so can we agree bard is one of the more balanced champions on release recently?

soliznoel·3/16/2015, 11:31:04 PM·25 votes·3,060 views

He seems fine, it's just his chimes need to spawn faster, or give him rewards more quickly, because he just leave lane for chimes and it doesn't have a noticeable effect till later on. Also he really is made to fit bot lane only, since he really only gives utility

edit: ok listening to some feed back, he is balanced in the sense he isn't op or game breaking, but he isn't balanced because he is weak, which is true. He does lack alot of damage though, and his ult needs some buffs(kinda)

39 Comments

UncensoredAngel3/17/2015, 12:06:54 AM10 votes

He needs to get gold when he picks up a chime so he doesn't average 6k per game

Drakzul3/17/2015, 2:21:08 AM8 votes

If by balanced you mean, terrible and shittiest win rate in the game. Sure. I mean, he's no Rek'sai... but he's like Kalista on release. I think the most recently balanced champ on release was Vel'koz. Everything since has been instantly nerfed because op or nerfed because buggy/trash.

Phife3/16/2015, 11:39:26 PM7 votes

Hes a utility only champ. His ult needs to have a base damage to enemies

Mega Annie X3/16/2015, 11:54:02 PM7 votes

utility only? Is that a joke? What utility? slight stun that can miss on a 3 day cooldown, slight heal that boost movespeed for a whopping half a second, 200 spell damage in full rotation, useless wall move that is never leveled past level 1 and moves slow as molasis, ult that cant ever be used defensively due to ridiculous delay?

ForgiveColour3/16/2015, 11:56:19 PM4 votes

if balance to you means 35% win rate then k L

MohawkBird3/17/2015, 2:43:30 AM3 votes

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lB2kGRlc8y3/17/2015, 5:23:40 AM2 votes

Yes, from what i've observed he's very balanced, as he doesn't have ridiculous amounts of free damage tied to every ability. He's one of the few champions they've made that doesn't have some other passive tied to every gimmick ability. They've somehow managed to avoid the temptation of making another 7 ability whore champ like jayce, elise or nidale.

MrSc0tty3/17/2015, 3:13:56 PM1 votes

Problem is that Bard doesn't fit well into the current itemization scheme and mobility meta.

His mobility and speed boost doesn't being much to the table to already mobile allies and his delayed ult makes it suuuuper hard to use effectively offensively or defensively. The only support item that works on him is Targon as he doesn't stay in lane for coin and doesn't have much poke for spellthief.

He's just a bit of an odd duck and once people figure him out and they fix his bugs he'll be fine if eternally bad in soloQ where people don't know how to play with him.

Personally I think his kit offers an interesting use for the Twin Shadows item maybe transitioning to Zzrot or BoC late game so he can pop over to side lanes and be a split-pushy style support.

Death By Salt3/17/2015, 3:33:13 PM1 votes

Well he does do decent damage if played right. Although i will say its not enough to 1v1 very many people, it is enough to get someone a kill. I chase their top laner till he sends his team after me, then i just use E and start a teamfight picking up a kill or two for myself and the rest for my team.

Silents4293/17/2015, 3:34:11 PM1 votes

Velkoz Would like to disagree.

GG Beers3/17/2015, 4:38:32 PM1 votes

Bard is horrible -- book mark this for when they buff him over the next 3 patches.

His damage is very lackluster all game, even if you spend the whole game collecting chimes he does very little damage and is waaaay to squishy to even be in range to attack people most game. His heal is ok if you let it ramp up and level it first, still nothing compared to all the other healers, even Taric. His Q stun is really hard to land in clutch situations.

His ult is well, his ult. It can be great it can be terrible, IMO the delay needs to be shortened to stop flashes.

FakeGravity3/17/2015, 4:49:13 PM1 votes

my problem with bard is that his R have depressing delay, his E is incredibly hard to use if your team is behind, and his heals are terribly small in teamfight when you need them, maybe boost the insta heal effect? and reduce the delay of his ulti closer he use it?

