Bard can really shut him down by ulting him, or his target.
Ahri
Her ult makes it hard to lock her down with either your ult or your Q
Akali
Super hard for Bard to shut her down very slippery champ esp when in her W ability.
Alistar
Alistar is a free matchup, you only have to respect his lvl 3-6, u win lvl 1-2 and from lvl 6-18 you offer better scaling, better engage and overall more sustain in both healing and dmg.
Amumu
If he gets on top of you, you will die, but if you manage to position correctly in teamfights then you can peel your team easily against an Amumu so it’s a skill matchup, just look out for his Q as it will now follow no matter if you enter a portal or flash after it hits you.
Anivia
Your ult shut down her entire kit, so just make sure to ult her in the beginning in teamfights and you’re golden, you will also have an easy time roaming to her lane as she has no Dashes/blinks to save her life, so it’s your job to make Anivia regret his/hers champion choice.
Annie
Annie is easy to engage on as she has no dashes or blinks or spell shields, however, make sure you time her flashes. If you get the jump on Annie then it's easy, but if she gets in a flash ult on your carries then it's very likely that you will lose that fight, so make sure to have great vision around so she can´t flank.
Aphelios
Bard only has 500 range on his AA range, where Aphelios starts with his green weapon Aka the 650 range weapon (even without the sniper he still outranges you with 550 range). So Bard won't be able to poke/engage easily on Aphelios before lvl 6, however, at lvl 6 he is quite an easy target to ult as he has no dashes/blinks. But I would recommend that you only ult in situations where your 1 champion up as Aphelios is one of the few champs that can deal enough damage to burst everyone down.
Ashe
She has 100 more range than bard so respect her early game and poke, at lvl 6 it's easy for you to engage on her though as she has no dashes/blinks so just time her flash and repeat kill her with your ult should be easy 2v2 if you hit ult into q.
Aurelion Sol
He roams just like you so be careful, it is however easy for you to roam to his mid lane and shut him down so make sure to do that whenever you can, don't give Aurelion Sol opportunity to roam bot lane or the game will become very hard.
Azir
It's a pure skill matchup you can stun him the moment he uses his ult but if you don’t time it correctly then you might be in a very bad position, try to ult Azir early in a team fight as he has long-range poke and people won’t have an easy time to engage on him because of his ult.
Blitzcrank
Playing against blitz can be super tough if you get hooked you will die unless u have flash up, you do however out roam him and outscale him so just hang in there and play safe and wait for jungle to help you guys out.
Brand
It's a skill matchup, keep an eye on his cooldowns and play around them, you out roam and outscale so just chill don't overforce anything.
Braum
Dodge his q ability and you won't have any problems with him he is a melee support with no real hard engage so you can even roam without being too scared that they will just all in your adc, sounds fun for Bard!
Caitlyn
She has 650 range so she outranges you by a lot, so laning phase might be super hard for you, however she is easy to hit with ult since every cait main tries to use their e ability out of it, and its legit so slow so they never get out, so wait for your lvl 6 and just keep ulting her.
Camille
You can't really run from her and you can't portal out of her ult so have an eye on her and try to lock her down with your ult and q combo, she is not to be ignored in team fights!
Cassiopeia
Playing against Cassiopia can be super tricky as her purple glue will prevent you from portaling out of a fight so be super careful getting stuck in that, besides that when you ult her, expect her to ult right out of your ult, so keep a distance and your back turned at all times!
Cho'Gath
It's a skill matchup dodge his abilities and he is useless, get hit by them and you will die, very simple. So stay out of range and keep an eye on his Cooldowns.
Corki
Roam mid as much as you can and make his scaling as slow as you can and try to end the game before he gets to 3 items.
Darius
If you get hooked in by his e it's pretty much over for you, try to play around your portal against him and get some good stuns in, miss and you're dead.
Diana
She is an assassin so have respect for her all in but besides that, it should be ez pz if you're smart and patient.
Dr. Mundo
Mundo is in a bad spot so not much to fear about, you can kite him easily with your slows and if he is getting on your tail then just portal away and stun him if he follows through it.
Draven
As said Draven is very aggressive and is often played with an all in support to make a kill lane, Bard is very weak against an all-in especially early game where Bard doesn't have a lot of tools to counter it nor survive it, so play safe and wait for your jungler to do stuff!
Ekko
Ekko is a dumb champ you basicly have to kill twice because of his broken ult, try to cc chain and burst him to death before he can ult and gain all his hp back, besides that try to get vision around every corner, as he will often try to jump your backline with a properly placed w.
Elise
Respect her early game ganks and wait for her to normally fall off, don't try and ult her in her spider form as she will just repel it, try to land your q in a way where you hit Elise and her spiderling for a nice little stun!
Evelynn
Get as many pinks as you can around your carries often place them in lane if you're sieging so she can't come from behind, but gl eve is broken and there is not much you can do...
Ezreal
Ezreal is one of those champs that won't be too deadly for Bard during the laning phase but you won't be able to realy have any kill pressure on the champ as long as he holds his e for your q/r. Be patient and hold them for his e just run up and auto him until he hopefully e´s. Ez doesn't get fully online before 3 items, try to get a big enough lead to win before that!
Fiddlesticks
Keep the corners warded lookout for his ult and try to cancel with your ult or q, besides that he ain’t much of a threat if u respect his ult engage.
Fiora
Her w is a direct counter to both your q and your ult so be careful of how you use your spells, besides that you need to help your top to get a lead over Fiora or she will split push till she wins the game.
Fizz
Ult the person fizz has ulted to counter everything he wants to do, and watch him cry.
Galio
A good bard player will be able to shut down Galio 100% with good ults and q´s practice our ult/q timings on his ult.
Garen
You can shut down Garens entire kit with your q and r so don't fear him too much the moment he uses his q you just auto or q for slow so he can't get near you guys.
Gnar
Champ is not very good, respect his transform jump but that's it.
Gragas
Aftershock/Electrocute Gragas is bad against you, but if he gets Phase Rush, then you have to be careful super hard to land your skills on him.
Graves
Pray that he sucks and try your best to get an ult on him whenever his dash is down!
Hecarim
Fear his ganks try to stun him on walls when he uses his E to charge in, if you see him ult try to react with ulting the target he is about to ult.
Heimerdinger
Easy to set up kills on the dude, but don't fight within his towers unless you're sure that you can stun lock him.
Illaoi
Dont gank her after lvl 6 it's easier to 1v1 her than 2v1 her.
Irelia
It's your job against Irelia to try and slow her down, meaning ult her stunlock her, not to kill her but to make sure your team has time to deal with everyone else before she joins up.
Ivern
Champ sucks respect his early game that's it.
Janna
Janna outranges you so the laning phase is super hard, she is also quite quick so u need to try and auto her before u can hit your q´s or ults.
Jarvan IV
Respect his early ganks and stand close to walls when he ults you so you can still portal out.
Jax
Try to shut him down early so he doesn't snowball into the unkillable god he can become!
Jayce
For the same reason, Bard is good with him, is also the same reason he is a big threat to Bard and his comp.
Jhin
Super easy champ to engage on, but super fast in team fights making it harder to shut him down, so look to engage on Jhin before a fight starts.
Jinx
Super hard to deal with during the laning phase as she just flat out range u and u should never be able to hit much stuff on her until you hit LVL 6, when you get your ult though is the moment u can start setting your team up, as she has no dashes/blinks or whatever.
Kog'Maw
Respect his W major dmg, and range buff, pressure him when it's down, when u hit lvl 6 it should be easy kills as he can only use flash to escape a proper placed ult.
Leona
Make sure to go Guardian and unflinching vs Leona, it's a skill matchup but you have many ways to counter her, her E will always make her land/appear behind her target, you can use this info to your advantage, stand close to a wall and use your q backwards into the wall when she uses her E on you, this will guarantee a stun before she can use her Q on you, now she is in a bad position and you should win the trade.
Lulu
She does more dmg than you, and scales just as well as you or even better depending on her team comp. Make sure to play around cd and vision and wait for ur lvl 6 for hard engages, she can't escape it without flashing it, make sure to hit stun after ult to 100-0 her so she doesn't get a chance to E and R as it will buy a lot of time and often you will lose the fight if that happens.
Maokai
How hard the matchup is really dependant on your experience playing against Maokai, Maokai is listed as a champ great into Bard since he has way better objective control than Bard has, and his laning phase is a tad better, but there is ways to counter him. Bait out his w and quickly enter the portal to take him with you into ur turret, and then quickly stun, he will either die or be forced to flash.
Morgana
If Morgana is smart she maxes her spellshield first and it becomes a hard game, luckily most Morganas are not smart and they there for max q. Bard q counts as 2 spells, so if bard q dmg breaks the shield and then connects to a wall,minion or champ then it will still stun.
