Concerns/Discussion About Bard

Let me begin by saying that I've been super exited for the reveal/release of Bard. I think his Miyazaki-esque design is great, and I really hope he brings some strategic diversity to the support role. However, I have some concerns about how he will actually perform in-game and wondered if we could get some discussion going, preferably from Red posters or people who have played Bard a good amount on the PBE.

1. Lack of 'comeback potential.' Obviously not every champion should have this, but I believe every champ should have some meaningful contribution even when behind. For supports, this is usually CC/utility, which is pretty much always good. Bard has some of this stuff with his Q and Ult, but I worry than if he (or his ADC) get behind then his core vision may be compromised. Let's say that for whatever reason bot doesn't go too well and for whatever reason after the first back the other team's ADC comes back to lane with an advantage (e.g. BF sword instead of just Pickaxe). If this happens, I don't see how Bard is going to be able to do his job as a roaming support. Even the ADCs that Riot identifies as more independent (Cait, Sivir) are probably going to find themselves zoned away from farm and maybe even dived/engaged on. I feel like Bard will be forced to stay in lane because if he leaves even for a moment things will go badly wrong. As a result he won't be able to collect chimes, roam the map and generally fulfill his roam-support fantasy at all.

2. Lack of clear build path. Most supports either build for tankiness or some sort of CDR/AP/Mana sustain combo, but Bard doesn't seem like either of these will quite suit him. He doesn't really have the skills to be a real tank (no inbuilt survivability/initiate) and his AP ratios are so bad that buying AP isn't going to be very rewarding. As a result I feel like he will be pushed into buying pure utility items like Locket, Mikaels e.t.c. In my view this is an issue because, when playing support, I like that there is still a kind of build fantasy to fulfil. It's great when as Leona/Braum you genuinely feel really tanky, or as Sona/Nami you genuinely feel like your damage/healing is meaningful. I don't see anything really comparable for Bard. Obviously building for pure utility is no bad thing since items like Locket are very useful for the team, but they don't feel very impactfull for the support player themself.

3. Lack of 'points of interaction' in fights (especially in teamfights). Probably my biggest worry. By 'points of interaction' I basically just mean moments when you get to make a cool/important thing happen. For an ADC, every AA is a 'point of interaction.' For a mage, every spell. My worry is that Bard just won't have that much to do in teamfights. Obviously his ult is a single, massive interaction but once that's used I don't see what Bard has to add other than just lobbing Qs. His shrines probably aren't going to come into play in a lot of fights, especially teamfights, due to the long charge-up time and his E, while useful for jungle fights, is unlikely to do much if a fight happens in the middle of a lane. Supports standing on the edge of teamfights feeling useless was a big problem back in the day which Riot have thankfully addressed over the years, but I feel like Bard is going to suffer from it in a big way.

You could probably sum up my concerns by saying that Bard may have too much situational utility, and not enough of anything else. Anyway, please discuss/criticise/disagree with my analysis.