The Mysterious Bard, How And What?
By: Lothrich
Author: Accomp
Source: RiftRogue.com
My Notes: The bard is something you don't see all the time. Partially due to the fact that they are more of a behind the scene type of player. I had questions and I saw others had questions and I found this guide from Accomp and wanted to share it with you guys.
Bard Support Guide
The Bard, itself, is a support soul. You must keep this in mind and be okay with that if you’re to succeed in the role. We are here to provide a means of others in the group to be more effective, to provide some persistent light heals to the raid during the encounter, and also dish out a light amount of damage. It’s important for you to realize that the damage you, specifically, are outputting is minimal; however, the increased damage you are providing to your group is immense.
My goal was to provide the community with a quick reference guide on how to play a Bard. What should you focus on and how can you be more effective in the support role? The full guide below…
Stat Priority
Hit (until capped) > Attack Power > Dexterity > Strength > Physical Critical Hit
So basically, the damage you deal is a direct relationship with your Attack Power. Increasing your Attack Power increases your damage, which ultimately increases your healing. Currently, Attack Power is calculated by 50% of your Dexterity and 50% of your Strength. Cadence is based off weapon DPS and Attack Power, so keep this in mind.
Hit CapTier 1 – 50
Tier 2 – 100
10-man Raid Rifts – 100
20-man Raid Instances – 200
Viable Specs
Bard(51) / Nightblade(8) / Riftstalker(7)
Abilities
AnthemsOnly one Anthem may be active at a time, per Bard. They buff the entire group and lasts until canceled. You will want to pick whichever of the following anthems most suits your group composition.
Anthem of Fervor – Reduces ability cost by 10%.
Anthem of Glory – Increases armor value by 505.
Anthem of Defiance – Increases magical resistances by 31.
Anthem of Competence – Increases movement speed by 15%.
Fanfares
Only one Fanfare may be active at a time, per Bard. The buff the entire group and last 1 hour. You will want to pick whichever of the following fanfares most suits your group composition.
Fanfare of Vigor – Increases endurance by 40.
Fanfare of Power – Increases strength and dexterity by 40.
Fanfare of Wisdom – Increases intelligence and wisdom by 40.
Motifs
You will want to keep all of the following motifs with a 100% uptime. This may seem like a very inconvenient task, as they currently only have a 30 second timer, but the benefits for your raid are simply imperative to provide. I like to refresh all motifs directly before the pull, as to be able to go into the encounter fully buffed and ready to toss up our debuffs, which we will cover shortly.
Motif of Grandeur – Increases healing received by 5%.
Motif of Regeneration – Heals for 90 every 3 seconds.
Motif of Tenacity – Reduces damage taken by 5%.
Motif of Bravery – Increases attack power and spell power by 62.
Motif of Focus – Increases critical hit and spell critical hit by 5%.
Combo Point Generators
These are your bread and butter attacks that build up combo points, so you can toss out your debuff, heal, or damage finishers. Combo point generation is pretty straight forward for a Bard, each of which have their own place and time to use, but mostly you’ll be using Cadence, since it heals your group as well as doing damage – Remember we’re a support role!
Cadence – Channels damage for 2 seconds, provides 3 cp, and heals up to 10 group members for 100% of damage.
Power Chord – Instant cast, deals damage and provides 2 cp. I really only use this at the beginning of the encounter, or if healing is not needed, as a complement to Cadence to quickly acquire 5cp.
Codas
The are your finishers and are situational. See each below for insight on when you should use each of them.
Coda of Cowardice – Places DoT on target, increases damage taken from physical attacks by 5%.
Coda of Distress – Places DoT on target, increases damage taken from non-physical attacks by 7%.
Coda of Restoration – Heals up to 10 group members.
Coda of Wrath – Deals damage to a single target.
Coda of Fury – Deals damage to up to 9 targets.
Rotation
1. First off, ensure that you have an Anthem active and your group is buffed with a Fanfare.
2. Just before the pull, toss up all your Motifs.
3. Upon the tank pulling the boss, use Riff.
4. Toss up Coda of Cowardice.
5. Use Cadence, then Power Chord.
6. Toss up Coda of Distress.
7. Use Cadence until 5cp.
8. If everyone is topped off, use Coda of Wrath or Coda of Fury; else – use Coda of Restoration.
9.Do Motifs have < 5 seconds left? If yes, refresh Motifs
.
10.Does Coda of Cowardice or Coda of Distress have less than 5 seconds left? If yes, refresh them.
Repeat steps 7-10 for the remainder of the encounter.
Utilities As Bards, we have a couple utility abilities up our sleeves that we can pull out when things get a little dirty. I’ve recapped them below.
Riff
Instant 5cp cap, pretty self-explanatory. Use this in a time of need, usually to pop off a quick heal for a tank in a dire situation.
Verse of Vitality
This provides an instant cast heal for the group on a 1-minute cooldown. Use it on cooldown, when the group isn’t topped off.
Verse of Joy
This is our 51-point utility that really helps out the group. Essentially, it restores a set amount mana, energy, power, and charge. This could help out a healer when they get low on mana, or even serve as a means of boosting the damage output of the group in a time of zerging, by providing increased regen.
Virtuoso
Ever wish you could just spam your finishers without needing to build up combo points? Well, you’re in luck… This utility is extremely powerful and has a few different uses which have the potential to save the group from otherwise fatal situations. Be sure to have 5cp before you trigger Virtuoso, and when you trigger it – go to town. Whether you are refreshing your DoT’s, spamming Coda of Wrath / Coda of Fury, or spamming Coda of Restoration to provide some amazing heals for your group, this makes the Bard extremely valuable for 15 seconds, every 3 minutes.
Verse of Captivation
While not very useful against the actual boss, this ability allows you to effectively CC a single target with an instant cast. This could help during trash, or maybe even some boss encounters where add management is crucial.
Verse of Fascination
This is essentially the AoE version of Verse of Captivation. The only difference is that it has a cast time and CC’s up to 8 mobs, which again – could be very useful in a situation where add management is a priority.
Conclusion
Well, that’s really it! I tried to lay everything out for you guys and simply showcase the information that was vital to being an effective Bard. Hopefully the community gets some use out of this and we see more people playing a Bard. The Bard is truly a selfless soul and really makes an impact when paired with any group. I hope the guide helped and I look forward to hearing feedback from you all! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via reply, email, or in-game.
Thanks guys,
Accomp
US – Dayblind[G]