Bard
Stats
| List | Base stat | Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 16 | -8 |
| Agility | 32 | +8 |
| Stamina | 15 | -9 |
| Magic | 35 | +11 |
Abilities
| Level | Ability | ABP needed (relative) |
ABP needed (cumulative) |
Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ! Hide | 25 | 25 | Duck out of sight to avoid attacks. | You can also run away from battles if all your (alive) party hides. Command changes to ! Show |
| 2 | Equip Harps | 50 | 75 | Gain the ability to equip harps. | Agility ⇒ Bard Agility (or 32 before character's bonuses) when used by slower jobs. Magic power ⇒ Bard Magic (or 35 before character's bonuses) when used by weaker jobs. |
| 3 | ! Sing | 100 | 175 | Perform magical chants with different effects. | Unable to perform other commands if you keep enchanting after your turn is done. |
| 4 | - | ||||
| 5 | - | ||||
| 6 | - | ||||
| 7 | - |
Commands
| # | Command |
|---|---|
| 1 | ! Attack |
| 2 | ! Sing |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ! Items |
Note: An empty command slot can be used to insert any learned ability, including duplicates.
Acquisition
Bard is acquired after taming the Black Chocobo
In the Fiesta
Bard is an extremely powerful class, being able to throw out party wide stop or confuse for free in the early-game and boosting stats in the late-game as long as it has the runway to sing. Bard also gets Requiem to demolish any undead encounters that cross its path, alongside the Apollo's Harp to slay any dragon awaiting it. !Hide can be used to squirm out of dangerous attacks (assuming you know the AI scripts of bosses to know when they're coming) and in some versions (SNES, PS) as an auto-escape tool when everyone alive !Hides. Equip Harps can boost the agility and magic of many physical classes, so it's relatively useful as far as the equip abilities go. Bard is notably able to demolish all superbosses and cheese any boss passive enough to let it sing to supremacy.
Notable synergies
- Time Mage granting haste lets the Bard sing its speed boosting Swift Song to overwhelm any boss until Hermes Sandals can be acquired.
- Knights with !Guard can protect a setup Bard with low HP to keep them singing against bosses that do not have any options aside from physical attacks.
- Samurai's Gil Toss and Monk's Barehanded scale incredibly well with Hero's Rhyme.