Bard Endgame - Suggestions and Strategies

[Rosencranz]

@Savant07: lemme see... in my misery's end, bloodletter, haymaker, heavy shot macro, i see that often i can go a full round of ven and windbite on (so 17ish sec) doing Blood>Heavy>Blood>Heavy>Blood>Heavy and so on. So i can't say for sure how much i procs, but pretty often. Also i have almost full toxotes set, DL belt, earring, armlet, Toxotes ring and choker. For a better procs i suggest using the lvl 50 Gridanian bow (+25 crit rating, <3) over the Ifrit bow (only +1 dmg more)

@Demikun: actually i wear:

Toxotes bandana
Toxotes tunic
Mercenary - or such, don't remember well ç_ç - Boots
Still AF 45 hands and feets, i'm storing mythology for the bard af2 set
DL Belt, Earring, and Armlet
Toxotes Ring and Choker
A common ring, but today it will became a DL Ring <3

[Rosencranz]

@Demikun, part2: Don't look down at the GC weapons btw, be careful! As i said the lvl 50 Gridanian bow, other than be COOL LOOKING (bard gonna be fancy), had +25 crit rating and lose only 1 dmg over the Ifrit bow. You want to proc? Go Gridanian, you'll need a lot of seals, but it's worth the run. Also Garuda's Spine is the best you can get IMHO (because it's the fanciest <3 *-*, and oc because the crit rating u.u), so if you can grab it, you'll be safe till relic weapon, the long long run.

Actually if i remember well i go on 450ish/470ish critical rating, depends if i equip ifrit or gridanian. My attack is sort of 380/390ish, sorry if i can't remember well ç_ç.

Your stats raising is good, nothing to say, it's almost the same idea as i. :3

Also, for the buffs macro, you can interrupt it when you want. Just proc another skills, et voilà! Macro interrupted. So you can choose how much buff yourself, and when.

Hope to be of some help :3

[LunarEmerald]

1000 limit on forums suck
___________

Ah and what are the caps for each stat?
I heard they have a cap?
Due to maintenance i can't post my current stats.
I know my crit is something about 400 (even thought i don't know howmuch %chance this is supposed to be)

Stat wise i were aiming for that:
Crit > Dex > Accuracy > Determination > vit > Skill Speed > anything else

@LunarEmerald
U use ur buff macro with a wait timer, doesn't limit u alot? Since u can't use anything else until ur buffmacro done his whole job?
Might be better to bind the buffs on ur attack macro, if there aren't any boss mechanics which need immense burst at a certain short amount of time.

S

If do an action while the macro is going, it'll immediately stop. Manual input always has priority.

[Viridiana]

@Viridiana: so that's why i suggested invert using first bloodletter, then straight shot, then the debuff, giving time to bloodletter to proc or to recharge itself, so you can still use another time. During the animation of bloodletter you can still use straight shot, if you time it well, giving you that 0.5 - 1 second to be more effective. :3

There are a number of problems with this, though. Bloodletter -> Straight Shot means that Bloodletter isn't getting the 10% crit from Straight Shot, and you're looking at a full GCD before you can apply a venom to start RoB procs.
Bloodletter (unbuffed) -> Straight Shot -> (off-GCD action)-> Windbiter -> (First chance at RoB proc, about 4.5 sec in)
Straight Shot -> Bloodletter (buffed) -> Windbiter -> (First chance at RoB proc, about 3.5 sec in)

Why would I prefer your setup?

[Rosencranz]

@Viridiana: To be honest, bloodletter - due to the recharge time - is a nice "Starting Hit". The 10% crit for Straight Shot will be compensated by the +20% Crit for internal release, added to the +20% Attack for the Raging Strike, Added to the 3xAtk added by the Barrage.

After that pummel, you start with the routine of Straight Shot - that will give that +10% Crit right after Internal release is fading - the Debuffs - that will procs faster Bloodletter, and then you shift to the Miser/Blood/Heavy macro. By doing so, you'll be sure to have another sure bloodletter with crit (it will be recharged), and maybe another one right after (due to the crit procs of the debuffs).

[Rosencranz]

@Viridiana, part 2: I know that many use Straight Shot as a first hit for starting a routine, but i can assure you - testing it - that starting with Bloodletter gives you a "Free big hit" that can matter a lot in fights.

Also, you don't need a full GCD, due to the fact that while Bloodletter is recharging you'll be shooting your debuffs. Straight Shot > Venom Bite as a shooting speed < Bloodletter CD, so you can be assured to be able to proc Bloodletter right when you'll do your first Crit DoT.

Hope i've explained well @.@ it's kinda messy put it in paper, but i suggest you to try. I was first using your setup, then changed to that. Is useful for starting boss fights and to fast dealing with the occasional trash mob. Also, while soloing, mobs can scarcely reach me. *-*'

[Rosencranz]

uh, here my stats, if someone interested.

Acc: 477
Crit: 453
Det: 236

Atk pow: 407
Skill speed: 349

Def / mDef: 366
Parry: 341

Matk pow: 170
Mheal pow: 164
Spell speed: 341

My gear is written somewhere in this thread. I consider this nice, but i plan to improve this a lot. Especially the crit parts, can be raised a lot more.

[Wugzz]

Streaming level 50 Bard Ifrit hard modes + Dungeons! Come chegg it out I can help ya out with questions etc! Got a solid rotation down and whatnot.

http://www.twitch.tv/wugzz

[Viridiana]

@Viridiana: *snip*

So, wait, you're talking about popping all your buffs before the pull and opening with BL, AA x3, and SS? So, you're wasting uptime on IR, RS, and Barrage? Never mind that if I had those buffs up at the start of a fight I'd pull hate, but you're also wasting their uptime. Furthermore, if you're going to pop IR, you want to pop IR and SS together while refreshing your WB and VB, because DOTs only care about your stats when they're applied. So letting IR fall off to be replaced with SS as you start your rotation would be a DPS loss, because it means your big attacks aren't getting the crit buff.

As to your part 2, yes, you do need a full GCD. BL -> SS -> WB leaves a full GCD between SS and WB where it's impossible for RoB to proc. SS -> BL -> WB leaves a much smaller gap. Your opening has an entire 3-second DOT window where no DOTs are rolling, meaning no chance for RoB to go off.

[NintenPyjak64]

For attack Macros, I use 4 different ones (for anybody who's seen MrHappy's video yes I'm using those because why the heck not, been working solidly for the most part)

But for buff macros I have 3 different ones.

/ac "Quelling Strikes" <me>
/wait 1
/ac "Raging Strikes" <me>

/ac "Hawk's Eye" <me>
/wait 1
/ac "Blood for Blood" <me>

/ac "Internal Release" <me>
/wait 1
/ac "Barrage" <me>

May I have advice on how to improve those and when would be good times to use them? I usually start the fight using my first macro then follow with the Straight shot macro, Windbite macro (twice to get bloodletter off then windbite), Venomous Bite macro, Heavy Shot macro (spam this until I get Straighter shot, then redo everything when my buff timer for Straight shot is getting low)

I'll occasionally use Rain of Death, though not as often as I like, and I'm not afraid to cast an MP or TP song if the Healers or DPS really need it.