Final Fantasy XIV is one of the popular and fascinating games. FFXIV consists of a number of roles to play by the players, out of which one interesting role is of FFXIV Bard. For those who don’t know what bards are: They are people who are poetic by nature, motivating people through their poems or stories. They can not be considered warriors but they play a vital role in boosting the gameplay of other members of their team.
An FFXIV Bard is the only player who uses a bow as his weapon. He is not an assaulter but helps his teammates through his songs or stories. The bard knows some songs that will keep the entertainment alive for other team members if they are with the bard.
There’s a small quote from the FF14 team that might help you to know something more about the bard:
“The word "bard" ordinarily puts folk in mind of those itinerant minstrels, fair of voice and nimble of finger, who earn their coin performing in taverns and the halls of great lords. Few know, however, that bards in fact trace their origins back to the bowmen of eld, who sang in the heat of battle to fortify the spirits of their companions. In time, their impassioned songs came to hold sway over the hearts of men, inspiring their comrades to great feats and granting peace unto those who lay upon the precipice of death.”
Here is the detailed FFXIV Bard Guide that will help you to know about the ff14 bard. This guide will help you to level up your gameplay while playing as ff14 bard. Go through each and every section of this article. We hope we have done justice to this Bard leveling guide FFXIV.
Understanding the Role of Bard
Bards can deal with the damage more consistently than any other class in ff14. But this can be a difficult class to level up in. Bard class is not as common as other classes present in ff14 but it can be considered to be a lot simpler to play as an FFXIV Bard than any other class in the game. Some of the major changes have been made in the new version of the bard role. We have been loving these new changes because they are more favorable towards the FFXIV Bard and they are making it more interesting and simpler to play as a bard.
For instance, the basic bard attacks i.e. heavy shots and straight shots have been completely changed; now they work in a different way. The range of hitting a target has been revised and is increased for the betterment of the bard class. The second best change is that bards might experience a lot of raw damage but unfortunately, their personal cliff might be lost. Most importantly the thing that has been changed is the songs.
More to Know!
They have become much soulful and much more utilizing than before. One of the latest features that have been given to the bards is the soul’s voice. It is gained by playing more soulful songs and dealing more damage over time.
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Despite all that, the role of the FFXIV Bard is still the same. The role of the bard is still to sing songs that make their team members feel good as well as provide damage to the enemies. Though this particular class can not be used to provide damage to enemies it can be used to enchant the other members of the team.
Traits of Bard
The following are the traits of the bard. Some of the traits are heavier shot, straight shot, bite mastery, heavier shot mastery, straight shot mastery, bite mastery II, soul’s voice. We have discussed below these and other traits of FFXIV Bard.
- Heavier Shot
It is for level 1 bards. It is used to deliver the attack with up to 180 potency. It is of 10 seconds duration.
- Straight Shot
It is for level 2. It is used to deliver the attack with up to 200 potency.
- Raging Strikes
It is for level 4 bards. It increases the damage-dealing by 10%. It is for a duration of 20seconds.
- Venomous Bite
It is for level 6 bards. It is used to deliver the attack with up to 100 potency. It is of 30 seconds duration.
- Bloodletter
It is for level 12. It is used to deliver the attack with up to 150 potency.
- Repelling Shot
It is for level 15 of bards. One of the disadvantages of this is that it can not be used when the bard is bounded.
- Quick Nock
It is for level 18. It is used to deliver the attack with up to 150 potency.
- Mage’s Ballad
It is for level 30. It is used to deliver the attack with up to 100 potency. It is for a 30s duration.
- Army’s Paeon
It is for level 40. It is used to deliver the attack with up to 100 potency. It is for a 30s duration.
- Battle Voice
It is for level 50. It is used to deliver direct attacks increased up to 20%. It is for a 30s duration.
Weapon Abilities of the Bard
Before playing as a bard, you need to know the weapons you can use and their uses according to the situation. We are explaining to you the different abilities of different weapons of the bard and how you should use them.
- Burst Shot
This skill opts when the bard doesn’t have a better option. This skill has a 30% chance of making the straight shot ready. It has a potency of up to 230. It is also considered to be the main attacking option for the bard.
- Straight Shot
To use this skill you need the straight shot status to be ready. It is considered to be a powerful attacking skill for a single target. It has a potency of up to 300.
- Venom Bite
It is for level 6 bards. It is used to deliver the attack with up to 100 potency. It is of 30 seconds duration. This skill has a 35% chance of making the straight shot ready.
- Wind Bite
It has a potency of up to 60. It is damage over attack skills. Also, there are chances of this skill to make 35% for making the straight shot ready.
