4.x Bard Guide v1.3

By Aileena Chae (Tonberry server) + Sana Cetonis (Mateus server)

Info: Twitch Youtube Lodestone FFLogs Reddit   |||   Lodestone FFLogs Reddit

5.x Bard Guide V0.1 Note (May 29th 2019) by Aileena:

As of writing this note, the media embargo on Shadowbringers content will be lifted in 7 hours. A small group of Balance Discord Ranged mentors, Cetonis, and myself have agreed to collaborate together to make a comprehensive 5.x Bard guide. It has been encouraging to see how the 4.x guide has helped newer and veteran players alike when it comes to learning the depths of Stormblood Bard, so we hope that with more chefs in the kitchen, we will be able to bring out a product that will further enrich the Bard community. Let’s get this Shadowbringers hype train rolling!

For those who would like to provide feedback or comment on the guide in any way, contact me on Discord @aileena#0165. I’d be happy to chat!

Table of Contents

Important Sections

Basic Concepts of Bard Optimization        25

Song Stance Priority        26

Basic Skill Rotation Priority        27

Rotation Optimization Overview (TL;DR)        34

Table of Contents        1

Version History        3

Introduction        3

From Aileena        3

From Cetonis        4

Best In Slot Gear        4

Secondary Stat Priority        4

BRD BiS        4

Bard Changes in 4.x Patches        5

Skill Descriptions        5

Changes of Lvl 1~60 skills from 3.x to 4.x        5

Weaponskills (GCDs)        7

Damage Abilities (Off-GCDs)        10

Non-damage Abilities (Off-GCDs + Role Actions)        11

Recommended Role Actions        13

Song-related Abilities        13

Non-BRD Damage Buffs        17

Changes from 3.x to 4.x        17

Changes during 4.x        17

Abbreviations        22

Gameplay        23

Heavensward Bard vs. Stormblood Bard        23

Basic Concepts of Bard Optimization        25

Song Stance Priority        26

Basic Skill Rotation Priority        27

Weaponskills        27

Off-GCD Damage Abilities        27

Foe Requiem Optimization        28

Aileena’s Foe Requiem Setup        31

MP Restoration Optimization        31

Defensive Utility Usage        32

Troubadour        32

Nature’s Minne        33

Rotation Optimization        34

Overview (tl;dr)        34

Introduction        36

Openers        36

Non-RA, Barrage+EA Opener        37

Barrage+RA Opener        38

Late RA Proc, Barrage+EA Opener        38

Wanderer’s Minuet Phase        39

2-stack PP vs. 3-stack PP        39

Mage’s Ballad Phase        40

Triple-EA MB Phase        41

WM to MB Transition        41

Mid-MB EA Usage        42

MB to AP Transition (Possible 3rd EA in MB)        43

Army’s Paeon Phase        44

20s AP vs. 30s AP (relegated)        44

AP to WM Transition        45

Straight Shot Alignment        46

Easy-mode Option        46

Hard-mode Option        47

“Barrage-SS” Buff Refresh Criteria        48

Raid Buff Optimization        48

Iron Jaws with Raid Buffs        50

Word from Miyuri and Cetonis        50

Word from Aileena        52

Aileena’s Iron Jaws Guidelines        53

Appendix        54

Hardware/Add-ons/Network        54

MMO gaming mouse        54

ACT DPS Parser + FFLogs        55

VPN softwares        55

Relegated Foe Requiem Section        56

Relegated MP Restoration Optimization        57

Relegated 20s AP vs. 30s AP Section        59

Version History

August 26th 2017 (v1.0) - Guide release

August 28th 2017 (v1.1)

• Minor changes based on feedback from reddit post and Balance Discord
• Reworked Aileena’s Iron Jaws Guidelines for clarity.

December 18th 2017 (v1.11)

• Fixed NM and Palisade macros with ones that actually work ingame

February 11th 2018 (v1.2)

• Updated BRD BiS set for Sigmascape tier
• Updated non-BRD buff section from Patch 4.1 to 4.2.
• Modified the infusion potion description to the most recent tier (Grade 2)

October 10th 2018 (v1.3)

• Updated BRD BiS set for Alphascape tier
• Modified the infusion potion description to the most recent tier (Grade 3)

Introduction

From Aileena

The motivation for this guide came mainly from the pre-Stormblood hype from the media event and from my previous experiences in making the 3.x Bard Guide. Shortly after the media event, I (Aileena) contacted Cetonis with the hope of teaming up once again to create a comprehensive Bard guide that would cover the complete spectrum of its gameplay, from basic fundamentals to the complexities of advanced DPS optimization. After months of procrastination, deliberation, and word pounding, we have finally created a product worthy of public release.

While I did the majority of the work in terms of wording and formatting, Cetonis was the brains of most of the advanced concepts and provided the foundation in which I was able to expound my conclusions and guidelines. This guide would have been impossible without his professionalism, expert assistance and proactive support, so I am grateful for the opportunity to work with him once again. Cetonis’ fingerprints are all over this guide and he deserves all the credit he gets for it.

Special shoutout goes out to John Nguyen for helping with proofreading, providing a second opinion, and making sure what I was writing wasn’t a load of rubbish. As the best Bard on Tonberry, I’m sure you’ll soon find a new static where you will be treated with love and tenderness :^).

From Cetonis

As someone who's never been all that good at execution on Bard, I've always sought to make sure I'm comfortable with the theory and numbers so that I can at least get that part right. In Stormblood, that stuff frankly matters less compared to Heavensward (save for some stuff surrounding buff juggling), but it's nice to be clear on the hows and whys underneath even the more 'obvious' best-practices nonetheless.

And as you can see by the length of this guide, there's still a lot of room to discuss certain optimizations. Even as long-winded as I am, I couldn't imagine ever writing up something this comprehensive, so all the props to Aileena for taking this on and bringing in the bulk of the core ideas discussed here.

I'm happy to have been able to help with some numerical backing, and the back and forth has been good for motivating deeper looks into various areas. So hopefully this can be useful to Bard newbies, and at least get some wheels turning for veterans on matters they maybe hadn't thought too much about before.

Best In Slot Gear (updated for Alphascape)

Secondary Stat Priority

• There are no official stat weights as of yet but the common consensus of secondary stat priority amongst BRD players is to go with the following: CRIT > DH > DET > SKS
• Useful reddit links on 4.x secondary stat information by TheoryJerks folks are listed below:

• FFXIV 4.0 Statistic Intervals (by Nemekh)
• Level 70 Secondary Stats compared (by Yugl)

BRD BiS (updated for Patch 4.4) 

• Initial priority given to iLVL/Dex and then to CRIT > DH > DET > SKS
• BiS links provided by 4.4 BiS and Job Guides Overview reddit post.

• 2.47s GCD (pentamelded ring; recommended) - http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/1762U

• The reason for the Skillspeed V materia in the last slot of the pentamelded ring is to bring the GCD timer from 2.48s to 2.47s.

• 2.48s GCD (no crafting/pentamelding required) - http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/17587

Bard Changes in 4.x Patches

Skill Descriptions

Changes of Lvl 1~60 skills from 3.x to 4.x

Refer to 3.x guide for information on 3.x bard skills.

• Additions:

• Pitch Perfect at Lvl. 52 (refer to description below)

• Removals:

• AoE skills (Flaming Arrow, Wide Volley)
• Buffs (Hawk’s Eye, Quelling Strikes)
• Off-GCD skills (Blunt Arrow, Shadowbind)
• Cross-class skills (Featherfoot, Internal Release, Haymaker, Mantra, Feint, Keen Flurry, Blood for Blood)

• Remakes:

• No cast times on any weaponskills under Wanderer’s Minuet
• Wanderer’s Minuet, Mage’s Ballad, and Army’s Paeon

• Have been remade into 30s song stances (refer to Song-related Abilities section for details)

• Empyreal Arrow and Iron Jaws

• Can now be used outside of Wanderer’s Minuet and the cast times have been removed

• Battle Voice

• Has been remade to increase direct hit rate of all party members under the effect of your Mage's Ballad, Army's Paeon, or Wanderer's Minuet by 15% for 20s.

• Foe Requiem

• The effect "Reduces all enemy magic resistance by 10%" has been changed to "Increases damage taken by nearby enemies by 3%."
  “Cannot be used in battle or with other songs” has been removed.

• Swiftsong

• Renamed to Peloton and is now a Role Action

• Warden’s Paean

• Now either removes a detrimental effect OR applies a barrier that prevents a detrimental effect (previously used to apply a barrier even after removing an effect)

• Numerical changes

• Buffs

• Barrage multiplies single-target weaponskill by 3 from Lvl.38 (was Lvl.44 in 3.x due to trait)
• Barrage now allows allows for critical strikes with weaponskills
• Venomous Bite has 18 second duration from Lvl.6 (was Lvl.24 in 3.x due to trait)
• Raging Strikes recast time reduced to 80s from 120s
• TP cost of Windbite and Venomous Bite reduced to 60 from 80
• TP cost of Quick Nock reduced to 120 from 140
• TP cost of Empyreal Arrow reduced to 50 from 60
• TP cost of Iron Jaws reduced to 50 from 60
• Second Wind healing potency increased to 500 from 450

• Nerfs

• Raging Strikes damage buff reduced to 10% from 20%
• Bloodletter potency reduced to 130 from 150
• Repelling Shot potency reduced to 0 from 80
• The Rain of Death additional effect "Lowers target's evasion by 10%" has been removed.
• Misery’s End now acquired at Lvl. 10 (previously Lvl. 8)

• Trait reworks:

• Removal of Enhanced Venomous Bite, Enhanced Raging Strikes, Enhanced Quick Nock, Enhanced Barrage, River of Blood
• Enhanced Dexterity I grants 8 Dex at Lvl. 20 (was 2 Dex at Lvl. 14 in 3.x)
• Enhanced Dexterity II grants 16 Dex at Lvl. 40 (was 4 Dex at Lvl. 16 in 3.x)
• Enhanced Dexterity III grants 24 Dex at Lvl. 60 (was 6 Dex at Lvl. 32 in 3.x)

• Cross-class skills replaced by Role Actions (more details below)

Weaponskills (GCDs)

Damage Abilities (Off-GCDs)

Non-damage Abilities (Off-GCDs + Role Actions)

Recommended Role Actions

• Refresh

• Non-negotiable; More valuable on Bard due to synergy with Foe Requiem (refer to Foe Requiem Usage section below).

• Tactician

• While the TP regen is important, the enmity reduction that comes with this skill cannot be underestimated.

• Second Wind

• Self-heal will always be valuable.

• Invigorate

• Can be overkill with Tactician available but is always useful for instant TP recovery after being revived from KO and in heavy AoE situations.

• Palisade

• Extremely valuable in raid settings.

