Bard Guide/F.A.Q

[Tenkei]

Only thing that I didn't really like about this guide is this:
Bard/Thief won't lower your Charisma. ^^* No subjob will ever hurt your main stats, they can only help.

Besides that, great guide and great information! Thanks for putting this together.

[Teffie]

Song’s for Dummies

Like White Mages, Bard’s also have their own lines of spells which becomes stronger and stronger. WHM’s get Cure I, II, III, etc… BRD’s get Minuet I, II, III, etc… same concept.

Below is a definition of each song:

Paeon : HP Regen Song (Paeon I regens 1 HP per 3 Seconds. Paeon II regens 2 HP per 3 Seconds. Etc..)
Ballad : MP Regen Song (Ballad I regens 1 MP per 3 Seconds. Ballad II regens 2 MP per 3 Seconds.)
Minuet : Attack Up Song (Depends on CHR the amount of Attack Boost)
Minne : Defence Up Song (Depends on CHR the amount of Defence Boost)
Madrigal : Melee Accuracy Up Song (Unknown amount of accuracy raise)
Prelude : Range Accuracy Up Song (Only song which can be Sung on an INDIVIDUAL player.)
Requiem : Damage-Over-Time Song (Requeim I drains 1 HP a Second. Requiem II drains 2 HP a Second.)
Elegy : Decrease Enemy Attack Speed Song (Unknown amount of slowness)
March : Increase Ally Attack Speed Song (Unknown amount of delay decrease)
Threnody : Decrease Enemy Resistance Song (Decreases resistance for a specific element)
Carol : Increase Ally Resistance Song (Raises resistance for a specific element)
Lullaby : Put Enemy to Sleep Song (Unknown calculation in time spent asleep. Depends on CHR)
Mambo : Evasion Up Song (depends on CHR the amount of Evasion increased)
Etude : Specific Status Up Song (depends on CHR the bonus the specific stat will give)
Operetta : Silence Resist Up Song (Unknown amount of resistance)

Song List

Lv. 01 = Knight’s Minne I
Lv. 03 = Valor Minuet I
Lv. 05 = Army’s Paeon I
Lv. 07 = Foe Requiem I
Lv. 09 = Herb Pastoral (Resistance to Poison Increased)
Lv. 10 = Light Threnody
Lv. 11 = Sword Madrigal
Lv. 12 = Dark Threnody
Lv. 13 = Sheepfoe Mambo
Lv. 14 = Earth Threnody
Lv. 15 = Army’s Paeon II
Lv. 16 = Foe Lullaby
Lv. 16 = Water Threnody
Lv. 17 = Foe Requiem II
Lv. 18 = Wind Threnody
Lv. 19 = Scop’s Operetta (Resistance to Silence Increased)
Lv. 20 = Fire Threnody
Lv. 21 = Knight’s Minne II
Lv. 22 = Enchanting Etude (+CHR)
Lv. 22 = Ice Threnody
Lv. 23 = Valor Minuet II
Lv. 24 = Spirited Etude (+MND)
Lv. 25 = Mage Ballad I
Lv. 26 = Learned Etude (+INT)
Lv. 27 = Hoard Lullaby
Lv. 28 = Quick Etude (+AGI)
Lv. 29 = Advancing March
Lv. 30 = Vivacious Etude (+VIT)
Lv. 31 = Hunter’s Prelude
Lv. 32 = Dextrous Etude (+DEX)
Lv. 33 = Magic Finale (Equivalent of RDM’s “Dispel”)
Lv. 33 = Foul Awbaud (Resistance to Sleep Increased)
Lv. 34 = Sinewy Etude (+STR)
Lv. 35 = Army’s Paeon III
Lv. 36 = Light Carol
Lv. 37 = Foe Requiem III
Lv. 38 = Earth Carol
Lv. 39 = Battlefield Elegy
Lv. 40 = Water Carol
Lv. 41 = Knight’s Minne III
Lv. 42 = Wind Carol
Lv. 43 = Valor Minuet III
Lv. 44 = Fire Carol
Lv. 45 = Army’s Paeon IV
Lv. 46 = Ice Carol
Lv. 47 = Foe Requiem IV
Lv. 48 = Thunder Carol
Lv. 49 = Goblin Gavotte (Resistance to Bind Increased)
Lv. 50 = Dark Carol
Lv. 51 = Blade Madrigal
Lv. 52 = Chocobo Hum (Mystery Song… perhaps in a new patch?)
Lv. 53 = Dragonfoe Mambo
Lv. 54 = Gold Capriccio (Resistance to Petrify Increased)
Lv. 55 = Mage’s Ballad II
Lv. 56 = Shining Fantasia (Resistance to Blind Increased) (not sure)
Lv. 57 = Foe Requiem V
Lv. 58 = Cactuar Fugue (Mystery Song… perhaps in a new patch?)
Lv. 59 = Carnage Elegy
Lv. 60 = Victory March
Lv. 61 = Knight’s Minne IV
Lv. 62 = Bewitching Etude (++CHR)
Lv. 63 = Valor Minuet IV
Lv. 64 = Logical Etude (++INT)
Lv. 65 = Army’s Paeon V
Lv. 66 = Sage Etude (++MND)
Lv. 67 = Foe Requiem VI
Lv. 68 = Swift Etude (++AGI)
Lv. 69 = Puppets Operetta (Resistance to Silence greatly increased)
Lv. 70 = Vital Etude (++VIT)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A message from a Bard to a fellow Bard…. Stay Spoony! (o’-‘)b

