Military Parade - A DD Bard Guide

So even if your nyame is path b, it's pretty good as every piece will get 2-3 DA, so you could swap windbuffet to sailfi belt +1 for minimal loss, but it would allow you to swap out pants to Nyame flanchard (volte tights are probably BiS still if you can get them). Feet should absolutely be Nyame sollerets over Ayanmo.

If you've got Bunzi gear, the Bunzi's gloves have a whopping 8% DA. I'd use those unless your Nyame are path A.

Head: Bunzi's hat or ayanmo zucchetto +2 give decent STP, although what you've got is fine.
Body: Ashera harness (good luck), or Nyame mail path b if you need a bit of survivability.

Note: None of this is spreadsheeted/sim'd so take with a grain of salt. Just looking at what you've got going on there.

Oh, I'm not arguing that they're not simple. It's just been an interesting discussion not long ago, as I mentioned. Nobody wants to concede.

When you say that it allows you to improve your leg slot, are you referring to Bard specifically/the build Byrth posted? On jobs I bounce with both, I don't know many better options.


I definitely agree in cases where you're not haste capped, which is a funny thing about Nyame but I guess we can't have something too perfect.

In this instance it's not a question of 5% DA vs. 2% QA. It's 8% DA or 5% DA + 8 STP vs 2% QA. Because it unlocks legs to be anything other than those pants and the best DD options in that slot is Nyame flanchard either path A or B, or volte tights if you've got them.

Edit: I'm going to amend by saying that if you've got Volte Tights, you can still use Windbuffet.

If going for a hasteless belt with volte tights, you can also go reiki yotai, eabani, and swap cap to DA. You trade in 2 TA for 4 DA(lower variance), lose 1 store tp and 25 attack, but gain a bunch of hp and defensives + the rest of delay cap. But, that adds some non-trivial pieces, not least of which is the volte itself.

Yeah, I asked if in this instance. I was speaking in general. I only asked here because it was the first time I happened upon someone discussing one vs the other and was curious. I know some people have clearly parsed certain pieces of gear and wasn't sure if anyone happened to do that in this case.

I personally use windbuffet for TP and sailfi for WS. No issues with swapping if one is truly better. It's one thing when you don't have a piece of gear and you spend a bunch for an extremely nominal increase vs already having.

Seconded for the set in question. Although using nyame legs precludes windbuffet and forces sailfi as your belt to make up the haste. Unless you are going full nitpicky with a haste linos in which case you could reiki/eabani and open up choices on intarabus.

Legs are the greatest sore spot for bard and the slot in which you must compromise the majority of the set without volte tights in yer bag. Ayanmo legs offers no multi/stp but healthy accuracy and the amount of haste you want, not a terrible option as well.

Comparing dnc to brd in this scenario is a bit rough if you ask me, the disparity between these two jobs when it comes to tp gear alone is great.

Personally and anecdotally I make good use of windbuffet in full quad and am3 sets, otherwise sailfi in high DA and single-wield non-am3 scenarios.

I assume you want to ride AM3 from Mordant Rime but then Spam Rudra to benefit from self Darkness, right?

SC damage should be decent thanks to Nyame gear path B, I'm not sure if saving TP and wasting 2-3 WS to store 3K every 3 minutes to re-activate AM3 is gonna be worth it, but you would need a simulation for that, and there is no ddBRD simulation out atm, to my knowledge.

Assuming all of that, you might want to swap a few pieces. Keep in mind I haven't tested on the spreadsheet I'm just going on my hunch so I could be wrong.

Head: Augmented Bunzi! But I suppose you don't have it, so Ayanmo+2
Hands: Volte! But I guess you lack it. Bunzi can be ok but the strong part on it is arguably the DA, which would get diminished return because of AM3 being up. Not many other options, but you could use the Unity Bracers (augmented) to cap haste through this slot, freeing up more options in the legs.
Legs: Volte! Assuming you don't have them then Ayanmo+2. There's Nyame path B as well if you cap haste through the hands slot
Feet: Volte! Or the very old Battlecast Gaiters which I know you have.

