A Bard’s Life in Stormblood
By Oisty Te
V4.06
Welcome to my Bard guide, I hope you find some of the information below useful and any and all feedback is more than welcome. Also all opinions in this guide are my own and therefore please do not assume this is the only way to play Bard.
Also please can I just say that this is in way a guide to play Bard as optimally as you can. If you are after that then check out another couple of the bard guides on Reddit Miyuri’s Guide and Aileena & Cetonis
Skills
| Ability | Level | Type | Cast | Recast | Range | Radius |
| Heavy Shot | 1 | Weaponskill | 0s | 2.5s | 25y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 150.Additional Effect: 20% chance next Straight Shot will deal critical damageDuration: 10sYour standard Weaponskill, Bard uses a priority list when it comes to what skills to use and while Heavy Shot is at the bottom of that list you will find that you are constantly using it mainly for the Additional Effect, as while at lower levels a Critical Hit Straight Shot may not seem like much once you reach level 70 those proc’s can be used to Refulgent Arrow which is one of Bard’s best abilities. | ||||||
| Straight Shot | 2 | Weaponskill | 0s | 2.5s | 25y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 140.Additional Effect: Increases critical hit rate by 10%Duration: 30sAgain much like Heavy Shot a very simple looking skill but one that had to be managed constantly. While Heavy Shot sits last on a Bard’s priority list, Straight Shot sits in the middle (third on mine and most people’s lists). The buff of 10% critical hit rate may not seem like much but it not only affects your normal Weaponskills it also affects any Damage over Time (DoT) abilities as well. So if for example you have a critical hit chance of 20% (1 in 5) if you apply Venomous Bite while under the effect of Straight Shot then every time your DoT ticks instead of having a 20% chance for it to crit it will have a 30% chance. Now this may not seem important at lower levels apart from a way to increase damage but at higher levels when combined with your job skills it becomes very important. | ||||||
| Raging Strikes | 4 | Ability | 0s | 80s | 0y | 0y |
| Increases damage dealt by 10%.Duration: 20sWhat’s not to like about damage being boosted. It’s cooldown of 80s lines up with whichever song you use in your opener and should always be on cooldown unless you are saving it for a boss fight/burn phase. Should also be used pre Iron Jaws as then all DoTs that are refreshed will actually keep the damage increase for there entire duration. Where applicable I like to hit Iron Jaws just after activating Raging Strikes to get 15 seconds of boosted DoT damage then refresh again just before Raging Strikes falls off so that you get another 30 seconds of boosted DoT damage. This is often called Snapshotting. | ||||||
| Venomous Bite | 6 | Weaponskill | 0s | 2.5s | 25y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 100.Additional Effect: VenomPotency: 40Duration: 18sThe first of our Damage over Time abilities or DoT. DoTs are important to Bards as they allow us to use some of our more special abilities more often. The main thing to remember though is no matter what keep your DoTs up, even if it’s at the expense of using a more potent attack. | ||||||
| Misery’s End | 10 | Ability | 0s | 12s | 25y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 190.Can only be executed when target’s HP is below 20%.Your standard execute action, nothing much to see, use it when available. Don’t worry about it too much if it’s not. | ||||||
| Bloodletter | 12 | Ability | 0s | 15s | 25y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 130.Shares a recast timer with Rain of Death.At lower levels this is one of your most important abilities as it is the first of your damaging abilities (I’m not counting Misery’s End as it is a situational ability) which is off the Global Cooldown (oGCD). What does this mean, well what it means is that you can use Heavy/Straight Shot or Venomous Bite then while waiting the 2.5s it takes for one of those abilities to be ready again, you can cast this. Now while not earth shattering at lower levels although extra damage always helps, at higher levels especially once you have unlocked Mage’s Ballad this skill becomes really useful and one of your most useful. | ||||||
| Repelling Shot | 15 | Ability | 0s | 30s | 5y | 0y |
| Jump 10 yalms back from current position. Cannot be executed while bound.Before Stormblood this used to deal a small amount of damage and was often used oGCD to weave in between other skills and abilities just for an extra little bit of damage, however with the removal of the damage part of this ability it becomes more of a utility ability being able to remove yourself from mobs, avoiding AoEs etc. However, care must be taking in certain fights mainly Primals with the occasional raid as you may find yourself repelling straight off the back of a platform. | ||||||
| Quick Nock | 18 | Weaponskill | 0s | 2.5s | 12y | 12y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 110 to all enemies in a cone before you.Your first Area of Effect (AoE) skill. Use this when you have trash mobs or when you need to kill lots of enemies in a short space of time. | ||||||
| Windbite | 30 | Weaponskill | 0s | 2.5s | 25y | 0y |
| Deals wind damage with a potency of 60.Additional Effect: Wind damage over timePotency: 50Duration: 18sThe second of our DoT abilities. This should always be used before Venomous bite to get the benefit of it’s DoT potency being higher than Venomous Bite, however if being used in conjunction with Mage’s Ballad unless you have acquired the upgraded versions of these skills it is best to use Venomous Bite to spread your DoTs around to improve your chance of getting a critical hit. The reason for this is while the DoT potency is more on Windbite the initial potency on the attack makes Venomous Bite the winner.ExplanationOver 18s you are likely to get 6 ticks of the DoT (1 tick every 3 seconds) so over 18s the following potencies would occur:Venomous Bite: 100 (Initial Potency) + (45*6) = 370Windbite: 60 (Initial Potency) + (50*6) = 360Now while it is only a small amount, every little bit helps when it comes to DPS | ||||||
