Guide:Bard

WORK IN PROGRESS TODO: Bard Guide

What Music Do I Bring? (Spells)

Core Songs

These 4 songs are core to bard play and should always be taken.

Rousing Rhythms - +2 to all stats for the bard and allies in range.

• Knowledge +2 means Spell Capacity +2
• Will +2 / Resourcefulness +2 means longer buff/song duration

Self buffs:

Beats of Alacrity - Increases the bard's movement speed

Aria of Alacrity - Increases the bard's action speed

Ballad of Courage - Increase the bard's physical power

Core Rotation:

Throughout the match, try to keep all 4 of these songs up at all times. This is the ideal order to play them in.

Rousing Rhythms -> Beats of Alacrity -> Ballad of Courage -> Aria of Alacrity

------------> ----------> ----------->

Why buff in this order?

1. Start the rotation with Rousing Rhythms because it increases your spell capacity and the duration of your songs.
2. Play Beats of Alacrity because we already have our drum out.
3. Play Ballad of Courage and finally Aria of Alacrity.
4. We end with Aria of Alacrity because it is advantageous to have your lute ready in the utility slot in case a PvP situation arises.

Solo Songs

Highly Recommended:

• Lament of Languor
• Allegro
• Tranquility
• Accelerando
• Shriek of Weakness

Good Options:

• Song of Shadow
• Harmonic Shield
• Piercing Shrill

Example Solo Song Setup

Stats

Primary Stats

Strength

Great: Increases melee weapon and ranged weapon damage, slightly increases health

Vigor

Essential: Increases health and rate of healing

Dexterity

Essential: The only stat which increases song playing speed. Also increases attack speed.

Agility

Good: Increases move speed, slightly increases attack speed.

Will

Poor: Increases magic resist, slightly increases how long your buffs last on you.

Knowledge

Poor: Increases spell capacity. Does nothing else for Bard, so only get what you need to take your songs.

Resourcefulness

Essential: Increases how long your buffs last. Increases your speed of opening doors/chests. Without at least 20 resourcefulness you will be playing your songs more often then you want to.

Stats to look for on gear

Best Stats

• Physical Power
• Weapon Damage
• Dexterity
• Strength
• Vigor
• Max HP
• % Physical Damage
• True Physical Damage
• % Move Speed
• Additional Move Speed

Good Stats

• Additional Memory Capacity
• % Memory Capacity
• Action Speed
• Additional Armor
• Resourcefulness
• Agility

Mediocre Stats

• Buff Duration Bonus
• Knowledge
• Will

Stats to Avoid

• Spell Casting Speed

Equipment

Instruments

Utility Slot Layout

One of the biggest challenges of learning bard is juggling your utility slots. Switching between instruments, torch, and potions can be tough. The following is an optimized layout.

On the right side we have the drum, lyre, and lute. We want these instruments on the same side so you can go through your core rotation in the correct order (see core rotation above)

Left side top slot should contain a consumable. This is because when you right click a consumable in your inventory it will always try to go to the top left slot. This makes it much easier to swap potions, bandages, and other consumables instead of having to drag it to the correct slot.

Left side middle slot is the flute. We want the flute on the opposite side of the lute so we can easily switch between playing the flute and lute for various PvP debuffs, like shriek of weakness and lament of langour.

Left side bottom slot can be anything, but is typically a torch or pickaxe so you can easily access them when needed.

Perks

Charismatic Performance

Description of Charismatic Performance and how to utilize it

The idea is to minimize the number of notes that need to be played. Additionally, the number of notes the song has will impact how much flexibility there is in terms of hitting the note on the center gold portion or if you can partially miss and hit the outskirts which is the white portion. *Probably need an image of the note icon* Optimal skips and flexibility for achieving a Perfect performance:

• 3 note song- skip 1, need 2/2 golds
• 4 note song- skip 1, need 2/3 golds
• 5 note song- skip 1, need 2/4 golds
• 6 note song- skip 2, need 4/4 golds (or skip 1, need 2/5 golds)

Optimal skips for achieving a Bad performance optimally:

• 3 note song- skip 1, need 1/2 golds
• 4 note song- skip 1, need 1/3 golds
• 5 note song- skip 2, need 2/3 golds
• 6 note song- skip 2, need 1/4 golds

Note that these are specifically for with Charismatic Performance**

Source (warning, contains math)