Bards are an indispensable member of any hunting party. A Bard is also nearly like a White Mage in the sense that it aids the party. Bards sing songs that improve skills, cure ailments and deal damage to enemies.

One of the unique features of the Bard job is that their songs (spells) do not require Mana Points (MP) to use - they can be sung for indefinite periods of time. Bards are the magical vocalists and musicians of Vana`diel.

The Bard is an Extra Job, a job that requires a quest to be accomplished to get into it, upon reaching level 30 before it becomes available to your character. As such, you will have a good working knowledge of the FF XI world by the time you are ready to attempt the Bard Quest (see below for information on the Bard Quest).

To become a Bard, go to Lower Jeuno and talk to Mertaire and all the inhabitants at the INN (I8). Then proceed to Mhaura and buy a piece of paper from Pikini-Mikini (G9). Leave Mhaura and head to G9 on the map, use the secret passage from the beach on the east. Look for the Song Runes and trade the paper you bought to the runes, then return to Lower Jeuno and give it to Mertaire. Next travel to Selbina where the dunes are and go towards the Northwest end where you will find a secret passage. Inside is another Song Rune, click on it to receive the Bard job.

Shifting to the Bard job for the first time (just like changing to any other job for the first time) means that you start at level 1 in the job.

There are many spells available to Bards; most of them increase a certain statistic for the party. Some heal, others deal light damage to monsters. The great thing about a bard compared to a white mage is that performing songs does not require magic points compared to white magic that consumes Mana. So you can always be assured that you would never run out of songs.

Bards are also loved in parties, as almost all of their songs affect everybody in a party. The Bards have a variety of songs with different effects, from statistic improvements, status change resistances to the very popular healing song. Other than these supporting songs for the party, they also have different songs that can do harsh things to monsters and enemies.

The only active ability of the Bard is Soul Voice which increases the effectiveness of songs for 3 minutes although Soul Voice can only be used every 2 hours. The passive abilities of the Bard are Resist Silence which it gets an extra level of at levels 5, 25, and 45.

BlueWaterArticles.com: - Final Fantasy XI Bards Demystified

About the Author

Hunter Crowell is a researcher, marketer, and an avid online gamer, including Final Fantasy XI and also the creator of FFXI Gil Price List, a web site setup to help players find the cheapest place to buy their FFXI Gil. http://www.ffxi-gil.info