| Mage’s Ballad | 30 | Ability | 0s | 80s | 25y | 20y |
| Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100.Additional Effect: Increases critical hit rate of all party members within a radius of 20 yalms by 2%Duration: 30sEffect is lost if party members move out of hearing distance.Additional Effect: Activates Repertoire, resetting Bloodletter and Rain of Death recast time if critical damage over time is dealt by Caustic Bite or Stormbite.The first of our ‘song’ skills. Mage’s Ballad is one of the most useful skills for a Bard and will either be the second song in your single target rotation or first song in your AoE rotation. It’s first effect is simple, once used all members of your party inside 20 yalms get +2% critical hit rit. Now even though it says all party members it does not include yourself so just be mindful of that.However, it is the second effect that you will normally be using Mage’s Ballad for. Whenever one of your DoT abilities crit’s then it refreshes both Bloodletter and Rain of Death. Because these two abilities are off the GCD they allow you to generate additional damage without having to wait for cooldowns. | ||||||
| Foe Requiem | 35 | Spell(ish) | 3.5s | 2.5s | 0y | 20y |
| Increases damage taken by nearby enemies by 3%. MP is drained while singing. Effect is lost if targets move out of hearing distance, and ends upon reuse.Our only ability with a cast time this used to always be up if the party included a caster and even though Healers are casters it mainly shone in parties including Black Mage’s and Summoners. However now that is a flat 3% for everyone it should always be up when you have sufficient MP. Can be sustained for longer by using Refresh as normally it lasts for approx 8 ticks but Refresh does extend it to about 10. | ||||||
| Barrage | 38 | Ability | 0s | 80s | 0y | 0y |
| Triples the number of strikes for a single-target weaponskill. Additional effects added only once.Duration: 10sA great utility ability especially at higher levels. The main use of Barrage is to use it when you are about to use Empyreal Arrow (pre level 70) or Refulgent Arrow (at level 70). Any additional effects (such as a DoT) are only applied once so no point using it on any of the bite abilities. Also don’t keep this ready for too long, if it is ready fish for a Refulgent Arrow proc to use it on until your next Empyreal Arrow is ready and if you haven’t used it use it then. Saving it any longer is always a DPS loss.At lower levels (pre-62) it is recommended for you to use Barrage whenever you have a proc’d straighter shot ready. This is because when you use a proc’d Straight Shot, you are guaranteed a critical hit which will also mean when used under the effect of Barrage it would generate 3 cirtical hits with Straight Shot or at least that’s how the ability reads. This may require additional testing and if it doesn’t then will revisit this. | ||||||
| Army’s Paeon | 40 | Ability | 0s | 80s | 25y | 20y |
| Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100.Additional Effect: Increases critical hit rate of all party members within a radius of 20 yalms by 2%Duration: 30sEffect is lost if party members move out of hearing distance.Additional Effect: Grants Repertoire if critical damage over time is dealt by Caustic Bite or StormbiteRepertoire Effect: Reduces weaponskill cast time and recast time, spell cast time and recast time, and auto-attack delay by 4%Can be stacked up to 4 times.Our second ‘song’ and unfortunately also the weakest of the three. Reducing recast time of anything by 4% per stack sounds brilliant and getting to 4 stacks reduces all recast times by 16% and if extra attacks equals extra damage then why is it so bad. Well it’s not so much that the additional benefit isn’t very good it’s that after you get 4 stacks then any additional stacks are wasted as opposed to when under the effect of other ‘songs’. You will use Army’s Paeon second in AoE rotations as it’s added effect does allow for quicker burn, but you will almost always be using it last in single target rotations and also normally won’t even have it on for the full duration as it is almost always more beneficial to be using either of the other two songs.Army’s Paeon does have an interesting effect when used in conjunction with Foe’s Requiem. Foe’s in the only ability we have which forces us to stop damage to use and the additional effect from Army’s Paeon does reduce it’s cast time, therefore when transitioning from Army’s Paeon to Wanderer’s Minuet it is useful to use Foe’s Requiem again at this point. | ||||||
| Rain of Death | 45 | Ability | 0s | 15s | 25y | 8y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 100 to target and all enemies nearby it.Shares a recast timer with Bloodletter.This is your only oGCD AoE ability and should always be on cooldown when in AoE situations. It does has a 15 second cooldown but much like Bloodletter with liberal use of your DoT abilities while under the effect of Mage’s Ballad it can be cast much more often and should be. | ||||||
| Battle Voice | 50 | Ability | 0s | 180s | 0y | 20y |
| Increases direct hit rate of all party members under the effect of your Mage’s Ballad, Army’s Paeon, or Wanderer’s Minuet by 15%.Duration: 20sA very simple buff which should be saved for boss encounters and then kept on cooldown as much as possible | ||||||
