How to Help Bard (Making Him the Face of Utility While Making His Weakness More Clear)
Similar to how Tahm Kench was on release, I feel like 
Bard could use gameplay changes to help him be better and smooth out his gameplay by making his strengths big and weaknesses big. Here are changes I would like to see happen to emphasize his identity with Meeps and Wandering Caretaker as well as help him throughout the game.
STATS
- Base Health increased to 555 from 535
- Health per Level decreased to 88 from 93
- Base Mana increased to 425 from 350
- Mana per Level decreased to 40 from 50
- Base Attack Damage decreased to 45 from 52
- Attack Damage per Level decreased to 2.5 from 3
- Base Attack Speed increased to 0.675 from 0.625
- Attack Speed per Level increased to 3% from 1%
- Movement Speed decreased to 325 from 330
PASSIVE CHANGES Meeps
- Meep Cool Down changed to 15/12.5/10/7.5/5 seconds from 10/9/8/7/6 seconds
- Bard max amount of Meeps is now always 4 from 1/2/3/4 depending on chime amount
- Meep Base Damage at the start of game reduced to 20 from 30
- Meeps are no longer consumed on basic attacks against enemy minions
Chimes
- Chimes now spawn every 30 seconds from 50 seconds
- Experience Granted changed to 30 plus 1 per minute after 10 minutes from 20 plus 1 per minute after 5 minutes
- Mana Refunded reduced to 9% from 12%
- Out of Combat movement speed granted by chimes now lasts until in combat
COSMIC BINDING
- Bard now automatically gains a Meep for every target hit (this does not affect the current Meep cool down unless it gives him max Meeps, he cna also not have more than the max amount of Meeps from this)
- Mana Cost changed to 55/60/65/70/75 mana from 60 mana
- Magic Damage decreased to 30/55/80/105/130 from 80/125/170/215/260
- 25% of the damage is dealt to the primary target again if a secondary target is hit or a wall is hit
- AP Ratio reduced to 35% from 65%
- Stun Duration increased to 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds from 1/1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8 seconds
- Slow Duration increased to 1/1.3/1.6/1.9/2.2 seconds from 1/1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8 seconds (meaning the slow duration lasts longer than the stun)
- Slow changed to 45/50/55/60/65% from 60% at all ranks
CARETAKER'S SHRINE
- Mana Cost decreased to 85 mana from 90 mana
- Bard can now place Caretaker Shrine's within 500 units of another Caretaker Shrine globally, but costs 25/30/35/40/45 more mana
- Fully charged Caretaker shrines now overheal, healing all allied units within 300 units
- Cool Down increased to 15/14.25/13.5/12.75/12 seconds from 12 seconds
- Cool Down increased by 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds if used globally
MAGICAL JOURNEY
- Cool Down decreased to 16/15.5/15/14.5/14 seconds from 18/17/16/15/14 seconds
- Mana Cost increased to 50/45/40/35/30 mana from 30 mana at all ranks
- Speed Boost to Allies increased to 15/30/45/60/75% from 10/20/30/40/50%
Now allow me to explain each set of changes individually:
STATS We start with the stat changes. Early on, Bard is very little of a threat or very unique except for his shrines. Playing Bard, the Wandering Caretaker, should be a roaming experience, not a lane experience. So, first we increase his early game health by a large amount so if he gets caught out in a bad situation while roaming, he has more health to escape. We decrease his health per level so he isn't too tanky late game. Next, we increase his base mana so he can constantly shrine his lane while they fend for themselves, although Bard can help them while out of lane much better now. Of course, we decrease his mana per level so he doesn't have too much late game due to this change. We increase his attack speed overall as well so he can dispense Meeps much more quickly. For unknown reason to my eyes, it was painfully low. On further investigation, I have also now decrease his base attack damage due to more Meep damage and decreased his base movement speed due to a chime change below. TL;DR Bard's health and mana are stronger early game, while his attack speed is stronger overall.
