Thoughts and opinions on Bard
To start out with, I have no idea what the numbers or stats are gonna be on Bard so a good bit of things on the list might be/is spoken as "potential" or "situation".
Overall, I like the concept of Bard. The kit looks pretty solid. Nothing too overbearing, and nothing that seems under-tuned. The only worries that might come across are strictly numbers. Bard has the potential to being an unmatched roaming support that can provide both lane and kill pressure easily.
Passives:
Meeps: Though it is second, I feel this is the simpler of the two passives to start out with. Some people have asked why does he need the Meep(s)? Well, they are most likely going to be his main damage source since most everything else provides more utility than anything. Only thing that can make me worry about them is how often they appear and how hard they scale with the Chimes. Still, I don't see this being too much of an issue unless they appear too slowly.
Ancient Chimes: Now this passive.. This is the thing that makes me worry the most out of everything in his kit. They are what will/may allow him to be the best roaming support in the game. The MS is nice and simple. Just pick up a Chime and get to place vision or another lane faster. Free Mana from them can lead to sustain that will allow him to put more pressure on lanes with abilities than any other support. Numbers will determine how much sustain and potential saved gold he can have if not needing to buy Mana Pots due to Chimes. Now the kicker.. Free experience. That is the major drawback of all supports that roam. They miss out on experience by leaving the lane and roaming in the river or jungle. Depending on how often Chimes appear and how much experience they give, they can make Bard a high quality pick from sheer map pressure without falling off too hard like other supports that choose to roam.
Abilites:
Q, Cosmic Binding: This ability alone can help give great harass in lane. A line ability that can Slow if one target is hit or Stun if hits an additional unit or a wall. That is self-explanatory. Now what can make it dangerous. Depending on enemy lane and your ADC(or whoever you happen to be in lane with), it can force enemy laners to hide behind minions or with their backs towards the river. Get too close to a minion, you can get stunned. Get too close to a wall, you can get stunned. It becomes a dance like with Morgana, Blitz, and Thresh only Bard can strike more than just the first target. It can also be a great fight changer. The enemy will already be dispersed due to his ult, but that will be later. The face that he can Stun TWO enemy champions in a team fight with just one simple ability can add a lot of pressure. Not to mention the whole Stun proc from hitting a wall as well. It's a great ability to both engage/disengage with and give great utility in fights.
W, Caretaker's Shrine: This one is just simple. Make a free medkit for an ally to pick up and they get a boost of speed too. Just slap one behind you and away from enemy so ally can safely pick it up or drop them wherever you want during a team fight to keep someone healthy, chase, or escape. Simple enough and really not much to say.
E, Magical Journey: Now this thing.. Pair this when ganking with an ally. Imagine the early game pressure it can bring if you team with your ally to suddenly fly over a wall to assist another lane. The amount of escapes it can bring. The synergy with any jungler that can dash/jump over a wall for invades. Slap a tunnel for them to go in, they hop out if needed or want to. Can even decrease the jungler's time in enemy jungle if you go with them into a camp. Help them clear then you both tunnel out with just one skill and dare an enemy to follow you if you know they don't have vision, not to mention the punishment you can give with the Q stun that would be so easy to toss down if they do jump through. This thing can bring so much lane and jungle pressure anywhere that Bard goes if an ally is around him.
R, Tempered Fate: Best way to put it like others have. It's a Zhonya's in an ult that's also an AoE. Hit 6 early and you can try to gank with your jungler in a lane. Wait behind a wall(if not spotted), toss it out, slap tunnel on the wall for you and jungler/ally, wait for enemy to be set free, and kill/heavy harass. It can give easy access to 3v1's or jumping into fights over walls with your team if you have vision. You have your Q to slow, if you don't stun. W to help keep ally(ies) healthy and chase. And your own Meeps to help slap a bit of damage as well. That's just the gank/jungle ambush potential ALONE. It's pretty self-explanatory how it can be used in lane as a way to freeze enemy engage or to force them to sit in place while your jungler/reinforcements arrive. Then there's the objective play. You want to secure that kill on a low health target, but tower is there? Zhonya's the tower and dive in(make sure not to hit enemy unless you aren't worried about a little tower damage or unless the enemy is deeper behind the tower). Want to stop that dragon/baron from diving for a few seconds longer until your team arrives? Zhonya's the dragon/baron and any enemies you can/want.
That's pretty much my thoughts and potential usages from him. I don't think he'll be OP unless numbers are a bit much for the sheer utility he can bring, but that can also make him trash if numbers get knocked too low. He's just any supports fantasy if they want to roam and apply pressure in more than just their lane.
TL,DR: Bard can be the best support for sheer map pressure due to roaming and potentially great utility usage/assisting ganks. Can be overbearing, but not OP unless numbers/Chime appearances are too much(this only being if experience from Chimes is a bit much). Damage can be lackluster if Meeps don't appear often enough, but not too much(and is balanced around the amount of utility he brings).
So.. What are everyone's thoughts? Hyped, scared, or don't care? Any info would be nice for clarity to myself and others. Do you agree with the potential I see or do you see even more?
Side note: This is all stuff I had thought about WITHOUT taking ITEMS into account, aside from the mention of mana potions in Chime passive. This is just based on Bard alone.