Nami
Nami laning phase can be a bit annoying early game as her trade pattern beats yours, but the moment you hit lvl 6, you just start perma forcing with your ult. She can never match your roams either and you outscale her as well. So overall you're happy.
Nautilus
Nautilus can be a scary lane, if he catches you then you die. But if you play the lane correctly then you should win. You want to play in the minion wave, making it hard for him to land a hook and always stay close to a wall to use your e to peel yourself or your adc.
Pyke
It's a skill matchup you outscale so even if you only go even or even a bit behind during early game it won’t matter, as Pyke is a terrible champion currently and can't teamfight compared to Bard.
Kalista
the champs range isn't impressive and she needs a few items before she becomes dangerous, the only thing you have to look out for is her passive jump, try to figure out her jump pattern to figure out when to use your q.
Karma
She has a way better laning phase than you, and she scales just as well as you do or even better into teamfights, her q range is further than your q and auto range. Try to punish her when she pokes your adc, never step up when her spells are ready, wait for the to go on cd.
Karthus
He is weak early game as long as you don't get hit by every q, play with vision and try to punish him for farming as much as you can, locket build fully counters him combined with being able to ult low hp targets to save them. Fun matchup.
Kassadin
Kassadin isn't the biggest threat as long as you keep up with where he might flank from with his ult. Try to predict where he will go with your q or r to pin him down in teamfights. If you can't roam to his lane and kill him then you have to do it once before he hits lvl 6 to put him behind the exp/gold curve he wants to follow.
Katarina
Easy to punish only an issue if she gets giga fed and even then locket and easy stuns will shut her down in fights.
Kayle
She isn't a threat and she is a sitting duck for your ult as she only has a small ms buff to escape them, Focus kayle in teamfights everytime and it's an easy win.
Kayn
You can't do much besides ulting the person he is ulting, and try to hit your q on him while he is using his e in the wall, but it's super hard, so it's quite a skill matchup better player will win.
Kennen
It's easy for you to shut down his gameplay, the moment you see him wanting to engage ult him.
Kai'Sa
Kaisa is low range, just like Bard so you can easily trade her without her auto spacing you, She does however have a lot of burst so if she is paired up with an engage support you will die if you're not careful. Make sure to trade when cds are down and inside of the minion wave so her q isn't isolated on you!
Vayne
Requires Gosu on Vayne pretty much. Both she and Bard have low range which is a nightmare during laning phase. Synergy between the champions is the stun onto walls from both parts.
Aatrox
Bard can speed him up, and stun for him, but that’s all. Not bad, not great.
Ahri
Bard offers an engage for Ahri which makes it easier for her to land the charm combo.
Akali
Bard offers an engage for Akali which makes it easier for her to get going and snowball a fight.
Alistar
Having both a Bard and an Alistar on your team means that you will have a lot of cc but no damage, plus at least 1 losing lane.
Amumu
Amumu weakness can be that he has a hard time to gank lanes, playing with a Bard kinda fixes that as Bard can help him gank via portals, he can also set up wombo combos with his ult into Amumu ult.
Anivia
Aniva and Bard have great synergy with her being able to make a wall bard can use to stun enemies upon, Bard can also set up some nasty combos for Anivia and can help greatly in teamfights with portals away from dive champs/ Assassins with good portal placements/ults.
Annie
Annie and Bard don´t synergise very well but they ain’t bad together either, as Bard the only thing you have to be careful is that you don't engage at the same moment Annie does, meaning that you don’t ult the target she is about to ult. So be on the same page and everything should be okay.
Aphelios
Bard suffers from short-range, so it's important to have a lane partner with a long auto attack range/spell range. This makes it so they won't get bullied during the laning phase plus it's easier for Bard to roam when the ADC can safely farm.
Ashe
Ashe has a 600 range so she pairs well with Bard, she also brings slows to the fights making it easier to both hit your q and ult and also just getting into auto attack range.
Aurelion Sol
Both Aurelion Sol and Bard are champs that roam quite a lot so they will often roam to each other's lanes and help out and give leads this way, you can also easily peel for him in teamfights.
Azir
You can stun on Azir's ult, but that's pretty much that the 2 champs down have a lot of synergies together and you have to be careful that you don't ult at times where Azir is looking to engage with his e ult combo.
Blitzcrank
Your both support champs so one of you is trolling stop it silly.
Brand
You guys don't really synergise well together however it’s an APC which means he can push in quickly and you can roam easily and make plays around the map.
Braum
Your both supports stop trolling you have nothing to do with him.
Caitlyn
Caitlyn is probably the best ADC in this current meta and works really well with Bard. Her traps are set up easily by your stun and ultimate. She has a safe lane for you to roam, which is essential for Bard.
Camille
You can help her engaging but that's about it, she is a dive champ and your job is to peel your mid and ADC so you guys won't have much to do with each other, however, she is a strong pick and deff good to see her on your team.
Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia and you have a nasty combo of you ulting a carry and her putting her Purple glue on the ground so they cant Dash/Flash out of it, it's a 100% kill combo be happy when u see Cassiopeia on your team!
Cho'Gath
Cho and you have some sort of synergy with you guys being able to layer your cc, but that's about it.
Corki
Corki is a great champ, try to roam mid as much as you can and help him get over his weak phase aka early game, get him too late and he will take you to a secure win.
Darius
Darius is a great top laner, and it's very easy for you to roam toplane and impact the lane with a Darius up there if you give him 1 kill lead he will snowball and solo win the game in a lot of cases.
Diana
You and Diana don't offer much together, you ain't bad together either though both are good champs they just do very different things.
Dr. Mundo
Mundo is not a strong pick and doesn't offer his team much other than mediocre tanking with no cc whatsoever, don't play with a Mundo if u can avoid it.
Draven
Draven wants to be very aggressive during laning phase, Bard wants to get out of laning phase asap meaning he wants boots so he can roam away from botlane meaning Draven will never be able to really utilize his passive and therefore he will automatically fall behind and is such a bad pick with Bard.
Ekko
Ekko is super good and you can cc chain with his w on top of your q or your ult, he is also a very snowbally champ and Bard is insanely good at helping champs to snowball with roams and great setups!
Elise
Great early game jungler able to cc chain with your q and her cocoon, you will also be able to gank a lot with her during early game since her repel is insane for dives and so is your ult, help her get everything and you will win!
Evelynn
Evelynn is at a very broken state currently with dmg that's is obscene combined with stealth with is just to broken, just chill and you basically can't lose with eve on team
Ezreal
Ezreal and you don't really do much for each other but he is an adc that can fend for himself and peel himself so you don't have to be afraid to leave him when you roam so that's great, if he gets to 3 items then he is truly broken.
Fiddlesticks
You can set up for Fiddle but he is a very passive jungler and won't be able to do much through the early part of the game aka when you're weakest so you might have to do a lot to enable him.
Fiora
Fiora is a split pusher trying to roam top once during the game to get her a lead, she will take care of the rest.
Fizz
Fizz is an engaging assassin who can peel for himself with his playful trickster so let him do what he wants and roam as much as you can to his lane to get those free assists.
Galio
Bard/Galio can each set up each other for good combos super good mid with Bard.
Garen
Bard and Garen don’t offer much for each other you can be the engage Garen needs, but where you wanna peel their frontline Garen wants to dive their backline so just let each other do what you guys do best.
Gnar
Gnar is not a very good champ currently and doesn't offer much for Bard, Gnar is a short-ranged “tank” that doesn't do his job very well, not a champ you're happy to see on your team.
Gragas
Gragas is an ok jungler (or a great toplaner if your name is theBausffs), good ganks early but you guys don't do much together. Make sure not to screw him over with your ult.
Graves
Champ is mega good currently try to roam with him as much as you can, cause it will pay off and he will 1v9
Hecarim
Hecarim is an amazingly strong jungler that gets more dmg from movement speed, your w makes him faster and you can set up easy kills for him with your ult and q´s so be happy to see a heca on your team.
Heimerdinger
If its Heimer top then just let him be on his island, if its ADC Heimer then be happy this dude can lane all for himself so you can roam without being scared that ur ADC will int/feed.
Illaoi
Not much to say here, she wont rly group just let her split push and let her mind her own role.
Irelia
Again another split pusher however this one you want to try and gank and give her a lead cause it will pay off a thousand times, lookout that you don't ult when she ult though.
Ivern
You guys are super strong together in the early and mid part of the game but become very bad in the late part of the game, so get a lead and snowball it to an early victory.
Janna
Your both supports and top/mid Janna doesn't work, if you have a Janna on your team while u play bard, then it seems one of you is trolling.
Jarvan IV
J4 is a good champ and you can stun people off of his ult. Besides that, you don't really compliment each other that hard but he ain't bad with Bard just follow his lead if he goes in and doesn't ult what he wants to ult!
Jax
Jax is a great top laner, and a lane you can easily roam to since has cc build into his kit and he snowballs hard with kills/gold help him as much as you can and you will win.
