Bard

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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

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.
Dancing Feet	Increases your flat Move Speed by +10 when holding an instrument.
Fermata	Makes Bard real smelly
Jolly Time	Drinking Ale heals 5 HP and grants +10 flat Move Speed when drunk.
Lore Mastery	A high level of understanding of objects increases Regular Interaction Speed and Magical Interaction Speed by an additional flat +25%.
Melodic Protection	While playing, the caster's Physical Damage Reduction is increased by an additional flat +30%.
Rapier Mastery	When a rapier is equipped in either hand, "Buff" Weapon Damage increases by +3 and Action Speed increases by an additional flat +5%.
Reinforced Instruments	50% increased Physical Power Bonus when attacking with a musical instrument as a weapon. (This does not apply to Song playing)
Story Teller	Give all party members within 4.5 meters +3 Will and Knowledge.
Superior Dexterity	50% faster switching time when switching between weapons/utility items.
Wanderer's Luck	Increases the chances of finding high-quality items when opening treasure chests. Increases Luck by a flat +50.
War Song	If the performance is successful, increases "Buff" Weapon Damage of yourself and allies within 4.5 meters by +3 for 6 seconds.

You can equip a total of 2 skills.

Name	Description	Cooldown
Dissonance	Creates an unpleasant noise to block hostile targets within a certain area from casting spells and silence them for 3 seconds. May act similarly to Rogue's Cut Throat	30s
Encore	The next song is automatically played to the end without any input and is sure to succeed. Additionally, the song is played at the maximum 50% play speed regardless of the Bard's Dexterity.	4s
Music Memory	Can store up to 5 sheet music as space permits.	/
Music Memory 2	Can store up to 5 sheet music as space permits.	/
Party maker	Bleh	/

Instruments

Drum

Flute

Lute

Lyre

- Cast Time Intervals are Rounded, and represent the time between each note in a song

- Base durations are calculated with (as of Patch #2) 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 "No 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. Noted as "N/A (technically no duration to scale)"

Name	Description	Range	Damage/Persuasiveness Scaling	Cast Time	Cost
Rousing Rhythms	Increases All Attributes of nearby allies by +2/+2/+2 for 30/60/90 seconds.	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 2x/4x/6x	Total: 3s Intervals: 0.75 > 0.75 > 0.75 > 0.75	3
Din of Darkness	Does 1/3/5 Dark Magical Damage per beat to all enemies in an area around the performer.	5.5/5.5/5.5 meters	Magical Damage: 30%	Total: 6.46s Intervals: 0.9 > 0.9 > 0.9 > 0.9 > 0.9 > 0.9 > 0.9	3
Beats of Alacrity	Grants +5/+7/+9 additional flat Move Speed for 30/60/120 seconds. Song does not stack on itself. This buff only applies to yourself.	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 2x/4x/8x	Total: 2.4s Intervals: 1.2 > 0.6 > 0.3 > 0.3	1
Allegro	Gradually grants additional flat Action Speed and Spell Casting Speed to you and nearby allies for 6 seconds. The amount of boost (Poor - +3% per second, Good - +4.5% per second, Perfect - +6% per second) stacks up to 3 times over the duration of one song.	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 0.4x	Total: 3.75s Intervals: 1.0 > 1.0 > 1.0 > 0.75	4
Accelerando	Gradually increase the flat Move Speed of yourself and nearby allies for 6 seconds. The amount of boost (Poor - 3 per second, Good - 5 per second, Perfect - 7 per second) stacks up to 3 times over the duration of one song.	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 0.4x	Total: 4.17s Intervals: 0.8 > 0.8 > 0.8 > 0.8 > 1.0	4
Unchained Harmony	Open all nearby doors/containers, including locked doors and containers. Does not work for doors that require a special key.	3/3/3 meters	N/A (technically no duration to scale)	Total: 6.73s Intervals: 1.2 > 1.2 > 0.6 > 1.8 > 1.2 > 0.6	5
Shriek of Weakness	Grants a debuff to nearby enemies that lowers Physical Power by a flat -3/-4/-5 and flat Armor Rating by -10/-20/-30 for 6/12/18 seconds. Damage Increase Graph	4.5/4.5/4.5 meters	Persuasiveness: 0.4x/0.8x/1.2x	Total: 3s Intervals: 1.6 > 0.8 > 0.6	3
Piercing Shrill	Does 15/20/25 Physical Damage to a target causes the echo sound effect on the affected target for 3 seconds if the target is a player.	5.5/5.5/5.5 meters	Physical Damage: 100%	Total: 6.2s Intervals: 1.0 > 1.0 > 1.0 > 1.0 > 1.0 > 1.0	3
Banshees Howl	Reduces All Attributes of nearby enemies by -1/-2/-3 for 20 seconds. Does not work on Boss or Sub-boss monsters.	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 1.333x	Total: 4.2s Intervals: 1.2 > 0.6 > 1.2 > 0.6 > 0.6	3
Song of Silence	Blocks enemies from casting magic for 1/1.5/2 seconds. May work similarly to Rogue's Cut Throat. Does not work on boss or sub-boss monsters.	4.5/4.5/4.5 meters	No Persuasiveness scaling	Total: 3.83s Intervals: 0.8 > 1.0 > 1.0 > 1.0	2
Peacemaking	All nearby players and monsters temporarily lose the will to fight when enchanted by the channeling section of the song. 8 seconds cast time. 6 seconds channel duration.	3/4.5/6 meters	N/A (technically no duration to scale)	Total: 5.9s Intervals: 1.5 > 1.5 > 1.5 > 1.5	3
Lament of Languor	Reduces the Move Speed of all enemy targets by a flat -20 for 6/12/18 seconds.	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 0.4x/0.8x/1.2x	Total: 2.82s Intervals: 0.7 > 0.7 > 0.7 > 0.7	2
Chaotic Discord	Excites nearby monsters to attack the nearest target except the performer. Monsters deaths inflicted by other monsters are accredited to the Bard, at least for Adventure Points.	3/4.5/6 meters	N/A (technically no duration to scale)	Total: 5.15s Intervals: 0.7 > 0.7 > 0.7 > 0.7 > 0.7 > 0.7 > 0.7	3
Aria of Alacrity	Grants a flat 4%/6%/8% to Action Speed for 30/60/120. Song does not stack on itself. This buff only applies to yourself.	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 2x/4x/8x	Total: 3.83s Intervals: 0.8 > 1.0 > 1.0 > 1.0	1
Tranquility	Gradually restores 1 Recoverable Health per second for 10/20/30 seconds for nearby resting allies based on your performance.	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 0.667x/1.333x/2x Any Healing: 0%	Total: 3.38s Intervals: 0.8 > 0.8 > 0.8 > 0.4 > 1.1	2
Song of Shadow	Turns self and all nearby invisible for 15/25/35 seconds. Invisibility breaks upon movement.	3/4.5/6 meters	No Persuasiveness scaling	Total: 5.68s Intervals: 0.6 > 0.6 > 0.6 > 0.9 > 0.9 > 0.9 > 0.9	3
Harmonic Shield	Grants a buff to self and all nearby allies that lasts for 60/90/120 seconds that gives +15 flat Armor Rating and +15 flat Magic Resistance. Effective Health Increase Graph	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 2x/4x/8x	Total: 6.75s Intervals: 1.1 > 1.1 > 1.1 > 1.1 > 1.1 > 1.1	4
Chorale of Clarity	Restores 8 Spell Points every 2 seconds of all nearby resting allies for 8/16/24 seconds.	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 0.533x/1.067x/1.6x	Total: 3.64s Intervals: 1.0 > 1.0 > 1.0 > 0.5	3
Ballad of Courage	Grants 5/7/10 increased Physical Power for 30/60/120 seconds. Song does not stack on itself. This buff only applies to yourself.	3/4.5/6 meters	Persuasiveness: 2x/4x/8x	Total: 3s Intervals: 0.75 > 0.75 > 0.75 > 0.75	1

