Question about Limit Breaks...

How do Limit Breaks work in group content? After reading the description, it seems that anyone in the party can activate a limit break and it will give stat bonuses to the class/character who activated the Limit Break. Is that correct? Is there a standard etiquette for deciding who should activate Limit Breaks? Or a time when people know to activate it? I've done maybe eight or nine dungeons (as I progress through content) and can't recall seeing the Limit Break power bar drop from being full, so I have no idea if/when anyone has ever activated one.

Oh, and what are Chains and Chain Bonuses? I feel like a lot of this stuff isn't explained very well in game...sorry for all the questions!

Limit breaks are shared by the party. Once someone uses it, the bar will empty. What the limit break does depends on who uses it.

Usually it is best for a melee dps (lancer/pugilist/rogue) to use the LB, as theirs is a single target damage attack. Sometimes the caster dps (thamaturge/arcanist) is needed, as theirs is an AoE attack.

If things are getting dicey and things aren't looking good, the healer (conjurer) or archer can use the LB for a party heal.

Very rarely will the tank need to use the LB. Theirs puts up a shield for the party. It doesn't last very long.

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Originally Posted by NaliaBrown

Limit breaks are shared by the party. Once someone uses it, the bar will empty. What the limit break does depends on who uses it.

Usually it is best for a melee dps (lancer/pugilist/rogue) to use the LB, as theirs is a single target damage attack. Sometimes the caster dps (thamaturge/arcanist) is needed, as theirs is an AoE attack.

If things are getting dicey and things aren't looking good, the healer (conjurer) or archer can use the LB for a party heal.

Very rarely will the tank need to use the LB. Theirs puts up a shield for the party. It doesn't last very long.

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Okay, thanks! I guess people communicate when they're going to use it? My dungeons have been low level for the most part so maybe people aren't using them as much if at all. So, are they special attacks with their own animations? And how long do they take to build up? Thanks again!

Anyone can activate the Limit Break. What it does depends on the class/job of the person who activated it. Melee DPS classes do a massive single target attack. Caster DPS classes have an AoE attack. Healers and ARC/BRD have an AoE heal for the entire party (which at level 3 can also raise anyone who needs it). A tank LB will boost the defense of everyone in the party.

The healer LB in particular can save the party from what would otherwise be a wipe, so it's common to hold off on other LBs until it's obvious whether that one's going to be needed or not. Then, if you get into the later part of the final boss fight and haven't needed the healer one yet, the melee DPS (or caster DPS if there are multiple adds in the final boss fight) frequently gets used to finish off the boss.

EDIT:
Ah, guess Nalia beat me to it. Well anyway, if you've been doing lower level dungeons, the healer LB is only rarely needed on those, and the melee DPS LB tends to be the most popular.

As to your other question about chains and chain bonuses: After you kill a mob, there will be a short timer, and if you kill another before it runs out, those kills are chained together. If you kill several in quick succession without breaking that chain, it boosts the amount of XP you earn for each successive kill. (There are a lot of FATEs that involve big crowds of rapidly spawning mobs. Those type are good for building up a high chain bonus.)

The limit break bar has three segments; it will fill only one bar segment unless you are at the final boss of the dungeon in which case the max is two. If you are in a full party (8 Players) then it will be 3 segments.
In lower dungeons the final bosses are killed too fast so usually the bar doesn't fill two segments. The healers tend not to use a limit break unless it's at 3 segments and a lot of the party has been killed; since, it rezzed everyone. Tanks use limit breaks even less. Anyways dps usually have first priority on limit breaks though some players don't use them or use them too late and should be reminded sometimes.

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Originally Posted by Niwashi

Anyone can activate the Limit Break. What it does depends on the class/job of the person who activated it. Melee DPS classes do a massive single target attack....)

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Thanks again - you're always super helpful!

The bar will fill up gradually throughout the dungeon. Like Rayne says above, it's just one bar until you get to the final boss, then the second bar appears (three bars in 8-man parties). Usually people will wait for the second bar to fill up before using the LB because it is a stronger attack when it is full. Often the melee dps person will use it without saying anything first. And if the boss is going to die before the last bar is filled, the melee dps should use it anyway.

Yes, they are unique attacks with their own animation. They do not give a stat boost, although you do get a stat boost from party variety: each class has a stat they give +10 to which matches their main stat (minus Arcanist, which gives PIE.) You can only get each bonus once though, so the best way to go is to have a varied party so you get +10 to all stats.

As for chain bonuses, it's a bonus to xp for killing enemies in close succession.

Finally, one last note on limit break: the less duplicated classes you have, the faster it build. So, a paladin, warrior, white mage, scholar, and 4 different DPS fill it the fastest.

tank lb is only good for huge spikes of damage that will wipe your party otherwise (garuda nm, tam hard if you dont kill enough adds)
heal lb is only good if the party is getting hit way too often (as in, they arent dodging enough)

melee lb is the default desired lb, the only time otherwise, is if you need to kill multiple things fast, instead of just a boss

depending on some content, you can lb twice
for example, you can melee lb at the start of the fight on the first boss in brayflox and have no issue having the single bar be full again by the time you reach the last boss, at which time, youll be able to fill a second bar, and should use melee lb2 once its up

If you are going to be using the DPS limit break please get in the habit of using it at the start of the boss fight if its the 1st or 2nd boss of the dungeon I see so many melee DPS use the LB at like 1-4% of the bosses health and by the time the LB finishes the animation their health is already at 1-2% and the LB becomes wasted, when you use LB at the start of the fight (only applies to the first bosses not last most of the time) the LB bar will have ample time to refill during the boss fight and the random mobs before the next boss instead of only filling to around 30% with the trash between bosses, just get familiar with the dungeons and know when you can use the LB at the start of the fight or when you have to save it also if you happen to be mage don't hesitate to use the LB to clear out trash especially if you don't happen to have melee dps in the party not every boss needs LB :)