Musings of a Bard

[The_Last_Dragoon]

First off, let me start with asking you NOT to bog down this thread with "Bard sucks right now" or "Bards need a buff." The purpose of this thread is to point out a few things about how bard changes with WM on and off.

Non-WM 3.0 explanation

So to start off, it's pretty easy to talk about 2.X Bard since almost everything that was added in 3.0 requires WM. Because Sidewinder is so potent as an instant ability, and 2.X bards can weave 2 of these types of abilities inbetween global cooldowns, it gives them a notable advantage in flexibility over WM. It's because of the ever-changing nature of the current expansion that I believe having WM off is a very viable option in certain scenarios, but it will not prepare you for the day when SE makes the other 4/5 of the new abilities necessary for competent contribution.

What changed in our old abilities?

• Barrage no longer affects auto-attacks and instead affects certain weaponskills by multiplying their attacks by 3.
  
• The two extra strikes by Barrage cannot be critical hits
  
• Bloodletter shares a cooldown timer with Rain of Death
  
• Rain of Death is now off the global cooldown as an instant and can be refreshed like Bloodletter
  
• Wide Volley no longer procs a free Rain of Death cast and RoD doesn't proc a free cast of Quick Nock
  
• Quick Nock requires positioning to use correctly and has the same potency as Wide Volley which doesn't (albeit at a lower TP cost)
  
• Foe's Requiem now accurately displays that it reduces magic resistance on it's tooltip

What is Sidewinder?

• Instant cast even in WM
• can currently be used outside of WM
• A potency of 250 when used properly
• It is off the global cooldown
• Good synergy with Iron Jaws
  
• 60 second cooldown (unaffected by skill speed)
• Is not affected by Barrage

They fixed the tooltip on Sidewinder, it no longer says you need WM to use it.

What does WM add?

• 0 second casting time
• 15 second cooldown
• 30% damage buff (stacks with other buffs)
• Access to Empyreal Arrow, The Warden's Paean and Iron Jaws
• Loss of auto attack
• 1.5 second casting time to certain abilities (Affected by skill speed)

What is Empyreal Arrow?

• 220 potency (70 more potency than Heavy Shot)
• Combos with Barrage to hit 3 times
• Off the Global Cooldown
• Short 15 second cooldown (Unlike Bloodletter, it is affected by skill speed)
• 1.5 second casting time

What is the Warden's Paean?

• Prevents the next detrimental effect on target party member for 30 seconds
  
• Doesn't stop anything that isn't removable by a healer
• 3 second cast
• detrimental effects are hard to predict who they're going to
• only affects one person
• only stops a single detrimental effect

What is Ironjaw?

• 100 Potency (Same potency as Venomous Bite & 40 more potency than Windbite).
• Refreshes both Venomous Bite and Windbite DoTs to 18 seconds
• Costs only 60 TP vs. 160 TP to recast Venomous Bite and Windbite
• 1 Global Cooldown use vs. 2 from VB & WB
• 1.5 second cast time

How is my rotation affected?

• Shift from a reliance on Heavy Shot procs to using Empyreal Arrow on every recast.
• When Heavy Shot does proc, Straight Shot regains it's instant cast status, allowing the Bard free movement during it's use and that gcd as well as 2 ogcd uses (It's possible to weave Empyreal Arrow and Bloodletter into a procced Straight Shot cooldown).
• Importance of using Iron Jaws to maintain DoTs (dots are still refreshable if Iron Jaws is completed within a second of it expiring).
• Importance of using Hawk's Eye and Barrage together and using Raging Strikes with them when it is available(RS has a cd of 120 seconds, so it may be favorable to use it every 180 seconds so it aligns with the other buffs and abilities more often).
• Only use Barrage with Empyreal Arrow it is worth it to let EA wait a little on it's cd since there is a massive difference in damage output between it and Heavy Shot.
• Use Sidewinder on every 60 second cooldown (it is worth it to let it wait a little bit for the 180 second buff cycle if you're using that method).
• Emphasis on minimal movement, knowing the fights and using the second inbetween casting times and global cooldowns to make just enough movement to escape predicted aoe will maximize your effectiveness.
• High movement fights such as Waukkeon from Neverreap are not friendly to the Wanderer's Minuet strategy, it is more advantageous to instead utilize the "Burst Damage WM" strategy.
• When turning on Mage's Ballad + Battle Voice in a group, it may be more advantageous to turn off WM so that you may position yourself where you may benefit the most people in a fight. Since this require extraneous movement, it will be easier to do on the 2.X Bard.

Burst Damage WM

• Best of both worlds, allowing for the brief shock of damage from the Bard while still retaining mobility and familiarity.
  
• WM is on at the beginning of the fight. and only requires the Bard to remain in the stance long enough to get off a buffed Empyreal Arrow & Sidewinder or until they need to move.
  
• Doesn't recast WM during the fight

3.01 Toggle Strategy (WIP)

With the introduction of the changes to Bard in 3.01 it is now feasible to reactivate Wanderer's Minuet mid-battle.

1. Use Hawkeye, Blood 4 Blood, and Raging Strikes if available
2. Refresh Straight Shot
3. Barrage Buff and toggle Wanderer's Minuet
4. Empyreal Arrow
5. Iron Jaw + Sidewinder
6. Heavy Shot spam and Straight Shot procs until buffs end
7. Cast Iron Jaw one last time (if needed) then toggle off Wanderer's Minuet
8. Rinse and repeat as buffs refresh.

