FFXIV 3.2 Bard (BRD) Best in Slot (BiS) Gear

3.2 UPDATED! BRD Best in slot guide! “Paeon again!?”. BRD Lore buy order, Melding, Pages & Normals, more!

A song of venom and wind to rust and ruin deez rampaging robots! Back as Bard in 3.2? Well, you’ve found the right place for 3.2 BRD BiS! Shoutout to Tiffany Faye!

Quicknotes: Of course, is very similar to MCH BiS. 3/29/16 I UPDATED THE BiS! I wrote this one quite early, and underestimated Skill Speed on BRD. I was stuck in the Gordias mindset and if given the choice choose DET over SS with a small stat weight difference. MORE ON THIS IN THE NOTES SECTION. The list below reflect the better stat weights of SS and actually being able to USE it. The change from the original list I posted is TWO items (chest) and 2-4 melds.

Navigation: Bard BiS
BRD BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order | Crafted TBA

3.2 Bard Best-in-Slot

BRDItemMeld 1Meld 2ACCCRITDETSS
WeaponMidan Metal BowCRIT VCRIT V-110118-
Offhand---
HelmMidan Goggles of AimingACC VACC IV6969--
BodyMidan Coat of AimingCRIT VCRIT V-102-112
HandAugmented Torrent Armguards of AimingACC VSS V6069-12
BeltMidan Belt of AimingACC V-125134-
LegsAugmented Torrent Tights of AimingCRIT VCRIT V-102-112
BootsMidan Boots of AimingCRIT VCRIT IV6924-48
NeckMidan Neckband of AimingACC V-4851--
EarringAugmented Primal Earrings of AimingACC V-125134-
WristAugmented Primal Bracelet of AimingCRIT V-5148--
RingAugmented Primal Ring of AimingCRIT V--4849-
RingMidan Ring of AimingCRIT V-3612-51
FoodSteamed Staff---40-16
StatsTotal stats from gear357777235351
End value7111131453705
 

BRD BiS Discussion

Bard best-in-slot ain’t so bad this time around. This set features the ‘PRACTICAL’ absolute maximum critical hit chance a Bard can attain without gimping themselves.

— UPDATED BiS NOTES —

My original BiS list favored DET over SS even if SS had a tiny tiny edge over DET in terms of stat weight, due to reasons no longer valid in 3.2.

Skill Speed is actually pretty good these days! Why the change of heart? Well, the main reasons are its TP, Stat weightCast time and Scaling.

Lesser TP costs and encounter uptimes in 3.2 – TP isn’t really an issue these days. so that’s a tiny nod for SS.

Stat Weight? Even on its own, SS beats out DET by a tiny tiny margin.

Cast Time is a “non-tangible” bonus that you can move out of AoE faster, and may be able to get your skill off safely as compared to DET in some niche cases, providing a practical DPS boost that isn’t seen on the sheet.

Scaling? Det scales poorly, while SS scales better the more you have of it (but not quite as good as CRIT still). So in effect, if you’re gonna dump your other stats that “aren’t crit” into one pile – it’s better off in SS.

Do we really have to buy lore weapon? Yes, it’s a bitter pill to swallow but yes you do. The Sephirot Bows stats aren’t exactly magical… delay the weapon no later than after left-side purchases.

BRD Lore Tomestone Buy Order

The below spending strategy is purely to obtain BiS fastest:

  • Weapon: Horrific stats, luckily you’re forced to buy other items due to waiting on Hypercharged Tomestone… “what do”. You’ll have to buy this at some point, man.
  • Legs: Since Midan filler is A7.
  • Hands: Ahh some much needed accuracy…
  • Ring > Wrist > Earring in that order of value.

***THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE DELAY to buy WEAPON is after you’ve completed left-side items!***

ANYTHING ELSE IS OPTIONAL: left-side fillers first Body > Boots > Head > Belt, then accessories Neck > Ring(Unupgraded).

