Bard is a very fun champ but...
When you actually play Bard, you realize how little he can do compared to others. There is TOO much counterplay to this champion compared to other supports that don't/barely have.
Let me start off with my biggest gripe in his kit.
His god damn elusive passive which ends up becoming such a noob trap that it defeats the purpose and identity of this champion. Bard is suppose to be this wanderer and ideally the concept behind this is that he's suppose to be a roaming support due to the chime mechanics. The problem is, IT'S NOT WORTH ROAMING FOR CHIMES. You end up behind everything just to pick these things up. It barely gives you the exp to make up for any minion you miss out of range, they are usually scattered really far so back tracking is painful, especially when some are spawned out of lane or in enemy territory and my biggest issue is that every 5 chimes, you get an upgrade to your meeps. The max amount of chimes you can get to maximize your bonuses is 150 chimes. Every other 5 chimes you collect after the cap gives you damage. The problem in this is that chimes take forever to appear AND appear in such small numbers. I believe it's 2 chimes every 50 seconds. To get 150 chimes, you would need to stall the game for more than an hour and by an hour, you'll have 135 if you collect EVERY chime and not miss one. So honestly just stay in your lane and stop picking up chimes because it's not worth it WHEN IT SHOULD BE. If you're going out of lane to pick these things up, make it satisfying, not punishing.
The Q has a detection problem and very deceptive. The missile speed is so slow that anyone can escape out of its range so easily. They have to be next to terrain or a minion/monster/champion so you're somewhat limited. The damage is low and later you just don't even care about how much damage you do and instead concentrate so hard to position yourself just to stun people.
His W is only good when you leave it out fully charged and the heal should be increased when put down early. Other than that, you would just insta-cast it on yourself or someone just for the movement speed. I feel like the duration it takes for the heal to be fully optimized should be shorter but honestly no complain here.
His E portal is being buffed up next patch but hopefully soon it is easier to click so it's more accessible.
And then.... His ult. His god damn ult. I fucking hate this shit. The speed it travel depending on distance is so unreliable especially when you're trying to make the best out of it is so unpredictable that it will most likely work against you. I have not seen a single good well placed Bard ult. I understand the good uses it could have but the window opportunity for it is so low that you're just better off forgetting about it.
All in all, Bard is not meant for solo q and even in a 5 man team comp, this guy just fails to deliver because other champions are just more effective and efficient with their kits.
If you want to buff Bard, buff his chimes for the love of god. Make them more satisfying if you want Bard to "wander" and roam more or else he will just be played out like every other support and just lane until the phase is over. Make the Cosmic Binding missile speed faster. It is so slow that you have to be melee range to even hit anything despite the range it has. Also, the hit detection for Cosmic Binding is weird but that's just me. And lastly make the heal charge up faster.