• Peloton

• When you need to go fast in dungeons and in town.

Song-related Abilities

Non-BRD Damage Buffs

Changes from 3.x to 4.x

• Additions

• Chain Strategem (Lvl. 66 Scholar)
• Brotherhood (Lvl. 70 Monk)
• Embolden (Lvl. 58 Red Mage)
• Devotion (Lvl. 64 Summoner Pet Skill)
• Radiant Shield (Lvl. 20 Summoner Ifrit-egi Skill)
• Dragon Sight (Lvl. 66 Dragoon)

• Changes

• Disembowel: 

• Piercing resistance reduction percentage reduced to 5% from 10%

• Rook Autoturret Hypercharge: 

• Hypercharge effect changed from "Increases target's physical damage taken by 10%" to "Increases target's damage taken by 5%."

Changes during 4.x

• Patch 4.05

• DRG - Dragon Sight

• Range increased from 6 to 12 yalms

• AST - The Balance (single target)

• Increase to damage dealt reduced to 10% from 20%

• AST - The Spear (single target)

• The effect of this ability has been changed from “Reduces ability recast time for a party member or self by 20% for 20 seconds” to “Increases the critical hit rate for a party member or self by 10% for 20 seconds”

• Patch 4.1

• SMN - Devotion

• The effect "increases attack potency and healing magic potency of the closest party member within a 30-yalm radius by 5%. Also reduces damage taken by that party member by 5%" has been changed to "increases damage dealt and reduces damage taken by all party members within a 30-yalm radius by 2%. Also increases healing magic potency of all party members by 5%."
• Aetherpact         

• Recast time increased from 90 to 120 seconds.
  No longer requires a party member within 30 yalms.

• MCH - Rook/Bishop Autoturret Hypercharge

• Hypercharge effect increasing target's damage taken increased from 5% to 6%.

• Patch 4.2

• AST - The Spear

• Effect duration increased from 20 to 30 seconds.

• MCH - Rook/Bishop Autoturret Hypercharge

• Hypercharge effect increasing target's damage taken has been reduced from 6% to 5%.

Useful links

• Rough evaluation of Astrologian AoE card potencies

Abbreviations

Gameplay

Heavensward Bard vs. Stormblood Bard

The release of Stormblood brought with it a plethora of changes to all battle jobs, but none were more affected than Bard and Machinist. The changes to Bard and Machinist were so extensive that even Yoshida acknowledged that they would feel the most different from what they played like in the previous Heavensward era. The table above compares some of the differences of the Heavensward and Stormblood Bard skillsets, revealing just a glimpse of the makeover that Bard underwent.

The gameplay difference is noticeable right out of the Stormblood gate. As many 2.x Bards complained about in the past, Heavensward Bard felt like a semi-caster that had to juggle a large number of off-GCDs--majority being Bloodletter procs--in a limited window after the casted GCD, while also maintaining 18s DoTs, a 20s crit buff, and providing whatever utility was required from them (Warden’s Paean on the Warrior, MP song for healers etc.). To the average player, playing Bard was a hectic experience, and to the player who wished to optimize, it was a highly challenging task due to how sensitive Bard was towards small mistakes and latency.

The FFXIV dev team realized this predicament and lowered the Bard skill floor at the onset of Stormblood by taking away cast times and reducing the number of off-GCDs used in the Bard rotation. This along with the new additions of 30s song stances and new proc-dependent skills have given Bard new dynamism while opening the door to new and creative optimization methods. The new remake feels more in line with the Bard theme as a whole and is satisfying to play with its new raid utility and proc-based damage abilities.

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning the new 4.x Bard and becoming familiar with its intricacies. We hope that this guide can clearly expound our findings in a manner that is both clear and informative.

Basic Concepts of Bard Optimization

The process of discovering how to play a newly remade battle job at an optimal level in FFXIV can be a grueling yet fulfilling experience, the new Bard being no exception. As with any other DPS class, there are fundamentals to Bard gameplay that are essential to knowing how to approach any sort of DPS optimization. This may be preaching to the choir for some of the more experienced players but for the newer players, here are some of the important 4.x Bard essentials that are helpful to know.

1. The majority of 4.x Bard gameplay revolves around the management of DoTs (Caustic Bite and Stormbite via Iron Jaws) and reacting to procs activated by critical damage hits of said DoTs.

• This overarching gameplay style has been a Bard icon ever since 2.x and still remains in 4.x. However, unlike before where Bards have only had to react to Bloodletter reset procs, there are a variety of forms in which this mechanic takes shape, with the new song stances providing a new stackable damage off-GCD (Pitch Perfect) and a revved-up version of the iconic Bloodletter reset dance.

2. Procs activated by critical damage hits of DoTs occur every 3 second according to a unique DoT timer that each enemy has.

• Unlike HP and MP tick timers that are managed server-side, each enemy has their own DoT timer, which explains why multiple Bloodletter/Rain of Death procs can happen in less than 3 seconds when multiple enemies have DoTs applied onto them.
• The picture below visualizes the 3 second DoT timings (ie. Bloodletter reset timings) in relation to a 2.4 second GCD. It is possible to practice predicting when DoT ticks will occur, although it may not be worth the effort. Most Bards will be content with waiting for visual and/or audio cues of Pitch Perfect or spamming the Bloodletter button instead.

3. All damage-increasing and Crit-increasing buffs that are active on Bards and all physical or total damage taken increasing debuffs active on the enemy are “snapshot” onto DoTs whenever they are applied or refreshed via Stormbite, Caustic Bite, or Iron Jaws.

• “Snapshot” means that even if a buff falls off after applying or refreshing a DoT, the DoT will still have the buff for length of the DoT duration until it is reapplied via the above weaponskills.
• Considering how a large majority of Bard damage consists of DoT damage from Stormbite and Caustic Bite and of procs from critical damage hits of DoTs, this point cannot be understated. Managing DoTs and making sure they are buffed at the appropriate times make up an important portion of the bard rotation.

The process of optimization is not something that can be achieved solely in the realm of theorycrafting and mathematics alone. Raid buffs, party compositions, and execution all must be taken into account, along with a sense that what has been agreed upon is both intuitive and structured. Most of what is expounded on here will have a mathematical basis to their inclusion but they may also be potency losses for the sake of CD alignment and structure. Not everything in this guide will be perfect so take everything critically with a grain of salt and let it be a platform for further optimization discussion. With that aside, let’s move onto the new kids on the block-- the song stances!

Song Stance Priority

The first order of business for optimization is to determine the values of the newly-introduced song stances. As 30 second duration skills on an 80 second cooldown timer, these song stances were designed to be rotated amongst themselves in 80~90 second intervals at near 100% uptime. The unique additional effects of the songs contribute to the differences in potency per second (PPS hereafter) between the stances and account for the unique styles of gameplay experienced while playing 4.x Bard.

Cetonis has done the concise calculations regarding the PPS of each song in this pastebin, and leaves little room for doubt as to the hierarchy of the songs in terms of PPS.

1.  Wanderer’s Minuet (36 PPS)

• Like in 3.x, WM takes center stage amongst the songs by becoming the new “burst stance”. The huge damage provided by Pitch Perfect during WM makes this stance the ideal candidate for the Bard opener and for the raid-wide buffs available in the opening ~25 seconds.

2.  Mage’s Ballad (22.1 PPS)

• This stance opens up the door to a revved up version of the “spam Bloodletter” gameplay we loved/hated so much in 2.x and 3.x. With a 100% reset rate after each critical hit DoT tick, it becomes more important to react to proc resets so that no procs are missed due to having Bloodletter available.

3.  Army’s Paeon (8 PPS on-average over the first ~15s, then 17.5 PPS after)

• AP provides a “Greased Lightning”-like buff (minus the damage increase) that increases with each stack and will act as the “filler stance” leading back into WM. Unlike WM and MB, no extra damage off-GCDs are provided by AP, making AP the weakest out of the three stances.

In combat, the songs will be used in the order of WM→MB→AP at 30s→30s→20s intervals. Their overall rotations and optimization intricacies will be further described in detail in the following sections.

Basic Skill Rotation Priority

Compared to 3.x when cast-times and instacast skills complicated matters, the skill rotation priority for 4.x Bard is fairly straightforward. GCD weaponskill priorities depend on the state of DoTs, SS buff, and SS procs, while the 5 off-GCD skills (excluding song stance skills) are each unique in their own ways. It is on top of this basic rotation that the work of optimization is done.

Weaponskills

1. Is one or both of your two DoTs 1~3 seconds from expiring? If so, Iron Jaws.

• When both DoTs are applied, maintaining DoTs via Iron Jaws become #1 priority, even ahead of maintaining SS buff.
• Make a concerted effort to always have SS buff applied on your DoTs

2. Is Straight Shot buff not up or about to expire? If so, use Straight Shot.

• The 10% critical hit rate increase buff that Straight Shot provides should always be maintained whenever possible.
• If SS buff is set to expire about one GCD (2~3s) before the DoTs expire, it’s important to refresh SS one GCD earlier so that SS buff can be applied to the DoTs via IJ without having to cast IJ one GCD earlier.

3. Are both DoTs not up or have they fallen off? If so, Stormbite then Caustic Bite

        Is only one of your DoTs up? If so, apply missing DoT.

• With SS buff up, DoTs should be applied in the order of SB→CB, Stormbite being first due to its higher DoT potency. It is important to maximize DoT uptime via Iron Jaws while minimizing the amount of times DoTs need to be applied separately via SB and CB.

4. Do you have a Straighter Shot proc? If so, use Refulgent Arrow.

• Straighter Shot proc should almost never be used on SS. The only time would be if the proc came up as SS and DoTs are expiring and not using SS would cost DoTs not having SS buff.

5. Are all other priorities satisfied? If so, use Heavy Shot.

• HS spam will take up the vast majority of GCD casts. If DoTs and SS buff are in order and there is no SS proc, just keep on using Heavy Shot.

Off-GCD Damage Abilities

1. Bloodletter

• Acts like a normal off-GCD outside of Mage’s Ballad and doesn’t have the same impact on Bard damage as it did in 3.x. More details on its usage can be found in the Mage’s Ballad section.

2. Pitch Perfect

• Specialized off-GCD tied to the WM stance that provides significant “burst” damage. More details on its usage can be found in the Wanderer’s Minuet section.

3. Empyreal Arrow

• The new Enhanced Empyreal Arrow trait opens up new criteria for optimization which can be found throughout the Song Sections, especially in the MB section.
• EA should never be used outside of a song effect, if possible.

4. Sidewinder

• The sole 1-minute CD skill in the Bard arsenal. I like using SW within each Trick Attack whenever possible and to use it as reference for predicting when certain raid buffs will be used.

