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Introduced in Build X.34 (May 2020), the Bard is the third bow class since the Huntress was introduced in Build 104 (September 2010). Unlike the more combatative Archer and Huntress, the Bard wears less durable Robes, befitting his role as a support class. He is unlocked by reaching level 20 on Huntress and Paladin. However, he is only playable on the Exalt client. See his stat gains, caps and averages here.
The Bard’s maxes out at an exceptional 75 Wisdom and 385 MP, giving him quicker mana regeneration and a large mana pool to utilize his abilities. His Dexterity also caps at 70 points, allowing him to attack much faster than Archer or Huntress. In addition, his speed cap of 55 means he can run a bit faster than other classes. However, his delicate nature comes to a head with a max HP of 670 points and a cap of 55 Attack.
Unlike other robe classes, the Bard’s choice of weapon is the bow. Bows deal damage at mid-range and pierce enemies, though the individual shots themselves have less damage. This makes bows like the T8 Golden Bow and up excellent for crowd control. It should be noted, however, that each missed shot counts against your accuracy. If that is important to you, try to land every shot. Still, the untiered bow options provide the Bard with a versatile arsenal for any situation.
The Bow of Covert Havens (tradable), Bow of Mystical Energy, and Bow of Deep Enchantment are the most powerful bows in the tiered list. By using a spread of three arrows and enemy piercing, these bows are able to mow down groups of enemies. Players that are particularly skilled at dodging can exploit the “true” range of the three shots (3.56 tiles) to get better damage on single targets in which the Bard can also increase this true range. Unfortunately, the weaker damage per shot makes it worse than other UT bows as defense increases. It is for this reason many bow class players will opt to carry an additional, untiered bow as a swapout, to mitigate the drawbacks of using one bow or the other.
The Doom Bow (DBow) is a slow shooting, hard hitting, untiered bow found in the Undead Lair. This bow works well against high defense enemies in particular as its slow rate of fire means defense will be less effective. The reduced fire speed fits the Bard better as opposed to the Archer and Huntress, since the high DEX stat reduces the need to plan each shot. The Doom Bow is considered the best bow to get soulbound damage on Event and Dungeon bosses given the sheer damage of each shot. However, it should be noted that this bow has inferior DPS to many other bows in situations where a Bard can safely approach an enemy with negligible defense.
The Coral Bow (CBow) is an untiered bow found in the Ocean Trench. It fires two shots at a slightly increased rate of fire from tiered bows. It has a slightly lower DPS than the best tiered bows when all shots hit. However, its true range and effective range (5.08 and 7.77 tiles, respectively) are longer than you get from tiered bows. This bow is often paired with the Doom Bow, being used for general purpose while the DBow is swapped for higher defense enemies.
The Leaf Bow (LBow) is an untiered bow found in the Woodland Labyrinth. This bow sacrifices the ability to pierce enemies for a significant gain in DPS. This makes it useful in situations where piercing isn’t necessary or desirable (e.g: clean Tomb boss runs). It also has a very slightly longer range than tiered bows (7.2 tiles). Do note, the projectiles wave around with increasing amplitude as they travel farther away, so keep that in mind when you use this bow.
The Thousand Shot (TShot) is a fast-firing bow found in the Puppet Master’s Encore dungeon. This bow fires a single shot with a range of 7.59 tiles. Its special feature is its extremely fast rate of fire modifier of 200%! This bow fits Bard particularly well, as it provides some extra mana and its speed penalty of -5 is mitigated by Bard having a slightly higher SPD cap. Most importantly, because the TShot can attack to its entire true range, Bard can take full advantage of the Inspired buff while using this bow to attack to an even farther range of 9.4875 tiles!
The Bergenia Bow uniquely pierces armor, in exchange for not piercing enemies. It boasts surprisingly good DPS for an armor-piercing weapon, and has a great 8-tile range. The bow’s armor-piercing trait makes it so good for higher DEF enemies that it always outdamages the Doom Bow at any DEF. It is good for clean Tombs; Shatters; and Lost Halls, due to ignoring the high DEF stats of bosses and certain enemies.
The Bow of the Void (VBow) and the Deathless Crossbow are untiered, single-shooting, very rare bows that boast extraordinary DPS at dagger range, but thankfully the Bard can extend this range. While the Void Bow outputs more damage than Deathless in all cases, Deathless shoots straight, and extremely fast to boot. Though the Thousand Shot is often seen as a middle ground to the Doom Bow and the Coral Bow, these two bows are the “true” middle ground, boasting great DPS without any glaring weaknesses than range.
The Predator Bow is an untiered, multidirectional firing and high DPS bow. It surpasses even that of the Bow of the Void until 57 DEF, assuming that 3 out of 5 shots hit its target. Hitting all 5 of the shots possesses one of the highest damage models in the game. However, this bow suffers a heavy drawback in range, as hitting all 3 shots has a range of about 2.8 tiles, less than a tiered sword, and all 5 requires standing directly on top of the target.
