Bard

The rogue support soul. A requirement for every 20 man raid, optional in 10 man raids, the Bard brings to the table unique raid buffs that will benefit and increase everyones performance. It is highly recommended to always have a Bard spec among your roles, if only for the ability to resurrect people out of combat. 51 points in the Bard soul is the way to go for PVE raiding, while the leftover soul points are spent into maximizing Cadence damage (which increases Cadence heals).

Sample ability bar. Your key abilities are Cadence (the spam button), your buffs (Motifs) and finishers (Codas). Everything else is situational.

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The Macros: Theres NONE. You have to cast each one of your abilities manually. Its not possible to make macros since Motifs and Codas dont have cooldowns. Sorry.

Rotations

Motif Rotation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Motif of Bravery Motif of Focus Motif of Tenacity Motif of Grandeur Motif of Regeneration

This is your most important contribution to the raid. Your job is to keep these up all the time to improve the raids performance. Rinse and repeat every 30 seconds.

Basic Rotation 1. Cadence until 5 Combo Points 2. Coda Finisher Any time you are not casting Motifs should be spent debuffing and/or supporting via extra heals or damage. In this case your priorities are:

Debuffing>Healing>Damage

Debuffs: (these will last for one minute, and should be refreshed once the timer is up). Coda of Jeopardy: ST, makes the enemy take extra damage from everyones attacks. Coda of Cowardice: AoE, the enemy takes 5% more physical damage. Coda of Distress: AoE, the enemy takes 7% more magical damage. Extra heals: use Coda of Restoration, will heal 5 party members for 700-1k health. Extra damage: Coda of Wrath for ST, Coda of Fury for AoE.

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Self Buffs Planebound Resilience Hellfire Blades

Raid Buffs

1. Fanfares (Fanfare of Knowledge, Fanfare of Power, Fanfare of Vigor). These are improved versions of the 40-stat buffs some souls have. Make sure everyone in your raid has them.

2. Anthems (Glory, Defiance, Fervor, Competence) These auras will grant the raid either extra physical resistance (Glory), magical resistance (Defiance), run speed (Competence) or a 13% cost reduction to all skills (Fervor). Only one of them can be up at a time (per bard), so ask your raid leader which aura you should be running, as the encounters will dictate which one of these will be the most effective. Otherwise use Anthem of Fervor.

Cooldowns

Riff Instantly awards you 5 Combo Points, 1 minute cooldown. Use this whenever you need a quick heal through Coda of Restoration or to refresh your debuffs.

Virtuoso All of your Bard Finishers wont consume Combo Points for the next 15 seconds, 3 minute cooldown. Most useful when combined with Coda of Restoration for burst AoE healing.

Verse of Vitality Heals party members for about 600-1k HP. 1 minute cooldown. Extra heals for the raid that dont require Combo Points.

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Verse of Joy Restores everyones mana, charge, power or energy for the next 15 seconds, 2 minute cooldown. The higher resource regeneration allows rogues and warriors to pull slightly higher DPS, while clerics will like the extra mana to keep their heals rolling. Most Mage specs have infinite mana but they will appreciate the extra charge. Should be used whenever its off CD.

Notes Both Power Chord and Fiery Spike (from Nightblade tree) can be used as Combo Point Builders while on the move. Verse of Captivation, in a PVE setting, works like the mages Transmogrify, allowing you to lock an enemy making it unable to attack. Damage on the monster will break the mesmerize effect. Instant cast, no cooldown. Lasts 8 seconds. If theres an Archon in your raid, let them do the physical/magical debuffing, as their debuffs will last for 5 minutes. Coda of Jeopardy should still be refreshed by the bard, as the Archons equivalent lasts only 20 seconds.