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| Music Fest |
Hello and welcome to my guide to being a Bard. This guide is greatly based off many different types of popular guides from websites like Killing Ifrit, Ffxiwiki, etc. This guide is designed to be just a slightly updated version of the other guides weaved together with my own information.
Index
1. The Bards of Vana' Diel
2. Advanced Job Quest: Bard
3. A Bard’s equipment and sub-job selection
4. The early levels / early macros
5. From the Dunes to the Jungle
6. Progression from the Deserts to the Woodlands
7. The Final Stretch
8. Instrument Skills, Abilities and Food
9. Macro’s and Party configurations
10. Bard Songs
11. Notable Gear
12. Roles in Merit Parties / Pulling
13. Song stats / Numbers.
14. Merits
15. Bard as a Melee
16. Conclusion
17. Links
1. ~The Bards of Vana’ Diel~
Bards in FFXI are a wonderful job to have in any party as there songs can literally raise the level of the party when fighting enemy monsters. Bard songs have a variety of effects from the jaw-dropping to the mundane to the down right ridiculous. In any case a Bard is on of if not the best support jobs a party can have in a party at any given time. As a Bard your role in the party is to support your allies with special ability to cast effective and powerful enhancing songs. In addition a Bard can play music to the enemies to give them different kinds of negative effects such as Slow and Sleep. As a Bard progresses in levels so does there utility and at lvl 55 Bards become an incredibly powerful driving force in a party giving them the power to basically choose what the EXP per our rate will be!
2. ~Advanced Job Quest: Bard~
In order to become a Bard you must first unlock the Job by doing the Advanced quest.
The walk through for can be found here:
http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Path_of_the_Bard
3. ~A Bard’s equipment and sub-job selection~
Although Bard is a very powerful Job in its own respects its very weak in melee combat when compared to melee jobs such as Warrior or Monk. A Bard does posses a higher amount of melee skill than most other mages but this should only be use if you are soloing or your starting levels or if your playing around. Bard is a very busy job which involves running a lot back and forth so you really don’t have time to melee. A Bard will usually buff the melee jobs then buff the mages (the latter becomes more important after lvl 25.) Most likely you will finish buffing everyone before the mob is killed witch doesn’t really leave you a lot to do. In the early levels it maybe ok to melee as stated before or if your subbing a job such as White Mage you can back up heal. This brings me to my next point, Sub jobs.
Bard / White Mage: The most used combo in the game for Bards. Getting access to so much MP gear enables us to effectively back-up heal to a White Mage or a Red Mage. You get some of the -na series of spells likes Poisona, Paralyna, etc. In addition to those you obtain spells such as the -Bar line of spells and of course Blink and Stoneskin. This combination can be taken all the way to 75.
Bard / Red Mage: Red Mage is basically a more versatile sub than WHM. With RDM the most appealing ability you gain is Fast Cast which lowers the casting time of spells and songs. Also you get access to spells such as Phalanx and Dispell.
Bard / Ninja: Possibly the second most used sub job for Bards. At level 24 you gain access to Utsusemi: Ichi witch grants you 3 shadows. This sub job is important for the later levels in witch Bards begin to become puller in parties. This sub isn’t really recommended until the early to mid 60’s where parties can easily burn through camps such as the Colibri camp where damage taken is so manageable by 1 healer that a Bard can effectively pull to increase EXP per hour.
Bard / Black Mage: This sub is generally only used in specific situations such as the ToAU HNM Kings in witch Elemental Seal + Elegy is very important. Other than that it has very few uses outside of Warp. it’s a nice gimmick sub in level 30 cap Ballista where you can sleep > threnody > nuke your opponent.
Bard / Scholar: This relatively new sub has incredible merits. Not only do you get pretty much everything from White Mage sub (lacking Erase and such) but you also get some Black Mage spells. Dark Arts and Light Arts boost your skills to the CAP EVEN IF YOUR SKILLS are not there its really powerful. Sublimation is also amazing as it is a indirect version of Refresh. Regen II is a welcome addition to a Bards spells. This sub is awesome and if yo can use it do it.
Some important stats for Bard, CHR. CHR is the single most important stat for a Bard. Its basically the same as INT to a BLM or MND to a WHM. CHR assists you in landing debuff songs on monsters a lot easier so make sure to get as much CHR gear as possible. MND is important for back up healing as well. And of course MP for enfeebles, healing spells, etc from your sub job.
4. ~The early levels / early macros~
Once your all set to begin step outside and start killing monsters in the starting zones. Bard to level 10 isn’t really to difficult. Get yourself a Dagger and a Sword and sing your songs to buff yourself to make things a little faster. Once you hit level 10 make your way to Valkrum Dunes to begin your partying experience.
At this level you can start learning how to construct easy macros for quick song casting. Here is an example:
/equip range “Maple Harp”
/ma “Knight’s Minne” <me>
/p Casting Spell, Minne.
In this example you have a simple macro for the song Minne. Notice the instrument switch also. When you begin to progress in levels manually changing instruments becomes too much of a hassle so macros are really your best friend. You notice the party chat indication as to what song is being played as well. There is a lot of debate as to keep it in /echo or /p. The choice is yours.
***Important Gear and Spell checklist for levels 1-10 ***
Maple Harp / Maple Harp +1
Cornette / Cornette +1 (Buy the +1 version ASAP its THAT important!)
Flute / Flute +1
Piccolo / Piccolo +1
Knight’s Minne
Valor Minuet (Try to get your Minuets ASAP. They really are that important as well.)
Army’s Paeon
Foe Requiem (One of your most important debuff at early levels and your only job specific debuff for a little while.)