Jayce
Aggressive laner, scales well and is able to poke before u engage, also offers great objective control everything bard loves.
Jhin
He is between 4 and 5, as he can almost do the same as Caitlyn, throughout the lane, but is more vulnerable than her during the laning phase.
Jinx
After getting a lot of good buffs Jinx is back in the meta, long-range and quite safe with her traps. And scales amazingly into the game, u love to see her as your ADC.
Kai'Sa
Kai'sa much like Bard is a low range ADC, which makes it super easy to get outranged and outpoked in the laning phase. If you see someone pick Bard, never pick Kai'sa!
Kog'Maw
Bard isn't the best support for Kog but he isn't the worst either, your e and w are great to peel for Kog and Kog offers a lot of early pressure Bard has a hard time to push out alone, you can be aggressive when his w is rdy, and passive when its on cd.
Leona
Leona can't be played as a solo laner, if you get Leona and a Bard on your team dodge save your LP!
Lulu
Lulu is a great mid and top laner currently, she doesn't have the best setup for roams though so you can't really gank her lane without having your jungler there.
Maokai
Maokai is not great for solo lanes currently, we ain't too fond to see him on our team its not an insta loss but it's a hard game, he does give good objective control, but that's pretty much the only thing he offers in the current patch.
Morgana
Morg can only be played as Sup and Jungle, and her jungle has been nerfed a lot, so she isn't that great of a pick currently. She does have some synergies with Bard if she doesn't fall too behind as they can cc lock a target for a year, but that's about it.
Nami
If you have Bard and Nami on your team then you should probably look to dodge, save yourself.
Nautilus
Nautilus can be played as support or jungle, but his jungle is quite weak so I wouldn't advise playing this with Bard. Your team will lack dmg as both champs can only set up kills but never finish them on their own.
Pyke
Pyke can be played as a midlaner, but it's not very strong, and doesn't offer a lot of synergy with Bard. Dodge if you get a Pyke and a Bard on your team.
Kalista
Kalista isn't the best, nor the worst. Her range is average, meaning you will have a hard time getting prio in lane, so try to get control over the brushes to counter that. At lvl 6 her ult synergises very well with your q as you can stunlock for quite a while, your e will also work really well at peeling her away from dive champs
Karma
Karma is in a great spot currently, he is safe and scales really well with a lot of early game dmg, basically everything Bard likes, Karma can be played as both top or mid and both lanes are good to roam to for Bard as Karma has great set up with her W.
Karthus
Karthus is both a good Jungler and a good ADC he does however need a lot of resources and Bard can't help him much as he isn't the strongest early himself, Best thing you can do is to roam and let him get solo experience if he is adc and only return if enemy botlane is trying to put up a freeze.
Kassadin
Kassadin shines when he hits lvl 6 you can't do much with him before that, but the moment he hits 6 start roaming/camping his lane to give him as many resources as you can. However do mind that you don't end up taking his experience, as he is very experience dependent.
Katarina
Easy to set up kills for and snowballs hard, but if she falls behind it will be super hard.
Kayle
Hard to roam to the lane, but you both have good synergy doing teamfights, try to make sure she gets to lvl 11 without being too far behind.
Kayn
Easy to set up ganks for, and easy to duo gank with a Kayn, the moment you hit tier 2 boots you leave lane and gank as much as you can with him and just win the game.
Kennen
You can't do much for him during the laning phase but you will be available to set up great flanks and engages with him with your E and R, make sure you don't end up ulting people he is looking to engage on though!
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Vayne
Requires Gosu on Vayne pretty much. Both she and Bard have low range which is a nightmare during laning phase. Synergy between the champions is the stun onto walls from both parts.
Aatrox
Bard can speed him up, and stun for him, but that’s all. Not bad, not great.
Ahri
Bard offers an engage for Ahri which makes it easier for her to land the charm combo.
Akali
Bard offers an engage for Akali which makes it easier for her to get going and snowball a fight.
Alistar
Having both a Bard and an Alistar on your team means that you will have a lot of cc but no damage, plus at least 1 losing lane.
Amumu
Amumu weakness can be that he has a hard time to gank lanes, playing with a Bard kinda fixes that as Bard can help him gank via portals, he can also set up wombo combos with his ult into Amumu ult.
Anivia
Aniva and Bard have great synergy with her being able to make a wall bard can use to stun enemies upon, Bard can also set up some nasty combos for Anivia and can help greatly in teamfights with portals away from dive champs/ Assassins with good portal placements/ults.
Annie
Annie and Bard don´t synergise very well but they ain’t bad together either, as Bard the only thing you have to be careful is that you don't engage at the same moment Annie does, meaning that you don’t ult the target she is about to ult. So be on the same page and everything should be okay.
Aphelios
Bard suffers from short-range, so it's important to have a lane partner with a long auto attack range/spell range. This makes it so they won't get bullied during the laning phase plus it's easier for Bard to roam when the ADC can safely farm.
Ashe
Ashe has a 600 range so she pairs well with Bard, she also brings slows to the fights making it easier to both hit your q and ult and also just getting into auto attack range.
Aurelion Sol
Both Aurelion Sol and Bard are champs that roam quite a lot so they will often roam to each other's lanes and help out and give leads this way, you can also easily peel for him in teamfights.
Azir
You can stun on Azir's ult, but that's pretty much that the 2 champs down have a lot of synergies together and you have to be careful that you don't ult at times where Azir is looking to engage with his e ult combo.
Blitzcrank
Your both support champs so one of you is trolling stop it silly.
Brand
You guys don't really synergise well together however it’s an APC which means he can push in quickly and you can roam easily and make plays around the map.
Braum
Your both supports stop trolling you have nothing to do with him.
Caitlyn
Caitlyn is probably the best ADC in this current meta and works really well with Bard. Her traps are set up easily by your stun and ultimate. She has a safe lane for you to roam, which is essential for Bard.
Camille
You can help her engaging but that's about it, she is a dive champ and your job is to peel your mid and ADC so you guys won't have much to do with each other, however, she is a strong pick and deff good to see her on your team.
Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia and you have a nasty combo of you ulting a carry and her putting her Purple glue on the ground so they cant Dash/Flash out of it, it's a 100% kill combo be happy when u see Cassiopeia on your team!
Cho'Gath
Cho and you have some sort of synergy with you guys being able to layer your cc, but that's about it.
Corki
Corki is a great champ, try to roam mid as much as you can and help him get over his weak phase aka early game, get him too late and he will take you to a secure win.
Darius
Darius is a great top laner, and it's very easy for you to roam toplane and impact the lane with a Darius up there if you give him 1 kill lead he will snowball and solo win the game in a lot of cases.
Diana
You and Diana don't offer much together, you ain't bad together either though both are good champs they just do very different things.
Dr. Mundo
Mundo is not a strong pick and doesn't offer his team much other than mediocre tanking with no cc whatsoever, don't play with a Mundo if u can avoid it.
Draven
Draven wants to be very aggressive during laning phase, Bard wants to get out of laning phase asap meaning he wants boots so he can roam away from botlane meaning Draven will never be able to really utilize his passive and therefore he will automatically fall behind and is such a bad pick with Bard.
Ekko
Ekko is super good and you can cc chain with his w on top of your q or your ult, he is also a very snowbally champ and Bard is insanely good at helping champs to snowball with roams and great setups!
Elise
Great early game jungler able to cc chain with your q and her cocoon, you will also be able to gank a lot with her during early game since her repel is insane for dives and so is your ult, help her get everything and you will win!
Evelynn
Evelynn is at a very broken state currently with dmg that's is obscene combined with stealth with is just to broken, just chill and you basically can't lose with eve on team
Ezreal
Ezreal and you don't really do much for each other but he is an adc that can fend for himself and peel himself so you don't have to be afraid to leave him when you roam so that's great, if he gets to 3 items then he is truly broken.
Fiddlesticks
You can set up for Fiddle but he is a very passive jungler and won't be able to do much through the early part of the game aka when you're weakest so you might have to do a lot to enable him.
Fiora
Fiora is a split pusher trying to roam top once during the game to get her a lead, she will take care of the rest.
Fizz
Fizz is an engaging assassin who can peel for himself with his playful trickster so let him do what he wants and roam as much as you can to his lane to get those free assists.
Galio
Bard/Galio can each set up each other for good combos super good mid with Bard.
Garen
Bard and Garen don’t offer much for each other you can be the engage Garen needs, but where you wanna peel their frontline Garen wants to dive their backline so just let each other do what you guys do best.
Gnar
Gnar is not a very good champ currently and doesn't offer much for Bard, Gnar is a short-ranged “tank” that doesn't do his job very well, not a champ you're happy to see on your team.
Gragas
Gragas is an ok jungler (or a great toplaner if your name is theBausffs), good ganks early but you guys don't do much together. Make sure not to screw him over with your ult.
