Tips for Archer/bard

Hey everyone!!

So after fooling around a bit with my dragoon I just ended up finding the idea of a bard to appeal to me more and more ( dps class with good support utility )

Unfortunately I'm not very versed in terms of how to play them or cross skills I need.

I did read about all the hate the new changes brought with them but I don't mind them :o

Thanks for your time !!

Here's a tip... Play another class.
Sry, but it's true.

Bard looks cool, that's all it does.

Went into BiS NM with 3 bards... Should I finish the story?
It's an awful job now, and the most you'll ever want to see in a party is 1 bard.

The sad truth, you don't want to even see 1.

the main issue is that until u hit 52 u wont feel how brd plays now , u will level to 52 moving around and shooting stuff , then at 60 thats not how it works ...maybe u dont mind , maybe u hate it....

for crossclass u need Drg leveled , u have it leveled already ,blood for blood and invigorate , monk for internal release, second wind and mantra (not really needed but nice to have!)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kiyyto

Here's a tip... Play another class.
Sry, but it's true.

Bard looks cool, that's all it does.

Went into BiS NM with 3 bards... Should I finish the story?
It's an awful job now, and the most you'll ever want to see in a party is 1 bard.

The sad truth, you don't want to even see 1.

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Bard is by no means an "awful" job, people are just either expecting top tier damage or "lol WM sucks"(Hell weaving WM on and off is the best you could do, don't even have to have it on 24/7). Learn how to play/be with the job.

Anyway, Bard is totally worth leveling and gear just for the utility you have in parties alone, just expect a u-turn in gameplay once you hit 52.

Putting the whole WM issue aside:

BRD is a class that revolves around cooldowns management, DoTs uptime and, after level 48, Bloodletter procs.
Make sure you have the Straight Shot effect up all the time, your DoTs up all the time on monsters, use every off GDC skill that can help your DPS (spam that Bloodletter) and manage your buffs. Find the way you're most comfortable with using them, and try to not let them stay off cooldown, unused for too long, unless it's intended.

For anything more than 3 monsters you're good to AoE.

About cross class skills, I use:

Invigorate, Blood for Blood, Internal Release, Second Wind, Keen Flurry.


As others said, expect the play style to change at 52, though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kiyyto

Here's a tip... Play another class.
Sry, but it's true.

Bard looks cool, that's all it does.

Went into BiS NM with 3 bards... Should I finish the story?
It's an awful job now, and the most you'll ever want to see in a party is 1 bard.

The sad truth, you don't want to even see 1.

---

I've been in A1 and A3 normal groups with 3 bards, 1 being myself and cleared easily during 1st week. So either your bards were terrible or quite possible you were so focused on 3 bards you messed up and wiped the group which caused a vote abandon.

A good tip for bard or machinist is to know when to turn WM or GB on or off in fights. This may take studying or experiencing some fights a few times. For instance, in Alexander 1 normal, you can leave WM or GB on until Oppressor 0.5's adds come out. At that point I will typically turn it off so i can damage it on the way to the laser. I will then turn it back on right after it's dead. This also ensure I get quick hits on the add before it can run to a healer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brundlefly

A good tip for bard or machinist is to know when to turn WM or GB on or off in fights. This may take studying or experiencing some fights a few times. For instance, in Alexander 1 normal, you can leave WM or GB on until Oppressor 0.5's adds come out. At that point I will typically turn it off so i can damage it on the way to the laser. I will then turn it back on right after it's dead. This also ensure I get quick hits on the add before it can run to a healer.

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Yup took me a few wipes but then started doing that as well. Just makes the most sense since you need to position them and still keep dpsing them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Warlyx

for crossclass u need Drg leveled , u have it leveled already ,blood for blood and invigorate , monk for internal release, second wind and mantra (not really needed but nice to have!)

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This :) As a support, I think good bards should always take mantra, even if it's only 5%.

You're not gonna like my tip but... To enjoy the 3.0 brd, you should try blm before.

At the beginning of Heavensward, I started lvl brd to 52 and cried a lot after trying WM...
Leveled smn to 60, then blm to 60, cried more on enochian...

And after that, got back to brd. Now, I really like the caster stance and can push a good dps moving like a blm to avoid aoe and stuffs.

As said Brundlefly, everything is about timing for when you can use WM or not. Do you need burst ? Can you move ? Is there a lot of aoe ?