Leveling Rotations and Tips for Bard — Endwalker 6.4

When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of gear with the highest Dexterity. Aside from gear you buy for gil at vendors, this will always be the Dexterity gear with the higher item level.

Once you are level 50/60/70/80, you can trade Allagan Tomestone of Poetics for gear of the highest item level available for that level. Get these from Rowena's Representatives near the aetheryte of each expansion's major city.

Bard's rotation does not change substantially after level 56. Most of the skills and traits after that point are upgrades to existing skills. The ones that are not upgrades are skills you slot in once every minute or two, or support abilities.

Remember to do your class and job quests! There are skills locked behind those up to and including Refulgent Arrow at level 70. The levels here assume you have all quests complete.

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

1. Stormbite → The Wanderer's Minuet → Raging Strikes
2. Caustic Bite → Empyreal Arrow → Bloodletter
3. Burst Shot or Refulgent Arrow → Battle Voice
4. Burst Shot or Refulgent Arrow → Barrage and/or Sidewinder
5. Burst Shot or Refulgent Arrow → Barrage or Sidewinder (if not used yet)
6. Burst Shot or Refulgent Arrow
7. Burst Shot or Refulgent Arrow
8. Burst Shot or Refulgent Arrow → Empyreal Arrow
9. Iron Jaws → Pitch Perfect

1. Stormbite → The Wanderer's Minuet → Raging Strikes
2. Caustic Bite → Empyreal Arrow → Bloodletter
3. Heavy Shot → Battle Voice
4. Heavy Shot or Refulgent Arrow → Barrage and/or Sidewinder
5. Heavy Shot or Refulgent Arrow → Barrage or Sidewinder (if not used yet)
6. Heavy Shot or Refulgent Arrow
7. Heavy Shot or Refulgent Arrow
8. Heavy Shot or Refulgent Arrow → Empyreal Arrow
9. Iron Jaws → Pitch Perfect

1. Stormbite → The Wanderer's Minuet → Raging Strikes
2. Caustic Bite → Empyreal Arrow → Bloodletter
3. Heavy Shot → Battle Voice
4. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot → Barrage and/or Sidewinder
5. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot → Barrage or Sidewinder (if not used yet)
6. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot
7. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot
8. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot → Empyreal Arrow
9. Iron Jaws → Pitch Perfect

1. Windbite → The Wanderer's Minuet → Raging Strikes
2. Venomous Bite → Empyreal Arrow → Bloodletter
3. Heavy Shot → Battle Voice
4. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot → Barrage and/or Sidewinder
5. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot → Barrage or Sidewinder (if not used yet)
6. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot
7. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot
8. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot → Empyreal Arrow
9. Iron Jaws → Pitch Perfect

1. Windbite → The Wanderer's Minuet → Raging Strikes
2. Venomous Bite → Empyreal Arrow → Bloodletter
3. Heavy Shot → Battle Voice
4. Heavy Shot → Barrage, or Straight Shot
5. Heavy Shot → Barrage, or Straight Shot
6. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot
7. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot
8. Heavy Shot or Straight Shot → Empyreal Arrow
9. Iron Jaws → Pitch Perfect

1. Raging Strikes
2. Windbite → The Wanderer's Minuet → Empyreal Arrow
3. Venomous Bite → Bloodletter
4. Heavy Shot → Battle Voice
5. Heavy Shot → Barrage, or Straight Shot
6. Heavy Shot → Barrage, or Straight Shot

1. Raging Strikes
2. Windbite → The Wanderer's Minuet → Bloodletter
3. Venomous Bite
4. Heavy Shot → Battle Voice
5. Heavy Shot → Barrage, or Straight Shot
6. Heavy Shot → Barrage, or Straight Shot

1. Raging Strikes
2. Windbite → Mage's Ballad → Bloodletter
3. Venomous Bite
4. Heavy Shot → Battle Voice
5. Heavy Shot → Barrage, or Straight Shot
6. Heavy Shot → Barrage, or Straight Shot

1. Raging Strikes
2. Windbite → Mage's Ballad → Bloodletter
3. Venomous Bite → Barrage
4. Straight Shot

1. Raging Strikes
2. Windbite → Mage's Ballad → Bloodletter
3. Venomous Bite

Notes:

• Use Bloodletter as able.
• Use Bloodletter as able once Battle Voice is up.
• Use Pitch Perfect at three stacks as able.
• Use Pitch Perfect at two stacks if the next song tick will overlap with Empyreal Arrow.
• Use any Pitch Perfect at stacks you have after Iron Jaws, the expiring buffs make this worth doing.
• Do not use Barrage if you already have the Straight Shot Ready buff.

