Bard/Strategy

Champion Spotlight

Recommended Items

Summoner's Rift
Starting	2
Early
Essential
Defensive
Protective
Consumables

Twisted Treeline
Starting	3
Essential
Offensive
Defensive
Consumables

Howling Abyss
Starting	2
Essential
Offensive
Aggressive
Defensive
Consumables

Tips

Playing As Bard

• It's important to collect chimes to improve your Meeps' attacks, but don't neglect your lane partner! Try to make a big entrance by bringing an ally into the lane with you with Magical Journey.
• Let your Caretaker's Shrines charge up - they heal for a lot more when at full power.
• Don't forget that enemies can also use your Magical Journey doorways, and that your ultimate can also hit your allies!

Playing Against Bard

• Bard's opponents can also travel through his Magical Journey doorways. You can follow him, if you think it's safe.
• You can crush Bard's healing shrines just by walking over them. Don't let his allies take them without a fight.
• Bard's ultimate, Tempered Fate, affects allies, enemies, monsters, and turrets alike. Sometimes it can be to your advantage to jump into it!

Playstyle

Ability Usage

• Communicate with your ADC when you're absent from lane to ward and collect chimes - it will be easier for him to judge the distance between you two and avoid unfavourable situations.
• Coordinate with the Jungler or Mid, feign collecting chimes and set up ganks using Magical Journey.
• Starting with Cosmic Binding will allow you to harass your lane opponents really well. You can also start with Caretaker's Shrine to help your Jungler with his first clear.
• Save your Cosmic Binding for enemies which follow you through your Magical Journey.
• If the one of the enemy players engages try using Tempered Fate on other enemies to disrupt their follow-up.
• You can use Tempered Fate before the fight to catch a high priority target out of position, this is especially effective during late game rotations.
• Be especially wary of ruining your teammates' ultimates when using your Tempered Fate - try to focus on delaying other enemies rushing to the fight or allies with low health.

Runes

• Electrocute is a common keystone on Bard. His Meeps apply spell effects, meaning Electrocute can be activated through one empowered auto-attack and a Cosmic Binding or simply a second auto-attack. This rune is good for aggressive all-in play styles focused on burst.
• Arcane Comet can be used for more constant harass through poke, rather than all-in potential. Both Meeps and Cosmic Binding make it difficult to avoid the damage.
• Summon Aery provides less damage but has the added benefit of shielding allies when healed by Caretaker's Shrine.
• Hail of Blades is an uncommon but technically viable choice as Bard is more auto-attack focused than other supports. After collecting 30 Chimes, Bard can hold three Meeps to be fired in quick succession.
• Paths
  • Domination is the most common tree for Bard and there are multiple options which can help him support and/or deal damage.
    • Cheap Shot is the most common and most reliable, being able to be triggered with Meeps or Cosmic Binding. It should be noted that Sudden Impact functions with Bard's Magical Journey, but it is more useful for teammates to take advantage of this rather than Bard himself.
    • Zombie Ward is usually the choice for the second slot with its ability to give more vision which is always great on a support. If you want even more damage from your runes you can also run Eyeball Collection.
    • In the third slot Relentless Hunter is usually the rune of choice with  Movement Speed being one of the best stats for champions who roam a lot like Bard. Ingenious Hunter is another strong option as it improves typical support item usage like Redemption, Locket of the Iron Solari, and Mikael's Crucible as well as the ever-important Oracle Alteration.
  • Sorcery is also frequently taken on Bard, either as the primary tree with Arcane Comet or Summon Aery, or as a secondary. Sorcery runes provide a variety of effects that work well with Bard.
    • Manaflow Band allows for more poking in lane without running out of mana, making it a good choice in combination with Arcane Comet or Summon Aery.
    • Celerity is a great choice because of Bard's love for  Movement Speed, making his roaming ability even better. Transcendence has heavy synergy with Bard's enchanter-style build, and this rune can grant over 50 AP by itself.
    • Scorch works well when going for early game harass, while Gathering Storm provides good late game stats (particularly when coupled with Transcendence).
  • Resolve has some good defensive tools when Bard needs to default to a more protective healing type support.
    • Font of Life gives a small amount of healing when slowing or stunning an enemy. This healing is also able to activate Ardent Censer, making it useful in that niche.
    • Bone Plating helps prevent being blown up in a single combo, but this should only be as a last resort since Bard should never be in the middle of a fight.
    • Revitalize is arguably the most useful secondary in this tree as it increases  Heal and Shield Power. This affects Bard's Caretaker's Shrine as well as the shield from Summon Aery and the heals from Redemption and Athene's Unholy Grail, not to mention stacking additively with other  Heal and Shield buffs.
  • The Inspiration tree has some useful tools for Bard as it does for almost all other champions.
    • Magical Footwear is always valuable, especially when going for Boots of Lucidity. The Boots of Mobility are best purchased early on, making this rune slightly ineffective. Instead you may opt for Perfect Timing. It too is valuable on its own, and you may wish to take it if you plan on buying Zhonya's Hourglass at some point in the game.
    • Biscuit Delivery is an all around strong rune and is great for sustaining through a tough harass lane.
    • Cosmic Insight is another rune that works great in all situations on nearly all champions, and  Bard is no exception.

