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A request for advice

MagicDragon300··1 votes·431 views

Hello Boards,

I come to you now for something I should have a long time ago. I love Bard, but along with this love I have a mixed opinion for the support role and a major raging problem that pops up frequently, ruining the game for both me and my teammates along with myself. The main reason why I don't like support and my bard as a whole is contributed by my rage problem somewhat. I get so mad both when I fuck up and my team goes on the whole "wtf bard" rampage, causing me to feel bad about myself and go off the deep end and when my team can't seem to fit the pieces together at all to coordinate or sports someone who is, to put it nicely, sub par, making everything seem much harder than it needs to be. This is all topped off with my self guilt because I don't know what I can do to help this person or my team get back into the game or even be the piece that holds it all together since when you're behind hope is small and temper along with blame is high from all ends. I don't think I covered all I'd like to cover since I'm bad at putting all of what I'm feeling down about all this, but, to make it simple. I love a champ in a role I am not good at and feel I can't do amazing with and I have more rage against my team and myself than a little kid finding out that Santa was fake all along. Bard represents what I'd like to be in game, and that's why I like him so much. He is chill. He doesn't get mad, he doesn't care if he wins or loses, he just collects chimes and does bard things regardless of who is yelling at him.

Sincerely, A depressed, hopeless feeling, angry Bard player who hopes he made himself clear.

9 Comments

xReadyPlayerOnex1 votes

This feels like taking the bait but bard is a hugely overpowered champ with game changing abilities. You can literally dive at level 6 all you want. If you're doing bad or people telling you you're playing wrong maybe it's you.

MagicDragon3001 votes

Bard Overpowered

Forgive me, but I just don't see it. His kit is amazing with all the utility it has just in his ult alone with all its use, but he has little in ways of actually killing people. He's the type of champ that relies quite a bit on his team, and if your team isn't following up on you, you're gonna have a bad time. This can be due to shitty teamwork skills on my part and my teammates along with other reasons, so I accept some of the blame there, but as for bard being OP, I would say no because his ult is pretty telegraphed with a longer delay depending on distance and could be flashed, dashed, or whatever out of, so it has counterplay, his E can be used by enemies, albeit at a slower speed, his heal has a delay and could even be destroyed by the enemy, and his Q can be unreliable. Almost all of his kit either has counter play that can be used or effects that can help his enemies, so that's why I wouldn't necessarily call him OP, but his utility can be devastating if used in capable hands (and believe me, I want to be those hands as much as any other bard player).

Neranos1 votes

I don't know if I'd call him OP, but he's definitely strong when played properly. Now, I don't play Bard personally, but I have been on the receiving end, and I know for a fact that a good Bard can dish out the damage. Personal experiences have taught me that his poke is incredible with even a couple meeps, as the extra hits with Bard's auto attacks count towards Thunderlord's Decree, making it super easy to proc it with two autos or one after stun. As for his Magical Journey, yes it can me used by the enemy, but you can just as easily turn it into a trap. Following a Bard through his tunnel is just asking to get wall stunned with his Q as soon as they exit, or ulted on arrival as Bard's team closes in on you. His heal is okay at the early levels, especially if you leave it under the tower where your enemies can't break it for free, or scattered in your jungle so your jungler can clear with a little more HP. Later on though the heal just doesn't scale as well as other forms of sustain and so it's mostly used for the speed boosts it provides. And yes, the ult is telegraphed, but it's still useful for halting dragon attempts or shutting down towers right before Bard's team dives the now defenseless enemy.

Just my two cents.

MagicDragon3001 votes

I mostly don't go thunderlords on bard. I've almost always gone windspeakers unless I've really felt like I could make TD work. However, I've just never thought of bard as a damage dealer, even though he deals a lot of it early, so I've just felt that TD just doesn't fit him to me due to his sheer amount of utility that defines him way more to me. I know of all the benefits of his heal and I use it for sonic boosts later on mainly as well, but the delay can sometimes be a bit frustrating in lane when you're getting poked down a lot. Fully charged it heals for a lot though, so it's not bad by any means. I have yet to fully master his E personally when it comes to how it can really move you around the map along with your team and how it can make your Jungler's life a living breeze in ganks. As for the ult though, I'm not the worst with it, but I could be better. I use it when I see the enemy is doing dragon, to hold people in place, or even save a life from afar, but I don't get in the habit of using it as a Zhonya's, so that's another piece of his kit that I feel like I don't use fully or do justice. I still have good ults though and my friends do acknowledge my plays. I'm not in the best spot to gauge his kit fully, but I know enough to say that he isn't broken much at all. He can be pretty annoying to the enemy though when he does bard things such as freezing dragon at 200 or so health and stealing it with a single Q away from the enemy Fiora (just did that today and it was pretty funny to me).