5. Misery’s End

• Its situational nature makes it a “bonus” off-GCD at the backend of a fight. Use it on cooldown whenever possible.

Foe Requiem Optimization

(refer to Relegated Foe Requiem Section in Appendix for my former opinion on this topic)

Foe Requiem--the iconic battle song that increased caster and healer DPS by reducing magic defence--has been remade into an AoE debuff that increases damage taken by 3% for as long as there is MP remaining on the Bard. There have also been a few subtle changes to Foe Requiem which isn’t noticeable from the tooltips. The changes are as follows:

• The duration of a single tick of Foe Requiem has been extended to roughly 5 seconds.

• This change can be observed by measuring the duration from when the Foe Requiem song effect fades from the Bard until when the debuff icon falls off the enemy target.
• The tick durations prior to the last tick are still in line with the server-side MP tick duration of 3 seconds.

• The total duration of Foe Requiem from 100% MP to 0% MP has been reduced to 23 seconds in 4.x from 69 seconds in 3.x.

• 6 ticks at 3 seconds each + last tick at 5 seconds = 23 seconds

Considering how the Machinist Hypercharge is a 5% damage taken increase debuff that lasts for up to 30 seconds at a 2 minute cooldown timer, Foe Requiem can feel underwhelming in comparison. Without the help of any external mana regeneration, Foe Requiem would be a 3% damage taken increase debuff that lasts for 23 seconds and cannot be used at 100% MP until 2.5 minutes had passed after reaching 0% MP. However, with the introduction of new role abilities such as Refresh and the caster Mana Shift, there is now room to be creative with how Bard MP can be managed with regards to Foe Requiem usage, whether it be for the sake of extending the duration of Foe Requiem or reducing the time it takes to get back to 100% MP.

Disclaimer!

• The following discussion on Refresh and Mana Shift usage is written with the intent of solely focusing on maximizing raid DPS via increased Foe Requiem uptime and should not be accepted as the optimal usages of the Refresh and Mana Shift skills. In early progression settings where healer MP is imperative to raid survival, MP regen skills such as Refresh and Mana Shift find great value in emergency situations such as when heavy healing and reviving has taken its toll on MP pools. It is not recommended to use Refresh and Mana Shift for the purpose of increasing Foe Requiem uptime until one’s group has become more accustomed to fights and raid progression is no longer a priority.

The timings of when to use Foe Requiem will always be a topic of debate and is highly dependent on encounter timings and raid composition. Regardless of those variables, there are a few concepts regarding Foe Requiem and Refresh that should be considered whenever one goes about planning their usages during any fight. They are the following:

1. Since Foe Requiem will almost never be a personal DPS gain to the Bard, it is best to align Foe Requiem with phases of high raid burst damage (ie. during raid buffs such as Trick Attack, Embolden, Battle Voice etc.) instead of aligning it with phases of high Bard burst damage (ie. during WM phase).

• Due to how Foe Requiem requires replacing a Heavy Shot to cast, it is not a personal DPS gain to use Foe Requiem. Cetonis says it best below:

• “...You pay 180p to cast it, and then over 22.8s you would need to deal 263 pps just to make up that 180p we lost in casting it (really 183, if you pre-suppose we're using RS right after). 263 pps is just not a number that we're going to hit, even with Raging Strikes, Barrage etc., though we may get close if some stars align. The only way to win personally on a Foe is if it's extended, and even then we won't win by much.”

• While aligning Foe Requiem with the WM phase would be most advantageous to the Bard, neglecting the periods of high raid burst damage for the sake of minimizing the losses from casting Foe Requiem would most likely lead to lower gains in terms of raid DPS from the Foe Requiem cast.

1. Since casting Foe Requiem leads to lost potency by replacing a weaponskill GCD, it is best to minimize the number of Foe Requiem casts while trying to maximize the duration of the Foe Requiem debuff of each cast.

• Unlike other raid DPS increasing skills, Foe Requiem can be cast at any point of a fight at the cost of losing personal DPS from a lost GCD. Since the duration of Foe Requiem is dependent on the amount of available MP, a good cut off point on when to use Foe Requiem would be at 6200+ MP in order to aim for 5+ ticks.
• Cetonis makes an excellent point about using Foe Requiem during forced breaks such as Death Gaze in O2s and Squeal in O3s:

• :: On Using Foe during Forced Stoppages
  “This is tricky to weigh against the prospect of aiming Foe at party buff points, but there is a little something to be said for planning Foe around gazes and similar mechanics - if you can't attack the boss for a GCD or so anyway, you may as well use that time on Foe to avoid the -180p.
  Some napkin math would indicate that this is worth doing even if it costs a tick, in other words if it would mean sitting at full MP for 20s or less or so. And then you'd perhaps get the next Foe back in line with party buffs if applicable etc. Not really sure if this is worth mentioning, but I always feel a little better about myself when I spend a gaze singing”

2. While using Refresh at the backend of the pre-pull Foe Requiem duration allows for a faster usage of Foe Requiem later on, extending the initial Foe Requiem by 3 ticks (9 seconds) with Refresh pre-pull provides great value by covering over the entirety of opening buffs (eg. late Embolden, Infusions) while allowing for a faster Refresh usage down the line.

• The timing of Refresh usage has been an area of debate for a lot of Bards and after much experimentation and thinking, I have come to the conclusion that using the initial Refresh to extend the pre-pull Foe Requiem to be its best usage.
• Using Refresh post-Foe Requiem duration would require Foe Requiem to be used again at around the 70~80s mark, which aside from a singular Trick Attack, will not find as much value in terms of raid DPS increase as a Foe Requiem usage at the 2min 20~30s mark, which would align with the plethora of raid buffs available at 2 minutes, such as Chain Strategem, Embolden, Trick Attack and Dragon Eye.

With these guidelines in mind, I propose that Foe Requiem be used in the following manner:

Aileena’s Foe Requiem Setup

• With Foe Requiem and Refresh being used in tandem pre-pull and Mana Shift being utilized at sub-7800 MP, the opener Foe Requiem is extended to 37.8 seconds (longest during any encounter).
• The following Foe Requiems are used in alignment with the 2-minute and 3-minute buff timings, the 3-minute Foe Requiem being used with the assistance of Refresh used at the 3-minute mark.
• This process is repeated, leading to Foe Requiem usages at rough timings of
  0, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12... minutes etc.

The main goal of this setup is to maximize the usages of Foe Requiem within important raid buff windows for at least 5 ticks per usage while managing MP so that it doesn’t remain maxed out for any extended duration of time.

Let’s move onto more empirical observations when it comes to the MP restoration department and provide more concrete numbers to the setup laid out above.

MP Restoration Optimization

There are currently 3 external means for Bards to receive extra MP restoration help aside from the 2% MP gained every 3 seconds from server-side ticks: Ewer cards from Astrologians, Mana Shift from caster role abilities, and Refresh from ranged DPS role abilities. As mentioned above, in most circumstances, it isn’t ideal to use Refresh in tandem with Foe Requiem just for the sake of extending the duration of Foe Requiem, but there may be cases where knowing how much Foe Requiem can be extended by as a result of external MP regeneration can be helpful

Below is a table of the Foe Requiem durations under the effects of various combinations of MP regeneration skills. Mana Shift was used when the Bard dropped below 7800 MP and the other MP regen skills were used in tandem with Foe Requiem. Refresh has been observed to provide 10 ticks of 600 MP to provide 6000 MP, regardless of the MP totals of affected members. The original times were measured manually using a stopwatch but have been adjusted in the table to match the formula of [3s x (# of Foe ticks-1) + 5s].

Considering how there will hardly be any situation where Ewer will be used instead of Balance, Arrow or Bole, let’s exclude Ewer from the MP regen optimization puzzle and focus on Mana Shift and Refresh.

TO BE CONTINUED

Defensive Utility Usage

The 4.x Bard remake brought with it a plethora of utility skills that has solidified Bard’s position as the go-to support job in Stormblood. Each defensive utility skill will be touched on briefly, along with useful macros that have been found to be helpful in their executions.

Troubadour

• A unique party-wide AoE defensive utility ability that has a different effect depending on which song stance is in effect at the moment of its usage. At a 3 minute CD, there will be very limited usages of this in any fight (max 4 times in 9+ minute fight) and its dependency on being in the “correct” stance to be effective in specific phases of encounters makes it somewhat troublesome to use optimally. These inconveniences are offset by the long 30s duration of the effects, making it an extremely effective and valuable resource in optimal situations and a slight source of reprieve to healers in less ideal scenarios. Coordination with tanks and healers regarding the planned usage of Troubadour is recommended in team scenarios.
• With 3 options to choose from, the question of which effect is most useful must be asked. As a party-wide defense buff, Troubadour will obviously find its most value in scenarios where the party receives AoE damage. In most cases, the WM effect will find the most value, since the majority of enemy AoE damage in this game is magic based. In the rare case that there is a physical-based AoE skill, the AP effect could find some value.

• It is worth noting that both WM and AP Troubadour are most effective in when AoE damage of their respective types comes consistently during the 30 second duration. Prime examples include the punching phase (Neverwhere) in O4s for the AP effect and Almagest in O4s for the WM effect.

• The least valuable effect is the MB effect, since 15% maximum HP over 30 seconds would only be valuable when the 15% “HP buffer” is filled by healers and then replenished after whatever AoE skill would reduce the party’s HP below their original HP amounts. While the HP buffer is useful in both magical and physical AoE scenarios, the requirement of having to fill the HP buffer to get value from the effect diminishes its usefulness.

Nature’s Minne

• With a 15 second duration at a 45 second reset timer, this single-target 20% healing buff can be used flexibly at a high uptime rate. Since it behaves like the tank role action skill “Convalescence”, NM can also be seen as a pseudo-defensive cooldown since shields applied via skills like Adloquium or Noctural Sect Aspected Benefic would be strengthened by the healing potency increase provided.
• NM will find its most value on targets who require the most healing, which in almost every scenario will be the tank currently holding aggro on the enemy. The easiest way to apply NM onto the tank with aggro is to use a <tt> macro, which targets the party member that the targeted enemy is attacking. This macro is useful in tank swap scenarios as well, further adding to its value. The last line of the macro allows for the manual application of NM onto a party member or self for situations where the non-aggro tank may require heavy healing.
• I personally prefer to use NM on cooldown to maximize the number of usages and then to then adjust by selectively mapping its usages according to phases of heavy single-target healing such as Living Dead/Holmgang activation and tankbusters.
• Palisade (Ranged DPS role action) can also benefit from a <tt> macro similar to that of Nature’s Minne. The macros of both skills will be listed below.

