Absolutely correct, in both cases! What's great about a Mime is they can layer your Bards AND Dancers' effects, so no need to grind out a whole new character just for the added benefits from both jobs. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and checking out the episode, PK! 🙏
For the reasons you described I waited until 99 to use them. I beat the game as a Pure Bard. Unsure if the designers intended that yet it is possible. They say a pure Mime is impossible. Though there are probably better things to do with your time. I had fun with nothing left to prove. Thx. :D
Haha amazing reference! 😂 Speaking of reference, your name reminds me of the lightning spell cast by Ninjas in Ogre Battle for SNES. In any case I appreciate you stopping by Ikazuchi and checking out the content! 🙏
@Tactics Live Tournament np dude. Your content of diving deep into every class and pulling them apart to better understand them is amazing! And you got me on my name origin. That's exactly where it came from 😁
Thanks mikey, enjoy the time you spend on this. I've been playing tactics for twenty years, on my third psp, and Saturday morning battles with the children, fond memories. Keep up the good work 😊
Thank you for sharing that wonderful story Holly! Introducing a new generation to ff tactics is amazing, I wish I had that to play with my parents growing up! 🥲 I appreciate the kind words and having you stop by today. Always happy to produce content for the community!
I keep reading in certain guides that Bards aren't good considering their skills take a lot of turns for it to have a significant impact in battle (the +1 spd ups and the like) but from my experience, the bard truly shines from its Finale skill. Imagine that you have a very powerful unit that can possibly turn the tides of a skirmish every time his/her turn comes up. 'Finale' gives that unit a 50% chance to have a turn again, significantly improving your win chances. Now, imagine you have at least two of these powerful units, and 'Finale' will make your victory certain. (When you have a bard, chances are you already have at least one or two other units that can deal high damage/ can efficiently disable enemy units) Having two bards in the party also greatly helps, as with the experience of other players who have experimented with it. Having one bard use Finale while the other use a song that has better increments over time, say, 'Life's Anthem' which heals all your units across the map for around 19-25ish hp (and also activates more frequently compared to other songs) really gives your Melee units an edge, and also makes you breathe easier when sending them straight to the enemy lines, given that they can heal whatever damage by accruing heals over time. So basically, having one bard use a heal song and the other use Finale ensures that your Melee unit can heal its injuries while also immediately retreat if it sustains too much damage. For me, this is a better comp than having one dedicated healer since that healer needs to be in range of a unit in need of heals which, more often than not, is very tricky to do and also puts said healer in potential enemy range. Having a song up also ensures your bard consistently gains Experience and JP, and also ensures that your units have steady heals or mp recovery keeping them in the offensive more frequently (though heals are far more important), all the while keeping the bards at a safe distance. tl;dr, Bard's 'Finale' skill is strong when paired with one or more powerful units. Don't overly rely on the +1 songs.
Great point about Finale, it really can make a huge swing for your team having party-wide Quick. I found the Bards healing to be good if you're not in dire straights and he does need some way of revival to cover all bases. All said this is a great assessment and a welcome contribution, thanks for your addition Igo! 🙏
It's a win more class that needs you to play a song to develop the whole party (Finale can't be sped up and is as unplayable as its "timing") so you won't whiff if a mage gets battle chant or monk magickal refrain. I could make another vid though I did one with magickal Refrain to help Rapha and Marach. The mime helps the Bard and dancer as mincing minuet needs high physical attack and Bravery, and praise will buff the mime's bravery, with brawler getting a passive boost. The double casting stacks while you have an emergency character like even Mustadio with needed Phoenix downs, or use him with a speed team to make more accurate snipes, steals and more bow damage with archers. Should help with disorder in the order as they are hard to steal and can't be invited over for their equipment. Just hope guest Agrias doesn't kill them off. You need the +1 songs as Finale can't hold a candle to the quick spell on Orlandeau or a dark knight, let alone sucks if the Bard only hits himself with quick, or allies are knocked out. But at least I see why it took me so long to understand how to use it as most info is difficult to put in practice as Chapter 4 has speedy characters, and especially monsters that are at least double to triple the 5 charge time to that Finale, let alone Bard doesn't go first, so that's 4 sets of turns to wait. Not as bad as Nameless Song where your critical ally won't get reraise, and knight swords auto equip buffs like Excalibur that makes anyone godlike (not only Orlandeau as even a knight can rend speed and get a free turn with haste). Edit: I tried disorder in the order and every strategy is high RNG as AI Agrias will go berserk at that pervert ninja or get killed by him, which Bard is a liability with 4 controllable characters (better than their immunity to invite orator) and songs slower than Excalibur plundering balthier but I couldn't steal ninja gear on monk in high place and Agrias killed elemental gun squires. No way Finale has a chance, even vs Gaffgarion, and swiftness doesn't help.
