Question - Replacing Bard for Enchanter in Caster DPS Group in a Raid

[bb4]

Title says it all:

At what level range if ever does it make sense to swap an enchanter in for a bard in a caster group in a raid? I always see that enchanter aDPS for casters makes a lot more sense in a group setting which makes sense, but I was wondering if it ever hits a point that bard doesn't boost caster DPS in a raid setting.

My caster DPS group right now is:
Bard
Cleric
Wiz x3
Mage

My tank group is:
War
SK
Cleric
Bard
Druid
Enchanter

I figure at some point the Druid will be replacing the cleric in the caster DPS group, but should I swap the bard for enchanter at any point?

Edit: Currently at level 70 doing GoD, Omens, DoN content.

 

[Tovin]

Bb4, I actually went a different approach and included BOTH a bard and an enchanter for my raid dps team. It looks like this:

Druid
Bard
Enchanter
Mage
Mage
Wiz

I haven’t done extensive parsing, but I thought this makeup made the most sense. When I drop the bard out of my group (or the bard dies), the damage per hit goes way down. I think Aria is just so super valuable that it is hard to give up. On top of that, with ToV, mana costs on wizard nukes is going to increase substantially. The incremental mana regen from the bard is fantastic. I also run Reckless Regen to help my druid out with healing Because druid healing is FAR worse than cleric healing (you’ll notice it on heavy AoE raids such as Stratos). I recognize you are only level 70 and doing lower level raids, so this info may be less relevant to you for the time being.

So my recommendation for group makeup based on your current classes is:

Bard | Druid | Wiz x2 | Mage | Enchanter

War | SK | Cleric x2 | Bard | Wiz

 

[eqtrader74]

Bard's add that +% to all spell dmg. Druids and Ench add more +crit chance and +crit dmg. So they can overlap in a group. Druid, ench & bard can also add some little +dmg extra nukes via aura/songs, but they aren't big enough on their own to make a huge difference.

At the 105+ levels, you start getting some nice Synergy boosts from the Focus AA's from each nuker class. Mages/Ench/Wiz/Bards all give other nukers a nice 30-50k extra hit to their nukes when they proc on the group.

If you run druid + ench, you may need to cross check all their crit/nuke buffs to make sure you're not burning stuff that doesn't stack, ie use conditions to space out the crir boosts from each class.

I'm also not super familiar with the level 70 spells/songs/AA anymore, this was more at 90-110 where you tend to get the same spellset every 5 levels.

 

[bb4]

I appreciate the feedback guys. I'll keep the bard long term. I think at level 75 is when my group setup will start to swap around based on my research on the AAs and spells that enchanters and druids get at that range. I may end up adjusting it to the below. Monk in the tank group gets dodge aura for the tanks. Group 4 is a mixed caster/melee dps group so the bard will be able to sing songs for both and boost the mage pet too.

Tank Group
War
SK
Cleric
Cleric
Bard
Monk

Melee DPS Group
Ber
Rog
Monk
Bard
Shaman
Cleric

Caster DPS Group
Druid
Enchanter
Bard
Wiz
Wiz
Wiz

Group 4
Cleric
Bard
Ranger
Beastlord
Mage
Ber