Rotation Optimization

Overview (tl;dr)

1. Opener (inside WM stance)

1. Non-RA, Barrage+EA Opener

• 4s Pre-pull: Foe Requiem (Refresh + Infusion of Dexterity)
• Pull: Stormbite (Bloodletter + Raging Strikes) > Caustic Bite (Wanderer’s Minuet + Empyreal Arrow) > Straight Shot (Battle Voice + Nature’s Minne) > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot > Heavy Shot  (Sidewinder) > Heavy Shot (Bloodletter) > Heavy shot (Barrage + Empyreal Arrow) > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot

2. Barrage+RA Opener

• 4s Pre-pull: Foe Requiem (Refresh + Infusion of Dexterity)
• Pull: Stormbite (Bloodletter + Raging Strikes) > Caustic Bite (Wanderer’s Minuet + Empyreal Arrow) > Straight Shot (Battle Voice + Nature’s Minne) > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot*** > Heavy Shot***  (Sidewinder) > Heavy Shot*** (Bloodletter) > Heavy shot (Empyreal Arrow) > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot
  *** : Straighter Shot proc activates; next Heavy Shot is replaced with Barrage+RA

3. Late RA Proc, Barrage+EA Opener

• 4s Pre-pull: Foe Requiem (Refresh + Infusion of Dexterity)
• Pull: Stormbite (Bloodletter + Raging Strikes) > Caustic Bite (Wanderer’s Minuet + Empyreal Arrow) > Straight Shot (Battle Voice + Nature’s Minne) > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot > Heavy Shot  (Sidewinder) > Heavy Shot (Bloodletter) > Heavy shot*** (Barrage + Empyreal Arrow) > Iron Jaws > Refulgent Arrow 

2. WM Phase (30 seconds)

1. Use 2-stack PP in following situations:

• Both Battle Litany and Chain Strategem on DoTs
• 4 or more active DoTs across multiple targets
• EA coming up following your next GCD and the DoT timer is in close proximity to the EA cast
• Barrage+EA or EA+Barrage coming up in your next GCD

2. Otherwise, use 3-stack PP
3. Use whatever PP stacks available prior to entering MB phase

3. MB Phase (30 seconds)

1. Triple-EA MB Phase conditions

• EA must be used directly after the cast of MB.
• The cooldown of EA after the 2nd EA usage must be shorter than the remaining duration of the MB phase
• 750+ Skillspeed

2. WM to MB Transition

• Bloodletter cannot be used immediately after the MB cast

• Heavy Shot (BL + PP) [WM falls off] > Heavy Shot (MB+EA+BL)

• Bloodletter can be used immediately after the MB cast

• Heavy Shot (PP) [WM falls off] > Heavy Shot (MB+BL) > Heavy Shot (EA+BL)

3. Mid-MB EA Usage

• If BL hasn’t reset once since the initial reset proc from the first EA in MB, wait until after BL is used after its natural cooldown and then use EA.
• Spam BL a couple times before using EA in order to avoid the situation of wasting the EA proc due to an untimely DoT crit.
• If BL resets via a DoT proc immediately before the usage of EA, triple weave BL+EA+BL in order to make room for a possible BL reset proc following the next GCD.

4. MB to AP transition (Possible 3rd EA in MB)

• Heavy Shot (EA [BL proc; MB expires] + AP) > Heavy Shot (BL) …

4. AP Phase (20 seconds)

1. 20s AP vs. 30s AP

• Adopt 20s AP rotation over 30s AP as the norm and adjust according to fight afterwards

2. AP to WM Transition

• … Heavy Shot [EA off CD] > Iron Jaws (BL) > Heavy Shot > Straight Shot (WM+RS)  > Heavy Shot (EA) > HS spam … > Iron Jaws as RS falling off > Straight Shot …

3. “Barrage-SS” Buff Refresh Criteria

• If Barrage is approaching 10 seconds remaining on its recast time and the remaining SS buff is less than the Barrage CD timer, then refresh SS buff before attempting HS spam to fish for a possible Barrage+RA.

Introduction

This section will go through each of the rotation phases in detail, beginning with the openers and ending with the non-opener WM phase following the transition from AP. Most of the following details were first discussed between myself and Cetonis over mail and then practiced over many hours of SSS dummy simulation. I was able to further refine my gameplay with the help of various FFXIV subreddit discussions on 4.0 Bard spearheaded mainly by Aiuri and Miyuri, whose guide can be found here. By no means am I promoting this guide as the only way to play Bard; if anything, I hope that the explanation for my Bard playstyle can provide a platform for more discussion on how to maximize the potential of this newly remade skillset.

As mentioned in the Song Stance Priority section above, the song rotation will be used in the order of WM→MB→AP at 30s→30s→20s intervals.

Openers

After much discussion, theorycrafting, and number-crunching, it is fair to say that the Bard community has come to a consensus on an overall framework for the optimal opener. Some off-GCD placements may vary here and there but the skeleton of a DoT-first, double-IJ opener should be consistent in most good Bard openers. The opener that I use was first released by Aiuri and Miyuri in this reddit post and I have come to adopt it for how well it synergizes with raid buffs and for how off-GCDs such as Bloodletter and Empyreal Arrow line up later on as WM winds down. Aiuri and Miyuri have since updated their Bard opener in their ranged dps FAQ by swapping BV and EA in response to the BV bug fixes that came with patch 4.01 and by adding a 5th Heavy Shot before the Barrage+EA and Iron Jaws.

The openers below vary slightly with Miyuri’s initial opener in the following manners:

• Sidewinder is used after the 2nd Heavy Shot to line up with Ninja’s Trick Attack which now occurs after the 5th or 6th GCD

• Sidewinder can be used after the first Iron Jaws in the absence of a Ninja

• Nature’s Minne is applied onto the tank with enemy aggro to assist with regen healing, allowing healers to focus more on DPS (refer to Defensive Utility Usage section above)

• NM can be used before Foe Requiem to assist with any pre-pull shields (ie. Adlo Deploy) and/or regens.

• Refresh is used immediately after the Foe Requiem cast for the sake of extended the duration of the debuff (refer to Foe Requiem Usage section above)

Unlike Miyuri’s updated Bard opener, I have maintained the original placement of EA and stuck with 4 Heavy Shots before Barrage+EA, because even if there was a Straighter Shot proc after the 5th Heavy Shot, there would be no way to get both Barrage+RA and Iron Jaws under the raid buffs. One or the other would have to be outside of raid buffs so instead of delaying Barrage until after IJ or sacrificing buffs onto DoTs, if there is no Straighter Shot proc after the 4th Heavy Shot, going straight into Barrage+EA after the 4th Heavy Shot should be preferable.

I have also stuck with the original 4 Heavy Shots before Iron Jaws instead of the 5 Heavy Shots that Miyuri promotes. I have found that doing 5 Heavy Shots and then trying to get Raging Strikes onto the second Iron Jaws can get very tight, especially in situations where a 3-stack Pitch Perfect proc may cause GCD clipping due to possible triple weaving of off-GCDs. Not to mention that getting raid buffs such as Chain Strategem and Battle Litany onto the 2nd IJ can be difficult if the raid doesn’t perfectly execute their buff timings. Pulling off 5 Heavy Shots and getting Raging Strikes onto Iron Jaws should be more comfortable at higher skillspeeds but as of now, going with the more cautious approach of 4 Heavy Shots before Iron Jaws should be the more consistent option. I will list a high skillspeed option that is more in line with Miyuri’s opener as the exception rather than the norm.  

Three openers will be listed, each varying on if and at what point Straighter Shot procs occur during the Heavy Shot spam following the first Iron Jaws. Pitch Perfect usages haven’t been listed due to obvious RNG dependency issues, but will be explained in more detail in the WM Phase section below.

Non-RA, Barrage+EA Opener

4s Pre-pull: Foe Requiem (Refresh + Infusion of Dexterity)

Pull: Stormbite (Bloodletter + Raging Strikes) > Caustic Bite (Wanderer’s Minuet + Empyreal Arrow) > Straight Shot (Battle Voice + Nature’s Minne) > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot > Heavy Shot  (Sidewinder) > Heavy Shot (Bloodletter) > Heavy shot (Barrage + Empyreal Arrow) > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot

High Skillspeed option: Swap positions of 5th Heavy Shot and 2nd Iron Jaws

Opener Notes:

• Even without a Straighter Shot proc, it is important to utilize Barrage with Empyreal Arrow and then to follow up with Iron Jaws to get both Barrage+EA and IJ under Raging Strikes, Foe Requiem and whatever raid buff is active at the time (which should be all of them).

Barrage+RA Opener

4s Pre-pull: Foe Requiem (Refresh + Infusion of Dexterity)

Pull: Stormbite (Bloodletter + Raging Strikes) > Caustic Bite (Wanderer’s Minuet + Empyreal Arrow) > Straight Shot (Battle Voice + Nature’s Minne) > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot*** > 
Heavy Shot***  (Sidewinder) > Heavy Shot*** (Bloodletter) > Heavy shot (Empyreal Arrow) > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot

*** : Straighter Shot proc activates; next Heavy Shot is replaced with Barrage+RA

High Skillspeed option: Swap positions of 5th Heavy Shot and 2nd Iron Jaws

Opener Notes:

• The ideal opening scenario. If Straighter Shot proc activates within the first 3 Heavy Shots, use the next GCD as Barrage+RA to get maximum burst out of the opener.

Late RA Proc, Barrage+EA Opener

4s Pre-pull: Foe Requiem (Refresh + Infusion of Dexterity)

Pull: Stormbite (Bloodletter + Raging Strikes) > Caustic Bite (Wanderer’s Minuet + Empyreal Arrow) > Straight Shot (Battle Voice + Nature’s Minne) > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot > Heavy Shot  (Sidewinder) > Heavy Shot (Bloodletter) > Heavy shot*** (Barrage + Empyreal Arrow) > Iron Jaws > Refulgent Arrow

*** : Straighter Shot proc activates

High Skillspeed option: Do Barrage+RA Opener with an Iron Jaws afterwards

…  > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot > Heavy Shot  (Sidewinder) > Heavy Shot (Bloodletter) > Heavy shot*** (Empyreal Arrow + Barrage) > Refulgent Arrow > Iron Jaws > Straight Shot (Refresh)

Opener Notes:

• This is where things get tricky. As mentioned above, it can be difficult to get Raging Strikes and other raid buffs under the 2nd Iron Jaws if there are 5 Heavy Shots between the Iron Jaws, but getting a Straighter Shot proc after the 4th Heavy Shot can tempt many people to use Barrage+RA in the next GCD and then use Iron Jaws in the following GCD. Go with Barrage+EA and then IJ in order to get all the personal and raid buffs onto the 2nd IJ DoTs.
• If Raging Strikes is the only buff lost on the DoTs, it’s worth using the High Skillspeed option but if the DoTs lose any more buffs, the losses will overtake the gains of a Barrage+RA.

