DPS expectation in MT group

[namax]

I've been playing my dirge some when our other dirge is unavailable.  My main is a Conj, so I suffer a little DPS envy .  Our guild isn't balanced enough to have ideal raid setups yet, so if the other dirge is on, we need my DPS as a conj..if he's not we need my dirge in the MT group.  I was reading the post below about getting DPS over 1k, and it seemed the OP and others were in offensive setup.  When I'm in the MT group, I'm not using the same buffs.  I usually use Hyrans on the tank, percussion of Stone, Bria's, the parry buff and the STR/AGI buff. (feel free to comment on that as MT group strategy btw)

On pulls, I cast the encounter debuffs first, then Verlian's and Tarvins, shroud then Garsins....then other CA's like banshee, Luda's and so on.  I'm also keeping Cacaphony up, and casting Bladedance if it's available.  Finally...I'm rezzing on occasion - usually a manburning wiz or when someone couldn't keep up with a Necro lifetap.  My gear is decent, not uber.  I have relic chest and legs, a couple Nightchord items and piercing with piercing adornments in both hands - adamantine fang and dirk of negativity - both probably mid 50's damage rating. 

Anyway, I'm lucky to parse in the top 8-10. Being there for utility and occasional rezzing, is that about the best I should expect, or should I be doing things differently?  Thanks for any advice.

Forgot to add that I don't have enough AA's for Luck of the dirge yet...

[Kralizec]

I think anything you can do to increase yur DPS as far as a raid is concerned would be beneficial.  At the very least your CA's should be at least Adept III's even Mastered if you have the plat for it.  Check your gear, look for the best gear and spend your DKP or plat wisely after all getting the right weaopons can also increase your DPS significantly.   However the best thing I can say about playing a bard is having good situational awareness.  Much as a healer, maintain vigil over raid status, do people need rezzes?  I tend to rezz more so than the healers so they can preserve power heals especially during named encounters or for those extremely long fights.  Someone need a a quick shot from Oration of Sacrifice?  Are all my Debuffs or appropriate Debuffs up at all time?  All that and fighting at the same time does take some getting used to.  There have been severall really good threads here about increasing your dps and thats all well and good, but on top of that knowing whats going on around you to me has always been a strength for Bards that seems to be forgotten from time to time.  But at the end of the day the faster A mob or a group of mobs goes down the better off you are all going to be.   In your zeal in beating the mob down dont forget all the things that you can do that will help others make that mob go down faster or get people up quickly so they can get back into the fight.  

[MirageE]

You know... I've been REALLY interested in the same threads and thought about commenting once or twice but haven't.  This post however I will comment on...

I, like you, raid with my dirge (though full-time - i dont play it as an alt) in the main tank group.  I've spec'd my dirge so he's got all the standard defensive AA's like Bladedance, maxing out the parry increase in strength, increased casting timers (allegro) for the benefit of the healers, choosing master 2 hate generation for the MT, etc.  Simply put.... I never am the melee dirge (we have a new person playing that role now... more on that in a second).

Now we aren't a hardcore raid guild... we raid 3x a week.... can clear all of the KOS zones easily and do well for the new EOF zones (killed Tactician's armor in Inner Sanctum), killed 2 of 4 mobs in FT, and have started venturing into Emerald Halls. 

So, my gear is not the EOF fabled drops... but its pretty [Removed for Content] good (all nightchord but the legs which never seem to drop, all the relics, couple of pieces from lyceum, wrist piece from Tarinax, and a couple jewelry pieces from KOS and EOF).  Think only 3 of my items are non-fabled.... so I can't complain.  For the weapons one is fabled, the other is legendary (Sword of Sharpness) as I haven't been as lucky (nor have I spent as much DKP) as the brigands and others for weapons cause, frankly, I don't view it as my job to do DPS first and I rather them have the weapons they NEED first and then me - this is on my to be upgraded list though and I look forward to running 2 piercing except for fights where I know Bladedance will be needed.  I even have every master but some of the lvl 52-60 ones (like Cacophony, Scream of Death and Grievance) but the rest are mastered out.