| The Wanderer’s Minuet | 52 | Ability | 0s | 80s | 25y | 20y |
| Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100.Additional Effect: Increases critical hit rate of all party members within a radius of 20 yalms by 2%Duration: 30sEffect is lost if party members move out of hearing distance.Additional Effect: Allows execution of Pitch Perfect if critical damage over time is dealt by Caustic Bite or StormbiteCan be stacked up to 3 times.The final ‘song’ that you get access is also the most important when it comes to single target rotation. While Wanderer’s Minuet was probably the most hated skill added in Heavensward it has undergone considerable changes and now activates one of the most powerful abilities in a Bard’s toolkit.Wanderer’s Minuet is always activated during the opening stages of a fight in order to get the most bang so to speak when using Pitch Perfect. Using Wanderer’s at the beginning of a fight means it will allow Pitch Perfect attacks to be cast under the effects of any individual and party buffs which are normally used at the beginning of fights.While Wanderer’s is the best song to start individual fights and then should always be used as soon as it is available it does not have much use during AoE situations so therefore is the weakest song to use during this time. | ||||||
| Pitch Perfect | 52 | Ability | 0s | 3s | 25y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 100 when Repertoire stack is 1, 240 when Repertoire stack is 2, and 420 when Repertoire stack is 3.Can only be executed when the Wanderer’s Minuet is active.Pitch Perfect is the most powerful attack a bard has when you cast it with 3 stacks of repertoire, and should only be cast with 3 stacks of Repertoire unless Wanderer’s Minuet is about to fall off in which case you should use it or if you are under the effect of skills such as Battle Litany (DRG) or Chain Stratagem (SCH) as both of these directly affect the amount of Critical Hits you either cause/the enemy suffers. This means that more stacks are gained and therefore it will be better to use at 2 stacks as it will allow more cast of it. | ||||||
| Empyreal Arrow | 54 | Weaponskill | 0s | 15s | 25y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 230. This weaponskill does not share a recast timer with any other actions.Empyreal Arrow is one of a Bard’s most powerful abilities not only in terms of damage potential but also in terms of utility when used at higher levels.Empyreal Arrow is a weaponskill so therefore is able to be used with Barrage but it does have a recast timer unlike other weaponskills. As explained under Barrage, Empyreal Arrow is the 2nd most powerful ability to use Barrage and therefore should be used if Empyreal Arrow comes off cooldown with Barrage available.At level 68 Empyreal Arrow gains the ability to automatically trigger the effect of Mage’s Ballad, Army’s Paeon and Wanderer’s Minuet. This means the following:Mage’s Ballad: Will reset the cast time on Bloodletter and Rain of Death. Therefore, if Bloodletter/Rain of Death is available use it then use Empyreal Arrow to cast it again.Army’s Paeon: Will give another stack of repertoire reducing you
r recast time by another 4%. Empyreal Arrow should only be used once per Army’s Paeon cast due to it’s recast time and how long you normally have Army’s Paeon active for. Any additional use of Empyreal Arrow during this time will result in it only be available once for other songs.Wanderer’s Minuet: Should always, always be used as many times as possible during Wanderer’s Minuet. Whether it is giving you one stack or adding to the stack, you should always use Empyreal Arrow as much as possible. If you have 3 stacks of repertoire then cast Pitch Perfect then use this. | ||||||
| Iron Jaws | 56 | Weaponskill | 0s | 2.5s | 25y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 100.Additional Effect: If the target is suffering from a Caustic Bite or Stormbite,Venomous Bite or Windbite effect inflicted by you, the effect timer is reset.Iron Jaws is basically an 1100 potency attack every 30 seconds (initial 100 plus DoT damage). Once you have Iron Jaws it should be your primary way of keeping your DoTs ticking with the only times you have to completely reapply being if they fall off while you are being raised or if they fall off while the boss is Invulnerable/Untargetable.As stated in Raging Strikes/Straighter Shot Iron Jaws should be cast after both of these to get the 10% damage buff from Raging Strikes or the 10% Critical Hit Chance from Straighter Shot. You should then also use Iron Jaws approx 2-3 seconds before Raging Strikes falls off to ‘snapshot’ the damage buff meaning that the next 30 seconds of damage from your DoTs will still have the 10% damage increase. | ||||||
| The Warden’s Paean | 58 | Ability | 0s | 45s | 30y | 0y |
| Removes one select detrimental effect from a target party member or pet. If the target is not enfeebled, a barrier is created nullifying the target’s next detrimental effect suffered.Duration: 30sI never originally understood just how good this was especially in solo play mainly because I didn’t understand that a party member can be yourself, very useful to remove those pesky pacification effects in Palace of the Dead (PotD) plus poison effects in open world. Can also be used to stop them happening in first place so you can cast this in advance of taking on enemies who are likely to inflict status effects (or if you see one being cast on you quickly throw this up as you are likely to get it cast before they do). | ||||||