[Teffie]

Level Up~

BRD’s are like WHM’s. They are pure support, and a job that is pure support needs PT’s in order to level up.

Lv 1-10:
Level Up the same way as you would any other job. Make sure to keep your low level song’s always active. Once you hit level 5 you get Army’s Paeon I (1 HP per 3 Seconds) and it makes a huge difference when fighting. Use a One Hand Sword.

Lv 10-20: (Valkurm Days)
You’ll be wanted in PT’s, but you’ll feel that you won’t be that outstanding. Paeon II (15) will be your best friend since you don’t get Minne and Minuet II till the 20’s. You’ll probably be using Paeon II and Madrigal on the PT, and you wont have to do as much running around since you don’t have a large arsenal of songs.

Lv 20-30: (Quifim Days)
You’ll be much more useful now. You wont get Mage Ballad till 25, but until then you will be able to give the casters +INT and +MND. You’ll still stick with Madrigal but use Minuet II as well. You’ll start to feel much more useful, and your melee damage will slowly decrease.

Lv 30-40:
Now is when you’ve cranked up your BRD skills and have become a huge asset to all PT’s. With powerful III songs by your side, and all the Threnody’s, You’ll be doing a lot of work every fight. By this time your melee damage will have decreased to a constant flurry of MISS (even with Madrigal) and 0’s. Magic Finale will be your best friend.

Lv. 40+:
People who PT with you one day, and then PT without you the next, will feel somewhat the exp coming in slower then usual. That’s when you know you’re a true Bard!

Genkai 5
The Dreaded Maat Fight . . .
If you don't know what Genkai 5 is, just remember this section of the FAQ and come back to it when you need to complete it.

To sum it up, Genkai 5 is the Quest needed to be completed in order to raise your Level Cap from 70, to 75. It is a 1 on 1 Fight agaist an Old-Geezer named Maat. Did I mention you have to fight him with no Sub Job?

Special Thanks to Malachite:
Food: Steamed Crab

Potion: 10 Hi-Potion(normal kind, not +1 or +3 or anything)

Key instruments: Siren Flute(+2 Requiem) Horn +1(Elegy +2)

Xuande reccomends paeon but I used minne. My reason is that the damage per hit from Maat is greater though requiem has the potential to do more than Maat. It's easier to counter the effects of a few ticks of requiem with a hipotion than it is to counter a blow from Maat.