5. ~From the Dunes to the Jungle~
Once you hit level 10 you can make you way to the Dunes to begin your partying experiences. At first you will have a limited amount of songs to play so usually until lvl 11 you can sing Minuet + Paeon on the melee and Minne + Paeon on the mages. At lvl 11 you gain Sword Madrigal which is very potent Accuracy song. At this point you can now sing Minuet and Madrigal to the Melee and Paeon and Minne to the mages. As you can see this means you must keep 2 different songs on different sets of people. How do you do this you say? Well here is a small example:
Melee 1 & 2 (mob) Tank ---------------- Mages
Buff line
In the example Melee 1 and 2 and Tank are all near the mob while Mages are a little far away from the mob. In this case what you do is you go over to the Melee and Tank, sing melee songs then run back to the mages and sing the mage songs. Basically its like this for your whole career. Granted there’s instances where things will be different but this is the general idea on buffing. In the Dunes you will most likely want to be subbing WHM for the added healing to your party. Rolanberry Pies are a very effective MP food at that level so buy some if you can. At level 17 you gain the most important song for Bard, (in my opinion) Foe Lullaby. Get this ASAP its extremely important for not only the early levels but the latter most importantly. Once you hit level 20 you can progress to Qufim Island. At Qufim you will see you now have some more songs to sing such as Mambo, Lullaby and some Threnody songs. You must now start choosing what songs to sing in what situations. If the mob is a powerful monster but has relatively poor accuracy a Mambo song maybe in order. If a mob is weak to Light magic a Light Threnody will help a lot. Remember your role is to assist others in being more successful! You will notice more CHR gear being added as your progress so make sure to get as much of the CHR gear as possible. At level 25 you make the switch to Kazham and also you gain access to the song Mage’s Ballad. This song makes parties a lot more efficient. With Mage’s Ballad you can now allow whoever has the effect to recover 1 mp per tick without healing. This will become your main song for Mages. Also now you must really start paying attention as to what songs you put up and where everyone is standing. Make sure the melee’s don’t get hit with mage songs and vice-versa. You will see the “Etude” line of spells appearing. These are unique single target buffs that can be used to raise certain stats. Usually the MND and INT ones are used on BLMs and WHM and RDMs and the CHR one for Bards. At level 30 the real fun starts to come in on its own.
*** Important Gear and spell checklist for lvls 11-30 ***
Threnody line of songs
Foe Lullaby (Get it ASAP)
Sword Madrigal
Knight’s Minne II
Sheepfoe Mambo
Foe Requiem II
Etude line of songs
Mage’s Ballad (Get it quick! )
Army’s Paeon II
Valor Minuet II
Horde Lullaby (Same as with Foe get it ASAP)
Advancing March
Gemshorn / Gemshorn +1
Mary’s Horn (Great for Lullaby )
Harp / Harp +1
Siren’s Flute
San d’ Orian Horn / Kingdom Horn (Your main rebuffing instrument for Lullaby if you cant get Mary’s Horn)
Flower Necklace / Bird Whistle
Hope Rings (don’t be cheap and buy the NQ, get the HQ)
Noble’s Ribbon
Astral Ring (for MP)
Garrison Tunica (only decent body for bard at these levels)
RSE (depends on your race look up stats and check them out)
6. ~Progression from the Deserts to the Woodlands~
Things start to change a little ones you hit Eastern Altepa Desert and such. You’ll notice an enormous amount of songs to choose from and a variety of gear options. Always try to aim for the best gear you can find at these levels as it does help Barding a lot. You’ll notice that 30 is the breaking point in which jobs begin to develop there sense of uniqueness in some way (although it become more of a major factor in the 40s.) Your songs are becoming more powerful and your debuffs are landing a little more frequently. The early to mid 30s are really straightforward. At level 33 you gain Magic Finale which is basically a song version of Dispel. Its very important on mobs like crabs and such. Also at level 37 you gain the song Raptor Mazurka which is nice if you don’t like running slow. And then comes level 39. At level 39 you gain access to the song Battlefield Elegy. Not only is the Slow on this song quite potent for its level it is also the primary song used for pulling (notice how when casting Elegy there is no annoying “bind” effect after it being casted.) You may begin to get suggestions that you should start pulling for parties. At this level however I don’t really recommend pulling if there’s a job that CAN pull but if you feel up to it then its great practice for what lies ahead. At level 40 you can start your AF quest. Make sure to start this early as some of the Bard AF armor is very good. At level 50 you gain access to a very important body armor piece and weapons. The Gaudy Harness provides + 3 CHR and Latent Effect of Refresh. The latent is triggered by having less than 49 MP. So its REALLY useful for backup healing and debuffing. At 51 you can buy the Earth and Light staffs or the HQ equivalents of them. These help Elegy and Lullaby / Requiem (respectively) land with a MUCH greater success rate. At 55 you gain access to Mage’s Ballad II which gives your mages a total of 3 mp a tick (same as Refresh.) This is essential for good EXP / hour pts and almost everything else.
*** Important Gear and spell checklist for lvls 30-60 ***
Hunter’s Prelude
Magic Finale
Battlefield Elegy (Very important song try to get it ASAP as well. )
Carnage Elegy
Raptor Mazurka
Foe Requiem III and IV and V
Last line of Etude spells
Army’s Paeon III and VI
Knight’s Minne III
Valor Minuet III
Mage’s Ballad II (Makes sure to get this before hand as it makes life a lot easier )
Carol line of songs
Blade Madrigal
Dragonfoe Mambo
Carnage Elegy
Victory March
Faeri Piccolo
Horn / Horn +1
Crumhorn / Crumhorn +1
Ebony Harp / Ebony Harp +1
Nursemaid’s Harp (for Horde Lullaby)
Hamelien Flute
Angel’s Flute / Angel’s Flute +1
Storm Fife (awesome for Assault’s / Salvage )
Traversiere / Traversiere +1
Military Harp (not rally needed for Finale )
Gaudy Harness
Artifact Armor (Choral Jst, Cuffs, Slippers, roundelt, cannions)
RSE continuation
Light Staff / Apollo’s Staff
Earth Staff / Terra’s Staff
Jester’s Cape / Jester’s Cape +1
Pearl Rings / Loyalty Rings
Rain Hat
Lucent Cape
Crow / Raven Armor
Moon Rings / Allure Rings
Star Necklace
Justacorps
7. ~The Final Stretch~
Well you’ve done it you’ve made it to lvl 60. This is where Bard’s begin to show there abilities to pull and sleep mobs with fairly great success rate. Your songs have now become ever more potent than before since your skills have steadily been growing. Party invites will now be even faster than before as Bards really become the backbone of the party at these levels. You’ll be spending most of your time in the ToAU camps so you will most likely be in burn parties a lot. Really at this point the amount of gear available becomes so wide that a Bard has a lot of options to what his or her gear should look like. Make sure you become accustomed to pulling and sleeping mobs now as parties will now invite you to pull a lot more than before. And at level 68 till 75 and on your pretty much stuck pulling unless it’s a dual bard party. Once at 72 you gain access to a SLEW of new armor such as the Sha’ ir armor and Yigit armor. Once you hit 75 give yourself a pat on the back as you are now officially a 75 Bard!
