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Bard
BardSquare
General Information
TitleThe Wandering Caretaker
PronounsHe/Him
Release DateMarch 12, 2015
Cost4800 BE 880 RP
PrimarySupport
SecondaryMage
Statistics

HP
630 (+ 103)

HPR
5.5 (+ 0.55)

MP
350 (+ 50)

MPR
6 (+ 0.45)

MS
330

AD
52 (+ 3)

AS
0.625 (+ 2%)

RNG
500

AR
34 (+ 5.2)

MR
30 (+ 1.3)
Developer Info
DDragon KeyBard
Integer Key432
External Links
Universeuniverse.leagueoflegends.com
Game Info Wikileagueoflegends.fandom.com

Bard is a champion in League of Legends.

Lore[]

  • Biography
  • Story
BardSquareBard travels through realms beyond the imagination of mortal beings. Some of Valoran's greatest scholars have spent their lives trying to understand the mysteries he embodies. This enigmatic spirit has been given many names throughout the history of Valoran, but titles such as Cosmic Vagabond and Great Caretaker only capture a fleeting aspect of his true purpose. When the unknowable structure of the universe is threatened, Bard steers all existence away from utter annihilation.
"The chimes of his footsteps are echoes of change."

- RyzeSquareRyze

TESTIMONY OF THE BALLADEER
Bard Testimony of the Balladeer

I must retrieve... Well, it’s best that I explain.

Come, now. Don’t shy away. Hear my tale, which is entirely true...

I was first awoken by the clanging of bells—my mother’s two-hundred-year-old wind chimes—screaming outside, beyond my window. She thought she was quite clever, my mother, convincing me their summer song would signal the coming of warm and sunny days. Even at my age, I can only count a handful of pleasant seasons in Valar’s Hollow. Ha! An adolescence marred by the endless chopping of firewood can attest to that. The night I speak of was no exception—a winter storm was raging.

I jumped to my feet when my door burst open and the rush of freezing wind filled my room. After scrambling to sheathe my trembling body in the thickest furs I owned, I made my way to the door, ready to slam it shut. But I hesitated. My mother’s chimes were still screaming in the wind. Though they mostly stirred memories of my harsh and laborious upbringing, they provided me with a sense of connection to her. I should not risk losing them, or worse—suffer no sleep from their incessant wailing.

Don’t get me wrong, the chimes did have a certain appeal. Stories of how they came into my family’s possession told of an incredible destiny and a celebrated past. They were forged from ingot—war metals—some of the rarest in the Freljord. Whenever a battle had been lost and won, the Collectors, my poor but resourceful ancestors, entered the battlefield and retrieved what had been left to rust in the blood-stained snow.

“How much ingot was out there, mother?” I asked once, as she gushed about ancient times.

“Centuries of it,” she replied.

“What did the Collectors do with it all?”

“Sold it to the Winter’s Claw,” she said, shrugging, “who made more weapons for wars to come.” Then she paused for a moment and smiled as her chimes began to sing. “But there was always a little we kept for ourselves—to make instruments of life, not death.”

Indeed, those precious chimes were instruments that brought wonderful music to our land. “Good fortune in bad times,” she told me. I prayed for that fortune when she fell ill, but it never came. The Wandering Caretaker was more concerned with his own wonderful music than helping the infirm, and I was left with her infernal chimes to remember them both by.

I digress.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed my way outside, but I was halted by an impossible sight: Floating in front of me, unaffected by the storm, was a small, translucent creature. Without wings or arms to hold it in place, it hung there, as if some eldritch magic had nailed it to a block of air. Two glowing white eyes like torches were affixed to its orbish head, and three twinkling stars in its belly began to churn and flicker. To my surprise, one of my mother’s chimes responded, and, like a child’s arm, it reached back to the shimmering creature, adopting its starry glow.

But then...

The chime cracked! And I heard its summer song deform. A fissure that was made etched its way up the chime’s side, and specks of gold light were drawn out from within it, as if certain materials that composed it were being stolen away. Those were not lights the thing was stealing; they were my mother’s tears, falling, as this beloved yet irritating heirloom was quickly being destroyed. I could not—I would not let that happen!

So I leapt into the blizzard and took hold of the chime. At its touch, I heard the blast of a horn in the distance. Why, I was not sure. I pulled back with all my might, but the creature’s magic was too strong to overcome. And worse, I felt my entire body jerk skyward, and my feet left the ground. Soon I was hurtling into the heavens, towed into the clouds by the befouled moppet!