- Iron Jaws
This is also a skill to attack at a single target. It has a potency of up to 100. When fighting with a leader, you may only have the option to use cautious bite or the wind bite, but this skill can be used to refill the two of these.
- Apex Arrow
It is a skill used with the soul voice gauge. The actual potency of this skill is less but if you have one hundred soul gauge, the potency of this skill might increase up to 500.
Bard Defense & Offense Traits
If you are playing as a bard, there are some of the defensive and offensive traits you’re offered with. You need to understand these defensive and offensive traits before leveling up at the bard level. We have listed below these traits:
Defense Traits
- Repelling Arrow
It is a defense action that allows the player to jump far away from the enemy. It is for 30 seconds of duration.
- Troubador
The second defense action is a troubadour. This defense action allows you to reduce the damage caused to the members by approximately 10%. This defense action has a recast time of about 3 minutes.
- Nature’s Minne
This is the last defense action, It also allows you to reduce the damage caused to the members by approximately 20%. The duration of this defense action is 15 seconds.
Offense Traits
- Raging Strikes
It is an offense action that allows you to reduce the damage caused to you by 10%. This offense trait has 80 seconds of the recast timing.
- Bloodletter
It is for level 12 and can deliver the attack with up to 150 potency. This offensive trait has 15 seconds of recast timing that it usually shares with a rain of death.
- Rain of Death
This offense trait is used to deliver the attack with up to 130 potency. It has a recast timing of 15 seconds that it usually shares with the bloodletter.
- Barrage
It is one of the important offense actions that allows the player the straight shot ready status. It is used in the case of the highest potency. This offense trait has 80 seconds of duration.
- Empyreal Arrow
This offense trait allows the player to attack with up to 230 potency in a single strike. This offensive trait has 15 seconds of recast timing.
- Battle Voice
This offense action allows us to increase the direct hit of the team players by 10%. It has 20 seconds of duration. It has a 3-minute recast timing.
- Sidewinder
This offense trait allows has a recast timing of 60 seconds. It allows the player to hit with a potency of 260.
- Shadowbite
This offense trait shares its recast timing with a sidewinder. The recent timing of this trait is about 60 seconds. The actual potency of this trait is 100 but you can increase it up to 160 with every new dot.
Survive the FFXIV Bard Level: General Tips
Here are some of the tips that we believe you must follow to keep up your pace at the bard level.
- First things first, the most important thing that you might need to do is learn how to deal with the damage with time. It is much more important for an ff14 bard to deal with the damage. The traits might not be helpful in managing the damage, so you need to consider the best options to manage the damage.
- The other most important thing is to use a straight shot trait over the heavy shot trait. We understand many of the bard-level players are comfortable using the heavier shot and try to reach the straight shot but the trait straight shit ready allows the player to go for the straight shot directly. The player will get comfortable in using this straight shot if they’ll play it more.
- The next trait is the barrage. It can also be used for the straight shot. It is one of the important offense actions that allows the player the straight shot ready status. Also, it is used in the case of the highest potency. This offense trait has 80 seconds of duration. It can be used as a trait to deal with the damage with time.
Final Thoughts
Playing as a bard can be tricky sometimes but it is one of the most interesting roles in FF14. If you try to know more about FFXIV bard it will be easier for you to pace up your game. We have tried to keep this Bard FFXIV Guide short and simple on our part. We hope this FFXIV 4.0 Bard Guide will help you know more about the game.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Q1. Is it fun to play as a bard?
Bards can be fun characters in a play or a game or in actual life. They might not be the best damage dealers but they can be the best supporters for the other members of their team. They enchant every other member’s interesting poems and stories and keep them motivated.
Q2. What is the minimum level you need to reach to play as a bard?
You need to reach level 30 in archer to play as a bard in ff14. You might need to meet all the abilities before getting the soul of the bard.
Q3. What do bards actually do?
They are people who are poetic by nature, motivating people through their poems or stories. They can not be considered warriors but they play a vital role in boosting the gameplay of other members of their team. An FFXIV bard is the only player who uses a bow as his weapon. He is not an assaulter but helps his teammates through his songs or stories.
Q4. What allows the bards to play music in the game?
Bards in ff14 use different instruments to play music which they can unlock using 2 quests namely the songs of bards and plucking the heartstrings. You can then play the song of your own choice.
Q5. What can make the bard easier to play?
The most important thing that you might need to do is learn how to deal with the damage with time. You need to learn your rotation and think about how you can deal with the damage being a bard. It can be difficult or the easiest to level up as a bard depending upon your understanding of the game.
Q6. Is ff14 free to play?
It is unfortunate to say that ff14 is not free to play. You might have to buy a subscription before playing ff14. The service charges can vary from around 13$-15$ depending upon the time or the plan you opt for.
