Traits

• Resist Silence I (10)
• Resist Silence II (50)

Useful Spells

• Knight’s Minne (1)
• Valor Minuet (6)
• Army’s Paeon (10)
• Sword Madrigal (22)
• Sheepfoe Mambo (26)
• Army’s Paeon II (30)
• Knight’s Minne II (42)
• Valor Minuet II (46)
• Mage’s Ballad (50)
• Enhancing March (58)
• Hunter’s Prelude (62)
• Magic Finale (66)
• Army’s Paeon III (70)
• Raptor Mazurka (74)

Pros

• Resist Silence II. Well, you are a mage…
• Myriad support abilities, including the ability to actually Refresh yourself
• Despite halved skill, BLU songs aren’t terrible due to high CHR

Cons

• Resist Silence II is all you get
• Nothing to boost spell damage significantly (there are stat Etudes that can help some)
• No instrument means only one song, and 105 skill at 37

Bard isn’t as terrible a support job as you might think. For your early solo levels (think 1-20), it’s actually pretty darn good. In pre-60 parties, if you don’t already have a BRD, your ability to give the party a March, Madrigal, or Ballad can come in handy. BLU/BRD is essentially useless in endgame because you have actual BRDs to begin with. Although, if you’re in a “leftover party”, you can bring it out as necessary.

Bard is a viable support job starting at level 1 and remains so until level 60.