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.
When a rapier is equipped in either hand, "Buff" Weapon Damage increases by +2 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. See Silence page for more details.
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.
- 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
Sample
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.
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 8 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
No Persuasiveness scaling
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 8 seconds. The amount of boost (Poor - 1 per second, Good - 3 per second, Perfect - 5 per second) stacks up to 3 times over the duration of one song.
Blocks enemies from casting magic for 1/1.5/2 seconds. See Silence page for more details. 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 -10 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.
-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 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.
They need to give all monsters armor (at least 30, or more) and reduce their health slightly. Also make it slower as there is no counterplay to this overtuned song. This is to make sure Bard is not overpowered and makes the game better. Thanks!
Believe the point is that bard trivialises PVE especially in cases of clearing (spawn rushing people in trios) and in bossing as most of the pve has a rough -20% base physical resist,then adding another +47% damage to them from all sources for playing a [1;2]s song whilst also buffing itself to receive the equivalent of 10strength(ballad of courage),another pair of lightfoot(beats of alacricity) and around 10 dex(aria of alacrity)-seems a "bit strong".
As of patch #65-1 Shriek of weakness does no longer work on Lich and Ghost King both normal & HR. However it seems to work on Warlord. No idea if this is intended but as of now it has never been mentionned in a patch.
Not sure if this has been solved yet or not, but putting this here about Rapier Mastery because of the note.
When I picked up a short sword with rapier in main hand, equipping/unequipping the rapier does appear to change the damage done by the short sword. Not sure about the action speed, though.
Yes, using the rapier as a stat stick for another weapon does work and is intended. Its the same mechanic as using a lantern with add weapon damage or the like on other classes
Did some digging around on Discord and Reddit seems like people are aware of this and are calling it a bug. I too was curious what was happening. Someone told me could be server lag.
"When a rapier is equipped *in either hand*" sounds to me like one can equip a rapier in their off-hand, but that's not the case, in the current update at least. Is this a holdover after a change in how weapons work in older updates, or is this a feature that's been killswitched for the time being to be refined?
Good point; its referring to the fact that while holding a rapier at all you get the +2 even if not using the rapier. Not sure if it still works this way sadly
How does the 50% Increased phys dmg work? Does that mean that on a 22 dmg lute with +4 added weapon dmg and 0% Phys dmg bonus you would hit an unarmored target for 39 dmg to the body? (22+4 APD = 26+13[50%]=39)
does additional magic damage affect din of darkness? If so does it affect each tick? Hard to tell how things scale when they have weird scaling like din does.
Din of Darkness isn't a Damage over time therefore each tick is calculated independently.
Assuming you play a perfect Din with 12% scaling, +1 additional magic will increase the damage of each tick by .12. (There is decimal damage)
Yes, each tick gets both additional magic damage and true magic damage; but since its max scaling is 12%, either additional damage will affect each tick by 12% of its value. Ex) having +4 total magic damage will increase each tick's damage by (4 x 0.12) = .48, essentially giving you one additional damage output per 2 ticks.
'Stats' page mentions that under Agility, there is "Manual Dexterity" that affects song playing speed.
Furthermore, under Resourcefulness, there is "Persuasiveness" that affects song buff time.
Confusingly the info on this page says that Will is used for buff duration instead, and knowledge for song playing speed.
What the hell, what actually affects the bard here? So confusing.
Some perks are still being tested to ensure the wiki descriptions are completely accurate, but you can guarantee that whatever is stated on the wiki description is more accurate than the in game description.
So as far as the way that the instrument performs, there's no advantage to having a Green one vs. a Gray one? E.g. i get a green lyre but no additional stats are attached, it's just shiny?
Songs aren't automatically magical, it always depends per song. Same goes for spells, although I don't believe there are any physical spells (as it wouldn't make thematic sense).
Does Chaotic Discord not work on boss monsters (Wraiths and Skeletal Champions)? I was in the round room with one of each, and while it affected every other monster, the boss monsters continued to chase me and ended up killing me. I tried letting them agro and even swing on me, but it still didn't work and they kept attacking me.
As far as I saw, it worked similar to the Barbarians Savage Roar ability with only low level enemies being affected by the frighten effect. If large monsters acted the same as the low level ones, it would make Bard a potentially OP must have for boss clearing, since the bosses would be unable to target friendly players for large periods of time.
