Playing as Bard, how necessary are additional skills?

So i am a lvl 50 bard, and i love playing as one. i read up and saw that blood for blood and invigorate are two skills to aim for. how important to my overall dps is it to attain these skills? i honestly just don't enjoy pugulist and lancer that much which is why im procrastinating it until there is absolutely nothing else i can do other than lvl more jobs. i already use Second wind, the +15% dodge move, and the +10% crit move, so i do have the other 2 additional open...just too lazy to fate farm up to lvl 32 or whatever on lancer

You *need* Invigorate for sure. You will have TP issues, and no, singing Paeon isn't going to be ideal in most situations (so don't start relying on it; you will need to sing Ballad and Foe's most of the time when you sing)

Blood for Blood is also very important. 10% damage boost with pretty good uptime is very helpful, especially in burst situations and during DPS checks.

So yes, start leveling LNC.

agreed with PArcher. Also i use Internal Release from Pugilist

The burst you get from BFB, along with the TP sustainability from Invigorate, is really nice! Do a few levels a day, and it's not too painful.

Invigorate will help with your TP management.
Blood for Blood is great for burst DPS.
Internal Release can help with resetting Bloodletter's refresh timer if you apply VB+WB DoTs while it is up.
Mantra helps out your healers a little bit.
Second Wind is good if your healers are focused on their tanks in a clutch situation.

Those are my top five CDs for BRD to use. ;)

Invigorate, BfB and IR are the 3 compulsory crossclass skills for a BRD, FYI.

I main BRD and you 100% need Invigorate and Internal Release above all else. I find that Second Wind never makes a huge difference, but it's kept me alive in situations where healers were otherwise occupied with more integral party members to finish fights. I use B4B situationally, as in some end-game content it's unwise to pop if you're not confident with the fight, or if the enemy's damage output is just so high and so frequent that using it leaves you near-dead most times and a hassle to the party.

So...yes, level LNC. I waited a long time to do it and had no real problems, but I've definitely noticed the change now that I DO have B4B, and it's a wonderful addition. Pick up Internal Release, Invigorate, Blood For Blood, and Second Wind ASAP. I...can't seem to remember the 5th skill I crossed over hahaha.

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Originally Posted by JetBrooks

The burst you get from BFB, along with the TP sustainability from Invigorate, is really nice! Do a few levels a day, and it's not too painful.

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While the DPS boost from Blood for Blood is indeed really nice, the problem is that it gives you just a 10% boost to damage on Bard, while at the same time increasing the damage you yourself take (incoming damage) by 25%. This trade off is problematic in fights such as Titan (Hard) and (Extreme) where you are constantly bombarded with AoE's, many of which are unavoidable. So while it is useful to have an increase in damage, it is not essential.

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Originally Posted by Tharian

While the DPS boost from Blood for Blood is indeed really nice, the problem is that it gives you just a 10% boost to damage on Bard, while at the same time increasing the damage you yourself take (incoming damage) by 25%. This trade off is problematic in fights such as Titan (Hard) and (Extreme) where you are constantly bombarded with AoE's, many of which are unavoidable. So while it is useful to have an increase in damage, it is not essential.

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The downsides of BfB are negated by using them at the correct time. Which is usually immediately after stomps. Or you have a good enough healer(s) to be able to just use it on cooldown.

If Titan is using 4 to 5 of the mini jumps in a row (I believe they are called Geocrush or something like that) right after one of his Stomps, then using Blood for Blood is kind of pointless. Point is, there is so much AoE in Titan Hard and Extreme Mode that increasing incoming damage by 25% can be downright Fatal.

Look, I am not trying to say it is a useless skill. Just that it needs to be used carefully.

You have the names mixed up. Tumult is "stomps". Geocrush is the jumping break-the-platform attack. If you use BFB immediately after Tumult ends, he will generally always not use it again until BfB has worn off or is about to.

tl;dr, comes with experience.

I have only really fought Titan (Hard) twice, and haven't fought Titan (Story) in quite a while. As for Titan (Extreme) I still haven't unlocked it yet. So you will excuse me if I haven't yet mastered what the names of all of his attacks happen to be. I still say Blood for Blood is a bit risky. That said, I will not deny that the extra 10% damage is a nice addition to have on occasion. That said, I am not entirely sold on wasting my time trying to get Mantra. I think I would rather use Feint in that Cross-Class Slot all told.

Then don't give advice on a fight you're not experienced at.

Feint is literally worse than picking nothing as a crossclass. Wasting time on using it, wasting time reapplying it with diminishing returns for the few bosses that do not resist it. TP sink. Weaker than everything.

Can't imagine not using bfb, ir, invigorate, and sw. As for my last cross class, I use featherfoot. Seems more useful than mantra since we don't get the good version than MNK has.

Feint is useless, not because the skill itself is useless it's because you'll never use it when compared to everything else you have along with the diminishing returns it has. It's a DPS loss, and a waste of TP compared to your other skills.

I always use B4B with Relentless Strikes and Hawk's Eye for really nice burst, and follow that up with Raging Strikes + Internal Release, the cooldowns just line up well that way.

Invigorate is a must have at end game, mainly due to the lengthy fights, and for Expert Dungeons, the AoE that you'll be doing and likely using Ballad for the healers mana or Requiem for the BLM damage rather than Paeon for your own TP.

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Originally Posted by Tharian

While the DPS boost from Blood for Blood is indeed really nice, the problem is that it gives you just a 10% boost to damage on Bard, while at the same time increasing the damage you yourself take (incoming damage) by 25%. This trade off is problematic in fights such as Titan (Hard) and (Extreme) where you are constantly bombarded with AoE's, many of which are unavoidable. So while it is useful to have an increase in damage, it is not essential.

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Just LOL.
As people pointed it, don't use B4B with the wrong timing. For Titan EX, since everybody is packed, getting hit by WoL means death, with or without BFB. For the Tumults, the WHM will (pre-)cast some AOE heal, with or without BFB doesn't really change anything. The only moment when BFB is dangerous is when Titan jumps, but you can remove the buff by clicking on it.
The only moment when BFB was dangerous was against Twintania, pre-2.2, when your were using the strat "Fireball = tank+pet+target".

BFB IS essential, unless you don't want to kill the high-end bosses without being carried. Invigorate and Internal Release are even more essential.

I'm using Invigorate, BFB, IR, Second Wind and Featherfoot (the last one is virtually useless).

Anyone who says BFB is bad due to the 25% damage increase is not someone to take advice from.

There are very few, if any, CDs that can be used whenever without penalty (even if that penalty is just you don't have it until the cool-down ends...which can be bad). You have to know when its best to use each one in every fight.