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	14
Utility Effectiveness	0
Luck	0
Health Recovery Bonus	-6%
Spell Recovery Bonus	73%
Move Speed	298 ( 99.33% )
Action Speed	3.25%
Manual Dexterity	15%
Spell Casting Speed	15%
Equip Speed	25%
Regular Interaction Speed	-1.2%
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	2%
From Resist Rating	18 ( 2% )
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

-Total buff duration is equal to, (Bard's Persuasiveness * Song's Persuasiveness Scaling) * Buff Receiver's "Buff Duration"

-Since songs take some time to perform, the Bard needs anticipation to be played well. Song speed will scale with your Manual Dexterity stat, which is based on Dexterity.

-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 temporisation 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.

2024/02/22 Early Access Hotfix #32

• Bard's Melodic Protection physical damage reduction changed from 15% → 30%.
• Bard's Din of Darkness range has been changed from 450 → 550.
• Bard's Piercing Shrill range has been changed from 450 → 550.

2024/01/05 Early Access Hotfix #27

• Bard's Aria of Alacrity tier changed from 4 → 1.
• Bard's Ballad of Courage tier changed from 3 → 1.
• Bard's Beats of Alacrity tier changed from 2 → 1.
• Bard’s Chaotic Discord tier changed from 1 → 3.
• Bard’s Harmonic Shield tier changed from 5 → 4.
• Bard’s Peacemaking tier changed from 1 → 3.
• Bard’s Shriek of Weakness tier changed from 4 → 3.
• Bard’s Song of Shadow tier changed from 2 → 3.

2023/12/21 Early Access Hotfix 25

- Bard's music performance has been updated to end as soon as the last note is played without requiring animation cancelling.

- Bard's songs' durations were not changed, however, the displayed duration was corrected to reflect that of their new default Persuasiveness of 15 as of Patch #2.

2023/11/22 Early Access Patch #2

- Bard's Rousing Rhythms all attribute bonus has been changed to 1/2/3 -> 2/2/2.

- 20 Resourcefulness -> 15 Resourcefulness. Songs now last 25% shorter at base.

2023/11/09 Early Access Hotfix #20

- Bard's Song of Silence range increased from 300/300/300 → 450/450/450.

