Please note the following response is from a L56 Bard:
I'd rather have a top of the line Bard than a top of the Line Enchanter. I'd also rather play an end-game Bard than an end-game Enchanter.
Let's compare:
Raids: Bards pull, mana song (so we're one of the first rezzed), resist debuffs, pull team, group buff and mob debuff (for rare instances resists are a non-issue). Enchanters buff C2, GRM, haste, and mez (until giants screw with everything). Basically, one or two enchanters and a raid is set, while a raid can almost never have enough bards.
Groups: This is almost even. Encs can add a lot of DPS with a charm pet, but bards have all the intangibles that just make the group engine really rev up. Plus, a bard can do virtually everything except heal and tank for a group, so depending on your other group members, they are more adaptable than an ENC.
Solo: In the 50s, encs can level swiftly charming, while bards can still level swiftly AE DoT kiting. Encs do have a bit of an edge in dungeons with longer duration mez, mem blur, and both invis and IVU, but bards have an incredible toolkit of their own if played well.
I will say that I've seen more Encs burn out than bards, and the bard population is much smaller than the Enc population. From my experience as a bard in a raid guild, it looks like Encs really love getting to end-game, but then don't enjoy raiding while bards enjoy getting to end-game, and then enjoy being the jack-of-all-trades in raids as well.
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