*** Final checklist ***
Knight’s Minne IV
Valor Minuet IV
Army’s Paeon IV
2cd tier of Etude songs
Archer’s Prelude
Chocobo Mazurka
Goddess Hymnus
Harelquins Horn
Angel Lyre
Mythic Harp / Mythic Harp +1
(Gear options discussed below at lvl 75)
8. ~Instrument Skills, Abilities and Food~
You will notice that Bards have 3 musical skills. Singing, Wind and String. Singing skill is your basic foundation skill in which String and Wind build upon. Take note that all three skills are skill level C. Although this seems low for the only job in the game who has access to these skills it works differently than you expect. For example, if you play a song on a String instrument both Singing and String skills will be taken into consideration. Thus you are combing two skills into one in some fashion. Same applies to Wind instruments as well.
Wind Instruments: These instruments have better Magic Accuracy than String instruments but have a smaller Area of Effect when a song is casted. Usually the preferred choice when buffing and debuffing unless the scenario implies String instrument.
String Instruments: These instruments have a lower Magic Accuracy than Wind but have a much greater Area of Effect than wind. In addition they enhance effects better than there counterpart Wind instruments on certain songs (Threnody, Lullaby.) But with lower magic accuracy its debatable.
Make sure you try to keep ALL your skills capped as you never know when you’ll need it.
9. -Bard’s Abilities-
| Abilities |
Soul Voice
2 hour recast
Level 1
This is a Bards special 2 hour ability. When used all of a Bards songs DRAMATICALLY increase in potency and usually double in power and accuracy. Unlike other 2 hours this one is best used at the start of the fight rather at the time of emergency since this is more of a progressive 2 hour than others. A very powerful ability at the disposal to Bards, make sure to keep it fresh until its absolutely needed.
Pianissimo
15 second recast
Level 45
Pianissimo is a newly introduced ability from the June 2008 update. When in effect a blue Eigth Note will appear on the top of your screen. This will indicate the effect is active. Pianissimo allows your next song to become a single target instead of Area of Effect. This is a fantastic ability for tight situations and what not. And with the 15 second recast you can use it almost instantaneously.
Troubadour
20 minute recast
This merit ability goes well with Nightingale for buffs and certain debuffs. Troubadour extends the casting time for songs by 1.5 but the duration is also increased so its nice to use for stuff like Soul Voiced battles.
Nightingale
20 minute recast
As stated above, this ability goes great with Troubadour. It shortens casting time by x2 so basically songs are halved. Its great to use with Troubadour when buffing to get those songs out quicker.
| Job Traits |
Resist Silence
Our only native Job trait. This rarely kicks in but you will notice it sometimes.
| Food |
At early levels there really isn’t a whole lot of food selection to choose from with the exception of pies and cookies. As you progress foods like Tuna Sushi become viable as well as Tavnazian Tacos. If you get the Opo-Opo crown at level 65 then use Pamamas with it to gain the awesome effect of +14 CHR (stacks with the -7 CHR for a total of 7) and 50 HP and MP.
10. ~Macro’s and Party configurations~
You’ll notice quickly that you will have way too many spells soon after you hit level 30 to deal with manually so macros become your B. F. F very quickly. Personally I have 3 Macro lines devoted to Bard. On my CTRL lines I usually have my buff songs and on my ATL lines I usually have my enfeeble songs but its really up to you.
/equip range “Faerie Piccolo”
/ma “Victory March” <me>
/echo Victory March
A basic macro
/equip range “Mary’s Horn”
/equip main “Light Staff”
/equip hands “Sha’ir Gages”
/recast “Foe Lullaby”
/ma “Foe Lullaby” <t>
This macro I use for sleeping mobs so I know when my Lullaby is ready to use. This can be used with
Buff songs too.
/equip range "Cornnette +1"
/ma "Valor Minuet III" <me>
/wait 9 (or whatever your casting time is.)
/ma "Valor Minuet IV" <me>
Thank you Bippy for this little info I left out. IF you don't have macros space and just wanna macro in 2 songs in 1 macro you can do it like above. Make sure you don't move while this happens as you will get interrupted. You can use all kinds of song combos.
In all honesty everyone has different ways of doing there macros so its really up to you on how you want your macros to be.
When in EXP parties you usually have different kinds of combination of jobs. You’ll have to learn to know what songs are appropriate for what types of parties. For example in a party with a Paladin you will want the Tank to stand with the melees and away from the mages right? Well what if the Paladin is in need of MP and asks you to toss a Ballad at him/her? Here is a simple solution:
Melee 1 & 2 (mob) (( Paladin --------------BRD Mages ))
Ballad AoE
You’ll want to position yourself in a manner as to which the Paladin is close enough to hit him/her with Ballad along with the mages but far enough away from the melee so they don’t get hit as well. With Ninja tanks it’s a little different. Ninja’s usually request Mambo at times when they want to go with an Evasion build but the melees don’t want to get Mambo and want to keep there buffs on. You can do this:
Ninja (mob) Melee 1 & 2 ----------------------- Mages
BRD (SONG 1) BRD (SONG 2)
You can hit the Ninja with Mambo far enough away so it wont hit the melee. You then sing to the melee so that one of those songs wont hit the the Ninja but the other will. So basically its all about positioning yourself in the right area as well as your members responding to what you say also.