Did I forget something? let me know and I'll add it in with a quote giving you credit.

Huh? If I recall, they always did... unless they changed something and now they can refresh Bloodletter even if they don't crit?

Also, due to the fact that I play the game on the PS4 I currently lack the ability to parse by myself. If someone could possibly record a good video of their damage onto a target dummy in both WM and out of WM using their respective best rotations at the moment for a total of 5 minutes. Additionally, I would like a comparison between a Bard in item level of 145 (HQ non-melded) in all slots and a Bard with item level 180 in all slots to see how having WM on and off scales with gear. Post it here and I'll put all entries under a spoiler tag so that it doesn't stretch out the page too much.

[AskaRay]

Thank you, finally a resource thread.

They fixed the tooltip on Sidewinder, it no longer says you need WM to use it.

I'm not sure if a recording from me would be very beneficial (not just because I don't have all max gear yet..), mostly because my framerate is atrocious.
Essentially everything you've covered is what I've been doing with WM. (Except the change to RoD, I always used Quick Nock before because it never, ever proc'd for me using Wide Volley...sigh, RNG...so now I use RoD).

[mb52139]

So, following this, it seems you suggest staying in WM mode for the entire fight and not swapping out?

[The_Last_Dragoon]

So, following this, it seems you suggest staying in WM mode for the entire fight and not swapping out?

I suggest that players practice in WM mode, especially if evidence reveals that there's a massive difference in terms of their scaling with gear. Right now, Burst Damage WM seems to be the most valid and "best" option for dps, but that could be for a number of reasons, especially when you consider that there's pretty much no difference to how a non-WM Bard plays. I would also expect that when 3.1 or the new Alexander raid comes out to see some changes to all of the classes, which could very well tip the scales in either method's favor. The difference is though that most Bards know exactly how to play without Wanderer's Minuet.

[LLamaPie]

Snip.

The entire point to WM is to gain a DPS boost but as a sacrifice to mobility. The problem is mainly in how to use it. A 3 second cast for a DPS toggle is simply too much. The other problem with the song is the lack of auto attacks which I still can't understand why they did that. Also one of the least complained about changes is what they did to Barrage. Even outside of WM now that barrage is no longer the awesome AA DPS buff it used to be; our DPS gets a direct hit there. That to me is an issue. The hopeful part of me wishes SE just reverse some of the changes, allow Iron Jaws outside of WM as well but keep EA in there. Make WM an instant cast and put auto attacks back in. That way WM still offers an advantage but not at such a huge detriment.

[The_Last_Dragoon]

snip

I can legitimately see them increasing the bonus damage of Wanderer's Minuet to 30% or allowing for auto-attacks while it's active in order to make the song more appealing to players. Even if they allow for auto-attacks to be used while the song is active, they still wouldn't happen while you are casting, but they would occur in between casts and would do good work towards normalizing Bard dps. I don't see them ever making the song an instant cast or taking the requirement off of Iron Jaws though.

Regardless, all of that is speculation and doesn't pertain to the focused lens I'm trying to put on the current state of Bards.

[Zephanoa]

Someone can make this more detailed if they want, and my comment is that if you don't use EA fairly quickly after its cooled then you are killing your own DPS at that point. If you have AP Song or MB Song active then you should "try" to be in WM to negate some of the damage debuffs that occur. Here are some of my thoughts:

WM Opener: Apply Buffs > Apply DoTs > Straight Shot > Barrage > Emp. Arrow > Sidewinder > Iron Jaw
-------If WM Cont'd: Evaluate Song Usage, Buff as needed, IJ as needed, Always combine Barrage+EA, Sidewinder, Heavy Shot
---------------If you can anticipate debuffs being used, I would recommend using WP Song on Tanks/Healers

If WM Off: Normal 2.0 Bard Rotation + Sidewinder

Other thoughts would be that while WM is engaged I think that not only damage % should be upped, but that it adds a second minor crit% up. Small rant: Shouldn't ranged DPS be CRIT masters? C'mon [].
The problem is that EA doesn't cover enough space even when under crit to cover for the loss of auto-attack. I feel that WM should also decrease damage debuff to 5% when using AP or MB songs.

I do not feel that WM itself is the issue -- something that would be cool would be to add a proc that if you WM that it procs WP song to instant+partywide.

[Sessurea]

Thank you, finally a resource thread.

Amen to that.

[mb52139]

I suggest that players practice in WM mode, especially if evidence reveals that there's a massive difference in terms of their scaling with gear. Right now, Burst Damage WM seems to be the most valid and "best" option for dps, but that could be for a number of reasons, especially when you consider that there's pretty much no difference to how a non-WM Bard plays. I would also expect that when 3.1 or the new Alexander raid comes out to see some changes to all of the classes, which could very well tip the scales in either method's favor. The difference is though that most Bards know exactly how to play without Wanderer's Minuet.

Understandable, tho I try hard to weave it into my normal rotation. (opener... then recasting it if the boss disapears long enough.. etc)

[Arkenne]

Both Venomous Bite and Windbite now have a chance to refresh Bloodletter cooldown

Huh? If I recall, they always did... unless they changed something and now they can refresh Bloodletter even if they don't crit?