Bard (Final Fantasy III)

Bard
(吟遊詩人, Ginyūshijin?)
Sprite(s)
Availability
Location obtained	Water Crystal (Cave of Tides)
Abilities
Stats	See stats
Weapons	Daggers, Harps See weapons
Armor	Light armor See armor
Command abilities	Famicom: Scare, Cheer 3D Remake: Sing Pixel Remaster: Sing
More information
Recurring appearance

Bards use their songs to enhance their party's performance. The effect of their songs varies depending on the harp they use.

Description

The bearer of this certificate has expertly harnessed the power of song and is deemed worthy of the title of Master Bard.

Mastery certificate description

The Bard is a job class in Final Fantasy III gained from the Water Crystal. Bards use their Sing ability to attack the enemy or, in the 3D versions, support their allies. Final Fantasy III introduced the Bard into the Final Fantasy series, as well as their Sing ability and the use of instruments as a weapon type.

Abilities

Famicom version

• Command ability - Sing

Bards do not have a basic 'Fight' command. Instead, they use the 'Sing' ability, which only becomes available when they have a harp equipped. Singing makes Bards attack the enemy with their currently equipped harps, possibly inflicting a status effect depending on the harp.

• Command ability - Scare

Each use of the Bard's 'Scare' command reduces all enemies' levels:

Enemy's level = Enemy's level - 3

Multiple uses of 'Scare' can eventually lead to enemies running away instead of attacking in battle. An enemy will only run away if:

(Lowest character's level) - (Enemy's level) > 15

If the above condition is met, then the chance that a monster will choose to Run will be:

%Chance to Run = 100 - Monster Hit%

As an enemy's level is decreased, there is the potential of reducing its Magic Attack Multiplier. Bosses are immune to 'Scare' and will also never attempt to Run.

• Command ability - Cheer

The Bard's 'Cheer' command gives an additional bonus to physical Base Damage for each party member, with its effects stacking:

Base Damage = Base Damage + (10 * # of Cheers) (for physical attacks only).

3D Remake version

• Command ability - Sing

Selecting Sing will cause the Bard to sing a song depending on which harp the user has equipped. The song will always be performed as the first action of each turn.

Pixel Remaster version

• Command ability - Sing

In the Pixel Remaster version, songs are not tied to harps but learned by the Bard at certain job levels.

Song	Job Level	Description
Paeon	1	Restores HP to the entire party.
Minuet	10	Increases the entire party's attack power and intellect.
Elegy	20	Decreases damage taken by the entire party.
Requiem	30	Causes a randomized status ailment to all enemies.

Stats

Level	Str	Agi	Vit	Int	Mind	Level	Str	Agi	Vit	Int	Mind	Level	Str	Agi	Vit	Int	Mind
Famicom version						3D Remake version						Pixel Remaster version
1	5	15	15	10	10	1	5	5	5	5	5	1	5	5	5	5	5
2	5	16	16	11	11	2						2	5	7	6	6	9
10	7	21	21	14	17	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	9	11	10	10	15
20	9	27	27	18	23	20	14	16	16	16	16	20	14	18	16	16	21
30	11	33	33	22	30	30	18	22	22	22	22	30	18	25	22	22	27
40	13	39	39	26	36	40	22	28	28	28	28	40	22	31	28	28	34
50	15	45	45	30	43	50	26	34	34	34	34	50	26	38	34	34	40
60	17	51	51	34	49	60	29	40	40	40	40	60	29	45	40	40	46
70	19	57	57	38	56	70	33	46	46	46	46	70	33	51	46	46	53
80	21	63	63	42	63	80	37	52	52	52	52	80	37	58	52	52	59
90	23	70	70	46	69	90	41	58	58	58	58	90	41	65	58	58	65
99	25	75	75	50	75	99	45	63	63	63	63	99	45	71	63	63	71

Equipment

Weapons

Weapons

Daggers	Harps
Knife Dagger Mythril Knife Spark Dagger Main Gauche Poison Dagger	Madhura Harp Loki Harp Lamia Harp Dream Harp Apollo Harp

Armor

Armor

Head	Body	Arms
Leather Cap Feathered Hat Ribbon Ballad Crown	Vest Leather Armor Mage Robe White Robe Bard Vest	Bronze Bracers Mythril Bracers Rune Bracers Diamond Bracers Protect Ring

Other appearances

Final Fantasy Artniks

The Bard appears as a character card.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

The Bard appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as multiple Ice-elemental cards.

Bard [1-030C] Chapter series card.

Bard [1-031C]/[6-018C] Chapter series card.

Bard [5-030C] Chapter series card.

Bard [9-034C] Chapter series card.

Bard [1-035C] Opus series card.

Bard [1-036C] Opus series card.

Bard [4-027C] Opus series card.

Final Fantasy Portal App

The Bard from the 3D version appears as a Triple Triad card.

Behind the scenes

When a Bard uses his or her Sing ability in the 3D version, they chant the first five notes from the "Final Fantasy" theme.

Unused dialogue for the remake suggests that the Bard job was going to be moved from the Water Crystal to the town of Duster.

Gallery

Luneth as a Bard.

Arc as a Bard.

Refia as a Bard.

Ingus as a Bard.

Scare (NES).

Etymology

[view · edit · purge]In medieval Gaelic and British culture, a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities. Originally a specific class of poet, with the decline of living bardic tradition in the modern period the term "bard" acquired generic meaning of an epic author/singer/narrator, or any poets, especially famous ones. For example, William Shakespeare is known as the Bard or the Bard of Avon.