Bard

Automated data is mostly up to date, some minor things are outdated. Hover for more details.Class Data last updated on: Patch:6.13#Hotfix 128-1.
Dark and Darker is currently on update: Patch:6.13#Hotfix 128-1.

Bard

'The Magical Minstrel'

Strength

13

Vigor

13

Agility

13

Dexterity

20

Will

11

Knowledge

20

Resourcefulness

15

Health

96

Memory

14

Description

Bards in Dark and Darker are versatile performers, who use their skills in music, storytelling, and magic to support their allies and hinder their enemies. They can cast a wide variety of spells, ranging from healing and protection to charms. Bards can also inspire their allies with rousing speeches and music, boosting their morale and granting them temporary bonuses. In combat, bards can use their weapons and martial skills, but they excel at using their charm and wit to manipulate their enemies, making them an unpredictable and dangerous foe.

Class Info

The Bard is a weaver of moving melodies and fantastic tales. They manage to get out of stickiest of situations using their uncanny ability to mysteriously control the mood of crowds and creatures.

Weapon of choice - Rapier

• Pros:
  • Crowd control.
  • Good swordsman.
  • Play powerful buffs.
  • Highest potential Luck stat (Wanderer's Luck perk)
• Cons:
  • Low damage bonus.
  • Loud.
  • Weak without buffs.

Music Minigame

Songs have different effects depending on how they are played, Bad/Good/Perfect each giving different performances.

Each hit add a score to the performance.

• Good Hit = 70 (White part of the note)
• Perfect Hit = 100 (Gold part of the note)

Score determines performance quality if it is higher than the thresholds:

• Bad = 50%
• Good = 65%
• Perfect = 90%

Total possible score:

• (Note Count) x 100

You can equip an additional perk every 5 levels. Currently maxed out at Level 15, so a total of 4 perks can be equipped.

Name	Description
Cadenza	Play an instrument yourself and finish Music with a Perfect grade to gain Cadenza for 10s. Then, starting a performance on a different instrument than the one that granted Cadenza consumes it, increasing that performance's speed by up to 30%.
Charismatic Performance	Once per performance, up to 1 time(s), a missed note is corrected to a 'good' note so the performance continues. A corrected performance's final grade is capped at 'good'.
Dancing Feet	Gain 10 Move Speed Add when holding an instrument.
Fermata	Music buffs applied to yourself last 1.5x longer
Jolly Time	Drinking Ale recovers 5 Physical Base Healing (100% Scaling) and grants 7 Move Speed Add and 7 Vigor when drunk.
Lore Mastery	Grants 30% Regular Interaction Speed and increases your Knowledge by an amount equal to 50% of your Resourcefulness.
Melodic Protection	While playing songs, gain 25% Physical Damage Reduction and 25% Magical Damage Reduction.
Ostinato	After finishing the opening of Channeling Music on an instrument, putting the instrument away or swapping to another one continues it as a background Channeling. You can perform other Music meanwhile, and drawing the same instrument again resumes it. Starting another Channeling Music, attacking or defending with a weapon, or unequipping the instrument ends the background Channeling.
Rapier Mastery	When a rapier is equipped, gain 3 Physical Buff Weapon Damage and 5% Action Speed. Unlike many other Mastery perks, these bonuses also apply to any off-hand weapon you may have equipped.
Reinforced Instruments	Gain 50% Physical Power Bonus when attacking with a musical instrument as a weapon. (This does not apply to Songs)
Story Teller	Give all party members within 6m 5 Will and 3 Knowledge.
Superior Dexterity	Gain 50% Item Equip Speed Bonus when switching between weapons/utility items.
Wanderer's Luck	Increases the chances of finding high-quality items when opening treasure chests by gaining 100 Luck.
War Song	Successfully performed songs grant 3 Physical Buff Weapon Damage to yourself and allies within 6m for 6s.

You can equip a total of 2 skills.