Theres a few items you can get to help but they're not necessary. They are opo-opo necklace, sleeping potion & icarus wing.

I got Maat on my 2nd attempt because 1) I forgot to bring my food & 2 I didn't use icarus wing to counter the fact that I forgot to bring food. Not having food screwed me over basically.

My opo necklace & sleeping potions were wasted because I used them before I got into the battlefield and when I did, it erased my TP. I'll kind of outline what I did and mark whats optional.

-Enter fight-
1) Eat steamed crab.
2) -optional- If you have opo necklace, use 4 sleeping potions now. This will bring you to 100% TP, use any more than that and you'll lose the fight because you ran out of time.
3) Soul Voice: Minne 3 > Minne 4
4) Engage Maat: Elegy then Requiem.
5) -Optional- I was using a dagger so this is what I would've done if my opo necklace was used properly. Cyclone > Eat Icarus Wing > Cyclone. It's a crappy skillchain but every bit of damage counts.
6) He will occasionally use magic finale and dispel one of your minnes. You'll want to recast these before Soul voice fades.
7) If he uses a strong song, use finale to cancel it. If you're lucky he'll use something stupid like Mage's ballad. Don't cancel those.
8) When he uses his WS, drink all of your potions. Some of them will be wasted because he'll hit you while drinking. But with elegy and Maat's naturally crappy speed hopefully you can get your health up enough with all of your potions.

Don't recast elegy & requiem unless you see the message that they faded. With +2 instruments you should be good for the entire fight. Maat's requiem didn't fade until 10 seconds before I won, and elegy never faded. Recasting them is just wasting precious time.

Another note > My dagger skill was maxed and I used demon's knife.
Yet another note > I was using minstrel earring & the lv61 carapace armor. I'm sure the earring made a difference, but i'm not sure if the armor did. The armor has the potential to go up to about +120 DEF if you're in red HP(assuming you have all 3 pieces). The more your HP drops, the higher your def gets.

misc equip that might help> Life belt(+10 accuracy) I don't think you really have to worry about accuracy, but I borrowed my friend's belt. You might want to invest in the +10 atk belt as it's really cheap. Tiger armor is also pretty good, cheap +10 atk armor. Your AF should be good too for the +HP. I'm a taru and when my sub was removed for the fight I only had about 750 HP without Af.

[Teffie]

Am I wanted in PT’s?

Put it this way, anyone who DOESN’T want a BRD in their PT is basically saying “Please lengthen my Leveling Time”. That’s exactly what BRD’s do… Quicken Experience for everyone in the PT.

Not to mention BRD’s are utmost necessary for BCNM Battles. If your not too sure what a BCNM Battle is, look for it somewhere on the website. On my BRD, I get PT invites constantly from JP’s and NA’s. Say I tell my friend to invite me, I turn my Seek PT on for 1 second and then join his PT. probably a minute later someone will /tell me asking if I want to join their PT. And I have gotten plenty of BCNM invites from people I stumbled across once or twice.

What is my job in the party?

Your job in the Party is to be the best support you can be. Bard’s are constantly running around back and forth while everyone is fighting. You will never get a break.

Here is a quick example of what a Bard would do for every fight.

First, Your regular PT setup. 3 Mages and 3 Melee’s. They are fighting an anonymous monster.



As the Bard, you must notice that you cannot give the Casters the same songs as the Melee. Afterall… what would an Attack Up song benefit on a WHM? So you run to an area where you wont get in their range.



Once in range, play the two songs for the Melee. Whatever you like. Usually most BRD’s play Sword Madrigal (Accuracy Up) and Valor Minuet (Attack Up) which really helps the Melee out.



After you played both songs, quickly rush back to the casters



Once there, you have to play the songs for the Casters. Ballad (MP Regen) is a must.



Usually by that time, the monster is near death, you help out with Requiem / Elegy / Lullaby and what not. Once it dies get into the middle of them, and play Paeon (HP Regen) and Ballad (MP Regen) again.