Accessories:
Ruling double Moonlight out, you could use Petrov or Chirich+1 in place of Ilabrat.
You are using a DW+10 Cape I guess, which leaves you very close to att delay cap but not quite. Could swap the aug on cape to STP+10 then use Reiki Yotai in belt and then Eabani in place of Cessance.

All of this under the assumption that with all of these changes you can still cap Accuracy on your targets. I guess that clearly you don't have accuracy high enough to be mainhanding Twashtar and offhanding Centovente? Because that would be quite an interesting bump in DPS, would still lead to powerful Darkness and you won't have to worry about keeping AM3 up.
Granted that in THIS scenario a lot of options would change because multiattack gear becomes more relevant compared to Carn AM3 builds. So you would want to focus on DA/TA/QA rather than STP if you decide to go that route.


Either way you need to calculate your STP levels but if with all these changes you reach some new tiers that could make your AM3 build better in getting to 1k faster and making the stream of Rudras and Darkness more consistant.

I will give the belt / pants swap a look.

I don't have any Volte and my Nyame is purely unaugmented. My Carn is 12/15 and Twash is 15/15. I am doing Apex Bats and right now have capped Acc with Marcato'd Honor March.

Right now I'm mainhand Carn and riding AM3 so I can have >10 minute songs and keep a permanently Marcato'd Honor March up. To be clear, I probably make the double darkness 50% of the time. I'm just wondering what the cheapest way is to bring it to 100%.

Especially if keeping AM3 up, adding STP should help a lot. Previously mentioned Ayanmo head, switching to Reiki (if you have it) + eabani would allow STP cape. Not my usual recommendation, but without volte can go Telchine legs with a 20acc/6STP aug. You could do the same thing with Telchine feet, but I'd just recommend battlecast gaiters to save augmenting pain. Gazu bracelets will be overkill for haste, but can make up for the ACC loss with telchine and battlecast.

Another big problem I have is that goddamned Qultada gets my honor march too and thus can actually hit the Apex Bats, thus WSing and breaking my skillchains. I should start Pianissimo'ing that crap.

You can tenuto them!

Edit: Nevermind, I thought it made your songs self buff only.

This changes a lot, I assumed you were on the new mobs.
In this scenario I would probably go Twash MH and Centovente OH, or aug Ternion+1? Both options should be superior to Carn R12 Main / Twash R15 Off.
If I have time later I'll do some calculation of gear swaps but in this scenario multiattack gear becomes much more relevant.

I do get your point about MH carn but if you have a script or a bot or an automation that does songs every 10 minutes you can simply swap to Carn Mainhand when doing that?
Yes you will lose TP but once every 10 minutes it sounds an affordable loss?

I'll give you some numbers, because I suspect the DPS difference with Twash/Cento is gonna be pretty big compared to your current set.

Your Qultada does stuff other than stand there busting his busts?? Should I double up on this 11? hurrr Qultarded, such an annoying trust sometimes lol

Byrth did some small tests using your same exact set. Artificially capping Accuracy, some Att buffed but uncapped att on Apex bats.
Please don't consider the number I'm gonna post in an absolute way, just relative to each other to understand which setup is stronger.

Your set is: 1797.2 DPS (AM3 up)
Realistically this number is gotta bit a bit lower because the spreadsheet doesn't calculate you're gonna waste TP to get to 3K once every 3 minutes.
Also your Carn is R12, I used R15 in the spreadsheet.

Twash R15 Main / Ternion R15 Off: 1842.7 DPS
This is with the same exact set as above. It's with AM1, would be 1951 DPS with AM3.

Twash R15 Main / Centovente Off: 2321.2 DPS
This is, again, with AM1 and as I said before assuming you overcap Accuracy.



