising new feedback after the media tour that could have prompted it. Most of the issues with the kit feel like SE simply not having time to complete the rework as properly as they normally would.

I think the Blast Arrow proc duration was probably a job balance choice. They did the same for Warrior by cutting IR duration from 30s to 15s

Totally agree about the ballad/DoT change - kinda miss the insane blood letter procs =O

Bard has been my main since I started playing a year ago and while I enjoyed it before, it's definitely become a lot more fun in Endwalker so far. You really do feel powerful when you have all your buffs up.

Been looking into leveling Bard. This video helped make me confirm my decision

My friend and I did a countdown to change to the job we were least looking forward to leveling up and we both picked bard lol. While she was away I got it to 90 and I can't tell you how strange it is to really enjoy bard again. I don't think it'll be replacing machinist in my heart but god the changes feel extremely good

i agree with happy's point of wanting DoT focused classes but i feel that the job fantasy of "bard" and "summoner" aren't really connected to DoTs so id like to see a new job focused on DoTs and with the dev teams thoughts when making reaper a maiming job its likely in my opinion that one of the jobs in the next expansion will be a scouting and there lies the chance for a DoT based job maybe saboteur (i know speculating on 7.0 jobs this early into 6.0 is basically useless)

I feel ya on the lack of dot synergy in the game. Im the same way and really enjoy playing dot based caster types. Hopefully they introduce a new job that revolves around them but with rpr and sge having just been released we know that's years away.

Im glad for bards, they seem to really be enjoying themselves right now. Now if only they can give DRG an ability that deals more than 500 potency.

I've been maining Bard ever since I started the game and honestly always loved it. It was actually the only class I had leveled for a long time xD. I share your feelings and changes you would like to see and glad to see you on the job! :)

honestly i wish they would remove the dots for bard, and just generally make a complete dot based class. in most mmos i play i always play either tank ro DOT casters

The issue with the very strict rotation to get the most out of the two minute burst window is a problem I'm having as a Dragoon player as well. It feels like mistakes in the rotation are harder to come back from, and it has me liking the combat in Endwalker less than I did in Shadowbringers.

I love the idea of having procs tied to the songs AND dots. Best of both

Bard main since 1.0 and still love it with all its up and downs..yeah even the heavensward cast times ^^

Big throwback to 2013/2014 Binding Coil of Bahamut. Yea, I was around and I remember.

Bard just needs Potency buff for Bloodletter maybe?

You missed that Empryal Arrow causes a repertoire proc on cast i think. It’s something that happens now.

I love Bard and Main Bard but the job very busy after EW. I still played for fun or dugeons. For Extreme and above I play SMN, SCH, DNC and WHM

No…I love how the dots don’t fuck up the songs anymore. Like we cleaned our ears and now can hear our own songs and just benefit off procs normally now. So you’re kind of on your own with that bud

I’m calling it now, the DOTs will be eventually replaced by other skills, they are slowly being phased out, I would like to see more support abilities or if we keep the DOTs buff the damage to make them more valuable

For me is ok that dots don't trigger repertoire but I don't like that they aren't connected to something else. I suggest to link dots to the soul voice gauge. Dots can have a 20% to increase of 10 units the soul voice gauge. In this way they remain important for the job

I like Bard in endwalker so far. The only thing I didn't understand was the fact that they fixed the issue of lost dps in Mages Ballad in 3 different ways when it only needed one. MrHappy mentioned two of them but they also fixed the issue with the fact that they removed dot synergy for Bard. Doing this made it so you couldn't get 2 procs at the same time. The other 2 changes: the 3rd bloodletter charge, cd reduced by half per proc; are just overkill. Edit: Just as a side note I would like for them to make Iron Jaw an ability and get it off the GCD. I doubt they will though. Thus my accidental Barrage>Iron Jaw will still be the dumbest goof you can make.

what you could do with the DoTs is make the base proc chance 40 or 50%, and the song will have a higher chance of giving a proc for each DoT that's currently ticking (by 10, 15, or 20%, I'm not a math wizard so I don't know what would work out the best) up to a maximum of 100%. Just a thought I had while listening to your ideas.

Pure gold 👌🏾. All I wanted as extra was 60 sec barrage or rain having a chance to proc shadow bite as well.

