Items & Build

Still needs more testing



Still needs more testing

Situational items

The Noobtraps

Talisman of Ascension

Everybody takes this trinket at the start so as the trustworthy support so do we. It really is the only choice for the start of the game but contrary to popular advice given you dont need to immidiately change to your red trinket after you have gotten your sightstone, only do it around the lvl 7-9 mark. During lane if you have one ward cleared its easier to replace it when you dont need to clear such important places as dragon with your red trinket.is the starting item of choice here. It offers everything we need for early levels of the lane, some damage, manaregen, gold generation and a passive that works super well with Meeps. No question the best starting item. Upgrading it tois very important and should be prioritized right after sightstone or possibly before sightstone if you cant get sightstone in one buy. The upgrade gives you a stronger passive, more AP and manaregen and a stronger passive. Even though generally you dont want to build AP on Bard these stats are great for the early game and laning phase. Even with the changed spellthiefs and other support items its still the clear favorite for Bard.is an essential item for all supports and should be the first priority buy you get on Bard. But if you cant buy thein one go you should upgrade yourtoor getand a. Sightstone is there to give you vision and safety to make plays and see ganks coming. Sightstone also gives health which is a great stat for everybody, especially on Bard since you have reasonably low range and that leaves you slightly more vulnerable to getting caught. Also ever since 6.17 upgrading to the Ruby Sightstonehas become a good option for the support item, more about that just below.Ruby Sightstone has been a thing tank supports buy for a while now and It was bought for pretty much all supports for a period of time, now the meta has changed towards Eye of the Watchers for casters. But Bard Isnt a caster, or is he? For me the only reason for this is the super early 4th ward as well as the very gold efficient chunk of health you get from it. The active item cooldown reduction is a very minor thing that only affects games a bit later on after you have bought other items so its not such a large part of your decision to buy it.The negatives to the build are pretty minor, it mainly leaves you in an awkward position where you run out of inventory space pretty quickly or you just end up selling your support item. The Ruby Sightstone also doesnt offer any CDR which is the only stat you absolutely require on Bard. It also makes building some items very awkward as you have to save up as much as 1550 before you can buy stuff like Mikaels if you want pink wards in your inventory ( which you should ). These things dont matter as much in higher level of play or especially in pro play as games dont tend to go that late where supports dont have room in the inventory. The build is also more prevalent on tank supports and not so much on Bard. My conclusion is that I will be buying Ruby Sightstone when I need to be more tanky early on into a game and Eye of the watchers otherwise.is now the support item of choice for me if Im not building the Ruby Sightstone, I have moved away from Frost Queens Claimcompletely. Its a cheap and easy way to get more inventory space and it does give you some cheap CDR. It is very easy to buy because you dont have to buy the APyou had to for the Frost Queens Claim. The extra ward is great and the other stats from it are pretty neat as well, its just the better alternatve to Ruby Sightstonemost of the time and definitely the better alternative to Frost Queen's Claim. This difference between Ruby Sightstoneand Eye of the Watchersis even greater after the changes made to Eye of the Watchersin 7.9, seems like Ruby Sightstonemight be falling out of favor for Bard completely. Right now Im building Eye of the Watchersevery game but Im not willing to remove Ruby Sightstonefrom the build completely yet.I have recently figured out an easy way to get rid of my bad habit of buying potions well into the mid game and spending too much money on them for the lane and that is to simply buy Refillable Potionfor lane. That is not to say I suggest you get it as a starting item as getting poked out at the beginning of the lane is much more crucial than later on but to just buy it on your second or third back, if it goes later than that you should probably skip it. Its a very good way to ensure that you save some money in efficiency in exchange for larger effective health pool during lane.are in my opinion just the best all around choice for boots for Bard. They offer you 10% CDR and 10% lower cooldowns on Summoner spells. With the mastery page raising the CDR cap to 45% getting CDR and getting it fast is more important than ever andgive you a good chunk of CDR for the first teamfights. Not to mentionhad their price and stats stay the same whilebecame significantly cheaper. Locket also got changed in preseason 7 and no longer gives CDR which delays you hitting the 45% cap. Also the lower summoner spell cooldown is really really useful. Remember that there is no penalty for going over 45% CDR, I will gladly hit 50% CDR if I can get the 10% CDR and 10% lower Summoner Spell cooldowns as early as I can.With the quite significant ways