The harp is a lie.

[NoctisUmbra]

This, and pardon the crappy drawing i've done, but essentially this is my thoughts on how the "Barp" or "How" works.

http://oi51.tinypic.com/n2hbtt.jpg

Thank you for the well-drawn diagram.

Also the denial is amusing. Much more amusing are the accusations of it being a stupid idea.

It is most likely a bow that transforms into a lyre. I haven't seen anything else mentioned that is more likely to be the case based on any sort of solid reasoning or logic. Plenty of rationalizations for it not being a bow/lyre though, and very likely stemming from denial.

It isn't 100% proof, but it is definitely the most likely scenario at this point.

I for one sincerely hope it is in fact a weapon that transforms between bow and lyre, with Archer being the class that the Bard job stems from. Providing long range support in the form of DPS as well as buffs just sounds like a whole lot of fun to me. With Dragon Knight and Warrior basically being confirmed much more clearly in that picture than Bard perhaps, there really isn't going to be a necessary demand for MOAR ARC DPS, so having an Archer go Bard effectively reducing it's DPS ceiling but in turn having the ability to buff everyone on the team up or even debuff the enemy sounds much more appealing to me.

Bard is gonna be more than just sitting back and playing tunes during a whole fight. We get to snipe the enemies too?

Count me in.

After seeing that cover, I'm more excited about Bard than any other job.