• Potency gain of having RS on DoTs: 100p (assuming 10 ticks)
• Potency gain of using Barrage with RA and not EA: 2*300 - 2*230 = 140p

Wanderer’s Minuet Phase

Optimization of the WM revolves around the proper usage of Pitch Perfect, which is far more complicated than one would expect when looking at it at face value. This complication derives from the fact that while it is possible to get 2 stacks at one time via both Stormbite and Caustic Bite applying critical hit damage simultaneously, it is not possible to exceed 3 stacks of Pitch Perfect at any one time. In other words, it is possible to “lose” a Pitch Perfect stack by getting 2 stacks of PP while sitting on 2 stacks. There is no visual tell that indicates stacks have been lost but one must take into account the possibility of lost potency from lost PP stacks and adjust gameplay accordingly in order to maximize the DPS potential that Bard has to offer.

2-stack PP vs. 3-stack PP

It is easy to see that a 3-stack PP will always be stronger than a 2-stack PP in isolation but when you take possible lost stacks into account, we can see how the potency of two 2-stack PPs overtakes a single 3-stack PP by +60p. It is important, therefore, to think of the various scenarios where the chances of getting a double stack while sitting on two PP stacks will be greater than the chances of getting a single stack leading into a 3-stack PP.

Cetonis has gone through the grueling simulation work of solving this puzzle and has expounded his findings in an intuitive manner in this pastebin. I will be sharing his conclusions in the form of PP usage guidelines and add my own explanations onto them.

1. Use a 2-stack PP whenever you have both Battle Litany and Chain Strategem on your DoTs (only when more than 5 seconds/1~2 DoT ticks remaining on WM)

• The only time we would make 2-stack PP usage the norm rather than the exception would be when the chances of getting a double proc are greater than the chances of getting a single proc. This threshold occurs at 64% Critical Hit Rate on DoTs, which can be reached at 2400+ stat points of Crit along with Battle Litany and Chain Strategem. We aren’t able to reach 2400+ Crit just yet but using 2-stack PPs while under Battle Litany and Chain Strategem can still be rewarding if lucky.

2. Use a 2-stack PP whenever you have 4 or more active DoTs across multiple targets.

• Somewhat self-explanatory but the more DoTs there are, the greater the chances of getting critical hit DoT ticks, the cutoff being at around 4 active simulataneous DoTs.
• Cetonis explains it as such:

• WM proc odds are additive, so if a 64% chance on two ticks (total: 1.28 expected procs) is the threshold for using 2PP, then a 32% chance on four ticks (total: 1.28 expected procs) would be a threshold as well. We're generally going to have 32% crit or close to it, and more down the road, so four targets at even that base crit is grounds for 2PP.

3. Use a 2-stack PP if you have an EA coming up following your next GCD and the DoT timer is in close proximity to the EA cast.

• The additional effect of EA to provide song procs can create situations where you can get a “pseudo”-double proc if it lines up with a single proc from a DoT crit. A triple proc could occur as well if a double proc lined up closely with the EA cast. Both scenarios lead to a loss of PP stacks if there were already 2 PP stacks when EA was cast.
• There will be cases where you are just about to use the GCD prior to EA and you get a 2-stack PP from a single or double DoT proc. In this case, since there is no danger of getting a DoT proc in the vicinity of EA and getting a pseudo-double proc, it is better to just go with EA > 3-stack PP than to do 2-stack PP > EA.
• If unsure about the position of the DoT proc timer, play on the safe side and use a 2-stack PP prior to EA.

4. Use a 2-stack PP if you have a Barrage+EA or EA+Barrage coming up in your next GCD.

• This is similar to above scenario but takes into consideration GCD clipping that would occur if PP would have to be weaved alongside Barrage+EA or EA+Barrage.

5. Never use a 2-stack PP if you are in the last or second-to-last GCD before leaving WM, unless it is the last off-GCD before leaving WM.

• The mathematics are apparently fairly convoluted but in the last 1~2 DoT ticks prior to leaving WM, the chances of losing a stack due to a double proc while sitting at 2 stack of PP are smaller than not losing a stack, even if the DoTs are under both Battle Litany and Chain Strategem. In this case, it’s best to just wait out the last couple DoT ticks for a 3-stack PP and to use the 2-stack PP as the last off-GCD if no procs occur in that time.

6. Outside of the above scenarios, use PP only at 3 stacks and immediately prior to leaving WM with whatever stacks are available.

• It is important to note that PP doesn’t need to be used immediately at 3 stacks to the point where there is GCD clipping due to a triple off-GCD weave. Since DoT proc ticks occur every 3 seconds, there is a short window to use PP without penalizing oneself with GCD clipping or lost PP stacks.

Mage’s Ballad Phase

Following the Wanderer’s Minuet phase will be Mage’s Ballad and with it, the return of the Bloodletter spam. This phase is basically “2.x Bard on steroids” since Bloodletter resets now proc after any DoT crit at a 100% rate, whereas the River of Blood trait in pre-4.x would only proc Bloodletter resets at a 50% chance after a DoT crit. This makes it more important to be aware of the DoT timer and to proactively keep Bloodletter on cooldown whenever possible.

Triple-EA MB Phase  

The additional effect of Empyreal Arrow providing a guaranteed song proc along with the reduced recast time of EA with increasing skillspeed allow for some interesting cooldown mappings that can lead to DPS increases. One of these mappings is to try and fit 3 EAs into the MB phase by using EA at the beginning, middle, and end of the MB phase. Since using 2 EAs within MB is the norm, the third EA provides an extra Bloodletter reset in exchange for a Repertoire stack in the AP phase, which is not nearly as valuable as the 130 potency that a Bloodletter can provide upfront.

This begs the question of why Triple EA isn’t used during the WM phase. The main reason is due to the fact that Pitch Perfect usage is locked outside of WM, thereby requiring EA and PP to be used immediately prior to the expiration of WM. Also, on a pure potency comparison, a reset Bloodletter has a +10p advantage over an EA-obtained PP stack when PP is used at 1 or 2 stacks. If you can determine that there are no longer any DoT procs under WM and it’s possible to use EA into a 3-stack PP before WM expiring, then a triple-EA during WM can be risked but it would be an extreme exception that may end up backfiring heavily if unsuccessful.

With that aside, below are conditions that must be satisfied in order for the Triple-EA MB phase to be successful.

1. EA must be used directly after the cast of MB.
2. The cooldown of EA after the 2nd EA usage must be shorter than the remaining duration of the MB phase.
3. Required Skill Speed is around 750+.

• Succeeded with 786 Skillspeed with absolute zero EA clipping on ~50ms latency.

The first condition above is the most important and can only be satisfied if EA has been utilized properly in the WM phase. I will explain in more detail in the WM to MB Transition section below.

WM to MB Transition

I believe that the beauty of the opener first described by Miyuri is not in the opener itself but in how it plans for the MB phase with near perfection due to the placements of the off-GCDs within the first 2 GCDs. To recall, the beginning of the opener looks like this:

Stormbite (BL + RS) > Caustic Bite (WM + EA) > Straight Shot …

With BL having a 15s recast timer, using it one GCD prior to the WM cast in the opener guarantees that the 3rd BL will be used just as WM is about to expire. This allows for the first EA immediately after the MB cast to pay immediate dividends with a BL reset proc, since BL will always be on cooldown as MB begins, and to set up for a possible Triple-EA MB phase.

The transition from WM to MB following the opener will look similar to the following:

Heavy Shot (BL + PP) [WM falls off] > Heavy Shot (MB + EA + BL) > Heavy Shot …

I prefer to triple weave all three of MB, EA, and BL to avoid losing the EA reset proc during the Heavy Shot cast but a combination of HS (MB+EA) > HS (BL) is completely fine as well for those who feel punished for triple-weaving.

Cetonis writes the following argument against triple-weaving:

• I don't think triple weaving out of concern of missing a BL proc is worth it unless you happen to have that good of a read on the DoT timer to know that a tick is coming. If you're not sure, there's a 1 in 3 chance of a tick occurring during the upcoming GCD animation + a little buffer, which at base crit has about a 50-55% chance of inducing a proc. Overall you're looking at a 24p avg loss, while clipping a GCD by 20% is a 36p vacuum loss. In particular, if BL procs during the GCD before an EA, it cannot proc again until after the next GCD anyway, so you're fully safe to HS-BL-EA-HS-BL there.

The WM to MB transition after the opener is fairly consistent but when outside of the opener WM phase, things do not fall into place as neatly. The main reason behind this lies in the difficulty to predict where the Bloodletter CD timer will be as the non-opener WM phase approaches its end. In the transition from AP to WM, an effort is made to group Empyreal Arrow with WM so using EA with MB later on is not really an issue (details below in the AP to WM Transition section).

In non-opener WM to MB transitions, there are two scenarios that tend to play out:

1. Bloodletter cannot be used immediately after the MB cast

• Use Heavy Shot (MB+EA+BL) like above and try for Triple-EA.

2. Bloodletter can be used immediately after the MB cast

• Use Heavy Shot (MB+BL) > Heavy Shot (EA+BL) so as to not waste the 15 second natural cooldown of BL and do no try for Triple-EA.

The goal in both opener and non-opener WM to MB transitions is to get the maximum number of Bloodletter usages during MB as possible, so there is no need to always try for a Triple-EA MB phase if a BL usage from its natural cooldown is wasted by a forced reset from the first EA of the MB phase.  

Mid-MB EA Usage

The second Empyreal Arrow is used at the midway point of the MB phase and with it is where we find the next mental hurdle. The goal is to use EA without wasting the BL reset proc it provides, but there are certain scenarios where simply using EA can be problematic. I will be listing the scenarios below with my recommended solutions and explanations.

1. If BL hasn’t reset once since the initial reset proc from the first EA in MB, do not use EA before BL comes off cooldown but wait until after BL is used after its natural cooldown.

• If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself with no Bloodletter procs for a full 15 seconds after the first EA reset proc, then you will notice that EA will come off cooldown faster than BL due to how EA’s cooldown is less than 15 seconds. The temptation is to use EA as soon as it comes off CD but it’s better to just hold EA for a GCD and then to use it after BL comes off its natural cooldown, similar to the non-opener WM to MB transition.

2. Make a concerted effort to spam BL a couple times before using EA in order to avoid the situation of wasting the EA proc due to an untimely DoT crit.

• Nothing is more frustrating that using EA for the BL reset proc and then discovering that BL had just reset via a DoT proc just as EA is being used. This tragedy can be avoided if a brief moment is spent getting any Bloodletters out of the way in order for the EA proc to be worthwhile. Remember that DoTs tick get “pushed back” with each GCD used (refer to diagram below).

