What's the normal rotation for bard/mch ?

[Stormfur]

So I'm leveling a machinist, and I see lots of MCH guides talk about the opener, but I'm guessing that, like bard, there's no set rotation and it's just a matter of watching for procs and keeping up buffs, is that right? If that's the case, does it matter what order you use skills in? Because all the guides I see just say "use the normal rotation" but they never outline what it is.

[Mimilu]

MCH does have a rotation:
Split Shot > Get Split Proc > Slug Shot > Get Slug Proc > Split Shot > Clean Shot
I > II > I > III
Then make sure to have Hot Shot and Lead Shot up and weave your oGCDs in with them.
IF you can, you'll want those oGCDs to line up with Wildfire.

As for BRD, you'll just want to keep your DoTs and Straight Shot up, while weaving your oGCD with Heavy Shot.

[MPNZ]

A BRD's rotation is supposed to go: While making sure to weave in procs, use before pull use WM> Flame arrow (after pull)> Buff> strait> buff> venom> buff> windbite> buff> iron jaws> Barrage+Empyrial arrow> Heavy shot> repeat Heavy/straight, refresh your buffs, and use your procs when refreshed. Or, something like that. Usually, I just cast my DoTs before I use straight shot though. And, we have to pay attention to everyone's MP and TP bars, and the classes in the party to decide which songs to use, while paying attention to the mechanics.

Most of the lv60 job rotations are a bit bloated and frustrating ATM, but the devs said they are working to simplify them a bit for us, which is really nice of them.

[bardaboo]

Usually, I just cast my DoTs before I use straight shot though. .

That's a mistake. Straight shot ups your crit. Which you want to apply on your dots

[Mimilu]

That's a mistake. Straight shot ups your crit. Which you want to apply on your dots

This is very important.

Knowing your prioritize is very important for every job, especially MCH and BRD, who are both oGCD heavy.

My BRD Priorities: Straight Shot (For the Crit buff)> Your DoTs and Iron Jaws > Straight Shot (Proced) > Heavy Shot > Bloodletter or Rain of Death (especially with River of Blood proc) > Sidewinder => Misery's End => Empyreal Shot > Blunt Arrow (if there is no need for Silence) > Flaming Arrow > Repelling Shot

Use your oGCD in between your Straight Shot, DoT, Iron Jaw, and Heavy Shot casts.

[bardaboo]

This is very important.

Knowing your prioritize is very important for every job, especially MCH and BRD, who are both oGCD heavy.

My BRD Priorities: Straight Shot (For the Crit buff)> Your DoTs and Iron Jaws > Straight Shot (Proced) > Heavy Shot > Bloodletter or Rain of Death (especially with River of Blood proc) > Sidewinder => Misery's End => Empyreal Shot > Blunt Arrow (if there is no need for Silence) > Flaming Arrow > Repelling Shot

Use your oGCD in between your Straight Shot, DoT, Iron Jaw, and Heavy Shot casts.

Hmmm I've noticed straighter shot crit oesn't hit as hard as heavy shot, so i tendancy to hold onto it until i need to reapply straight or can use the extra gcd time for an off cd or free cast of emperyal arrow.

[SlyRoyale]

Hmmm I've noticed straighter shot crit oesn't hit as hard as heavy shot, so i tendancy to hold onto it until i need to reapply straight or can use the extra gcd time for an off cd or free cast of emperyal arrow.

Straighter Shot doesn't hit as hard as a critical Heavy Shot because Straight Shot is 140 potency while Heavy Shot is 150 potency. Aside from that, holding onto Straighter Shot to weave in Empyreal Arrow is a DPS increase provided that you don't hold onto it for more than 2 GCDs. The same applies to double-weaving buffs. If no Straighter Shot is available for those situations, you could use Feint instead in spite of being expensive for its potency regardless of being instant cast in Minuet.

But anyway, the bare bones of your priority system as a bard will look like this: Straight Shot > DoTs > filler > Straight Shot before Iron Jaws assuming no Straighter Shot proc, then it's just maintaining Straight Shot and your DoTs with filler in-between. Including buffs, you pop them just before (re)applying your DoTs to get two sets of buffed DoTs (since some of them are 20s long). There is also the trick of turning off Minuet to sneak in auto-attacks provided that you don't have to use Iron Jaws anytime soon and all of your oGCD attacks are on cooldown. This trick is a gamble because of the River of Blood trait, so you'll either gain DPS from an auto-attack or two or miss an opportunity for a WM-buffed Bloodletter/Rain of Death. Speaking of which, Rain of Death on two or more targets is a potency increase over Bloodletter.