Graves
Champ is mega good currently try to roam with him as much as you can, cause it will pay off and he will 1v9
Hecarim
Hecarim is an amazingly strong jungler that gets more dmg from movement speed, your w makes him faster and you can set up easy kills for him with your ult and q´s so be happy to see a heca on your team.
Heimerdinger
If its Heimer top then just let him be on his island, if its ADC Heimer then be happy this dude can lane all for himself so you can roam without being scared that ur ADC will int/feed.
Illaoi
Not much to say here, she wont rly group just let her split push and let her mind her own role.
Irelia
Again another split pusher however this one you want to try and gank and give her a lead cause it will pay off a thousand times, lookout that you don't ult when she ult though.
Ivern
You guys are super strong together in the early and mid part of the game but become very bad in the late part of the game, so get a lead and snowball it to an early victory.
Janna
Your both supports and top/mid Janna doesn't work, if you have a Janna on your team while u play bard, then it seems one of you is trolling.
Jarvan IV
J4 is a good champ and you can stun people off of his ult. Besides that, you don't really compliment each other that hard but he ain't bad with Bard just follow his lead if he goes in and doesn't ult what he wants to ult!
Jax
Jax is a great top laner, and a lane you can easily roam to since has cc build into his kit and he snowballs hard with kills/gold help him as much as you can and you will win.
Jayce
Aggressive laner, scales well and is able to poke before u engage, also offers great objective control everything bard loves.
Jhin
He is between 4 and 5, as he can almost do the same as Caitlyn, throughout the lane, but is more vulnerable than her during the laning phase.
Jinx
After getting a lot of good buffs Jinx is back in the meta, long-range and quite safe with her traps. And scales amazingly into the game, u love to see her as your ADC.
Kai'Sa
Kai'sa much like Bard is a low range ADC, which makes it super easy to get outranged and outpoked in the laning phase. If you see someone pick Bard, never pick Kai'sa!
Kog'Maw
Bard isn't the best support for Kog but he isn't the worst either, your e and w are great to peel for Kog and Kog offers a lot of early pressure Bard has a hard time to push out alone, you can be aggressive when his w is rdy, and passive when its on cd.
Leona
Leona can't be played as a solo laner, if you get Leona and a Bard on your team dodge save your LP!
Lulu
Lulu is a great mid and top laner currently, she doesn't have the best setup for roams though so you can't really gank her lane without having your jungler there.
Maokai
Maokai is not great for solo lanes currently, we ain't too fond to see him on our team its not an insta loss but it's a hard game, he does give good objective control, but that's pretty much the only thing he offers in the current patch.
Morgana
Morg can only be played as Sup and Jungle, and her jungle has been nerfed a lot, so she isn't that great of a pick currently. She does have some synergies with Bard if she doesn't fall too behind as they can cc lock a target for a year, but that's about it.
Nami
If you have Bard and Nami on your team then you should probably look to dodge, save yourself.
Nautilus
Nautilus can be played as support or jungle, but his jungle is quite weak so I wouldn't advise playing this with Bard. Your team will lack dmg as both champs can only set up kills but never finish them on their own.
Pyke
Pyke can be played as a midlaner, but it's not very strong, and doesn't offer a lot of synergy with Bard. Dodge if you get a Pyke and a Bard on your team.
Kalista
Kalista isn't the best, nor the worst. Her range is average, meaning you will have a hard time getting prio in lane, so try to get control over the brushes to counter that. At lvl 6 her ult synergises very well with your q as you can stunlock for quite a while, your e will also work really well at peeling her away from dive champs
Karma
Karma is in a great spot currently, he is safe and scales really well with a lot of early game dmg, basically everything Bard likes, Karma can be played as both top or mid and both lanes are good to roam to for Bard as Karma has great set up with her W.
Karthus
Karthus is both a good Jungler and a good ADC he does however need a lot of resources and Bard can't help him much as he isn't the strongest early himself, Best thing you can do is to roam and let him get solo experience if he is adc and only return if enemy botlane is trying to put up a freeze.
Kassadin
Kassadin shines when he hits lvl 6 you can't do much with him before that, but the moment he hits 6 start roaming/camping his lane to give him as many resources as you can. However do mind that you don't end up taking his experience, as he is very experience dependent.
Katarina
Easy to set up kills for and snowballs hard, but if she falls behind it will be super hard.
Kayle
Hard to roam to the lane, but you both have good synergy doing teamfights, try to make sure she gets to lvl 11 without being too far behind.
Kayn
Easy to set up ganks for, and easy to duo gank with a Kayn, the moment you hit tier 2 boots you leave lane and gank as much as you can with him and just win the game.
Kennen
You can't do much for him during the laning phase but you will be available to set up great flanks and engages with him with your E and R, make sure you don't end up ulting people he is looking to engage on though!
Hello! My name is Lathyrus, although some people may still remember me as BardlyMissed. I started playing League of Legends in the summer of 2017, back in Season 7 where I started off as a Jungler. During the next preseason, I started experimenting with a lot of different champions, which eventually led me to Bard, where I fell in love with him and the support role. After picking him up, I started climbing and ended Season 8 as a Challenger. Currently, I have roughly three million mastery points on Bard between various accounts, which I used to climb to Challenger on the EUW, KR, and NA servers. During Season 11, I also managed to hit Rank 1 on my main server, EUW, at 1205 LP.
Why Bard you ask?
Bard fits into a very unique category of supports known as Playmakers. While there’s no official definition for this category, I’ll do my best to explain it to you. Some champions - Thresh, Rakan, and of course Bard just to name a few - have hard crowd control and unique capabilities that allow them to perform game-changing manoeuvres that would have otherwise been impossible. For Bard, there is a semi-spammable 1/2-man stun, the ability to tunnel through walls, and an ultimate that temporarily puts almost anything on the rift that it hits into a 2.5-second stasis.
Even his passive Traveler's Call encourages him to roam and influence the map, rewarding Bard with mana and experience as well as empowered auto-attacks that allow his damage to scale into the later game without even building damage-based items. At no point do you honestly feel like you can’t influence the tempo of the match in one manner or another. Bard just always leaves you with a myriad of options that can make each one feel unique and - in my own humble opinion - fun. So if you love impacting the map, tilting the enemy team, and not just letting yourself get carried, then Bard should be a great pick for you!
Guide Updates
My merry band of moderators (Flayless, Ezraek, Venm, and Meltrax) and I are consistently modifying this guide to reflect the most up-to-date changes. However, we do value accuracy over speed, so post-patch it may take us a day or three to test potential builds and re-write the guide accordingly. In other words - once I know, you’ll know!
Coming soon:
A matchup sheet for every matchup in the game, so you know what teams you may or may not want to pick Bard, or what teammates your Bard would do well or badly with. This, however, will take us some time, since there are a lot of champions to cover, but we hope it can be of use to you! All progress can be found in the Threats and Synergies section found above.
Mobafire has just launched a new update for mobile users. This has caused some bugs in how the current guide is coded. This means that a lot of stuff will look a bit weird on mobile, for now, we will be looking for a way to fix this in the future. For any current mobile user, I advise you to view the guide as the desktop site (done through your mobile browser settings) for now until optimized.
A warding chapter. This chapter will tell you all about where, when, and how to ward efficiently.
Media Links
Before we get started however I’d like to take this moment to thank Raid Shadow Le... wait, wrong plug. You may have noticed my Twitch channel on your way in - but to save you a few clicks in case this guide leaves you wanting more Bard, I’ve linked my Twitch below. I stream on a pretty consistent basis, and can usually be found playing Bard (when Jankos doesn’t target ban me), testing new builds, coaching, or answering questions from readers like yourself who can’t find their answer here. I’ve also included the obligatory OP.GGs as well as my Discord, where you can meet-up with fellow Bard enthusiasts or receive notifications whenever I begin streaming for the day.
Special shoutout to my moderator Flayless’ Twitch channel, which has also been included.
Bard Info
Abilities
I came, I saw, I conquered chimed. This passive is one of the most giga-broken things about Bard and the source of his item independence. Unlike other roaming supports, you can build almost any item in a game and you’ll still find yourself with a generous amount of both damage and mobility - two of the more desirable stats for a successful roamer. Whenever Bard is present on a map, he will cause special objects known as Chimes to spawn semi-randomly with respect to his current location at regular intervals. These objects are marked on the minimap as tiny gold flames that turn red shortly before expiration.
Collecting them provides several benefits. Some are more immediately noticeable, such as the 12% return of your maximum mana, roughly 20 experience points, and the 24% (plus 14% for each additional Chime - capping at 80%) temporary movement speed increase. Others not so much - like the Meeps that will consistently spawn in increasing numbers for certain thresholds, empowering your auto-attacks with additional damage, an on-hit slow, and an expandable cone-shaped splash AoE.
You can find all of the bonus checkpoints by clicking the button below.
Now some tips for using your Passive!
