Bard (Final Fantasy V)

The Bard is a job in Final Fantasy V and part of the Fire Crystal job set, although the actual shard is found in a chocobo gullet later on. Bards focus on their Sing skillset, which comes to use against enemies vulnerable to Stop or Confuse, against undead enemies, or in drawn-out boss fights. Songs are acquired at various places in the game.
The Sing skillset can be useful in a variety of circumstances, and is the job's main strength. Bard is the only job outside of Freelancer to equip harps, whose damage is often based on a percent of the enemy's current HP. They therefore will do minimal damage in most cases (with the exception of the Apollo's Harp, as it does not deal fractional damage). Bards can use Hide to avoid damage for most of the battle, and are extremely quick to master.
Mastering Bard for all four characters in the now defunct mobile and Steam versions earns the achievement "The Music Man".
==Characteristics==
The Bard's costume is designed to reflect a medieval minstrel. All five wear a green shirt and headband. Lenna and Krile wear dresses, Bartz wears leggings, Faris wears baggy trousers, and Galuf wears a long tunic that reaches his ankles.
==Gameplay==
===Stats===
Stat 	Modifier
Strength	-8
Agility 	+8
Stamina 	-9
Magic 	+11
The Bard has the second-worst Magic out of all mage classes, just above the Red Mage. It also has the second-lowest Stamina in the game, making them prone to dying when not handled correctly (something that the Hide ability helps mitigate). Its best stat is its Agility, giving it a good turn rate.
Upon mastery, Freelancers and Mimes gain the Bard's base Agility and Magic unless they already have a higher base from another mastered job. Bards are very quick to master, meaning that it is easy to get their Agility and Magic boosts for Freelancer, if needed.
Equipping the Equip Harps ability will grant the Bard's Magic and Agility modifier to that job if they do not already have a higher modifier.
===Equipment===
Harps are the most unique aspect of the Bard job, allowing them to deal percentage-based damage to most enemies. In most circumstances, this will be minimal damage, but against certain larger enemies, they can be effective. Aside from this, Bards have mage gear: knives, magic hats, robes, and armlets.
Harps deal full damage from the back row. The Apollo Harp deals damage based on the attacker's Magic stat and the defender's Magic Defense. Other harps deal percentile damage based on the target's current HP, and automatically fail against Heavy-type monsters (such as most bosses). The harps that inflict statuses when attacked with, uniquely also do this when used for countering. The ultimate harp is the Apollo's Harp sealed weapon.
The ultimate magical headgear the Bard can wear in most versions is Circlet, bought from the Phantom Village. The superior Royal Crown is available from the Sealed Temple in the Game Boy Advance and 2013 versions. The best robes in most versions are the White and Black Robes, bought from the Phantom Village, though the Game Boy Advance version added the superior Robe of Lords.
;Knives
*Knife
*Dagger
*Mythril Knife
*Mage Masher
*Main Gauche
*Orichalcum Dirk
*Dancing Dagger
*Air Knife
*Thief Knife
*Assassin Dagger
*Gladius
*Chicken Knife
;Harps
*Silver Harp
*Dream Harp
*Lamia's Harp
*Apollo's Harp
;Magic hats
*Gold Hairpin
*Plumed Hat
*Lamia's Tiara
*Wizard's Hat
*Hypno Crown
*Sage's Miter
*Circlet
*Royal Crown
;Robes
*Cotton Robe
*Silk Robe
*Sage's Surplice
*Gaia Gear
*Luminous Robe
*White Robe
*Black Robe
*Robe of Lords
;Generic accessories
*Leather Shoes
*Silver Specs
*Reflect Ring
*Hermes Sandals
*Elven Mantle
*Flame Ring
*Coral Ring
*Angel Ring
*Protect Ring
*Cursed Ring
*Hyper Wrist
*Chaos Orb
*Crystal Orb
*Sorceror's Mantle
;Command-specificaccessories
*Kaiser Knuckles
*Kornago Gourd
;Armlets
*Silver Armlet
*Power Armlet
*Diamond Armlet
===Abilities===
Ability	Job level	AP required	Type 	Innate	Description
 	1 	25 	Command	No 	Duck out of sight to avoid attacks.
 	2 	50 	Support	Yes 	Gain the ability to equip Harps.
 	3 	100 	Command	Yes 	Sing songs with various abilities.
Sing is Bard's innate command ability, giving them access to songs that have a variety of effects that benefit the party or harm the enemy.
The Bard has a host of songs. Some can only obtained in the first or second worlds. While the effects of some songs are instantaneous, other songs are ongoing, meaning the Bard will continue to sing until he/she is hit by an attack, killed, or silenced, though in most cases the song's effect will remain even after the Bard stops singing. If a party member is turned into a zombie while singing, they will continue to sing as a zombie.
Bards learn the Hide ability early on, allowing them to stay out of a battle to avoid damage. It is useful for Bards and for other relatively weak characters.
==Etymology==
de:Barde (FFV)
it:Bardo (Final Fantasy V)
Category:Jobs in Final Fantasy V