The only thing I could swap in your set to create an upgrade are Bunzi Hands (unaugmented), your DPS in that set jumps to: 1830.7.
All the other swaps for STP pieces are not worth it in your set. To make them worth it you need more STP and you can't acess it because you don't have Volte Legs or Volte Hands, nor Ashera Harness nor a mule using Samurai Roll.

For the Twash MH / Centovente OH set instead there's lotsa things I could swap to reach an even higher DPS of: 2491.9
Swapped the following pieces
Nyame Hands > Bunzi Hands
Ilabrat > Petrov
Windbuffet > Sailfi+1 R15
Jokushu > Telchine (Aug)

I think I remember you had Telchine, if you don't the next best choice is Zoar+1 R15, otherwise even Nyame R0 will be slightly better than Jokushu.

I don't think you can cap Accuracy with Centovente offhand with this set btw. For a comparison using this set I just posted but with Ternion+1 R15, the DPS drops from 2491.9 to 1977.44, which is still better than your current set by a decent amount.

Whops! This post slipped through.

Tenuto is a cool idea in theory. Makes any song you're about to sing not-overwritable on yourself only.
This was meant to allow the BRD to move between two different "zones" of the PT where he's supposed to be singing AoE songs, but keep the songs he cast on the first group when he sings on the second.

What doesn't work in this song ultimately is the essence itself of the ability: the songs being not overwritable means you cannot change the songs sure, but you can't refresh the duration either.
Tl;dr you will be forced to sing fakes again once they expire, and you're gonna lose the Clarion Call's 5th song slot.
In other terms: Tenuto is pretty much almost useless in nowadays' meta.

if I'm not mistaken, you can refresh Tenuto songs, so long as the new songs are also Tenuto'd

Bit late to respond but the best data would be a simulation. Unfortunately I don't have one setup for bard and it's not a priority for me anyways. A spreadsheet result uses average of everything so it doesn't take into account outliers. Unfortunately there isn't a way to work around those with the way the sheets are currently setup but in a simulation, which you can view as a perfectly consistent player, I would have datasets to work with. I can also determine a data sets skewness and if the set is skewed I would focus less on the mean and more on the median. Although I also like to look at my 25th and 75th percentile as well. With quad attack being so rare and having such a huge difference, the sets will tend to be skewed. It's also why I am not a fan of balder earring and moonbow over fotia belt in most cases.

The belt in this case also changes the leg options so it's not a piece for piece comparison either. I don't have numbers or a day in this particular scenario, just that a parse is not reliable for this type of data. Trusts aren't the most reliable at times and playing consistently for extended period of time will also affect results.

As far as the result that sechs was posting, it could me a little more accurate. For one we know the mobs stats that byrth was planning to use so forcing capped accuracy for to bonus dagger is silly. Aftermath can also be more closely estimated than just assuming it's always active as well. Two step skillchain like rudra > rudra can also be done with a little modification and some work.

Hello Bards!

I created this gear guide quite a long time ago now, and up until 2026, it was still up to date and accurate, Albeit there was the addition of the VR Mission rings which provided more (and better) options for ring slots for both TPing and WS.

Along with the below sets I would also recommend checking out Kastra's sets based on his Python simulator. Here is the link: https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/All_Jobs_Gear_Sets/Bard

Note: The TP set's at the bottom of Kastra's guide are high accuracy sets for content like Sortie. Not recommended for most content as it sacrifices a ton of Double Attack or Store TP to hit accuracy requirements.

Since the release of Limbus gear in 2026, the body, legs and feet from this set could now become the best option over the below sets. Primarily due to the DT and Accuracy (along with store TP, and if you get to augment - double attack too).

There are NQ, HQ and +2 versions of the set. Check the set out here: https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Hope_Armor_Set

For Bard's without Odyssey gear: Your options are 5/5 Ayanmo (good for capping haste and using a different belt), or ayanmo body and head with 3/5 Telchine Augments 6 STP on each. You could also go for Chironic pieces with Triple Attack Oseem Augment. I'd definitely consider R0 Nyame hands, legs and feet with Ayanmo +2 head and body for a DT set. The Bunzi's Gloves are good even at R0, whilst the head needs R20 at least.