The Bard’s choice of ability is the Lute. Lutes provide a party buff known as “
Inspired.” Inspired increases weapon attack range by 25%. For example, a tiered bow (7.04 tiles) would have its range increased to 8.8 tiles under this effect. Unfortunately, lutes do not alter the shot pattern of the weapon, so the true range is unchanged on certain weapons (tiered bows, most namely). Higher tiered lutes also provide the user with a defense boost. The defense boost of tiered lutes is always 2 seconds shorter than the Inspired duration.
The Skyward Lute (tradable) and Nebular Lute are the best tiered lutes. They provide the longest, most mana-efficient inspired duration, and also provide the highest DEF boosts for the group (+7 / +8) . In addition, they provide a passive +4 / +5 Defence on equip, which is important for the Bard’s survivability.
The Snake Charmer Pungi is an untiered lute from the Snake Pit. It sacrifices the inspired buff from tiered lutes in exchange for Speedy. Along with the +7 speed bonus, this lute is great for rushing
The Wavecrest Concertina is an offensive lute that instead of giving a def boost, it throws a fighting parrot. There is also a small chance to throw more parrots upon firing your weapon. In addition, it provides a decent boost of +4 ATT and +4 Dex on equip, which is useful for DPS boost.
Because of its throwing mechanic and the parrots ignores enemy’s defence, it allows the Bard play as a hybrid of support/offense (and as a pseudo-Assassin).
The Pharaoh’s Requiem is a defensive lute that helps out the group by inspiring allies and weakening enemies (by reducing their damage by 10%). Upon taking 50 or more damage, you will gain the Armoured buff for 3 seconds. This lute is best for survivability.
The Angel’s Fanfare is a ST lute that, while alone serves as a high-MP cost defensive lute, when combined with other parts of the set, gives powerful offensive and defensive bonuses. While best used with other parts of the set (especially in solo play, where healing may not otherwise be available), the +80 HP for the group on use (which can be stacked with a Paladin’s buff) makes it a useful swapout.
The Chief’s War Horn is a lute that supports the group by placing a banner that inspries and grants Berserk to everybody near it. This is especially useful when there’s no warriors nearby. As a bonus, it will also slow enemies within 4 squares so you can keep a distance against enemies.
The Noble Mandolin from The Forgotten King is a more offensive lute, similar to the Wavecrest Concertina. However, it instead grants the user a large ATT buff for a few seconds, at the cost of your weapon’s shot speed. The lute also summons a ring of spinning shots. This lute sacrifices utility, as shots are slower and the lute’s shots are not very mobile, for damage, as you gain a large ATT buff.
Unlike other bow classes, the Bard wears robes. As a robe class, Bard benefits from a much larger mana capacity than other bow classes at the cost of less durability and health.
The Robe of the Grand Sorcerer / Robe of the Star Mother / Robe of the Ancient Intellect are the strongest tiered robes. Both provide ample Defense and greatly amplify the Bard’s damage output with increased MP, and boosted ATT. While these robes may not be as powerful in specific areas as some untiered robes their versatility cannot be ignored, one can never go wrong with these.
The Anointed Robe provides good DPS boost output and is relatively easy to obtain (and can be treated as a budget equipment) which is great for beginners. With +4 ATT and +3 DEX, use this robe if you want to deal more damage than using tiered robes until you find more powerful robes.
The Soulless Robe gives a healthy mix of 60 HP and +15 DEF. It helps out the Bard a bit with his low defense and HP. However, this robe doesn’t give any more damage or wisdom stats compared to other robes.
The Water Dragon Silk Robe is a highly versatile robe that sacrifices 65 MP, 3 DEF and 4 WIS for a nice increase of 6 SPD and 1 ATT. Quite good on Bard because his lutes do not benefit from extra wisdom as they do not have a wismod. The Bard also benefits from the proc which heals +100 HP, helping the Bard heal as he has low defensive stats.
The Esben’s Shaman Attire is an untiered robe which sacrifices def in exchange for some HP and a decent ATT boost. It also has a chance to slow enemies upon taking damage. Only use this robe if you would like the slow debuff, because it has mediocre stats otherwise.
The Shendyt of Geb is an ST robe that drops from Treasure Sarcophagus in Tomb of the Ancient. Its stats are a mix between tiered robes and the Soulless robe, providing a hefty +7 wis in addition to a small +25 HP bonus and 15 DEF, and with a significant increase of +7 Vit (useful for reducing IC timer by 0.28 seconds).
The Diplomatic Robe sacrifices DEF, MP, and WIS, but grants a great HP bonus and a huge spike in DPS in both ATT and its proc. The proc is a portal that deals single-target damage to enemies in its range. The portal’s cooldown and duration are both 4 seconds, though you have to take 50+ damage which isn’t always be an option. Even though the total DPS is the highest of all robes, the portal’s placement can be annoying.