3. If BL resets via a DoT proc immediately before the usage of EA, triple weave BL+EA+BL in order to make room for a possible BL reset proc following the next GCD.

• The most ideal scenario to come out of this portion of the phase. I have experienced multiple instances of the above situation to the point where I find myself hoping for it whenever the mid-MB EA approaches.
  The timings look like the following:

• Heavy Shot [BL resets] (BL+EA+BL) > [BL resets] Heavy Shot (BL)

• Waiting until after the GCD following EA to use BL opens up the risk of missing a DoT proc reset so triple-weaving the EA-derived BL at the expense of some GCD clipping should be preferred.

MB to AP Transition (Possible 3rd EA in MB)

If all the stars have aligned and you find that the EA cooldown after your mid-MB EA is slightly less than the remaining duration of MB, it is time to consider a 3rd EA before the expiration of MB. It would look something like the following:

        Heavy Shot (EA [MB expires] + AP) > Heavy Shot (BL) ...

The main obstacle to executing this would come from an untimely BL proc that occurs just as EA is about to be used, somewhat similar to the third scenario mentioned in the Mid-MB EA Usage section above. This reset BL would need to be used prior to the EA cast, which could push back the EA enough to cause it to be outside of the MB duration. That said, it is still a gamble worth trying if one thinks that there would be enough elbow room to squeeze EA inside MB after the BL usage. The three scenarios play out like this:

• Best case ⇨ Heavy Shot [BL reset] (BL+EA) [MB expires] > Heavy Shot (AP+BL) …
• Even case ⇨ Heavy Shot [BL reset] (BL [MB expires] + AP) > Heavy Shot (EA) ...
• Worst case ⇨  Heavy Shot [BL reset] (BL [MB expires] + EA) > Heavy Shot (AP) ...

If the gamble pays off, it’s a gain of a Bloodletter and if it backfires, it’s a loss of a Repertoire stack in AP, so it’s not a hugely punishing gamble to make if the conditions are there to make it. Gamble at your own discretion!

Army’s Paeon Phase

Unlike WM and MB, Army’s Paeon doesn’t bring a damage off-GCD with it, making it a bore to optimize. If damage increased with each stack as was first speculated prior to the Stormblood release, then it would have been much more interesting to optimize, but even that was denied to AP. In the end, AP ends up playing the role of the “filler” stance that consists of mainly pressing GCDs faster than one would outside of AP. That said, the importance of a well-executed transition from AP to WM cannot be understated, which is explained in more detail below.

20s AP vs. 30s AP (relegated)

Prior to Patch 4.06, Barrage had a cooldown of 90s, opening up the discussion of a 20s AP versus a 30s AP, but with the changes to match the Barrage cooldown with the EA and RS timers, this discussion is no longer valid.

As it stands, there is no reason to go for a 30s AP unless there is a transition/down-time phase that will not allow sufficient usage of the following WM phase. In nearly all circumstances, 20s AP is the way to go.

Cetonis contributes to this discussion by adding the following suggestion:

• :: On 30s AP

• I think there is some pretty decent value in extending your first AP by 5-10s. Particularly, this means that the second Battle Litany will come up ~10s into your WM instead of ~20s into it, and the second Chain Strategem will be a little less sad.
• However, trading off overall WM time for this wouldn't be worth it, so it'd be down to what you expect the broader song outlook to be. If your expectation is to be ending the fight on the back half of MB or the start of an AP though, then it's a nice bonus to score.
• I especially like doing it in O4S, so that my pre-Omega AP lasts all the way to the cast, and lets you get a PP in on the back end of Light and Darkness before WM falls off.

If you wish to see my writeup on this point, which was written not too long before Patch 4.06 sadly, you can find it in the Appendix section at the bottom of the guide.

AP to WM Transition

Assuming the 20s AP is being used, there are a few things to be mindful of during the transition into WM. Most of the things listed below comes from my personal experience during this phase and will differ according to how DoT and SS buff timers have been lined up prior to the transition.

1. If DoTs have been refreshed at proper 28~30s intervals following the IJ as Raging Strikes is falling off, DoTs should be refreshed at around ~15s into AP. This leaves ~25 seconds remaining on the DoTs as WM+RS are being used, opening up the question of whether it is worthwhile to IJ as soon as RS is used to aim for a double IJ within RS.

• If DoTs have 20+ seconds remaining as RS is used, it is not worthwhile to do a double IJ. It is better to using a RS-buffed HS instead and aim for the DoT refresh as RS is expiring. 

2. If a Triple-EA during MB was successful, Bloodletter should be come off cooldown 15s into AP and before the transition into WM+RS.

• I recommend that BL be used before WM+RS to help set up another Triple EA MB phase in the following song cycle. If BL is held onto until after WM+RS, then it’s possible to get two Bloodletters within RS but you lose out on the opportunity at a Triple EA MB phase and may end up losing a BL usage in the big picture as a result.

3. An Empyreal Arrow will either be used in the back-end of MB in a Triple-EA attempt inside MB or closely after the AP cast. The following EA will come up a couple GCDs prior to the WM+EA transition.

• I recommend that that EA be used immediately after WM+RS to replicate the opener and to get two EAs within RS. Using the EA before WM+RS within AP provides minimal gains in terms of procs, so it is better to hold onto the EA for a couple GCDs and to use it upon entering the WM+RS phase with the hope that multiple 3-stack PPs can be used within RS.
• Use Barrage with EA during RS if a Barrage+RA was not possible. Refer to the Straight Shot Alignment section below for more information on when to refresh SS during the RS+WM phase.

All of these points add up to create a transition rotation that resembles the following:

        … Heavy Shot [EA off CD] > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot (BL) > Heavy Shot (WM+RS)
             > Heavy Shot (EA) > HS spam … > Barrage+RA or Barrage+EA … >
             Iron Jaws as RS falling off > Heavy Shot ...

… Heavy Shot [EA off CD] > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot > Heavy Shot (BL+RS)
             > Heavy Shot (WM+EA) > HS spam … > Barrage+RA or Barrage+EA … >
             Iron Jaws as RS falling off > Heavy Shot ...

(For high latency users with GCD clipping issues)

… Heavy Shot [EA off CD] > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot (WM+BL) 
             > Heavy Shot (RS+EA) > Heavy Shot > HS spam … >
             Barrage+RA or Barrage+EA … > Iron Jaws as RS falling off > Heavy Shot ...

For those with triple-digit ping, double weaving off-GCDs during a 4-stack AP can lead to heavy GCD clipping. It can be argued that double-weaving with GCD clipping during the AP phase isn’t necessarily a loss compared to double-weaving with no clipping in WM or MB due to how the GCD timings would still be objectively faster in AP regardless of clipping. In the end, it’s the same difference so use your own discretion when executing this transition.

Cetonis’ comments on this are as follows:

• :: On clipping on a 4-stack AP double weave
  “This will always happen a little bit regardless of ping. Given a typical animation delay of ~0.75s, a GCD+2oGCDs will always take at least 2.25s, while your AP GCDs are 2.1s or less. Also, the GCD in which you use WM will be a shortened one, so (since I can't get 3EA MBs anyway) I end up just doing HS(WM)-SS(RS+EA) for the transition.”

The WM phase following AP doesn’t differ much from the opener WM phase, with PP usages still following the guidelines stated in the WM Phase section above.

Straight Shot Alignment

Easy-mode Option

Before laying out headache-inducing material on when to refresh SS, Cetonis had been kind enough to take the saner approach towards SS management, with good reason as well. His thoughts are worth taking into account and are below:

• :: On Straight Shot

• Using Straight Shot on every song transition does indeed mean you're using 3 per 80s instead of 3 per 90s. However when you break it down, holding out to instead try to do it only every 30s amounts to something like a 50% chance to get +40p over a 6 minute-ish fight, which is... 1 to 1.5 dps.
• It's a fine optimization to make if you can handle it, but personally I'd be disinclined to recommend it. Optimizing for one's attention span is also a thing, and I'll happily forfeit 1 dps to just not have to worry about SS all that much.
• Plus, having it on a 3 per 80s cycle offers a little flexibility with early re-applies and such, whereas aiming for 3 per 90s calls for much more strictly timed usage (or else why are you even doing it). And if you end up doing an early reapply because Barrage or something, the whole thing can get rendered moot anyway.

Putting this into application, the WM to AP transition would change into something like the following:

… Heavy Shot [EA off CD] > Iron Jaws > Heavy Shot > Heavy Shot (BL+RS)
             > Straight Shot (WM+EA) > HS spam … > Barrage+RA or Barrage+EA … >
             Iron Jaws as RS falling off > Heavy Shot ...

This would cut into the Straight Shot buff timer in most cases but it will be easier of manageable options and will be able to be repeated each time.

For those who don’t like cutting corners…

Hard-mode Option

Patch 4.06 brought with it a buff to the SS buff duration and in turn, another buff that becomes harder to manage when trying to optimize. When SS buff was 20 seconds long, the timings in which SS was reset felt predictable due to the 80 second nature of the 3-song rotation. However, since SS buff is now 30 seconds, there is now an extra duration of SS buff remaining as we enter the next WM phase. This is illustrated in the diagram below.

The easy way out of this would be to just clip into the remaining SS buff and to use SS as we enter WM but that would be too easy. The other option is to refresh SS during the RS+WM phase as the buff is running down but this opens up a new headache connected with the newly buffed Barrage.

Since Barrage is now to be used within every Raging Strikes window, one must be extra vigilant in SS buff management during this period. There will be situations where SS procs during Raging Strikes when Barrage is <10 seconds and if you find yourself in a position where the SS buff is close to falling off, you are left with either the decision to go multiple GCDs outside of SS buff for the sake of Barrage+RA or wasting a SS proc to refresh SS buff and perhaps having to settle for a Barrage+EA. Both scenarios are not ideal and feel bad, so I’ve made myself a special SS buff refresh criteria when it comes to Barrage, which is the following:

“Barrage-SS” Buff Refresh Criteria

• If Barrage is approaching 10 seconds remaining on its recast time and the remaining SS buff is less than the Barrage CD timer, then refresh SS buff before attempting HS spam to fish for a possible Barrage+RA.

In other words, I’m making sure that I have 100% SS uptime in the case of a SS proc that can be paired with Barrage. This may cut into the remaining SS buff timer by up to 8~9 seconds but if it guarantees that SS buff will be up during a possible Barrage+RA, I think it is still worthwhile (though math may prove me wrong).

The timings and the need to do this kind of SS refresh depends on when Barrage was used previously. For example, if Barrage was used early in the opener, such as after the first HS, then it’s possible that the Barrage CD could be shorter than the remaining SS buff duration. But if Barrage was used with EA at the backend of the opener, there’s a high chance that the Barrage-SS refresh will have to be used.

