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BARD STOP ROAMING

baby reksai·3/12/2015, 10:36:55 PM·31 votes·9,649 views

Just throwing out my thoughts on players playing bard today. People all of a sudden think that because they're bard support, they should roam across the entire map, go to top lane, pickup chimes in enemy jungle, and all this what not terrible gameplay. First of all, learn the game. In no way shape or form is collecting chimes equal to soaking up lane experience and helping your teammate farm efficiently. Three games in a row, bard support player is down by 3 levels because all of a sudden riot has introduced a "roaming ONLY support."

First of all, any support can roam. Roaming is becoming the new meta for supports. The only problem is ROAMING CORRECTLY. You don't just leave your adc in lane while they're being pushed to tower and proxy farmed. That is called TERRIBLE support. Understand when to roam, not roam all the time because "thats how you play the champ." I had to tell our support bard almost 50 times that bard is better at roaming ONLY because he doesn't lose as much as other supports do when he does roam. Do you know what he tells me? "Well, this is bard support and I'm learning how to play bard." No, when you learn a new champ, you learn their kit and how they interact with enemy and ally champs. You don't all of a sudden learn a new "role." This whole "bard is a roaming support" is bs. If all you do is roam, you lose the game. Simple.

Add on top of that the NERVE of this guy to leave a Twitch, A TWITCH OF ALL CHAMPS, in a lane versus kalista and thresh... "support mains" learn what it means to play support and learn your limitations and exceptions. Roaming all the time is not an exception. Roaming when the time is right, when your adc is in good condition, is an exception. I've played support for over 6 months and never have i ever thought to roam as much as these bard supports are roaming. I have had very successful roams and almost any support champ can roam. This whole roaming support role, is never going to make it far because there is simply not enough experience or gold outside of lanes. Jungle gives very, very minimum. Good luck roaming supports. Oh and don't forget that chime across the map. It'll give you 20 experience.

77 Comments

Vecuu3/12/2015, 10:51:39 PM26 votes

Honestly, you don't even need to leave lane to get chimes, just get the few that spawn nearby when you go to ward, and the rest can be picked up once the laning phase ends and your adc is self sufficient.

DrCyanide3/12/2015, 11:02:46 PM25 votes

Riot warned you this would happen. They gave you a whole cinematic about it!

  1. Bard is off doing his thing
  2. Enemies come, ransack the lane
  3. ADC is almost dead
  4. Bard rushes past to grab a chime
  5. ADC dies
  6. Bard recalls like nothing happened

Bard will be an interesting champion for the next month or so. I think a lot of people like the idea of Bard, but we'll see how many actually pull it off.

Envy Sin3/12/2015, 10:54:57 PM14 votes

That my friend is not a support main.

That is someone trying out the new champion

bad arcade kitty3/12/2015, 11:04:09 PM12 votes

what game? i'm here to get my chimes

IcyPepper3/12/2015, 11:06:51 PM11 votes

ADC STOP NEEDING A BABYSITTER

Jokes aside, it depends on the lane matchup. If your support picks Bard, consider your choices and pick an adc with enough mobility or defensive capability (Ezreal, Corki, and Caitlyn come to mind).

If you're in draft pick, Bard probably isn't good against Leona or other kill lanes, so people shouldn't pick him then. In blind pick, if someone wants to play Bard, don't play a support-reliant adc.

You can't control other people, but you can adjust as needed.

Konidias3/12/2015, 11:30:26 PM10 votes

THIS IS BARDLY THE TIME TO BE ROAMING.

Karlyr3/12/2015, 10:49:45 PM4 votes

You just said it.

they're [a] bard support

#PunsOfDamage

Sarutobi3/12/2015, 10:41:03 PM4 votes

i just woke up, and bought Bard. real shame people are still doing this, because it was present in PBE. people would just leave lane for the longest time just to collect. i mean you do need the chimes, but get it when its most convenient! i remember getting into teamfights and Bards just leaves to pick up a chime! hopefully after a week when people stop playing him because he isnt new anymore will stop and let people who actually know how to support play the role!

Ltank1293/13/2015, 5:13:08 PM2 votes

As a bard player, I apologize. Also as a bard player, learn to play defensively.

Early game the chimes are primarily a source of mana. Bard has incredible sustain. He can heal when his health is low, he can restore his mana when it is low. Except if he is locked in lane because his ADC is going ham, he can't quite restore enough mana to place enough shrines to keep you alive.

Bard is defined as a roaming support. Specifically. Roaming is part of being support, but it is critical for bard.

Lastly don't criticize new bard players. It is the second day and most people who don't main support don't know how to roam properly. PlAy defensively, and try to be encouraging and helpful rather than angry and toxic.

Sammystorm3/13/2015, 3:58:08 AM2 votes

But but but. I have to collect them all.

Disig3/13/2015, 4:08:10 PM2 votes

As a support main...it hurts to see so many people grabbing Bard and clearly not know the basics of support. I can't wait till more people understand him and get the new champ smell out of their system.

Killstrado3/13/2015, 5:58:14 PM1 votes

I also feel like they build to squishy aswell, normally smashing a Supp in team fight is the wrong way to go but he's so weak it's dumb not to kill him first and then focus adc or mid

TheLordPrism3/13/2015, 7:36:03 PM1 votes

I had a bard play jungle yesterday that didn't take smite, and took exhaust instead...... He didn't take ANY jungle camps at all... Instead, he walked around collecting chimes, leaving 3 to 4 health packs in every lane before 5 minutes in...... Once he hit level 2 he started ganking. Basically all he did was stun them, exhaust them and let us kill them. Even though he had barely ANY CS, the way he was playing still helped our team win the game. Bard is like a spirit guide life saver when he plays in the jungle :D

Lwnt3/13/2015, 7:55:02 PM1 votes

I dont know what your talking about with experience. All the time when playing bard I was able to stay on the same level as my teammate it was the most shocking thing I have seen. Those chime give good experience when you collect them. Compare to other supports I am always 2 lvl behind from my teammates and the last one to reach 18.

