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I finally understand why solo queue whines about Bard.

MalzaharAnyLane·5/3/2015, 3:02:33 PM·3 votes·1,919 views

The 'support feeding when you're behind because support keeps attempting to ward the jungle' problem is exacerbated when he has to collect chimes.

Further, most Bard players use the ult to save themselves from ganks when that happens, which they should never, ever do.

Then most Bard players don't understand the cues when to use the ult so it will land for sure (after Eve/Malphite/Galio ults, or after the enemy Kennen + Amumu initiation, etc.)

Then they will whine about people being out of position after demonstrating they don't have any clue how to use the character to begin with.

tl;dr Bards are bad because when you fall behind the character is too hard for your average player's reflexes and brainpower to figure out how to turn a fight around. When you're ahead they are useless.

I always wondered why people complained about them, now I get it, they can and usually do single-handedly throw games they should otherwise have won by using their ultimate correctly. This is why supports usually get designed for brain damaged people to play, like Sona, easy to learn but the mastery only results in minor advantages.

6 Comments

Trash MammaI5/3/2015, 3:46:04 PM2 votes

From my experience the only people that complain about Bard are adc mains that can't handle the idea of someone not holding their hand the entire game.

None of my other laners complain when I play him or have an issue and they usually lash out at the adc who in turn lashes out at me if I play Bard no matter how well I do.

Though I will admit he requires a lot of communication/coordination than most supports, mainly just low elo though where nobody knows the mini map exist

AtheosisX5/3/2015, 4:00:42 PM2 votes

He's a terrible support for solo queue and low elo. Terrible. And I really don't think he's particularly good otherwise, but in premades or high elo he probably isn't terrible. There are way better support options though, so using him is a bad choice no matter who you are.

Hasztalan25/3/2015, 5:25:26 PM1 votes

It's not hte bard players... its the stupid adc and team who can't work with him. he is extreemly team reliant but when u get the 0-10 ezreal who goes for blue build and can't even connect 1 Q bard cant do shit.

Pikmints5/3/2015, 5:28:47 PM1 votes

Bard, from a support main's point of view, is probably a difficult champ for people to wrap their heads around. Aside from his Q and E which are a standard matter of understanding how they work + practice, his W and R are more tricky than standard spells.

His R requires players to think about a spell in a way that no other spell in the game requires of the player. I could either make all allies in this area invincible/unable to move, or I could make all enemies invincible/unable to move. People use it on themselves when they're alone and caught out, not realizing that they just burned their ult to live for 3 seconds longer. They also use it to control a pile of bodies during a teamfight, giving neither team a real advantage since both allies and enemies were hit without planning. The spell should be used to (in the most basic sense) either make fights uneven because you remove enemies, or saving allies while providing enough time for the spell to land at the proper time.

I see people use his W in a semi-proper way in lane, but people later on use it like a standard heal by placing it directly on an ally. These packs could be placed 1 top lane, 1 mid lane, and 1 jungle before minions spawn, with Bard occasionally dropping a health pack off as he roams near other lanes for either ganks or chimes. Later on, they should be placed in anticipation of teamfights so that people in the back line can retreat to one, getting a speed boost to help them flee if they're being chased. I only see health packs idling near baron and dragon later, not taking advantage of the global influence Bard is able to have since so many supports are expected to focus on the area in their immediate proximity.

That thing about getting caught while chime collecting, that's just an improper analysis of risk v reward coupled with sub-par map awareness. Bard is more prone to it because of the nature of his passive, but that doesn't excuse people being caught out they way they do.