Name	Description	Cooldown
Dissonance	Creates an unpleasant noise to block hostile targets within a 6m area from casting spells, Silencing them for 2s.	24s
Encore	While holding the instrument required for the song, automatically replay the last song you completed manually. The replay keeps the previous performance's final grade and increases effect values, effect duration, and effect radius by 1.5x. Channeling Music can also be replayed.	40s
One-Man Band	Become a one-man band and gain dedicated parts for four instruments. Each instrument keeps one Channeling part playing in the background, and its effect applies to targets inside the performer's area based on your performance. Cannot be equipped with Music Memory. Cherub's Lute: Party members gain 5%/10%/15% Cooldown Reduction. March of the Pilgrims: Party members gain 5%/10%/15% Headshot Damage Modifier, 30%/50%/70% Regular Interaction Speed and 5/10/15 Luck. Panflute of Tailwinds: Party members gain 1%/3%/5% Move Speed Bonus and 3%/5%/7% Action Speed. Enemies lose 0.5%/1.5%/2.5% Move Speed Bonus and 1.5%/2.5%]/3.5% Action Speed. Drums of the Vanguard: Each beat, party members recover 1(10% Scaling)/1(15% Scaling)/1(20% Scaling) Magical Base Healing, which can exceed max health. Each beat, enemy All Attributes is reduced by 1, stacking up to 3 times.
Party Maker	Remove and become immune to drunken effects from self and all allies within 6m for 15s. Drinking while immune does 5 Physical Base Healing.	40s
Sing	Sing the selected Music with your voice, without an instrument. Performance bonuses and Cadenza do not apply. When the song finishes, Channeling Music continues as a voice background Channeling. You can act freely while singing, but cannot eat or drink, and cannot sing underwater.	24s
Music Memory	Can store up to 5 sheet music as space permits.
Music Memory 2	Can store up to an additional 5 sheet music as space permits.

Instruments

Drum

Flute

Lute

Lyre

- Cast Time Intervals represent the time between each note in a song

- Base durations listed are calculated with (as of Patch #2) Bard's base 15 Persuasiveness

- Some songs are noted to not scale with Persuasiveness, meaning they always last the listed amount, before Buff/Debuff duration, noted as 0% Persuasiveness Scaling.

- Some songs technically apply no duration where their affect lasts only while Channeling, like Peacemaking and Chaotic Discord, meaning they cannot possibly scale with Persuasiveness nor Buff/Debuff duration. Not noted in the Persuasiveness column.

- Song effects can vary per Bad/Good/Perfect quality.. If all qualities have the same amount, it is written once, like "8 Physical Power". If it varies per quality, it may be written as "6/8/10 Physical Power".

- Channels started by a song allow you to move without breaking the channel, but they do require the same instrument to be held for the duration of the channel, which is displayed as a countdown in the center of the performance bar. Putting the instrument away cancels the channel.

- If a target would receive a buff from one performance of a song but already has some version of that buff from a different performance of the same song, the new buff will completely replace the old buff, even if the new buff has a shorter duration, smaller effect, and/or was produced by a performance of lower quality.

Needs further testing!

Are debuffs overwritten in the same way as buffs? Contribute by joining the Spells & Guns discord!