11. ~Bard Songs~
A Bards weapon is their songs. A bard has an incredible amount of songs to select from with most being extremely good. Bards have two types of song; Buffing and Debuffing songs. The buffs are self explanatory and the debuffs should hint you at what they are. Most songs will be explain with the exception of those like Round and Operreta that have rather gimmicky effects.
~(The enhancing melodies)~
{ Minuet }
"A small and graceful dance."
Minuet is the most common song for buffing melee jobs. Minuet grants an attack bonus to whoever is under its effect. As you progress in levels different tiers of Minuet will be unlocked.
Corresponding instrument: Cornette
Tiers: Valor Minuet I, II, III and IV
{ Madrigal }
"An elaborate song for several voice parts."
Madrigal is basically the follow-up to Minuet. Its the second most used melee song. Madrigal adds an accuracy bonus to melee attacks (but not ranged.) As you level up the accuracy granted from this increases.
Corresponding instrument: Traversiere
Tiers: Sword Madrigal, Blade Madrigal
{ Mambo }
"A vibrant Latin tune."
The preferred song for many events and sometimes in exp parties. Mambo increases the evasion of whoever is under its effect. Ninja's may sometimes ask for this song during exp parties and its used often for things like Charby.
Corresponding instrument: Gemshorn
Tiers: Sheepfoe Mambo, Dragonfoe Mambo
{ March }
"A purposeful song played in a steady manner"
March can be called the "Bard Haste" song for the most part. When its in effect everyone will be given a small haste effect. Although this is not as powerful as the spell counterpart its still potent. As you increase in levels the amount of haste added increases.
Corresponding instrument: Faerie Piccolo
Tiers: Advancing March, Victory March
{ Minne }
"A courtly love song"
Your first song in your Bard life sadly doesn't get much use in exp or events due to its simple nature. Minne will increases the defense rating of whoever is under its effect.
Corresponding instrument: Maple Harp
Tiers: Knight's Minne I, II, III, IV
{ Paeon }
“A quantitative verse”
Bards have no natural healing songs with the exception of Paeon as a HP Regen song. This can be combined with its instrument for maximum HP regen. Its nice for emergency’s and quick recoveries.
Corresponding Instrument: Ebony Harp
Tiers: Army’s Paeon I, II, III, IV, V
{ Ballad }
"A slow and romantic song"
The most important mage song in the game. Anyone under the effect of Ballad will recover MP gradually overtime depending on what tier is sung. Its a very important song and should be learned ASAP.
Corresponding instrument: Storm Fife
{ Carol }
“A joyous song. Associated with the holiday of Christmas.”
Carol is the natural Bard “-Bar” songs. There’s a Carol for every element and is usually only used for certain situations such as CoP 4-2 against Ouryu.
Corresponding Instrument: Crumhorn
Tiers: All elemental Carol’s.
{ Mazurka }
“A polish dance that resembles the polka”
Mazurka is a special song that gives Movement speed bonuses to the party. it’s a nifty song if you don’t like traveling slow.
Corresponding instrument: Harlequin’s Horn
Tiers: Raptor Mazurka, Chocobo Mazurka.
{ Etude }[/song]
"A musical exercise."
A unique type of song that's single target. Etude line of spells give stats boost to a certain stat depending on which is sung. The 2cd tier gives more than the first in terms of bonuses but they diminish overtime unlike the first.
Corresponding instrument: Rose Harp
Tiers: Level 20-40 versions is first tier. 60-75 last tier.
[font="Century Gothic"]{ Prelude }
"Introductory musical piece."
Prelude is the ranged version of madrigal. This only effects ranged attacks so people like rangers may ask for this a lot. Corresponding instrument: Angel Flute
Tier: Hunter's Prelude, Archer's Prelude
~(The constricting verses)~
{ Requiem }
"Musical piece usually constructed for the dead."
The main debuffing song a Bard gets. Requiem adds a DoT(damage over time) to the enemy that slowly deals damage as time goes on. Its useful for exp pts early on and long drawn out battles.
Corresponding instrument: Siren's Flute, Requiem Flute.
Tiers: Foe Requiem I, II, III, IV, V, VI.
{ Lullaby }
"Song to lull children to sleep"
A Bards main song against enemies. Lullaby is a song version fo sleep buts its very different. Lullaby is a light song where sleep is a dark sleep spell. Thus Lullaby can land on undead enemies. Horde Lullaby is an AoE version of Lullaby.
Corresponding instrument: Mary's Horn, Nursemaid's Harp.
Tiers: Foe Lullaby, Horde Lullaby.
{ Elegy }
"A musical piece with a feeling of grief"
Elegy is the main song used for bards who are pulling due to its non-bind effect. This song gives a potent slow effect to enemies which makes it very powerful.
Corresponding instrument: Horn
Tiers: Battlefield Elegy, Carnage Elegy, Massacre Elegy (only available to certain monsters.)
{ Finale }
“A piece of music generally used to signal the end.”
Finale is simply a song version of the spell Dispell. it’s a very useful spell to help RDM’s debuff mobs but its recast timer is longer.
Corresponding instrument: Military Harp
Tiers: Magic Finale
{ Threnody }
"A hymn of mourning."
Threnody's act like a Ninja's line of elemental wheel spells. They inflict a elemental status down effect depending on which song is sung. These are great for helping BLMs not get resisted on important stuff. Also take note that each songs elemental property is the opposite of its namesake. Example: Light threnody is Dark magic so a Dark staff will enhance its performance not a Light staff.
Corresponding instrument: Flute, Sorrowful Harp
Tiers: All elemental debuff songs.
~(Merit Songs)~
{ Sirvente }
“A form of lyric verse. Sometimes dealing with politics.”
This merit song is single target and lowers a target character’s Enmity loss against a foe. Its nice for Paladins and Ninja’s and the hate lost with it with Soul Voice is almost non-existent.
