Foe Req & Songs

[Alisi]

Songs first: is there any way to tell if people get the crit buff when you use songs? I don't know anything buff icon that tells me they're working (other than my job gauge.) And what, exactly, does 'Repertoire Effect' mean? Am I supposed to be using a Repertoire spell in concert with the songs to get this Repertoire Effect thingy?

Foe Req: I've noticed when I'm in raid alliances that none of the other bard ever use foe req. Even in raids with a lot of bards (like 5 of us.) Am I doing anything wrong by using this spell? Is it just useless? =/ Am I supposed to be spending my MP in another way? xD What do they know that I'm just not catching on to?

[DrWho2010]

You get a visual indicator and a sound indicator when a crit causes a repertoire effect. For Wanderer's Minuet you watch the gauge to see if you have 3 stacks to get a higher damaging Pitch Perfect off. For Mage's Ballad, you have to pay attention more to your icons for Bloodletter/Rain of Death to see the proc effect of crits or see the gauge flash. Under Army's Paeon it's less noticeable but the 5 notes will light up as the effect is triggered, increasing your skill speed. You just need to pay attention to your gauges, stack as much crit as you can in your gear and make sure that you're hitting as many enemies with Windbite/Causticbite so that they can all crit tick.

Foe's Req drains mp fast so unless you pair it with refresh it will get used up pretty fast. You're not doing anything wrong by using it. Some bards just are lazy/don't care/don't know. The effect does not stack so there is no point in two bards having it up at the same time. The other bards could also just be waiting for someone else to start off first instead of taking the initiative. There is no other use for your mp other than to power Foe's Req since refresh is not tied to it and Mage's Ballad is no longer used to give others MP.

[Alisi]

You get a visual indicator and a sound indicator when a crit causes a repertoire effect. For Wanderer's Minuet you watch the gauge to see if you have 3 stacks to get a higher damaging Pitch Perfect off. For Mage's Ballad, you have to pay attention more to your icons for Bloodletter/Rain of Death to see the proc effect of crits or see the gauge flash. Under Army's Paeon it's less noticeable but the 5 notes will light up as the effect is triggered, increasing your skill speed. You just need to pay attention to your gauges, stack as much crit as you can in your gear and make sure that you're hitting as many enemies with Windbite/Causticbite so that they can all crit tick.

Yeah, I've been paying attention to that. I just was hoping that using a song would give everyone the same buff icons (like how other classes that buff give icons to everyone effected.)

Foe's Req drains mp fast so unless you pair it with refresh it will get used up pretty fast. You're not doing anything wrong by using it. Some bards just are lazy/don't care/don't know. The effect does not stack so there is no point in two bards having it up at the same time. The other bards could also just be waiting for someone else to start off first instead of taking the initiative. There is no other use for your mp other than to power Foe's Req since refresh is not tied to it and Mage's Ballad is no longer used to give others MP.

The other bards don't use it at all, from my experience. I know it doesn't stack and you can see when it's up so it's fairly easy to tell if you're the only one doing it (and MP bars too.) I have been using refresh with it as well. I can generally get two or three in each boss fight. I guess it just seems strange to me. I know it runs through our MP fast but still. It's a boost and it's not killing our DPS. I just figured I wasn't doing things right. LOL.

[Dzian]

It might be laziness on account of foe or it might just be ui preferences

A lot of people have it set to only show there stays effects. Especially in 24 mans. With 5 or 6 storm bites 5 or 6 bites can be a real pain to see if yours are up. So people filter it out. Which then means it's not always easy to see if another bard has foe up. Especially if they're in another alliance.

I've suggested a few times they allow that option to be customisable with exceptions. Like I really don't need to k ow if every bard has storm bite up. But it's be nice to see foe. Regardless of who applied it.

I really don't care to see a ninjas slashing debufs up either but it'd be nice to see trick attack debuffs.

And I really don't care to see the scholars dots ticking down but seeing chain stratagem would be nice.

One thing I do like as a bard though is when you get a decent caster or 2 in your party. I did dun scauth in alliance raid and had 3 of the 4 casters in my party taking it in turns to makeshift me really pushing the foe duration to the max

[HyoMinPark]

Songs first: is there any way to tell if people get the crit buff when you use songs? I don't know anything buff icon that tells me they're working (other than my job gauge.)

If your party members are in range of your song, a little green/yellow icon will appear on the small buff bar your party list shows you to show that they are gaining the effects of your songs. But they have to be within range to get it (range is 20 yalms).

Also, the party members have to be under the effect of your songs to receive the effects of Battle Voice. Otherwise, it will “miss”. I try to stand in the middle near everyone—but if one or two people wander too far, I won’t adjust for them. I only adjust for the majority of the party so that the majority benefits, not just one or two.

And what, exactly, does 'Repertoire Effect' mean? Am I supposed to be using a Repertoire spell in concert with the songs to get this Repertoire Effect thingy?