| Sidewinder | 60 | Ability | 0s | 60s | 20y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 100.Additional Effect: If the target is suffering from a Caustic Bite or Stormbite,Venomous Bite or Windbite effect inflicted by you, Sidewinder potency is increased to 175 for one effect, or 260 for bothVery powerful oGCD ability especially in an opener when both DoTs are in effect along with any buffs that both yourself and your party will have cast. I always try to line this up with Raging Strikes for maximum effect but it may be considered a DPS loss therefore it may be more worthwhile to use it whenever it is off CD assuming you have both DoTs ready. Which does bring up one point, never under any circumstances should this be cast without both DoTs already being on the target. | ||||||
| Troubadour | 62 | Ability | 0s | 180s | 0y | 25y |
| Adds an additional effect to the song currently being sung.Mage’s Ballad Effect: Increases maximum HP by 15%Army’s Paeon Effect: Reduces physical vulnerability by 10%The Wanderer’s Minuet Effect: Reduces magic vulnerability by 10%Duration: 30sCan only be executed if a song is being sung.Troubadour is possibly the only reason that you would use Army’s Paeon first in a single target rotation and even then it would only be if you know there is spike damage in the first 30 seconds of a fight. Normally the most optimal time of usage for Troubadour is when under the effect of Mage’s Ballad as the increased HP is usually better than the reduction in vulnerability unless there are specific mechanics that reducing your vulnerability would be useful for. | ||||||
| Caustic Bite | 64 | Weaponskill | 0s | 2.5s | 25y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 120.Additional Effect: PoisonPotency: 45Duration: 30sAn upgraded version of Venomous Bite. Everything that has already been said about DoTs applies to Caustic Bite. Along with Stormbite this should always be applied in single target encounters and in AoE encounters if there are only 3 enemies it should also be applied to them. | ||||||
| Stormbite | 64 | Weaponskill | 0s | 2.5s | 25y | 0y |
| Deals wind damage with a potency of 120.Additional Effect: Wind damage over timePotency: 55Duration: 30sAn upgraded version of Windbite. Everything that has already been said about DoTs applies to Stormbite. When in single target situations this will always be applied before Caustic Bite due to its increased potency and in AoE situations should be the DoT ability that is used to help trigger Mage’s Ballad more frequently again because of the increased potency of the DoT. | ||||||
| Nature’s Minne | 66 | Ability | 0s | 45s | 30y | 0y |
| Increases HP recovery via healing magic for a party member or self by 20%.Duration: 15sIf you played Bard in A Realm Reborn or Heavensward it’s likely that unless your party had a Monk in it that you were using Mantra, I mean after all who doesn’t like all healing to be increased by 20%. Well we can no longer use Mantra but this isn’t a bad replacement. Cast it on your tank in 4 man content whenever it is off cooldown and save it for special occasions when some additional healing is needed in higher level content. I have this macro’d so I don’t even need to select the tank to use it./micon “Nature’s Minne”/ac “Nature’s Minne” <tt>The <tt> is important as it means that you use the ability on the target of whoever you are targeting so if you are targeting an enemy it will always be cast on who they are targeting. | ||||||
| Refulgent Arrow | 70 | Weaponskill | 0s | 2.5s | 25y | 0y |
| Delivers an attack with a potency of 300.Can only be executed while under the effect of Straighter Shot.You final skill as a Bard and outside of a 3 stack Pitch Perfect it is the highest potency attack you can make and if luck is on your side an attack you will be able to make often, however there are also times when you will barely be able to use it all.Refulgent Arrow should always be used as soon as it is available unless Barrage will come off Cooldown is less than 8 seconds, this is because a Barraged Refulgent Arrow is the closest thing Bard has to a nuke in their skill set.Now the main problem comes when Refulgent Arrow is available but Straight Shot is about to fall off. It is times like these that you just need to relax use the Refulgent Arrow proc then hit Straight Shot after. This can become troublesome if both Straight Shot and your DoTs are both about to fall off. In these situations it’s all about trying to figure out what can be done in the moment:Can you quickly use Iron Jaws to reapply your DoTs and then cast Refulgent and Straight Shot after.Can I use Refulgent Arrow but still have enough time to use Iron Jaws even if it means applying them without the Straight Shot buff as can still hit Straight Shot then Iron Jaws straight after.It is these decisions that can make or break you as a Bard.Also as stated in the Barrage and Empyreal Arrow section do no t wait for this to proc before using Barrage, if in your opener you get to your second Empyreal Arrow cast without getting a Refulgent Arrow proc then use Barrage on Empyreal Arrow, just be prepared for RNGesus to decide the Heavy Shot after will be the one to proc Refulgent Arrow. |
Role Actions
| Action | Acquired | Type | Cast | Recast |
| Second Wind | Lvl 8 | Ability | Instant | 120s |
| Instantly restores ow HPCure Potency: 500Cure potency varies with current attack power Your first role action is also one of your most useful. Brilliant in solo play as it allows you to self heal and in low level dungeons allows for the healer to focus on other members. Long cooldown requires forward planning but if you have just been hit for a large amount of damage then this can help the healer out by giving them a little bit of breathing space. I always carry this on my hotbar. | ||||
| Foot Graze | Lvl 12 | Ability | Instant | 30s |
