Bard Support Wild Rift overview and best build snapshot
Best Build
Quick snapshot of the default setup for this guide.
Items
Summoner Spells
Spell 1
Flash
Spell 2
Ignite
How to play
Look for a stun against a wall Your 1st ability stuns when it hits an enemy and then another target or a wall. Aim for enemies standing in front of either.
Roam when your teammate is safe Collect nearby chimes on your way to help another lane, without leaving your lane partner exposed.
Plan around your ultimate's delay Your ultimate briefly freezes everyone it hits, including allies. Use it to catch enemies or save a teammate, then prepare to act when the freeze ends.
Guide author
Royal
Royal has reached Rank 1 in EU and NA, and Legend and Sovereign on the Chinese server. Created by Royal with input from high elo and professional players and the WildRiftGuides Discord community.
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Strengths
- Chime gathering keeps him roaming, and a wall stun from fog starts fights the enemy never agreed to.
- His shrines heal your duo and give a movement speed burst, letting you choose every engage and disengage.
- Tempered Fate (Ult) can swing a whole fight: save a carry, freeze a diver, or zone an entire objective pit.
Weaknesses
- Cosmic Binding (1st) only stuns after hitting terrain or a second enemy, but its first hit still applies a strong slow in open ground.
- Magical Journey (3rd) is a terrain-dependent escape that enemies can follow, so Bard is easy to punish when no useful wall angle is available.
- His roams leave the ADC alone in 1v1 windows, and a misplaced stasis can strand an ally or rescue an enemy.
Bard Support Wild Rift best build, items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order
ITEM BUILD
Best Wild Rift build for Bard Support, including items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order.
STARTING ITEM
Support income for a champion who spends half the lane away from the wave collecting chimes.
BOOTS
Magic penetration keeps his empowered attacks hurting as the game goes on.
CORE BUILD
Quest income on top of the chimes he already collects, which funds real damage on a support budget.
His meep attacks are most of his damage, so Spellblade triggers on an attack he was taking anyway.
He is never standing still, so Momentum is almost always full, and it triggers on the attack he walks up to land.
The move speed is worth more to him than to other supports, since his whole game is crossing the map for chimes.
Cuts the magic resist that blunts his meep damage. The healing on takedown also helps the team that followed his stun in. Choose it when enemies have not built much magic resist, so trading Void Staff's extra damage for more ability haste and an area heal after takedowns is worthwhile.
SITUATIONAL ITEMS
His attacks chip targets low without finishing them, and the crit against low health closes that gap.
The raw penetration alternative to Cryptbloom. Build it when the enemy frontline stacks magic resist. Choose it over Cryptbloom when enemies are stacking magic resist and maximum personal damage matters more than ability haste and team healing.
Build this when shields absorb Bard's poke. A meep-enhanced attack or Cosmic Binding (1st) applies the reduction before his lane partner follows the stun.
Build this when the enemy heals through his chip damage. Buy Oblivion Orb early, since the anti-heal works from the component and the full item can wait.
Build this when you keep getting caught while roaming alone. Buy Seeker's Armguard early for the armor and ability power.
RUNES
KEYSTONE
A bolt, a meep attack and a follow-up attack are three separate hits, which is his normal poke pattern.
PRIMARY
His damage is empowered attacks, so another one fits his rhythm without changing anything.
His stun into follow-up focuses one target, which is exactly the pattern this rewards.
Roaming for chimes means he clears wards constantly, so the stacks come with his normal movement.
SECONDARY
He roams alone and gets caught out, so surviving the opening burst is usually the difference between a pick and a death.
SITUATIONAL RUNES
Take this over Bone Plating against lanes without reliable engage or return damage. Ability haste puts more shrines and stuns into each fight.
Take this over Bone Plating for a utility-focused setup against repeated engage. More frequent Cosmic Binding (1st) and Caretaker's Shrine (2nd) casts give Bard additional chances to stop a diver and sustain a teammate.
SUMMONER SPELLS
MAIN SPELLS
Flash
Must take. His stun needs a wall behind the target, and Flash is how he gets to the side of them where one exists.
Ignite
Take this for early kill pressure on the enemy bot lane, since kills there snowball your carry faster than anything else you can do. The Grievous Wounds also makes it strong into champions with a lot of healing.
SITUATIONAL SPELLS
Heal
Take this over Ignite when your carry needs to survive rather than kill. The move speed also helps them follow up on the stun he set up.
SKILL ORDER
Skill Priority Order
- 11st Ability
Q - 22nd Ability
W - 33rd Ability
E
Bard Support Wild Rift matchups and counters
Wild Rift matchup guide for Bard Support, covering favorable lanes and difficult counters to prepare for in ranked, plus the duo partners that pair best with this pick.
Good Matchups
These champions are favorable matchups for this pick in Wild Rift. You have advantages against them and can play more aggressively.
Sona
Sona is a stationary aura support with no answer to a pick, and her short range loses to your meep autos while your roams deny the calm lane her duo wants.
Soraka
Soraka can affect your roams with the global heal from Wish (Ult), so leaving lane does not remove all of her map impact. Bard's advantage is creating the pick with Magical Journey (3rd) and a wall stun before her local positioning can protect the target.
Yuumi
She cannot answer or follow your roams without leaving her host, and any moment she detaches she becomes a free pick for your wall stun or stasis.
Nami
Aqua Prison (1st) is Nami's only immediate stop on Bard's approach, while Magical Journey (3rd) and Meeps create roam angles her lane-bound sustain cannot follow. Enter from a wall so Cosmic Binding (1st) can stun against terrain, wait for the bubble to miss, and use Tempered Fate (Ult) to deny her Tidal Wave (Ult) counter-engage at the next objective.
Milio
Milio's ultimate can cleanse Cosmic Binding's (1st) stun after it lands, whether or not he saw the wall angle coming. Force that cooldown with repeated picks, or use Tempered Fate's (Ult) stasis to separate him from the ally he wants to cleanse.
Bard Counters
These champions counter this pick in Wild Rift and can be difficult matchups. Learn how to play against them or consider banning them.
Leona
Leona's Zenith Blade (3rd) reaches through poke and her Shield of Daybreak (1st) attack starts the stun chain once she arrives. Bard has healing shrines rather than a native shield, and his conditional Q (1st) stun can be difficult to line up after she has committed onto the carry.
Nautilus
Nautilus's hook removes the spacing your poke and roam game needs, and Bard's shrines heal rather than block crowd control. One landed hook can start a chain that a conditional Cosmic Binding (1st) stun may not interrupt in time.
Pyke
Pyke out-roams you, threatens picks faster than you set them up, and his grey health sustain recovers your poke damage while his execute punishes any chip on your ADC.
Rakan
Rakan engages on demand with a charged knockup and a dash your conditional stun cannot reliably answer, and he is mobile enough to dodge the Q (1st) you need to land.
Synergies
The Dragon lane is a 2v2, so the carry you queue with matters as much as the matchup. These carries make the most of what this support provides.
Ezreal
He farms safely alone while you roam for chimes and picks, and his poke follows your stun the moment you return. Magical Journey (3rd) plays into his love of angles.
Sivir
Her waveclear holds the lane while you wander, and On The Hunt (Ult) speeds the whole team onto the targets your stuns and portals catch.
Caitlyn
Her range and traps hold a frozen lane alone while you roam, and your stun sets up a free trap plus headshot whenever you play the 2v2.
Bard Support Wild Rift game strategy and teamfighting guide
Wild Rift game strategy for Bard Support, from early lane control through mid and late game map play to final teamfights.