Paranoia

[Charity322]

I should stop reading the terrible PUG thread, because I've developed a paranoia of being one of those sort of players through general ineptitude. I realised that I hadn't done the duty roulette since I'd picked up Bard because I was afraid of screwing it up. Now, however, I've hit Stone Vigil on MSQ and can't avoid it anymore.

 

Because I already had several abilities on Archer that I didn't use because I didn't really understand their usefulness I had put off getting Bard because I suspected that I was going to get more confusing stuff and I was right. I finally got Bard at level 45 and ran through all the quests at once, leaving me with several songs and nfi when to use them, namely Mage's Ballad, Foe Requiem and Army Paeon. I could probably add Swiftsong to the list as I have never used it.

 

Except Swiftsong, which I never saw as useful as you couldn't cast it in battle, all the other songs look useful, but there can be only one at a time. So how do I choose between refreshing MP, TP or lowering Enemy Magic Resistance? My usual way of dealing with I don't know what to do is to avoid the stuff entirely, but that's really not going to cut it as I near level 50.

 

Also, I hear a lot of complaints about DPS not doing enough damage, so how do I know if it's ever worth using the songs that decrease my damage by 10%? I see too many opportunities for me to do the wrong thing.

 

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Valence]

You know, this makes me think that I should stop venting in that terrible pug thread for everything bare those very ludicrous and shitty situations, and I apologize for that. 

 

Basically you want to use Requiem during combat when you have casters in your party aka magical users that will benefit for the magical vuln you give to the enemies, as a I WhM I love that for example).

 

Out of combat it is always useful to use Mage Ballad or the TP regen one when you see that some of your party members are low in MP or TP, and choose the song accordingly!

 

If everyone is fine, then Swiftsong I guess!

[Virella]

Yes, if your healer is low on mana, play it. SMN and BLM generally don't need it whatsoever, especially BLM. TP songs can be handy when you don't have invigorate, and need a few ticks of TP. It's still better to do SOME damage then none due to having no TP. Also if your tank died, it may help to give them TP song, seeming they will be trying to get the boss/mobs back asap, and need TP for that. As well, you can always boost your MP/TP song once every 5 mins till the healers/melee/tanks are back onto their feet, so you don't have to sing that long. You just have to keep an eye out onto your party really. (Really, if you didn't get invigorate from Lancer yet, get it. It is GODLIKE for any melee class)

 

In fact, you'd be a terrible part if you didn't do the supporting of your class

 

Generally at the start of a fight, you pop your Foes Requiem (you can boost it as well if you dare to, but if you don't want to and save it in case you wanna boost MP song, that's fine as well), so by the time your healer possibly need mana, you got plenty again to restore his in return In truth, in most dungeons you don't need to MP/TP songs, its more needed for raids. Foes is always a plus to use on boss fights, and even between packs if you have a magic users like a BLM/SMN with you, but you kinda need to learn the dungeon, and the class, if you wanna juggle your mana properly.

 

I'd play it safe and just Foes at the start of boss fights only, until you kinda get used to your MP management yourself ^^

[Teadrinker]

Don't let the things people say in a venting thread about other people that you will never meet affect you personally.

 

Just play your game, have fun. :love:

[Oyuu]

Main BRD here, I'll give a brief summary of how I do things in terms of songs and all that jazz.

 

Foe Requiem = My go to song for most fights if I have at least one caster (a healer that regularly uses Cleric Stance counts). I usually turn it on before fights or as the tank is pulling - just be careful not to accidentally pull enemies with this, it has quite the long range! 

 

Mage's Ballad = Like you have pointed out, it nerfs your damage by 10% when you perform this song. Recommended times to play: in between pulls/fights, when a healer has just been raised, during long trial/raid fights and there's a lot of healing needed. Once your healers are around 80% MP again, turn it off and go back to singing Foe if you think they won't need it in the next two minutes. 

 

Army's Paeon = Similar to Mage's Ballad, except it's for physical DPS! The only time I've been required to play it was when I was raiding and the fight had zero breaks in combat (typically around the 4-5 minute mark). It's also common to play it after a lot of AoEing. A DPS/Warrior might ask for it, but again try to play this when not in combat. If you have to sing when fighting, do it for a short while just enough to keep them going, don't let it drain all your mana.

 

Battlevoice = Doubles your song potency. I typically use this along with the first Foe Requiem for a boss/trial fight. If the fight isn't demanding on your healers, keep using it on Foe, but you can use it for Mage's Ballad just to help with healers quickly during desperate times (think lots of raid wide damage and raising!)

 

Swiftsong = When you're running around, gets the party to the end of the dungeon faster!

 

Basically, if you wanna be a good support, you'll be looking at your party's MP and TP bars pretty often. You'll learn when the best time to play is so it doesn't impact your damage too badly, and you can help make the best out of your party! Hope this helps.

[Charity322]

Thanks for all the advice! I'll definitely take it on board for the Stone Vigil.

[Gegenji]

Don't let the things people say in a venting thread about other people that you will never meet affect you personally.

 

Just play your game, have fun. :love:

 

Just going to echo this a bit. Plus, as a DPS, your role isn't as high profile as the tank's or the healer's. Utilizing your songs and such to keep everyone topped off is definitely good, but overall you shouldn't get too much negative flak unless you're doing something obvious (running ahead and pulling, standing around doing nothing, stealing aggro repeatedly) or your party is looking at a parser or something.