- Bard's Song of Silence duration changed from 2s/4s/6s → 1s/1.5s/2s.

- Bard's Shriek of Weakness range increased from 300/300/300 → 450/450/450.

- Bard's Piercing Shrill range changed from 300/450/600 → 450/450/450.

- Bard's Piercing Shrill damage changed from 15/20/25 → 10/15/20.

- Bard's Piercing Shrill attribute ratio bonus changed from 0.1/0.3/0.5 → 1.0/1.0/1.0. Physical damage upgrades give significantly more damage than before.

- Bard's Din of Darkness now also displays an area when the effect occurs.

- Bard's Din of Darkness range changed from 300/450/600 → 450/450/450.

- Bard's Din of Darkness damage changed from 1/3/5 → 3/4/5.

- Bard's Din of Darkness attribute ratio bonus changed from 0.06/0.09/0.12 → 0.3/0.3/0.3. Magical damage upgrades gives more damage than before.

2023/11/03 Early Access Hotfix #19

- Bard’s base attributes updated. Strength 14 → 13, Will 7 → 8.

- Bard's Encore skill now plays the next song at the maximum song playing speed.

- Bard’s Shriek of Weakness AOE range changed from 300/450/600 → 300/300/300.

- Bard’s Song of Silence AOE range changed from 300/450/600 → 300/300/300, and now only silences all enemies instead of everyone.

- Bard’s Chorale of Clarity spell recharge interval changed from 3s → 2s, amount changed from 8 → 17.

- The Luck value given by Bard's Wanderer's Luck has been changed from 100 → 50.

2023/10/13 Early Access Hotfix #17

- Bard’s Allegro duration has been normalized to 8 seconds based on the Bard's default Persuasion of 20.

- Bard’s Accelerando has been changed to be affected by Persuasion and has also been normalized to 8 seconds based on the Bard’s default Persuasion of 20.

- Bard’s Aria of Alacrity's Action Speed reduced from 8/14/20% → 4/6/8%

- Bard’s Aria of Alacrity duration adjusted to 30/60/120 seconds based on the Bard’s default Persuasion of 20.

- Bard’s Ballad of Courage duration adjusted to 30/60/120 seconds based on the Bard’s default Persuasion of 20.

- Bard’s Beat of Alacrity duration adjusted to 30/60/120 seconds based on the Bard’s default Persuasion of 20.

- Bard’s Beat of Alacrity's Additional Move Speed reduced from 5/10/15 → 5/7/9

- Bard’s Harmonic Shield duration adjusted to 30/60/120 seconds based on the Bard’s default Persuasion of 20.

- Bard’s Harmonic Shield Cost increased from 4 → 5.

- Bard’s Unchained Harmony Cost increased from 3 → 5.

2023/10/05 Early Access Hotfix #15

- Bard's Beats of Alacrity additional MoveSpeed changed from 15/20/25 → 5/10/15.

- Bard's Harmonic Shield Armor Rating and Magic Resistance changed from 40/40 → 15/15.

2023/09/28 Early Access Hotfix #14

- Bard's Warsong range has been increased from 350 → 450.

- Bard's Story Teller range has been increased from 350 → 450.

2023/09/26 Early Access Patch #1

- Bard reworked to make the class more gear and attribute dependent.

2023/09/12 Early Access Hotfix #11

- Accelerando's duration decreased from 12s -> 8s, and movement speed boost decreased from 5/7/9 -> 3/5/7 movespeed - Drum's movespeed penalty increased from -20 -> -30 movespeed - Bard’s Song of Silence now targets ALL nearby targets including oneself. - The effect radius of Bard’s Unchained Harmony has been changed from 600 -> 300. - Bard’s Tranquility now heals 1 recoverable hp/s over 10/20/30 seconds. - Bard’s Tranquility effect now only applies while resting. - Bard’s Chorale of Clarity effect now only applies while resting.

2023/08/22 Early Access Hotfix #6

- Bard’s Din of Darkness's ‘Attribute Damage Ratio’ reduced from 10%/30%/50% to 6%/9%/12%.

2023/08/17 Early Access Hotfix #4

- Din of Darkness attribute application factor has been changed from 50%/50%/50% to 10%/30%/50%.

- Piercing Shrill's attribute application factor has been changed from 50%/50%/50% to 10%/30%/50%.

- Accelerando's added flat Move Speed per stack changed from 5/10/15 to 5/8/11

- Allegro's added flat Action Speed and Spell Casting Speed per stack from 5%/7%/9% to 3%/5%/7%.

- Harmonic Shield additional flat Armor Rating and Magic Resist Rating changed from +50 to +40.

2023/08/14 Early Access Hotfix #3

- Shriek of Weakness's AR Debuff nerfed from -30 / -45 / -60 to -10 / -25 / -40.

- Chorale of Clarity's Spell Recharge per second nerfed from 8 to 2.

2023/08/07 Early Access Launch

- Several new songs and perks added

2023/04/15 Alpha Playtest #5 Hotfix #1

- Fixed an issue where Bard's Tranquility was not properly healing players.

2023/04/14 Alpha Playtest #5 Launch

- Added to the game