Ltank1293/17/2015, 4:50:40 PM1 votes

He needs a buff bad. He isn't completely OP, like Rek'Sai was on release or Kalista is now a few months later, but he is a bit underwhelming to play as at the moment. His entire kit is very conditional and very difficult to use. His q is hard to land properly and has short range compared to a lot of other bot lane cc. His e can fuck over his entire team. His ult is possibly the most dangerous part of his kit. I have pulled off amazing moments where I ulted half the enemy team just as the other half engaged and won my team the fight, and I have pulled off terrible ults where my timing was off and I ulted my tank at the wrong time, leaving my team to die miserably. His passive is great for early game sustain, but for the danger it puts your ADC in, the danger it puts you in, and the amount of XP you lose from being out of lane (The amount you get is never enough) not to mention gold, it just doesn't ever feel like the payoff is adequate. I think he has great potential, but I feel like he is possibly the hardest champion to use, and I feel like the payoff for mastering him isn't as great as for mastering less difficult supports like Nami, Thresh, or Lulu.

A Palmtop Tiger3/17/2015, 6:53:49 PM1 votes

I dont know about balanced. He seemed a bit underpowered to me. His laning has little to no pressure and a lot of other supports can do what he does except more reliably. His stun isnt very reliable and his heal isnt that strong and costs a ton of mana. Tbh the only reason I can see people should play bard is because of his interesting usage of his E and R.

The Paulrus3/17/2015, 7:55:56 PM1 votes

Bard's in a pretty good spot. A high skillcap champion, which explains the abysmal winrate, but that's to be expected. He's high utility and requires great teamcoordination to be able to execute properly.

I'd say he needs to get 3 gold for every chime pickup to help out his gold, but other than that, he's in a pretty good way overall.

Windfallen3/17/2015, 9:06:19 PM1 votes

It's refreshing that he isn't game breaking on release. The mechanics are unique and it'll be interesting to see what kinds of plays he can bring to the table with all this utility.

I love and hate how he's so niche.

He's basically been pidgeonholed into support. Still, at least he's not in a spot where he can be viable anywhere because he's just so strong/safe/reliable.

He can't even be cheesey with an AD build like Thresh Lulu or even Annie since he lacks combat abilities and his auto attack animation is pitiful.

His build path is arguable. AD is out of the question of course, which is understandable.... but even the benefit of AP is lackluster on him. So he has to be tanky or buy items for the utility while having no abilities that really encourage him to soak damage/ lock down targets in the middle of a fight.

Meh.

IceKingChernobog3/18/2015, 5:41:59 AM1 votes

His ult is fine tbh, his q can use a damage buff. But he's in a really good spot as you said he's not OP or game breaking like the last few champs that came out (looks at Kalista Yasuo ) He requires alot of skill to pull off efficiently and not much people can do that(At the moment). Though i do see him being an LCS pick or ban in the future.

Meep Man3/17/2015, 1:43:27 AM1 votes

I would like to see what the OP said happen and maybe make his nase stats tankier. He is the only ranged champion I think would be fine with having around 90 health per level and MR per level due to his lack of self defense.

Meep Man3/17/2015, 2:24:08 AM1 votes

Bard doesnt really need direct buffs, he more needs a LOT of QoL buffs with a few really small number tweaks.

Potato Doc3/17/2015, 3:23:17 AM1 votes

The skill cap ceiling is high for this one, it will cause a lot of people to think he is either OP or UP when in reality he is in a very fine situation

SpecterVonBaren3/17/2015, 6:15:37 AM1 votes

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. No. Vel'Koz is still the last most balanced champ on release. Just because a champ is horribly weak (In solo que, pros will likely be able to use him, maybe) doesn't mean they are balanced, it means they're weak.

Xela Syab3/17/2015, 11:44:34 AM1 votes

He's not "balanced" hes the most "trollable" champ in the game, even unintentionally. There's too many opportunities for error on his kit and he requires smart teammates to help him roam and gank which is impossible in low elos/normals.

Unedible3/17/2015, 2:55:25 PM1 votes

I think he's balanced. Most balanced than the previous champions released anyways. His mana costs are really high, and his base mana is really low though...