A side note, I wonder how using Peacemaking would work with in conjunction with rangers for bosses? Could be a neat idea.
So having 2 Music Memory will allow you to store up to 8 sheet music as space permits. If you have only 1 Music Memory you can store up to 4 sheet music as space permits.
I dont think anyone knows the secret here to the mechanics. But you need to get the great to perfect perk and this way you can play about half of the notes bad AND so you have faster songs!!! Its like jazz ;)) and spellcasting speed improves it even more. Tested it. Enjoy the SECRET
SteveInTheZone
Don't forget the honorable mention for the invis song! (Song of Shadow) GREAT tool for aggro dump can be done solo or coordinated in group play. Remember to stand still as you hit the last note and stay still. Can be 30 second plus invis depending on perks and gear. I have survived many rounds that I would have died to PvP and PvE if not for this song. Obviously its not as fast to rip off as an invis pot or rogue stealth however it is dependable. Like the guide says to be good at bard requires anticipation or (perception) to be good at and this song is no exception to that rule. I am still working on my Dark and Darker basics but have tested and played a lot of bard in the past month. Very cool class that can be played a multitude of ways. My bard's name is Antonica this season in honor of EQ1's Antonican League of Bards. See ya out there blokes, best of luck.
They need to give all monsters armor (at least 30, or more) and reduce their health slightly. Also make it slower as there is no counterplay to this overtuned song. This is to make sure Bard is not overpowered and makes the game better. Thanks!
As of patch #65-1 Shriek of weakness does no longer work on Lich and Ghost King both normal & HR. However it seems to work on Warlord. No idea if this is intended but as of now it has never been mentionned in a patch.
Can someone explain the description? From what I understand, actions like swinging a sword are affected. What else is impacted by this debuff?
How to increase healing from Jolly Time skill
Not sure if this has been solved yet or not, but putting this here about Rapier Mastery because of the note.
When I picked up a short sword with rapier in main hand, equipping/unequipping the rapier does appear to change the damage done by the short sword. Not sure about the action speed, though.
having this issue, I play all the notes but the song just ends with no effects, no bad performance just nothing at all. any known reason?
how much extra hp do i get from ale with each +physical healing
"When a rapier is equipped *in either hand*" sounds to me like one can equip a rapier in their off-hand, but that's not the case, in the current update at least. Is this a holdover after a change in how weapons work in older updates, or is this a feature that's been killswitched for the time being to be refined?
Persuasiveness Scaling: should be 4x/6x/8x
It doesn`t say "Song does not stack on itself"
can`t test it since the servers are down :(
This buff applies to teammates and not just yourself
Intervals: should be 0.8>0.25>0.8>0.25>1.1
Does Reinforced Instruments apply to Piercing Shrill ? I can't test it on training dummies cuz it's don't hit them
Does The Will Stat Effect Buff duration of songs
if not What should be prioritized to get the most duration out of a song
About the Range of Unchained Harmony (4.5 Meters), from what I've heard, also no.
What is the range of "a certain area"? Also, does it make a difference what instrument you're holding?
does additional magic damage affect din of darkness? If so does it affect each tick? Hard to tell how things scale when they have weird scaling like din does.
'Stats' page mentions that under Agility, there is "Manual Dexterity" that affects song playing speed. Furthermore, under Resourcefulness, there is "Persuasiveness" that affects song buff time.
Confusingly the info on this page says that Will is used for buff duration instead, and knowledge for song playing speed.
What the hell, what actually affects the bard here? So confusing.
Does Reinforced Instruments apply to din of darkness?
Is the rested health from tranquility magical or physical healing? I'm trying to prioritize which one for my heal.
Confused.
So as far as the way that the instrument performs, there's no advantage to having a Green one vs. a Gray one? E.g. i get a green lyre but no additional stats are attached, it's just shiny?
From which stat does Piercing Shrill benefit? It says it does physical damage so does it scale from +phys or because songs are magic from +magic?
Does Chaotic Discord not work on boss monsters (Wraiths and Skeletal Champions)? I was in the round room with one of each, and while it affected every other monster, the boss monsters continued to chase me and ended up killing me. I tried letting them agro and even swing on me, but it still didn't work and they kept attacking me.
Is there any reason there are two of them, when both do same thing and you can just lock yourself from one spell?