Don’t allow the chimes to bait you. Slight resemblances aside, Bard is not Pacman. In other words, you don’t have to go for every single yellow dot on the minimap to win the game! Hold off on collecting nearby chimes until there is nothing to be gained in lane or you need the mana, and plan your roaming path around the further ones to help you quickly arrive at your destination.
Weave in an empowered auto-attack before a skillshot. It’s typically harder to hit a faster target, so be sure to utilize your on-hit slow before pressing Q or R.
Meeps count as separate attacks. Every empowered auto-attack counts as two instances of damage, which means double procs for World Atlas.
A medium-range skillshot that is split into two stages. The first involves a projectile that will detonate if it impacts a non-friendly unit, providing damage and a slow effect to the unit before trailing off a short distance. If the trail connects with either another non-friendly unit or any form of terrain both targets will take damage and the slow will be upgraded into a stun.
This ability should always be the first one picked and maxed out, since additional points will provide a reduced cooldown, higher base damage, and a longer slow/stun duration.
Now some tips for using your Q!
Not all walls are created equal. While the walls may appear relatively smooth, they are actually composed of multiple invisible ridges. Combine this with your Q trail’s semi-generous nature and you can find yourself hitting stuns that don’t actually seem possible when you can’t find the proper angle. So even in doubt - auto-attack first of course but then - Q out!
Most spell shields will not block the stun. Given that the majority are designed to block only the first instance of damage, the follow-up stun from a wall/unit impacting Q will still immobilize the champion. The one notable exception to this would be Morgana’s Black Shield, which absorbs a certain threshold of damage rather than a single hit. In theory Sivir’s Spell Shield or Nocturne’s Shroud of Darkness could be activated after the damage of the Q to block the stun as well, however, this is much less likely.
Spawns a special object, known as a Shrine, that is consumed when pathed over, healing an allied champion, including Bard, and granting them a short movement speed boost. Though each shrine takes ten seconds to fully charge, they can be activated immediately for a weaker heal effect. Only three shrines can exist on the rift at any given time, and setting up a fourth will always cause the first to despawn.
However, if Bard specifically targets a champion with his W, the resulting shrine is immediately consumed and does not count against the aforementioned limit. If an enemy paths over the shrine, it is still consumed, but they are denied any of its benefits. This ability should almost always be the second one picked and maxed out, with additional points providing a higher base heal.
Now some tips for using your W!
Think before you shrine, or the ADC will whine. Oh who are we kidding, they’re going to do that anyway! However, your shrine placement can go a long way towards at least reducing the possibility. Use the shrines to set up an escape route for your ADC, spreading them out along a route for twofold reason, to avoid overlapping speed boosts, and to prevent the enemy from being able to quickly destroy all of them.
Placing a shrine grants Bard with a limited range of vision around the object for a short time. This means that you can use the shrine to quickly facecheck a suspicious bush rather than waste a ward.
Self-cast your shrines while roaming to enhance your movement speed and repair chip damage, sometimes even just an additional 30+ health can be the difference between a successful gank and a trade.
Casting W on an ally will trigger the Guarded status for Guardian, allowing you to more than double the range at which this keystone can be proc’d.
Spawns a one-way portal that lasts for ten seconds straight through the terrain that will allow any champion right-clicking it, while standing at the entrance, to traverse the length. This travel counts as a dash so any movement-disabling crowd control applied to the champion will immediately cancel it and the portal will eject them out into the nearest open space.
Allies traversing the tunnel will also move at an increased speed, however the increase is rather unnoticeable on all but the longest of journeys. Keep in mind that the portal does have a max length of 2600 units, which is why portals from base to alcove are not possible.
Now some tips for using your E!
The ride or die skill. Bard’s portal creates a unique pathing opportunity on the Rift that makes it almost impossible to predict in what manner it will be used. From setting up ganks that make Kayn look (even more) second-rate to escaping from Alcove-traz with that ranged minion affectionately known as “ADC,” anywhere that you see a wall you should see an opportunity. Use the additional direction to dodge skillshots when opponents think they have you locked down or laugh at fleeing enemies as you wall-ride ahead to cut off their retreat - the versatility of this skill just cannot be overstated.
Magical Journey has a casting range of 900 units, so there’s no need to be right up against the wall before casting. If you open the portal before you reach it, you’ve got a much better chance of escaping since you won’t need to pause before diving in.
When placing your portal, focus on where you want the exit to be, rather than the entrance, to have a better chance at arriving where you intended.
To avoid any weird issues with League’s pathfinding when trying to enter the portal, right-click on the middle of the magical corridor rather than the entrance.
Your portal is not a taxi, it’s a playmaking utility. It doesn’t have to be used on cooldown, and it shouldn’t be used just to save yourself a few steps here and there. Do not fall to the temptation of the Lazy Man Portal!
A long-range circular skillshot that marks the ground and grants vision shortly before launching a projectile that places (nearly) everything caught inside into stasis upon impact. Any unit in stasis is unable to control its movement, declare attacks, cast abilities, activate items or use any summoner spells for the duration, while also being invulnerable and untargetable.
Notable exceptions include the Nexus, backline turrets, and the Rift Herald while charging (though you can use it on the turret she’s attacking to nullify the damage), as well as any champion currently protected by some form of displacement immunity or crowd control immunity - though some allied protections may not work due to small indie company coding.
Now some tips for using your R!
With great power comes great responsibility, and skills don’t come much more powerful than this one. Games can be won or lost by a single Bard ultimate depending on who is banished to the Golden Realm, and unfortunately there is only one way to learn how to distinguish one from the other - by using it. So look for opportunities and don’t be afraid to click that ‘R’ key.
In standard front-to-back teamfights, aim for the backline to tilt the fight in your favor. This will minimize the chances of hitting a friendly target and allows your team to focus down their frontline without fear of retaliation.
Similar to Stopwatch and Zhonya's Hourglass, the stasis effect can be used defensively to prevent damage or crowd control to friendly units from otherwise inevitable sources like Karthus' Requiem, Ignite, or the Rift Herald charging your tower. The benefit does however need to be weighed against the drawback that your immobilized ally will be exposed to potential follow-up coming out of stasis (tower excluded obviously).
As a projectile, Tempered Fate has a travel time that has to be accounted for. When utilized at point-blank range the delay from mark to impact is just over half a second, leaving little to no time to react. By contrast, at maximum range the delay from mark to impact is nearly tripled, giving even a dismounted Rell enough time to waddle away in her iron chaps.
Flash is our obvious first choice for our summoner spell. Bard doesn't have any short cooldown dashes so he needs Flash for the mobility it gives. Remember that you can Flash during your Q- Cosmic Binding to redirect it!
Ignite
Ignite is your pick if you are against a comp that plays front to back. It gives you a lot more early kill pressure, for both in lane and when roaming. Late game you can also use it to get some grievous wounds on priority targets.
Exhaust
Exhaust is your pick if you are against a dive comp (a back to front comp). These comps have been increasing in popularity, and Exhaust can completely shut down someone trying to engage into your carries.
Pros & Cons
Super versatile
Bard is super versatile, he can be played in many different ways depending on the playstyle and preference of the player.
Can be played both from behind and ahead
No matter if you are ahead or behind in the game, due to Bard's strong utility kit, you can always turn a fight later in the game. So as long as you play well, you can turn any game into a win.
Very fast roamer
Thanks to Bard's chimes he can roam like one of the best, without much counterplay. You are fast to move around and do not fall behind quickly.
Setting up ganks
With his E Magical Journey Bard can easily set up ganks for the jungler or roaming laners. Often allowing for a quick 3v1 gank that completely catches the laner off guard.
Getting people caught
Your ultimate Tempered Fate and your general global map presence gives you great pick potential on anyone that is caught out.
High game impact
Bard is one of the supports with the highest carry potential and game impact. You are everywhere on the map, and can completely shut down your enemies with a combination of slows, stuns, and the stasis from your ult.
Mainly skill matchups
Bard can be very good into certain champions, but also really bad all depending on how well the player plays. A new Bard can often lose due to a lack of experience in a matchup.
Weak laning phase
Apart from your level 1, Bard does not have a strong laning phase. Most other supports will unlock good combat spells, but not Bard, he only has his Q, which leaves you to easily be put behind early
Low range
Bard is very low ranged for being a ranged support. This allows him to easily be outranged and outpoked in lane by anyone with decent range.
Needs to scale
Bard is a mid to late game focused support, you need to be patient and wait a bit for your power spikes.
Hard to learn
Bard requires a lot of time to learn. His abilities are hard to hit, and his playstyle is completely different from any other champ in the game, this combined with the macro skill needed to play him well, it makes him hard to just pick up.
Risky ultimate
Your ult is one of the strongest abilities in the game, and although it can win you a game, it can very easily also lose you the game if not used with care.
Teamcomps
Bard is extremely flexible and thus can fit into most team comps quite well. His kit allows him to morph into whatever the team needs, he can peel carries, engage, disengage, become an enchanter for the squishies, or be a damage-dealing tank. So generally you do not have that many problems when you want to one-trick Bard.
