A question for DPS Theorycrafters

I'm looking to tap into those more knowledgeable than I about which would be more beneficial.

Background
We are currently working on T9. Everyone is pretty well geared, with the average being in the upper 90's (several in the 100's).

The DPS Setup
SMN - 110 weathered weapon
BLM - 110 weathered weapon
DRG - 110 weathered weapon
BRD - 95 Levi weapon
SCH / WHM - Not reliable as to when or how much they'll DPS, but including just in case it needs to be accounted for

The Topic
Would it be more beneficial DPS wise to pop an X-Dex potion for the BRD during burn phases, or use an ether pot that provides an roughly an additional 15 seconds of up time of Foe Requiem for the casters? The duration of the X-Dex potion is 15 seconds, so seems that can be considered a constant in both situations. An assumption can also be made that all DPS have their cooldowns available during this phase as well as Battle Voice and Foe Requiem will have a 99% up time (possible drop when avoiding mechanics that might take you out of singing range)?

DPS doesn't seem to be an issue for us, but just looking to min / max on what would be the best use. Looking forward to the ensuing conversation.

For what I can see.

It is more efficient to increase the two casters damage by 20% each, making it a 40% overall, assuming you will use battle voice as well.

The Dexterity potion will increase the bard's damage by 20% or so in best case scenario, assuming is the mega potion.

Giving the item level and weapons of each class, it is more beneficial to boost by 20%, totaling 40% of the two casters, than gaining in theory, about 20% dps increase for just 8 seconds or so the potion lasts, whereas Foe's + voice lasts at least 15 seconds at its peak + whatever your mp allows you to.

By class, and item level, the two casters are by far pulling way more dps than you, even assuming they all know their rotation perfectly and are playing to their best.

The item level is too much that increasing the bards damage by 20% is almost unnoticeable compared to boosting the other two.

As a bard, no dps loss will happen since requiem does not lower the bards output, but 2 out of 4 benefits from having foes as opposed to 1.

I'm in agreement that the mp option is the way to go. Just to clarify though, the x-potion gives 84 dex and lasts 15 seconds, so I'd have to do some tests to see what the exact % increase is. With that said, I'd still wager the casters are getting more of an overall benefit than I would be. What I was kind of looking for was the exact difference, or close to it, to see how big of a difference it is to see if it's worth doing even in non ideal situation.

The X-Potion, if HQ, is 20% (Max 84). Your BRD probably has more than the 420 Dex needed to hit the 84 mark, so just find out what his Dex is and divide 84 by that. Then factor in the time.

For Foe, consider that a number of people I've heard do testing claim that Foe Requiem without BV will boost damage by 15%, not 10%. This may require some extra testing. Also important to consider is at what point throughout the song BV drops. You'd have to find out how long extra the Ether is giving you, how much of that extra time is BV time, and how much FR and BV FR actually boost damage by.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Viridiana

The X-Potion, if HQ, is 20% (Max 84). Your BRD probably has more than the 420 Dex needed to hit the 84 mark, so just find out what his Dex is and divide 84 by that. Then factor in the time.

For Foe, consider that a number of people I've heard do testing claim that Foe Requiem without BV will boost damage by 15%, not 10%. This may require some extra testing. Also important to consider is at what point throughout the song BV drops. You'd have to find out how long extra the Ether is giving you, how much of that extra time is BV time, and how much FR and BV FR actually boost damage by.

---

FR lasts for longer than BV, even without using the MP pot, so I think that variable could safely be ruled out. I wasn't sure if anyone had already done some testing, but looks like maybe I'll have to try and get some of the group together and test.

Weathered Weapons are only i100

Looks like the DEX Pot would increase Bard DPS by ~14% for those 15 seconds.

So, using the mana pot and extending the length of time the mages do more DPS is much better.

Obviously he means that the weapons have been upgraded to their i110 version.