I feel like the more you share your experiences the more I feel like we have the same style in play and roster-building, Forrest! 🙌 Despite the randomness the great thing about Nameless Song is you don't have to worry about getting those buffs from equipment or casters, and can focus on more offense. All you have to do is wait and cross your fingers haha! 😅 Thanks for sharing and checking out the episode Forrest!
Late game equipment (or reaction skills like adrenaline rush for speed) has better buffs (Orlandeau Excalibur haste, perfume regen/reraise and handbag regen) that don't miss nor are randomized. I wish I could see potential outside life drain from the weapon vid states 4:10 (status afflictions for others) which is a similar weakness to samurai needing iaido katanas to be available. I was even gonna try a magic only build until I saw how much better manafont is even without the mana shield exploit to no sell damage. 5:39 healing 29 mp isn't gonna refill holy/graviga. Lifefont you get even earlier as a monk and is as invaluable as auto potion if you need a better reaction slot (like a dragonheart dark knight lol keeps coming back). 6:00 similarly casting quick with a time mage on one unit is way faster and accurate than that bard version. Dancer is way better chipping life if you can unlock chapter 2-3 before getting power crept chapter 4. Their cloths (carpets) allow to dodge and oddly enough shirahadori from samurai lets you dodge while charging (sing/dance). Bard can't really compete with golem to protect physical attacking humans and loses a turn missing others or buffing himself. The life gain on himself can't work with arithmetician's cup of life as reaction is to someone else's abilities. Glad vid covered this as I couldn't make one where the bard isn't win more (Mime can copy dark knight and arithmatician). Teleport is better than fly even if it sometimes fails going past move as it includes ignore elevation. Thief's move +2 is better as you gotta close in for stealing that iconic blood sword (which equip swords breaks ninja). Glad it stated degenerator traps to lose less upon level down bard's low stats. 8:55 too I do say tailwind helps more than swiftness as you need to act first, and spells slower than holy won't be casting unless you already won. FF3 pixel remaster bard was fun I admit. Buff songs for party that always go first, or heal a little at high job level. Just crazy how I can salvage almost every other fft class (squire has throw stone that transfers for monk for decent damage or friendly fire tactixs force jp or reactions like adrenaline rush, until you get shockwave, and knight equip armor helps monk, equip swords for ninja, and shield for thieves/dancers for crazier evasion, as rends suck outside maybe speed though you can one shot most people, with graviga/invigoration formulas for lucavi bosses so never mind). Do feel closure there.
Do have an update in that bards help the multiple buffs of Luso/Ramza's shout to double whatever is needed (magic, phys attack, speed though bard's don't buff bravery). Could probably do a defensive ultima monk build, as the bravery buffs their unarmed attack. Surprisingly, the magic buff (and probably orator, which helps Agrias with equip swords if you can steal a chapter 3 runeblade to buff magic attack, to raise Rapha's faith and lower Marach's faith) can make a difference as well.
Whenever I play Bard/Dancer, I almost always use Sunken State/Vanish as the reaction skill as it doesn't go away while 'Performing' unless you change songs/dances. Really helps with grinding the JP and Leveling Up (obviously in classes with much better stat growth.) Honestly, I can't really say I ever used Bard (nor Dancer) during story battles, but maybe in a new playthrough sometime in the future? The 5k for Fly does seem pretty bothersome, but I suppose it's to help stretch out the time you spend in that class to keep it closer to the amount of JP needed to master it as the other mage classes? Otherwise on the PS1 version, you can master Bard/Dancer as quickly as Knight, Geomancer, Ninja, Calculator and Mediator (without JP glitching) Great job on the video! Adding some pizzazz to make the video about the Bard even more captivating. (Also nice Kindred figure)
Right on, glad to read about your experiences TIUH, thanks for sharing! Vanish is a great reaction skill for this Job and works very well the way you've mentioned! 💪
Welcome, Sire, glad you found the channel! 🙇 I forgot about Seraph Song and Mana Shield - my tournament prep could use some adjustments and frequent refills to deflect damage sounds nice right about now. 😅
@@TacticsLive I'd imagine the creators of this tournament might have nerfed or outright deleted this possibility. It seems like it's pretty broken to me haha.