CRACK! Another break scribbled its way down the chime. Then I saw something taking shape in the space between us—a shard, a piece of a whole, was materializing. Believing it would be the only thing to save me, I grasped it.

As I reached, I glanced back to the wicked creature, only to realize that it had disappeared. In its place, hovering before me in all his mystic glory, was the Wandering Caretaker. It had taken an entire lifetime of prayer for him to appear, and, as my mother had promised, the chimes brought him forth. The Bard seemed to stare back at me... into me... curious of my being there. But it was too late to explain.

There suddenly came a rush of wind and a wave of heat. I felt my arm stretch the length of a vine. My body followed, spinning and twisting, as I was being taken somewhere—an otherworldly place!

As to where I ended up, my mother’s old dulcimer here will aid me as I sing...

The Bells

’Twas sound that harkened visions of a place.
Divine, Bard’s music just beyond the veil.
A firmament revealed to me in space,
In string and drum and reed celestial.

Bard opened up the cosmos wide to me!
I felt Beginning, End, and In Between.
Where waves had never stirred that lampless sea,
We heard Sol first prepare the stars to ring.

No human witness had there ever been,
But I alone did hear the act take form.
That symphony changed me from within,
My mortal body suddenly transformed.

A spirit now, a meep celestial,
Ascended like the Aspects in this dream,
I sang with Bard throughout the sonic realm,
And tended to his will a century.

The Bells! The Bells! The Bells!

But then I heard a bell begin to bend
And felt a darkness silencing the song.
I told my brethren and my master then
And travel all we did to right the wrong.

And we were brought before a gaping maw,
An empty soundless pit devoid of light.
My ears beheld such darkness from beyond;
It filled my soul with terror and with fright.

I fear the hordes inside sang me a song,
One that has no start; it only ends.
For when I peered into that deep unknown,
I felt my own music crook and bend.

So I forced my ears above to the divine,
Turned back to what is good and what is right.
But then I caught the rip—the Void’s divide,
And soon beheld destruction of the light.

The Bells! The Bells! The Bells!

In billions were the fragments, were these chimes,
Showered ’cross the land, when darkness split
The bell that tolls the rhythm and the time,
Runeterra’s hymn, whose song may be forfeit.

To close the door and bring the notes in line
The Bard had sent us scouring the world.
With every shard, a stitch to recombine
What the Void had torn when it emerged.

The Bells! The Bells! The Bells!

Soon I awoke in bed, a meep no more,
And back in Valar’s Hollow did I dwell,
I tore my mother’s chimes from off that door,
And offered Bard more shards to fix the bell.

Since, my charge is to collect more chimes
Through wind and rain and sun and land and sea.
I pray that every treasure will rewind
That music that the Void did play to me.

The Bells! The Bells! The Bells!


Dear Demacian, I have come a long way and farther still to warn everyone of the darkness that threatens to silence the music of this world. Runeterra is a bell—a world bell—that has been corroded by evil. Its fragments, its chimes, must be found to make it whole again.

And our first step is to place all precious metals in your possession in my basket. I will take them, inspect them, sing to them Bard’s divine music to remove any chimes of the world bell within them. Any chimeless pieces I will, of course, return to you.

No! Wait! Don’t walk away—what I tell you is true! Please, listen. There isn’t much time. The end of our world is nigh...

And only Bard and his meeps can save us.

Abilities[]

Traveler's Call Traveler's Call [Passive]

Meeps
Meeps: Bard attracts lesser spirits that assist with his basic attacks. These meeps gain new effects as Bard collects chimes.

Ancient Chimes: Ancient chimes randomly appear for Bard to collect. These grant 20 EXP (+1 per minute), (+12% his missing), and 24% bonus out-of-combat Movement Speed, plus 14% for each chime beyond the first (stacking up to 10 times) for 20 seconds. Chimes remain for 10 minutes.

Magic Damage on Hit: 35 (+14 per 5 chimes) (+30%)
Slow: 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 / 75% for 1 second.
Spawn Rate: 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4
Max Capacity: 1 - 9
15 / 35 Chimes: Meeps deal AOE damage around and in a cone behind the main target, increasing in size at 35 Chimes.
Cosmic Binding Cosmic Binding [Q]
Cost: 60 Mana Cooldown: 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 / 7s Range: 950 Area of Effect: 450

Active: Bard fires an energy bolt, dealing magic damage to one or two enemies. The first target will be slowed by 60%.

If the bolt hits another enemy or a wall, any enemies hit are stunned instead.