Neranos1 votes

I recommend experimenting with him, try some different builds. The Thunderlords/Spellthief early game harass is pretty good, and you'll get some extra cash for all that poking you're doing too. The most common way of getting around the delay for his heal is to plant it in places where it isn't easily accessed by the enemy, and before you need the heals rather then exactly when. You can stockpile a few in the back and when you or your carry gets poked down a bit, all they have to do is dip out of lane for a moment to grab a heal that's already been waiting in the back for a little bit and is already fully charged. Then replace them whenever you get the chance. The E and the ult you'll get with practice, I'm sure of it. Also, movement speed and cooldown reduction makes him impossible to catch, and you can waste a lot of the enemy's time if you get them to chase you through your jungle. Again, keep in mind that I don't play Bard, I'm just telling you about plays that have ruined me in the past.

Neranos1 votes

First of all, if you're just trying to learn the champ, I'd start with bots. You don't have to play that many games, just enough to get the basics with the champ. Then when you're confident, take them to normals to practice against other players. I would let the team know that you're inexperienced with your champ, hopefully so they cut you some slack or give you some pointers. Remind yourself that it's just a normals game and that you're not going to lose any LP or ranks, you can just chill. If other players starting giving you any trouble, and I'm saying the first tell-tale sign of shit-talk, mute them. They will only make you upset which will definitely throw off your game. If you get caught out, use a skill improperly, lose an objective, whatever, accept that you messed up, but remind yourself that it's not a big deal, you're still learning. Analyze what went wrong and then improve on it, but don't let it make you upset. Also remember that it's harder for a team to coordinate with pings and text alone. Not impossible, but difficult. Don't expect it to happen every game. Just focus on what you can do for your team.

Also, the best advice anyone ever gave me was "learn to not die." You are better to your team alive, even if you're a distraction for just a few extra seconds. As a support player myself, I end up dying a lot, since I really do enjoy flying face-first into the enemy team. But if I can stay alive long enough and cause enough disruption for my carries to either escape a bad fight or pick up a couple kills for themselves, then I've done my job. Alistar Leona Braum Thresh

MagicDragon3001 votes

Experience isn't an issue for me. I'm almost mastery 4 with Bard. Even then, bots are fucking boring to play with because even level 1s can play better it feels. Granted, it's good to learn the basics, but I feel landing double Qs, thresh hooks, or whatever against a computer feels way easier than landing the same thing against anyone in norms so I feel it's just too dumbed down for me to enjoy at all or feel like I'm learning. That's just me though. The rest of what you're saying is sound, but I'm not sure what you mean by "learn to not die" being the best advice you've gotten wjen you mention just later that if you die causing enough disruption to either save or feed your carries, then it's all good. Do you mean that you should try to stay alive at all costs, but that you shouldn't be afraid to die after causing enough hoopla to actually make something amazing happen?

Neranos1 votes

First, the bots thing was just my advice on how to learn a champ. If you've already got a lot of practice, then skip that step. The "learn not to die" thing is just good advice all around, and if you get more specific it's mostly about not diving into fights you can't win, not diving into fights your teammates won't be able to back you up on (if they're too far away, of you notice your team is more passive, play more passively) practice warding and being more careful when you lack vision so you die less to ambush, knowing when to disengage because you're going to lose a fight, etc. Basically, minimizing how often you get caught out and die for free or for a loss. But then considering that I personally enjoy playing tank, engage/disruption happy supports, I know that sometimes I'm going to die a lot because if I'm doing my job, I'm probably on the front lines, trying to hold people for my carrys, peel for my carrys, distract the enemy so my carry can escape, block skill shots and absorb as much damage and aggro for my carrys, and all that fun stuff. And sometimes that means I'm going to die in a teamfight because you don't dive face-first into the center of the enemy team and expect them to be happy that you're there, and you don't stand in front of Jhin while he's ulting through you and expect it to tickle, and all that fun stuff. Y'know what I'm saying?

tl;dr: When I play tanky engage support, if I die alone in a teamfight and my carry gets a couple kills, and sometimes we take an objective? Totally worth. Never die for free.

Straw Hat Loki1 votes

Definitely practice in bot games and keep trying! Bard is a though beast to master and even in LCS/LCK/LPL/LMS etc. people mess up as Bard a lot!

I would just continue practicing!

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