For detailed descriptions of every matchup, you can look in the threats and synergies section above. But in general, Bard does well with safe longer-range ADCs or APCs, think of champions like Caitlyn or Jhin. While the shorter ranged champions will struggle a bit more, like Kai'Sa or Vayne. This is due to Bard's range not being very long, which can often give an enemy a range advantage.
Builds
As mentioned before Bard is extremely flexible and can do many things you want him to do. This goes for both his runes as well as his builds, there are a lot of different options that can fit different people’s playstyles.
Guardian is currently the most consistent rune page for Bard, but First Strike is a great option following the 2024 Mid-Season patch. The list below is in order of what I think is most viable for you, however, the most important thing is to experiment with what works best for you. You can take your time to scroll through everything, or you can click on the icon of the setup you are interested in, to go there immediately.
Guardian Setup - Intro
The synergy between the Resolve rune path and all the tank items in the current meta cannot be overstated. This rune page is the most consistent, and you will always be an asset to your team playing with this setup.
How to play with the Guardian Setup Guardian is insanely strong, but you do have to make sure that you play around the shield properly. A shield can easily be wasted on damage that wasn’t needed to be blocked. Try and play around the range of the shield, don’t just stand on top of the ADC, stand close enough that you can W them to get the guarded buff on them when they need it, but not too close that if they poke you, that it wastes the shield.
When you need the shield, you can either use a quick W, stand close to someone, or let it proc with Font of Life. Often you will want to use it, when engaging, or when being engaged. Never forget that it doesn’t just shield your ally, but you as well, sometimes it could be just as beneficial for you to shield someone just to shield yourself.
Guardian Setup - Runes
Bard with Guardian is pretty much the most well-known rune setup for him. The rune allows Bard to become better at protecting his team. His W- Caretaker's Shrine is not the best heal in the game, so the bonus shield from Guardian it can provide is always welcome. So even if you are roaming, just leaving a shrine somewhere will allow your team to not only get a heal, and some movement speed, but also a nice shield on top of it.
Bard is constantly impairing movement speed with his meeps, so this is easy to proc, and extra healing for you and your team is always good.
Armor and magic resist are super important, and Bard is a long-game scaling champ. Picking runes that scale well into the late game is always the best choice.
We take Overgrowth in 14.19 because more free stats from runes is good, and we just want health.
Magical Footwear helps us save on gold, so we can spend it on more important items. They also actually have a little more movement speed, which will open the door to wait and get tier 2 boots later.
Biscuit Delivery is going to give HP again, so this is just good for lane sustain.
For your minor runeshards you will be taking an attack speed runeshard and two scaling health runeshard. The attack speed is going to help you get your meeps out a bit faster, making for easier and faster trades, and in the late game lots of meep smacking. We takescaling health over flat because it outscales by level 7.
Electrocute Setup - Intro
While not being very good after the durabilty patch, the Electrocute setup is one focused on getting as much damage out of your early game as possible. The rune is incredibly easy to use for Bard and gives him a ton of damage tools through the Domination rune tree. This setup is a lot more selfish than the Fleet Footwork or Guardian setups, however, it is a consistent rune that is also a lot of fun to play. I would currently advise you to take this rune when you are in a lower elo and feel that you are not able to rely on your team. How to play with the Electrocute Setup Electrocute is incredibly easy to proc since your meep-empowered auto attacks count as two hits, so a meep-auto + Q will be enough for you to proc the rune. In addition, your Ignite also counts as a hit so in an all-in one meep-auto plus Ignite can help kill secure that all-important First Blood. Keep an eye on your Electrocute cooldown and try and time when you go in, with when it’s available. Of course, you can’t always guarantee it, but it is still good to keep an eye on it whenever possible.
Electrocute Setup - Runes
This rune will help your early game and helps you to deal a surprising amount of poke damage. It will give you a nice damage boost that can often secure you a kill, one combo will deal easily do around 200 damage, this level of damage isn’t normally expected by ADCs and they can be quickly forced out of lane with just a few bad trades.
Cheap Shot just does some extra damage every time you slow, and Bard's chimes will start to slow in the mid and late game. Basically, free damage!
Although a weird choice, we are taking Eyeball Collection over Ghost Poro and Zombie Ward because we want the most damage as fast as we can so that we can snowball the game a lot harder. Eyeball Collection is for that reason the best choice since it is the fastest stacking of the three.
Ultimate Hunter to use your R more often to engage, set up kills, catch enemies, etc. Relentless Hunter has been nerfed, so it's not as useful anymore.
Armor and magic resist are super important, and Bard is a long-game scaling champ. Picking runes that scale well into the late game is always the best choice.
We take Overgrowth in 14.19 because more free stats from runes is good, and we just want health.
For your minor runeshards you will be taking an attack speed runeshard and two scaling health runeshard. The attack speed is going to help you get your meeps out a bit faster, making for easier and faster trades, and in the late game lots of meep smacking. We takescaling health over flat because it outscales by level 7.
Split 3 Build
You can get the item set for this build by clicking the button to the right.
You can either download or copy-paste the text and insert it right into your league client. (you can find your items section under your collection tab, then press on import item builds)
Blooodsong
Our upgraded support item is always going to be Bloodsong. It's basically a Sheen item that buffs whoever is attacking the person that you're attacking, and Bard is always trading auto attacks.
Magical Footwear
Tier two boots have been nerfed a lot. Stick with Magical Footwear at least until you have Heartsteel, as this item is better the earlier you get it. You can upgrade to Ionian Boots of Lucidity whenever you feel like you need to after getting that core item.
Heartsteel
Heartsteel is going to be our first item in 14.19 - you want all the health you can get before going deep into tank stats.
Thornmail
Thornmail is a viable choice for your second or third item. You are getting all the health you need from Heartsteel and this item now just gives a metric ton of armor. Build this before Kaenic Rookern if there is a big AD threat on the other team.
Kaenic Rookern
Kaenic Rookern is a viable choice for your second or third item - it's MR and the shield will scale with your Heartsteel. pick this up bebbfore Thornmail if the enemy has a big AP threat.
Liandry's Torment
Build Liandry's Torment last if you're just smurfing on the enemy team and you want to add some extra damage to your build.
Elixirs
In most situations, your standard elixir of choice will be the Elixir of Iron. However, sometimes you might need some extra damage at the end of the game to win a fight, or help out your team the most you can, if you find yourself in that situation I recommend getting an Elixir of Sorcery.
Old Guardian Build
You can get the item set for this build by clicking the button to the right.
You can either download or copy-paste the text and insert it right into your league client. (you can find your items section under your collection tab, then press on import item builds)
Bloodsong
Our upgraded support item is always going to be Bloodsong. It's basically a Sheen item that buffs whoever is attacking the person that you're attacking, and Bard is always trading auto attacks.
Boots of Swiftness
There isn't much Ability Haste in the build anymore, so we get some here. These are also just the most efficient set of boots that we can get.
Locket of the Iron Solari
Build Locket of the Iron Solari as your first item. It's a good 2v2 and teamfight item, and it provides HP, armor, MR, and ability haste. It's just a great all-arounder.
Frozen Heart
Build Frozen Heart is a viable choice for your second or third item - pick this up if the enemy has a big auto attacking threat that you need to slow down.
Kaenic Rookern
Kaenic Rookern is a viable choice for your second or third item - pick this up if the enemy has a big AP threat.
Randuin's Omen
Build Randuin's Omen is good as a second or third item if you need armor but not anti-attacker stats from Frozen Heart. Don't stack these two items, you should only have one or the other.
Redemption
Build Redemption as a sixth item if you ever get there. You already have a lot of tank stats, and it can really work well in late game teamfights between the healing and the damage to enemies. It also synergizes well with your ult - it's the same timer, so if you ult an ally to save them you can Redemption immediately after and they'll get healed immediately out of stasis.
Elixirs
In most situations, your standard elixir of choice will be the Elixir of Iron. However, sometimes you might need some extra damage at the end of the game to win a fight, or help out your team the most you can, if you find yourself in that situation I recommend getting an Elixir of Sorcery.
Old Electrocute Build
You can get the item set for this build by clicking the button to the right.
You can either download or copy-paste the text and insert it right into your league client. (you can find your items section under your collection tab, then press on import item builds)
Blooodsong
Our upgraded support item is always going to be Bloodsong. It's basically a Sheen item that buffs whoever is attacking the person that you're attacking, and Bard is always trading auto attacks.
Tier 1 Boots
Tier two boots have been nerfed a lot, so rather than spending money on them, we are going to go right into Dead Man's Plate for our movement speed. Finish tier 2 boots at the end of the game if you have all your items. Mute your teammates if they ping you about it.
Dead Man's Plate
Dead Man's Plate is back! Armor and movement speed, what more could you want? This item makes it so we don't need tier 2 boots for a while. Build it first always.
