Bard ( Final Fantasy XI ) Bards appear as one of the advanced jobs in " Final Fantasy XI " available to players once they reach level 30 . Bards are a type of support job . They exist moreso to boost the party ' s effectiveness than to be good on their own . They accomplish their task through using various songs . Bards rely upon charisma for their offensive songs , though not so much for their positive songs . Also , despite the fact that Bards do not naturally have any MP , they do benefit from having it . For both of those reasons , the high charisma of Elvaan or the high MP totals of Tarutaru make them ideal bards ; however , bard is one of the least statistical or equipment based jobs in the game and bards of every race are popular , including the charismatically challenged Mithra and Galka races . Becoming a Bard . Similar to the Paladin quest , in order to become a bard , a player must complete multiple quests , which all reveal a part of a person ' s story . The first quest , " The Old Monument " , starts in Jeuno . It requires the player to head to the Southern coast of Buburimu Peninsula to find an old monument with song runes on it . Upon hearing this , another NPC overhears and mentions that such a song might cheer up her friend . The first portion of the quest is just finding the monument and inspecting it . At that point the player will happen across another traveler looking at the rune and complete the first quest . If he is really savvy , the player would bring with a piece of parchment to make a rubbing of the runes . Taking the song runes back to Jeuno , the player can complete the quest " Minstrel of Despair " . The third leg , simply named " Path of the Bard " , requires the bard to talk with Bki Tbujhja again , the same NPC who gave the original quest . She mentions another set of runes in the Valkurm Dunes . When the player finds the runes on the hidden beach , he will be visited by a few NPCs and told a story , after which point the player may level as a Bard . Gameplay . Bards use three types of instruments ; wind instruments , string instruments , and of course their own Singing voice . Their songs are generally positive in nature , affecting one or all party members . Their ability to effect pretty much any ally ability from damage , to accuracy , to evasion , and MP or HP regeneration makes them highly sought after . Bards have a much more limited ability to negatively affect their enemies with songs , but some songs do exist . Bards can fight , though they generally do not have the time to do so . They generally are limited to wands , staves , light swords , and knives . In this version any creature can be effected by up to two songs by a bard , and singing a song takes 8 seconds . Since they have short duration , the bard tends to do nothing but sing songs " ad nauseum " . Support Job s . White Mage . The vast majority of all Bards use White Mage as a support job . With such a job , they can facilitate in a bit of curing now and then , the use of Stoneskin for pulls , and the removal of status effects from enemies . Even in high end events , such as Dynamis , Bards are often using bar - spells . Ninja . Ninja is occasionally used by Bards for pulling , especially " big birds " out in Lufaise Meadows , or any other fast mob that hits hard but slowly . The bard loses some support ability and a few points of charisma for the benefit of gaining 3 hit blink through utsusemi . Red Mage . Red mage is not completely without its merits , but use is extremely rare . The major advantage to this setup is fast cast which will bring the time required to sing a song down considerably as well as shorten recast times , allowing the bard to pull faster . Phalanx can help mitigate damage on pulls . Stoneskin is still an available spell . A bard may not be able to remove status effects , but he can still cure . Other appearances . " Final Fantasy Trading Card Game " . Bard has two ice - elemental cards .