Bard (job)



The Bard (吟遊詩人) is a job that appears in various games in the series.

Profile
Bards are characterized as wearing lightweight tunics and feathered hats. The Bard's signature weapon is the Harp, but they are often able to equip other types of instruments, especially in more recent games. Their ability is Sing, which allows them to sing and play songs that have various effects. The songs usually boost the Bard's party in battle, but some songs target enemies instead. Another ability attributed to the Bard is Hide, which allows the Bard to hide in battle. When hidden, a Bard cannot perform actions, but is invincible. In some games, such as Final Fantasy Tactics, only men can be Bards - women become Dancers. In the majority of games, however, either sex can be a Bard. Bards often oppose Dancers in utility: Bards focusing on positive support for the party and providing buffs, while Dancers focus on negative support against the enemy, providing debuffs and status effects.

Final Fantasy III
The Bard job is obtained from the Water Crystal. In the original game, it possessed two abilities to either buff the party or debuff foes. In the Nintendo DS remake, its arsenal is changed to using numerous songs to aid the party in battle.

Final Fantasy IV
Edward Chris von Muir is a bard, and can Sing to produce various effects. Edward is also the subject character for the famous quote "You spoony bard!"

Final Fantasy V
The Fire Crystal leaves behind a job that grants the Bard class, but it cannot be obtained until further on in the game from a chocobo. The Bard uses songs for various effects in battle. Most of the songs are learned from talking to persons in different towns. If the player has played all the pianos on the game, the bard can learn his last song.

Final Fantasy X-2
The Songstress Dressphere is achieved at the beginning of the game and plays an important role in the storyline. The Songstress's Sing abilities grant special effects to the party, while Dance will debuff the enemies.

Final Fantasy XI
The Bard is a job obtained by a character upon reaching Level 30. It uses its songs to boost the party's effectiveness in battle. In addition, while the NPC character Ulmia is never seen in battle, she uses a harp and sings in cutscenes, thus suggesting that she is a bard. Furthermore, in every district of city and town is at least one bard NPC who, for 10 Gil, will allow you to rewatch past cutscenes.

Final Fantasy XIV
The bard job class is set to be introduced in the oncoming Patch 1.21. It will be an offshoot of the Archer class. The NPC Thancred claims to be a bard and, judging by the way he works with words, more than likely is one - although in battle, he is treated as a gladiator.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
The Bard job is exclusive to Hurdy the Moogle. Hurdy has several abilities that are mainly for buffing his allies.

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
The Bard job makes an appearance here as a job used for basic buffing. The Musician job is a similar job that focuses on getting the most out of the party in the form of stat boosts.

Final Fantasy Legends: Hikari to Yami no Senshi
Eduardo is a Bard.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
The Bard appears as a job card in the new Labyrinth mode, reviving any fallen party members.

Gallery
Bardo