abstract
| - Soul Voice is the Final Fantasy XI Bard's special job ability. Soul Voice lasts for a period of three minutes, unlike most of the two-hour abilities available to other Jobs which are instant or last for 30 seconds. This is largely due to the time involved in singing songs, which is generally between 3 and 8 seconds. A Bard might also be responsible for singing as many as a dozen songs in certain party combinations. During the period when the special ability is active, any songs a Bard sings will have an "increased effect", as the game puts it. While this is not exact, in most cases, this means the effect of a song is doubled (for example: Foe Requiem VI, which normally would do 6 HP of damage every 3 seconds, would do 12, or if Valor Minuet ordinarily would boost a party member's Attack by 25, it would boost it by about 50). Offensive songs also become more difficult to save against, so they are more likely to affect the target.
- If a character gives advice, it can be considered and the effects will be earned. The advice appears as a colored text box above the related character, its color varying depending on the request of the character; a request for a Ranged attack will always be marked with a yellow text box, for example. The Arts that will operate the Soul Voice will begin to glow on the player's Arts palette. While the Soul Voices and effects of other characters are preset and cannot be changed, Cross's sixteen Soul Voices can be customized. However, twelve Soul Voices, while the art requested and effect can be customized, cannot be deactivated and replaced. These are Preset Voices, and are universal among all characters. The other four Soul Voices are Custom Voices and can be deactivated and replaced by other Custom Voices. Characters other than Cross have unique combinations of preset Custom Voices.
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