@Ringabell
The first line of that is Very important, Bard greatly increases the DPS done by BLM and WHM, while still doing decent AoE damage themselves.
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It all depends on what you are after. Since cross class abilities for blm from Bard is a must, i would just say go ahead and level up Bard, but why not both at once ;)
Bards can do more damage then people make them look like and are always needed for most fights. Chances are if you plan on running coil at least one Bard would be needed for most turns.
I actual prefer myself to play as Bard for certain situations as it is just easier :P Also you do dot damage as well being windbite and Venemeous Bite both of which i like to apply to multiple adds
And i very much have to agree, no class even if movement involved comes close to aoe damage of blm, just it is what blm's are great at
And if Bards use Foe Requiem, oh my yes :)