Bard song durations

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Tecmos.Deception, Jun 23, 2021.

  1. Tecmos.Deception

    Tecmos.Deception Active Member

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    How exactly do the 3-tick song durations work? I would have thought that 18-second durations and 3-second sing-times would mean I could consistently twist 4 songs without dropping anything, even accounting for some latency and human delay (but barring missed note streaks). But in reality, I'm not sure I've ever managed to pulse mana song 3 times without cantata falling off before I could sing it again.

    Do songs only last "until the 3rd tick" or something? So that you only get 12-17.99 seconds of song duration rather than a minimum of 18?

    I'm not sure I ever played a bard on live (and definitely didn't on AK), and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't remember how it worked back then anyways after so much time spent on p99 (where you definitely get >18-second durations, not <18-second durations).
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2021
  2. solar

    solar Administrator Staff Member

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    1,194
    You're correct. Buff durations are measured in ticks. Most buffs get an extra tick beyond what is listed in the spell file but bard songs are special and they generally don't, so they are 3 tick duration. What that actually means is that it's 2 full ticks plus part of a third, but not 3 full ticks, so the duration in real time is at least 12 seconds and up to 18 seconds depending on how it lands within the current tick when it begins. Some songs have longer durations and so you can work more than 3 into a twist, like Amplification. You can't twist 4 3-tick songs without them dropping. They have it wrong on p99 and are adding the extra tick to bard songs. Live EQ adds extra ticks now, but they reduced the durations to 2 ticks for the same effect.
     
    Mechaike and Faults like this.
  3. Auyster

    Auyster People Like Me

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    On a side note, do DoTs/debuff get an extra tick on mobs. Just like buffs on players?
     
  4. solar

    solar Administrator Staff Member

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    1,194
    Everything gets an extra tick, except the 3 tick bard songs. So if the spell data says 8 ticks it's really 9 ticks, because the first tick is not a full one. So in the case of a regular divine aura from a cleric, it's actually 4 ticks to start - it could last up to 24 seconds if you luck out. With bard DA it will last 12-18 sec due to not getting the extra tick.
     
  5. Auyster

    Auyster People Like Me

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    Yeah my DAs always last more than 30s on the cleric. Gotta love 50% extended buffs. Running through NToV with 4 mins of DAs also comes in handy.
     
    John Stark likes this.