The Vesture of Duality is a DPS robe as it gives +5 ATT which can be increased to +20 ATT by using your ability. However, it will reduce your DEF which can hurt, considering that robe classes are generally squishy, but your long range and the +10 SPD boost helps as you can dodge in time. Furthermore, the cooldown is as long as its duration, giving it a potential 100% uptime if the player uses their ability once every 5 seconds.
Bard players often choose to wear rings that either boost defensive capability or focus on offense.
As for a tiered protective ring, HP is always preferred over DEF on a class like Bard. However, because of Bard’s low defence, it can be justified to use Defence ring over HP in some circumstances.
The top choice by many players, Ring of Unbound Health (UBHP) is the best ring to use on any classes if you want to maximize your survivability as a Bard. This ring will boost your HP by 180. If you happen to have a Ring of Decades, the boost of +190 HP will let you fare a bit better than the UBHP. Regardless of reasons, majorities of players swear by wearing an HP ring over a DEF ring.
An unconventional choice of many, the Ring of Unbound Defense (UBDef) can be seen as a reasonable choice for a Bard due to his low DEF stat. In addition, it pairs fairly well with tiered Lutes’ DEF boost effect as it allows him to be as tanky as a Warrior/Paladin.
The Ring of the Pyramid fits well on any classes, particularly the Bard. It provides a solid boost of +4 ATT which fits well for increasing his DPS. In addition, +100 HP and +4 DEF significantly increases the surviability, which is also equally important for a Bard.
For a tiered offensive ring, the Ring of Unbound Attack is the optimal choice for a Bard as he possesses high DEX but low ATT. In fact, ATT will always outdamage DEX regardless of the enemy’s defence. There’s also Esben’s Wedding Ring which grants the same ATT boost and also +60 HP and +60 MP but lowers your defense but that shouldn’t be issue with your increased range. Just note, rings that boost both ATT and DEX will provide better DPS.
The Forgotten Crown and the Magical Lodestone both provide +12 to offensive stats (+6 ATT and +6 DEX). The catch is Crown grants 110 HP while the Lodestone provides 6 SPD and 6 DEF. The Lodestone does have an edge over the Crown in the fact that a Bard can benefit from the +6 DEF as he’s fairly squishy without his lute’s DEF boost and the +6 DEF for effective rushing. Nonetheless, many players view the Crown as the superior option because of the HP boost it provides.
The Bard is a versatile and balanced class. He can range from a DPS centered character that attacks from a distance, to a support character that buffs the group and debuffs enemies. The variety in untiered bows allow him many different playstyles. Yet this eclectic variety in items makes him suffer with the reduced DEF from robes–and also the DPS meta. The Bard, then, becomes quite dependent on the UTs for specialization in either offense, defense, or support, which can be tricky for newer players who can’t get UTs as easily. But if that’s okay for the player, then they have nothing to worry about.
The Bard’s main role in a group is to provide consistent buffs through the use of his lute, which will generally be Inspired and the DEF buff given by tiered lutes. This is very beneficial to sword classes, as the Inspired buff will allow them to attack from a good distance, keeping them safer, and allows wand classes to hit Oryx The Mad God 2 during his dance phase.
You should be as consistent as possible with your Inspired buffs. While not strictly necessary, Inspired is best “chained”, one after the other, so that players using weapons that have wavy shots (such as Sword of the Colossus, Lumiaire, or tiered Staves) don’t have to constantly be re-positioning themselves in order to guarantee that their shots land.
Since Bard is by no means lacking in DPS (On a maxed character with only Wine Cellar top weapons, Bard outdamages several characters up until 20 or so DEF) you don’t need to focus on trying to get soulbound damage, rather, it’s more okay on focusing on how to best support the group you’re in.
Against Event Bosses, the Bard’s range increase is very helpful, even if it is not strictly necessary. In the case of bosses like the Skull Shrine, Cube God, or Avatar of the Forgotten King, Bard’s Inspire buff can allow squishier classes like Priests and Sorcerers to hit the Event Boss from a safe distance, outside of the range of minions and potentially dangerous shots, while also providing extra survivability through the DEF buffs of tiered lutes. The buff also allows Bards to get their own shots on the boss without coming into much danger of their own, or needing to pay too much attention to the HP and MP management that comes with playing classes like Priest.
In dungeons, Bards play much of the same role as they do against Event Bosses, primarily present to increase survivability through their buffs. However, Bards are especially more useful against bosses that possess attacks that are capable of maiming or even instantly killing players that are too close, which are more frequent in end-game dungeons than in the realm. By allowing other players (especially sword-based classes) more range against bosses like Oryx the Mad God 2 and 3, alongside various other end-game critters, Bard can help increase the survivability of the group.
Overall, the Bard is a easy-to-use, team-oriented class that focuses on increasing range and survivability through the use of his ability. His bow allows him to engage from a safe distance, and his high MP and WIS caps allow him to consistently provide buffs to his team, allowing far-range classes to pick at enemies without much danger and short-range classes a fighting chance against enemies with powerful shotgun attacks.