Frozen Heart
Build Frozen Heart is a viable choice for your second or third item - pick this up if the enemy has a big auto attacking threat that you need to slow down.
Kaenic Rookern
Kaenic Rookern is a viable choice for your second or third item - pick this up if the enemy has a big AP threat.
Horizon Focus
Build Horizon Focus as a sixth item if you ever get there. It's getting buffed to have a ton of Ability Haste, and Bard's Q is longer than the 600 range requirement. Extra damage, more late-game Qs and Ws. Again, mute your teammates if they ping you about it.
Elixirs
In most situations, your standard elixir of choice will be the Elixir of Iron. However, sometimes you might need some extra damage at the end of the game to win a fight, or help out your team the most you can, if you find yourself in that situation I recommend getting an Elixir of Sorcery.
Gameplay
Early Game
Go even in the laning phase
Get Tier 2 boots
Start roaming
Despite having a strong Level 1, Bard has one of the weakest laning phases in the entire game. You’re not there to “win lane, win game” - at least, not your lane. Ideally you’re just looking to go even through safe trades that will allow you to constantly stack up gold via your support item. Remember that empowered auto-attacks count as two hits, so you’ll find yourself stacking the World Atlas in fewer trades than you may be used to making with other champions.
When your ADC goes back to base (via ‘B’ or the Greyscreen Express), feel free to grab a few chimes before heading back yourself to spend gold. You’re rushing for the Tier 2 boots since these will enable you to start roaming, and that is where Bard will begin to shine. Don’t completely abandon your ADC (unless the lane is completely lost), but feel free to leave them to solo-farm if a strong gank opportunity presents itself and your lane isn’t in immediate danger - i.e. pushed under your tower.
That’s the general idea at any rate, so now let’s elaborate!
As previously mentioned, the laning phase is when you’re going to see Bard at his weakest. Your ninth minion’s death marks the end of your reign of terror in the Bottom Lane, and if you’re smart (of course you are, you’re -actually- reading the guide!) you will start back-pedaling as the eighth one goes down. Level 2 tends to bring with it either heavy follow-up damage or crucial crowd control for your opponent - and for you, a minor heal and speed boost. Not ideal to say the least. However, use what you got!
Build an escape route by spacing out your three Caretaker's Shrine and use the fully-charged shrines to stay healthy given that you’re more likely to be pushed out of lane if you’re constantly taking bad trades. Unfortunately Bard is simply too weak at this stage to trade well given your weak constitution and low range, so try not to go for it unless you’re holding an empowered auto-attack or stun your target with Cosmic Binding. Against an all-in champion however, I’d recommend holding the Q for counter-engage/peel.
For the first few levels you’ll want to stick close to your lane, only leaving to collect nearby chimes when warding or helping the Jungler to get priority over the bottom Rift Scuttler.
After you’ve skilled your Magical Journey and plan to do your first recall, feel free to wander off a bit further to collect some stray chimes. Just don’t forget you’re still in the early game, so if you encounter an enemy champion, don’t push your luck. Get your chimes, get out, and (hopefully) get those Tier 2 boots.
A good early roam can be almost impossible to predict for the opposing team, and can set your solo-laners up to snowball the game out of control. Roaming Mid/Top Lane early can completely change the pace of a game, but when should you cut that tether tying you to the ADC? Most of the time a roam like this is easier to pull off after a recall, especially if you’ve since acquired your Tier 2 boots. The enemy is much less likely to have vision in your jungle or suspect you’re not just on your way back to the Bottom Lane. So don’t waste this golden opportunity and auto-path back down your lane! Put on your Jungler thinking cap - look around the map, check for laners who have been pushed in or objectives that your Jungler wants to contest (eg. an early rift scuttler), and note the locations of your chimes.
Now let’s say that with the information present (your top laner is pushed in, their Jungler is contesting the dragon, and your Jungler is pathing towards Herald for counter-pressure) you have decided to gank their Top Laner, but your Jungler isn’t coming because he wants Herald. Try to pick up as many chimes along the way (as you’re reasonably able to) for the increased speed, since you’ll miss your opportunity if they get spooked and back off.When your laner is being pushed in, there are two different tactics.
Your first tactic is to utilize your Magical Journey to quickly get behind their Top Laner, allowing you to cut off their retreat and giving them almost no time to react to the play. If the resulting fight doesn’t go the way you expected however, you’ll find yourself lacking a very powerful escape tool.
The second tactic is to simply rely on your innate movement speed or a lucky chime spawn to aid you in your wrap-around. Good warding will allow your target to see the gank coming, but you’ll now have your portal available for repositioning as well. When pulling off a riskier gank, such as against an opponent being pushed in, a smart portal can put you between the enemy laner and their turret to secure the kill.
After a roam (hopefully a successful one) try and make sure that you have your World Atlass stacks, and that the wave of the ganked lane is where they want it to be. You can sometimes help out your laner by helping them push the wave in after a successful kill on a gank to make sure they can get a good reset. Remember as well that you can also get World Atlass stacks from the enemy turret, so be sure to get some hits in on it if you shove the wave in. Then you can either also reset, or keep moving on the map depending on your gold, HP, etc.
While roaming is great in the early game, you shouldn’t just completely abandon your own lane though as we discussed before. Make sure that when you roam it is after you both reset, or if the wave is in a safe position for your ADC to farm. They still play a crucial role in the later game and teamfights.
Of course, not every game goes the way you’d like it to. Sometimes you fall behind early, which although not great, is still completely fine. Bard scales quite well into the game and has enough utility to completely shut down an enemy team even when they get ahead. The most important thing to do is to play super defensively and keep them from snowballing. You do not want to force plays. Let the enemy try things out, and wait for them to make a mistake and when they do, then you have to be there to punish it through. Keep repeating that until you can get your team back into a leading position.
Mid Game
Roam
Setup vision
Punish overstepping
Now here’s where Bard is going to start to shine. By now you should be approaching the 30-35 chime range, where you’ll find yourself with three empowered auto-attacks that expand into a cone upon impact for a decent amount of damage, and also provide a 35% slowing effect. Needless to say, when the enemy team sees three little bobbleheads waddling along behind you, they will have to be wary.
At this stage of the game, you really need to know what your team’s win condition is and play towards it. A win condition can be many things, such as giving promising team members the tools they need to succeed (kills, gold, protection), or an objective like the Dragon Soul. Though it can be difficult as a starting player to identify what your current win condition is - given that it changes throughout the game and varies from match to match - this is one of the most important skills that will come with experience. There are also certain ways to accelerate the growth of this skill, such as reviewing your old matches. Try to identify key members, objectives, and plays that led to either victory or defeat, and then follow those back to see why they happened.
There are two key things to consider while roaming in the mid-game: what objectives are either upcoming or available, and the state of all the lanes.
Various objectives exist on the map that are capable of tilting the odds in your team’s favor and these should influence where you decide to go on the map. The major ones to be on the lookout for are Dragon, Rift Herald (hereafter known as Shelly), and Baron Nashor, however, in their absence you could hone in on something like a Tier1 tower to “free” your laner and open up the map. It's very important to keep an eye on your minimap and the timers in the Tab Menu! If you know that an objective is coming up soon, you should see if your team can contest that area of the map. Do not underestimate the value of any of them, securing Shelly early can win you the entire game when snowballing a key teammate. Similarly, the dragons play a huge role in how you will have to play the late game, since you’ll need three to obtain the Dragon Soul, a permanent team-wide buff that provides unique properties.
However, that is only half of the consideration when it comes to roaming. Keep an eye on your teammates, and look for those who are making plays or show a capability to take control of the game. Playing to your weak side will often lose you the game since you can only make a finite amount of effort, and that effort, you want going towards bolstering your win condition. Don’t be afraid to cut the leash tying you to the bottom lane, remember this - you are the TEAM support, not the ADC’s pet. If you have identified your Top Laner as the most likely win condition, this is the time to start ensuring that he gets ahead and stays there.
Remember when we spoke about Bard being a Playmaker? While other champions are simply walking through the motions of a game, Playmakers are capable of taking leaps - they make the impossible, possible. As the old saying goes, it is always best to look before you leap, and to look you’re going to need vision. Without vision, that play you’re attempting to make may just end up being your last (of the game I mean, we’re all positive vibes here). Thankfully, Bard is an insanely mobile champion, so you should be relatively safe while setting up your wards compared to the likes of Nami. Don’t forget to have your sweeper going while roaming to help deny the enemy team’s vision, and to keep yourself hidden.
We will go over where and how to ward in more detail in the Warding section of the guide, so that’s all on that for now.
Nearly every portion of Bard’s kit is capable of punishing adversarial mispositioning, and though some may seem rather obvious, others are entirely unique to Bard - which makes opponents more susceptible to them, both offensively and defensively.