LaMaLiCkEr3/14/2015, 3:33:41 AM1 votes

riot cant make anything that isnt broke one way or another

VoodooBaron3/15/2015, 8:13:35 AM1 votes

"Bard support" just remove the "r".

Unlucky Dude3/13/2015, 12:01:37 AM1 votes

Tell me about it, I played Draven vs a blitzcrank while Bard went on a journey. I was getting zoned so hard I might as well be afk in base.

Jeddy0173/13/2015, 4:31:38 AM1 votes

I haven't played Bard yet & I don't roam as a support (1 -I don't know how to properly roam & 2 - my ADC & team would probably yell at me for trying to help gank mid & not babysitting my ADC)

I figure the best times to roam is: A - When the lane is pushed up to the enemy's turret. B - When you have plenty of vision so your ADC can watch for ganks. C - When your ADC backed to buy stuff & the wave is still close to the enemy turret (and/or the enemy left lane as well). D - When the enemy either just died or left lane. E - Once the enemy turret is down. F - When you two are winning lane.

Worst times to roam: A - When you two are losing lane. B - If the wave has been pushed up to your own turret. C - When the ADC has little health (that leave them open for tower dives) D - When you have no vision,winning lane or not. E - When your jungler is about to gank. F - When your ADC just died.

ajwf3/13/2015, 5:29:19 AM1 votes

I have never felt more calm playing league of legends then when playing Bard... like seriously, he's the most relaxing character to play with all that ambient noise. I played early this morning with the opposing support being a bard. We both roamed, and occasionally just went about collecting chimes in full view of each other. I've not felt this at piece in a game of league of legends since I figured out how to kill Shen Bot in beginner.

Meh, it's a new champ. I haven't been impressed with what he can do WHILE he roams, since he really, really cannot get caught while roaming. At least if I roam with Annie, Morg or Thresh (well, not really with Thresh but hey) I have an escape through stun/roots.

The experience gain is necessarily small on chimes, but it doesn't change the fact that riot is still giving you a good number of reasons to stay in lane (experience). After having played against bard all day as support, I feel the best way to play is to simply start with ancient coin and use chimes to supplement the benefits of a spellthief's edge.

Levyathyn3/13/2015, 6:03:18 AM1 votes

Bard seems built for regen and roaming instead of backing where possible, relying on his maneuvering and his CC to support, and buying every so often. You stick close by where possible, gank as hard as you can in death timer/ADC recall times, and take teleport to keep your lane strong, while leaving a bit of health for your jungler to entice easier ganks. I mean, I haven't played him yet, but it seems like it should be easier than this to understand what you should and should not do in lane as a support.

Then again, he picked a Bard into a Twitch lane, so maybe not.

RamboDash153/13/2015, 11:36:05 AM1 votes

When they first revelaved this champ I knew something like this was going to happen. Those who learn Bard well will know when to roam. Those that roam when they want will lose, blame the champ, and it is unlikely they will play him again. Give it time for the talent filter to start up.

BastionKross3/13/2015, 2:23:23 PM1 votes

We all knew something like this was going to happen. Not only are Bard players learning Bard right now, they're also learning how to play a roaming support at the same time.

But that's beside the point, really. People are going to see Bard as "the support that doesn't have to support". If you're one of the 80+% League players that don't find the support role as fulfilling or engaging as the other roles, spending the first 15 minutes or so of the game wandering around the jungle collecting chimes and occasionally ganking sounds a lot better than slogging through bot lane. Even if it does hurt the team by leaving the marksman in a 1v2 lane most of the laning phase.

Sirabell3/13/2015, 2:27:01 PM1 votes

There is a time and place for everything. If you're a Bard that has his priority with chimes over actually helping the ADC when they need it, you're playing Bard wrong.

GnomeDigest3/13/2015, 2:46:16 PM1 votes

Riot puts a lot of effort and balance changes into enforcing the current meta, especially in regards to the bot lane. Then they turn around and introduce a champion that by its design goes against most of the typical meta.

Contrary to what the Op believes roaming supports is not remotely meta at all. Sure some do it here and there but early game the supports job is to be with the ADC. I get that at the highest levels of pro play that varies but lets be honest, in solo que it really doesnt.

Bard will largely cause rage because ADC generally cannot lane alone, especially not in a 1v2. I keep telling my teams not to ban Bard in hopes that the other team will take him. Seems like an easy champion to dominate in lane and if they roam a lot all the better. I will be perfectly happy to destroy your ADC and likely put your team on tilt.

I am glad Riot is finally willing to release a champion that challenges the conventional meta at least a little, but for me it speaks volumes that in most of my games Bard is neither picked or banned, and this is on release. Bard's play pattern is utterly counter-intuitive in the current meta.

The results are of Riots own making. You cant oppressively enforce the meta through balance changes and then release a meta-breaking champ and expect players to embrace it. Riot has spent too much time training players otherwise.

warpenguin5553/13/2015, 4:10:51 PM1 votes

hey relax. people are still trying to figure him out. its gonna take a bit for people to get the roaming times down

Major Sparkles3/13/2015, 5:46:31 PM1 votes

I see your point but I've played roughly 6 games with Bard now, you just have to be smart about it. Bard is an awesome support BUT there are times to leave and times to stay. If you're gone too long you'll miss out on a lot of gold. Also if they have an all-in support like blitz or leona it's a terrible idea to leave your adc for very long.