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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
To play the lute, the bard needs to hold the instrument and then activate the Skill: Music Memory by pressing the default E button. From there, the player can select the desired song and initiate it by right-clicking.
To successfully activate the song's effect, it is crucial to hit the right notes at the right time. As the song plays, the player should press the right mouse button at the correct moment to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted performance. If the player can successfully play the song to the end, the song effect will be activated, providing a variety of benefits in combat and other game scenarios.
Weapon of choice: Rapier
Pros:
Extremely good selection of powerful passive buffs. Passive healing, spell restoration for friendly casters, as well as defensive and offensive buffs alike.
Able to manipulate NPCs with a variety of crowd control songs. Able to massively debuff NPC damage resistance, up to 60% extra damage with Shriek of Weakness which is great for bosses
Access to melee weapons, a shield, and ranged options, allowing for high versatility.
Several AoE damage sources and debuffs, allowing for strong space control and party play.
High interaction speed and movement speed (when buffed).
Highest potential Luck stat + Can unlock chests with Unchained Harmony
Cons:
Tunnel vision: it is difficult to be aware of your surroundings and make the right decisions while switching instruments, focusing on the music minigame, and rotating your buffs.
Weak without buffs, leading to slow gameplay and clears when played solo. If played too hastily, there is the risk of getting caught in PvP while unbuffed.
While versatile, has a limited gear selection and is a jack of all trades. Only bow is the Survival Bow, only shield is the Buckler, and only has access to a few melee weapons.
Timing tunes is not easy in dire situations.
Low durability and limited access to armor.
Very loud, attracting attention from other players.
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
Charismatic Performance
Upgrades a 'good' performance into a 'perfect' performance.
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 4.5m3 Will and 3 Knowledge.
Superior Dexterity
Gain 50% when switching between weapons/utility items.
Wanderer's Luck
Increases the chances of finding high-quality items when opening treasure chests by gaining 50 Luck.
War Song
If a song performance is successful, grant 3 Physical Buff Weapon Damage to yourself and allies within 4.5m 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 3 3s.
24s
Encore
The next song is automatically played to the end without any input and is sure to succeed. Gain 100% Manual Dexterity on this song, though capped to 50%.
- 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".
Name
Description
Range
Damage/Persuasiveness Scaling
Cast Time
Cost
Sample
Rousing Rhythms
Grant all allies within range 2 All Attributes for 30s/60s/90s.
After playing, grant all allies within range the Allegro buff for 8s. Each second, gain 1 stack up to 3 stacks. Each stack grants 3%/4.5%/6% Action Speed and 3%/4.5%/6% Spell Casting Speed while the Allegro buff lasts.
After playing, grant all allies within range the Accelerando buff for 8s. Each second, gain 1 stack up to 3. Each stack grants 1/3/5 Move Speed Add while the Accelerando buff lasts.
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.
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.
Song played with the Good quality is described in game to last 90s but actually lasts 60s Song played with the Bad quality is described in game to last 60s but actually lasts 30s
-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.
