Learning Bard and Buffs in General

[Ninster]

My Bard and Dragoon are working their way up to 50 (both 44 currently) and I've had a fun time playing as both.

However, there's two things I've noticed that I really didn't deal much with on the DoM classes.

1. Bard Songs. I tend to forget them (probably not new), but at the times I remember them I'm a little confused about the way to execute them. At the moment... I have Foe's, Ballad, and Paeon (if there's more I'll burn that bridge when I get there). I had a Stone Vigil run for my DR recently with Bard and I thought I'd try things out. Had a Scholar and Black Mage, so I opted for Foe's for most fights. At the final boss, I wasn't entirely sure about song choice here (considering the length), so I sort of turned Foe's off and on as the boss flew and landed to kind of conserve MP (and naturally forgot 2 or 3 times). So what ends up being the deciding factor as far as trash and bosses go for low-level dungeons (again, for high-level stuff I'll burn that bridge when I get there), and for what party compositions? And furthermore regarding the nature of songs themselves, is it possible to accidentally pull if they're up prior to engaging?

2. Continuing on Bard, 42 brought me Blunt Arrow. I... am familiar enough with Stuns that I think I understand timings and whatnot, but as far as using Blunt Arrow to Silence... how do I know what's silence-able? And if it is, will it interrupt cast (like Stun) or do I need to use it towards the end of the cast-time (considering it's 1 sec Silence)? Again, I played with this in the SV run, but really couldn't tell considering the tank was stunning.

3. Self-buffs. I'm not sure how the optimal cross-class set up goes for both jobs, and I really don't have MNK or either tank leveled a lot (18 across all 3) to get access to everything, but I have a rather large set of self-buffs for BRD. Can any of these be macro'd together or will the macro not execute well with even two? If the macro option fails, then how should I go about buffing without spending a noticeable amount of time idle?

Please have patience. I know I could've asked these questions before I got this far along, but at least I've asked them now.

[KinnisonArc]

I can only speak base on my own experience.

1 - Depending on the situation, you will use either one of the 3 songs. Ballad is when the WHM is running out of MP, play it when they are reaching somewhere halfway. SCH probably doesn't need it often than WHM since they can restore MP every minute (or during heated fights when they are low MP and aetherflow is out. Foe Requiem is used whenever there is a caster around in the party, this song doesn't lower your damage so it's good to play it -after- the boss or the mobs are pulled. You asked if possible to accidentally pulled with your song, Foe Requiem will as it applies the resistance debuff to all mob within range, whether or not they have aggro on the party or not. As for Paeon, the only time to use them is during DPS race with few other melee members and their TP is almost running out. If you and the other members manage your TP, you don't really have to use this at all and besides you can always restore your TP using Invigorate.

2 - For Blunt Arrow, this is one of the important skills for certain fights (Chimera and T1/T2 being the examples). You use it whenever you notice the target is casting/charging the silence-able skill. The sooner you silence them the better, least you have to deal with the skill still casted because latency issue/etc. Normally, skills that sounds like magic (Void Fire/Paralyze by voidsent enemies) and have slower cast than usual are the one you can silence. At times some enemies are immune to stun so it's up to you to stop them. You can check around guides to see which skills you can silence for important fights.

3 - I'm not too sure about dragoon (don't have one but I think most from MRD is good) but as for bard : Second Wind(PGL), Invigorate(LNC), Internal Release(PGL), Blood For Blood(LNC) and one last skill being either Featherfoot(PGL)/Keen Flurry(LNC) for defensive, Mantra(PGL) for supportive. As for macroing, any animation lock caused by the buff skill still applies so be sure to experiment with the wait time to ensure they all are applied properly with the least time.

Hope this helps.

[Viridiana]

General rule for songs: Paeon will be asked for or agreed upon going in. If neither of those happens, ignore it. WHM *can* do some amazing MP management, but sometimes they won't; I usually only play Ballad if I see a rez go off. Foe is useful any time any caster (including healers) will be using dps spells and when you won't accidentally pull something.

