Sword or Dagger for Bard?

[Rekiem]

I recently changed job to BRD and Im wondering which weapon is the most powerfull for the Bards. I know that their most efficient weapon is the Dagger but they can also use Rapiers(Sword) which deal much more damage. Dagger is B- while Sword is C- so Im curious about which weapon I should most of the time. I noticed that lots of Daggers have status Effect added which sound nice but I curious if it makes up for the lack of damage you could do with a Rapier. Any suggestion? Currently Im using both, just to raise the skill but eventualy Im going to settle to only one type of weapon.

[Lord Diablos]

I would go with sword they r alot stronger and most likely more useful.

[Tenkei]

I don't think it matters too much. As far as weapons go, you won't be using one too much later on. Pretty much only for soloing, and after that you probably won't need it much.
For my solo levels, 1-10 so far, I've been using a sword, which has worked great for me. Especially since I hear daggers aren't really useful until Level 30 (But I haven't played Thief, so I'm not very experienced with daggers).

[Russta]

Well I have always said Sword and I kinda stick by that but I say both. My Dagger is pretty low at the moment but at 65 I want to switch from 1hd Sword over to my Garuda Dagger because of the great stats it has so once I cap 1hd Sword I equip my Dagger and Life Belt and get cracking. MP and energy drain are very good for a Bard and Cyclone never fails to impress me power wise.

[Selenitic]

I would go with w/e gives you better stats. Bard meleeing blows anyhow. Remember they are support not fighters.

[kenn]

to melee or to support? what weapon?

to answer this, i believe it is necessary to know the bard's role in the party.

a bard can help out in melee until around lvl 30-40 (if u are subbing rdm or whm, which you should be!). by that point, a good bard has compiled enough songs that you will be singing almost constantly during and inbetween battles. that means by this time, you can kiss goodbye to your melee career.

that being said, what weapon should you use>?

well, this is only an opinion, but i hope it helps. i would use a 1hnd sword until you have enough money to afford the ever so costly "monster sig."

the sword skill for a bard is competitive with the dagger skill lvl up to lvl 30-40, and deals more damage. i believe this to be a better option for low lvls, and it suited me just fine. you will most likely be fighting snips and clips (valkrum and quifim) for a good portion of your low lvl career, and when they cast their special ability, its nice to do SOME damage.

start saving your money though. at later lvls (past 30-40), all you should care about is your charisma stat, and not your damage (because you will be mainly support by this point). the "monster sig," which is a 2 hand staff, adds +8 to charisma. too bad it costs about 200k on midgardsomr. my advice: start saving your gil.

so, by the middle of your bard career, you (hopefully) wont be using dagger or sword- rather, a staff. i would, though, keep your dagger and swd skill lvl up if possible, jic square decides to release a dagger that adds +500 charisma at lvl 200 (haha).

hope that helps. this is just an opinion. kenn signing off. GL.

[Teffie]

I use Daggers

4 Reasons;

1) BRD's AF Weapon is a Dagger

2) Dagger's Cap is Higher than Swords (for BRD)

3) Additional Effects = Godly
(probably the only useful thing that will happen while your attacking is an additional effect)

4) Faster Attack Speed
(With the amount of time it takes for you to sing all your songs, it would be better if you could land more hits)