Endwalker the quality of live expansion. when I started playing 14 back in ARR I looked at the jobs and said "BRD looks like fun" and I never looked back. its my baby, and over the years we've experienced some drastic changes, I learned how to dodge while casting my arrows in HW and oh boy do I miss my wide volley and flaming arrow. the changes they made in Shadwobringers, especially at the start when BRD's songs no longer buffed the party felt like they where taking its identity away from it in favor of DNC. Endwalker on the other hand has taken all of the jobs and is breathing new life into them, refining and defining the lines that make each job unique.

Personally, I hope they just chop the DoTs and focus in on songs, psychic-ish kind of mind affecting abilities like a traditional Bard and really focus in on songs, support and loads of arrows and procs. I think the issue they keep running into with DoTs is just that the jobs they put the most focus on them with, don't match so they are forced to split focus with something else and it makes both seem forced together and weaker than they should be, why Dancer completely overshadowed Bard in ShB and SMN was always either way too strong or way too weak and clunky. I'd rather just see them introduce a true DoT job in the next expansion and go ham with the DoTs and debuffs there.

Just started leveling bard, much needed, thnx!

MR HAPPY!!! NOW WHAT IF INSTEAD OF 40% chance on songs and 40% on dots (20% each) it’s just 60% chance on songs and 20% on dots (10% each) so it’s not a massive fall off if you can’t keep dots up or forget to reapply them but still can get a decent chance to gain stacks and build gauge. So it’s like doesn’t feel like such a reliant on dots anymore to be useful (as the bard) in combat which is probably why the changed it in the first place 🤷🏾‍♀️

How difficult would you say current BRD is to play (and learn) for a novice raider? I have a friend who is a first time raider this expansion and is having a very hard time with BLM (understandable) and wants to make a change to BRD, I don't really have much experience playing ranged myself as I've always been a melee or tank player so I'm not sure what kind of advice or tips to give him or how to gauge whether he's doing well or not.

I'm loving the new Bard personally. Nice to sing and be affected again ;). Ladon's and Burst feel good to me. I do agree on the bit with DoTs affecting our ticks though, I do miss that.

So glad there is no DOT reliance for AOE anymore, I just spam my AOE skills and ignore the DOTs after a certain amount of enemies.

I love Bard - and even during the "caster days" I remained faithful :)

After watching this (and now that I am done MSQ) I might pick up bard. Thanks for the awesome insight.

The new bard really makes me question switching from dancer. I still love DNC but bard is really fun

I've been having fun with it. Bard was my first 80, but I maxxed it so early I started Dancer (to re-used equipment and not waste MSQ experience). In EW I got Dancer and then Machinist to 90 and now have started working Bard again (currently 85). I hadn't played Bard in ages so it feels nice.

dot snapshotting in raid buffs is a big part of keeping consistent DPS throughout, but there is less of a focus on dots overall.

Does anyone know mathematically whats the average percent a bard boosts their party’s dps by? Over a full rotation?

Can't say i mind the dot changes. Mostly because i don't have to dot mobs in big pulls now. Also we get procs during downtime.

Just spitballing "what-ifs" but Bloodletters damage changed to function like sidewinder used to where it scales with how many dots are applied but also if you have both CB and SB applied then BL also applies it's own Bleed DoT which also contributes to scaling it's damage. Maybe have the bleed dot have a cool down where it can only apply every x amount of time

Green mage would be a great supporty buff/debuff dot spreading monster and it would make sense. That's the one I'd want to see

Bard is probably at its most consistent right now. Being reliant on DOTS can be a thing but would need a measure of consistency. Ad phases with dots procing song effects is just a nightmare as you need to apply them and then wait for them to work and you more often than not will kill the ads before you get your worth out of them. Also i dont need more buttons to press if im trying to manage dots, songs, cooldowns,procs, buffs while looking at boss mechanics.