When it comes to some of the items that could proc (like earings from EOF for example for extra damage)... I actually will bid but not as heavily as I do on some of the others.... like the ones that decrease the mobs DPS.  Since these procs can "proc" on my debuff and dmg spells... I much rather take those and help keep the mob less offensive than doing more damage.  Example: Hallowed Fang Ear Spike off second named in Freethinkers... great bard stats, great resists, and chance to decrease the mobs offense on our main tank.

I run the same buffs as you execpt for the STR & AGI one cause I dont think its worth it unless we have an avoidance tank for some odd reason.... I run Tomb's for the extra damage from the Tank, myself, and swashy or assassin transferring hate to the tank. 

So when you add it all up....  my dps RIGHT NOW on average is anywhere from 350-600 per raid night depending on the encounters and how much death we seem to take (the less the higher it is).   This is up from 200-400 before I was almost all fabled (remember though my weapons are still GOOD but not GREAT so I expect more to come).  I yes, drool at the numbers the swashy and assassins put up, etc.  But I realize.... our success (while my DPS helps) is more dependant upon me doing the right things rather than making the parse list. 

Sure, whatever I can add DPS wise to the raid is worth it, but sometimes when I try and get too aggressive... I tell myself... group success is more important.

When someone like a caster wipes and we are in a long fight and I had just cast cacophony and DPS is in on a joust.... I am like OOOO I CAN DO SOME DPS... but then I tell myself... healers need to conserve power.... group success is more important... so go rez the wizzy.

Anyway, since I switched from troub to dirge about 3-4 months ago (we actually did not have a dirge prior to that) we've been able to succeed in a LOT of things we had not previously been able to do.  Do I credit myself for that success... absolutely not... but the group as a whole has recognized more success and they recognize that I am a "part" of that success.  So DPS list or not, we're all happy and having fun, and thats all that matters...

On a side note - our melee dirge who is NEW to raiding - parses below me running all offensive buffs - but he has very minimal raid gear.  He's going to be a good measure for me to benchmark myself against as we equip him over coming months.  I look forward though to watching him progress and hopefully PASS me on the DPS charts... cause that will mean he too is doing his job and more success has arrived.

Peace

[DarkVillian]

600-900, sometimes over 1k with the luck of some crits. And in easy encounters I've ran full dps setups in MT group. In KoS zones, do you really need all the parry buffs and defensive buffs? Honestly now. In fact, I was playing my zerker last night while OTing Chel'Drak and the Dirge who replaced me in MT group ran pretty much a full offensive setup and the guardian never dropped below yellow health.

 That being said. I've had the pleasure of playing with a really good secondary Dirge and we both parse over 1k, and consistently in the 800s. I can't say enough how much proc gear works and increases dps. Not to mention Luck of the Dirge is a huge factor. But, even in the MT group our MT dirge parse 900+ and in FTH on the first two encouters myself, MT Dirge, and our Troub all parsed over 1k on Shredder and Othysis (sp?)

I really cant say how much LotD and Proc gear make such a nice difference. Also, something that hasn't been talked about much is this...Look at how you have your weapons setup. If you have a nice piercer, setup your adornments and gear to maximize your piercing. Little things help...

[Whysprr_Wyrd]

Proc gear -- like what?  This seems to be a recurring theme. 

 Whysp

[Priestbane]

Items with offensive procs on them, not necessarily weapons.  Non-raid example is the bone-clasped girdle (70 Heritage Quest reward).

[DarkVillian]

Exactly, the boneclasped girdle is a good example. The Invoker Earring from the collection quest is another example. The rest of the gear that I can think of are all raid drops. But anything with an offensive proc (luck of the dirge increases most procs to 2+ times a minute.)

[Whysprr_Wyrd]

I'm pretty sure LoTD only improves spell-based procs, not item-based. 

And I do know what procs are; ~sheesh~ was just wondering what proc items were floating around that were within reach. 

Whysp

[Dahntahl]

I'm quite sure LoTD improves item-based procs - I have quite a few items and they all change the number of times per minute they proc when I cast LoTD.

[DarkVillian]

LOL! Yeah its item and pretty sure spell too...It's a good ability.