This set - in my opinion as of 2021 was the best in slot for TP'ing. BRD has crappy options compared to other jobs, so we have to make do.

ItemSet 383806

Bunzi's: R25
Nyame: R25 Path B
Sailfi Belt: R15
JSE Neck: R25
Linos: 3 Quad Attack, 4 STP, 15 Acc/Att - 3% Double Attack instead of 4stp works well also
Cape: Dual Wield +10, 20 Dex, 30Acc, 20 Att
Volte Tights: Telchine Brocani with max augments: 6 Store TP, 10 Dex, 20 Acc, will out parse Volte Tights, but the haste from Volte Tights allow swaps elsewhere if you choose to (such as changing sailfi belt), and higher accuracy too.

Swaps:

- Swap options would be Moonlight Ring (my personal preference to reduce squish)

- Volte feet over Nyame R25 for more STP but losing DT
- Dedition Earring is an option but cento off hand accuracy is terrible.


Starter Set

ItemSet 383741

This is the set I would make if I was starting out. It's not super easy to make, but it's all soloable apart from the hands, which just need R0 to be good.

To do list:

- Get Ayanmo head and body +2 from Ambu (and the legs for fast cast)
- Go do boring Alluvian Skirmish for the Linos and Telchine (or use your RoE rewards, and/or Red Mog Pells/Mellidopt Wings.
- Farm Sailfi Belt from UNM, Scales from Sheol A chests
- Centovente; TP +1000 route.
- Ambu cape; 20 Dex, 30 Acc, 20 Attack, 10 Double Attack or Duel Wield
- Linos; trade in Copper Vouchers for Obsidian Fragments, farm or buy the upgrade items and get the best stats you can whilst ensuring you get 3 Quadruple Attack, and 3 Double Attack or 4 STP
- Telchine Legs and Feet: Focus on 6 STP and Accuracy
- Bunzi's Gloves. Unaugmented they still have 8 double attack. Get them via any means
- Rings and Earrings changeable based on what you can get yourself. Focus on Accuracy, Store TP and Double Attack. 2 NQ Chirich Rings work fine.
- Get a JSE Neck. +2 is worth it, but if not go for +1. The Quadruple Attack and Damage Limit+ makes a big difference

TP set 1

ItemSet 383480

Bunzi's: R25
Nyame: R25
Sailfi Belt: R15
JSE Neck: R25
Zoar Subligar: R15
Linos: 3 Quad Attack, 4 STP, 15 Acc/Att - 3% Double Attack instead of 4stp works well also
Cape: Double Attack or Dual Wield

This set removes all duel wield, which means each hit you do gets more TP - but you hit slower.

TP set 2

ItemSet 383481

Bunzi's: R25
Nyame: R25
Sailfi Belt: R15
JSE Neck: R25
Talchine Legs: 20 Acc, 6 Store TP, 10 Dex (Already has 3 double attack on base piece). Swap in Volte Legs If you like.
Linos: 3 Quad Attack, 4 STP, 15 Acc/Att
Cape: Double Attack or Dual Wield

A note on Volte: the Volte set is nice, but definitely not needed and they are all extremely squishy. People will generally have a squishy volte build to be able to use a different belt than Sailfi to cap haste.

The hands are good for a store TP build. The head I would avoid. The legs are probably the best piece - Telchine legs can get 6 STP and 3 Double Attack if you are looking at purely fast TP'ing. Volte feet can be matched for STP with Telchine Feet which can also be augmented with STP 6.