@Mrhappy1227 so! For next expansion they should upgrade the songs in some way. As well as the dots! Maybe even add a effect to em or even an ability to be attached to it like a AOE spread! Maybe can be attached to the usage of the song gauge! We finally can hear our songs so why not that next since we’re the dot class now! And I’m LOVING the hardlight arrows they are going with and they should continue with it! With refulgent arrow to ladons bite to blast arrow! Feel they should upgrade rain of death as well as empyreal arrow damage wise and change the animations to match the new hardlight arrows they’re doing with! Oh! And Bloodletter too! Upgrade Bloodletter to 130-150 potency with new animation. Rain of Death to 120 potency with new animation. Empyreal Arrow to 230-250 with new animation. Refulgent Arrow is fine maybe a potency boost idk. Songs should get a percentage buff by like 1-3% pretty much within the 3-5% window. Raging Strikes to 20%. Natures Minne should be an AOE! And Sidewinder a buff to least 320-330. Maybe even a new animation. And that’s all!!! Since they seem to listen to your opinions if you agree or even have tweaks to what I just said then voice it! It’s my main and just ideas I got is all 🙌🏾

Little off topic but after experiencing the smn de-dotting i REALLY want sonic break gone. Feels so counterintuitive to waste a gcd on now with everything going on. Bard seems to be the last one left that doesn't have clunky bad dots

I'd like to see a DoT spread ability, like SMN had before. I'm leveling bard right now and it doesn't even feel worth it to dot mob packs in dungeons

Looking back on this they must’ve had a couple ideas for where Bard could be, but giving us everything we wanted made the job too strong. It’s currently VERY strong so I imagine getting a full bloodletter proc would push it even further. Lining up Blast Arrow with buffs also makes it stronger. And I think Mage’s Ballad breaking and causing a long Paeon is one of the biggest issues. 45 seconds (okay 43 seconds) of your “downtime” song feels bad. But it has to be there to buff Wanderer’s Minuet in the burst window. Pain. That is all. Bard has been made strong, but at what cost

I’m glad they got rid of the dot mechanic, it felt like chores and it was one of the reasons i played dancer instead

As long as they refuse to give bard a bane equivalent, I’m glad the songs dont proc off of dots because it makes aoe actually tolerable. But if they do want to give bane I’d be happy to have that mechanic back.

If you want dot procs back, they need to REQUIRE that they are synchronized with rep windows. There is the potential to massively screw things up if they operate on their own timers.

sb bard is still the best one, but i gotta say: ew bard feels a LOT less awkward than shb bard, as mentioned in the video. not as disjointed. finally it all comes together... but dying at the wrong time really ruins your entire rotation. and im not a fan of that, it was easier to bounce back in shb. it makes going into new fights a bit less fun, when you are always so super focused on lining everything up for the next 120s window. :/

Maybe someone can answer me a Bard question as i'm currently leveling it to 80 and later to 90. With Enhanced Army's Peon do you go for Army's Muse or Ethos?

I am glad I like BRD again, my "og" SB main. Stuck on melee for the first tier but I know I will main BRD at some point this expansion... if they do not manage to rework and break it for some reason.

I wish they would have chnaged the dots ever so slightly so at Lvl 6 you get Venomous Bite and then at lvl 30 you get a trait that adds on Windbite to Venomous Bite.

Bard overall feels more comfy than it did in the past. Not having to be reliant on DoTs are nice but it of course comes with drawbacks of double procs, but at least you can get procs up during downtimes so you're not just left there without anything or you have to DoT every single add to get as much procs as possible to pad out your damage. I do admit that the changes to BL/Ballad really wasn't the best and it gimped that song pretty hard in general, but I didn't even expect much to begin with when I saw the Bard reveal so I'll take what I can get for now. Just curious to see what they plan to do with bard and their balancing in the coming patches.

I don't remember anyone talking about half of these changes in the media tour, the dot proc change is huge

I'd love if songs applied DoTs in the same way they buff allies

Ha i like that i am not the only one who returned to finish the ark with the class they started on in ARR but for me it was monk. Looking forward to that video

Honestly, the lack of dot synergy is. Fine. The number of times I've had to agonize over dotting weak targets, or had to sit in downtime or let my dots fall off and not realize I'm wasting repertoire procs... I'm fine with the dots just being there and divested from Repertoire personally.

Since i need the squadrons to finish leveling my grand company Bard will probably be the job that I’ll take to 60 to level them up

I think the removed the procs from the dots because of how annoying bard was in dungeon aoes

im glad the DoT synergy went away, it felt like a chore to play, especially using mage's ballad in order to use the AoE bloodletter skill, now i dont have to DoT every mob in the dungeon to max AoE output and it is so much better for it. This might not matter as much for endwalker content but its definitly a big thing for content before it, it gives a way more enjoyable experience playing bard all the way from ARR to EW.