| Binds targetDuration:10sCancels auto-attack upon executionTarget unbound if damage taken Useful at low levels as if you find yourself fighting a mob that is just hitting a little bit too hard you can use this then retreat, just remember that while it cancels auto attacks any DoTs or ability damage will still unbind the target. In higher level play this is situational to pointless. | ||||
| Leg Graze | Lvl 16 | Ability | Instant | 30s |
| Inflicts target with Heavy +40%Duration 10s Just like Foot Graze in low level play it allows you some ability to remove yourself away from an enemy. But while Foot Graze stops the target from moving, Leg Graze just makes them move more slowly and the effect also doesn’t end once you start inflicting damage on them therefore using Leg Graze followed by Repelling Shot will put some distance between you and the enemy while also slowing them down from catching you allowing you to use your mobility . | ||||
| Peloton | Lvl 20 | Ability | Instant | 5s |
| Increases movement speed of self and nearby party members as long as they remain within distanceDuration:30sEffect ends when enmity is generated. Cannot be used in battle Peloton is a funny skill to me as while you will see it being used in dungeons quite often, I don’t see the need or reason to. Yes moving through a dungeon after a wipe is nice and all but it’s going to save you 10-15 seconds is it really worth using up a role action for it over some of the other more beneficial ones in my opinion. So after a lot of feedback with regards to Peloton please allow me to say that I don’t think this skill is useless, I PERSONALLY just feel that the few seconds it saves going mob to mob is not worth it compared to the utility of having a stun/silence/self heal/self TP boost that head graze/arm graze/second wind or Invigorate gives. | ||||
| Invigorate | Lvl 24 | Ability | Instant | 120s |
| Instantly restores 400 TP The first of four Role Action Skills that I believe is mandatory for a Bard. As a Bard one of our most powerful abilities is our AoE skill set and while you are usually looking to Rain of Death for the most AoE damage you should never discount the amount of damage Quick Knock under the effect of Straight Shot can deal, however this comes at the cost of TP, a lot of TP. Invigorate helps solve that by restoring a large portion of this. I always try to use this around 400TP and combine it with Tactician to keep my TP topped up. | ||||
| Tactician | Lvl 32 | Ability | Instant | 180s |
| Gradually restores own TP and the TP of all nearby party members.Duration: 30sAdditional Effect: Halves enmity The second of the mandatory role actions (in my opinion) regenerates TP across the entire party, this is great for AoE situations or fights which go on for a long period of time and party members find themselves running low on TP. The additional effect is also really good as there are times when a bard may find themselves pulling aggro from a tank especially in AoE situations, so in those situations not only will this stop enemies attacking you but it’ll also help you continue to pump out damage by increasing your TP. | ||||
| Refresh | Lvl 36 | Ability | Instant | 180s |
| Gradually restores own MP and the MP of all nearby party members.Duration: 30sAdditional Effect: Halves enmity Mandatory skill number 3. Refresh works in the same way as Tactician but instead of restoring TP it restores MP. Now while we don’t have any abilities that use MP outside of Foe’s Requiem there are plenty of jobs which do (Healers, Paladins, Casters) and a well placed Refresh can boost their MP to keep them healing or dealing damage. Where possible I like to combine this with Foe’s Requiem to make it last slightly longer.Also has the same additional effect as Tactician but this isn’t as useful in these situations | ||||
| Head Graze | Lvl 40 | Ability | Instant | 30s |
| Silences targetDuration: 1s Blunt Arrow used to be a semi used ability on a Bard’s hotbar but one that was always there none the less due to it being free damage while also providing the additional effect of silencing the target. However this has been lost in Stormblood and replaced with Head Graze. There are few fights at the moment where silencing an enemy is useful while in ARR and HW the occasional silence came in useful and while at the moment especially in raid content there is little use for Silence it may return to prevalence the further in Stormblood we get. | ||||
| Arm Graze | Lvl 44 | Ability | Instant | 25s |
| Stuns targetDuration: 2s Bard’s have never had a stun so has never previously been part of our toolkit, there will be times when an oGCD stun will be of use mainly in low level dungeons where mobs and even bosses can be stunned. There are also some instances in higher level content (Sohm Al HM, Sirensong Sea are just two examples) where specific enemies can be stunned to avoid powerful attacks however in the majority of raid and end game content much like silence, stuns aren’t widely needed but again this could change during the course of Stormblood. | ||||
| Palisade | Lvl 48 | Ability | Instant | 150s |
| Reduces physical damage taken by a party member by 20%Duration 10s The final of the what I believe to be a Bard’s mandatory Role Skills, Palisade is especially powerful as it gives a target party member extra mitigation and as mitigation stacks it won’t overwrite or be overwritten, therefore very useful for a tank about to take a Tank Buster or in low level dungeons (as even though your job actions and gear syncs to the level of the dungeon, your role actions don’t) where a tank may not have as many mitigation options. And besides whats not to like about taking less damage. |
So the five role actions I use are: Second Wind, Invigorate, Tactician, Refresh and Palisade. However there will be occasions where Head/Arm Graze will also of be of use (low level dungeons) and these (mainly Arm Graze) can be substituted in instead of Second Wind.