Locket, Redemption and Knights Vow were changed I have been testing out Knights Vow as a first item against AD heavy teams. It is certainly not a clear cut ideal first item as Locket last season or Redemption at the start of the season were but I feel its still a pretty good item for Bard, you get armor, health and CDR. And the active/passive combination is actually pretty decent despite being reduced in efficiency as a ranged champion. Consider as a 1st or later item against AD heavy teamsJust like Knights Vow this item has been brought to my attention alongside nerfs to Locket and Redemption. For the average joe the item feels perfect for Bard, MR, mana regen, AP, CDR and even a useful passive, it has it all. But upon closer inspection you can realize the AP is not something you wanna itemize towards (as in you dont specifically want to buy AP, its definitely not bad though), the manaregen is not a useful stat for Bard outside of early laning, the CDR got reduced to 10% not too long ago and the passive numbers arent that great once you get into game. Despite these flaws the item is still quite good for Bard and more importantly very cheap. You can buy it as a first item and get very good mileage out of the passive in longer or even normal length games. Something I will definitely strongly consider as a 1st item against AP heavy team comps.Redemption is the new go-to support item that was introduced in the latest Preseason alongside a few other items. Its really just a really strong item for super cheap, it has a lot of things Bard finds useful, cooldown reduction, health and regen and most importantly it has a very strong active that offers and AoE heal and true damage beam. Its very strong during the early teamfights and especially later on as it scales off of levels. With locket and Redemption both being nerfed quite significantly it is still one of the best options for Bard, you probably just shouldnt rush it anymore. 2nd or 3rd item.got changed pretty drastically and now is no longer the must buy item for all supports. Previously Locket was just a great item for almost everybody, it had health and cooldown reduction as well as a ridiculously strong MR aura but alas no more. The item is now a reasonably cheap tank item with a pretty good active for teamfighting and it fits Bard reasonably well, the only downside is the lack of CDR and the way it scales with bonus health.The item is now 3rd or 4th in the list. The lack of CDR is also one of the big reasons I gravitate towards Lucidity boots and Eye of the Watchers instead of the alternatives. Despite the active being essentially the same, but weaker, as last season its more important to use it more carefully this season as it is the main point of getting the item as well as the active being much stronger now. The item is very strong against AoE teamfight teams and can block ridiculous amounts of damage when used correctly.got changed along with most support items and is now essentially the same thing as before but without the small healing component in the active as well as slightly lower price. Its basically a get out of jail free card for your carry of choice. You use it to save them from a CC and if you manage to do that they get a speed buff. It is most useful when there is just one fed carry on your team who you need to protect and keep alive from a single CC that is used on him every fight. For example Leona ultimate, Nocturne fear, Rammus taunt, Nasus slow. This item is almost always a decent option to consider.This is one of your options for boots. They offer you more movement speed thanand any slows affect you 25% less. If the enemy team has many slows like FQC and/or you plan on buildingand/or plan to get 40% some other way this is your choice but don't take these boots for the increased roaming ability, thats whatare for, its not worth it especially after the nerf in 6.11. I would still buy these when going forbut now it would be harder to justify buying them in any other situation. The item isnt bad it just is outclassed byor in some cases by. Your choice of boots is betweenandare great if you get a big lead during lane and possibly even take the turret out fast. They allow you to roam super fast and help other lanes and ward really deep. The cost is that you need to hit 45% CDR some other way. I get the item when I want to roam and win the game more quickly or if I expect to be buildingand dont want to buy, mostly due to lack of slows on the enemy team. Your choice of boots is betweenandThis item is also got changed recently along other support items and no longer offers AP and is mainly a tank item just like Locket. It now is actually a good source of some tank stats and CDR unlike before and compared to Locket. Another important change is that Locket and Banner dont share a pasive anymore so you can actually buy both without wasting stats. But just like with Locket this is aitem and not an item that gives utility, only buy this item if you know how to use the active and you need the tank stats.is a great defensive item that gives you armor, maan and 20% CDR which is a huge amount for a single item. Its a great option when the enemy team is AD heavy or has many attackspeed reliant champions like Master Yi, Jax, Irelia or most ADC champions. Very good buy on Bard if you dont already have Lucidity boots and you need Armor.lost a big chunk of its usefulness with the