Raid Buff Optimization

The changes to weaken personal damage buffs (removing Hawk’s Eye, Blood for Blood etc.) while increasing the impact of raid-wide buffs have made high-end optimization into a difficult endeavor. The most difficult part is on deciding when to refresh DoTs early via IJ for the sake of applying raid buffs that come out at certain timings of a fight. The table in the following page shows the timings of major raid buffs and is to be used for personal reference.

Iron Jaws with Raid Buffs

There has been a lot of discussion and theorycrafting regarding this so far, so I will first post what others have said and derive my own conclusions from them.

Word from Miyuri and Cetonis

Miyuri in her ranged dps FAQ (page 20) mentions the following regarding this topic:

• Q: is it worth it to clip IJ and refresh it early with additional buffs?

yes. IJ is incredibly strong right now; it’s basically a 1100 potency GCD; 100 initial hit, 1000 DoTs over 30s. even a double refresh can be worth it in some situations.

assuming your previous IJ was unbuffed, it’s fairly easy for most buffs/debuffs to make it worth refreshing IJ earlier than usual so that you get the most out of it.

with crit buffs, you’ll gain increased crit rate for extra DoT damage and extra procs. for damage buffs, you’ll gain potency overall compared to a heavy shot.

to make things simple; assuming 15s~ of time difference between 1st and 2nd IJ at minimum in case of double refresh

• double refresh under any critical hit buffs (chain stratagem, battle litany) as soon as they go up (exception: during paeon phase where procs aren’t as strong)
• double refresh if there are 2 or more significant damage buffs/debuffs present for the 1st and 2nd IJ (raging strikes, brotherhood, embolden, balance, etc)
• single refresh if there is only 1 significant damage buff, or if there won’t be enough time to fit all applicable buffs/debuffs on both the 1st and 2nd IJ. usually most common with awkward trick timings, so keep an eye out!

Cetonis elaborates further in much greater detail in a recent email he sent to me. It is quite long but I think it adds enough to the discussion to warrant its full inclusion here (added bold and red text for emphasis).

• :: On when the heck to re-apply Jaws

• In a vacuum, we more or less know that you want to apply Jaws twice (at the start/end) for crit buffs, unless the added time on your second apply is just going to be burned on AP. We can also safely figure that you'd like to use Jaws at some point during most damage buffs, as in even for Brotherhood if you IJ right before it, the 50/50 shot of losing a HS (-40p) is less than the +50p you get from the next run of DoTs
• However, in practice, you will often already have a buff or two on whatever DoTs are currently running. And some buffs like Spear and Embolden come at unpredictable times, the rest won't be predictable in a pug, sometimes they'll overlap in really awkward ways and so on.
• So let's start with some numbers. Because the goal here is to be useful in a fight, and nobody realistically is going to get super exacting, I'm going to start with:

• Reapply Jaws with 20+s left: -80p
  Reapply Jaws with 10-19s left: -40p
  Reapply Jaws with <10s left: Free

• Obviously there's much more precise values you can use for different amounts, but nobody is going to figure that out midfight, and it largely depends on future buffs and what they may dictate anyway (which is effectively impossible to work out barring highly scripted speedrun stuffs). So for on-the-fly guesstimations, I'd recommend just using these rough values.
• As for the upsides, it makes the most sense, I think, to look at per-tick values. It's easy enough to multiply by 10 if you're expecting to get the full run, and you're often interested in the value of replacing one DoT with another.

• +5% damage (AoE balance, Hypercharge, Brotherhood, Dragon Sight): 5p per tick
  +10% damage (Raging Strikes, Trick Attack, solo Balance, start of Embolden): 10p per tick
  +5% crit (AoE Spear): 17p (WM), 11p (MB), 5p-3p (AP) per tick
  +10% crit (solo Spear): 34p (WM), 21.5p (MB), 10p-6p (AP) per tick
  +15% crit (Chain Strategem, Battle Litany): 51p (WM), 32.5p (MB), 15p-9p (AP) per tick

• The ranges on AP represent early vs. middle/later ticks, since there is some value in getting your stacks a bit faster as discussed elsewhere.
  So it's important to keep in mind what buffs are on your current DoTs - for example, if you just re-applied at the tail end of a Spear, and then Battle Litany goes up, and you're going into Ballad. As valuable as Litany is, it's only a +10p improvement over what you've got. So instead of going for the double reapply there, which would cost you 80p to gain 60-70p, you'd just hold out and re-apply once before the end of Litany. But if instead this happened late into AP, you would go and do the double reapply, since the crit increase is more valuable in the oncoming WM.
• That's just one example; certainly there are many forms the buff landscape can take. As a rule of thumb of sorts, if you consider a crit buff to be worth triple/double/single the crit rate boost in damage increase, that can help you figure out things like Spear vs. Raging Strikes on the fly.
• Getting this right - applying Jaws when it's a gain but only when it's a gain - feels like it'll be an important part of optimization in buff-heavy groups. Being over-aggressive with re-applies could lose several hundred potency over a fight, as could failing to take proper advantage of the better opportunities that arise.

Word from Aileena

Both Miyuri and Cetonis go over a lot of content so I will do my best to put my own spin on how to deal with this conundrum.

There are a few conclusions that can be derived from the numbers in Cetonis’ discussion that may help guide our decision-making on when to re-apply Iron Jaws early. They are as follows:

1. Critical hit rate buffs are more valuable than pure % damage increase buffs when applied onto DoTs

• This shouldn’t require much additional explanation. The additional effects of the three song stances provide additional potency benefits with DoT crits that no other job has. Pure % damage buffs may provide more bonus DoT damage overall when compared to the bonus crit damage from crit buffs on DoTs but the additional potency from the song effects far surpasses those differences.

2. The potency gain from n% crit buff on DoTs during AP is roughly similar to n% damage increase buff on DoTs. (n =  same value)

• Although AP may be the weakest out of the three songs, the increased chance of stacks from crit buffs provide as much potency gain as the flat damage increase gained from %-damage buffed DoTs.

3. The potency gain from critical hit rate buffs on DoTs have rough multipliers of x1 for AP, x2 for MB, and x3 for WM.

• If we roughly round the numbers, for a 5% crit buff, we get rough potency per tick gains of 15p for WM, 10p for MB, and 5p for start of AP. So by taking into account the 2nd point above, this would roughly translate into a 5% crit buff on DoTs being equal to a 15% damage buff during WM and a 10% damage buff during MB on DoTs.

4. There are only 2 critical hit rate buffs on set timers (Chain Strategem, Battle Litany) and 1 critical hit rate buff received random timings (Spear -- AoE, single, enhanced, or extended).

• In comparison, there are a total of 8 damage increasing raid buffs (Balance, Radiant Shield, Hypercharge, Devotion, Embolden, Dragon Sight, Trick Attack, Devotion).

Now that we’ve seen just how strong crit buffs are on DoTs, let’s move onto some guidelines. They probably won’t differ much from what has been mentioned above but I’ll try and provide sufficient reasoning behind each guideline for the sake of clarification. Since things get overly complicated if we take replacing currently buffed DoTs with other buffed DoTs, it is assumed that the prior DoTs are NOT buffed in any way.

Aileena’s Iron Jaws Guidelines

1. For Chain Strategem and Battle Litany, try and double IJ at the beginning and end of the buffs regardless of the current DoT timer, even if a significant portion is spent in AP.

• At a 15% crit buff, Chain Strategem and Battle Litany are the elite buffs for Bard DoTs and should be prioritized above all other buffs when refreshing via IJ. These two buffs overlap at 6 and 12 minutes so make sure to get a full 30s duration of DoTs with 30% crit buff if you have a Scholar and Dragoon in your party.
• Even if AP overlaps during this time, it still provides similar potency per tick as a 15% damage buff, which is still a decent gain. Also, since AP only last for 20 seconds, you will still have 20+ seconds of crit buffed DoTs within WM, MB or both if double IJ had been executed properly.
• Other raid buffs will also come out during this time so try and get as many buffs onto the 2nd IJ at the back end of the crit buff as possible.

2. During damage increasing raid buffs, adjust IJ strategy according to buff strength, buff duration, and DoT timer at the onset of the buff:

• Double IJ regardless of buff-onset DoT timer: damage buff is 15% or higher and the duration is 20s or higher.

• At a 15% damage buff for 20s, you get 6 DoT ticks with a potency gain of 90p during the first set of buffed DoTs. Since using IJ at 20+ seconds remaining on DoTs is a rough 80 potency loss, you still gain a slight amount.
• However, unless you have 20%+ buffs for 20 seconds or more, it’s probably safer to just use single IJ at the backend of the DoT duration if the DoT timer was 20+ seconds on the onset of the buffs.  
• Examples:

• Raging Strikes (10%, 20s) + Balance (5~15%, 30s)
• Enhanced Balance (15%, 30s)

• Double IJ with buff-onset DoT timer less than 10s: damage buff of <15% potency with durations of 20s or higher.

• If the onset DoT timer is close to expiring, the first IJ refresh with any damage buff is technically “free”. However, if the onset DoT timer was 20s+, the lost potency wouldn’t be able to be recovered from the buffs if IJ is done at that time.
• 15 second raid buffs (Dragon Sight, Devotion, Brotherhood) only have buff potencies of 5% so there will be very few opportunities where you will double IJ them. An extremely rare example would be if Devotion and Brotherhood came at the same time with an AoE Balance thrown in there somewhere. It’s easier to just exclude them from the double IJ equation.
• Raging Strikes is the one buff that we can predict when it’s good to double IJ or not. If the RS-onset DoT timer is 20+ seconds, single IJ. If it is <10s, double IJ.
• Examples:

• Raging Strikes (10%, 20s)
• Balance (5~15%, 30s)
• Hypercharge (5%, 30s)
• Devotion (2%, 15s) + Brotherhood (5%, 15s) + Balance (5~15%, 30s) will this ever happen? LUL

• Single IJ as DoT timer is expiring during buff or when buff timer is expiring with DoT timer at less than 10s: the remaining combination of buffs.

• This is the most common IJ scenario when buffs come up. In the chaotic environment of unpredictable raid buff timings and weak buff potencies, there will be very few opportunities to double IJ enough buffs to make it worthwhile.

3. For AoE Spear, treat it like a Raging Strikes and double IJ depending on if the current DoT duration is less than 10 seconds.
   For single-target Spear, double IJ whenever possible.

• Although weaker than Arrow and Balance in general, any Spear buff onto DoTs will provide significant value, similar to yet weaker than Chain Strategem and Battle Litany. 5% crit buff from AoE Spear isn’t necessarily strong enough to warrant its own double IJ regardless of onset DoT timer so just treat it like Raging Strikes and try and at least get one IJ refresh with Spear onto it. 10% crit from single-target Spear should provide enough potency to warrant a double IJ of its own.

