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  1. #1
    Player
    KalinOrthos's Avatar
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    Jul 2017
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    558
    Character
    Kalin Orthos
    World
    Mateus
    Main Class
    Gunbreaker Lv 80

    Bard song priority

    I'm sincerely enjoying bard, but one of my biggest hangups is choosing which song for which situation is best. Obviously for multi-target, Mage's Ballad gets top priority, but what about single target? Which song do I optimally want to align with Raging and Barrage? Does it really not matter and it comes down to which Troubadour you need? So many (probably exceedingly stupid) questions!
    (0)

  2. #2
    Player
    dinnertime's Avatar
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    Mar 2015
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    1,300
    Character
    Aurelius Lyon
    World
    Balmung
    Main Class
    Summoner Lv 90
    From what I've learned, single-target priority should be Wanderer's Minuet, it's also the song you should align Raging Strikes and Barrage with (but always use Barrage when it's up).

    Troubador is situational so you should be prioritizing the song with the right effect during the time you'll need it.
    (2)

  3. #3
    Player
    KalinOrthos's Avatar
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    Jul 2017
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    Character
    Kalin Orthos
    World
    Mateus
    Main Class
    Gunbreaker Lv 80
    Quote Originally Posted by dinnertime View Post
    From what I've learned, single-target priority should be Wanderer's Minuet, it's also the song you should align Raging Strikes and Barrage with (but always use Barrage when it's up).

    Troubador is situational so you should be prioritizing the song with the right effect during the time you'll need it.
    Awesome. Between Army's Paean and Mage's Ballad, which is better for single target? I would assume Army's if only because you're not relying on the RNG gods if you have lower crit.
    (0)

  4. #4
    Player
    dinnertime's Avatar
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    Mar 2015
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    Character
    Aurelius Lyon
    World
    Balmung
    Main Class
    Summoner Lv 90
    Quote Originally Posted by KalinOrthos View Post
    Awesome. Between Army's Paean and Mage's Ballad, which is better for single target? I would assume Army's if only because you're not relying on the RNG gods if you have lower crit.
    It should be Mage's Ballad for those Bloodletter procs. Army's Paean seems like a filler while you wait for the other songs to become available again.
    (2)

  5. #5
    Player
    Eloah's Avatar
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    Jan 2015
    Location
    Gridania
    Posts
    2,843
    Character
    Toki Tsuchimi
    World
    Siren
    Main Class
    Scholar Lv 100
    Which song to use first depends on the amount of enemies you have at the given time. If the number is small, like 1-4 then you start with The Wanderer's Minuet, if its 4+ then start with Mages Ballad. And use Army's Paean as a filler. This helps you optimize the procs you'll get for each song. As for Troubadour, Ballad is always a safe bet, but if you know the damage the boss does using the proper version when they do a big attack is more beneficial.
    (0)
    I like helping people with their Job ideas, it's fun to help them visuallize and create the job they'd like to play most. Plus I make my own too, I'll post them eventually.

  6. #6
    Player
    KalinOrthos's Avatar
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    Jul 2017
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    558
    Character
    Kalin Orthos
    World
    Mateus
    Main Class
    Gunbreaker Lv 80
    Awesome. So, say for progression Omega, should I formulate my song order for incoming attacks, or should I focus more on personal DPS?
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  7. #7
    Player
    Cetonis's Avatar
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    Nov 2013
    Posts
    445
    Character
    Sana Cetonis
    World
    Adamantoise
    Main Class
    Bard Lv 100
    Quote Originally Posted by KalinOrthos View Post
    Awesome. So, say for progression Omega, should I formulate my song order for incoming attacks, or should I focus more on personal DPS?
    Just do the regular song cycle. There's not going to be anything in the game where Troubadour is required for survival, and Troubadour is such a long cooldown that you're typically only going to be able to get 2 or 3 uses of it in a given fight regardless. So it's more about finding the best spots for Troubadour within the constraints of your regular cycle - the added value in twisting your cycle around for Troub's sake is far too minimal in the grand scheme of things, when any actual healing struggle can be handled just by better healing plans or better placement of Reprisals, Addles, etc.

    That said, what you might do - more for general timing things but also possibly for Troub - is to extend an Army's Paeon to 25-30s at some point. In O4S for example, going 30s on your first AP gives you a little more mental space on the first Emptiness, avoids a problem timing with Light and Darkness later, and can get your pre-GCOmega AP to last all the way to the cast rather than getting stuck songless wanting to avoid burning WM for just 10s of uptime.

    In O2S, there's some Troub Value (a 2:00 Troub will hit two GWaves) in doing this, and it can get you around a mid-gaze Ballad apply at about that time as well. That one's a bit more debatable but the option is there especially if you have a sense of your likely clear times to know whether or not it will cost you any WM time in the long run (the tail end of AP is okay power wise, 20s APs are more about maximizing WM than minimizing AP. So if you won't lose WM for it, playing out an AP for some other gain is fine).
    (0)

  8. #8
    Player
    Eloah's Avatar
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    Jan 2015
    Location
    Gridania
    Posts
    2,843
    Character
    Toki Tsuchimi
    World
    Siren
    Main Class
    Scholar Lv 100
    I can't speak for progression, but I would focus on personal DPS first, since your comp might vary. Once you are familiar with the fight, and how the boss attacks, you'd be able to adjust to that specific fight. Sadly, you need a song active to do Troubadour, so timing it for a Limit Break might not happen, but you might catch it.
    (0)
    I like helping people with their Job ideas, it's fun to help them visuallize and create the job they'd like to play most. Plus I make my own too, I'll post them eventually.

  9. #9
    Player
    Aeliott's Avatar
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    Aug 2013
    Location
    Gridania
    Posts
    615
    Character
    Aeliott Cadenza
    World
    Phoenix
    Main Class
    Monk Lv 90
    Hmmmmmm.

    Troubadour feels fun to use, but it's honestly so very situational with a long cooldown, and not something you should be depending on, or fitting your rotation around. For all trials/raids go through the Minuet -> Ballad -> Paeon motions. Cut Paeon short by 10 seconds to get back into Minuet (+Raging Strikes) sooner since it's far weaker than your other 2 songs.

    The physical Troubadour (Paeon) has...very few uses I can think of, at least for AOE damage. A lot of the time, at least in savage, Minuet is king even for Troub since almost all dangerous, sustained raid-wide attacks are magical. Ballad is serviceable in most situations but it doesn't heal for the HP it adds (and in the case of O1S and O4S can actually cause more harm than good depending on when you use it due to HP-based mechanics).

    You can use it during progression of course to make certain nasty attacks more manageable instead of waiting for an emergency, but I've never been in a situation where I think "damn, I'll have to change my song order so I have this Troubadour at this point".
    (2)

  10. #10
    Player
    MPNZ's Avatar
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    Sep 2013
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    691
    Character
    Nephie Elz
    World
    Lamia
    Main Class
    Archer Lv 90
    Quote Originally Posted by KalinOrthos View Post
    I'm sincerely enjoying bard, but one of my biggest hangups is choosing which song for which situation is best. Obviously for multi-target, Mage's Ballad gets top priority, but what about single target? Which song do I optimally want to align with Raging and Barrage? Does it really not matter and it comes down to which Troubadour you need? So many (probably exceedingly stupid) questions!
    1. Oh, for single-taget: just make sure to prioritize wanderer's minuet, then army's paeon as your secondary, and mage's ballad as the lowest in your priority list.
    2. Just focus on the primary one that the situation calls for.
    3. Um, maybe you should just check google or something. Or, just try and guess the boss's damage type is, IDK.
    (0)

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