Corresponding Instrument: Gjallarhorn
Tier: For Sirvente
{ Dirge}
“A somber song”
This merit song is basically the opposite of Sirvente. With it the character’s enmity loss will be very big and coupled with Soul Voice a character can gain almost no enmity.
Corresponding Instrument: Gjallarhorn
Tier: Adventure’s Drige
XI. ~Notable Gear~
There is A LOT of gear that bards can wear and a lot of it is grouped up into armor family's. Bards focuses usually on MP and CHR and skill so take into account those traits. Due to KI's new Picture limit. I cant post screens of all gears. If you would like to see them all please visit a Final Fantasy XI related website and use their search function.
~Sha’ir Armor Set~
This armor set is wearable by level 72 Bards. Most of the stats given by this set is pretty amazing. The feet provide +4 CHR and +1 Haste which is extremely good. The hands are great for pulling to keep recast timers down. Legs are a nice substitute for Choral Cannions but they quickly become obsolete once you get Marduk’s Shalwar or Choral Cannions +1. The body is by far the most astounding piece of the set. -12% Song spell casting time is amazing and the +7 CHR makes is all the sweeter. The body is pain to obtain though as the cloth and wool to make it comes from Vrtra or Bahamut V2 BCNM. The head piece of this armor is kind of mundane really but its nice for the haste at its level but its quickly replaced by W. Turban.
~Yigit Gomlek~
This body armor is basically the same thing as Sha’ir Manteel but with a slightly lower casting time and no Haste or CHR bonuses. Instead you get +5 hMP. The body is basically a free manteel in some respects to get it if you can its really worth it during merit parties.
~Aquarian Abjuration Armor (Zenith Cloth Armor)~
This is THE back-up healing / MP armor set for Bards. Every single piece of it adds the 50 HP to MP conversion which greatly helps with MP issues. The legs and feet add small CHR so they really are worth getting. The head is really not worth it since you have W. Turban or Opo-Opo crown. The Dalmatica is just awesome in all respects. Auto refresh is a very nice additions to your MP and not only that but its looks very elegant as well. Although this is a great armor set it requires a HNMLs / Sky ls to get theses pieces.
~Bard Attire (AF2)~
Bard’s AF2 is rather different than what you might expect as it seems to focus more on the melee side of Bard (body armor is just ridiculous.) The head ties with Marduk’s Tiara as being the best head armor for Bard in the game. 5 singing skill and 5 CHR is adds a lot so try to do as much Dynamis - San d’ Oria for this armor piece. The body is basically a Hauberk on crack for Bards only. Militar Parade is a special effect that activated when your weapon is drawn. It gives STR, DEX, AGI and VIT +8 but alos gives MND, INT, CHR, -8. The hands have there use but are generally surpassed by the AF1 hands. The legs are a great armor. Its basically a Sha’ ir Seraweels with +42 MP. Courtly Meausre is basically the vice versa of Military Parade. The feet are not really that good probably only useful for string macro.
~Kirin’s Osode~
This piece of armor that drops off of Kirin is a wonderful addition to any Bards gear set. Think of an Errrant body mixed with every stat in the game. it’s a great pulling body and debuffing body as well. Can only get this if your ls does sky or if you buy it.
~Marduk’s Jubbah Set~
An armor set nothing short of amazing. This set comes from upgrading all piece from sub-armor from inside Salvage. The head armor ties or surpasses the AF2 head with +7 singing skill and + 3 chr. The body is the second best debuffing body in the game (Shadow Coat being first) with +12 CHR and +12 MND. As if it wasn't enough the body also has a Refresh effect and a Fast Cast effect making it VERY worthwhile. The hands are the “meh” piece of armor in the set (good for Regen?) The legs tie with the Choral Cannions +1 for best leg armor. 10 CHR and +5 Wind skill is downright jaw-dropping. The feet are awesome for WHM but kinda lackluster for Bards unless you going for a MND build with string skill.
~Storm Fife~
+1 to Ballad, oh yes it is indeed very sweet. This instrument only works in Assault and Salvage but its still worth having as it makes those events much easier on the mages. Get it as its only 15000 points from Illrusi Attol .
~Opo-Opo Crown~
Has the hidden effect of adding +14 CHR, 50 MP and HP while under the effect of Pamamas. it’s the best head piece for a long time for most Bards(AF2 Head and Marduks surpass it) and a great one to as its model is very cool looking. Make sure to get your moneky crown if your taking Bard to 75.
~Byakko’s Haidate~
These pants are great for pulling and pretty much nothing else besides recast timers and melee accuracy. Get them from your sky ls when they feel generous enough to give it a Bard.
~Errant Houpp.~
The basic body armor for most Bards once they hit 72. +10 CHR makes this worth the cost it is (kinda low now.) Get it if you got nothing else to where and keep it and macro it when debuffing.
~Shadow Coat Set~
The Shadow Coat set is an abjuration armor that comes exclusively from Einherjar. In a way it is similar to the Neptunal Abj armor for Melee classes in which you probably only want to macro it in for debuffs. The Shadow Coat itself could possibly be considered the best debuffing body armor for Bard (Second to Marduk's Jubbah) with the very helpful +10 Magic Accuracy. The hat is ok for debuffing also but Bard's Roundelt will probably benefit you more anyway. The hands arent really worth it since you have access to Choral Cuffs +1. The legs are great if for some reason you dont have Marduk's Shalwar or Choral Cannions +1. The feet tie up with Goliard Pigaches for best debuffing feet for Bard. +2 Magic Accuracy and +5 CHR is pretty sweet. The set is rather hard to get though as the Abjurations aren't dropped that often.
~Goliard Saio Set~
This armor set is very reminiscent of RDM af and Morrigan's armor. Its a pretty basic all around set of armor with not alot of good pieces for Bard. The body is nice for backup-healing if you feel like having Conserve MP and some Haste for recasts on songs and spells. The hat is very similar to Errant's hat. The hands seem to have more use to a BLM or a RDM than to us. The legs are very nice if you seem to be pulling hate for some reason it will give you Enmity -5 and -3% Damage taken. The feet however are extremely good for BRD offering +4 to DEX, CHR, MND and INT and Magic Accuracy +2. This armor set comes from the Nyzul Isle Assault so having a static will probably help you get the pieces you want.