Name	Description	Range	Damage/Persuasiveness Scaling	Cast Time	Memory Cost
Rousing Rhythms	Grant all allies within range 2 All Attributes for 60s/120s/240s.	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 3.25s Intervals: 0.65 > 0.65 > 0.65 > 0.65 > 0.65	3
Din of Darkness	After finishing the song, Channel for another 6.48s during which you deal 1/3/5 Dark Magical Base Damage per beat to all enemies/monsters within range.	5m	Magical Damage: 16%/33%/50% Scaling	Total: 6.48s Intervals: 0.81 > 0.81 > 0.81 > 0.81 > 0.81 > 0.81 > 0.81 > 0.81	3
Beats of Alacrity	Grant self 4/5/6 Move Speed Add for 60s/120s/240s.	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 3.12s Intervals: 1.04 > 0.52 > 0.26 > 0.26 > 1.04	1
Allegro	After playing, grant all allies within range 1 stack of the Allegro Buff every 1s up to 3 stacks. Each stack grants 3%/4%/5% Action Speed and 3%/4%/5% Spell Casting Speed for 6s.	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 3.69s Intervals: 0.87 > 0.87 > 0.87 > 0.65 > 0.43	4
Accelerando	After playing, grant all allies within range 1 stack of the Accelerando Buff every 2s up to 3 stacks. Each stack grants 2/3/4 Move Speed Add for 6s.	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 4.31s Intervals: 0.68 > 0.68 > 0.68 > 0.68 > 0.91 > 0.68	4
Unchained Harmony	Open all doors/containers within range, including locked containers but not locked doors.	4m		Total: 6.97s Intervals: 1.07 > 1.07 > 0.54 > 1.61 > 1.07 > 0.54 > 1.07	5
Shriek of Weakness	Shriek into the ears of all enemies/monsters within range, causing them to suffer -1/-2/-3 Physical Power, -6/-8/-10 Armor Rating, and -9%/-12%/-15% Physical Damage Reduction Mod for 4.0s/8s/12s. (Noteskip) Damage Increase Graph	5m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 4.71s Intervals: 1.4 > 0.7 > 0.52 > 2.09	3
Piercing Shrill	Deal 15/20/25 Physical Base Damage to all enemies/monsters within range and inflict the echo sound effect on the affected target for 3s if the target is a player.	5m	Physical Damage: 10%/30%/50% Scaling Persuasiveness: 0% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 7.21s Intervals: 1.03 > 1.03 > 1.03 > 1.03 > 1.03 > 1.03 > 1.03	3
Banshees Howl	Cause all enemies/monsters (except Sub-boss and boss monsters) within range to suffer -1/-2/-3 All Attributes for 20s.	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 5.21s Intervals: 1.04 > 0.52 > 1.04 > 0.52 > 0.52 > 1.57	3
Song of Silence	Silence all enemies/monsters within range for 1s/1.5s/2s. See Silence page for more details.	5m	0% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 3.63s Intervals: 0.73 > 0.87 > 0.87 > 0.87 > 0.29	2
Peacemaking	Channel for 5s, during which, all characters within range lose the ability to fight or use any attack related animation when enchanted. Monsters will still follow the performer.	4m/5m/6m	0% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 6.25s Intervals: 1.25 > 1.25 > 1.25 > 1.25 > 1.25	3
Lament of Languor	Cause all enemies/monsters within range to suffer -10 Move Speed Add for 6s/12s/18s.	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 3.1s Intervals: 0.62 > 0.62 > 0.62 > 0.62 > 0.62	2
Chaotic Discord	Channel for 5s during which you excite all monsters (no effect on players) within range to attack the nearest target except the performer. Monsters deaths inflicted by other monsters are accredited to the Bard, at least for Adventure Points. If there is no other target other than the performer nearby, the monster will not attack but will still follow the performer.	4m/5m/6m	0% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 10s Intervals: 1.25 > 1.25 > 1.25 > 1.25 > 1.25 > 1.25 > 1.25 > 1.25	3
Aria of Alacrity	Grants self 4%/6%/8% Action Speed for 60s/120s/240s.	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 3.78s Intervals: 0.73 > 0.87 > 0.87 > 0.87 > 0.44	1
Tranquility	Grants all allies within range the ability to restore 1 Recoverable Healing (15% Scaling) per second for 60s/120s/240s.	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 3.27s Intervals: 0.65 > 0.33 > 0.65 > 0.33 > 0.98 > 0.33	2
Song of Shadow	Grants all allies within range invisibility for 10s/20s/30s. Invisibility appears to work like Hide except being bumped into will not break invisibility.	4m/5m/6m	0% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 6.62s Intervals: 0.55 > 0.55 > 0.55 > 0.83 > 0.83 > 0.83 > 0.83 > 1.65	3
Harmonic Shield	Grants self within range 3%/4%/5% Physical Damage Reduction and 3%/4%/5% Magical Damage Reduction for 60s/120s/240s. Why are the durations different? No tag found for "GoodPersuasivenessInaccurateNote", please correct it No tag found for "BadPersuasivenessInaccurateNote", please correct it Effective Health Increase Graph	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 7.55s Intervals: 0.98 > 0.98 > 0.98 > 0.98 > 0.98 > 0.98 > 1.67	1
Chorale of Clarity	Grants all allies within range the ability to restore 2 Spell Points every 2s for 20s/40s/60s.	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 3.63s Intervals: 0.91 > 0.91 > 0.91 > 0.45 > 0.45	3
Ballad of Courage	Grants all allies 2/4/6 Physical Power for 240s.	4m/5m/6m	100% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 4.57s Intervals: 0.65 > 0.65 > 0.65 > 0.65 > 1.97	3
Sounding Line	While Channeling, emit a pulse around you that marks the current position of moving targets for your party. Stationary targets are not marked. Marks all enemies/monsters.	12m		Total: 12.24s Intervals: 1.53 > 1.53 > 1.53 > 1.53 > 1.53 > 1.53 > 1.53 > 1.53	2
Pianissimo	Reduces the distance at which the footsteps and equipment sounds of all allies can be heard for 12s/16s/20s.	6m	0% Persuasiveness Scaling	Total: 5.82s Intervals: 0.92 > 0.92 > 0.92 > 0.92 > 0.92 > 0.92 > 0.3	2
Cleansing Cadence	While Channeling, emit a cleansing pulse around you that reduces the remaining duration of removable magic debuffs on all allies it reaches by 1s/2s/3s.	4m/5m/6m		Total: 6.54s Intervals: 1.06 > 1.06 > 1.06 > 1.06 > 1.06 > 1.06 > 0.18	3