I really love bard and i'm looking forward to play it. But the job needs a revamp when it comes to it's effects...i'll die on this hill, but it looks like 3 different jobs.

I wish they gave bards a dot spreader like smn old ability, really annoying in trash mobs or fates when you can't use your dots even though you want to but it doesn't make sense to since you'd have to do them for each and every individual mob.

I’m surprised how much I’m enjoying Bard lately. I always kind of liked it but never loved it. Changing the DoT timers to 45 seconds was a huge quality of life improvement for me.

I had my friend and I both bard for dungeons, I lost my mind when I saw the songs can stack now! I had mages up and he had armys up.

Enjoying my BRD quite a bit. But I agree that the loss of DoT synergy feels odd. (Ex-wow longtime Afflock here, so I like my Dots). But I'll take it in exchange for not having to decide how much to DoT short-lived packs (and even shorter-lived as the expac wears on and people get gear) just to get Rain of Death procs in dungeons. I don't think game devs in general know where to go with DoT classes/jobs. MMOs move towards burst windows and away from complex but slower Dot snap shotting and swapping and spreading as in the old days. It's a trade-off. What concerns me more is the rigidity MrH mentions, where if things go south in any way, your 2 minute cycle becomes irrecoverable or diminished, and that this is now a feature of many jobs. I'd prefer a few jobs to chose from that were a little less rigid for those of us who prefer it. As for Mages ballad being nerfed, I can accept it. They always want us to cut something short, so it might as well be MB as anything else. Although the points MrH raises regarding this are quite fair.

I think you pretty much nailed it here. Bard was the true dot job, always has been. For summoner it was never more than potency, and while they've had a lot of damage from it I don't think it makes it a dot job if it's nothing but damage. Bard has been the one with kit interaction, so it's really sad to see it go. Overall though it's one bad change and a whole lot of good ones, and the job is really nice now. The rigidness with songs is something I'd fix by making all songs 1 min duration 2 min cooldown (or maybe 115s). That way you can change the order of them during the course of a fight if needed instead of being wholly committed to one order from the moment the fight starts. It would also make dungeons more fun because it lets you cycle two songs for aoe and still have the best single target one ready for bosses, regardless of the speed your group goes at.

What might have been a nice additon, without changing too much. Using "Ironjaws" superpowers your dots when they refresh. Maybe through a trait. "Using Iron jaws in the last 9 seconds of a dot transforms it the dot. Caustic bite turns into "Caustic Jaw" and Storm bite becomes "Storm Jaw". Increased potency or some additonal perk" Might even make iron jaws light up on your bar, to incentivce you. Thats a nice way to make dot upkeep 'rewarding' without changing them. I added the clause just to stop it from being 'apply dots, then iron jaws' instead of using it for it's intended refresh purpose. Or give it as sidewinder's effect, if you prefer.

In complete agreement about the BL/Ballad changes being not the greatest. The two nitpicks I still want are the two things they'll never in a million years add. First I want a DoT spreader. Like, its just going to be used for mobs. Lemme have it Yoshi P. The other thing is I still want Wide Volley back. I thought Ladensbite would be the fix. But god it feels so sluggish and boring to use if you aren't in Ballad getting RoD procs on top of it. And nothing feels worse than using Ladens 20 times and not getting a single shadowbite proc. Since bard lacks the kind of standard AoE combo that say gunbreaker would have, I would like to see perhaps Ladensbite combo into Wide Volley, maybe even have that slightly boost the chance for Shadowbite to proc.

FF14 is such a mixed bag there are things that are so brilliantly designed that it makes the really weird things stick out even more. How did a job manage to not get benefit from its own buffs for this long? This is really the same dev team that made SAM as fun as it is?

a bunch ppl are saying brd is performing too good I feel that is not the truth, it is what bard needed to be since eons ago, maybe its just MCH and DNC are not doing so well, there are still lots issues left on BRD, I would like to see it finally complete once. buff the other two instead of nerfing BRD is what Im trying to say here. I really dont think BRD is over performing that needs a nerf

I agree with everything you said, I'm having a lot of fun with the new Bard, but I really want my full Bloodletter reset back and the DoTs synergy. Mage's Ballad was fun to me because of how busy it was to be constantly weaving Bloodletters and now we have to finish the song early and spend 43 seconds on the most boring song instead :/