Rotation
Bard does not use a set rotation like a Monk or a Dragoon and instead uses a priority system when it comes damage. The priority system that most Bard’s agree on is the following:
Iron Jaws: This is the number 1 priority as you have to keep your DoTs ticking. Always use this when your DoTs have around 2-3 seconds left.
Refulgent Arrow: Anytime that Refulgent Arrow is available it should be used, it is one of you most powerful abilities and therefore should be used whenever it procs. The only time you should save it is if Barrage will be available is 8 seconds or less.
Straight Shot: To keep the special abilities of your songs ticking, you need your DoTs criting and Straight Shot helps to do this. The main issue with Straight Shot is thinking ahead to make sure that you reapply the buff before things can get in the way. DO NOT USE STRAIGHT SHOT IF YOU HAVE A REFULGENT ARROW PROC AND ARE WAITING FOR BARRAGE TO COME OFF COOLDOWN AS YOU WILL LOSE THE REFULGENT ARROW PROC
Pitch Perfect: When this is used at 3 stacks it is a Bard’s most powerful attack and therefore should always be used at 3 stacks unless Wanderer’s Minuet is about to fall off. If you have large amounts of Critical Hit Chance then using Pitch Perfect at 2 stacks may be optimal due to the number of procs you may get but current gear and materia is not at those high levels as of yet.
Empyreal Arrow: A Bard’s most powerful attack that does not require a proc to use, therefore it should be used on cooldown, if you have went a full Empyreal Arrow cooldown with Barrage available and didn’t get a Refulgent Arrow proc use barrage with this.
Sidewinder: Because you should always have your DoTs on a target, Sidewinder is a very powerful ability which again should always be used on cooldown
Heavy Shot: When all else fails, spam heavy shot until something better is available.
Bloodletter: Bloodletter does not fit into a specific place in the priority list and instead sits either before or after Empyreal Arrow depending on the song being played. If using Mage’s Ballad it sits before Empyreal Arrow as there is no point using Empyreal Arrow to guarantee a reset of Bloodletter if it is already available, while using either of the other songs it sits after it.
The Opener
When starting any boss fight you are looking to dump as much damage into a single target (normally a boss) as possible within a short space of time. This is normally at the beginning of a fight and therefore is referred to as an OPENER. A Bard’s opener is very simple once you get used to it as it is basically just applying your DoTs then snapshotting them with Raging Strikes before using some of the oGCD abilities before snapshotting your DoTs again then it’s a case of going into the Priority System as described above.
So what is the Opener for a Bard, well this is what I use:
So it’s starts with Foe’s Requiem being cast about 2/3 seconds before the tank pulls, this allows you to start DPSing near enough straight away once the tank has established aggro. This is followed by the first of your DoTs Stormbite, you then WEAVE (using an oGCD between GCD abilities) Bloodletter and Raging Strikes before using Caustic Bite. You then WEAVE Wanderer’s Minuet and Battle Voice before using Straight Shot. After this WEAVE Empyreal Arrow and Sidewinder then finish with Iron Jaws . The rest of the opener consists of casts of Heavy Shot, Pitch Perfect when it reaches three stacks with WEAVES of Bloodletter in between.
If you get a Refulgent Arrow immediately use Barrage before using it. If you haven’t got a Refulgent Arrow proc before Empyreal Arrow comes off cooldown use Barrage then as leaving it any longer will be a DPS loss. Also due to the ability to SNAPSHOT buffs in the opener always make sure to use Iron Jaws when Raging Strikes has 2-3 seconds left on it’s cooldown.
After your opener it’s a case of cycling through your songs in the following order:
- Wanderer’s Minuet
- Mage’s Ballad
- Army’s Paeon
With each song you should always try and keep a song active but if you need to let it fall off for a couple of seconds this is ok as the 2% Critical Hit buff does last after the song finishes. Also while Wanderer’s Minuet and Mage’s Ballad should never be changed early, Army’s Paeon should always be changed to Wanderer’s Minuet as soon as Mage’s Ballad has less than 30 seconds left on it’s cooldown.