~Trumpet Ring / Nereid Ring~
This newly introduced ring for Bard was included in the update for Wings of the Goddess. With this new ring there is probably little reason to use CHR rings anymore after level 51. Get them the second you hit 51 as they are relatively cheap. The HQ version is highly desirable but extremely expensive.
~Omega Ring~
This Ring is obtained by spending 15,000 Ampouls of Therion Ichor. Its a very good ring for debuffing as the +3 Magic Accuracy and +3 CHR help out very nicely. Get it if you want but with the new ring options its debatable.
~Balrahn's Ring~
Obtained by finishing the second to last mission of Treasure's of Aht Urgan. Its amazing in Salvage and Assault as a Refresh effect on a ring item is great. Plus the added bonuses to MND, CHR, etc are welcomed to. When not in either of those events the Magic Accuracy +4 helps with debuff songs. Get it if Bard is your main job or a mage job is you main.
~Musical Earring~
The +5 to each instrument makes this ear piece an extremely great piece of armor. Obtain by trading 75 ABC’s to obtain it.
~Fourth Division Mace~
This mace adds a very good Conserve MP +4 and MP +30. Its nice for casting spells like regen or buffs as some MP saved is always good. Bought or gained with Allied Notes from Bastok.[/red]
~Cobra Unit Cloche Set~
The Cobra Cloche set seems to focus on adding small amounts of magic accuracy and MP conservation. Its nice for spell casting with cures and for MP but other that its a novelty set and mostly for town. The head is by far the most useless piece of the set and is not worth the use. The body adds Conserve MP +4 and Magic Attack Bonus +4 which makes it a subpar Goliard Saio. The hands are pretty good for Conserve MP (Best amount in the hands.) The legs are "OK" for Conserve MP also but are not too good. The feet are about as good as the hands.
~Oracle's Pigaches~
These newly introduced boots from the June update are absolutely astounding. There a great all around piece of foot wear. The MP on these shoes is almost equivalent to that of Rostrum Pumps. And the Wind skill is magnificent. Obtained from one of the new Zeni Notorious Monsters.
~Ixon's Cape~
The cape acts sort of like a piece of the Errant gear but as a back piece. Its a really good overall back piece with nice MP and stats. Obtained as a drop from Ixon.
~Ixon's Cloak~
Its basically in a way a Marduk's Jubbah but with slightly better stats (and some missing ones.) The inability to equip headgear is a little disappointing but that shouldn't bother you too much. Its so dam good in that it adds both Regen and Refresh and a huge amount of MND and CHR you wont be complaining for long. Dropped from Ixon once again.
~Insect Ring~
A pretty decent ring to be used in situations. Adds some nice resist effects and the Magic Accuracy is nice. Dropped from a Tier I Zeni Notorious Monster.
~Elemental Grips~
These new grips will surely help with Threnody and spells like Elegy and Lullaby. The HP > MP conversion is great also. Droped from Zeni Notorious Monsters.
~Royal Redingote~
This body piece was added with the Mini-Expansion "A Crystalline Prophecy" and it is the reward for completing the scenario. It can be augmenteds with the following stats:
Accuracy+10
Attack+10
Ranged Accuracy+10
Ranged Attack+10
Evasion+10
Magic Accuracy+4
"Magic Attack Bonus"+4
"Double Attack" +2%
Critical Hit Rate +3% "
Store TP"+4 "Subtle Blow"+4
Enmity+5
Enmity-5
"Fast Cast" effect +5%
"Call Beast" ability delay -15
"Snapshot"+5%
"Dual Wield" effect +3%
"Blood Pact" ability delay -4
Avatar Perpetuation Cost -2
"Quick Draw" ability delay -5
Pet: Accuracy+15, Ranged Accuracy+15
Pet: Attack+15 Ranged Attack+15
Pet: Magic Accuracy+7 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+7
Pet: "Double Attack" +2
Critical hit rate +2%
~Selenian Cap~
Yet another augmentable reward for completing the scenario of "A Moogle Kupo d'Etat" It can be augmented with the following stats:
Haste+3% Enhances "Snapshot" effect (+3%)
STR+4 Weapon Skill Accuracy +15
DEX+4 Increases critical hit damage (+2%)
VIT+4 Shield Skill +5
AGI+4 Increases weapon skill damage (+2%)
INT+4 Magic Accuracy+2
MND+4 "Cure" potency +3%
CHR+4 "Waltz" ability delay -2
Accuracy+10 Attack+5
Ranged Accuracy+10 Ranged Attack+5
Evasion+10 Store TP +4
Magic Accuracy+3 MP Recovered While Healing +3
"Magic Attack Bonus"+2 HP Recovered While Healing +3
Magic damage taken -2% Enmity+4
Magic critical hit rate +10% Enmity-4
Enhances "Fast Cast" effect (+3%)
"Blood Pact" ability delay -3
STR+2 Haste +2%
DEX+2 Haste +2%
VIT+2 Haste +2%
AGI+2 Haste +2%
INT+2 Enhances "Fast Cast" effect (+2%)
MND+2 Enhances "Fast Cast" effect (+2%)
CHR+2 Enhances "Fast Cast" effect (+2%)
Accuracy+3 Pet: Haste +5%
Accuracy+3 Pet: Critical Hit Rate +3%
Attack+3 Pet: Adds "Regen" effect
Attack+3 Pet: Damage taken -10%
~Dewomer Knife~
This dagger was added in the July 2009 update. By completing the "Succor to the Sidhe" quest it can be augmented with various stats including Song Spellcasting reduction!
~Carnwenhan~
This is the Bard Mythic weapon (Dagger.) After some testing, it was concluded that the "Increases Song duration" effect on the dagger was equivalent of adding another +2 Instrument (In essence another 24 seconds.) By using the Mythic Weapon Skill "Mordant Rime" you can gain various Aftermath effects.