Appendix

Hardware/Add-ons/Network

While this may be common knowledge to most FFXIV users, I just thought I’d make a short section on available tools to help make bard gameplay easier for PC users (sorry PS4 peeps!).

MMO gaming mouse

Anyone who has levelled a class to Lvl.60 will have experienced hotbar bloat and have thought about how to hotkey the overwhelming amount of skills that one has to manage. With a MMO gaming mouse, this issue is largely resolved. While possible to play any class optimally with a normal mouse and keyboard, why make life difficult for yourself when tools are available to help?

The two most popular MMO gaming mice are the Razer Naga and Logitech G600, both receiving positive reviews from their respective users. More information can be found in their official websites linked above.

ACT DPS Parser + FFLogs

Yoshi-P may have his reasons for not implementing an official parser to the game but to anyone who wishes to master any DPS class in this game, having a DPS parser is mandatory. If having a parser is not possible (like for PS4 users), then referring to FFLogs or another person’s logs is the alternative option. The point is that without feedback on DPS via parsing, it is difficult to objectively evaluate one’s own performance. Just like how video replay analysis is used to help athletes fix their mistakes and see their weaknesses and strengths, parsers and FFLogs should be used by any FFXIV user who wishes to take the next step towards improvement and optimization.

• ACT Overlay Plugin subreddit
• ACT Setup Guide
• FFLogs

VPN softwares

In my opinion, bard is one of the most ping-sensitive classes in the game due to how Bloodletter procs can cause GCD clipping if they occur at the late-end of the GCD timer. As a result, I regard any method to reduce ping and thereby reduce clipping to be a part of DPS optimization. Through a recommendation from another fellow bard user, I was able to reduce my ping from 60~80ms to 35~40ms via VPN and I haven’t looked elsewhere since.  Once you experience the life of low ping, it’s hard to go back.

There are many VPN softwares that have different results depending on where one is connecting from. Korea (where I play from) and Singapore users have gotten good results from Battleping whereas Australia users tend to use Pingzapper or WTFast. There’s no real way to find out which is best until it is trialed.

Test out multiple VPNs from the list below and see what is best for you.

• Battleping
• WTFast
• Pingzapper
• Mudfish

For Windows 10 users, ping for FFXIV can be observed via the following steps:

1. Open up Task Manager via Alt+Ctrl+Delete.
2. Click on the "Performance" tab near the top.
3. Click "Open Resource Manager" at the bottom.
4. Open up the "Processes with Network Activity" and "TCP Connections" windows.
5. Check the box for your FFXIV client in the "Processes with Network Activity" window.
6. Your FFXIV connections (there will be multiple) will be placed on the top of the "TCP Connections" window, where you can read the latency column to see your ping.

Relegated Foe Requiem Section

The section below was written with the 30s AP rotation in mind, but after adopting the 20s AP rotation and thinking over better ways to optimize Foe Requiem usage, became somewhat inferior in my eyes. However, some may glean some insight from what I’ve written, so I’ve decided to just leave it in its entirety below. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS NOW! 

After much experimentation within my proposed rotation, I’ve come up with the following conclusion as to what I believe is the optimal usage of Foe Requiem:

• Foe Requiem is to be used immediately before the opener and prior to entering into the following WM phases with the intent of getting as close to the maximum 22.8 seconds of uptime as possible each time, utilizing MP restoration abilities such as Refresh and Mana Shift to maximize MP leading up to the next Foe Requiem cast.

Not everyone will agree with this but allow me to explain my reasoning for including Foe Requiem as a vital part of the Bard rotation. The reasons are as follows:

1. Despite Foe Requiem not being a personal DPS buff, the changes to increase all types of damage taken has made it into an important raid buff which is to be utilized properly.

• Prior to the changes, Foe Requiem was utilized mainly to increase the damage of magic-based skills from mainly casters and healers, and sometimes wasn’t used often due to how MP and TP regen songs depleted the same MP pool needed for Foe Requiem. Overall changes to MP and TP regen skills and Foe Requiem have increased the importance of managing MP for the sake of optimal Foe Requiem uptime.
• Due to how Foe Requiem requires replacing a Heavy Shot to cast, it is not a personal DPS gain to use Foe Requiem. Cetonis says it best below:

• “...You pay 180p to cast it, and then over 22.8s you would need to deal 263 pps just to make up that 180p we lost in casting it (really 183, if you pre-suppose we're using RS right after). 263 pps is just not a number that we're going to hit, even with Raging Strikes, Barrage etc., though we may get close if some stars align. The only way to win personally on a Foe is if it's extended, and even then we won't win by much.”

2. Using Foe Requiem during the WM stance phase provides the greatest value due to its synergy with Raging Strikes, Barrage, and Pitch Perfect.

• Although not a substantial difference, the higher potency of WM in comparison to the other two song stances lessens the personal DPS loss of having to cast Foe Requiem in place of using Heavy Shot.

3. Extending the Foe Requiem duration for longer than 23 seconds by using Refresh in tandem with Foe Requiem is not recommended as it takes away a full 23s Foe Requiem when the next WM phase comes up.

• After the second Iron Jaws when Raging Strikes is falling off, the value of Foe Requiem falls off overall since the raid has already expended most of their cooldowns and most raid buffs expire around this time.
• Extending the duration of Foe Requiem using Mana Shift is the better alternative (more below).

4. Using Foe Requiem at an unofficial cooldown of 85~90 seconds allows for better CD alignment and telegraphing within the raid, and also aligns well with future Refresh usages.

• For teams that like to plan raid buff cooldowns, having set times where Foe Requiem is utilized and maximized is helpful, similar to how Machinist Hypercharge was predictable and planned around for damage bursts.
• These timings allow for the 2nd Refresh to be used after the 3rd Foe Requiem, reducing any MP regen downtime due to having a semi-full MP bar prior to using Refresh. (More below)

Let’s move onto some MP restoration optimizations that will help us achieve the above goal of getting as many 23 second Foe Requiems as possible.

Relegated MP Restoration Optimization

There are currently 3 external means for Bards to receive extra MP restoration help aside from the 2% MP gained every 3 seconds from server-side ticks: Ewer cards from Astrologians, Mana Shift from caster role abilities, and Refresh from ranged DPS role abilities. As mentioned above, in most circumstances, it isn’t ideal to use Refresh in tandem with Foe Requiem just for the sake of extending the duration of Foe Requiem, but there may be cases where knowing how much Foe Requiem can be extended by as a result of external MP regeneration can be helpful

Below is a table of the Foe Requiem durations under the effects of various combinations of MP regeneration skills. Mana Shift was used when the Bard dropped below 6600 MP and the other MP regen skills were used in tandem with Foe Requiem. The original times were measured manually using a stopwatch but have been adjusted in the table to match the formula of [3s x (# of Foe ticks-1) + 5s].

Considering how there will hardly be any situation where Ewer will be used instead of Balance, Arrow or Bole, let’s exclude Ewer from the MP regen optimization puzzle and focus on Mana Shift and Refresh.

What would normally take 2.5 minutes to restore MP from 0% to 100% without external MP regen help takes only 55 seconds to go to 100% MP under the effects of Refresh, permitting a full 23 second duration Foe Requiem during the 2nd WM phase. Mana Shift has a 2.5 minute CD while Refresh has a 3 minute CD, so the 1st Mana Shift can be used to extend the first Foe Requiem by 2 ticks and the 2nd Mana Shift can be used to help extend the 3rd Foe Requiem which will not have full MP due to the lack of Refresh. The 4th Foe Requiem will have the full 23 second duration since the 2nd Refresh used after the 3rd Foe Requiem depletes the MP reserves.

The flowchart below will help visualize the process.

• 1st Foe Requiem on pull (29s duration; 9 ticks)

• Receive Mana Shift from caster when below 6600 MP (2nd~3rd GCD)
• Use Refresh after Foe Requiem completes (~30s into fight)

• 2nd Foe Requiem @ ~85s (23s duration; 7 ticks)

• Receive Mana Shift when it comes off cooldown during MB/AP phase
  (~2min 40s into fight)

• 3rd Foe Requiem @ ~170s (14~17s duration; 4~5 ticks)

• Use Refresh when it comes off cooldown (~3min 30s into fight)

• 4th Foe Requiem @ ~255s (23s duration; 7 ticks)

Relegated 20s AP vs. 30s AP Section

Before delving into the details of WM transitions, I want to diverge by touching on differing mindsets that may exist regarding when to leave AP. With song stances and Raging Strikes having an 80s cooldown, there is a fair bit of flexibility when it comes to transitioning into WM after using MB and AP than would be the case if the cooldowns were a more strict 90s instead. This flexibility opens up the question of if it is worthwhile to cut the duration of AP short to about 15~20 seconds and go into WM+RS as soon as they come off cooldown.The potency per second disparity between AP and the other two song stances of WM and MB provides enough motivation to throw aside AP early. This reasoning in support of a shortened AP looks sound in isolation; however, when Barrage is taken into account, opinions can become divided.

Unlike the WM and RS, Barrage has maintained its original cooldown timer of 90 seconds. The gap between WM+RS and Barrage cooldowns puts Barrage in an awkward position of potentially not being inside Raging Strikes if WM+RS is used as soon as they come off cooldown during the AP phase. This distance between WM+RS and Barrage further widens in subsequent AP phases if priority is given to reducing AP uptime for the sake of faster WM+RS usages. To those who appreciate rotations that have predictable cooldown timings and placements, the mismatch between Barrage and WM+RS cooldown timers will definitely be annoyance.

While I had originally been of the opinion that Barrage should be grouped with WM+RS, my thoughts have since changed as I have experienced the negative effect it has had on my DPS output. By lining up Barrage with RS, I had to sacrifice WM and AP uptime as well as reduce the number of song casts I would use in a fight, which at 100 potency per cast, can add up fairly quickly in any extended fight. Not only that but using Barrage with EA in order to get in under RS tended to be more of a loss than fishing for a Refulgent Arrow to use with Barrage (more details in Barrage section below). All in all, the sacrifices made in order to cater to Barrage for the sake of maintaining a clean-looking rotation are too costly and should not have to be made in the majority of circumstances.

It’s a shame that Barrage has to be sent into the rotation wilderness but it is a sacrifice that must be made within this new rotation framework.

The table below helps to visualize the mappings of song usages throughout extended fights. Since each 20s AP phase creates a 10 second gap from the 30s AP song rotation, eight rotations of 20s AP (80s x 8 = 640s) create the required 80 second gap that allows for an extra WM+RS when compared to the 30s AP rotation. For shorter fights, the gains from using 20s AP rotations diminish but even that depends on encounter timings and details. Song optimization is a very encounter-dependent process so it’s helpful to be conscious of these details while planning.