One other quick point about the opener is the placement of Straight Shot after the first DoTs have been applied, this is so that your DoTs are ticking immediately as waiting for them to be cast is a DPS loss.
AoE Rotation
When you have 3 or more targets/mobs your should use your AoE rotation. The song order should be:
- Mage’s Ballad
- Army’s Paeon
- Wanderer’s Minuet
To begin you should cast Straight Shot to improve your crit chance followed by casting Stormbite on one of the mobs then Mage’s Ballad. This is followed by Rain of Death then Empyreal Arrow followed by Rain of Death again due to it being reset by Empyreal Arrow. Follow this up by cycling through the different Mobs placing Stormbite on each one. If you have placed Stormbite on approx 4-5 enemies then commence using Quick Knock while watching for Rain of Death resetting and casting it when available. If you need to place any additional DoTs then cast Caustic Bite and also use Sidewinder for additional damage. If you find yourself running out of TP during these situations use Invigorate and Tactician.
Snapshotting
So I’ve had a few people asking me what buffs are worth it when it comes to snap shotting.
For those who don’t know what snapshotting is allow me to explain. In FFXIV whenever you make an attack that also applies a DoT to the enemy any buffs/debuffs present at that time are applied for the entire duration of the DoT, so if for example you apply a DoT and you have a 10% damage increase buff then for the entire length of the DoT it will have that 10% even if that 10% increase stops on you 2 seconds after the DoT is applied. This is known as snapshotting. As a Bard you are always wanting your DoTs to be ticking as powerfully as possible therefore anyway to make that possible is always going to help.
Now Bard itself does have a buff that you can snapshot in Raging Strikes and personally I would always refresh Iron Jaws just before Raging Strikes falls off to snapshot the 10% increase for the next 27/28 seconds of DoT damage, however I have seen and read that some people feel the increase in the damage isn’t worth the GCD you are using. So it is up to each person individually to decide if and when they want to snapshot. What I am going to do below though is give a brief overview of some of the skills you have find active on yourself/an enemy and my own opinion of whether or not I would snapshot with these skills active:
Chain Strategem: Anytime you are increasing your chance to Crit it is always a good idea to snapshot your DoTs. CS isn’t a direct buff to your hit rate but it increases the chance an enemy is hit by a critical attack by 15%. I believe this means (and please correct me if I’m wrong) but if you have a 10% chance to inflict a critical hit that chance would improve to 25% under CS (could also be that it improves to 11.5% as this would be a 15% increase on a 10% chance) and whichever way it is I would always try and snapshot this buff onto your DoTs both as soon as it’s cast and also just before it drops off.
Balance: Balance is all about boosting those raw DPS numbers which isn’t what we are looking for precisely it still helps. Because of the duration of Balance it is almost always possible to snapshot at the start and end of Balance’s duration unless your DoTs have 18-12 seconds left to run at which point it is almost always better to wait for them needing to be refreshed normally.
Arrow: Arrow falls into the same boat as CS as it improves your Crit Chance so should therefore in my opinion need to be snapshotted onto your DoTs as soon as it is applied and again as it is about to drop off.
(Note about Arrow and Balance. Your choice can also be influenced by what type of Arrow/Balance you have. Enhanced (150% effect) will always give you a bang for your buck so should be snapshotted at the beginning and end of it’s duration. Extended (double duration) means that Balance you can wait to apply normally then again when DoTs are about to fall off and if your DoTs have less than 10 seconds remaining when it is about to fall off snapshot again. Extended Arrow should always be snapshotted at the beginning, during your normal refresh window and also at the end. Expanded (AoE) Balance gives a small increase so it is not normally worth the Snapshot at the beginning or end of it’s duration unless less than 5 seconds remaining on your DoTs. Expanded Arrow tough as it’s a crit increase should again be snapshotted beginning and end of it’s duration)
Battle Litany: What was said about CS and Arrow applies to BL, snapshot onto it as soon as it is active and again just as it is about to fall off.
Dragon Sight: I have read that on a pure numbers game the burst that a bard can do at the beginning of a fight indicates that they are the best recipient of Dragon Sight, however depending on when it is cast on you you may already be about to refresh your DoTs and the increase it gives to damage would not in my opinion be worth it to snapshot and possibly miss out on a Refulgent Arrow proc.
Trick Attack: Trick Attack while giving the same effect as Raging Strikes has a lot shorter duration therefore it will all be about how long you have left on your DoTs and also if you have already snapshotted something onto it previously that has fallen off and therefore would not be applied to the refreshed DoT so if for example your DoT currently has Battle Litany snapshotted onto it then unless the DoT has less than 5 seconds remaining when Trick Attack is about to fall off then it would not be worth it, but if you had Raging Strikes snapshotted onto the buff then snapshot it as it’s about to fall off as there is no discernable change in the buff.
