Bard...the half champion

Gay Goblin Jack·Dec 16, 2015·1 votes·1,085 views

I am sorry but thats how I feel when I play him, I am level 5 with him and yeah he is kinda strong but...idk, he doesn't do the enough dmg, he doesn't have the enough endurance, he doesn't have the enough heal factor....rito, Bard can do everything...but in a mediocre way, it feels like an uncomplete champion, like a if it was the HALF of the champion he should be! That bugs me A LOT because he is FUN TO PLAY but its sacrificing my utillity to the team! His stuns are VERY situational, his tunnel is a sword of double edge, to get a KINDA decent heal you need TO WAIT for the heal to charge up!...does Soraka have to wait? does Sona? Janna? ....I mean...idk, maybe I am wrong, maybe there is people with good facts and arguments to shut me up but still, that doesn't away the feel of this...uncompleted project

what you guys think? let me know, I am very curious what you all have to say

24 Comments

Shac NorrisDec 16, 20153 votes

Ever had an AP bard deal half of your hp with only 1 basic attack?

Yeah you've never seen any good Bard players.

NogrimDec 16, 20151 votes

the problem is he has been almost a non-factor in the game up until that point. meep farming is boring and usually pisses off your team if your solo

Shac NorrisDec 16, 20151 votes

You're bard, you generally don't give a shit about what your team thinks of you.

And besides, you have your ult if they absolutly need help..

Aeolian MelodiesDec 16, 20152 votes

His stun hits almost all the time in lane because there's almost always a wall, the other bot laner, or a creep in the target's general area.

Damage isn't all there is to a champion especially a support.

His heal is just like sort of there as a bonus, he isn't meant to be a heavy sustain support. He is poke + high utility with strong roam potential.

Part of your issue may be solo QQ, he mostly shines in organized play.

kJsDec 16, 20151 votes

It's not hard to erase the stun requirements. And even if the requirements are met the ability speed is noticeably slow, easy enough for Kalistas, Vaynes and Tristanas to reposition.

And yes, he's meant to be for organized team play not soloQ, his abilities are actually quite powerful if co-ordinated with.

The most he has/most reliable parts of his kit, is his slows and zoning when you don't have him co-ordinated.

NogrimDec 16, 20151 votes

i've tried to love bard, but he is hard to play and really unrewarding. when you try to build up your meeps everyone complains you arent in lane even though you are warding like crazy. the heal is weak unless you wait on it, and even when your teammates are smart enough not to grab it before it matures the heal is crap compared to other supports that are supposed to stay in lane.

as is he is more of a support to your jungle than he is to a lane, which really just doesnt fit in the current game mechanics

darkmatchwaldoDec 16, 20151 votes

Solution: Jungle Bard

NogrimDec 16, 20151 votes

if it were remotely viable it could be a lot of fun actually i just don't think he has anywhere near the right kit currently to be effective.

even with rune glaive the cooldown on his spells don't really synergize

BoulderoxDec 16, 20151 votes

Did it once with success, had fun, his 1st clear is awful though, you need w shrines to start into q into w again I feel. One you get the aoe clears are decent. And ganking is surprisingly good even with a slow. I went juggernaut so I could be a tad tanky, built bruiser ap btw...

G01fanThomasDec 16, 20151 votes

Bard is a stupid champoin, end of story.

BoulderoxDec 16, 20151 votes

Bard & Zilean both champs that have ONLY 1 damage ability, and utility for the rest.... zilean is seen as decent at least.

Bard is not meant to carry with how much stuff he can abuse if used well...

ŃordDec 16, 20151 votes

Bard is totally the best sup. Sona has high mana cost heal. Soraka sacrifices health (and mana with the nerfs). Bard heal also provides movement speed. His stun is actually quite good as it works on walls, minions and people clumped up together. You can't stay behind minions and you can't stay behind your support to save you. You also can't stay near walls at all. This is really good zoning. His portal is good if you follow up with stun. It's not double edged. No one is stupid enough to chase if you have mana and cds. His damage with thunderlords and ap is really high too. The ult is very useful. You can set up your stun with it if multiple people, you can save a turret, you can save yourself under turret, you can catch fleeing enemies, you can end ganks in their tracks, you can even use it as a teamwide zonya's that would save your entire team from an area of effect ult (zigs bomb).

NogrimDec 16, 20151 votes

if his stun didnt require the wall or another target he would be a lot better imho. it is still a skill shot stun with minimal damage.

hell if it could slow if it only hit one person it would be a bit better.

the heal isnt bad but considering the time to set it up to heal for a good amount its kind of shit increasing the active heal to a more reasonable number at a higher mana cost with a mana refund when it matured would be a great way to work that. so instant heal = better but costs more, and shrine would take longer but cost less

the tunnel can set up some awesome play but is otherwise just a travel power, maybe adding some sort of passive here would help

the ult is great the only issue i have with it is the initiation time linked to the distance makes it quite hard to aim and land for most players.

ŃordDec 16, 20151 votes

But it does slow when it hits one person. I swear! o.o Also, think of it like a vayne condemn. It's "high skill cap" so it's a plus (for me anyway). Bard doesn't have the best on call heal. That's true. Bard heals are kind of like lane sustain rather than last second prime heal that saves your adc (although it can still do that). Bard's mana problems can be solved by gathering chimes. The best time to do this during lane phase is when your adc got a kill or when the enemy adc has recalled or when you're going back to lane from fountain (basically when you go warding the river or roaming, get chimes). Adding something to his tunnel... well I don't think it's lacking but I respect your opinion. With regards to aiming the ult, it's just practice.