Magic Damage: 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+50%)
Slow/Stun Duration: 1 / 1.2 / 1.4 / 1.6 / 1.8
Caretaker's Shrine Caretaker's Shrine [W]
Cost: 70 Mana Recharge: 18 seconds Range: 800

Active: Bard raises a health shrine that immediately restores health, but increases as it gathers power for 5 seconds. The shrine's effect also grants decaying Movement Speed for 1.5 seconds.

Bard can store up to 2 shrines at once. Bard can have up to 3 shrines active at once, which remain until visited by an ally or crushed by an enemy.

Minimum Heal: 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 (+30%)
Maximum Heal: 50 / 87.5 / 125 / 162.5 / 200 (+60%)
Movement Speed: 20 / 22.5 / 25 / 27.5 / 30 (+5% per 100)
Magical Journey Magical Journey [E]
Cost: 30 Mana Cooldown: 22 / 20.5 / 19 / 17.5 / 16s Range: 900

Active: Bard opens a one-way corridor through nearby terrain. Both allies and enemies can use the corridor by right-clicking on any part of it while near its entrance, with allies traveling 30% faster than enemies.

The corridor disappears after 10 seconds.

Tempered Fate Tempered Fate [R]
Cost: 100 Mana Cooldown: 110 / 95 / 80s Range: 3400 Area of Effect: 350

Active: Bard sends magical energy arcing to a target location. On impact, all champions, minions, monsters, and turrets in the target area are put in stasis, becoming invincible, untargetable, and unable to act for 2.5 seconds.

Epic monsters are also put into stasis, despite normally being immune to disables.

Patch History[]

Patch 11.10

Passive base damage decreased.

Bard's been overperforming at higher tiers of play due to his roaming capabilities. Obviously, it's Bard. Bard roams. So to preserve his unique strength as a roaming support, we're toning down his early lane damage instead.

Traveler's Call Passive - Traveler's Call

BASE DAMAGE : [40] 30


Patch 10.16
Base health decreased. W maximum heal decreased.

Bard has been chiming in quite a bit, especially in Pro play, so we’re toning down his power in early game to open up more avenues for counter picks and in-lane pressure.

Base Stats

HEALTH : [575] 560

Caretaker's Shrine W - Caretaker's Shrine

MAXIMUM HEAL : [70/110/150/190/230]
55/95/135/175/215


Patch 10.9
W movement speed reduced and cooldown increased. E cooldown increased.

Bard has been Journeying to a bunch of wins in the upper brackets of solo queue, so we’re reducing some of his roaming prowess to lower his overall utility.

Caretaker's Shrine W - Caretaker's Shrine

MOVEMENT SPEED : [50%, decaying over 1.5 seconds]
30%, decaying over 1.5 seconds
COOLDOWN : [12] 14 seconds

Magical Journey E - Magical Journey

COOLDOWN : [18/17/16/15/14]
22/20.5/19/17.5/16


Patch 10.5
Passive chime damage decreased.

after a history of Journeying under the radar, Bard has to be pulled back a bit due to how much he's succeeding at high levels of play. We're slightly reducing the impact of the Meeps' sweet chime music.

Traveler's Call Passive - Traveler's Call

aDDITIONaL DaMaGE PER FIVE CHIMES : [15] 12


Patch 9.14
Base health increased; health regen decreased. E travel speed increased; ally bonus speed flattened.

We're shifting some of Bard's durability around to help him survive all-ins with his team, and speeding up his tunnel mobility for stronger early-game ganks.

Base Stats

HEALTH : [535] 575
HEALTH REGEN : [7.5] 5.5

Magical Journey E - Magical Journey

TRAVEL SPEED : [800] 900
ALLY BONUS SPEED : [10/20/30/40/50%]
33% at all ranks


v8.17
R cooldown decreased.

Bard's laning phase is already strong enough, but his overall gameplay could use a bit more power. We want to give everybody's favorite chime-gathering support more playmaking opportunities so that he doesn't feel barred from using his ult for fear of its long cooldown.

Tempered Fate R - Tempered Fate

COOLDOWN : [130/110/90]
110/95/80 seconds


v8.10
W mana cost decreased.

The high mana cost of Bard's W limits his uptime, especially in the laning phase. With a lower mana cost, he won't have to choose quite as directly between providing some healing to himself or his allies and having the mana to make plays on the map.

Caretaker's Shrine W - Caretaker's Shrine

COST : [90] 70 mana


v7.24
Base health regen and meep damage increased.

The new trading landscape has done a lot to buff the trading patterns of supports while Bard has stayed pretty constant. As a result, he's a bit on the punishable side, so we're giving him some love.

