Bard Detail

[Zirk]

And since DoT's and self buffs usually happen at the beginning of fights, you'll find internal release stacking with your other buffs lots of the time.

Other than that though I have a macro similar to what Jem posted that gets mashed at the start of a fight whenever any of the buffs are off cooldown.

[Ksandra]

kk ty ty!

[kisada]

kk, that brings me to my next question. I use 5 buffs: raging strikes, blood for blood, hawk's eye, internal release, barrage. I have them all macro'd into one slot. I usually do bfb + raging strikes, then hawk's eye + barrage, then bfb (when it's up again) + internal release.

Is there a better setup for that?

i haven't actually done a whole lot of testing with the order of buffs, but i've always assumed that getting IR up first followed by dots has been the best way to go. as far as what comes next i don't particularly care, and i just weave them in between the rest of my shots in the opening rotation. barrage always comes last though.

[Spider-Dan]

I've removed Hawk's Eye from my buff spam until I parse below 95% accuracy.

[Day]

%15 DEX increase does nothing for you?

[Judai]

I have a macro with all my buffs in it, for trash I hit Raging for one mob, then Hawk/B4B for the next mob. If it's a bigger pull, I might use all at once and dot a few mobs rq while I have all my buffs up.

/micon "Raging Strikes"
/ac "Raging Strikes" <me>
/ac "Hawk's Eye" <me>
/ac "Blood for Blood" <me>
/ac "Internal Release" <me>
/ac "Quelling Strikes" <me>

and then I also have IR in my Windbite/VBite macros, so I can have it up w/e it's up for dots. I also have Barrage at the bottom of my HS macro, so I use it w/e it's up. You don't usually see the auto-attacks but they are there, going off during your other moves and they are a ton of dmg. Use a parser and check it out, but regular attacks are usually right there with HS in terms of total dmg.

[Spider-Dan]

%15 DEX increase does nothing for you?

For some reason, I was thinking there was some arbitrary restriction on the DEX boost and it would not affect damage. Maybe I'm just thinking of the accuracy restriction.

[Niiro]

What would the DEX boost be for if not damage?

BRD's gotta jack that....parry rate?

[Seravi Edalborez]

/micon "Raging Strikes"
/ac "Raging Strikes" <me>
/ac "Hawk's Eye" <me>
/ac "Blood for Blood" <me>
/ac "Internal Release" <me>
/ac "Quelling Strikes" <me>

I use this, except I also have a version without BFB, I have Quelling on its own for some reason, and Barrage is in there (maybe should take it out?).

[Judai]

My Barrage might be at the bottom of mine, not sure since I'm not on, and I also have a separate quelling just in case I need it alone but I usually only need it for the start of fights or when I stack buffs. I personally like having Barrage in my HS macro though and that's usually where it gets used. It sucks when I use it with a few hits left on a trash mob but who cares about trash, I want to use it as much as possible on Bosses.

[Viar]

Which weapon should I use for Titan fight? I'm 1 step away from relic, but sick of farming Ifrit/Garuda which never drop. Is giantsgall good enough? Or I have to suck it up and buy a Sargna HQ?

[shepardG]

Giantsgall is fine, just don't get hit by shit.

[Spider-Dan]

I've figured some of the caps for the Imperial Operative Choker:

VIT +7
Skill Speed +11
Accuracy +11
Parry +11
Determination +2
Piety >= +4

Considering the stat relevance that someone posted above: Accuracy > VIT > Determination
I'm guessing that the best meld we could be aiming for with that neck piece is the following:

11 Acc, 7 VIT, 2 Det

2x Heaven's Eye III (6 Acc each, 2nd capped at 5)
2x Vitality Materia III (4 VIT each, 2nd capped at 3)
1x Savage Might II (3 Det, capped at 2)

Should I go for this or is there a better neck option I should be aware of (outside of coil)?

Gryphonskin Choker might be better (depending on it's crit materia cap), but it requires 2 Hard Hippogryph Leather (i.e. 2250 philosophy stones) to make, so forget that.
Gryphonskin Wristbands might also be a good option, and have normal iLV70 mat costs.

BTW, XIVDB says the materia caps on HQ Imperial Operative Wristlets are:

ACC+11 DTR+7 VIT+7 CRT+3 (STR+0 DEX+0 SKS+0)

That should make the optimal Imp.Op. Wristlets meld any 5 of:

Heavens Eye III x2
Savage Might III x2
Vitality III x2
Savage Aim III II x1

[Deadgye]

So, how much ACC should I be looking at getting for coil? I skipped the acc meld in my HQ Imp. Op. Choker because I'm not rich enough to fail a gazillion melds.

[ejact]

So, how much ACC should I be looking at getting for coil? I skipped the acc meld in my HQ Imp. Op. Choker because I'm not rich enough to fail a gazillion melds.

472 is cap for coil, but you should really level lancer to 22 since invigorate is kind of important for any tp based dps.

[Spider-Dan]

472 is cap for coil, but you should really level lancer to 34 since Blood for Blood

non sequitur, but fixed anyway

[Deadgye]

I'm slowly leveling my lancer for both those skills. Been focusing mainly on botany/crafting. An accuracy cap of 472 sounds good. It should mean I don't need to bother melding acc into anything ever.

[Kincard]

I use this, except I also have a version without BFB, I have Quelling on its own for some reason, and Barrage is in there (maybe should take it out?).

I put Quelling on its own too, given that its not actually a dps buff.

Is blunt/repelling shot worth working into the rotation if I don't otherwise need them? They're weaker than AAs so I dunno if they'll increase my damage over time.

[Seravi Edalborez]

Unless Repelling might kill you (Titan I guess, or getting into range in the first place), no real reason not to if Bloodletter, Misery, or some other nonGCD isn't up.

[Kincard]

I heard WSs interrupt your AAs so I just wasn't sure if doing actions weaker than your AAs was worth it.