Some BRD’s are lazy and don’t play the Paeon and Ballad at the end of every fight. But I think they are a crucial key to fast experience. The shorter the down-time, the more Exp!

[Teffie]

Hack and Slash

Bard Weapon Proficiency:
A = Excellent
E = Below Average

B = Dagger
C = Sword
D = Club
E = Throwing Skill
D = Evasion
E = Parrying
C = Enfeebling Skill
C = Enhancing Skill
C = Singing
C = String
C = Wind

As I mentioned earlier, BRD’s do little to no damage.
When you first start out, leveling in Quifim and Valkurn you’ll be able to do some damage (approx 5-15) when using a Dagger, and a little more when using a Sword. If you save up your TP to around 150% you can do around 50-60 Damage with Gust Slash. As you level up, your damage and accuracy becomes lower and lower, and eventually you’ll probably never even take out your weapon during the fight, since you’ll be so busy running back and forth singing songs.

What are all these little holes for?

Instruments come in a variety of types. Ultimately there are only 2 types of instrument. Harps (String Instrument) and Flutes (Wind Instrument). They equip to your RANGE slot.

The Facts:
Harps do have a larger radius of effect compared to Flutes. So when you want to give Paeon and Ballad to your entire PT, its suggested that you use a Harp.

The first instruments you’ll get your hands on are a Flute and a Maple Harp. They have a level 1 Requirement, and don’t give any bonuses. Eventually you’ll one way or another get instruments which have a + attribute on them. Example: a Cornette is a flute which has a +1 to Minuet. What this means is that ALL songs with the word “Minuet” in them, will be increased when played with the specific instrument.

At a higher level, you’ll notice you’ll need to switch your equipment constantly in order to play the right songs with the right bonuses. Macro’s come in handy for a time like this.

The equipment Macro is as follows;

/equip SlotName “Item name”

so in our case, the correct macro would be;

/equip Range “Cornette”

You can throw in an extra line to your macro so it says;

/equip Range “Cornette”
/echo Cornette Equipped - +1 Minuet

That way whenever you switch your instrument, it’ll say in your chat box “Cornette Equipped - +1 Minuet”. Very handy for anyone who is very forgetful, but chances are you won’t forget.

Facts about Songs

Every member of the PT is only allowed 2 Song's sung on them at any given time. If a 3rd song is recieved, it replaces the 1st.

Example:

George has NO song Effects
Teffie Sings Ballad for George
George has Ballad
Teffie Sings Paeon
George has Ballad and Paeon
Teffie Sings Minuet
George has Minuet and Paeon
Teffie Sings Minne
George has Minne and Minuet
etc...
etc..

[Teffie]

Bard Skills

Let’s be honest, Square-Enix wasn’t very creative when it came to Bard’s and their Job Abilities. All Harps play the same melody, All Flutes play the same melody. Lets hope that S-E will change the melody in the future patches.

2 Hour Skill: Soul Voice
Soul Voice is used before your begin fighting. When active, all your song effects will be Doubled! Army’s Paeon III will heal 6 HP instead of 3. Mage’s Ballad II will heal 4 MP instead of 2. (unconfirmed) Threnodies / Requiem / Elegy / All offensive-type Songs are unresistable. This skill is very useful for BCNM fights, and for sticky situations during leveling.

Active Skills.
NONE (Yea I know… it sucks -_-)

Passive Skills.
Resist Silence = Does exactly as the name implies…. Increases your resist to silence. To be honest I don’t think it even works.

Bard need to focus on…?

Charisma!
Charisma (aka: CHR) is a Bard’s most useful stat. CHR determines how effective your song’s are, lowers the chances of your song’s being resisted, and increases the overall effectiveness of your songs.

Charisma sadly does not affect the prices in NPC Shops :sweat:

Surprisingly, Square-Enix made it so that equipment which boost’s CHR… boosts a lot! Most of the +STR/DEX/VIT Equipment only raise 1-3, sometimes a little more. But the CHR boosting equipment boosts +4, +5, even +8!

