Related
Sprite
Minimum Level
15
Earned
Cave of Tides Crystal Room
Strength Grade
D
Agility Grade
B
Vitality Grade
B+
Intelligence Grade
C+
Mind Grade
B
Battle Command 1
Sing (12 skill points per use)
Battle Command 2
Scare (8 skill points per use)
Battle Command 3
Cheer (12 skill points per use)
Battle Command 4
Item (4 skill points per use)
A Bard by himself is laughably weak. Their offense and defense are both terrible, and their Scare ability (which lowers the levels of all enemies by 3) is virtually useless. However, their Cheer ability increases all party members' Attack Power by 10, and the effect is cumulative, so a Bard makes an excellent complement to a physically attacking party. The Bard's Sing ability is basically the same as Fight.
Knowing when to stop Cheering is important to using a Bard well. A cheer adds around 12 damage to each physical hit made per round. In the first round of a three-round fight with a Black Belt attacking 8 times and a Knight attacking 4 times, that adds up to 144 bonus damage per round, or 320–432 total damage (depending on when the Bard actually Cheers). However, in the last round, Cheer adds a maximum of 112 bonus damage, so Sing is likely more effective. As you can see, the longer the fight, the better Cheer is.
Knowing when to stop Cheering is important to using a Bard well. A cheer adds around 12 damage to each physical hit made per round. In the first round of a three-round fight with a Black Belt attacking 8 times and a Knight attacking 4 times, that adds up to 144 bonus damage per round, or 320–432 total damage (depending on when the Bard actually Cheers). However, in the last round, Cheer adds a maximum of 112 bonus damage, so Sing is likely more effective. As you can see, the longer the fight, the better Cheer is.
Edward is, to be polite, a lover and not a fighter. He's not completely useless, especially since his harps can inflict status ailments as can his Sing ability. Sing will randomly inflict Sleep, Confuse or Silence, but has a low success rate. He does Hide automatically when at low HP, and it can be difficult to get him to do anything at that point. Heal splits up the healing from a Potion across the party, and can be a useful ability, especially before Rosa joins the party.