Question for BRD/BLMs

[Quaerito]

I started off BLM, then finally settled on BRD being my endgame. However, I didn't really want to be holed into WHM and RDM as sub, so I was considering BLM.

So existing BRD/BLMs, answer this question for me.

Does Elemental Seal affect songs? If it does, then BRD/BLM would be more viable than what I seem to hear. More accurate Threnodies and longer-lasting Paeons/Ballads? Possible?

Thanks.

[Weezingpipes]

I'm fairly sure it doesn't...and the seal abilities only last on 1 spell anyway. If it worked for songs, it would mean it would improve the efficacy of that 1 song for the duration of that song, period.

Sorry you don't like the pigeon hole, but its like PLD/WAR. There really is no sub better than WHM for a BRD. The status cures are very useful, the CHR gain is higher than the other mages, and you are more likely to be helpful if you have to spot heal a couple times than casting low level nukes. I can sort of see why people sub RDM, but I would think WHM is a lot more preferable and useful to a group. As much as it might be argued into the ground, a BRD with a BLM sub is a bard with Warp..and thats it really.

[Teffie]

Re: Question for BRD/BLMs

Originally posted by Quaerito
So existing BRD/BLMs, answer this question for me.

*see's a tumbleweed roll along the ground*

Sorry Bud, I don't think there is a single BRD/BLM in existance

[xarddrax]

I m a 39BRD/BLM (almost 40) and i love it. I got tired of stupid parties and i mean STUPID....that would pick me up as the main healer as a BRD/RDM...so i switched to BRD/BLM and love it.

The elemental seal doesnt work on songs....or so i can tell. But it is nice having WARP and Blaze Spikes. But then again im not your "average Bard" i guess. I rarely stay out of battle.....i cast my songs...and start attack,debuffing,dispeling, and nuking. I usually do Fire Threnody, elemental Seal , then Fire....i score about 50 dmg for that. But its best when you can pull off this move...

pt WS > my WS > my Threnody for MB(or song burst as i call it) > pt WS > My MB with magic

I did this in cralwers nest and score a 98 damage MB with stone on crawlers....which have a high stone resist.

I know its not major dmg....but im at least having fun...which is what matters...and i dont have any trouble getting into parties.. recently, i get at least 2 invites within 15 minutes of seeking.

[DipNSniff]

Bard is a very forgiving job, 90% of what you can ever offer to a party comes from the fact that you have Bard as a main job Jobs such as Paladin for example will require a sub of Warrior, because the active ability Provoke is a staple for allowing the Paladin to do his main job (tank). Bard on the other hand doesn't have any requirements from a sub, so you are free to pick and choose.

Elemental Seal doesn't work with songs, but it will still work with your nukes. A Bard has very little time on his hands to do much of anything besides perform Bard duties, so subbing /Blm would be perfectly acceptable. Instead of adding a little to the healing end of things you can support by adding a little to the damaging end of things. In a Party with a main healer and a /whm in it I would actually pick a Bard/Blm over a Bard/Whm O_o It's too bad that the debuffs won't land even with Elemental Seal though (2 more sleeps would be crazy!), but you still get the nukettes and some utility spells. Pick a subjob that adds to your strengths they always say. Since there's already an elemental debuffer in the party (you!), this sub job does just fine in playing on a strength (arguably a Bard's greatest strength... elemental debuffing). Go for it!

[xarddrax]

side note from my previous post:

Dont get me wrong..i love being BRD/BLM....but plan on BRD/WHM once i hit 50 for the raise+inv from 25WHM.....i wont mind being part WHM then and hopefully moronic PTs will know not to consider me the only healer.

[Aniga]

Re: Question for BRD/BLMs

Originally posted by Quaerito
So existing BRD/BLMs, answer this question for me...

...what were you thinking?

[Quaerito]

The replies say it all. BRD/BLM not too viable.

I guess it's BRD/WHM for me then. But I'll probably still give BRD/BLM a shot and see if it works out. Probably not. :D

[Tenkei]

Silly people. Nobody has seen me around here? >P But then, I guess I haven't really been posting too much.

BRD/BLM is plenty viable. It may not be as versatile as BRD/WHM, but for those who can't stand to play WHM (me), I think that BRD/BLM is another great way to go. I'd already had BLM leveled up, and after trying many times to level up my WHM sub -- I just couldn't do it.
Not to mention getting invited to a party just to play Back-up WHM was something that seriously annoyed me.

