



BEFORE WE BEGIN:

GOALS:

Recapture the feeling of a classical pen and paper Bard

Reduce the time it takes for a Bard to buff the party

Provide a meaningful reason as to why a party would want a Bard with them

Remove some of the not-quite-so-fun mechanics from the buff playstyle as a Bard

Help reduce strain on game performance by cleaning up the auras to play a lot nicer in a group

Clean up text inconsistencies and clear out bugs behind the scenes to make it easier to have future items/abilities affect Bard songs

Hello! We're here today to give you a first look at plans for significant changes to Bard coming up soon! This is pretty early in the process, so things are still subject to change; we'd love to know what you think!Bard Songs of the modern era have been eroded in their usefulness as other buff and item effects have infringed upon their channels. They were meant to be a small, ever present bonus, and to instill the feeling that no matter what character you are playing, a Bard will help them excel at what they do best. In practice, however, they fall short - both on their effects and in how they actually feel to the player. It also takes a long time for a Bard to sing all of their songs, and most of them provide minimal - if any - bonuses for a very short period of time. Bards right now need a drastic change to bring them closer to pen and paper and to appropriate power levels, and we hope this accomplishes that goal in the most elegant way possible.