Mage’s Ballad can speed up the charge timers for Bloodletter and Rain of Arrows (which is a strong trash mob ability for the bard).The Wanderer’s Minuet unlocks Pitch Perfect, an otherwise-locked heavy-hitting shot that stacks up to three times.These effects depend entirely on Repertoire stacks, which you gain by random chance when you have a song active. Each of these songs lasts for 45 seconds, buffs you and your fellow party members, and unlocks a unique effect for you. You’ll have all of them by the time you’re done with your lv. If the bard had a catchphrase, it would be “Let me sing you the song of my people.”Īs you level up your bard, you’ll gain three song abilities, which are the foundation of your entire rotation. But that just makes those of us who like to play bard that much more valuable. Most people don’t like doing that, though, especially with fun new classes like the reaper out. To paraphrase from my previous guide:Įach of a bard’s abilities has a specific time and place to be used, and a good bard will end up watching the party almost as much as a healer does. It’s all about utility, and that’s why it’s still on almost everyone’s must-have list for endgame raids.Ī bard’s utility means it can do all kinds of things other classes can’t things like increasing damage output, reducing damage taken, reducing recast times, and helping other players heal. It’s still got a reputation for being one of the lower damage-per-second (DPS) classes, but with the latest updates, it’s clear that the Square Enix team is trying to fix that reputation!Įven with these changes, though, the bard’s true strength still isn’t in its own damage. So today, let’s talk about the new kit for the bard.Īll in all, the bard’s role hasn’t changed that much in FFXIV.

Ffxiv bard repertoire