He actually seems pretty terrible IMO- not much peel, crappy lane because he's destined to roam and the closest lane to him (mid) isn't even bordered by walls which makes his stun so much harder to land, etc.- (I probably think this because I just suck at him), but what makes decent as a champ? Is he strong right now?
ABlueQuaker5 votesHe's actually really good if you (Bard), your Jungler and/or mid laner are on the same page. You can get some pretty disgusting ganks off on the bot lane with Magical Journey (E) and Cosmic Binding (Q) as well as some pretty good vision control as soon as you get a sightstone.
His W needs to be changed to scaled off your Maximum HP, and R needs a sweet spot mechanic.
EDIT: With regards to the W change, he just really doesn't work as a Mage-Support but with no AP the heal from your W is pretty irrelevant past lane phase.
itsPhoenix3 votesTHIS. So much. He works so well if you pre-make with a Jungler and/or Mid Lane because you can go to the wall at bot lane near blue buff and end up behind the enemy team just like good fiddle/rek'sai/shacos.
And yeah. idk about that R change, but it makes sense otherwise you can really use it offensively/strategically.
DarkSoul19943 votesYeah, and I like that comparison between Bard and fiddle/rek'sai/shaco EXCEPT THE WHOLE TEAM CAN GO THROUGH THE TUNNEL. xD
Sirsir2 votesWeak. Hes not horrible like a lot of the boards would have you believe, and a lot of people are still figuring him out since he is so weird, but he is a little weak in lane (where supports are supposed to carry) since his E has no real lane functionality. His Q is too low of a range to go in for stuns (but its an amazing counter-engage) and it also doesn't really feel worth it to use it just for harass since the base damage is pretty low. All he really does is keep the lane stocked with health packs and go in for a single auto when his meeps are up. (Too many people don't realize you need to start Spellthiefs, meep autos proc it twice)
5.6 looks like it will help a bit, Q is getting a slight bump in damage and E is gonna be up more often.
And his kit just generally doesn't work that well in soloQ. It has amazing potential, but its so easy to misplay with it.
Swampmajikk1 votesno. He has a horrible winrate and his kit is one of the few in the game that can actually HURT his team.. the potential is there for his kit to work really well...but from what i've seen the team would have to have some kind of telepathic level of cooperation for that to be the case..
I still feel like they need to pull him back onto the drawing board and work him out a lil bit more...
Vicvictorw1 votesHe's not "destined to roam," and that's the single largest thing that has people perceive him as bad.
We have a ton of people that are trying to play Bard with no idea how to play as a support, which is making a lot of Bards look bad. You roam when it's safe to do so, and you use that roam to visit and gank another lane while placing wards.
It could turn out he could benefit from a numbers tweak (I for one would really love to see his health pickups give mana too), but right now the largest thing hurting Bard's performance is the people playing him.
Da3awss1 votesI haven't played him so what i'm about to say is pure speculation and opinion so i'm very sorry if you don't agree. Bard to me seems underwhelming. I feel that his q is his closest ability that is in a good place. His w is nice as well, but could be better. I feel his E needs a passive to give a minor buff to bard himself. And his ult can be useful, if you aren't a complete nub/troll.
That is what i think of his kit. I feel That rito just threw darts at a ability board and gave him those abilities.
Sona FemBoy1 votesBard is a great champion, but he's not for everyone nor every team comp.
Aerilus1 votesHe's too dependent on his team to be useful.
Q far too weak and ineffective to be his only damage skill. Even if you stun it starts off at something like 1 second. The range is short and too easy to hit minions
W I don't really have a problem with, except that it starts too weak for cost
E is only useful in very specific situations, and once a team starts seeing you use E to back and get them they will hide in a good spot every time they recall making your E mostly useless. not a bad ability but I feel it should do something more like damage or slow enemies that use it
R - great skill in theory and in VERY specific situations, but 9/10 times the enemy will be too close to your allies and you'll get end up using R on the wrong targets and is just as likely to hurt your team as it is to help them. I think this could be fixed by adding a little range. It already has such a high chance to be wasted or harmful to your team the least it could have is decent range.
LadyRenly1 votesHe is strong.
He only has one damage ability, but that ability is decently strong so he only needs the one, and can deal good damage with thunderlords on top of it.
Good bards don't roam to oblivion, they merely roam when the wave is pushed to regen mana so they can harass and heal more. He has good "BIG LC$ PLAYS" in his kit too with his E and ult and is someone who needs to be taken seriously
I'd like to know of another support who can regen their mana pool like Bard can with no items
Duke Anax1 votesBard is really difficult, but in a different way. He is a highly strategic champ
He hasn't got much in the way of mechanics, his abilities are rather simple to use, but how to use them, when and where that's the hard part.
Bard is a champ that shines outside of combat more than inside of it. A lot of players struggle playing like that.
