Sneak Attack (Lv. 15) = grants the user a modified critical hit on the next attack if and only if the attack is done against the monster's back (possibly known with a 11.25 degree off-center leeway from the center). Additionally, this attack is a guaranteed hit if the player is facing the target's back. Whether successful or not, the Sneak Attack condition is removed until it is performed again. DEX is widely believed to be a modifier for this skill.

Trick Attack (Lv. 30) = grants the user a modified attack if and only if a party member, engaged or not, is standing directly in front of the player, effectively being between the player and target. The modified damage is less than what Sneak Attack grants but an added effect (and very important) is that the entire hit is treated as if the player, who is standing between the thief and the target, executed the hit and the total enmity will be applied to him/her. Whether successful or not, the Trick Attack condition is removed until performed again. AGL is widely believe to amplify the damage multiplier.

The effects are stackable, meaning that both modified bonuses apply and stack if both conditions are met. If one or the other condition is not met, then only the bonus where the condition is met is applied. That means that if the thief is behind the target and a party member is directly in front of the thief and between the monster, then both bonuses will apply for a hit that deals substantial damage. This technique has been dubbed and commonly referred as fuidama.

(THIEF) --> (ALLY) --> (TARGET) <-- (TANK)

Disclaimer: Since everyone who becomes a Bard must first level a job up to 30, I am going to assume starting Bards know a fair amount about the game, and thus will not explain every little thing. Furthermore, I'm only level 48, but I feel I have a pretty good grasp of how to be a good Bard. If anything is blatantly wrong, feel free to submit your opinion.

1. Race

Bard is one of the few jobs that any race can excell in. However, I believe certain races are better than others:

a) Taru - Tied for the best CHR, and by far the best MP
b) Hume - Tied for the best CHR, and second most MP
c) Elvaan/Mithra - Elvaan has better CHR, Mithra has better MP
d) Galka - Low CHR and Low MP. It can be done, but you need to spend lots of money on equipment.

2. Subjob

White Mage - This is the most common subjob, and with good reason. It makes you the ultimate support party member. Bards often have freetime between start-battle songs and end-battle songs. Since melee is virtually useless, a BRD/WHM can use that time to cast back-up heals, Bar-element-ra spells, curing status effects, and tossing a Curaga after a nasty Gobbie Bomb.

Red Mage - A major benefit of this job is Fast Cast, which allows you to finish your songs slightly faster than normal. Getting songs off faster increases their effectiveness in battle. You will also be able to back-up cure, although Divine Seal and Curaga will not be available.

Thief - The only purpose of this subjob is for Treasure Hunter, to increase the item drop rate for your party.

Warrior - Somewhat useful for dealing minor damage at low levels, the only other use I can see is to use Provoke help set up a Trick Attack on the main tank.

All other subjobs are virtually useless, and not worth discussing.

3. Equipment

Armor

I wanted to post a short guide to help people get started in Bastok. Starting the game and finding out all of the things you can do can be a bit intimidating. There are things you can get done early, others you must wait on. Note: I am skipping the pregame items including creating a character etc. The guides already here cover the subject well. This guide is here to help Bastokans complete their first quests, the first Bastok mission, and get a decent jumpstart with their leveling. It is just a suggested way to start your game.

So you made a character and chose Bastok as your starting country. Excellent choice. Very first thing you'll see is a cutscene, the details vary, but basically you're welcomed to Bastok. Take your Traveler's Pass to the NPC marked on your map. Shouldn't be too far away. You get a whopping 50 gil, brilliant! You also see the residential area where you can enter your Mog House. No need to do that now. What I want to cover now is Quests.

Quests are given to you by NPCs throughout Bastok. Some are tougher than others. Usually they need an item and ask you to get it for them. Do that and you win a prize, lovely. You can take on numbers of Quests at the same time. Also certain quests are repeatable. Quests gain you fame. So what we'll do first is wonder around Bastok accepting Quests. This will give you a feel of the area and get you started. We will focus on the early, easier quests here. It varies on what area of Bastok you start in, there are 3 areas: Port Bastok, Bastok Market, and Bastok Mines. Even if you started in Port Bastok, go ahead and travel to Bastok Mines first. There are a number of NPCs to talk to here:

Gerbaum(located near the entrance to the Zeruhn Mines)
Quest: Kill enemies in the Zeruhn Mines and bring him 3 pinches of Zeruhn Soot.

Tami(near Residential Area)
Quest: Bring the grocery list to her husband Zelman in the Zeruhn Mines.

You start with a main job, and you can change that main job at anytime in your mog house. Because of this ability to change jobs, it can mean that someone of much lower level than you (or even someone without a current advanced job) could have much more experience. Also, they could just be playing a new character, and have another 60+ level character they aren't playing. Bear this in mind. (Also bear in mind that some people act like they know a lot, but they actually are quite misinformed; so try to test things out for yourself if you are unsure, or ask other people).

Also bear in mind that every job has its own level and experience amount associated with it, and these will not change when you change jobs. So that 5th level Warrior Job you have will always be 5th level and always have the same amount of experience until you go and kill more monsters for exp or use a Page from the Dragon Chronicles Scroll (nets you 500-1000 exp). (The latter is gotten from the Eco-warrior quests, and can be done once a RL week).

All equipped items will definitely be unequipped when changing to a new job for the first time. However, if you switch back to a job you have been in before, it will automatically try to re-equip any items that job was using when you last used it. For instance, if your Thief has a Brass Dagger equipped then you switch to a Warrior for the first time, that dagger will be unequipped (even though a warrior can use a dagger). However, when you switch back to a thief, and if you still have that dagger in your inventory then it will be equipped again. Items that are unequipped in this way remain in your inventory, but you can move them to storage, sell them, or do anything else you want with them.