A simple Bard question.

I've recently decided to delve in to the world of DPS to get a feel for it and something with regards to the Bard caught my eye and I have a question.

Bard skills as far as I can tell are instant cast however some have a long animation build up before the damage is dealt. Take Bloodletter for example. Some skills are also off the global cooldown like again, Bloodletter. If I use say, Venomous Bite+Bloodletter+Heavy shot would I be overriding their entire action?

Venom bite has a long animation and I can easily bring in Bloodletter before the animation is done and THEN bring in heavy shot before bloodletters animation is finished. Should I wait for all of their action animations to finalize or can I just throw in all actions really quickly?

If the ability goes off, it goes off, even if the animation is interrupted.

The tricky part is that under some circumstances the client will let the animation start to play even when the action is not valid, and thus it will interrupt the animation and no damage is dealt. But weaving oGCDs in is very much a part of BRD glameplay and yes, if you use bloodletter between VB and HS is will go off even if the animation is clipped.

Ahh fantastic! That's what I was hoping for. I'm enjoying the overall style of the Bard so far. Being very agile is extremely helpful in certain boss battles. While I understand it might not live up to the damage output of a summoner or even a black mage, I do feel that simple being able to shoot while moving has an advantage over the other classes (who may need to stand still to cast)

...have you gotten to level 52 on BRD yet? (They call it "bard mage" now for a reason... :/)

i have bad news for u .....all that will change after u get WM :P

Nope still in the 30's currently. What's going to happen to the current swift and agile move/shooter?

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Originally Posted by A1ch3mi57

Nope still in the 30's currently. What's going to happen to the current swift and agile move/shooter?

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Cast times on all of your GCD abilities and at least one oGCD ability. Sorry. It's easy to say "git gud" but it killed the class for me, so I just stick to healing with a little tanking on the side.

The cast times are short enough to fit in one oGCD per GCD, but the oGCDs with cast times will clip into the next GCD. It's also easier to stutter step and do all the caster movement conservation techniques because the cast times are a bit shorter, but... I didn't want to play a caster.

DPS levels are still behind SMN and BLM levels even with the new restrictions.

Well hopefully I will be able to withstand the changes. If not I will likely see myself going to something else. I'm a full time healer and part time dps now. I'd love to tank but I'm not confident enough

You still have more than enough time to use at least one ogcd ability while under the effect of Wanderer. The only thing that really changes is that you do hell of allot more aoe damage and you can't move as freely. If you're used landing that 2.5 second Stone III, before an aoe goes off you'll have lots of breathing room. The proc.d version of straight shot is also instant, so you can save that a little to move.

Hehe I always do that with my bard, if there's a more effective rotation I'd appreciate to know :>