Ever since Lost Ark has announced its release on western servers, players can’t wait to get into the world of Lost Ark and try to create unique builds with different classes. We will look into one of the support classes featured in the game known as Bard so you are ready to help your allies as soon as the game is available to play in your region.
All About Bard
The bard class is a purely support build that works with the team to complete the given tasks. Alone the Bard seems very weak, however, with a team, it is one of the best classes in the game and almost mandatory to have in high-level play.
Some of the strengths that make Bard the choice for support players are –
- Ultimate Support Class – Bard is the go to support class present in the game. People who want to look out for their team and prefer to carry the team from the shadows will love to play as Bard. Bard has the best team utility compared to all the other classes in the game, so you can never go wrong playing Bard.
- High demand – Since there arent many players who like playing support, the players that enjoy the role and are good at it are some of the most wanted players in any team. A good support can make an average team good and enhance the player experience for everyone on the team. So if you do decide to pick this class you are sure to get many invites from different parties to out on quests with.
- Mandatory in High Level Play – Due to the high team utility, at higher levels of play not having a Bard in your team is very disadvantageuos and you will be much better with her than without her. Her presence alone can change the outcome of any encounter that your team faces.
Identity Skill
Bard’s unique skill is the Serenade. Serenade can be utilized by consuming the serenade bar which fills up during combat by hitting abilities. One stack of the bar is utilized to use the unique ability and the bar can fill up to 3 stacks. There are two types of Serenades that a Bard player has access to, these are –
- Serenade of Courage – This skill is used to increase the damage dealt by all the players in the Bard’s team including herself. This can be great if your team is lacking in the DPS department as Bard can overcome this to some extent using this ability.
- Serenade of Salvation – This skill is used to give a burst of healing to the team. Bard players usually double down on their identity as a support and use this version of serenade more often to get their team out of clutch situation using the massive healing she can provide.
Weaknesses
With all her strengths Bard also has many clear weaknesses that you will just have to accept if you want to play her. These include –
- Low Damage Output – Let’s start with the most obvious point, Bard has one of the lowest damage output in the game which is compensated by her support abilities however players that want to shred through the enemies will be highly dissapointed.
- Low health – The bard also does not have a huge health pool making her a squishy targets, in PvP she struggles quite a bit due to this as players often focus her and due to her health she dies relatively easily. The amount of time the Bard is able to survive differentiates bad and great Bard players as you want her utility whenever possible.
Best Engravings
The Bard like the other classes has two unique engravings. These are the True Courage and Desperate Salvation. From these two we highly recommend that you pick the Desperate Salvation as it helps the Bard to Survive for a longer time which as mentioned above one of the most important things for any Bard player.
Regular engravings that we recommend include –
- Awakening – At Lv. 3: Awakening Skill Cooldown -50%. +3 maximum uses.
- Specialist – At Lv. 3 : Shield and HP recovery effects used on yourself and party members are increased by 24%, and when the target’s HP is below 50%, this effect is increased by an additional 12%
- Heavy Armor – AtLv. 3: All Defense +150%. The amount of Defense increased by Heavy Armor Equipment is not affected by effects that cause Defense reduction.
- Increased Max MP – At Lv. 3: Max MP +30%.
- Spirit Absorption – At Lv. 3: Atk./Move Speed +15
Skills and What to Prioritize
The regular skills are given in the table below.
| Skill | Description |
| Conviction Core | Summon multiple Cores to protect yourself for 10s. The Cores explode when there is a foe within 4 meters, inflicting 82 damage. |
| Dissonance | Unleash musical notes at the target location, inflicting 21 Damage every 0.5s for 5s and reducing Move Speed by 60% for 1s. |
| Rhapsody of Light | Summon sound waves at the target location, inflicting 149 [Holy] Damage every 1.5s 3 times. |
| Sound Shock | Use your harp to fire an orb of light that explodes on impact, inflicting 125 Damage to the target with Aoe effects. |
| Sound Wave | Summon a melody to inflict 26 Damage. |
| Stigma | Cast a Stigma at the target location. The Stigma lasts for 4s, attacking foes for 60 Damage every 0.7s. Max of 5 times. Stigma’s Damage +12.5%, the faster it pulses. |
| Wind of Music | Call forth a fierce wind that inflicts 49 Damage, Pushing foes. It will then spread wide to inflict 73 Damage on foes in an additional 1-meter radius. |
| Sonic Vibration | Lift foes at the target location, inflicting 115 Damage, and then slam them back onto the ground, inflicting 289 damage. This skill’s melody lingers for 3s, inflicting 43 Damage 4 times. |
| Rhythm Buckshot | Pull the string of the harp to blow up the musical note, inflicting 210 Damage and knocking foes away. |
| Soundholic | Shoot a ray of light for 3s, attacking foes 10 times to inflict 31 Damage every 0.3s. |
| Prelude of Storm | Play a tune to summon a storm that inflicts 179 Damage and stuns foes for 3s. |
| Heavenly Tune | Inflict 156 Damage on nearby foes. Atk. Speed for all party members within a 24-meter radius +3.5% and MP Regen Speed +12% for 8s. |
| Note Bundle | Cast musical notes that travel slowly while continuously inflicting 32 Damage and Move Speed -40%. The musical notes can hit the same foe multiple times up to 84 times. |
| Prelude of Death | Attack nearby foes, inflicting 119 Damage 2 times, inflicting Death’s End on them, a debuff that expires after 3s, causing 80 additional Damage. For each stack of Death’s End, Move Speed -20% up to 40% and Damage upon expiration +50%. |
| Harp of Rhythm | Summon a harp that shoots a musical note that inflicts 76 Damage to foes within a 14-meter radius. |
| March | Play the harp, summoning musical notes every 1s. They follow nearby foe, inflicting 38 damage. Move Speed -50% for 2s. |
| Guardian Tune | Play the harp. Damage to all party members within a 24-meter radius -20% for 8s. |
Aside from the normal abilities listed above, you will also get two of the Awakening Skills unlocked at level 50.
| Skill | Description |
| Oratorio | Play a giant harp and sing to inflict up to 666.1 Damage. The explosion causes 111 Damage and foe Crit Resistance -12.0% against attacks from all party members for 6s. |
| Symphonia | Leap into the air and join the angels, granting a shield for every ally within 12 meters, which absorbs Damage equal to 100% of your Max HP for 10s. Inflict 111 Damage to foes. Foe Atk. Power -30%, foe Atk. Speed -20%, and for Move Speed -40% for 10s. Gain 1 Bubble. |
These are some of the skills that you may want to focus on while leveling up.
- Sound Shock
- Dissonance
- Stigma
- Sonic Vibration
- Soundholic
- Heavenly Tune
Final Thoughts
We understand that the support role is not for everyone, people who want to go for solo play and flashy highlights may not get why people play Bard. But for the players who understand their importance in a team as a support and the vital role that they have, playing Bard is highly rewarding and fun. If players can get around the highly squishy nature of the class they are sure to dominate in both PVE and PVP modes in Lost Ark.
While I do agree the DPS on a Bard isn’t the best in the world, it’s still high enough to where grinding and soloing things isn’t an issue. As with all classes, if used properly it does enough damage to be effective for pretty much anything in the game.