The new Shadowbringers content has made FFXIV a whole new game – alongside adding two brand new classes, they've overhauled many of their original Jobs as well. One of the classes that have gotten an awesome reboot is the soothing, music-oriented Bard. What Is A Bard? Bards are a ranged physical DPS class who use music to support their allies, empowering their attacks and healing their wounds with melodies. Their combat styles lean heavily towards archery – they're technically a speciality of the Archer Class. They typically wear leather armour, and their main abilities are songs that apply various effects to allies or enemies around them.
The best thing about the Bard that sets them apart from other Magicka-driven support classes is that they're a ranged DPS class, meaning that they don't have to worry about casting times that would force them to stand still while charging. They deal more consistent damage than pretty much any other Job in FFXIV, but their raw numbers are lower than those of other casters.
Bards are a bit more difficult to level up than other support classes, simply because DPS players are incredibly common in FFXIV. They can't often benefit from "Hero in Need" XP from daily roulettes. However, they are a lot simpler to play than, say, an Astrologian. How to Unlock the Bard Job Much like the Astrologian, the Bard Job isn't available to you from the jump. If you're just starting out, you have to start as an Archer and level up to 30, when you can upgrade into a full-fledged Bard. If you're further along and want a change, then you have to enter the Archer's Guild in New Gridania and speak to an NPC named Luciane to receive the quest that will point you in the right direction, "A Song of Bards and Bowmen."
The quest, like most quests to unlock Jobs, is fairly straightforward. Luciane will send you to speak with an NPC named Jehantel, who resides west of Quarrymill. They'll direct you to speak with a Moogle called Pukno Poki, who will ask you to find a charm that was stolen from them and take it back to Jehantel. Once you find the charm, show it to Pukno Poki before taking it to Jehantel's camp. Bard Reworks for Shadowbringers The most striking change that Shadowbringers brought to the Bard class is the reworks to their most basic attacks – Heavy Shot and Straight Shot. Heavy Shot used to increase Straight Shot's critical hot chance, and Straight Shot used to be a more powerful basic attack that added a 10% buff to the critical chance.