PASSIVE This is the main changes here in my eyes. Bard now starts the match with 4 Meeps instead of 1 Meep so he may better defend himself and help his support. As compensation, the cool down per Meep has been increased until late game where it is actually slightly lower and the base damage early has also been slightly lowered so a singular Meep does less, but a cluster will deal more. Meeps are also now only consumed for attacks against enemy champions and neutral monsters, no longer being consumed when attacking enemy minions and only not for enemy minions (still for champion pets). This helps Bard out a lot when he has to hit a minion, but not consume Meeps. Now onto the Chime changes, the real deal here. Chimes now spawn every 30 seconds from 50 seconds after the initial 2-3 chimes at the start of the match. They also grant much more experience early on so Bard is now rewarded and not penalized much more for going to get Chimes. The mana refund has been slightly reduced, but is offset due Bard's max mana being increased. As an additional bonus, the out of combat movement speed duration now lasts until you are in combat instead of for a limited time so getting chimes is easier. TL;DR Bard has more Meep power early game, but individual Meeps take longer to appear. Chimes now spawn more often and provide more experience to get, but provide less mana.
COSMIC BINDING Straight out of the barrel, you will notice the huge damage nerf. However, the compensation is well worth it. Bard's Cosmic Bidning now costs less mana for majority of the game. The biggest change here is hitting Cosmic Binding now gives Bard a free Meep, increased to 2 Meeps if he hits two targets. This means Bard, if he wants to stay in lane, has to be a little more aggressive. The stun duration is also longer and the slow duration is now longer than the stun duration, meaning targets stunned are now slowed for a very brief duration after the stun or are slowed for a long time if he misses the stun. This gives Bard more utility if the stun isn't hit and more punishment if it does. The slow has been decreased early game and very slightly increased late game to compensate this change so Bard isn't a super lane bully early game. The primary target of a stun, on a side note, still takes less damage than the current damage, but takes more damage if a stun occurs. TL;DR Bard's Cosmic Binding is now stronger crowd control wise, but weaker damage wise.
CARETAKER'S SHRINE A big change to help Bard help his ADC, even when roaming. Bard can now cast his shrines from a global range as long as the location of the shrine will be near a currently placed shrine, but will cost him more mana. This gives Bard more room to roam and help his ADC at the same time. This probably also has more interesting uses, but thats up for experimentation. The cool down of the shrine is increased if used globally however as well as the increased mana cost. The normal cool down of the shrine has also been slightly increased early game due to the next change as well. If the shrine reaches a fully charged heal, all units near the shrine will be healed instead of just the target. This helps Bard with sustaining himself when near his ADC as well as giving it more utility late game to keep the sieges going when in a group. Finally, the normal mana cost has also been decreased by... 5 mana, so he can use them more normally if he chooses to not roam as much.
MAGICAL JOURNEY We are coming to an end of our changes, so lets rap it up with this small bit of changes. The cool down has been decreased early game so "sheeping", as I like to call it, is easier early game. Meaning leading enemies into their deaths. The mana cost has been increased, but this is due to the increased speed boost, increasing the last boost by 50%, once again making plays quicker to pull off with the portal and helping with "sheeping" at all stages of the game.
(I found Tempered Fate didn't need changes since it already is a good ultimate, just needs to be used correctly)
The thought behind these changes is increase Bard's early game pressure while also encouraging early roaming more. I tried not to make these changes overall huge buffs with a few compensations in places to increase power in certain places and reduce power in other places. Make Bard really good at what he is meant to be good at (utility) and worse at what he is bad at (damage), following the normal Riot philosophy of buffing their strengths and nerfing their weaknesses to change a champion. I hope Riot and others seriously consider these changes to Bard coming into this upcoming Preseason where change should be huge. Even if not all of them are implemented, I hope some are considered.
http://38.media.tumblr.com/79679c08175011e50766dae8bfd2682f/tumblr_nl5dgpTs171sdk5d7o1_500.gif
