Comments from the Devs

[miokomioko]

No combos. Well, they have the mechanic of some skills having a chance to affect another, if you want to call that a combo.

[Spider-Dan]

ARC/BRD's combos are all proc-based.

Bloodletter is TP-free plain-old attack on 15s cooldown.
Venomous Bite (poison DoT) and Windbite (wind DoT) have a chance to reset Bloodletter timer.
Heavy Shot has 20% chance to guarantee crit on Straight Shot.

(BRD only)
Wide Volley has 15% chance to make next Rain of Death cost 0 TP.
Rain of Death has a 15% chance to make next Quick Nock cost 0 TP.
(Quick Nock is now a plain conal AoE attack)

As lancaster mentioned, ARC does a lot of proc-watching while attacking.

[Dakin]

No combos. Only lots of "Chance to make X abilty do something"

I imagine main dps priorities will be keeping up windbite to reset bloodletter cooldown, keeping up our crit buff, spamming misery's end on CD when applicable, and smart use of raging/barrage.

[Grey Jorildyn]

Sounds to me like they need some kinda MP-absorbing ability.

[Niiro]

Hm, actually sounds a bit interesting.

I'll check it out this weekend while I'm stuck not getting anywhere in the story because there's no goddamn duty finder.

[solracht]

Windbite + Venomous Bite resetting Bloodletter looked really interesting/fun until I read more carefully and realized the reset can only happen on critical ticks. I don't know how much crit we're expecting BRDs to have (especially if they have to stack PIE to keep up Paeons) but it doesn't feel like we'll see that many procs if they keep the current mechanics.

Hoping I'm wrong or missing something. Maybe crit rates will be higher than I'm expecting (I didn't really check).

[Dakin]

BRD seems to have really high ceiling on AoE dps, and potentially single target DPS during the last part of bosses. Will be quite hectic managing tp, mp, songs, while watching what our next logical action should be depending on procs.

Also we can make pizzas on the ground, which is awesome.

[Thesuspect]

Hm, actually sounds a bit interesting.

I'll check it out this weekend while I'm stuck not getting anywhere in the story because there's no goddamn duty finder.

Have they said duty finder won't be ready this weekend?

[Rocl]

Yes

http://forum.square-enix.com/ARR-Tes...806-25-2013%29

Although testing of the duty finder was scheduled for Test 3, final QA checks of the system are still in progress. Stress testing of the duty finder will be conducted during Test 4 at the earliest.

We deeply apologize for the delay of duty finder testing, and ask for your continued cooperation.

[Rocl]

now that gay marriage is constitutional in america in selected states can gay marriage be legal in eorzea in selected city-states

obvi ishgard wouldn't allow but uldah might

[Evane]

Are you comparing Eorzea to America? I've always gotten a Soviet Union kind of vibe from it myself.

[Spider-Dan]

So the main difference between Mantra and Convalescence is that Mantra only works for healing magic, not abilities?

[Raldo]

So the main difference between Mantra and Convalescence is that Mantra only works for healing magic, not abilities?

Is Mantra a self-only skill like Convalescence is? I notice Mantra says 'the target', whereas Convalescence does not.

I thought the difference was that Mantra could be used on other people (or perhaps was restricted to non-self targets), but then I realized that I never used it, so I don't actually know.

[Niiro]

So the main difference between Mantra and Convalescence is that Mantra only works for healing magic, not abilities?

Based on the description that seems to be the case, Mantra specifies healing magic while Conva is "HP restored by spells or actions".

I don't remember if I ever tried using Mantra but abilities that can't be targeted on yourself usually specify that, Mantra was probably just made targetable to others to add a bit of utility.

[Sigmakan]

Mantra can be used on a target (ie the tank)

[Spider-Dan]

Also, it's probably way too early to test this, but does anyone know if Silence works like XI, where if you Silence someone during a cast then the cast is cancelled (even if Silence is removed before the cast is complete)? Blunt Arrow is listed as Silence with 1s duration, so it seems like the only purpose of it would be as a spell-only "stun."

And is Bloodbath "next offensive ability" or all offensive abilities for duration? The description says next but that would seem to make the MRD20 trait (extend Bloodbath duration) kind of pointless.

[Sigmakan]

Also, it's probably way too early to test this, but does anyone know if Silence works like XI, where if you Silence someone during a cast then the cast is cancelled (even if Silence is removed before the cast is complete)?

Blunt Arrow is listed as Silence with 1s duration, so it seems like the only purpose of it would be as a spell-only "stun."

I have to believe thats the case. There are many WSs that have that 1s silence. Something to check out this weekend I guess.

[Churchill]

So have you wrapped your head around the fact that in order to have fulltime Paeon, you'd have to have a non-singing BRD in your party at nearly all times?

Or are you still holding on to the idea that a BRD can somehow magically keep up a song at all times?

It is possible to do, therefor it is expected.

[Spider-Dan]

It is possible to do, therefor it is expected.

In the currently existing version of the game, there is no mechanism for a BRD to fulltime any battle song.

Perhaps you should actually try it before commenting further on the "bads."

[Churchill]

Yes, I am well known for commenting on something without fully testing it. Given the pace of the game, I don't see it being an issue up to a certain threshold. Raids will probably meet this threshold but in that case bringing extra Bards isn't really an issue.