Limit Break

[Lemon8or]

Depends on the fight and the bar you'll have. Say if you have 2 or 3 bars of LB for that boss, you want to save it if you run into it with a full LB bar cause more bars means more damage/healing/mitigation. If you only have 1 bar max for that boss (think Demon Wall in AK), better front load it so the fight is still simple and you can continue building it back up for next boss. It all depends on party, you don't have to rely on LB for most bosses (save Ifrit HM's LB) but it certainly is faster with it. I don't think LB can crit but haven't tested it.

[Anova]

and what is better to do in a boss fight (assuming there aren't too many adds in that fight and that one LB bar is full before initiating the fight):
use it right at the beginning? i noticed a LB doesn't add any aggro
and if it's a fight where you can have more than one bar: wait until more bars are full? or always use it with one bar?

The problem with using a LB early on in a boss fight is that often, you will only have 1 or 2 bars instead of the full 2-3 bars. Often, this last bar appears when the last boss reaches 1/2 hp. So, using a LB later means a stronger attack or a backup in case something goes catastrophic (healer lb). Bosses are also more powerful and have more complicated attack patterns at low hp, so using a LB later helps players to reduce the time spent in the last phase and minimize mistakes that could cause wipes.

The aoe lb from SMN and BLM are used specifically for certain fights where you have to kill many targets quickly (ifrit and garuda fights) or the party will wipe. Consider it a method to simplify the dps check for endgame dungeons. The single-target LBs are as above, just a way to speed a boss through an especially difficult phase. Healer LB is for catastrophic wipes. And nobody ever uses the tank LB.

[Estellios]

The problem with using a LB early on in a boss fight is that often, you will only have 1 or 2 bars instead of the full 2-3 bars. Often, this last bar appears when the last boss reaches 1/2 hp.

This isn't true. You start with 1 bar in a 4 person party and 2 bars in an 8 person party. The extra bar gets added on as soon as you engage the final boss of the dungeon. For primals I don't remember if you start with 2 and get a 3rd upon engaging or just start with 3, but you have 3 bars for those.

[Keith_Dragoon]

and do damage buffs increase the damage of a limit break? so as a pugilist/monk, should i get all my buffs up before using the LB? what about debuffs on the boss like +x% blunt damage? if so, what kind of damage is a melee dps limit break? and can a limit break crit (which would mean i'd best activate internal release before using the LB)?

Raging strikes, blood for blood and any buff that increases damage works with LBs, since they can't crit internal release is useless. As far as damage type I'd assume melee lb 1 & 2 are slashing and lb 3 is blunt.

[Reiterpallasch]

well bard is still support, so the healer limit break makes sense.
So many people think Bard is dps, they are not. They can be, but their main role is support, which is why there are so many terrible bards. Use your songs people.
It is also good for the support class to have this as often 2 healers go down, and the bard can use theirs if need be.

Is that why it has 2 dps sub jobs, dps gear, all dps abilities, etc? Is that why the game specifically says they're dps and makes them queue for dungeons are dps? It's because they're not dps right? Having songs doesn't suddenly make them not dps, especially when you consider that they're so rarely needed.

Current BRD limit break is absolutely terrible. You will always have a healer limit break, and you will always have a tank limit break, but you won't always have a dps limit break:

[cainxavier]

The tank limit break is useful for the Garuda fight (story-mode at least).

[Kenka]

The tank limit break is useful for the Garuda fight (story-mode at least).

Can also be used during Ifrit's Hellfire to prevent a wipe if for some reason you don't have an AoE limit break and your party DPS cannot kill the nails fast enough.

[Simaril]

Limit Breaks are terrible in this game.

As a healer I have never had a reason to use mine, and haven't used it yet. I've never seen a tank use one. I hope this is just the 'current' status of LBs and they do something to make them meaningful to everyone.

[Fayo]

Limit Breaks are terrible in this game.

As a healer I have never had a reason to use mine, and haven't used it yet. I've never seen a tank use one. I hope this is just the 'current' status of LBs and they do something to make them meaningful to everyone.

The 3 bar limit break for healer is really powerfull and maybe you'll need it if your party is almost all wipe exept you

[seekerofpower]

Limit Breaks are terrible in this game.

As a healer I have never had a reason to use mine, and haven't used it yet. I've never seen a tank use one. I hope this is just the 'current' status of LBs and they do something to make them meaningful to everyone.

You will, trust me. The level 3 LB rezzes anyone in the party who is dead and restores 80% health to all party members. Invaluable in certain late game groups.