ADC item rework, most ADCs hit very high numbers of crit chance very early on sotook a hit. Its no longer an item I buy, it needs more testing to see if its viable at all.now gives you 70 AP, 10% CDR and 45 MR as well as the old passive, a passive shield that blocks any enemy spell that would have hit you. It is no longer a tank item but might be still worth looking into if you keep getting caught by CC or killed by magic damage, despite the fact that building AP on Bard in general is not the ideal. With the 10% CDR it might be a decent last item.got nerfed quite a bit in the 6.6 patch and is now significantly weaker. It still could be used to help you get Baron by being placed on the other side of the map from Baron or by placing it down on the other side of the map from the lane you are sieging. Its now a lot weaker but can still be used as a gimmick. Dont buy it if you dont know how to use the active, there are more useful tank items to buy.is just a straight up tank item for whenjust isnt enough and the enemy has fed multiple AD threats. I almost always prioritizeoverand buying both is pretty rare but it does happen, especially against full or almost full ad team comps.also known as Spooky Ghosts is now a pretty rare sight, the item got nerfed slightly but more importantly the alternatives got buffed. The item in itself is still the same it always was, a slow in a reasonably cheap package. The item is a great source of early game CDR and AP. The item has been overtaken byand is now the secondary option for when I want to accelerate the game and end it quickly, sort of likebut those situations where I get both are very rare, its usually just Mobility boots. Its definitely not a bad item, it has its uses but even the fact that you have to use the active correctly should be a consideration when deciding if you want to buy it or not. In conclusion buy it if you want to snowball the game or with the new stealth changes if you are playing against Twitch/Vayne.is now a tank item. It gives you 300 health, 100% base health regeneration, 65 MR, 10% CDR and the old passive, nearby enemies take 10% more magic damage. This sounds like a great tank item for Bard if the enemy team keeps blowing you up with magic damage, it would also give your team a great aura in lategame teamfights and would increase your damage quite significantly lategame. I dont see a reason for this not to be a good situational item but still needs testing to see how high of a priority this item should be.is a new tank item that came out in 7.9. It gives you 300 health, 55 MR, 100% base health regeneration and 10% CDR. Its passive reduces the damage taken from the one same spell or effect by 15% for 4 seconds. (Think anti-cassio/ryze item). This sounds like an alternative choice to Abyssal but Im still not sure how this fits in with Bard.is as clear of a tank item as you can make it. The item gives you 40 armor, 40 MR, an impressive passive that gives you bonus 40 armor and MR if there are +3 enemy champions nearby and an equally impressive active that gives you bonus health equal to 40% of your maximum health while reducing your damage by 60%. The health bonus is increased to 100% if the passive is active at the same time. This seems like a very interesting item but not quite a shoe-in for Bard, as Bard doesnt like to build that much health and does a deceptive amount of damage in lategame teamfights. Like the above new/changed items,This is probably the biggest one I see people fall in, the item gives you 65 Armor, 500 Mana and 20% CDR and a passive that lets you actually deal decent damage. Little known fact is that the slow onbarely even registers after the meep slow and is just effectively useless. The problem with the item is that you are paying 2700 gold for an item that is a worse fit for Bard thanwhich only costs 100 gold more at 2800 gold.is just all around a better item for Bard, It givesand less mana (Mana being a pretty useless stat on Bard after 15-20minutes into the game) and the. Comparing that towhich just gives you less armor, more mana and a passive that helps you deal more damage. Dealing damage as Bard is something you shouldnt in my opinion ever itemize for as you will get more damage just through collecting chimes and you are already doing significant damage as a full utility/tank build. Now if we were to live in a world wherewasnt an option or was nerfed more I would probably start buildingas its not a terrible item, just worse in comparison tois one of the more common noobtraps, the item gives you 30% Attackspeed, 30% Crit chance and 5% movement speed. Two of those are next to useless on you lategame. The reason people buy it seems to be the passive which while nice is nowhere near good enough a 2600 gold item with so much useless stats on it.This newly reworked item is better than the old Talisman but still not that suitable for Bard overor. The item is mainly for passive laners like Soraka or Janna instead of more active laners like Bard who would much prefer spellthieves.Although I havent seen this item built on Bard yet I suspect with the added healing buffs it probably will be. The item in itself is not terrible on Bard but when the healing increase was added on Mikaelsthat makes it a much better item for Bard. The healing increase and the attackspeed buff on it is not very useful as Bard only really can heal one person in a fight.