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Bard has an identity crisis that everyone is ignoring because of his decent power levels.

food please·3/1/2018, 7:11:54 PM·1 votes·298 views

I don't want you to agree with me. I want you to hear me out for a bit. I avoided posting this on reddit because I usually get downvoted with absolutely no disagreement or explanation as to why I got downvoted. I'm not complaining about Bard's balance. In terms of power, he is perfectly fine. But I feel like we lost track of what he was supposed to be. His kit screams utility support but his role is damage. I'll get to that later.

A bit of Bard history. You can skip this paragraph

If you have been around since Bard's release, you would have known that Bard was meant to be a roaming utility support. But on release, he was extremely weak while also being difficult to play. This resulted in him being outclassed by supports which not only had more powerful tools, but they were also easier to use. His damage was laughable. His heal was/is useless to make up for it. Nobody plays around Bard E in SoloQ and his ult was the only useful tool in his kit at the time, which people would abandon for a Nami or a Braum ult instead. Over time, Bard received well rounded buffs everywhere. I would say that in terms of identity (not balance), season 6 was his best. He fulfilled the role of a roaming utility support who has multiple tools to control the game while also having enough damage on the side to give presence in lane.

Imagine if Mundo was given an AP scaling on his Q and turned into a poke mage without touching the rest of his kit. That's what happened to Bard.

I think that analogy gives a very close picture. Bard was supposed to be a utility support. Meaning that he does deal damage, but that isn't supposed to be his main role. A few seasons back, not landing good stuns and ults consistently as Bard meant that you would lose the game. Because Riot kept buffing his meep damage and refused to touch anything else, effectively turning him into a botlane APC that I don't have fun playing. It drastically decreased his skill floor too. Instead of dominating teams through CC, well executed ults and engages, you now get to rightclick people to death. Using the rest of his kit is so unsatisfying that I stopped lining up Qs to stun and used them as damage instead. I started ulting only when I need to engage on an enemy because why risk losing a teamfight if I can play it safely and rightclick people to death. It's pathetic.

Compare how you feel if Thresh hooks you vs if Bard lands a stun on you.

/rant

2 Comments

RookPusher3/1/2018, 7:19:01 PM1 votes

They can't make him a roaming utility support because that's not viable. All of his support options are fairly weak. They exist as small compliments to his damage.

His shrines are non-registering heals as soon as the laning phase is over. His stun requires more than a few qualifiers to function. And his ult has heavy downsides.

Magical Journey offers some utility, but in the lane, it's rare that it benefits your ADC.

Riot tried to build a roaming utility support but how that' looks different from a general support that roams isn't clear. To that end, speed boosts, reasonable CC, and fat-from-the-fire moves are often better at making for Roaming Supports, which is why if you want that play style you're better with Zilean than Bard.

FullmuteAll play3/1/2018, 8:06:36 PM1 votes

It drastically decreased his skill floor too. Instead of dominating teams through CC, well executed ults and engages, you now get to rightclick people to death. Using the rest of his kit is so unsatisfying that I stopped lining up Qs to stun and used them as damage instead. I started ulting only when I need to engage on an enemy because why risk losing a teamfight if I can play it safely and rightclick people to death. It's pathetic.

I can't agree with that. Bard who doesn't hit stuns is very useless, just right clicking is not enough to win the fight. His meep quantity is usually what 3-5, plus you need to travel to gather all these meeps. So you AA, then what ? AA is not enough to fulfill the role of support. If you want to play effectively you still need to CC, well executed ults and engages to play well. And he is still good at roaming as long as you land Q and W ally.