A discussion thread for Bards and Archers related topics.


Info on Archer Class http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Archer

Info on Bard http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Bard




I'm a newbie in this game so I don't know a lot of stuffs
and I just recently became a bard and honestly I still don't know how to play my role as a bard in team/party game play
all I can see is that my new skill is only useful to replenish the healer's MP right? but I didn't see any need to do it because
in my experience the healer don't have any problem with low MP
maybe in very tough boss fight it'll become handy
what do you guys think?
anyone care to explain and share their experience?

I think the healer will need mp in later dungeons. But on some occasion my party will need the mp regen provided by bards. I was asked to use the mage's ballad two times out of three when fighting the boss that make poison pool. also once out of 5 times i went to haukken manor.

i think bards are doing lower dps compared to other classes that's what i noticed? might be due to the support/buff its providing to healers/dps

bard needs some cross-skills from other classes/jobs to be strong

Yea, especially if they are singing. -20% damage iinm. which is logical, how can you fight while singing

But honestly I like it because it means less enmity generated, considering that bards are kinda squishy.

Bard can be extremely powerfull with Lancer & Pugilist cross skills


What i usually choose for Bard cross skills are

Internal Release (PGL)
Blood for Blood (LNC)

aditional skills are
Invigorate (LNC)
Feather Foot/Mantra (PGL)
Second Wind(PGL)

less enmity = less dps = slower runs

i guess they are only good for raids

well, that's just my opinion, based on my very very very limited experience in the game and MMOs (only my second MMO).

I haven't even touched the end game dungeon yet (so my opinion doesn't matter much), but even with song, I don't think the dps drop is that noticeable. Still 2nd or 3rd on enmity meter (3rd if the healer is spamming heals ) And the songs are not even needed most of the time. There are times that I have to modify my skill rotation to make sure that the enmity is not too high.

If you think less DPS is bad, some people are not very happy that Bards are more DPS-ish. Some people say it should be more support-ish (less DPS, more utility). If you ask me, I like the current Bard. Just need more songs haha.

Yeah I think they are good for raids. The songs are practically useless when soloing (except for the one that increases movement speed), not that jobs are meant to be used solo.

Anyway, for anyone who is interested, I think this is a nice discussion on the job http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/1mf...eel_like_a_brd/

just by understanding what a Bard is you dont expect it to be a top dpser.. only if an archer is advanced to ranger/gunner then u call them the dpser

I'm not sure this is appropriate or not. Oh well...

Battle cry, improve party member fighting spirit.
Used since ancient time

LOL that looks so out of place

I think that Bard is kinda in the middle
not much damage and not much healing either
but I would prefer if there's more damage
and I haven't use the limit break yet, I wonder what an archer/bard limit break is?

in dungeons when my level is higher than the tank, I usually generate more enmity so I'm prone to be a target
sometimes I have to stop attacking or stick to simple attacks to reduce the enmity
and since my defense is not that great either I'll probably be dead when the mobs start ganging up on me

bard limit is heal. lol

what? heal? i was thinking maybe the limit break is like some awesome skill like thousands of arrows falling down from the sky or something similiar to that
so let's say that if everyone is almost dying and the healer is probably dead then it's the bard job to heal everyone using the limit break?
in last dungeon the tank shouted dps use limit but since I didn't notice the chat so I didn't use it but to think that the limit break is.. heal

yeah i was shocked when i first used the limit break. the tank wasn't too pleased .

i suppose it makes some sense that the limit break is heal considering that bards are considered to be 'support' job. but for archer it's a bit .

hopefully there will be some kind of true dps that uses bow in the future. and i wish that there will be more song maybe healing song for example i wonder how much enmity that will generate

I'm liking the job so far.

Some of the tips I've got so far:

If you're generating enmity too fast, use Quelling Strike. It lowers enmity as you attack for 15s, so you don't have to stop attacking. Very useful and less stressful for the tank to pull back agro.

Watch the healer's MP level. Once it hits 75 - 50%, Use Mage's Ballad to help it get back up again. Use Battle Voice to double the effect of the song. Cut it once the healer's MP reached 85 - 90%, so you can conserve MP in case the fight drags on and the healer needs another round of help.

Macro your skills. Less time (and keys) taken to activate them, more time to focus on the fight.

Use Flaming Arrow + Rain of Death on boss. It'll give a breathing room for tank and healer with the 10% lower damage from boss for 20s while attacking boss with DoT.

This post has been edited by ganstream1: Sep 19 2013, 05:19 AM

Bards are one of the highest DPS class after Summoner and always top 3 on Enmity if you know what you are doing. They are mobile and provide good burst damage potential as well as bringing important buffs with their songs. In Bahamut Coil they also play an important range interrupter role and kiting of adds taking minimal damage.

They are extremely good on fights that have tons of movement such as Titan Hard which keeps you on your toes. Bards are a White Mage best friend as WHM use mana like water and is important to pair them up to help regen their mana for intensive healing fights or long drag out fights. If your party is magic user heavy Foe Requiem enhances their damage boost too. In tight situations Rain of Death helps survivability, and your tanks and healers will appreciate it.

Bards also have some cool looking AoE skills which is also mobile however damage is minimal. Cross class skills from Pugilist and Lancer gives not only a boost to DPS burst such as Internal Release and Blood for Blood, but also a boost to survivability and the very important Invigorate which alot of bards don't know exist.

The drawbacks of bard is that they can no longer resurrect allies as the CNJ sub class has changed to pugilist, however the trade off is more dps potential and the elusive Mantra which might prove useful in end game min max raiding. Their limit break however is a pro and cons, cons as in it is not a DPS limit break so if all your dps slots are filled with bards, you basically have no dps LB. On the other hand, should all your tanks or healers failed or are busy running and healing and you are still alive with LB3, you can save the raid by giving a second chance for all. However such situations rarely come by, but if they do, your party will thank you like a hero.

My personal experience, we 2 DPS down Titan Hard last night, after the 2 PUG dps died after Heart phase, we took turns keeping healers mana up and breaking each other out of jails whilst DPSing Titan in a long drag out fight. Kill it with 2 Bards 2 Healers and 1 Tank, and our healers never run out of mana healing Tumult and Flip Table. It was epic.

Overall, bards are doing well and you would always want at least one bard in a raid group. Two bards would be OP for mana regen from Ballard, damage reduction from Rain, and burst damage on demand. Who says bards are doing less DPS? Haha

meh most of the times , for song only ballads and battle voice + paeon are useful other than that ur job is to dps till tp reach 0 .

I don't know why some people playing arc/brd still say they are lacking in dps..
I'm always the 2nd top enmity or 3rd if there's an off tank.

Don't be fooled by that singing song -20% damage. We hit quick, we have a few offensive skill not on the GCD, not to mention triggering DoT's crit for multiple bloodletter + heavy shot combo.

Bards are dps machine, that's a fact. Especially getting cross class skills from pgl and drg.
Only cons (in my opinion) is the useless healing limit break. we'll have sch or whm in party, if they're dead, it's done. our LB wont save anyone.

There's another point to note, brd will only have high burst of damage every 90s or so. our burst come from blood for blood, internal relase, raging strike, hawk eyes, barrage. brd can provide very consistent overall damage.

Anyway, that's my opinion. I absolutely love this job.

Yes, I also absolutely love this job, class, looks and our weapon, Artemis Bow! (So cool it folds and unfolds~)