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

Click on the expandables below to see how you should spend pages, and which Midas Normal parts to get first –

Midan Savage Pages

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES

Page spending detailed below is to get BiS fastest:

A5S: Belt > Neck > Ring > Any
A6S: Head > Boots > Illuminati Dark Gobcoat  x 3  > Any
A7S: Illuminati Taut Gobtwine x 2 > Any
A8S: Body > Weapon > Any. (Gobdip and just wait for bow drop is OK too)

Midan Normal Parts

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

“what should BRD’s pick up in Midas normal”! Is a common question, so here it is! This is a general thing, and people might have varying levels of gear or goals but as a catch-all good enough recommendation:

BRDM1NM2NM3NM4N
Week 1chainboltspringspring
Week 2pedalpedalspringspring
Week 3boltlenscrankcrank
Week 4boltboltlensANY

With this setup we’re trying not to get body as we’re buying lore chest ASAP. All the other body pieces have pretty amazing stats and will serve you or a long time! BOLTS = Ring > Neck > Any. Week 5+ ANY.

Click the above!!!

BRD Crafted Gear Viability

I’ll update this later on so I can finish all the other BiS lists. Pretty much 90% of what ‘yer lookin’ for is here already anyways.

Navigation: Bard BiS
BRD BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order | Crafted TBA

Blood let the robots fool you – your loot is definitely out there! GL gearing your Bard 3.2 BiS!

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FFXIV Bard (BRD) Cross Class skills guide

Go to our Stormblood updated
Ranged DPS Role Actions Guide
instead!

What are the Archer -> Bard Cross Class Skills? Here, we will be strictly discussing the cross-class skills Bard can get.

How many cross-class skills can I get as a Bard? Any job class may only equip five (5) cross-class skills.

From what other classes does Bard get skills from? Pugilist and Lancer.

What are the best Bard cross-class skills? This is discussed below.

Full list of Bard (BRD) Cross-class skills

NameIconLevelDescriptionFrom Class
Feint2Damages and slows enemiesLancer (LNC)
Featherfoot4Increases evasionPugilist (PGL)
Keen Flurry6Increases parry rateLancer (LNC)
Second Wind8Instantly restores own HPPugilist (PGL)
Haymaker10Delivers an blow after evading an attackPugilist (PGL)
Internal Release12Increases critical hit ratePugilist (PGL)
Invigorate22Instantly restores 300 TPLancer (LNC)
Blood for Blood34Damage dealt +20%, Damage taken +25%Lancer (LNC)
Mantra42Increases HP recovery via curing magic by 5% for self and nearby party membersPugilist (PGL)

 

Bard (BRD) Cross-class skills discussion

Feint – Useful for more difficult pulls for reducing enemy DPS and cast times. depends on the encounter/s, and the presence of a lancer or dragoon.

Featherfoot / Haymaker – Ideally taken together, but these two are pretty sub-par. Featherfoot can help, but it’s very unlikely these are going to be of any use in any serious encounter.

Second Wind – Self-heal on demand. As always, a must have.

Internal Release – This is absolutely nuts on Bard. More crits means more Bloodletter.

Invigorate – An obvious take for any TP class.

Blood for Blood – the best DPS increasing skill, but comes at steep cost. The 25% damage could mean death in some difficult encounters.

Mantra – Another great skill for raiding. Every little bit helps!

Ideal Bard (BRD) Cross-class progression

  1. Archer to 15 for: Unlocking other classes.
  2. Lancer to 2 for: Feint
  3. Archer to 30 for: BRD Requirement.
  4. Pugilist to 15 for: BRD Requirement, Internal Release.
  5. BRD to 50 for: Maximum level.
  6. Lancer to 34 for: Blood for Blood
  7. Pugilist to 42 for: Mantra (All Cross-class skills obtained)

Bards progression is pretty straight forward. The road to 50 is quite easy using just the Bards skillset. However, LNC to 2 for Feint can help make your PvE life easier.

Summary

  • Bards use skills from: Pugilist and Lancer.
  • Almost all Bard cross-class skills are great. Offensively, Internal Release and Blood for Blood are solid.
  • Keen Flurry, Second Wind and  Mantra are all useful defensive skills.
  • Recommendations: Second Wind, Internal Release, Invigorate, Blood for Blood, Mantra.

More Info: Archer | Bard | ARC BRD Stats

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FFXIV Archer / Bard Stats & Materia Guide

What’s a good archer stats build? What are useful bard stats? Archer/Bard materia? If any of these questions brought you here, you came to the right place. Whether its by stat allocation, gear or materia, knowing what stats your Archer or Bard need should never be far from mind!