12. ~Roles in Merit Parties / Pulling~
Merit Parties are really a Bards heaven. Merit Parties is where the abilities of a Bard really shine. When in a merit party your role (usually sometimes different parties may call for different situations) is to play songs for your party members and pull at the same time. Although this may sound difficult its actually not as complex as some may think although it can take a long time to fully master the art of being a great merit party Bard.
Types of Merit parties:
TP Burn
Main Goal: Keep all members buffed while keeping the chain active.
Key Songs: Minuet, March (Melee) Ballad (Mages)
Main Sub-Job: Ninja
The most common type of merit party. In this party the configuration usually consist of 4 Damage Dealer and 1 Healer (Red Mage or White Mage.) In this party the songs that are sung are pretty standard. Minuet and March are the usual favorite for melee with Madrigal being a rather obscure song sometimes (Accuracy seems to not be a problem these days but always keep Madrigal handy for certain situations.) Most camp spots are usually over camped so pulling will be hard. A basic rule is to sing 1 song to the party for every monster. Any Song Spell casting -% gear is very helpful here. Since your skills will most likely be capped using foods such as Fish Mithkabobs and Tav Tacos to increase Defense will help a lot when your shadows are down. Speaking of shadows your main sub job will most likely be Ninja for Utsuemi as well.
Manaburn
Main Goal: Keep all Mages buffed with Ballad and maintain the chain for as long as possible while keeping Mages MP at reasonable levels.
Key Songs: Ballad, Paeon (Emergency only)
Main Sub-Job: White Mage, Red Mage, Ninja
Manaburns have been around for a long time and Bards have always been welcomed into them. In a Manaburn usually BLMs who cant get a normal merit party join together to chain monsters with there incredible magic powers. Ballad is by far the most important song here as the BLMs are constantly being drained of there MP from there spells. In Manaburns there's more liberty with pulling and sub-jobs because Manaburns arent as popular as TP Burns. When subbing WHM or RDM try to keep Stoneskin and Blink up.
When in a merit party a Bard’s ability to increase the powers of others ensures fast killings. This leads to the second job of a bard in the parties, keeping the chain. After Chain #5 you only have 60 seconds to kill another monster or the chain will break. To ensure the fastest way for your members to kill a monster the goal is to have the monster right at camp slept. In this manner your members can Auto-Target the mob and attack without fail; This ensures the highest probability of keeping the chain alive. When pulling Elegy is your main song used to pull monsters. Its has great range and the Slow effect is outstanding enough as it is. The main reason though is because Elegy does not have the “bind” effect that most debuff songs do. Once you pull with Elegy bring the monster to camp and then use Lullaby to sleep it. Then sing a buff and go find another mob and repeat. There will be times when Lullaby is resisted so use Horde Lullaby as a back-up. Make sure no mobs that you don’t want are around when using Horde Lullaby. Here is an example:
Camp ----------- Brd -------- Monster
Camp ---------- Brd ~~~(Elegy)~~~ Monster
Camp -- Brd ---- Monster (now aggressive)
Camp - Brd ~~(Lullaby)~ Monster
Usually it wont be as easy as that but the basic idea holds true.
13. ~Song stats / Numbers~
.::Minuet::.
Minuet I: Caps attack at +16. Cornette +1 adds +5 Attack.
Minuet II: Caps attack at +32. Cornette +1 adds +5 Attack.
Minuet III: Caps attack at +48. Cornette +1 adds +5 Attack.
Minuet IV: Caps attack at 54 (soft cap) 66 (hard cap with all bonuses.) Cornette +1 adds +5 Attack.
.::Madrigal::.
Sword Madrigal: Caps accuracy at +15. Traversiere +1 adds +4 Accuracy.
Blade Madrigal: Caps accuracy at +27 (soft) +28 (hard). Traversiere +1 adds +4 Accuracy.
.::March::.
Advancing March: Haste cap total is + 7%. Faerie Piccolo adds + 2% (total + 9%)
Victory March: Haste cap total is + 9%. Faerie Piccolo adds + 2% (total + 11%)
.::Mambo::.
Sheepfoe Mambo: Evasion cap seems to be + 10 evasion. Gemshorn adds +2 Evasion (total 12.)
Dragonfoe Mambo: Evasion cap seems to be + 18 evasion. Gemshorn adds +2 Evasion (total 20.)
(If these mambo numbers are wrong please tell me)
.::Paeon::.
Paeon I: Regen is 1 hp per tick. Ebony harp adds +2 HP per tick (total 3.)
Paeon II: Regen is 2 hp per tick. Ebony harp adds +2 HP per tick (total 4.)
Paeon III: Regen is 3 hp per tick. Ebony harp adds +2 HP per tick (total 5.)
Paeon IV: Regen is 4 hp per tick. Ebony harp adds +2 HP per tick (total 6.)
Paeon V: Regen is 5 hp per tick. Ebony harp adds +2 HP per tick (total 7.)
.::Ballad::.
Ballad I: Refresh is 1 mp per tick. Storm Fife adds +1 (total 2) Gjallarhorn adds +2 (total 3.)
Ballad II: Refresh is 2 mp per tick. Storm Fife adds +1 (total 3) Gjallarhorn adds +2 (total 4.)
.::Elegy::.
Battlefield Elegy: Adds + 25% Slow effect. Horn +1 makes it + 27%.
Carnage Elegy: Adds + 50% Slow effect. Elegy slow caps at 50% so together with Horn +1 it is 50%. (Thanks Kapataru)
.::Minne::.
Minne I: Defense cap is +14. Harp +1 adds + 5 Defense.
Minne II: Defense cap is +28. Harp +1 adds + 5 Defense.
Minne III: Defense cap is +41. Harp +1 adds + 5 Defense.
Minne IV: Defense cap is +49. Harp +1 adds + 5 Defense.
(I'll add the other songs im missing once I get the info.)
14. ~Merits~
Merits!!!!