For instance, with the removal of the Ohmwrecker item, the only remaining way to shut off turrets lies with Volibear. However, Bard is capable of temporarily placing the tower in a stasis with his ultimate, Tempered Fate (where it likewise won’t be able to attack), enabling a dive that your team might otherwise not attempt. On the other hand, split-pushers tend to ward avenues of approach to warn them of a potential collapse, but with Magical Journey you can open an unpredictable one, giving your team the element of surprise once more. The uses are near limitless, so look for your opportunity! Identify their mistakes, think of the absolute worst-case scenario for someone in their predicament, and then make it a reality.
Late Game
Zoning and vision for objectives
Ulting in team fights
Looking for double stuns
As the game continues to progress and scaling activates, you’ll find your personal damage becoming less consequential. Though you can (and should) continue collecting chimes, at this stage other supports will begin to overtake Bard in terms of raw stats and/or teamfight utility. However, though you may be down, you’re not out! Bard still has a semi-spammable stun and a myriad of tools that can help shift the outcome of a teamfight in your favor.
Vision makes up a large amount of a support’s power, giving you the ability to pierce the Fog of War and see things that are happening without placing either yourself or your teammates in danger. Your team’s vision is their first line of defense, and you’re responsibility for the majority of it. When preparing for an objective, be sure to pick warding locations that will grant the largest degree of coverage to the potential paths which an opponent might take in response. Your goal is to obtain as much information about your opponents and their pathing as possible.
And now you must act on that information. Objectives at this stage can make or break a game, and it's your job to buy your team time. Realistically speaking, you’re not going to be dealing much damage to either the dragons or Baron Nashor at this point. Leave the objective to your teammates, and instead utilize your knowledge of the enemy movements to intercept them and slow them down with your barrage of slowing auto-attacks and double stuns.You’re just looking to buy your team as much time as possible, with the best-case outcome granting them enough to safely secure the objective before turning on an already weakened opponent. This is called zoning, and it's far more valuable than subtracting a whopping five-hundred health points from something with over five thousand.
A wiseman once said, “A fair fight is not my fight.” And that wiseman's name was Bard. When your ultimate is up, you have the power to turn every 5v5 into a 5v4/3/2/1, and you need to capitalize on this. If you want to optimize its usage, you need to identify three things: your win condition for the fight, their’s, and which one matters more.
For instance, say that your team has an extremely fed Talon, while the enemy team has their Kai'Sa. If you have been watching your Talon all game long and he has proven himself to be a competent player time and again, you may want to use your ultimate to temporarily remove the frontline and give him a window towards assassinating their win condition. Keep in mind though that if he fails, you’ve wasted your greatest advantage.
On the other hand, by using your ultimate on the enemy backline, you could effectively shut off their primary source of damage and give your team a chance to overwhelm the frontline. By the time their ADC comes out of stasis, she may be faced with a 5v2 situation, greatly increasing the odds that your team can overwhelm her with sheer numbers given her lack of protection. After all, an exposed ADC is a dead ADC.
During team fights you will want to be hitting double stuns on priority targets as much as possible. With good positioning and the right angle, you can completely shut down two people and make it even easier for your own team to follow-up with their abilities. Remember that when combined with your ultimate, you can effectively remove someone for around 8 seconds by using Q > R > Q, which should be off cooldown around the time that the stasis wears off.
Don’t forget that you can also skirt the outsides of a fight and look for terrain-based avenues that might allow you to Magical Journey into position for a crucial double stun as well. Even a short portal can sometimes make all the difference between a minor inconvenience (slowed) and a debilitating ailment (stunned). So get out your protractor and get those angles dialled in!
Unsealed Spellbook is a Poly_Puff original. The rune itself is filled with great utility, and it can be great if the player itself is good enough to fully utilize its potential since you won’t get much combat strength out of the rune outside of your summoner spells. If you want to know more about this build be sure to check out Poly_Puff.
No, it is not good. The stats on it are not what you want to have on Bard, and although the little bit of extra range can feel nice. You do not actually need it at all. Bard has no trouble keeping up with people due to his good amount of movement speed, and lots of slows.
Could I build Bard full AP/AD?
Building damage on Bard is gonna make you deal a lot less damage. Bard is a medium short-range squishy target, the moment you build full AD or AP you will get instantly bursted as soon as someone looks at you wrong. It’s a very high-risk playstyle and thus not worth it if you want to be consistent in ranked.
Who do you ban?
This is a per-patch question, but a safe bet is usually to ban Thresh. In general hard engage champions do well into Bard. What sets Thresh apart from the other engagers is his ability to also save his allies. His W Dark Passage is why, it can completely ruin an amazing ult, and in general will save people you could otherwise kill.
No, you shouldn’t ever start with your W. When doing so you immediately give up your strong level 1. Since your level 2-5 is not that strong, you give up the only time in the lane that you would have a chance to be stronger.
What is the best skin?
Whichever skin you like the best! I like the theme of
Elderwood Bard a lot, but there is not really a bad skin.
Mobility Boots are a nice boot option for a lot of roaming champions, however this is not the case for Bard. The fact that you lose the movement speed bonus in combat is really bad for you. You need the speed from boots to allow you to quickly reposition in fights so you can hit your Q.
Should you be focusing on Control Wards? Do I need more? Help.
No Control Wards are not that good.
Control wards are made to get control over a certain area, mostly around objectives. However, as the game is currently most of the time you will never be able to be in a situation where you need to get that control. Often you are either ahead or behind. When ahead you don't need them because you already have control. When you are behind you can't really get them into proper positions and defend them. If you are equal then the only times you want to do the objectives is when you just won a fight, meaning you no longer need the control. In the early game, some control wards are really good to get, but as the game goes on, the value of the diminishes to pretty much nothing. Don't just buy them thinking you are trolling by not having them, you don't always need them, and having an item instead of the ward is most often gonna be saving you way more.
I wouldn't advise playing with the new Vigilant Wardstone. As explained in the part above, you do not need the extra Control Wards. To add to this the bonus stats it gives are not that great, because supports have little bonus stats to benefit from the extra stats. This means it just takes up an item slot for an item that yes is gold efficient, but doesn't give you anything that you really want. It is much better to rush into your next item, that will help you much more than a minor amount of AP, AH, and HP.
Afterword
I hope that you were able to either learn something new from the guide or were able to find the runes and builds that you were looking for. From the entire team, thank you so much for taking the time to read the guide. If you still have any questions you can always hop into my stream, my discord, or just in the discussion tab here, I am always willing to help you out!
Update Log
9-12-2024 - Season 2024 Split 3/Worlds Update
- Fleet footwork is dead
- Electrocute is back
- Added 14.19 theorycraft build
5-21-2024 - Season 2024 Mid-Season Update
- new runes added to Inspiration Tree
- Removed Fleet Footwork
- Added First strike
1-12-2024 - Season 2024 Update
- new items and builds
5-22-2023 - Mid Season Update 2023
- Removed Electrocute
- Added Echoes of Helia build
- Guardian is primary rune again
- Addressed all the item changes in the build paths
1-14-2023 - 13.1 Season Update
- Updated primary build runes: Tenacity to Alacrity, Coup de Grace to Last Stand
07-28-2022 - 12.14 Patch Update
- Guardianis no longer the top ranked build.
- Fleet Footwork is now the top ranked build, secondary runes changed to Sorcery tree.
- Arcane Comet re-added as 2nd best setup.
- Boots changed on all the core builds from Ionian back to resistance boots based on matchup.
06-22-2022 - 12.12 Clean Up Update
- Guardian rune and item changes. Guardian is now the top ranked build, Knight's Vow moved to be a core item.
- Fleet Footwork rune and item changes. Fleet Footwork is now the 2nd ranked build, Knight's Vow moved to be a core item, secondary runes changed to Resolve tree.
- Electrocute rune and item changes. Night Harvester now the core mythic, secondary runes changed to Resolve tree.
- Removed Arcane Comet
04-20-2022 - Pre-12.8 Update
- In a special 4-20 update, added low elo and high elo meme builds for your viewing pleasure.
02-17-2022 - 12.4 Update
- Guardian surpasses Fleet Footwork as the best build, secondary runes have changed to domination tree, Merc treads are cool again
02-11-2022 - Season 12 builds
- A long awaited update for the Season 12 builds, including the new Fleet Footwork rune setup.
- Removed Hail of Blades and Omnistone builds
- Updated all item sets, including premade item set links
03-04-2021 - Release date of the guide 3.0
- A complete overhaul of the guide, new look, more info, more streamlining.
13-04-2021 - Minor runeshard fix
- Fixed the runeshard showing as double armour for the Guardian Setup instead of armour + scaling health.
25-06-2021 - First draft new items and Guardian rune changes
- Guide Updates - First draft of new items and runes, more info coming soon.
- Items - Inclusion of Anathema's Chains in tank builds, switch away from Divine Sunderer in damage builds
- Guardian Runes - Swap away from AP focused runes, for AH runes
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