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
Charismatic Performance
Upgrades a 'good' performance into a 'perfect' performance.
Need confirmation that magic damage reduction is hard-set whereas physical is granted, or if both are granted additively Contribute by joining the Spells & Guns discord!
Creates an unpleasant noise to block hostile targets within a 6m area from casting spells, Silencing them for 2s.
24s
Encore
The next song is automatically played to the end without any input and is sure to succeed. Additionally, reset the duration of all music buffs to nearby allies within 6m. Gain
No tag found for "ManualDexterity", please correct it
on this song, though capped to 50%.
Needs further testing!
Description seems to say that it only resets duration of allies and not self, is this true? Contribute by joining the Spells & Guns discord!
40s
Party Maker
Remove drunk effect from self and all allies within 6m.
40s
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.
- 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.
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, all characters within range lose the ability to fight or use any attack related animation when enchanted. Monsters will still follow the performer.
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.
Grants all allies within range invisibility for 10s/20s/30s. Invisibility appears to work like Hide except being bumped into will not break invisibility.
-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.