Kinnison basically nailed it on Blunt Arrow. Some fights it's practically mandatory. If you're the type to research fights before-hand, you'll know what's coming up, and if not his hints are pretty spot on. There are some weird exceptions out there, but between fight guides and those guidelines, you should be good.

Macroing buffs is generally frowned on. The usual practice is to weave them between your attacks by taking advantage of the fact that they're not on the GCD.

[Tharian]

General rule for songs: Paeon will be asked for or agreed upon going in. If neither of those happens, ignore it. WHM *can* do some amazing MP management, but sometimes they won't; I usually only play Ballad if I see a rez go off. Paeon is useful any time any caster (including healers) will be using dps spells and when you won't accidentally pull something.

Army's Paeon does absolutely diddly squat for Disciples of Magic. Army's Paeon simply put is a Refresh Effect that affects TP instead of MP. As such it has no benefit to those classes who utilize MP. Mages Ballad on the other hand is the song you want to play if your casters are running low on MP. Basically, you only want to use Army's Paeon if you are asked to use it, or if you are out of TP and you are unable to use Invigorate at the current time. Mages Ballad should only be used when you are asked for it.

Foe Requiem on the other hand should generally be cast whenever you have a spellcaster in the party that is performing the function of a DPS Job. This includes Summoner, Black Mage, and to a lesser extent Scholar and White Mage. This is because Foe Requiem is used to add a debuff effect to the enemy that increases the amount of damage that magic based attacks do. Foe Requiem should however generally be saved for Boss Fights ONLY.

[Viridiana]

Army's Paeon does absolutely diddly squat for Disciples of Magic.

How the eff did I mistype that? >_>

Fixed

As for saving Foe for boss fights, though, it can be just as beneficial (if not more so) during large trash pulls.

[Tharian]

I suppose it can. But sometimes you as a bard will run out of TP faster on large trash pulls than you will on a boss fight due to being practically required to spam your AoE attacks. This means that you will need to use both invigorate and Army's Paeon in some cases depending on the size of the large trash pulls. This is especially true in places like Castrum and Praetorium.

[LunarEmerald]

I suppose it can. But sometimes you as a bard will run out of TP faster on large trash pulls than you will on a boss fight due to being practically required to spam your AoE attacks. This means that you will need to use both invigorate and Army's Paeon in some cases depending on the size of the large trash pulls. This is especially true in places like Castrum and Praetorium.

Don't aoe trash unless it's 3 or more enemies and another dps is using aoe skills. Otherwise you're just wasting TP and aren't killing things any faster.

[Tharian]

Don't aoe trash unless it's 3 or more enemies and another dps is using aoe skills. Otherwise you're just wasting TP and aren't killing things any faster.

In Castrum Meridianum, Praetorium, and the two Crystal Towers odds are you will be dealing with 5 to 8 trash mobs at a time instead of just 3 or less. Each of these Trash Mobs will further have more Hit Points than a Standard Mob outside of a Dungeon. Thus using AoE's is generally your best bet for dealing with them, and if you aren't using AoE's, then you will probably be asked to as it is the most optimal path to defeating them.

Similarly in Speed Runs of Dungeons such as Brayflox (Hard) you will be expected to use AoE's so that your Tank isn't overwhelmed with trash mobs, and so that your Healer doesn't have to spam Cure III's and Medica II's too heavily.

[AkashiXI]

I suppose it can. But sometimes you as a bard will run out of TP faster on large trash pulls than you will on a boss fight due to being practically required to spam your AoE attacks. This means that you will need to use both invigorate and Army's Paeon in some cases depending on the size of the large trash pulls. This is especially true in places like Castrum and Praetorium.

Hullbreaker and Stone Vigil HM are good examples of places where staggering For is beneficial, as the distance between pulls help you regen your me back. I'll typically rush us with swift and then Foe each pull. It's a minor increase, but an increase regardless.

[Viridiana]

Eh, I'll take your word for it on CM and Prae, since I rarely do those, and never as BRD. I can say that the only speedrun where I've had to paeon even after invigorate is doing Bray Hard Mode with a DRG. Not that I have extensive experience with speedruns, though. . .