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:
- Versatility: Bards have a wide range of skills and abilities that allow them to fill many roles in a party. They can heal, buff, debuff, and deal damage, all while providing support and utility to their allies.
- Crowd control: Bards have access to spells and abilities that can manipulate the battlefield and control enemy movements. They can stun, charm, and incapacitate foes, making them invaluable in difficult encounters.
Cons:
- Timing: Timing the tunes is not always in the dire of the situation.
- Fragility: Bards are not typically known for their durability, and are often targeted by enemies due to their support and control abilities. They can struggle in solo play or in situations where they are targeted by multiple enemies.
You can equip an additional perk every 5 levels.
Currently maxed out at Level 15, so a total of 4 perks can be equipped.
Charismatic Performance |
Upgrades a 'good' performance into a 'perfect' performance |
Dancing Feet |
Increases your movespeed by 10 when holding an instrument. |
Lore Mastery |
Drinking ale heals 5 hp and get 10 movement speed boost when drunk. |
Melodic Protection |
While playing, the caster's physical damage reduction bonus is increased by 15%. |
Rapier Mastery |
When using a rapier, weapon damage increases by 3 and action speed increases by 5%. |
Reinforced Instruments |
50% increased weapon damage bonus when attacking with a musical instrument. |
Story Teller |
Give all party members around a +3 will and knowledge buff. |
Superior Dexterity |
50% faster switching time when switching between weapons/utility items. |
Lore Mastery |
A high level of understanding of objects increases all types of interaction speed by 25%. |
Wanderer's Luck |
Increases the chances of finding high-quality items when opening treasure chests. Increases Luck by 100 |
War Song |
If the performance is successful, increases nearby allies' weapon attack power by 3 for 6 seconds. |
You can equip a total of 2 skills.
Dissonance |
Creates an unpleasant noise to block hostile targets within a certain area from casting spells and silence them for 3 seconds. |
30s |
Encore |
The next song is automatically played to the end without any input and is sure to succeed. |
30s |
Music Memory |
Can store up to 4 sheet music as space permits. |
/ |
Music Memory 2 |
Can store up to 4 sheet music as space permits. |
/ |
Drum
Accelerando |
Gradually increase the movement speed of yourself and nearby allies for 8 seconds based on your performance. The amount of boost (Poor - 5 per second. Good - 10 per second. Perfect - 15 per second) stacks up to 3 times over the duration of one song. |
Allegro |
Gradually increases the action speed and spell casting speed of you and nearby allies by result of the play for 8 seconds. Bad - 5 per second. Good - 7 per second. Perfect - 9 per seconds. Up to 3 stack. |
Beats of Alacrity |
Grants 25 to movement speed for 30/60/120 seconds. Song does not stack on itself. |
Din of Darkness |
Does dark magical damage to all enemies in an area around the performer. The amount of damage per beat is based on quality of the played music. 1/3/5 |
Rousing Rhythms |
Increases all stats of nearby allies by 1/2/3 for 30 seconds. |
Flute
Banshees Howl |
Reduces all stats of nearby enemies by 1/2/3 for 20 seconds. Does not work on Boss or Subboss monsters. |
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. |
Shriek of Weakness |
Grants a debuff to nearby enemies that lowers Physical Power Bonus of by -2 / -4 / -5 and Armor Rating by -10 / -25 / -40 for 18 seconds. |
Unchained Harmony |
Open all nearby doors/containers, including unlock (lock or unlock). It