Base stats

BASE HEALTH REGEN : [5.4] 7.5 per 5 seconds

Traveler's Call Passive - Traveler's Call

MEEP BASE DAMAGE : [30] 40


v7.22

BASE ARMOR : [25] 34


v7.9

With Aegis of the Legion's old aura out of the game, squishy champions who were relying on it to give them enough magic resist find themselves a bit on the burstable side.

HOORAY : Champions who previously gained no magic resist per level now gain 0.5 per level


v7.7
Bard gains bonus meep damage at every chime tier. Damage-only tiers removed; other tiers restructured. Bard can now hold a maximum of nine meeps.

Although Bard saw some improvement after his last buffs, it was far from enough to land him in a good spot. Bard's pretty underwhelming compared to other supports, and part of that comes from how taxing chime collection can be. So we're revisiting the payoff he gets from roaming around the map! To be clear, we’re not looking for massive power shifts: while Meeps should matter enough for Bard to leave lane for chimes, they shouldn’t compel him to abandon his lane altogether. We’re just looking to ensure Bard’s early chimes provide him enough of a bonus to exert pressure in the lane once he returns from his wandering.

Traveler's Call Passive - Traveler's Call

GROW YOUR MEEPS Meeps now gain 15 damage every five chimes in addition to other chime bonuses
YA-HA-HA! : Chime tier bonuses restructured. All damage tiers have been removed, and every tier now grants improved utility.
YOU FOUND ME! : Bard can now hold a maximum of nine meeps... if he collects enough chimes
EFFICIENCY : Tiers from [150] 105 chimes onward grant no effects aside from damage


v7.4
Bonus movement speed when collecting Chimes increased.

Bard’s been away from the Rift for a while now (*sad chimes*). To help the golden boy out, we’re boosting his wandering skills to help Bard do what Bard does best: roaming and playmaking.

Traveler's Call Passive - Traveler's Call

BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED : [18%, plus 12% for each chime beyond the first] 24%, plus 14% for each chime beyond the first
MAX BONUS (5 CHIMES) : [66%] 80%


v6.12
Chimes now spawn faster on Howling Abyss.

In a lot of ways, ARAM is a fun-sized League of Legends experience, compressing many of the core elements of Summoner’s Rift (laning, teamfighting, killing towers) into a shorter, streamlined experience. To account for the shorter game duration, ARAM dishes out accelerated gold and experience. This appropriately compensates most champions: put in gold/experience and they get stronger at a pretty consistent rate. A few champions break that convention, drawing their scaling from some secondary source that correlates loosely with time spent in game. Those champions are currently missing out on a good deal of their identity, so we’re cleaning up their experience on The Howling Abyss.

Bard’s secondary scaling comes from his chimes, which spawn at a fixed duration. We’re giving more chimes to grab so that he can still get his meep on.

Traveler's Call Passive - Traveler's Call

CHIME SPAWN RATE : Every [50 seconds] 40 seconds (initial spawn unchanged at 50 seconds)


v6.1
~ootay~

Sometimes you'd chuck a cute lil' meep on over at an evildoer and their pal, only to find you didn't hit both (even if it looked like it visually). So we adjusted it. Bard Buffs

Traveler's Call Passive - Traveler's Call

Area-of-meep Meeps now additionally hit in a 150 radius around the primary target (in addition to the cone damage) once Bard unlocks the cone attack Meep upgrade


v5.24
W ratio up. Meeps recharge faster.

Bard’s the caretaker to call when you need to protect a dimension (or listen to some sweet tunes), but his early game struggles keep him from realising his destiny. Pretty straightforward buffs to access that early game fantasy.

Traveler's Call Passive - Traveler's Call

BASE MEEP RECHARGE rate : [10 seconds] 8 seconds

Caretaker's Shrine W - Caretaker's Shrine

MINIMUM ratio : [0.2 ability power] 0.3 ability power
MAXIMUM ratio : [0.45 ability power] 0.6 ability power


v5.23
bwahhhhhhhhhhhhh

As the cosmic binding force known as 'The Game' now starts 15 seconds earlier, so does Bard.

Traveler's Call Passive - Traveler's Call

CHIME SPAWN : Chimes now begin spawning at the [50 second mark] 35 second mark


v5.17
W cost and E cooldown lowered.

It’s in Bard’s nature to roam the cosmos, but for such a unique champion it feels like he’s wandered a little too far from viability for the depth of utility he brings to the table. We’re lifting his spirits and enabling his map-wide support abilities to better reward proactive playmaking with friends. ootay~~

Caretaker's Shrine W - Caretaker's Shrine

COST : [100/105/110/115/120 mana] 90 mana at all ranks

Magical Journey E - Magical Journey

COOLDOWN : [20/19/18/17/16 seconds] 18/17/16/15/14 seconds


v5.16
All of the following champions have had their armor or health per level increased.

