Bard: DIdi I got it right?

[Lady_Eboshi]

Hi there,
this is my first post in these forums, and yes, this is also my first MMO ever…

So, I have been playing a bard for the last 6 months and reading here, websites and enjoying the videos of Mr. Happy, and these are the general conclusions I reach.

Could you please comment on them? Tell me if I am on track or completely off?

Thanks in advance

Classification of skills and abilities:

==> According to cool-down, which is the time it takes the action to be available for use again, they can be classified as:
*GCD, Global cool-down: it affects all the skills at the same time, even if I only use one of them.
*ICD, Individual cool-down (my own words) : it only affects the skill I have used. They are longer than the global cool-down and the actions are more powerful.

==> According to who or what they affect:
They can be positive buffs for yourself or other players
Or negative one to the mob targeted

They can be as well enhancements to other actions, like for example, straight shot for archer/bard. Some are always enhancements, like the straight shot and other have a 15-to-50% to enhance some other related action, like Wide Volley and Rain of Death.

==> According to time it affects the target:
DoT = Damage over time, they keep doing damage on the mob after being ¨fired¨ for a few to several seconds
OtD = One time damage (my own words), they just do damage as shot, cast etc. and that´s it.

==> According to the number of targets affected:
OsT = One single target (my own acronym), says it all
AoE = ???, several targets at once. They can be mobs, for attack or other players for buffs, although when talking about AoE one refers usually to damage to mobs/adds.


The general priority is: (I am not sure I got this right)

1. First buffs to you and your fellow players, for example “internal release” or ¨protect¨ (this one not for bard obviously)
2. Then enhancements to other actions, like “straight shoot”
3. Then individual cool-down abilities, like Missery´s End or Bloodletter
4. Followed by global cool-down + DoT abilities, like ¨venomus Bite” or “Windbite” or some AoE abilities if you want to hit several mobs at the same time.
4bis. For several mobs, the order should be: Wide Volley, until I get Rain of Death for free and Quick Nock when I get it for free.
5. In between, I spam with OtD or fillers, like Heavy shot when nothing else is available, or when I am in overload and confused and do not know what to do :P
6. Shadowbind: is it useful when in parties I am generating agro and mob is coming towards me, to stop it, and give the tank the chance to recuperate?
7. Repelling shot, only when one needs to get out of the way very quickly, like with bombs.

Repeat until either you or the mob is dead…

This is mostly for bard, how general is this for other dps, such as puglist or lancer?

Thanks again for reading all that and even more thanks for your comments!

[Rikkustrife]

For the most part yes, but you want to use the icd abilities between the gcd, so while you are waiting for the gcd to load, use a icd ability. Use bloodletter and misery's end whenever they are up in between the gcd, same for icd buffs.
But the priorities are right, you want to keep straight shot buff up at all times, dots up as much as possible, and when all buffs are up, just spam heavy shot
Blunt Arrow , you use it as a regular attack whenever it is up if silence is not needed, save it if it is.

[Lady_Eboshi]

Thanks a lot!

[Niamh_Felixis]

Uh, for your reference, AoE means 'area of effect'.
It's used for both damage spells and buffs/heals. For example, in certain points in the fight people will stack on the tank to receive AoE heals.

As Rikku mentioned above, you want to throw the ICDs in between the GCDs to maximize your output/dps.

Also, depending on the situation, use an ICD over a GCD if you've got a cooldown about to expire. For example, a SMN will want to use Fester as often as possible. This move is on the GCD. In between using Festers, the SMN will throw out Ruin (also on the GCD). When the timer on Fester is about to pop and you can use it again, you may not want to throw out that extra Ruin, but rather go for something off the Global cooldown - like RuinII.

[Lady_Eboshi]

Thanks a lot for the replies!

I understood the concept of AoE, but could not figure out what the letters where, and I wanted to know.

[Sessurea]

Repelling shot can be used between gcds for more dps too! I myself don't find it any superior to just walking out of an aoe tbh, in dodging terms.

[Lady_Eboshi]

I usually prefer to walk or run to control better where I am, especially in boses like Titan or the last of CT.
In other areas, maybe I should give a try.

[Sagittarian]

Not relevant to Bard but just to expand your terms, there is also HoT - heal over time - like regen.
You will also find different arguments about exactly what to do when there are multiple targets. Whether to hit everything with a DoT first or just focus on one target exclusively. That will come down to the exact party and situation.

[Urthdigger]

I feel I should elaborate a little on when to focus on one target and when not to when facing a group.

Obviously the answer from a raw damage dealt perspective is easy: DoT them and spam AoEs. With a very large group of mobs, just do the AoE. However, while this does the most damage, it's not always the right answer (and hence one reason I'm not fond of when folks use parser numbers as the sole indicator of effectiveness).

If your tank is new, or if you greatly outgear them, or if you're getting close to the level where they have Defiance/Shield Oath (As DPS tends to keep going up, but their enmity ability stagnates for a little bit until they get their +enmity statuses), then you should stick to a single target so you don't rip hate off them. If you pull hate, that means your healer has to heal you instead of contributing to DPs, and any melee including the tank have to chase down the mob as it runs after you. While good for parser numbers, it hurts the party as a whole, and should be avoided.

The other issue is if the tank is taking a lot of damage. You should stick to a single target to more quickly reduce the number of enemies hitting the tank. Remember, the tank surviving isn't always solely between the tank and the healer.

Finally, sometimes there are high priority targets capable of inflicting massive damage or annoying status ailments. In this case, you should get rid of the target ASAP. Examples would be the bees in Temple of Qarn (Capable of one-shotting a tank with Final Sting if they lived long enough pre-nerf, still a massive damage spike after) or succubi in Amdapor Keep (Capable of targeting random party members with heavy hitting AoE spells)

[LunarEmerald]

Wouldn't recommend using repelling shot as an attack. Sure, it marginally increases your dps but it creates a bad habit of using it when you shouldn't because you're used to always using it. Using when you shouldn't will get you killed or cause the group to wipe.