Bard Songs: What they do, and how Instruments work

[Jonathan]

Note: On Instruments that give +x to song, that song's duration is increased by x*10%. Simply put: Minuet/Madrigal/March/Mambo etc, all have base durations of 2 minutes. Cornette+2/Traversiere+2/Faerie Picollo/Gemshorn+2 all give +2 to those songs in that respective order. Which means the duration goes up from 2mins (120s) to 2mins+20% (since the isntruments give+2) and thus duration becomes 2m24 (144s)

Initial duration for buff songs: 2min / 120s
+2 to song from instrument: 24s
Duration with a +2 insturment: 2m24 / 144s

Now where that really becomes useful is Lullaby. Foe Lullaby and Horde Lullaby each have an initial duration of 30s. If you use a Mary's Horn, that duration goes up to 33s. With Nursemaid's Harp, that duration becomes 36s. With practice, using your lullaby's recast, you can see when 24s (or less, depending on gear/merits) have elapsed, and knowing that your lullaby will wear @ 33 or 36s, you can pinpoint exactly when lullaby will wear, and begin casting it, have the mob wake mid-cast, and have it land before the mob has a chance to do anything.




Valor Minuet III
Caps at +48 Attack.
Cornette +1 adds +5 Attack.
Each Merit upgrade of Minuet effect adds +1 Attack.

Valor Minuet IV:
+54 Attack at 450 combined skill (natural skill cap for BRD75)
+54 Attack at 454 combined skill
+55 Attack at 457
+55 Attack at 461
+56 Attack at 462 (+12 skill)
+56 Attack at 488 — so it seems that +56 is the cap.
Cornette +1 adds +5 Attack.
Each Merit upgrade of Minuet effect adds +1 Attack.


Sword Madrigal
Stacks with other Madrigal effects.
Caps at +15 Accuracy.
+12 at 225 skill (w/o instrument).
+13 at 239 skill (w/o instrument).
Traversiere +1 adds +4 Accuracy
From Bard subjob:
+7 Accuracy with 105-106 Singing Skill.
+8 Accuracy with 108-114 Singing Skill.

Blade Madrigal:
+27 Accuracy at combined skill 454-471.
+28 Accuracy at combined skill 472-488.
Traversiere +1 adds +4 Accuracy


Advancing March
Caps at +9% Haste (with Faerie Piccolo).
Victory March: Caps at +11% Haste (with Faerie Piccolo).


Knight's Minne IV
Caps at +49 Defense, below natural skill caps for BRD75. Or if it isn't capped, +35 skill is not enough to get another point of Defense.
Harp +1 adds +5 Defense.
Knight's Minne III:
Caps at +41 Defense, below natural skill caps for BRD75.
Harp +1 adds +5 Defense.


Army's Paeon V
Paeon V: 5HP / 3 seconds til the effect ends.
Paeon IV: 4HP / 3 seconds til the effect ends.
...etc


Chocobo Mazurka
25% Movement Speed Bonus
Not as fast as "Flee"
Stacks with bonuses from equipment
____________________________________________________
Foe Requiem VI
Base Duration: 143 seconds (Each Requiem goes up in base duration. ie: Requiem I has a base duration of only 63 seconds)


Threnody
Threnodies don't stack (figured)
Base Duration: 60s
Threnody lowers elemental resistance by 50 points, plus 5 for each +1 on the instrument. (So threnody lowers resistance by 60 with Piccolo +1)


Carnage Elegy
Base Duration: 180 seconds
The slow effect given by this song is 50%.
Does not stack with other Elegies.

Battlefield Elegy:
Base Duration: 120 seconds
The slow effect granted by this song is 25%.

[Sosa]

Good call in moving this over, Jon. This is an excellent resource for budding young Bards. When I get to it, would you mind me linking to this post in my guide?

[tarick]

Never saw this on the old site (I don't have bard unlocked, though, so meh), but it's a nice collection of info.

I was going to do one for monk.

Fists: What they do, and how they work.

As a monk, you punch things. If you put things in your hand, you'll punch slower but harder.

As you level up, you'll punch faster.

When you punch too fast, paladins and ninjas will stop liking you, and they will call you dirty names. This means you are doing well.

At 74, you will likely start to think you are invincible. Sadly, you will find many times that you are wrong. Do not be deterred!

Once you get to 75, you will realize that you don't get to punch big things, so you can either level a different job, or wear a funny looking green jacket. Many monks pick bard, since they already have the outfit.

[Sosa]

I was going to do one for monk.

Fists: What they do, and how they work.

As a monk, you punch things. If you put things in your hand, you'll punch slower but harder.

As you level up, you'll punch faster.

When you punch too fast, paladins and ninjas will stop liking you, and they will call you dirty names. This means you are doing well.

At 74, you will likely start to think you are invincible. Sadly, you will find many times that you are wrong. Do not be deterred!

Once you get to 75, you will realize that you don't get to punch big things, so you can either level a different job, or wear a funny looking green jacket. Many monks pick bard, since they already have the outfit.

LOL, yes. Yes. You definately should have written the segment...

Back on topic, are there any other known factors that influence song duration/effect?

It would also be interesting to check caps when stacking buffs with a COR.

[Jonathan]

For party buffs - no. For enfeebles - they all have max. durations, and if you don't reach that max duration, then you've been partially resisted, much like when a rdm casts silence only to have it wear seconds later.

Very rarely if I land lullaby does it not stick for the whole 33 or 36s. (I have wind merits and more wind+ gear, so even though nursemaid's harp is a 36s sleep, my Mary's horn is a more trusty 33s sleep.)

[Jonathan]

sosa said:

Good call in moving this over, Jon. This is an excellent resource for budding young Bards. When I get to it, would you mind me linking to this post in my guide?

Majority of info comes from FFXIclopedia's individual song links, I just compiled em together and threw in some of what I knew. Feel free to take it, reformat it and manipulate it anyway you want.