Hey Riot, can you turn Bard into a mid-lane mage?

polkaspotsss·Jun 20, 2017·2 votes·676 views

Champion.gg - Bard Support Stats, Builds, Runes, Masteries and Counters

According to these statistics, Bard has a 6.25% play rate, and a 0.06% ban rate. I suspect the reason for this is that he's a utility support that is beefier than caster supports, but squishier than tanky supports, leaving him no room to actually thrive. Considering he is a relatively new champion, I think he should get some more love on the rift.

I suggest he become modified (and not reworked) to be a mid-lane mage. Late game he scales extremely well with chimes for on-hit, but he falls on his face if you can't get ahead to find time to roam for the chimes. I think you can beef up his dps, weaken the sustain on his W, and balance the scaling of his chimes for a stronger mid-game.

10 Comments

PentchJun 20, 20173 votes

I do enjoy the champion design of bard. Not his in game design but more of the idea of him. He's the a really great champion I actually enjoyed playing when he came out, despite how frustrating the game feels while playing him. Does that make sense?

EDIT: I got a quadra (in normal blind pick) with bard after reading the guide provided by Auccuatt. Thank you!

polkaspotsssJun 20, 20171 votes

Is that the Nashor's Tooth guide? Cause I used that one with Liandry's and it's pretty devastating late game.

PentchJun 20, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Is that the Nashor's Tooth guide? Cause I used that one with Liandry's and it's pretty devastating late game.

No, Nashor's tooth isn't such a good item on him because bard is not a consistent dps champ.

Violet FieldsJun 20, 20172 votes

He is, learn how to play him.

http://www.lolking.net/guides/423436

Here's an image of my ranked games a month ago:

http://oi63.tinypic.com/alj7h1.jpg

polkaspotsssJun 20, 20171 votes

Yeah, he has a low pick rate across the board because he's outclassed by every other high tier support.

ArakadiaJun 20, 20171 votes

This would push him out of the support role.

Plus, even as an avid Bard player, I'd rather not fight a mid lane mage who has all their damage frontloaded into a single ability and a couple autos.

polkaspotsssJun 20, 20171 votes

That's the idea. He doesn't do well enough there to really thrive. He's such an after thought. :/

TheZacStreetBoysJun 20, 20171 votes

I'm a Mastery 6 Bard main, and to be honest, he's way more viable than you're saying. His play rates are low because he's kind of like Aurelion in the sense that he only appeals to a small group of people, and his win rates are low because nobody knows how to play him! I think the one thing new Bard players struggle with is the Ult but it only takes a few games to get a hang of when to use it. New Bard players always make the mistake of holding their Ult, but its low cooldown makes it an ability you can use to secure any kill. Other new Bard problems include not using healing shrines to their full advantage (I always like to have 3 out in lane, just in case) and new Bards DON'T ROAM. Everyone says otherwise, but if you time it correctly, you can roam for 10 or so chimes without your ADC caring at all, and maybe gank mid along the way. I don't think Riot should change Bard, because in the right hands, he can honestly be really strong.

polkaspotsssJun 20, 20171 votes

But Aurelion Sol has a place higher up on the ladder. And I never said he has a low win rate. It's a 50% win rate. He has a low pick rate at just 6.25%, because there are champions that can do what he does, but better. There's really no place for him. :/

ModThe DjinnJun 20, 20171 votes

{quoted}

But Aurelion Sol has a place higher up on the ladder. And I never said he has a low win rate. It's a 50% win rate. He has a low pick rate at just 6.25%, because there are champions that can do what he does, but better. There's really no place for him. :/

A 6.25% pick rate is actually pretty high -- according to Champion.gg he's the 29th most played champion.

The current lowest is Dr. Mundo, with a 0.23% pick rate: nearly THIRTY TIMES lower than Bard's.

You can click this link to see the pick rate in descending order.