Obtain a mass amount of procs in trash pulls, even if we have a more "complex" (if you want to call it that.) aoe rotation it still feels kind of awful lol If anything, I feel like this change really took away a key element to bard's gameplay all together, and oversimplified the system. It's a little nice, admittedly, to generate repertoire without having to rely on dots in combat but really it only changes the first few seconds of an engagement, as you should always have your dots on an enemy. I typically use this for tanks who need a little help in the damage mitigation department, or when something really unfortunate happens to a fellow DPS.Does anyone else feel like the change to repertoire was a step in the wrong direction in a way? Nature’s Minne: Boosts HP recovery from healing actions on a target party member or yourself by 20 percent for 15 seconds.It’s best used in big group-wide burst damage situations. Troubadour: Party-wide damage reduction-for 15 seconds, everyone takes 10 percent less damage.Its best uses are in DPS races, or when you see a high-damage player use their own spike, like Ley Lines for a black mage. Battle Voice: Increases your entire party’s direct hit rate by 20% for 15 seconds.In general, you’ll want to use this on healers if they get targeted with something just to help out. It removes one detrimental effect from a target party member, and creates a barrier against the next effect that party member takes. The Warden’s Paean: Like Esuna, but better.It’s got a pretty big cooldown, so I like to save it for when I trigger Refulgent Arrow. Barrage: Triples your damage on a single-target weaponskill.You can save it for big spikes if you like, but in general, you want this up whenever you can. Raging Strikes: Increases your own damage dealt by 15 percent for 20 seconds.In general, these will be good for you to keep an eye on. Though I’m sure there are a few I’ve forgotten, most of them have made it onto my hotbars by now! And no, it doesn’t count if you use the same one twice! They all have to be unique to work for this.īards don’t just buff their parties they have a lot of situational abilities that make them incredibly useful in raiding situations. 90, you’ll unlock a new skill called Radiant Finale, a massive party-wide buff that increases in power based on the number of other songs you’ve used. This means you’ll want to time them properly-both so your party always has a buff, and so you have the right skills at the right time.Īdditionally, at lv. The key with these songs is that you can only ever have one of them active at a time. 78, grants you an extra speed buff for 10 seconds when you cast another song
Army’s Paeon speeds up your global cooldown for every stack up to four, and at lv.Mage’s Ballad can speed up the charge timers for Bloodletter and Rain of Arrows (which is a strong trash mob ability for the bard).The Wanderer’s Minuet unlocks Pitch Perfect, an otherwise-locked heavy-hitting shot that stacks up to three times.These effects depend entirely on Repertoire stacks, which you gain by random chance when you have a song active. Each of these songs lasts for 45 seconds, buffs you and your fellow party members, and unlocks a unique effect for you. You’ll have all of them by the time you’re done with your lv. If the bard had a catchphrase, it would be “Let me sing you the song of my people.”Īs you level up your bard, you’ll gain three song abilities, which are the foundation of your entire rotation. But that just makes those of us who like to play bard that much more valuable. Most people don’t like doing that, though, especially with fun new classes like the reaper out. To paraphrase from my previous guide:Įach of a bard’s abilities has a specific time and place to be used, and a good bard will end up watching the party almost as much as a healer does. It’s all about utility, and that’s why it’s still on almost everyone’s must-have list for endgame raids.Ī bard’s utility means it can do all kinds of things other classes can’t things like increasing damage output, reducing damage taken, reducing recast times, and helping other players heal. It’s still got a reputation for being one of the lower damage-per-second (DPS) classes, but with the latest updates, it’s clear that the Square Enix team is trying to fix that reputation!Įven with these changes, though, the bard’s true strength still isn’t in its own damage. So today, let’s talk about the new kit for the bard.Īll in all, the bard’s role hasn’t changed that much in FFXIV.