Embolden: Embolden is a tricky one as it’s buff reduces in time therefore you are primarily wanting to try and snapshot during the first 4 seconds of it being cast as each additional 4 second delay will reduce it’s effectiveness. Again will all depend on what buffs are currently snapshotted onto your DoTs (any increases to Crits should be left), the length of time remaining before your DoTs need refreshing (<10 seconds definitely refresh, <15 but >10 your decision, >15 I would not) and also the amount of time left on Embolden (20-13 seconds refresh, 12 or less don’t).
Hypercharge: This like Dragon Sight is a boost when it’s first being used but unlike Dragon Sight has a slightly elongated duration this is because the ‘Increase Damage Taken’ effect is applied everytime the turret attacks an enemy meaning that if the turret attacks after 19 seconds of the duration the effect will still be applied for another 10 seconds, therefore what I would be looking to take advantage of is snapshotting as normal during your opener (which should include this effect) then again with about 3 seconds of the buff remaining this should in theory line up quite well with your normal refresh as its likely to mean a refresh around 10 seconds remaining.
Now there will be times when 1, 2, 3 or even more of these buffs are active at any one time and while in an ideal world I would cover each combination I don’t think I have the time or patience to do so. However if people would like to know my opinion on specific combinations please don’t hesitate to ask in the reddit.
Frequently Asked Questions
When to use Pitch Perfect? 2 or 3 stacks?
Always use it at 3 stacks unless you are under the effect of Battle Litany or Chain Strategem. Also use at 2 stacks if in an AoE situation. I also use at 2 stacks if a buff (Raging Strikes/Brotherhood/Embolden etc.) is also about to fall off as the damage increase is likely to offset the reduced potency.
Straight Shot or Refulgent Arrow?
Unless you need to refresh Straight Shot for an upcoming cast of Iron Jaws it should always be Refulgent Arrow. I sometimes even let Straight Shot fall off to cast Refulgent Arrow.
Should I save Refulgent Arrow for Barrage/Should I save Barrage for Refulgent Arrow?
If Barrage is coming off cooldown in 8 seconds or less then yes don’t use your Refulgent Arrow proc before it comes off cooldown as it will be a DPS loss. However, if Barrage is off cooldown I would recommend waiting no longer than one Empyreal Arrow cooldown before using Barrage on Empyreal Arrow. This way you are not ‘fishing’ for a Refulgent Arrow proc for too long and therefore not losing out on damage.
Should I refresh DoTs before Raging Strikes or any other Party Buffs fall off?
Yes is the simple answer. This is because the potency/crit chance/speed of your DoT is snapshotted when it is casted/refreshed. Therefore if you refresh your DoTs before a buff falls off it will carry the effect of that buff until it either falls off or is refreshed again. Therefore, if a DoT has been snapshotted it is always best to try and let them carry on for the entire duration.
Why if you say to use Refresh with Foe Requiem is it not used in your opener?
While refresh would allow Foe’s Requiem to stay on for approximately and additional 2 ticks of MP drain, at this stage of the fight it’s main effect would be lost. You should ideally wait for later in the fight when some of the party members will be hurting for MP. Therefore I normally try and use Refresh just as I use Foe’s Requiem for a second time, this is normally just before I drop Army’s Paeon into Wanderer’s Minuet.
Credit to DJShamrock for the following: ‘suggestion of using Refresh after Foe’s runs your MP dry- thus regenerating lost MP to casters after their bursting phases and also to maximize your total song time. Foe’s depletes our MP far faster than Refresh regenerates it, and therefore we actually lose out on both. If allowing refresh to fill our MP rather than run it during Foe’s, you actually get a new full foe’s faster, and the combined time for our debuff up time is a no brainer. You gain a mere GCD or two activating Refresh during Foe’s, but you get a WHOLE new Foe’s song easily by the time the Refresh runs out if not sooner.’
What I understand from this is that if you use Foe’s then after it runs out use Refresh as this will build your mana back up to full faster than normal server ticks. It will also give casters who have used a large amount during their openers (mainly Summoners and Red Mage’s) the opportunity to refill and this will also allow you to use Foe’s again sooner which obviously applies a debuff to the enemy which like DJShamrock says is a no brainer. This is a very valid idea and something I intend to try out going forward.
Credit to Miyuri and Aiuri for the opener and the FAQs, and also thanks to all those on Reddit who have taken the time to give advice and feedback as well as some other helpful information which has also been included in the guide.
To Add
Best In Slot (Savage, Non-Savage)
Non Savage Raiders Best in Slot (stat weights estimated, min 2000 Crit)
Savage Raiders Best in Slot (Stat weights estimated, min 2000 Crit)
What i’m aiming for before patch 4.2 (stat weights estimated, min 2000 Crit)
Stat Weights