There's nothing wrong with playing BRD/BLM. You can still be an awesome bard. O.o I still have people who think of me as one of the best BRD's on the server, despite my sub. Eh.
You just have to know what you're doing. Don't play random songs like most of the bards you see, and know what songs (probably by reading around here) help to speed up the battle and recovery time the most.

Then, in your off time, nuke. You can get in a Elemental Seal pretty often to help your nuking. If you do a good job of weakening the monster to the element, then casting the same element, you're set. I do more damage nuking than I would physically helping out, and have al ot more fun than if I were to be playing WHM.

Just do what you have fun doing. Nobody is going to turn down a BRD just because they aren't subbing a WHM. Well.
The only case this will happen in is if the party doesn't have a WHM and was hoping you could play healer. I've had this happen, where I'd get a tell asking me to switch to a WHM sub. I said "Sorry, my WHM is only level 10 (just leveled down)".

All he said was "Cure II is level 11", as if I didn't know. I said I know, but I hate playing WHM, and he said "BRD/WHM is THE combo" - like it was the only one out there. But feh ..

BRD is ultimately being as helpful as you can be. So, in theory, I'm letting down the main job a little by not being as efficient as possible. But when taking into consideration the fact that it's a game, and I really dread ever playing WHM, I just can't stand to play that combination.

BRD/BLM works fine. ^^ There are no problems with it. You get Warp, too, which is very nice to have just to save yourself time.

Edit: Hey, Quaerito! ^^ another person who's on Seraph. Yaay.

[Quaerito]

/em dances the Seraph dance with Tenkei.

Yeah, I'll give BRD/BLM a shot first, because I truly find WHM a bore. And also because I have BLM at 22 already.

[Calianeri]

Not to mention getting invited to a party just to play Back-up WHM was something that seriously annoyed me.

No one in their right minds invites a BRD/WHM to be a backup healer. They invite because BRDs have excellent support abilities other than healing. BRD has no intrinsic MP, and even with Ballad they don't have enough MP (or time) to be a true backup healer (also makes them even less good at nuking with /BLM). What makes BRD/WHM hands-down the most useful combo is the ability to reduce downtime and mages' MP usage by using -na spells, Curaga, and the occaisional Cure 2/3. That's not really backup healing, that's party support. No BRD/WHM I've seen has played like a backup healer. They've got more important things to do. But they still put that /WHM sub to excellent use.

What benefits the party most? When the bard uses his subjob's MPs to Divine Seal Curaga after a rough battle, healing for 180 x3 or even x6, and saves a minute of resting time and the WHM's MP and Seal? Or when he does an Elemental Seal magic burst (if he's not singing at the wrong time) for only 100 dmg, which is the equivalent of 1-2 swings for any melee?

[Crayon5]

I have sub as 30blm and 11whm. I don't like playing WHM but later i found out that sometimes my healing is helpful and if my WHM is 16 or 17 i should be able to help with curaga at end of fight (to save whm mp downtime) or when everyone are taking dmg by goblin's bomb (special situation). i will lvl up my whm so that i could also use teleport scroll.

[Rekiem]

Well, if you have 2 mage in your PT, /WHM sub is almost useless. I rarely ever heal when theres two mage and mostly if theres a RDM. Theses days, I think I've casted more Sneak and Invis than I casted cure. Im exagerating a bit but seriously, /WHM sub is way overated past level 55 once you get Ballad II. If /BLM sub allow you to speed up fight, I say go for it. Personally, I don't think its a good combo because your magic will easily get resisted and Bard MP is just way to low. If you want to do some damage to speed up fight, the best sub I can think of is /THF for fuidama past level 60 or /BST if your in an area where you can tame monsters that are below your level like Boyhada Tree, Crawler Nest, Garlaige or the Lizards in Kuftal but this would drop your EXP by 15%. Now, don't get me wrong, Im not saying BRD/WHM is bad, its excellent but from my personal experience, /WHM sub eventually doesnt help anymore at speeding up dowtime and helping the mage since their MP is almost always full.

Long story short; Bard is there to speed up fights and downtime, if you find something that can help in this, go for it.

[Sinzer]

In terms of getting invited to parties as backup healer, I usually ask what jobs are in the PT beforehand.

The major bonus of bard is that you can be extremely fussy over groups, a lot of the time I start my own now, and make sure I get a good mix.