How to use Ballads properly - Same Ballad three times or each one once?

[MikeSol999]

I am playing a red line minstrel solo. I have three ballads right now. Minor Ballad Dissonance, Perfect Ballad and Major Ballad. Should I just use Minor Ballad Dissonance three times before unleashing a Coda since it does the most damage or should I use each Ballad once? Which is more effective?

[Erionor]

I am playing a red line minstrel solo. I have three ballads right now. Minor Ballad Dissonance, Perfect Ballad and Major Ballad. Should I just use Minor Ballad Dissonance three times before unleashing a Coda since it does the most damage or should I use each Ballad once? Which is more effective?

Pretty much just use minor ballad if you’re going for max DPS. If you’re running in healing spec then major is your key ballad to spam. Perfect ballad is less useful as power management is much less of a thing than it used to be these days.

[Neinda]

The above answer is pretty much what the mini population uses but I recommend you try different combinations and find what works best for you in various situations. There is no harm in experimenting a bit with the skills to see how they work alone and together.

[savetheroadtodoriath]

The only reason to use the other Ballads is if Minor is on CD and you want to fish for another Piercing Cry reset assuming you have the trait.

[DoRonRon]

Each ballad does have slightly different things to contribute so a 1, 2, 1 or 2, 1, 2 might be better than a 1, 2, 3. A 2, 2, 2 would have some additional delay still, no?

When, if not already, you get Cry of the Chorus you can use that to give all the ballad buffs and lead with a coda. When you get more AE Crys and Calls you can nuke a bunch of mobs and reset with a coda if deep in the red line.

Perhaps a bit too early for the OP's journey but:

If I'm changing stance into Melody to refresh Anthems before finishing up a Mission so I have a better chance of them being active to refresh in the next mission then I'll use just the weakest ballad so there's a chance the mob will live and keep me in combat to fresh all the 3 Anthems I'm employing. It helps to know which Mission you intend doing next with an idea of current hand in delays and time to load mobs in the target mission.

If I'm considering keeping 5 up it's a 50/50 coda reset being relied on so a few more mobs and forward planning required.

If making use of coda for resetting ICotC then consider dumping a load of Crys and Calls so they are reset too and available for another dump after sorting the Anthems.

If you aren't bothering with Anthems, and who can blame you, then CotC as a lead gets you those ballad buffs and you can nuke. Throw in a coda once they are on CD and you may get them resetting to nuke again. I'd still go for a War then keep refreshing with Dissonance though.

And get good at stance dancing for when you need Melody's better skill versions.