Normal Hybrid Set

ItemSet 383482

Bunzi's: R25
Nyame: R25
Sailfi Belt: R15
JSE Neck: R25
Linos: 3 Quad Attack, 4 STP, 15 Acc/Att
Cape: Double Attack or Dual Wield

Bumba V20

ItemSet 383483

Bunzi's: R25
Nyame: R25
Odnowa & Sailfi Belt: both R15
JSE Neck: R25
Linos: 3 Quad Attack, 4 STP, 15 Acc/Att
Cape: Double Attack

Savage Blade

These are the sets I currently use for Savage Blade. These will do circa 50-65K on mobs in Odyssey C.

I have no intention of ever doing the extra adoulin missions so NQ ring for me, for life.

ItemSet 383803
ItemSet 383804

Linos: STR 8 WSD 3, Acc/Att. or STR 6 DEX 6 If you don't want to make another Linos
Cape: Acc/Att WSD, STR +30
Nyame is R25
Moonshade Earring - I play COR and various other jobs so my Moonshade Earring is always TP+250, MAB +4. Other options would be better for BRD WS, but I won't be changing it.

PRE NYAME R20/R25: Relic +3 is a must. Realistically at this stage in game progression (unless you want all relic +3 for the yellow box/magic evasion etc) I would stick with Nyame R0, and slowly get RP to up it to R10/R15/R20 etc.

Rudra's Storm

Rudra's hits between 35-45K with this set in Odyssey Sheol C.

ItemSet 383805

Cape: Acc/Att WSD, Dex+30
Linos: 8 DEX, 3 WSD + Acc/Att. Or 6 STR 6 DEX to save a Linos

Open to suggestions and comments

I hate you all guys for getting Acc/Att+15 on Linos so easily.
I've spent probably more than 300mils in stones and yet I'm stuck on +14

Don't feel bad I've never seen an att/acc over 10 (for tp or wsd linos), i settled for 20acc on both and called it a day.

Stop using +2 stones lol. Just use +1 and go for quantity over quality. 15/15 will happen finally.

Eternal Flame tells me that any obsidian fragments I convert past the cap will "unceremoniously vanish into the aether," but I tell him that's where they're going anyways

I've personally had more luck with +2 stones for the gil used when doing an augment that has a large range (10+) and I would only be satisifed with the absolute maximum value.

I've seen +13 Acc/att a couple of times, +14 only once.
It seems like Acc/att has definitely a lower chance to pop in general, regardless of the value, compared to other stats.

I've seen Acc+20 twice I think, I should've settled for that instead, in hindsight.

I recently maxed Enhancing +10% on 6 Talchine pieces using like 4 stacks on +1 stones. I once went through 99 stones and only saw augment I want (not the value, but the augment itself) once. With +2 stones that would be terrible.

Most of the +2 stones stacks cost like ten times more than +1? I can't imagine having more chance with 99 +2 stones than with 990 +1 stones tbh. At worst I used 200 +1 stones to get some max augment, while I haven't even got the right augment many times using 20 +2 stones (I use +2 stones from AMAN and Macrocosmic Orb bcnms). Ofc its all anecdotes and everyone will have different, but that's my experience.

Would need a MAGA-like addon but for the Taru guy in Adoulin! :-P

When I was shooting for 20 MEVA on my Regen Telchine pieces, I went through 4 +1 stacks without a single one, while one stack of 99 +2s got me all 4 20s I needed. I had similar results when working on my Phalanx pieces.

All of the smaller range stuff I've always favored +2 stones, anything sub <=10. I used +1 stones for everything else after I burnt 4 stacks of +2 trying to do pet meva 25s on Taeon and saw a grand total of 3 meva augments, all over 20 but 0 max and 3 pieces still had no Aug. Swapped to +1 and settled for anything over 20. I've come to hate snow augments with a passion.

Very interesting sets. Did a seg run a couple weeks ago with you and was impressed by your dmg output on BRD.

Got 2 questions :

- What weapons combo do you usually use ?

- Interesting choice of no dual wield (because most of the time all I see and have in mind is "first you cap your dual wield, then you deal with others things"). Does all the multi-attack make up for it ?

can use tradenpc at least, but still slow