Items

• Bard is classified as a Controller, but his build is typically more that of an Enchanter's, utilizing a mix of AP, Cooldown Reduction, and  healing stats. He is also quite different from typical supports, and he deals more damage than a true Enchanter. He can play as an aggressive lane bully, but he also has the tools to keep himself and his allies safe. This means that there are many options for​ Bard, including some items which may not be viable on other AP supports.
  • Spellthief's Edge/ Frostfang is the obvious choice for a support item. The poke provided from this item adds to Bard's already high poke damage and he should have no trouble earning Tribute stacks.
    • The Ancient Coin line is viable, but only recommended if the enemy lane will play very passively.
  • Among his core items are Redemption and Ardent Censer. Both provide Cooldown Reduction and  Heal and Shield Power, allowing Bard to heal up his allies multiple times in a fight. Ardent Censer in particular grants valuable damage not only to Bard but to the allies he heals.
  • For choice of boots, it comes down to Boots of Mobility and Ionian Boots of Lucidity. The former is the standard choice for supports and aids Bard's roaming nicely. The latter is good when combined with Transcendence to give some extra AP at or around the level 10 mark.
  • Twin Shadows is a pseudo-mage item that provides a very high amount of AP for the price. The Spooky Ghosts active can be used to hunt down enemy champions and tag them with Tempered Fate.
  • Athene's Unholy Grail is another quintessential Enchanter item. When combined with a full Enchanter build, it grants a surprisingly high amount of AP, in addition to providing even more healing for the team.
    • It may be wise to purchase a Chalice of Harmony early on as a cheap source of mana regen and magic resist. As you build more mana regen items, you will also get a large amount of health regen from the Harmony passive.
    • Mikael's Crucible is a situational alternative to Athene's. The cleanse effect on an ally can singlehandedly win a fight and you also get to keep the Harmony passive.
  • Zhonya's Hourglass can be picked up for extra armor, but is mainly purchased for the Stasis effect. If planning to buy this item, it is recommended to take the Perfect Timing rune to speed up purchasing as the item itself is expensive for a support.
  • Shurelya's Reverie provides a small amount of HP and AP along with an impressive amount of mana regen. While Bard himself does not benefit much from the movement active, it may be crucial for escaping or for allies who want to chase down the enemy team.
• Bard also has a few offensive options at his disposal, which may prove useful to capitalize on a large lead. It is not recommended to buy these items in a typical support match.
  • Nashor's Tooth synergizes well with Bard's passive. The high AP will make each Meep deal significant damage, and the Attack Speed will allow him to throw these Meeps in quick succession once he has gathered a few of them. The on-hit damage scales with any other AP items you may purchase.
    • Wit's End is an item that is very similar to Nashor's Tooth. Although the AP and Cooldown Reduction will be missed, it provides a much higher base damage for its on-hit effect. Additionally, reducing an enemy's magic resist will help you and your magic damage allies deal more damage. At 2400 gold, this item costs about as much as other support items so buying it may not be out of the question.
  • If you are massively fed or just looking to trade in an item in the super-late game, Rabadon's Deathcap is always available for AP supports who want to have a ton of AP. Although Bard only has one damaging ability, the extra AP does affect the ratios of both Traveler's Call and Caretaker's Shrine.

Countering

• Bard's really mobile and can set up good ganks with his Magical Journey and Cosmic Binding. Be careful when he's missing!
• Note the position of his chimes. At some point he will try to collect them and might be an easy picking.