I can imagine the bard singing a sea shanty mid-fight and everyone else singing along and getting hype lmao such a mediocre class stat-wise but I always keep one in my party just cuz he’s so unique
Haha, the sea shanties are the source of my salty strength!! I am with you, Hashem, it's just fun to have a Bard singing along in the back. I like to imagine that if I were in the world of Ivalice I would prefer this Job over other, riskier ventures. 🎶 Thanks for sharing your thoughts and checking out the content!
@@TacticsLive sounds a lot better than being a knight in an era of war and famine 😂 and no prob! I used to play tactics on the psp years ago when I was a teen and just got back into it through iOS, so stumbling upon your channel has really improved my knowledge of the game and rekindled my love for it :)
Man, imagine investing so much, so many jobs levels for a male character that doesn´t even want to be in a magic job. Just so you can get A GUY WHO STANDS SINGING IN THE BACK WHILE THE REST OF THE TEAM ACTUALLY FIGHTS. But seriously, why are most of the bard's abilities percentage-based?, they aren't even THAT strong, specially considering that in fft you almost always have a group of 5 characters, maybe if rosters were bigger they could get more value since they would at the very least target more allies. On a positive note, this class is completely optional (unlike something like the archer, which you need in order to unlock many other jobs), so you can just ignore it. In words of the legendary ProJared: "...the bard can get the fuck out of my party".
Haha, wow! I'm glad you were able to stomach the episode Joaquin, because you're right on a lot of points here. I can kinda see the progression from Summoner + Orator into a Bard, where you have wide-ranging effects that only hit allies, and you no longer need Faith to boost your skills. But would I rather have a Summoner, an Orator or a Bard as a primary Job? Definitely picking the Bard last! I do like Bardsong as a secondary skill on something like a White Mage, and if you're going to be power-leveling it's not a bad skill to have to quickly get JP, though I prefer spamming Focus. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts, positive and negative, as it's the discussions about the units that reveal the most information! Take care Joaquin and I'll see you in the next video! 🙏
Your videos are fantastic! I am very surprised to see high quality content being made for this game still being made.
Thanks so much Tavin! Glad you enjoyed the content, this classic deserves all the love we can give it. 🙌
There is something very satisfying in casting a song. Even more when there is a mime.
Absolutely correct, in both cases! What's great about a Mime is they can layer your Bards AND Dancers' effects, so no need to grind out a whole new character just for the added benefits from both jobs. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and checking out the episode, PK! 🙏
For the reasons you described I waited until 99 to use them. I beat the game as a Pure Bard. Unsure if the designers intended that yet it is possible. They say a pure Mime is impossible. Though there are probably better things to do with your time. I had fun with nothing left to prove. Thx. :D
"No spoony bard could spin a sweeter tale!"
Haha amazing reference! 😂 Speaking of reference, your name reminds me of the lightning spell cast by Ninjas in Ogre Battle for SNES. In any case I appreciate you stopping by Ikazuchi and checking out the content! 🙏
@Tactics Live Tournament np dude. Your content of diving deep into every class and pulling them apart to better understand them is amazing!
And you got me on my name origin. That's exactly where it came from 😁
Thanks mikey, enjoy the time you spend on this. I've been playing tactics for twenty years, on my third psp, and Saturday morning battles with the children, fond memories. Keep up the good work 😊
Thank you for sharing that wonderful story Holly! Introducing a new generation to ff tactics is amazing, I wish I had that to play with my parents growing up! 🥲 I appreciate the kind words and having you stop by today. Always happy to produce content for the community!
I keep reading in certain guides that Bards aren't good considering their skills take a lot of turns for it to have a significant impact in battle (the +1 spd ups and the like) but from my experience, the bard truly shines from its Finale skill.
Imagine that you have a very powerful unit that can possibly turn the tides of a skirmish every time his/her turn comes up. 'Finale' gives that unit a 50% chance to have a turn again, significantly improving your win chances. Now, imagine you have at least two of these powerful units, and 'Finale' will make your victory certain. (When you have a bard, chances are you already have at least one or two other units that can deal high damage/ can efficiently disable enemy units)
Having two bards in the party also greatly helps, as with the experience of other players who have experimented with it. Having one bard use Finale while the other use a song that has better increments over time, say, 'Life's Anthem' which heals all your units across the map for around 19-25ish hp (and also activates more frequently compared to other songs) really gives your Melee units an edge, and also makes you breathe easier when sending them straight to the enemy lines, given that they can heal whatever damage by accruing heals over time.
So basically, having one bard use a heal song and the other use Finale ensures that your Melee unit can heal its injuries while also immediately retreat if it sustains too much damage.
