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Table of Contents:
01 - Introduction
02 - Races
03 - Bard Quest
04 - Subjobs
05 - Bard Abilities
06 - Working a Bard
07 - Songs
08 - Equipment
09 - Advanced Tips
10 - FAQ
11 - Thanks
Version History:
1.0 - Initial Version
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01 - Introduction
-------------------
Welcome to my bard guide. This guide is intended to be a
starting reference.
Most of the information here is experienced first-hand, although
a substantial
part was gleaned from message boards, web sites, and talking
with other bards.
As such, don't hold statements made in this FAQ as gospel, but
merely a
starting point for your exploration into Vana'diel.
So, where to begin? The bard class is for the hyperactive. Once
you come
into your full power, you will _never_ be resting. There's
always something
to do. In any given battle you'll probably end up singing
between 4-8 songs
with the odd spell thrown in there every once in a while. The
class also
involves a lot of running.
The reward for all this work is ease of grouping and fast
leveling. Bard is
also one of the cheaper classes, as songs are pretty cheap and
you aren't very
equipment-dependent.
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02 - Races
-------------------
Bards mostly rely on Charisma to land their sleep songs. Other
than that,
they're not extremely stat dependent. I would probably rank the
races in the
following order:
Tarutaru:
These little buggers have good charisma, and plenty of MP. As
most bards go
with WHM sub, the MP helps with cures and spells and such. Since
bards almost
never get hit, the low HP doesn't really matter. Plus, you get
to /panic
Hume:
Same charisma as Tarutaru, and decent MP. This is my personal
choice, since
humes can do decently well as any class.
Mithra/Elvaan:
These two races are about the same as far as bard-ness goes.
Elvaan get about
12 more charisma at level 75, and Mithra get about 30 more MP.
At the lower
levels the MP makes a difference, but once you start doing BCNMs
or HNMs where
successfully sleeping a monster makes the difference between
life and death,
Elvaan starts edging out Mithra.
Galka:
Not much to say here. Galkans have low MP and low charisma. They
make super
special bards.
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03 - Bard Quest
-------------------
This quest involves no fighting at all, and will actually make
you about four
or five thousand gil. The quest starts in the Merry Minstrel
Meadhouse (I-8)
in Lower Jeuno. First talk to Mertaire, then Bki Tbujhja, then
Tuh
Almobankha. They will tell you about a song rune in Buburimu
Peninsula. Now
go outside to the Auction House and buy a "Parchment" from the
Leathercrafting
materials section. I would recommend setting your HP in Jeuno.
Hop on a
chocobo in Port Jeuno and be prepared for a long ride.
Make your way to Buburimu (Sauromugue Champaign -> Meriphataud
Mountains ->
Tahrongi Canyon -> Buburimu Peninsula). Head to the Khoonta
Dunes at G-9. If
you're on foot, watch for Bogeys. Once you hit the shore, head
west along the
water through the cave. Once you're out, go NW for a short while
to the Song
Rune at F-9. Dismount and trade the Parchment to the runes for a
cutscene.
Head back to Jeuno. Fastest way is probably to run to Windurst,
change to a
level 1 class, and suicide back to Jeuno, but whatever. Once
there, talk to
Mertaire for another cutscene and some gil. Talk to Bki Tbujhja
(damn her
parents) to get information on another song rune in Valkurm
Dunes. Hop
another chocobo in Upper Jeuno and off you go.
In the Valkurm Dunes, head N-W towards the secret beach at B-7.
Once you're
through the tunnel, stick to the left hand wall and you'll find
the rune
easily. Click on the song rune for another cutscene, some more
gil, and the
bard flag. Congratulations, you're now a bard!
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04 - Subjobs
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There aren't many viable bard combinations. I'm not going to say
that certain
combinations suck (they do), just that they aren't the "best"
(because they
suck). These include, in no particular order, Paladin, Dark
Knight, Warrior,
Monk, Beast Master, Dragoon, Samurai, and Ranger. The main
problem with all
these classes is that they are there to do melee damage. As a
bard in a good
group, you simply won't have time to do much melee. What with
trying to keep
2 offensive and 4+ defensive songs going, there isn't a huge
window to smack
things around. Bards also don't get many good weapons. So,
without further
rambling, here are the other subjobs.
White Mage:
Far and away the most popular choice. Subbing white mage will
allow you to
cure damage, remove status effects, debuff, and cast the bar-ra
spells.
Really, there aren't enough good things I can say about the WHM
sub. An added
bonus is that starting at level 32, you can start doing the
divine seal/curaga
trick. Doing this mid-battle usually spells death for the WHM,
since he has
most likely been pumping out Cure & Cure IIs like mad. However,
a bard can
usually do this to save the party and still not get aggro. The
extra HP and
better armor on the bard doesn't hurt either.
