Group doesn't have a BRD, how are melee supposed to dps?

[SpookyGhost]

The more gear you have, the less useful a BRD becomes (at least in terms of Paeon). Push DPS fast enough that you aren't out of TP for long, or have a Goad rotation, and you're golden. However, BRD provides very unique utility in that you'll never have to worry about TP conservation and can just go balls to the walls - which can be extremely helpful for group DPS. I'd actually love to see parses of groups without Bards during progression vs parses with BRDs, especially in fights like T10 and T11. For some reason, I don't think the coordination required, on top of saving CDs, on top of slowing DPS by delaying your GCD, with the BRD being replaced with another DPS job would outweigh the benefit of bringing a BRD and having him play songs when necessary. I could very well be wrong, though I haven't seen any numbers posted in this thread to prove otherwise or even confirm what I think. I'd say it's an extremely good idea to bring a BRD for progression raiding, though. You could probably make it work without one, but it would take a loooot more effort for your group.

[Eumenide]

I main bard in FCoB and now need to sing paeon once during T10 and twice during T11
T10: after 2nd add phase
T11: at 67% and after egg dies then maybe a ballad at the end of last phase
and that seem to be enough for my group at least
party comp: PLD,WAR,MNK,NIN,BLM,BRD,WHM,SCH