Bards are essential in any party, as they provide attack and accuracy, as well as elemental resistances. They can also help to quickly build up your party’s health and mana, making them a valuable asset in any battle.
When the need arises, they can also take to using their weapons to defend themselves.
Bards can fill a variety of roles in a party, depending on their subjob and the situation. Here are some support jobs that can help bards adapt to those roles efficiently. ..
5. Warrior
Bards are often called to battle to stand on the front lines and deal some damage. They are skilled in using their voice and song to help others, and can be a powerful ally in a fight.
Bard is the best support job for a warrior, as they are able to deal damage and provide buffs.
With the introduction of ambuscade weaponry in addition to their ultimate weapons, bards can actually deal a lot of damage. And they have the Marches, Madrigals, and Minuets to back it up!
With that in mind, warrior offers incredible attack bonuses that players simply won’t find on any other job. ..
Bards are incredibly versatile combatants, able to dish out massive damage with their Attack Bonuses and Double Attacks, as well as providing support with their Warcries. However, Berserk and Warcry grant the most dramatic boost to their damage. ..
If you’re using a Kaja Sword, plus the right gear and songs, a Savage Blade from a bard can rival a DD’s! ..
The Damage Limit trait increases the maximum damage they can do by a considerable amount.
Your bard would also gain the Defense Bonus trait, which gives your build a little thicker skin.
4. Dancer
Bards can use their music to support allies and weaken enemies, making them a versatile class in many situations. ..
Curing Waltz is a new Bard job that allows you to use your dancing skills to heal yourself. This job doesn’t require any MP, so it’s perfect for players who want to stay mobile while they’re healing. ..
The ability to wake up sleeping party members with Divine Waltz and heal status ailments with Healing Waltz makes this a powerful tool for healing your allies.
With Haste Samba, you can easily apply a 5% party-wide job Haste effect. Additionally, you can use various steps to debuff enemies, including Haste Flourish and Reverse Flourish. In addition, you can access Flourishes which allow you to quickly stun or TP enemies.
Dancer offers Dual Wield II, which allows bards to use two weapons at the same time for damage. This can be useful for enhancing their other roles in battle, or for using weapons that enhance their other abilities.
3. Ninja
Bards are often forced to choose between using their primary offensive ability or defending against physical damage or dangerous AoE attacks. Ninja provides the bard with a powerful defensive option that can easily survive any situation.
A bard’s songs often have them standing relatively close to danger, solely for their buffs to reach their allies who might be standing at varying distances.
Bards can take a lot of damage while singing, but sometimes they don’t have enough health or defenses to protect themselves. ..
Ninja is a term used to describe someone who uses their skills to complete tasks quickly and undetected.
With the use of Utsusemi, lethal attacks may be absorbed more easily. This greatly improves your bard’s confidence as they run into enemy range and sing songs.
Though this job is best used when a party knows a fight will feature lots of physical damage, it’s still considered pretty essential in situations where unavoidable damage (or standing in dangerous range) can wipe players out.
Ninja provides the Dual Wield III trait, which is better than a dancer’s, but can be taken advantage of all the same.
2. Red Mage
RDM is a popular choice for bards in FFXI because it allows them to be versatile and flexible.
Red mages are able to cast spells that deal a lot of damage, and can also buff allies with buffs and debuffs.
The red mage subjob features Fast Cast II, Tranquil Heart, and Magic Defense Bonus II. This means that the red mage will have a wide range of traits that benefit a bard greatly, and that’s not even mentioning all the spells they’ll get! ..
Bards will gain access to self-targeting Bar-spells, in addition to other invaluable buffs like Phalanx, Stoneskin, and Blink.
If you need to revive a fallen party member, you can cast Raise on them. Additionally, substituting a red mage also grants access to Haste, Flurry, and Refresh – all valuable buffs to use as necessary. ..
This is a great job combo for a caster because it gives you the ability to deal massive damage with your spells. With this job combo, you can paralyze, silence, and distract enemies so that they can’t cast any spells. This will help you take down your enemies quickly and easily.
Convert MP to quickly restore large amounts of MP.
1. White Mage
A majority of the time, white mage is the best subjob for bards to run with.
Bards are naturally supportive, so white mages work best with them to increase their value on the battlefield. This significantly increases their worth. ..
The white mage grants Magic Defense Bonus II in addition to Tranquil Mind, providing bards with some defensive traits that help them withstand any damage they’d sustain when in dangerous AoE range.
White mages are more active on the battlefield than any other subjob in this list because of their ability to cast spells quickly and use their bard abilities to help them.
You would get access to Erase, -Na and AoE Bar-spells, as well as Cure IV.
While you lose access to a large range of debuffs compared to picking a red mage sub, you still keep Dia II, Paralyze, Silence, and Slow.
If you pick a White Mage subclass, you’ll still retain many buffing spells like Stoneskin, Blink, Haste, and Aquaveil. You’ll also get access to Reraise in addition to Raise, so you can efficiently recuperate should a fight go south. ..
Divine Seal can be used to turn any spell into an AoE version. This is a useful tool if you need it.