Red Mage:
This is another good choice. Like white mage, you get cures and
an expanded
library of debuffs. You also get fast cast at level 30, which
will help you
get your songs out faster. Off the top of my head I believe it's
reduces the
8-second cast time of songs to 6 seconds, but I could be wrong.
This helps a
ton in getting those 6 initial songs out. I'd put brd/rdm 2nd
behind brd/whm.
Black Mage:
Not a great choice. Black Mages get some decent debuffs, but
your low mana
pool won't really allow you to blast away with spells. Spell
power will be
slightly lacking as well. I wouldn't bother.
Summoner:
The main virtue of summoners is their huge mana pool. The
problem here is
that a summoner sub doesn't get anything to spend their MP on
other than half-
leveled avatars. Nothing else to say. This subjob sucks.
Ninja:
A good subjob if you're soloing. At level 20 you get dual wield
and at level
24 you get Utsusemi. By dual wielding stat+ weapons like small
sword or
decurion's dagger, you get decent attack, further enhanced by
songs. Do not
think that you'll be a good soloer though. Bards just aren't
built for
soloing.
Thief:
The only use for this class is treasure hunter and steal. Past
trying to earn
some gil, there's not much to recommend this sub. Only use this
combination
if you are farming.
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05 - Bard Abilities
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Squenix kinda shafted the bards with their abilities. Here is
the full and
complete list:
Level Name Effect
1 Soul Voice Doubles the effect of songs (2-hour recharge)
5 Resist Silence Silence resistance up (passive)
25 Resist Silence Silence resistance up (passive)
45 Resist Silence Silence resistance up some more (passive)
And that's it. Soul Voice is only really useful when you
positively
absolutely need to land a sleep spell. For things like Paeon or
Minuet, it
simply doubles the effect. Thus, Paeon III will regen for 6 hp /
3 seconds,
Ballad will regen for 2 mp, and so on. Once you cast Soul Voice,
you will
have to re-cast your songs for the added effect. Usually, I just
use this
whenever I want to. Unless you're in an area with a lot of
aggro, it's not
worth saving up.
As for the Resist Silences, there is some debate as to whether
they even work.
It's okay though. We get kick-ass songs.
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06 - Working a Bard
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A bard is there to make the party as efficient as possible.
Thus, the #1
priority is to keep the right songs on the right members of the
party at all
times. In practice, this becomes quite a bit harder than it
sounds.
You can cast a song every 8 seconds (6 with fast cast). The song
actually
takes effect after 6 seconds (4 with fast cast). If you move
before that,
your song will most likely be interrupted. After the song takes
effect, you
can move with no ill effects. Whether someone receives the
effect of the song
depends on their distance to you. There is no visual indicator
however, so
you will have to eyeball the distance. Also, the song's area of
effect is
always centered on you. Thus, you will have to do a lot of
running.
Positioning is important. This is because each party member can
only have two
song effects at one time. In the midst of battle, the mages
won't want minuet
and the meleers won't want learned etude. Ideally, you want your
group to be
positioned like so:
x - MOB o - Fighters * - mages + - you
oxoo + **
This way, when you need to cast madrigal and minuet, you can
move up and only
affect the melee group like this
_______
/
/
| oxoo+ | **
/
/
-------
And when you need to cast ballad and etude, you can move back
like this
_______
/
/
oxoo | +** |
/
/
-------
At the end of the battle, if you want to cast paeon and ballad
on everyone,
switch to a harp (for greater casting range) and move to the
middle like so:
__________
/
/
/
| oxoo + ** |
/
/
/
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A typical battle goes something like this:
1) Run to Melee
2) Sing Madrigal
3) Sing Minuet
4) Sing Requiem on the Mob
5) Cast a bar-ra spell if necessary (and if you're sub WHM)
5) Run back to Mages
6) Sing Ballad
7) Sing a Threnody on the Mob
8) Sing an Etude for your Mages
9) Wait for monster to die (and cure, dispel, whatever)
10) Run up and cast Paeon on everyone.
11) Cast ballad on everyone.
At the end of step 8, you will have 2 defensive songs on your
fighters, 2
defensive songs on your mages, 2 offensive songs on the mob.
Probably takes
about a minute to do.
To make things quite a bit more complicated, there are two types
of
instruments. Wind instruments, like the flute and cornette, and
string
instruments like the harp. Wind instruments have a tight range,
and string
instruments have a much larger range. Thus, if you're playing
paeon and
trying to cover the whole party, you should equip a stringed
instrument.
Likewise, if you're playing minuet, you should probably equip a
wind
instrument. Thankfully, this can be macro'd. My macros are set
up like such: !
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