NogrimDec 16, 20151 votes

i don't disagree

his Q is a bit lack luster (im not sure about the slow so il bow to you on that one) maybe a bit more damage would improve it for the average user, but as his only damage ability its pretty crap. as people have said the best comparison is zileans kit and his time bomb, and thats has a lot more offensive potential, i guess second best compare would be soraka and her star call, both of which i think offer much greater support capabilities and have better damage output

i think his heal needs a bit of love, i think due to his wandering nature it should have a little more punch when its use directly on a champ with double the mana cost and then having the shrine return a portion of its cost when it matures would help a lot so 100 hp heal at 100 mana or it upgrades and become 200hp for 50 mana as an example

the tunnel is very strong when your team has voice, but usually only when you have voice, for average play id say its a lot harder to use well. giving it an increased cast range might help allies see the path ahead of them and have a bit more time to react in a chase scenario i find in random games is people dont see the tunnels coming and end up taking a different route away from where it would have made a great play.

(allowing people to travel both directions would be pretty awesome too that way if no one follows you you have a shot at getting out of the situation instead of it being instant death.

as for the ult im just suggesting they figure out a way to make its usage delay a bit more consistent so its easier to predict from all sides and i think that would help everyone trying to hit a moving target with a hard to predict delay is a bit over kill for an ability that deals on damage at all and can really screw your own team members when you over compensate because you were closer than you thought when map viewing.

ŃordDec 16, 20151 votes

With regards to his damage, the majority of his power currently stems from his q+aa with meep+thunderlord proc. Bard's chime collecting is a large part of his damage output. More meeps, more powerful aa. While zilean may have a stronger q in terms of pure spell damage, the meep empowered aa are very much part of his combo. Bard is not just a spell caster. He's an auto attacker too. I'm not gonna disagree with your proposed spell buffs as it's for discussion purposes. But my personal opinion is that he's in a good place already and doesn't need any buffs.

Aeolian MelodiesDec 17, 20151 votes

{quoted}

i don't disagree

his Q is a bit lack luster (im not sure about the slow so il bow to you on that one)

It's like you don't know about Internet even if you're on it.

"Cosmic Binding RANGE: 950 / 450 SPEED: 1500 COST: 60 MANA COOLDOWN: 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 Cosmic Binding ACTIVE: Bard fires a burst of spirit energy in the target direction, dealing magic damage to the first enemy struck and briefly Slow icon slowing them by 60%."

http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Bard

NogrimDec 21, 20151 votes

at the time i hadn't played bard in at least 3 months sorry for not knowing every champ 100% since then ive played 3 or 4 games with him after adjusting masteries to abuse thunderlord and yeah he is fine

insaiyanbaccaDec 16, 20151 votes

eh, i think hes probably one of the strongest supports if you're any good with him. but i do think he needs a minor power shift from his q to his w of some sort. like his w is almost non-existant after 10 mins. but another thing that should be noted, not only do you have to know how to play him your team also has to know how to play with him. he is probably one of the supports that has the highest utility but unlike other utility based supports cough Lulu cough bard sacrifices his damage for his utility. but damage isnt all there is when it comes to supports at least it shouldn't be.

BeldairDec 16, 20151 votes

Bard is a strong support, when utilized right.

I've had a Scion give me props for my perfectly timed ults on him when he ulted (every time he ulted i was able to stop him in his tracks with mine, sometimes with no vision of where he was).

Another game, my adc got tower dived ny their jungler, adc, and support. She died, since they focused her, but i was able to kill their support and jungler before their adc got me.

Bard may not be a power house with ap spells, but overall Bard can become a strong laner in his own rights. He can even set up his team for a kill with his Q, insta W, or his ult.

Same instance with the adc, their Jax (jungler) chased me and our Kayle(jungler) while we were low health. I hit him with my q which only slowed him, but that was all Kayle needed to pounce on him for the kill.

So don't count Bard out of anything. While he may not be amazing in every field, his utility as a support is what makes him shine bright.

UnpaladinDec 16, 20151 votes

This was how Bard was around the time he was released; felt like he was an oddball that sat around not doing much. Then players figured out how to use Bard ultimate. Then Riot buffed the fuck out of his Q. Then released Thunderlord's Decree. Now he's terrifying.

NogrimDec 17, 20151 votes

actually after seeing this here i switched up masteries for thunderlord and yeah never mind he is fine as is lol.

these new masteries imho are fucked and have "broken" a lot of champs.

Aeolian MelodiesDec 17, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Nova Force,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=2OfUoG9f,comment-id=0008,timestamp=2015-12-16T17:48:18.620+0000)

This was how Bard was around the time he was released; felt like he was an oddball that sat around not doing much. Then players figured out how to use Bard ultimate. Then Riot buffed the fuck out of his Q. Then released Thunderlord's Decree. Now he's terrifying.

Rito's logic of buffing the F out of new champs before people figure them out annoys the hell out of me tbh.

Meep ManDec 17, 20151 votes

Bard is incredibly powerful. His Q stun can win trades alone and his W provides exceptional lane sustain. His R can also decide team fights if landed right. Bard isn't at ALL bad, he just requires exceptional positioning, knowledge of the game, and shot calling to play well.

Also, Ive heard many say Bard's Q is almost impossible to get the stun with, but that is not true at all. This is, as said above, a positioning issue.