Dear Bards Who Don't Sing :)

[Yumi_umi]

I hate the stupid " it shouldn't be really used anyways" mentality.
If it was made for u to use it then by all means use it.
What else are bards good for?
More than half the time bards are the ones who eat aoes.
So if ur going to be 1 of the lowest damage dps class, u might aswell make them songs be put to good use.
Cuz we all know we would rather have a monk play us mage's ballad.
So what gives?
Is it your "benediction"?

[necrosis]

I see this all the time in CT.

The other healer dies so I have to raise. Which means i need to burn a crap load of MP to get them up then solo heal for a bit. The raised healer has crap for MP after getting up. What are the BRD's doing? Farting around with full MP.

[BloodPact]

Ballad really should never have to be used. Its only if people are making mistakes like dying a lot when they shouldn't be, or healers are doing too much overhealing. People should avoid making mistakes that put themselves in a situation where ballad must be used.

I disagree, as a SMN, for example in Ifrit Extreme, I'll be needing ballad by the time the last set of nails roll out, sometimes maybe sooner. Admittedly, I could trade off some DPS for MP regeneration, but Mage's Ballad is there for a reason. Same as all the other songs. I've never understood why casters or healers have to ask for songs in a party. It's part of the responsibilities of that job. Yes, there are some picky people who might complain if you cast a song at 40% mana instead of 30%, for example, but those are not the majority.

[Issac]

As a healer... I really would like to know what people do with their MP. Unless there is a boss fight lasting more than 5 mins where you constantly have to AOE heal, then ballad should never be used. Use shroud when ever it is up, use aetherflow whenever it is up. As a bard, I watch every buff the healers use and will refuse to sing to healers who don't know how to use MP recovery moves.

Oh yes, let's teach the healers to play better with spiteful conditions that make it frustrating for the entire party. Let's not use positive reinforcement, no no. Let's just hold a vendetta that satisfies your pride.

FFS. This kinda attitude is why I play on JP servers.

[Versiroth]

I don't honestly care why the healer is low on Mana. As a bard, Balad is one of the main reason's I'm useful to a group. If I see that the healer is low (Especially under 1.5K), I go ahead and assume they've used their CDs already and Balad + Voice. Once their Mana is back up over 3K or so, I turn it off and keep doing my thing.

If the party needed another pure DPS, they'd have brought along something other than a Bard. If you don't want to support your part, don't play a semi support role.

[Eidolon]

A good bard will play their first mage's ballad at the 50%-75% MP mark to get the healer back to being topped off, depending on the content and if there are DPS checks.

In this way, you top the healer off, then while the healers are topped off, they are regaining mana.

Of course, this isn't to say that if you know your healers will be fine, you can't just play Foe Requiem or a TP song, depending on what you're doing. Bard is a situational class.

but most are too full of their own DPS to do anything.

[Versiroth]

I disagree, as a SMN, for example in Ifrit Extreme, I'll be needing ballad by the time the last set of nails roll out, sometimes maybe sooner. Admittedly, I could trade off some DPS for MP regeneration, but Mage's Ballad is there for a reason. Same as all the other songs. I've never understood why casters or healers have to ask for songs in a party. It's part of the responsibilities of that job.

Do Summoners really have a lot of MP issues? I know BLMs don't at all, but my ARC is only level 20. Personally, I never look at DPS mana at all. I put the healers at the top of my party list and only watch for them. The last thing I would ever want to do is waste all of my mana on Balad for a DPS and then not have any MP when a healer needs Balad later on. I'll use Foe for you during DPS races, but that's normally it.

A good bard will play their first mage's ballad at the 50%-75% MP mark to get the healer back to being topped off, depending on the content and if there are DPS checks.

Well, I usually never do this as I think it's a waste. To me, Balad is an emergency thing. It's for when the fight is getting harry and your healer's MP is dropping like a brick. You Balad + Voice and they can keep on healing. Or when people are dying and the healers are having to blow MP on raises. Balading when the healer doesn't need it hurts the group more than it helps because even though you're there to support, you still have to keep up your DPS as much as you can as well.

[Eidolon]

Well, I usually never do this as I think it's a waste. To me, Balad is an emergency thing. It's for when the fight is getting harry and your healer's MP is dropping like a brick. You Balad + Voice and they can keep on healing. Or when people are dying and the healers are having to blow MP on raises. Balading when the healer doesn't need it hurts the group more than it helps because even though you're there to support, you still have to keep up your DPS as much as you can as well.

As stated, it is 100% situational.


For example, Ultima is a more heal-intensive fight. Healers like White Mage's will most likely have to cast Cure II more often un-procced, so they will lose more mana. There will be more intensive AoE healing as well.

Not using Ballad early in this case is a detriment, because it means that when it finally comes time to actually need it - your White Mage and Scholar may well start losing people.

And again, using it early doesn't mean you won't have it anywhere else. The purpose of using early-ballad is that you regain the MP you lose for later in the fight, for that clutch Ballad+Battlevoice.

At the least, this is how I play my Bard. It's all opinion, but I truly believe a good Bard will play that song early if situation permits.

[Inquisitor]

To quote Chuck Berry:

Those of you who will not sing
You must be playin' with your own ding-a-ling

[Reishi]

I use foe only in a party with two casters during dps races like P3 in T4 or Titan's heart phase, usually until I'm down to 800 MP myself, then I stop it to save mana for healers if they are in need.
It's the easiest and probably the only really responsible task for a bard to pay attention to the party's MP. Is the healer still above 2k? Is the tank struggling to keep enmity with low MP? I usually battle voice my first ballad, then stop it after those 30 secs to focus on damage dealing again.
And I disagree with bards being the ones always standing in AoE. That's simply not true. We are the only ranged job who can deal damage while moving, not like casters or dpsing healers. I fail to understand any bard who can't get out of AoE (latency being another thing here).