Items to remember:
Jester Cape (Cape) = CHR+7
Corsette (Belt) = CHR+5
Monsters Signa (Staff) = CHR+8
Opal and Hope Rings = CHR+1, CHR+2
Bird Whistle (Neck) = CHR+3 (and HP+5)
Royal Knight Flute = CHR+3
Choral Gloves (AF4) = CHR+4

That’s a heck of a lot of CHR is you ask me. Combine that with the CHR-Etude Songs, and you have got tons of CHR to work with.
Also about CHR differences, one thing I learned s urprised me.

The difference between CHR as my BST between a galka and hume at level 60 was only 8 (like 15%). This is an insignificant difference considering the amount of +CHR items for BRDs (60+ brds can get to 100+ charisma with items which is just crazy).
For equipment I suggest you keep the +CHR items for lullaby and then +MP for other stuff.

[Teffie]

Did someone say Sub Job?

I think I am confident enough to say that there is a possibility of ‘3’ good Sub-Jobs for Bard. (large emphasis on the word good) Of course many of you will probably say “But I can be any sub that I want, after all why did Square-Enix give us the choice?” True, but you have to put your character in the best condition possible in order to be the best you can be for your PT.

BRD/WHM :
This is supposedly the best sub-job for a Bard, and there are many reasons for this. First off, WHM have naturally high CHR to begin with, that’s a nice bonus for your BRD.
Second, Curaga and other Curative Spells are in your arsenal, along with extra MP. BRD’s are musicians first, healers second. You won’t believe how handy it is to be able to help the WHM with a Cure 2 or 3. At level 25, you’ll get Mage Ballad (MP Regen Song) When you run to the mages and sing this for them, you’ll get the effect yourself. Therefore the little MP you use to Cure is quickly regenerated without you ever having to sit.
Third, the –na spells (Poisona, Cursena, Blindna, Paralyna, etc…) WHM’s need to save all the MP they can for the Cure spells, and with a BRD with –na spells gives that WHM an extra 10 seconds of heal time.
With these 3 reasons I don’t see why anyone would not want to use that sub.

BRD/RDM :
The other healing job is equally useful as a sub WHM.
First off, the most important thing about /RDM is the level 15 Job Trait “Fast Cast”. Bard Song’s take 8 seconds to sing, at the 10th second you can begin singing your second song.. With Fast Cast, it will only take 6 Seconds, and at the 8th second you can begin singing your second song. (You can hit the macro of the next song when your “Casting Time” Bar reaches exactly 80%) Every second during battle counts for a Bard, and you wouldn’t believe how much quicker your allies will kill the enemy with songs that are up nearly 4 seconds earlier.

The downside to /RDM is that you lose Curaga, –na spells, Divine Seal (WHM Job Ability), Raise, and Erase.
Although you lose Curaga, a stacked Paeon (HP Regen Song) does practically the same thing.
Even though you lose –na spells, you gain the Low-Mp cost Enfeebling Spells such as Blind and Poison.
Divine Seal is a big hit to all RDM subbers, since a BRD's MP is so low, it helps to be able to do twice the healing power with only the cost of 1 spell.
Raise isn't that much of a horrible thing to lose. The Majority of PT's that you are in will have a WHM or RDM anyways.

BRD/BST :
This is the ULTIMATE CHR job. You’re combining BST, the highest CHR Job, with BRD the second highest CHR Job. But with all this CHR comes a heavy price. The lack of Curative Spells in total! BRD’s are really helpful when it comes to healing, without them they seem to be missing a part of themselves. And do not doubt the powers of a /BST. A BRD can just solo with it, not exactly too well since they lose the valuable “Sic” Skill, but they can do it if they are bored, or don’t have a lot of playing time.

The Other Sub-jobs are at your disposal, but aren’t too great;

BRD/THF :
Stay Away! Not only does sneak attack hardly do any damage, but when you sub THF you get the lowest CHR boost from all the other subs! (THF's are very sneaky sneaky hehe)

BRD/WAR :
The Provoke can be handy in last minute situations when the WHM is under attack, but that’s about it.