For me, this is a better comp than having one dedicated healer since that healer needs to be in range of a unit in need of heals which, more often than not, is very tricky to do and also puts said healer in potential enemy range.
Having a song up also ensures your bard consistently gains Experience and JP, and also ensures that your units have steady heals or mp recovery keeping them in the offensive more frequently (though heals are far more important), all the while keeping the bards at a safe distance.
tl;dr, Bard's 'Finale' skill is strong when paired with one or more powerful units. Don't overly rely on the +1 songs.
Great point about Finale, it really can make a huge swing for your team having party-wide Quick. I found the Bards healing to be good if you're not in dire straights and he does need some way of revival to cover all bases.
All said this is a great assessment and a welcome contribution, thanks for your addition Igo! 🙏
It's a win more class that needs you to play a song to develop the whole party (Finale can't be sped up and is as unplayable as its "timing") so you won't whiff if a mage gets battle chant or monk magickal refrain. I could make another vid though I did one with magickal Refrain to help Rapha and Marach.
The mime helps the Bard and dancer as mincing minuet needs high physical attack and Bravery, and praise will buff the mime's bravery, with brawler getting a passive boost. The double casting stacks while you have an emergency character like even Mustadio with needed Phoenix downs, or use him with a speed team to make more accurate snipes, steals and more bow damage with archers. Should help with disorder in the order as they are hard to steal and can't be invited over for their equipment. Just hope guest Agrias doesn't kill them off.
You need the +1 songs as Finale can't hold a candle to the quick spell on Orlandeau or a dark knight, let alone sucks if the Bard only hits himself with quick, or allies are knocked out. But at least I see why it took me so long to understand how to use it as most info is difficult to put in practice as Chapter 4 has speedy characters, and especially monsters that are at least double to triple the 5 charge time to that Finale, let alone Bard doesn't go first, so that's 4 sets of turns to wait. Not as bad as Nameless Song where your critical ally won't get reraise, and knight swords auto equip buffs like Excalibur that makes anyone godlike (not only Orlandeau as even a knight can rend speed and get a free turn with haste).
Edit: I tried disorder in the order and every strategy is high RNG as AI Agrias will go berserk at that pervert ninja or get killed by him, which Bard is a liability with 4 controllable characters (better than their immunity to invite orator) and songs slower than Excalibur plundering balthier but I couldn't steal ninja gear on monk in high place and Agrias killed elemental gun squires. No way Finale has a chance, even vs Gaffgarion, and swiftness doesn't help.
Nameless song has ALWAYS been one of my favorite abilities in the game, I always have at least one character with Sing on my team.
I feel like the more you share your experiences the more I feel like we have the same style in play and roster-building, Forrest! 🙌 Despite the randomness the great thing about Nameless Song is you don't have to worry about getting those buffs from equipment or casters, and can focus on more offense. All you have to do is wait and cross your fingers haha! 😅 Thanks for sharing and checking out the episode Forrest!
Late game equipment (or reaction skills like adrenaline rush for speed) has better buffs (Orlandeau Excalibur haste, perfume regen/reraise and handbag regen) that don't miss nor are randomized. I wish I could see potential outside life drain from the weapon vid states 4:10 (status afflictions for others) which is a similar weakness to samurai needing iaido katanas to be available.
I was even gonna try a magic only build until I saw how much better manafont is even without the mana shield exploit to no sell damage. 5:39 healing 29 mp isn't gonna refill holy/graviga. Lifefont you get even earlier as a monk and is as invaluable as auto potion if you need a better reaction slot (like a dragonheart dark knight lol keeps coming back). 6:00 similarly casting quick with a time mage on one unit is way faster and accurate than that bard version.
Dancer is way better chipping life if you can unlock chapter 2-3 before getting power crept chapter 4. Their cloths (carpets) allow to dodge and oddly enough shirahadori from samurai lets you dodge while charging (sing/dance).
Bard can't really compete with golem to protect physical attacking humans and loses a turn missing others or buffing himself. The life gain on himself can't work with arithmetician's cup of life as reaction is to someone else's abilities.
Glad vid covered this as I couldn't make one where the bard isn't win more (Mime can copy dark knight and arithmatician). Teleport is better than fly even if it sometimes fails going past move as it includes ignore elevation. Thief's move +2 is better as you gotta close in for stealing that iconic blood sword (which equip swords breaks ninja).
Glad it stated degenerator traps to lose less upon level down bard's low stats. 8:55 too I do say tailwind helps more than swiftness as you need to act first, and spells slower than holy won't be casting unless you already won.