This is one of the parts of being a Bard were you can increase the potency of your songs really well without hassling for Gear. When it comes to exact merits for Bard its really hard to say what exactly too merit because there is alot of things that should be merited but they might take up space for something else that should be merited. I'll just give a general run down of the "yes" merits.
~General Merit Points (HP, MP and Attributes)~
In this category you have the selection of raising HP or MP and attributes. Now if your going to be Bard for the rest of your carrer then merting CHR might not be so bad but people tend not to merit it because usually there will be a second job which could use points in those areas. For HP and MP you can decide on MP for a more /WHM support role with more MP.
HP and MP
[1>2>3>4>5>5>5>5]
Attributes
[3>6>9>9>9]
~Combat Skills~
Unless you like to use your dagger and sword, this is usually left untouched for other jobs.
[1>2>3>3>3>3>3>3]
~Magic Skills~
Wind, String and Singing skill are all present to merit in this category. You will probably want to cap either Wind or Singing first and ten focus on the other. There is no point in meriting string as far as im concerned.
[1>2>3>3>3>3>3>3]
~Others~
The merits in this category are debatable for Bard. Mostly left untouched unless you want to choose some points for your other job or something for Bard like Enmity reduction.
[1>2>3>4]
~Bard Job Merits~
Category 1
In category 1 you are able to merit Lullaby, Minuet, Finale, Minne and Magridal. Most people tend to usually start this section by fully meriting Lullaby (Great for Merit pts and events) and ten decide on either Minuet merits or Madrigal. Most would say Minuet to enhance burn parties other say Madrigal. Its up to you.
Category 2
Category 2 adds some new additions to Bard. You can unlock 2 new abilites using 6 merit points. Trobadour and Nightangale are extremly helpful and meriting them further reduces the recast. Dirge and Sirvente have its uses but are usually not used often. I unlocked both songs just to have them but its up to you if you just want to merit Trobadour and Nightangale to the max.
Group 1
[1>2>3>4>5]
Group 2
[3>4>5>5>5]
Max combo: 10 (for each job)
15. ~Bard as a Melee~
While I certainly don't expect you to Melee in a normal Party situation (Or any at that.) Bard can effectively become one of the more powerful mage oriented Melees. I'll tell you from experience Melee Bard is a hell of alot of fun but its only to be used in situations where you know you don't NEED to really be focusing on doing Bard priority's so please Melee with caution
. Here's the general run down of Melee Bard. Bard has access to Dagger, Swords and Staves. Dagger is by far the best Main hand weapon a Bard can use. With it you gain access to our strongest Weapon Skill, Evisceration which deals a fivefold attack. Swords come in second but are not far behind Daggers. Joytoy makes an excellent offhand when subbing /NIN. Staves are more or less unpractical for melee.
When doing Melee Bard, you most likely will be decind between NIN and WAR sub (with DNC and other subs for other situations.) All I can say is choose the one you want the most because honestly both are good and both have pros and cons.
~Your Gear Selection~
If you haven't noticed by now we have access to ALOT of melee equipment and Haste options. In fact if I recall, Bard can attain the second highest amount of Haste with gear in the game (Monk first.) The general idea is to Melee in a Haste setup with some Accuracy, Attack and what not in the mix and then switch to major STR, ATK, DEX, ACC etc armor when Weapon Skilling. Your main focus is to get to 100% TP to use Evisceration as often as possible. Of course your DoT is important as well so keep an eye on that and dont let it fall behind.
-TP Gear-
~Angel Lyre~
A glorious instrument. It gives Haste +2% as well as Hymnus enhancement. Get it asap as it is well worth the cost.
~Dusk Armor~
The hands and feet of these set are your main priorities. They have an expensive price tag on them but there a nice addition to your Haste set up.
~Swift Belt / Speed Belt~
Either one is fine. Swift adds +4% Haste and some Accuracy while Speed Belt adds a nice 6% Haste.
~Wahlara Turban~
The no-brainer TP head piece. Get it from trading Bronze pieces to NPC in Al Zhabi.
~Byakko's Haidate~
These legs are EXTREMELY valuable to both TP and WS set ups. DEX +15 and Haste +5% helps both sides of the coin and will probably be the last melee legs you'll ever need.
~Goliard Saio~
Haste +4% makes this a wonderful melee body to use. Obtained from Nyzul Isle.
~Rajas Ring~
If you obtained this from CoP use it as its nice for its STR and Store TP
| Weapon Skill Gear |
~Neptunal Abjuration (Hecta)~
Bard is blessed with being able to wear Neptunal Armor. Each one of these pieces (Except for maybe legs) are THE optimal gear choices for when Weapon Skilling. If you can purchase and uncursed them there well worth the effort.
~Love Torque / Sea Gorget~
If your LS is ever kind to give a Bard a Love Torque then your in for a treat. Its useful for both TP and WS. A sea gorget will also work if you dont have a Love Torque.
~Bard's Justacorps~
This and Hectacomb body are tied with being the best WS bodies for Bard. Its debatable which one is superior but that's up to you to decide.
Basically this is the jist of Melee Bard but there's more depth to it.
16. ~Conclusion~
Really to be honest Bard is just a job to have fun in. Your there to support the party and make everyone nice and happy with your melodies! So as you level your Bard up remember what the key factors in being a good Bard are. 1.) Make sure to have your most important songs learned! 2.) Don’t be stuck up just because your “the bard.” Although you become a driving force in parties near the end of the game don’t let it overtake you and make you stuck up. 3.) Just have fun!
17. ~Links~
Kirschy Taru's Blog
http://kirschytaru.livejournal.com/
Banigaru’s Bard Guide (Maat Fight details, etc)
http://killingifrit.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=59887
Dr. Ifto’s Bard gear by level guide
http://killingifrit.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=109214
Sozsensur’s Event bard guide
http://killingifrit.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=161242
Tattersail’s Bard Guide
http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Bard_Guide_by_Tattersail
Songs 101
http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Bard:_Guide_to_Songs_101
Thank you for your patience.
((( Gdi Kaparu )))
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. I approve, and I hope this eventually gets stickied.
