The Limits of Bard's Ultimate

Volt Cruelerz·Feb 24, 2015·2 votes·31,973 views

I think it's unquestionable that Bard's ultimate is one of, if not, the most powerful in the game, but I have some questions...

Can it grant invulnerability to inhibitors or the nexus?
Cab it shut down the Fountain Laser/Fountain Healing?
Can it shut down the energy barriers that block non-lane entry into the bases that only members of that team can pass through?
What happens if you use it on an ulting Malphite? Does he pause mid-dash and then continue after it wears off?
What happens if you use it on a more conventional dash?

Personally, I'd love if it could do 1. 3 would be redundant with his E, but would be cool nonetheless. 2 might be kinda iffy.

17 Comments

Rabid LlamaFeb 24, 201513 votes

Hey there!

Nexus and Inhibitors aren't hit by it - I debated it a bunch, but I like the symmetry of the spell, and there's never a reason to make the enemy Nexus or Inhibitor invulnerable (aside from pure trolling), so I left it out.
a. This means that turrets behind the first turret aren't hit by it either. You can tower-dive, but not double-tower-dive.
It only hits things that are targetable, so no, it doesn't hit the fountain laser (and the fountain healing is just a Mysterious Area of Effect anyway.
Nope, nothing to hit there, but as you (and Inept Maverick) pointed out his E portal can totally go through the base walls, including enemy gates.
This was a tricky case - I ended up going with having Unstoppable units (Malphite Ult, Sion Ult, others) be unaffected by it. It's a disable after all, and they're "immune to disables". Stopping and starting was super janky.
It stops dashes in their tracks, similar to Viktor's W. The alternative has people sliding all over the place, outside the area that was hit, and looks really weird :X

BolwinkelFeb 24, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Rabid Llama,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=weq8lMks,comment-id=0003,timestamp=2015-02-24T21:14:02.694+0000)

Hey there!

Nexus and Inhibitors aren't hit by it - I debated it a bunch, but I like the symmetry of the spell, and there's never a reason to make the enemy Nexus or Inhibitor invulnerable (aside from pure trolling), so I left it out.

a. This means that turrets behind the first turret aren't hit by it either. You can tower-dive, but not double-tower-dive.

It only hits things that are targetable, so no, it doesn't hit the fountain laser (and the fountain healing is just a Mysterious Area of Effect anyway.

Nope, nothing to hit there, but as you (and Inept Maverick) pointed out his E portal can totally go through the base walls, including enemy gates.

This was a tricky case - I ended up going with having Unstoppable units (Malphite Ult, Sion Ult, others) be unaffected by it. It's a disable after all, and they're "immune to disables". Stopping and starting was super janky.

It stops dashes in their tracks, similar to Viktor's W. The alternative has people sliding all over the place, outside the area that was hit, and looks really weird :X

So it won't affect an Olaf who used his ult? Also when asked if it affected the fountain laser i don't think he was asking if it stopped the laser all together but if the laser would still hit the target.

Rabid LlamaFeb 24, 20157 votes

That's right - it doesn't hit Olaf during his ultimate, on either team.

It's a bit of an odd spell, so I think players will discover cool interactions and plays around Unstoppability.

As for the base laser - I actually didn't know, so I just tested - the Fountain Laser won't shoot you if you're untargetable, and the fountain healing also won't work... but you're invincible, so it's not a huge deal :)

In general, this spell works very similar to Zhonya's ~~Ring~~ Hourglass, although there are some differences since you can be Tempered Fate'ed during times that Zhonya's is normally disabled.

SiachiFeb 24, 20152 votes

Someone actually brought up this scenario:

Link to Original Post

{quoted}

You know, your last point actually got me thinking.

What would happen if say....

You have Bard, Yasuo, and Malphite on a team (with some other jungler and adc). Malphite ults in, and Yasuo ults-- bard ults during yasuo's ult.

Do all 7 people just kinda freeze there mid ult in midair? It's never been possible to Zhonya's while CC'd before so I'm curious what kind of bugs or tricks this could make.

And a bit after that comment in the conversation, he mentioned a BUNCH of scenarios that he might some questions to (Or he might just want to test them on the PBE and have the joy of discovering it for himself; I can't really speak for him)

ThryaleFeb 24, 20154 votes

I spy a lurker rioter that's been playing the game for a long time. (zhonya's ring has been dead for years)

Rabid LlamaFeb 24, 20157 votes

You got me :)

SentethFeb 25, 20151 votes

Could you rename Magical Journey? Door maker would be ***soooooooo ***much cooler.

(Sorry for being off topic, I didn't know how to reach you)

DJ Di0Feb 25, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Rabid Llama,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=weq8lMks,comment-id=00030000000000010000,timestamp=2015-02-24T23:18:42.681+0000)

You got me :)

I have one more question about his ult. Is it Global range? Or something along the lines of Pantheon or Twisted Fate? The preview didn't show a range indicator.

BlackquillFeb 26, 20151 votes

It has the same range like Ziggs ult if i'm not mistaking.

BolwinkelFeb 25, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Rabid Llama,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=weq8lMks,comment-id=000300000000,timestamp=2015-02-24T21:46:36.578+0000)

That's right - it doesn't hit Olaf during his ultimate, on either team.

It's a bit of an odd spell, so I think players will discover cool interactions and plays around Unstoppability.

As for the base laser - I actually didn't know, so I just tested - the Fountain Laser won't shoot you if you're untargetable, and the fountain healing also won't work... but you're invincible, so it's not a huge deal :)

In general, this spell works very similar to Zhonya's ~~Ring~~ Hourglass, although there are some differences since you can be Tempered Fate'ed during times that Zhonya's is normally disabled.

Ok thank you for testing that out. I'm silently laughing to myself just imagining Bard in One for All: Mirror Mode. So many zhonyas.

AhhShucksFeb 25, 20151 votes

If a tower is targeting someone and you ult the tower will it choose a new target once the stasis wears off?

LneacxFeb 25, 20153 votes

What is Bard ult's interaction with cast animations?

BlackquillFeb 26, 20151 votes

Question: Vi's ult tooltip states that she becomes unstoppable. So does No. 5 count for her too?

"The alternative has people sliding all over the place, outside the area that was hit, and looks really weird :X" I'd love to see that ingame just for the sake of seeing it once. :D