FF3 pixel remaster bard was fun I admit. Buff songs for party that always go first, or heal a little at high job level.
Just crazy how I can salvage almost every other fft class (squire has throw stone that transfers for monk for decent damage or friendly fire tactixs force jp or reactions like adrenaline rush, until you get shockwave, and knight equip armor helps monk, equip swords for ninja, and shield for thieves/dancers for crazier evasion, as rends suck outside maybe speed though you can one shot most people, with graviga/invigoration formulas for lucavi bosses so never mind). Do feel closure there.
Do have an update in that bards help the multiple buffs of Luso/Ramza's shout to double whatever is needed (magic, phys attack, speed though bard's don't buff bravery). Could probably do a defensive ultima monk build, as the bravery buffs their unarmed attack.
Surprisingly, the magic buff (and probably orator, which helps Agrias with equip swords if you can steal a chapter 3 runeblade to buff magic attack, to raise Rapha's faith and lower Marach's faith) can make a difference as well.
Whenever I play Bard/Dancer, I almost always use Sunken State/Vanish as the reaction skill as it doesn't go away while 'Performing' unless you change songs/dances. Really helps with grinding the JP and Leveling Up (obviously in classes with much better stat growth.)
Honestly, I can't really say I ever used Bard (nor Dancer) during story battles, but maybe in a new playthrough sometime in the future? The 5k for Fly does seem pretty bothersome, but I suppose it's to help stretch out the time you spend in that class to keep it closer to the amount of JP needed to master it as the other mage classes? Otherwise on the PS1 version, you can master Bard/Dancer as quickly as Knight, Geomancer, Ninja, Calculator and Mediator (without JP glitching)
Great job on the video! Adding some pizzazz to make the video about the Bard even more captivating. (Also nice Kindred figure)
Right on, glad to read about your experiences TIUH, thanks for sharing!
Vanish is a great reaction skill for this Job and works very well the way you've mentioned! 💪
Great video as usual!
Haha thanks for stopping by CamBam! 👋👍
Shout out to the Seraph Song/Mana Shield combo! Thanks for the videos, just discovered you and the tournaments, sub'd!
Welcome, Sire, glad you found the channel! 🙇 I forgot about Seraph Song and Mana Shield - my tournament prep could use some adjustments and frequent refills to deflect damage sounds nice right about now. 😅
@@TacticsLive I'd imagine the creators of this tournament might have nerfed or outright deleted this possibility. It seems like it's pretty broken to me haha.
I can imagine the bard singing a sea shanty mid-fight and everyone else singing along and getting hype lmao such a mediocre class stat-wise but I always keep one in my party just cuz he’s so unique
Haha, the sea shanties are the source of my salty strength!! I am with you, Hashem, it's just fun to have a Bard singing along in the back. I like to imagine that if I were in the world of Ivalice I would prefer this Job over other, riskier ventures. 🎶 Thanks for sharing your thoughts and checking out the content!
@@TacticsLive sounds a lot better than being a knight in an era of war and famine 😂 and no prob! I used to play tactics on the psp years ago when I was a teen and just got back into it through iOS, so stumbling upon your channel has really improved my knowledge of the game and rekindled my love for it :)
Man, imagine investing so much, so many jobs levels for a male character that doesn´t even want to be in a magic job. Just so you can get A GUY WHO STANDS SINGING IN THE BACK WHILE THE REST OF THE TEAM ACTUALLY FIGHTS. But seriously, why are most of the bard's abilities percentage-based?, they aren't even THAT strong, specially considering that in fft you almost always have a group of 5 characters, maybe if rosters were bigger they could get more value since they would at the very least target more allies.
On a positive note, this class is completely optional (unlike something like the archer, which you need in order to unlock many other jobs), so you can just ignore it. In words of the legendary ProJared: "...the bard can get the fuck out of my party".
Haha, wow! I'm glad you were able to stomach the episode Joaquin, because you're right on a lot of points here. I can kinda see the progression from Summoner + Orator into a Bard, where you have wide-ranging effects that only hit allies, and you no longer need Faith to boost your skills. But would I rather have a Summoner, an Orator or a Bard as a primary Job? Definitely picking the Bard last!
I do like Bardsong as a secondary skill on something like a White Mage, and if you're going to be power-leveling it's not a bad skill to have to quickly get JP, though I prefer spamming Focus. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts, positive and negative, as it's the discussions about the units that reveal the most information! Take care Joaquin and I'll see you in the next video! 🙏