“Repertoire” is our new mechanic—each time our DoTs (Windbite/Stormbite & Venomous Bite/Caustic Bite) deal critical damage, there is a chance that the Repertoire effect will proc during our songs. The Repertoire effect varies between each song:

—The Wanderer’s Minuet: Repertoire stacks enables the use of the oGCD Pitch Perfect, which varies in potency based on the amount of Repertoire stacks you have; 1 stack is 100 potency, 2 stacks is 240 potency, and 3 is 420 potency.
—Mage’s Ballad: Repertoire effect resets the timer of Bloodletter/Rain of Death (think back to the old River of Blood trait).
—Army’s Paeon: Repertoire effect grants a 4% reduced weaponskill cast/recast time, and a 4% reduced auto-attack delay. This mini-haste buff is stackable up to 4 times for a total of 16% reduced cast/recast/auto-attack delay.

The only time your song gauge will make a sound is when you hit 3 stacks of Repertoire during the Wanderer’s Minuet. Any other time, it just flashes (Mage’s Ballad) or the little music notes light up (Army’s Paeon). For anything less than 3 stacks of Repertoire in Minuet, the little arrows just light up.

Foe Req: I've noticed when I'm in raid alliances that none of the other bard ever use foe req. Even in raids with a lot of bards (like 5 of us.) Am I doing anything wrong by using this spell? Is it just useless? =/ Am I supposed to be spending my MP in another way? xD What do they know that I'm just not catching on to?

You should always use Foe’s as much as you can. There’s a guide out there with an extensive section about optimization, but that’s more of a min-max/Savage tier level. In things like dungeons/casual 8-mans/alliance raids, you should use it when your MP is at full. A BRD’s MP won’t be used for anything else, since they overhauled our songs.

Foe’s grants a +3% damage taken to a boss/mobs by each party member. While it may not be as potent as, say, Trick Attack, it still helps with regards to party DPS/rDPS. So you should definitely make use of it, regardless of what the other lazier BRDs are doing.

It might be laziness on account of foe or it might just be ui preferences

A lot of people have it set to only show there stays effects. Especially in 24 mans. With 5 or 6 storm bites 5 or 6 bites can be a real pain to see if yours are up. So people filter it out. Which then means it's not always easy to see if another bard has foe up. Especially if they're in another alliance.

A lot is probably laziness, but you can use the Focus Target, and sometimes important debuffs like TA, Foe’s, and Chain Strategem will appear on them. I only have my UI set to show my effects, but I keep Focus Target up to watch for other important debuffs.

For Foe’s, you can tell if another BRD is already singing if you turn on your Foe’s, and the debuff won’t show on the boss. 24-man can make this tricky, since there is a limit to the detrimental effects shown, but generally, if two BRDs are singing Foe’s, only the effect of one will show, and if you have “Show only detrimental effects caused by me” checked, yours will not show no matter how close you are to them.

When I have multiple BRDs in my group, I usually do my normal precast, but if I see another’s MP draining after the pull, I turn Foe’s off and let my MP refresh before using it again. Doesn’t work for other alliances, so you just kinda have to guess with Foe’s usage, but... Does help (sadly) that a lot of BRDs are really lazy and don’t play Foe’s. >.>

I've suggested a few times they allow that option to be customisable with exceptions.

I would love this. I only really care about my DoTs, Piercing Resistance Down, Chain, and TA, so I would much rather see just those as opposed to every Bio II/III and Miasma up there!

[Layla-chan]

Another reason why the BRDs are not using Foe Requiem is because they are not only lazy but also selfish: it is overall a small decrease in personal DPS to use it while it increases raidwide DPS, but that latter one can only happen if the BRDs in the raid do not overlap their Foe's.

If you want to be a bit advanced in using Foe, at least when the sole BRD in the group: the best time to use Foe Requiem is when these two requisites are satisfied, (1) your MP gauge is at least 2/3 full, and (2) Sidewinder's cooldown is about done. This ensures that your Foe aligns with most personal and raidwide buffs of other jobs, which includes Trick Attack and Chain Stratagem, and having enough MP for it to run for at least 15 sec. At least, assuming your teammates are competent enough to do use such buffs on cooldown

[NineFouryFive]

Foe Req: I've noticed when I'm in raid alliances that none of the other bard ever use foe req. Even in raids with a lot of bards (like 5 of us.) Am I doing anything wrong by using this spell? Is it just useless? =/ Am I supposed to be spending my MP in another way? xD What do they know that I'm just not catching on to?

You kinda gotta make a shoutout or talk it out with the other bard in your party, having someone using foe's first and then the next person using foes after yours is done, so you can basically take turns. I highly recommend checking out the level 70 opener rotation because that uses foes first in the chain of skills. Then you can determine when to use foes more effectively with 2+ bards on the same team : )

[Remyogic]

Foe Req: I've noticed when I'm in raid alliances that none of the other bard ever use foe req. Even in raids with a lot of bards (like 5 of us.) Am I doing anything wrong by using this spell? Is it just useless? =/ Am I supposed to be spending my MP in another way? xD What do they know that I'm just not catching on to?

As others have stated, if the other Bards aren't playing Foe's (or Nature's Minne, Trubadour, etc.). It's just laziness (I would hate to think they are so bad they completely don't ever use Foe's). Personally, in Raid Alliances or in Duty Finder Raids/Trials parties I use my songs and support buffs as I would in my normal rotation with a pre-made or static. This just reinforces muscle memory, practices decision making, and overall helps me manage everything Bards need to manage while still being able to focus on mechanics. In other words, it's good practice.