1. Use Mage's Ballad for 45 seconds.
2. Use Army's Paeon for 45 seconds.
3. No song for 30 seconds.

1. Use The Wanderer's Minuet for 42-44 seconds.
2. Use Mage's Ballad for 42-44 seconds.
3. Use Army's Paeon for 33-35 seconds.

1. Use The Wanderer's Minuet for 42-44 seconds.
2. Use Mage's Ballad for 33-35 seconds.
3. Use Army's Paeon for 42-44 seconds.

Always have a song up while in combat!

You cannot get a repertoire proc in the last three seconds of a song, so once the timer is at three or less, you can move to the next song. If in The Wanderer's Minuet, make sure to use any remaining stacks of Pitch Perfect before doing so.

When exiting Army's Paeon, try to use The Wanderer's Minuet late in the off-GCD window to best leverage Enhanced Army's Paeon.

1. Windbite → Venomous Bite if DoTs are not up or about to run out
2. Windbite → Venomous Bite if DoTs are not up
3. Stormbite → Caustic Bite if DoTs are not up
4. Iron Jaws if DoTs are about to run out
5. Apex Arrow if 100 gauge
6. Apex Arrow → Blast Arrow - at specific times*
7. Refulgent Arrow
8. Straight Shot
9. Burst Shot
10. Heavy Shot

*For Apex and Blast Arrow, you want to use them under two-minute buffs. To make sure you have them available, use Apex at or before 18-16 seconds left in Mage's Ballad, or when the gauge fills if that happens first. Then wait until Battle Voice is up before you use it next.

In Wanderer's Minuet (after buffs):

1. Pitch Perfect - at three stacks
2. Pitch Perfect - at two stacks, if you are about to Empyreal Arrow at the same time as a song tick
3. Empyreal Arrow
4. Bloodletter

In Mage's Ballad

1. Bloodletter - if at full charges (try to avoid this)
2. Empyreal Arrow
3. Sidewinder
4. Bloodletter

In Army's Paeon

1. Empyreal Arrow
2. Bloodletter - do not use if the song timer is 15 or less
3. Bloodletter - do not use if the song timer is 30 or less

You can wait until level cap to fully perfect your burst sequence, but it is good to get familiar with the general idea as you level.

Every two minutes, you should aim to have your buffs ( Raging Strikes and Battle Voice) active in tandem, and use your biggest damage dealing skills ( Barrage , your DoTs, Iron Jaws , Sidewinder, Apex Arrow and Blast Arrow , and ideally some saved up Bloodletters) during that window. You will also want to be in Mage's Ballad The Wanderer's Minuet.

When in dungeons, feel free to use your songs the same way you would on single target. This can include using buffs inside The Wanderer's Minuet, which lets you do good damage on every pack instead of being all or nothing, and keeps bosses mostly normal.

Against two or more enemies, you want to use Quick Nock Ladonsbite and Shadowbite instead of your single target GCDs. Use Apex Arrow when the soul gauge is full. Use Apex Arrow and Blast Arrow at any soul gauge between 80 and 100.

Use Rain of Death as able. Do not neglect to use your single target abilities in AoE. They are free damage - try to put them on higher HP enemies if you can. Note that Barrage can buff Shadowbite.

Be careful of Shadowbite's limited hit area. It is much smaller than your conal or Rain of Death, so make sure you target a central enemy for it.

(Related exception for two targets: If you can hit both enemies with Quick Nock but not with Shadowbite, it is better to use Burst Shot in those cases.)