(06-25-2015, 01:03 PM)Rinslet Wrote:(06-25-2015, 12:55 PM)Oswin Wrote:As a BRD main, that's not quite what I found. Now, mind you, I may not really be totally correct here, but what I found is that Wanderer's has its uses.(06-25-2015, 11:43 AM)Kage Wrote: As far as I know, Bard's are having a horrible time because of bugs. At the very least.
Some attacks just make them unable to attack for a long period of time.
So much so that a DRG might get like 1300 DPS but a BRD will get something like 700 ish or so?
It hasn't been fixed either.
I apologize for the double post, but I would like to directly reply to Kage on what is happening with bards.
So bards, normally a highly mobile class has a lot of skills off the global cooldown and procs. The change to a cast based system has not modified these off these key abilities.
Wanderer's Minuet removes auto attack damage for a 20% buff. It looks good on paper, until you realize that 25% of Bard damage is auto attack. Ok, that is a DPS loss so far. Next, they rely on the combination of Heavy Shot proccing a auto crit Steady Shot. The problem is that with the additional cast time on Heavy Shot it takes two full global cooldowns for the Steady Shot proc to go into effect. This is an issue that Blackmage has with Fire Starter.
The other issue they have is with their two DoTs resetting the Bloodletter recast timer. Being able to weave Bloodletter + Buffs into a Bard rotation was essential. Now with the cast timer they are only able to do one or the other, limiting their ability.
All together not only do Bards loose access to 25% auto attack damage for a 20% damage buff, they also lose the ability to use key attacks. Right now it's advisable to just ignore Wanderer's Minuet completely and continue the normal bard style.
First, Bloodletter actually remains without a cast time even when Wanderer's is up. In addition, a proc'ed Steady Shot also has no cast time. Plus, with the addition of Iron Jaws, you should only ever need to use both your DOTs once for the majority of a (boss) fight.
Plus, with the addition of Empyreal Arrow and the change to Barrage (it now makes the next skill hit three times for normal damage) you can get a really impressive blast off every 60 seconds when barrage is up (I'm hitting for about 3300 at 56 with that).
So, really, Wanderer's isn't bad during boss fights if you manage yourself right. I can't say whether it's better or worse than not using it since I don't have a parser, but it feels at least as strong given a longer fight and good rotation.
It is not the fact that Steady Shot has no cast time, it's the fact that you effectively lose Steady Shot procs because of the cast time on Heavy Shot. This is a well documented issue that Blackmages have had with Firestarter before the stack was increased to two. The servers in XIV account for every 3 seconds of information at once, while your cast time is 2.5 or lower depending on speed buffs. This means that if you use Heavy Shot and it procs Steady Shot, it takes 3 seconds for the server to go "Hey, you procced!". In that time most Bards have already started casting their next Heavy Shot, effectively using two casts for a single proc. This also means that if your second Heavy Shot would have procced Steady Shot, that is now effectively lost.
With Bloodletter, it's the same deal. You can't use Bloodletter as soon as it procs, creating issues that your DoTs can continue proccing the effect for a net DPS loss. Yes, you can get big burst numbers with Wanderer's but the problem is that it comes at the cost of consistent DPS over time. Using Ephyreal Arrow ends up a net DPS loss as well, as you no longer get your crit procs for Steady Shot as well as losing out on the 25% DPS from auto attacks.
It's an issue that both BRD and MCN have with their respective cast buffs, they interfere with the mobile nature of their off cooldown abilities and procs. It's flawed and at the moment the only time it's recommended to use Wanderer's Minuet is when you are going into a heavy AoE situation. Outside of that, it's a DPS loss on a class that is already far behind the other DPS classes.