BRD/BLM :
Some say that this is another alternative for /WHM. They are sadly mistaken. Keep in mind that a BRD/BLM has the same amount of MP as a WAR/BLM. Now imagine how much you could nuke as a WAR/BLM. If you want to be it, be my guest, but you won’t be doing anything with it.

BRD/DRK :
I really don’t see any point of subbing this.

BRD/DRG :
You lose the wyvern, you get Jump. (which will hardly do any damage) It can be handy for camping NM’s since Jump is so quick. /DRG is pretty much just-for-kicks.

BRD/MNK :
Refer to BRD/DRK.

BRD/NIN :
Ninjutsu can be handy if you have maxed out Ninjutsu skill, the only good thing about Dual Wield was if you could hold double CHR Daggers, but sadly those do not exist so NIN is pretty useless.

BRD/PLD :
If your thinking of going this way, just sub /WHM instead.

BRD/RNG :
BRD’s cant even use bows.

BRD/SAM :
Pretty darn useless.

BRD/SMN :
This sub can be useful. But with the amount of MP you’ll have, you wont have much time to keep your summons out. At level’s 60+ being able to summon Garuda out and just doing a Party Blink is a VERY handy skill to have. (Of course you’d need all the summons at your arsenal in order to be effective)

[Teffie]

By: Teffie
I decided to write this FAQ because first of all, there was none and second because a lot of people seem to be having some questions on the job, and I tend to see the same question asked multiple times on the forums. I am only a level 43 BRD in the Retail, so my knowledge is only to a certain extent. But when I have gotten higher I will update this guide.

What is a Bard?

In history they are known as the minstrel poets who recited verses celebrating the legendary exploits of chieftains and heroes.
In Dungeons & Dragons they are known as mediators who can lower the morale of enemies, and get their allies out of sticky situation with their silver tongue.
In Final Fantasy XI they are known as skilled musicians who use their music as a weapon.

All three of them are seemingly different, but are all the same.

Take notice that in all the description there is no mention of the word “Fighter”. If you’re the type of person who wants to play a character who will be doing outrageous damage, or having high defense and HP, turn away now.

Bard’s are an ALL-OUT SUPPORT Job! You are on the same level of support as a White Mage. You won’t do any spectacular damage, in fact you’ll do 0 to 10 points of damage. At times you wont even have a chance to take your weapon out. But if there’s one thing you’ll be good at, it’s supporting.

Races... Races… Races…

The most commonly heard question “Which race is best for (insert class name)?”
I’ll let everyone know this now, you will be picked for a PT regardless of your race! PT’s desperately want a BRD in their PT, and they couldn’t care if you were a Galka or a Hume. (Sub job is a different story which I will get to later)

Note: Hume/Elvaan/Taru all have the same CHR.
The choice of “Choose the race with highest CHR” is cut down into smaller questions.

Hume: Average is the first word that comes to mind when thinking of Hume, and in this case it might be the best choice. Sharing the same CHR as Taru and Elvaan, and with above average MP and HP, Hume might prove to be a good choice

Tarutaru: Little guys packed with MP. Excellent for Curing in-between songs. Equally high CHR, but the lowest HP of all the races which means a quick and swift death. Said to be the best choice of the races.

Elvaan: Lower MP then an Elvaan and a Taru, but they make up for it with their high MND. Although MND won’t be that useful until higher levels when Cure Spells aren’t capped.

Mithra: A lot like Humes, except Mithra’s lack in the CHR department compared to Elvaan/Taru/Hume. Higher Dex which leads to more on-hit attacks, but those attacks wont necessarily be powerful.

Galka: Suffering from Low MP, and Low CHR, some might say that Galka’s are the worst combo of Bard around. But fear not, there is a nice amount of players who play as Galka Bards. Galkas have a definite advantage hp wise for doing BCNM events that require area sleep. You *will* get hit for these and having the extra hp/vit is a large advantage.



See?