Bard Questions...

[Prot0]

Re: Bard Questions...

Start by taking BLM to 18 to do subjobs. You'll thank yourself as you get Warp at 17. Switch to WHM and take it to 37, doing BRD quest as you go. You can thank yourself again as you get the 3 crag teleports, allowing you to go as a tele-taxi for funds at times. Take BRD to 75. Mission complete.

Exactly what I was going to say.
Yes you will thank yourself once u start to lvl brd knowing ur whm (sub) is lv 37. Brd is the fastest job to lvl and the cheapest,so u can take it to 75 in no time. My friend took brd from 1-75 in one month. I'm almost there

[Djonma]

Re: Bard Questions...

Just one thing, since all the advice is really good.
People suggest levelling to 18, then going back and levelling to 15/20.

I'd level your subjob to 10, then your main job to 10.
Then go to Valkurm.
The reason for this is as follows.
You don't want to go to valkurm much, it's hell on earth!
As a Mage, you won't need any different gear between your sub job and main job.
If you can get your SJ items during parties (may need help with skull), then the second you hit 18, you can do the SJ quest and you've got a levelled SJ just sitting there waiting, so you can steam to level 20.
Then go back to Sandy or Bastok (nearest cities), stock up on food, dump all your crystals on AH, switch to SJ and go back and get it to 20.
Then, with both jobs at 20, you don't have to look at Valkurm again til you get Bard!

[Regenshire]

Re: Bard Questions...

1. White Mage is preferred for most xp parties. It provides healing capability and status curing. Red Mage is primarily used for an ability known as Fast Cast, which reduces the recast time on songs. A Red Mages other abilities, such as black magic and enfeebles, are nearly worthless when used as a sub. As such Red Mage as a sub is highly situational, and is not as useful as WHM sub for general use.

One thing to note, it is fairly easy to get a job to lvl 37. I would start with WHM sub, and then if you ever have need of RDM sub just level it up later. You will get a lot more use from WHM sub until you reach end game. And most likely you will get more use from it at end game then RDM.

1a. Start as White Mage, not Red Mage. White Mage in the early game gets mad invites. Red Mage is not as popular as WHM in groups until they get dispel (and later refresh).

2. Bards do ok I guess, as long as you don’t plan on soloing difficult NMs. Probably the best jobs for farming are NIN, RDM/NIN, and THF. Since the game is party-centric, you don’t normally fight difficult creatures when you are farming anyways. There are a lot of ways in this game to make gil that don’t require you to take out a difficult mob solo, so I wouldn’t worry too much about this.

3. I don’t personally enjoy crafting, but many people do. Just about any crafting that you enjoy using would be good. Of all the jobs, BRD is the least dependant on disposable goods (such as food, ammo, tools, ect), and even our good gear is relatively cheap in comparison to other jobs. I would level a craft primarily for fun and make gil, not to craft your own items for bard.

4. Some linkshells do, and some don’t. One thing to note is that FFXI is a multi-platform game, with players using PCs, PS2s, and Xbox 360s. As such, a lot of users can’t use Teamspeak because they aren’t on a computer. My linkshell uses one, but I personally don’t use it that often even though it is available.


As to getting into an existing link shell with FFXI veterans, well it depends on the linkshell and the type of linkshell you are looking for. The most common type of Linkshells are:



a) Social Linkshell – These linkshells are mainly a community of players who like to chat to each other and play together casually. This is the most common linkshell and low and mid levels.

b) Event Linkshell – These linkshells tend to be more organized, with planned events that players are expected to attend if they are able. Often times these linkshells are organized around a type of event such as a CoP Linkshell, a Dynamis Linkshell, ect. Or it could be like my linkshells which does a lot of different events and just prioritizes based on need/desire of the members.

c) HNMLS – High lvl linkshell, normally with stringent entrance requirements such as 75+ merits, or multiple jobs at 75. These linkshells do things like hunt gods and other high level NMs.



If your goal is to get into an HNMLS, then you should get to lvl 65 before you really start trying to get into one. One thing to note about linkshells. Please do not join a linkshell, use it, and then promptly leave. I personally hate it when people join a LS, ask for help with a bunch of stuff, not help anyone else, and then leave and go to a new linkshell.


5. The Bard job is good at all stages of the game, but it kicks into over drive once you get into your 55+. From that point on, pretty much any party build will have a spot for a Bard (if they are lucky enough to find one).


FFXI is rather unique in the fact that you can change jobs at any time you feel like it. As such, once you get into the game a little bit more and truly experience other jobs in parties, you will likely find another job that you want to try.



Double Post Edited:
I just realized this is a Necropost. Ah well.

[dox]

Re: Bard Questions...

This is what I did (and I hope to what you do):
1. Level BLM (or WHM, for that matter) to 18.
2. Do subjob quest.
3. Level subjob (either BLM or WHM, whatever you picked at first) to 19.
4. Go back to WHM and level WHM all the way up to 38.
5. Obtain 5 of the 6 teleport scrolls.
6. Make a lot of gil (depending on server prices, on Midgardosormr I can make 200k/hr doing teles).
7. Do BRD quest, buy all the great items you need and level to 75.
8. Go back to WHM and level to 75, or do whatever other jobs you so please.

I'm currently at 6 and 7.

Have fun!