As part of patch 5.16's item changes, the efficiency of some popular defensive items have been decreased. However, many 'low-income' tanks and team-disruptors relied pretty heavily on the strength of these items to maintain the right level of bulk for their gold stream - you can read more on the why further down, but each of the below champions are picking up some stat adjustments so they'll hit similar breakpoints when it comes to being unbreakable.

BlitzcrankSquareBlitzcrank

ARMOR GROWTH : [3.5] 4

BraumSquareBraum

ARMOR GROWTH : [4] 4.5

LeonaSquareLeona

ARMOR GROWTH : [3.1] 3.6

NautilusSquareNautilus

ARMOR GROWTH : [3.25] 3.75

TaricSquareTaric

ARMOR GROWTH : [3.2] 3.7

RammusSquareRammus

ARMOR GROWTH : [3.8] 4.3

AmumuSquareAmumu

ARMOR GROWTH : [3.1] 3.6

Tahm KenchSquareTahm Kench

ARMOR GROWTH : [3] 3.5

AlistarSquareAlistar

HEALTH GROWTH : [102] 106

BardSquareBard

HEALTH GROWTH : [89] 93

ThreshSquareThresh

HEALTH GROWTH : [89] 93


v5.8
Chimes spawn in safer locations early-game and grant more experience over game-time.

"Patch 5.7 saw Bard's mellifluous meandering trending in a positive direction, so we're adding a few last tune-ups to his passive before we feel comfortable allowing players to embark on the magical journey of learning Bard rather than over-buffing him. "
  • Ancient Chimes Passive - Traveler's Call
    • SAFE AND SOUND : Chimes will avoid spawning in the enemy jungle before 5 minutes
    • EXPERIENCE PER CHIME : 20 flat XP 20 + 1 XP per minute (after 5 minutes)

v5.7
Base AD and Armor up. Chimes grant more mana, and meeps respawn faster. Q damage up.

"Bard's laning relies heavily on two core patterns to function: playing meep-away with basic attacks and lay on the harrassment, which then opens him up to fulfil his cosmic duties by roaming and powering up through the collection of chimes. This patch we're targeting both of these with changes to his passive and base stats, focused at fine-tuning his flute-smacking in lane and making his roams more rewarding when you're all out of cosmic energies. "
  • General
    • BASE ATTACK DAMAGE : 46 52
    • BASE ARMOR : 21 25
  • Ancient Chimes Passive - Traveler's Call
    • MEEP RESPAWN TIME : 12/11/10/9/8 seconds (with chimes) 10/9/8/7/6 seconds (with chimes)
    • CHIME MANA RESTORE : 15 + 8% missing mana 12% of Bard's maximum mana
  • Cosmic Binding Q - Cosmic Binding
    • BASE DAMAGE : 80/120/160/200/240 80/125/170/215/260

v5.6
Q damage up. E cooldown down, plus some bugfixes/improvements.

"Bard's been out for less than a patch, and while we're already seeing the growing pains of players and teammates alike coordinating around his unique abilities, it's clear he released on the wrong note. We're taking it slow for now, but some more power on Q and some improvements to his signature E means that you'll have a better time on your Magical Journeys this patch...assuming bard isn't too busy collecting chimes to open one for you."
  • General
    • NO MORE LICHBANE : Bard's recommended items have been updates to reflect a more supportive playstyle
  • Cosmic Binding Q - Cosmic Binding
    • DAMAGE : 75/100/145/180/215 magic damage 80/120/160/200/240 magic damage
    • [REMOVED] COSMIC COINCENDENCE : Cosmic Binding can no longer tether to unusual units such as Jarvan's Demacian Standard, Syndra's Dark Orbs, Jayce's Acceleration Gate, and Wards
  • Magical Journey E - Magical Journey
    • COOLDOWN : 26/24/22/20/18 seconds 20/19/18/17/16 seconds
    • SPIRITED AWAY : Clicking on a Magical Journey portal is now more forgiving
    • TRAVEL GUIDE : Allies that go on a Magical Journey will grant Bard an assist on their kills for a short time afterwards
    • MAGICAL EQUALITY : Clones (such as those created by Shaco, Leblanc, Mordekaiser and Yorick) can now be commanded to take a Magical Journey
  • Tempered Fate R - Tempered Fate
    • TEMPERED MONSTERS : Neutral Monsters will no longer have their health reset while under stasis

v5.5
BardSquareBard released


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