I thought I was the only person having troubles with 2 minute buff window on second ex add faze starts at 2 min and it feels really bad on monk to not being able to do phantom rush in that window

7.0, Bards will have dots deleted from its kit

Bard…. I was afraid to lvl it up to 90 this expansion. It’s a job I always had high hopes for and it always felt awkward. This gives me hope

I did te new raid with lagthat was fun figuring our the sec difference lol

Im BRD main since ARR... and I miss too the DoTs synergy, buy having 2 procs sources, like you were suggesting, doesnt sound like a good idea, you may find yourself overcapping procs more then you would like. Also Im not fan of the songs duration cycle not matching the RS cooldown.. if RS is 120s, the songs should be 40+40+40.. whats the point in cutting short some of the songs? I understand AP doesnt benefit too much on procs, but now we cut short MB in stead which Is even worse.. It all feels like bad design, Idk... On a side note I think BRD needs an AoE DoT, and I personally would have changed Shadowbite into it... let me know what you think. Great work as always Hap, keep It up!

They should consider making an original Necromancer or something and loading it up with DoTs and decay mechanics. Some people seem to genuinely want that playstyle, but I'm one of the people who doesn't want it attributed to classic FF jobs. I still want Geomancer next, though. Need something they can up Geo-aspected spells onto and use Flood, Quake and Tornado ancient magic.

I miss double proccing. 3 stacks of BL felt like it was solving the problem of double procs in MB but then they just changed it but kept the 3 stacks? So now the 3 stacks are just for pooling and the skill ceiling of managing double procs is gone.

Ditch the dots if they don’t have synergy and while they’re at it they should ditch the dots on most jobs imo and create a dedicated dot centric job. I know that’s a rather extreme opinion but I personally find dots to be 0 fun as an afterthought and a huge amount of fun as a core mechanic. For example various iterations of affliction lock in WoW over the years at its most fun is when the entire class is about managing 1000 dots and things like consuming x dot for y attack or doting up a trash mob and spreading all your dots for aoe. For me dots suck unless they’re all or nothing. I want to either spend all my time managing dots or manage 0 of them. Having a random dot on a job takes damage away that could be used to make core abilities feel more impactful. I also feel the same way about reaper and drgs persona dmg buffs which for all intents and purposes function as a tacked on dot ability. Healer dots are ok I guess but as a healer main would much rather have a second single target attack or a combo or literally anything other than spamming 1 for 3-7 minutes and hitting 2 every 25 seconds. Giving healers a dot is literally the most boring shit why is it still a thing in 2022. Again ok with it because at least it’s another button I can hit when my 1 finger starts going numb. This reads really aggressive I’m not angry idk I just hate dots/love dots lmao. I think an all dot job woild work well with ffxivs combat systems too in a game where all combat jobs have setup and a burst phases. An all dot job fits the back-loaded-2-minute-cycle damage philosophy perfectly imo. Spending your setup phase getting all your dots and stacks out then consuming them for powered up spells or super dots in your burst for example with aoe being a brief setup on a single mob then an ability to spread all your dots out with a spam aoe ability doing x+y dmg based on number of dots on a target. Super tangent I know, I just really love bard and the dots are an aspect I feel conflicted on as I haven’t played iterations of bard that existed before late shb, which I hated the procs being based off dots as it felt like that’s the only reason they existed but now they’re just a thing I need to make sure o keep up for no real reason other than more dmg as they don’t interact with anything in my kit which again is how I feel about dots in this game at large

My personal issue with Bard is it's a one-button job for so much of its rotation. Aside from the initial firing of your DoT's and topping them up with Iron Jaws, most of your skills are on at least a 60 second timer. You'll be throwing throwing in the odd Empyreal Arrow, and Straight Shot proc, but Burst Shot is your main form of attack. You've got barrage, which feels great to land, you've got songs Wanderers which lets you fire stacks of Repertoire at your opponent's face (though only worth it with 3 stacks imo), but for the most part it's just Burst Shot. Both Machinist and Dancer have combos they can fire off, which makes them feel far more fluid for your ranged combat than Bard does currently. It's a shame, because Bard was one the first physical DPS job I ever levelled (simply for its mobility at the time) and I want to like it far more than I currently do.