These Stats do not include starting armor.

Stat Name	Base Stats
Strength	13
Vigor	13
Agility	13
Dexterity	20
Will	11
Knowledge	20
Resourcefulness	15
Health	96
Memory Capacity	20
Utility Effectiveness	0
Luck	0
Health Recovery Bonus	-6%
Spell Recovery Bonus	73%
Move Speed	296 ( 98.67% )
Action Speed	3.25%
Manual Dexterity	0%
Spell Casting Speed	0%
Equip Speed	25%
Regular Interaction Speed	8.75%
Magical Interaction Speed	-20%
Persuasiveness	15
Buff Duration	-8%
Debuff Duration	8.7%
Armor Penetration	0%
Magic Penetration	0%
Headshot Reduction	0%
Projectile Damage Reduction	0%
Physical Damage Reduction	-22%
From Armor Rating	0 ( -22% )
From Bonuses	0%
Magic Resistance	4%
From Resist Rating	18 ( 4% )
From Bonuses	0%
Physical Power Bonus	-4%
From Physical Power	13 ( -4% )
From Bonuses	0%
Magic Power Bonus	-20%
From Magic Power	11 ( -20% )
From Bonuses	0%
Primary Weapon	0
Secondary Weapon	0
Impact Power	0
Primary Weapon Impact Power	0
Secondary Weapon Impact Power	0

-See Persuasiveness for more on song's base durations

-The Bard has access to many powerful songs. Considering bringing both Song Memory skills to maximize your versatility.

-Remember that not all of your buffing songs will buff your party. Some songs, such as Beats of Alacrity, Aria of Alacrity, and Ballad of Courage will only buff the Bard playing the song.

-Chaotic Discord is a great way to solo clean chaotic rooms. Mobs will kill each other while keeping the Bard safe. Can also be used as a protection if attacked by other players while in a room full of mobs.

-Peacemaking can be a powerful stalling tool, but beware of ranged attackers outside of its AoE. The song is quite long to play, so beginning it before the encounter is recommended. It also will not disable spellcasters.

-Accelerando is a powerful tool both for fleeing and engaging.

-Tranquility is a reusable heal, but depends on the quantity of Recoverable Health. In groups, it is most useful on high Health classes, like the Barbarian, or classes who generate a lot of Recoverable Health, like the Warlock.

-Shriek of Weakness can nearly double your party's physical damage against mobs, and can provide significant assistance against plated Fighters and Clerics.

-Chests opened with Unchained Harmony gives experience to the Bard. In theory, this would mean that Bard's Luck is used to generate the loot of the chests, however this is not confirmed.

All bolded numbers are automatically updated; however, non-boldened phrasing/numbers are written manually by the community. See Class Ability Documentation for more.