Archer (ARC) & Bard (BRD) Stats

What are the archer or bard stat weights?

DEX > Critical Chance > Determination  > PIE > Skill Speed > VIT

*These may vary slightly from patch to patch, or by personal preference. Following the recommendation above will always give you a good ARC & BRD build.

Archer (ARC) & Bard (BRD) Primary Stats Allocation

What stats should I add as a archer or bard?

DEX > PIE > VIT

Since this is where people may mess up the most, I’ll explain it in word for word. When you allocate stats, put as much points into DEX (Dexterity) as you can. If you cannot put any more points into DEX, place points into PIE (Piety). If you cannot put any more points into DEX and/or PIE, invest in VIT (Vitality).

Dexterity – Ranged physical damage up. Move on.

Piety – More mana to keep bard songs up longer. The value of piety rises sharply depending on how organized your group is.

Vitality – Increases total HP. Again, a luxury stat to give more breathing room for yourself and healers. Welcome, but not integral.

 

Archer (ARC) & Bard (BRD) Secondary Stats

What are good secondary stats for archer and bard, and why?

Critical Chance > Determination > Skill Speed

While you can’t allocate this directly, these will be heavily considered when picking gear upgrades and slotting materia.

Critical Chance – Nuts on Bards. Doing critical DoT damage with [Wind Bite] and [Venomous Bite] reset [Bloodletter].

Determination – Generic damage increase. Nothing special here.

Skill Speed – Even if returns are low, this stat is theoretically amazing on archers and bards. Why? 2 reasons. First, Enhanced Barrage is disgustingly strong. Second, Landing auto-attacks are essential to archers, who do not have a (dedicated) resource management mechanism. This has a soft-cap of around 1,000 where you hit the GCD cap of 1.50s.

Mahiko’s Note – I hesitate whenever recommending Skill Speed, and personally I’d value it much higher. I guess the explanation is long, and belongs on the eventual Page 2 “Theorycrafting” of these stat pages…

Archer (ARC) & Bard (BRD) Materia

This is directly related to the first section. As you may know, all gear has a limit for each stat it can have, the higher its Item Level, the higher amount of stats it can hold. So the idea is to max out (or get close to maxing out) the left most, and work your way right. Again:

DEX > Critical Chance > Determination  > PIE > Skill Speed > VIT

Mahiko’s Note: PIE is always good to have (We’re discussing PvE here). The importance really depends on how organized your playgroup is…

Materia Name
DEX: Dexterity
Critical Chance: Savage Aim
Determination: Savage Might
PIE: Piety
Skill Speed: Quickarm
VIT: Vitality

See Also: Materia Guide | Melding Guide

Summary:

  • Overall ARC BRD stat importance: DEX > Critical Chance > Determination  > PIE > Skill Speed > VIT
  • ARC BRD Stat allocation: DEX > PIE > VIT
  • Secondary stats for ARC BRD: Critical Chance > Determination > Skill Speed
  • Reference links: Archer FAQ, Bard FAQ
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Have a question about ARC /BRD? Chime in on the comments or in our Archer / Bard Forums.

FFXIV ARR Job guides and FAQ’s!

Just in time for this beta weekend, we released a mini-guide and FAQ for all the advanced Jobs in FFXIV A Realm Reborn!

Anything you need from skills, stats, traits, locations, requirements – and more!

Don’t get caught wasting time this beta weekend – check them out now!

 

 

Bard Job FAQ / Guide – FFXIV ARR

Dragoon Job FAQ / Guide – FFXIV ARR

Monk Job FAQ / Guide – FFXIV ARR

Paladin Job FAQ / Guide – FFXIV ARR

Warrior Job FAQ / Guide – FFXIV ARR

White Mage Job FAQ / Guide – FFXIV ARR

Black Mage Job FAQ / Guide – FFXIV ARR

Scholar Job FAQ / Guide – FFXIV ARR

Summoner Job FAQ / Guide – FFXIV ARR

Since we hate searching and coming up with results for 1.0, we clearly state that these guides are for FFXIV A Realm Reborn, or ARR! Bear with us for the insistent labeling!

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