does not work for doors that require a special key. |
Lute
Aria of Alacrity |
Grants 15% to action speed for 30/ 60/120 seconds. Song does not stack on itself. |
Chaotic Discord |
Excites nearby monsters to attack the nearest target except the performer. |
Lament of Languor |
Reduces the movement speed of all enemy targets by 20 in an AOE for 6 seconds. |
Peacemaking |
All nearby players and monsters temporarily lose the will to fight when enchanted by the channelling section of the song. 8 seconds cast time. 6 seconds duration. |
Song of Silence |
Intercepts all enemy spells and prevents the caster from casting magic for 2/4/6 seconds. Does not work on boss or sub-boss monsters. |
Lyre
Ballad of Courage |
Grants 30 to Physical Power Bonus for 10/60/120 seconds. Song does not stack on itself. |
Chorale of Clarity |
Restores the spell memory of all nearby allies for 8 / 16 / 24 seconds, 8 per seconds. |
Harmonic Shield |
Grants a shield that lasts for 60/90/ 120 seconds that gives 50 armor rating and 50 magic resist to self and all nearby allies. |
Song of Shadow |
Turns self and all nearby invisible for 15/25/35 seconds. Invisibility breaks upon movement. |
Tranquility |
Gradually restores the Recoverable Health of yourself and nearby allies based on your performance. Poor - 8 hp for 4 seconds. Good - 16 hp for 8 seconds. Perfect - 24 hp for 12 seconds. |
Weapons
2-Handed |
Lute, Crossbow, Survival Bow, Flute, Drums, Lyre |
1-Handed |
Rapier, Falchion, Arming Sword, Short Sword, Castillon Dagger, Rondel Dagger, Hand Crossbow |
Shields |
Buckler |
Utility |
|
Armors
Head |
Straw Hat, Feathered Hat, Leather Bonnet, Leather Cap |
Chest |
Troubadour Outfit, Wanderer Attire, Regal Gambeson |
Legs |
Bardic Pants, Leather Chausses, Loose Trousers, Leather Leggings, Cloth Pants, Heavy Leather Leggings |
Hands |
Leather Gloves, Riveted Gloves |
Feet |
Heavy Boots, Lightfoot Boots, Old Shoes, Laced Turnshoe, Adventurer Boots, Rugged Boots |
These Stats do not include the starting armor
Stat Name |
Base Stats
|
Strength |
14
|
Agility |
14
|
Will |
7
|
Knowledge |
20
|
Resourcefulness |
20
|
Health |
98
|
Weight Limit |
0
|
Spell Memory |
14
|
Utility Effectiveness |
0
|
Move Speed |
298 (99.3%)
|
Action Speed |
-1%
|
Spell Casting Speed |
0%
|
Equip Speed |
-7%
|
Regular Interaction Speed |
43.2%
|
Magical Interaction Speed |
60%
|
Buff Duration |
-20%
|
Debuff Duration |
25%
|
Armor Penetration |
0%
|
Magic Penetration |
0%
|
Headshot Reduction |
0%
|
Projectile Damage Reduction |
0%
|
Physical Damage Reduction |
-10%
|
From Armor Rating |
0 (-10%)
|
From Bonuses |
0%
|
Magic Resist |
-4%
|
From Resist Rating |
7 (-4%)
|
From Bonuses |
0%
|
Physical Power Bonus |
-2%
|
From Physical Power |
14 (-2%)
|
From Bonuses |
0%
|
Magic Power Bonus |
-40%
|
From Magic Power |
7 (-40%)
|
From Bonuses |
0%
|
Primary Weapon |
0
|
Attack 1 |
(0) + 0(Blunt)
|
Attack 2 |
(0) + 0(Blunt)
|
Secondary Weapon |
0
|
Impact Power |
0
|
Primary Weapon Impact Power |
0
|
Secondary Weapon Impact Power |
0
|
-Since songs take some time to perform, the Bard needs anticipation to be played well.
-Chaotic discord is a great way to solo clean rooms. Mobs will kill each other while keeping the bard safe. Can also be used as a protection if attacked 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.
-Dissonance can make skeleton mages easy to manage if you have high enough dps as a solo or a group.
-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.
2023/08/14 Early Access Hotfix #3
- Shriek of Weakness's AR Debuff nerfed from -30 / -45 / -60 to -10 / -25 / -40
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