Limit Break Help, Please!

[ChaoticCrimson]

So I added the hotkey for Limit Break a while ago, but up until recently I'd never really been in a position where I could use it. Did Bardam's Mettle for the first time last night, and we get to the end boss. All three limit gauges are full and party asks me to use the LB at the part when you have to take down both wings. Pressed the assigned button aaaand... nothing. Like, no charge gauge or indicators or anything at all, even though I targeted one of the wings. Tried looking up how to use the LB online, and the most anything said was a throwaway reference to manual targeting, which to my memory I saw no indication of when I tried to activate it. So I guess what I'm trying to figure out is this - Am I missing something? Is there something special you have to do to initiate a LB for a caster? I really don't want something embarrassing like this happening again -_-

[Moomba33]

When you activate the caster LB a ground targeting circle will appear. You have to move the target circle over your target then initiate the LB.
On controller I do this with the right analog stick and then X.
It's the same as using the cannons in Castrum Maridianum or the Magitek Cannon on the Magitek mount.

[ChaoticCrimson]

Hmm, that's so odd I didn't notice any targeting circle back then... Granted, there were so many AOEs going off around me that it's possible it might have just blended in with them all. I'll keep it in mind though, thanks!

[Vineas]

If I remember correctly LB are group based on roles:
1. Tank
2. Melee DPS
3. Ranged DPS
4. Magic DPS
5. Healer

They are all different mechanic.
For Melee DPS is as simple as click on target and cast LB. For Ranged I think we need to assign the direction. Magic DPS is AOE (probably red circle). Healer/DPS is cast right away.

The probable reason of not being able to cast might be this, or it's get interrupted.

[Elkanah]

Tanks will be automatic and as long as the party is within the vicinity of using the LB, it will grant all party members near by the tank (when the tank clicks the LB) to auto grant bonus xDefense.

Melee dps LB has to be in the range of the mob with your melee skills. If you can't touch the mob, you need to be closer for the LB to activate, but you would target the mob and hit the limit break skill.

Ranged DPS is a distance matter and shows a solid blue line across the field. You NEED to be targeting the mob to use it. Otherwise it will not operate. For the wings on Bardam, the tank needs to keep the mob still and not turn the bird at the end. Otherwise, you could potentially miss both wings and waste the LB.

Magic DPS brings a circle. If you want to know where the circle is, try using the marker system A B C 1 2. This will give you an idea of where the circle is on your current screen, but you can make easy adjustments. You can still bring it up as long as the LB is active or has at least 1 full bar available on the battle field. You just need to adjust this manually. This does not need to be targeted on a mob to use it. But you do need to be able to see the circle with your cursor and/or controller and thumbsticks. So play around with the marker system so you know where it will auto appear on your screen, and that should help quite a bit outside of instances.

Healer LB requires the healer to be in the vicinity of its party members, similar to tank LB. It can actually miss players on the field since it's yalm based and within distance to the players. If the healer is LB'ing on the other end of the field and your character is dead on the other end, you won't be raised. It's not wide arena like some boss mechanics are (Rabanasty for instance). So when using it, as long as you're within each member and know where all members are, it should auto hit everyone at once who's dead. Just keep that in mind.

[TensaiSogetsu]

Keep in mind that the caster LB's default location is the center of your screen, so if you are looking up at an enemy or across the battle area, the marker may not show up since it wouldn't be on the ground. It's best to point your camera at an angle towards the ground when using caster LB or just simply using a macro with the /ac "Limit Break" <t> command for it to center on the enemy you have targeted. (Macro will still work if you don't have a target but will need to be manually set)

[ChaoticCrimson]

...or just simply using a macro with the /ac "Limit Break" <t> command for it to center on the enemy you have targeted. (Macro will still work if you don't have a target but will need to be manually set)

I actually hadn't considered making a macro for it before, but that really might not be a bad idea. I'll have to give that a try! Thanks for all the input, everyone!

[Rongway]

Now that we've cleared up how to use it, a good aside would be about when to use it.

So I added the hotkey for Limit Break a while ago, but up until recently I'd never really been in a position where I could use it.

The situation has prolly presented itself quite a few times, but without anything in game throwing up bright flags pointing out the situation, it's easy to miss.

In dungeons, LB is usually the duty of a caster or ranger, because even with only one bar:

AoE LB1 on two targets outdamages melee LB1.
AoE LB1 on four targets outdamages melee LB2.
AoE LB1 on seven targets outdamages melee LB3.

This means it should be used early, on a large trash pull. This will do more damage than using it on a boss, and therefore save the most time.

A melee DD shouldn't waste it on a midboss unless both DDs are melee. Once at the last boss, LB should fall to the melee DD if available.

There are exceptions, of course, but those are the basic rules.

Keep an eye out during the next dungeon after Mettle and you'll find several pulls that are good candidates for a mage to rain down destruction from the sky, and you might even get to LB twice before the last boss.

[Frizze]

Yeah, now that you have the basics down its time to learn how to spot a good opportunity to use that big falling rock(Rong has some nice tips). There are some pulls that are just SO satisfying to explode like that. The big pull with all the dogs halfway through level 70 story dungeon and the top of baelsars wall come to mind(among many others). The wings you just saw in bardam, tiomanns wings in sohm al, or the 4 scorpion add spawn at the end of sohm al hard are nice boss uses(there are others too). That scorpion one used to surprise people not expecting it. They would be getting ready to try and end the 2 hole drillers and the 2 tank busters before they could cause too much trouble, and i could time it so that they all died the instant they appeared on the map(plus score a hit on the boss itself too). If you arent expecting it the move is quite impressive.