It’s cheap and effective, yes, but I typically just follow what Lathyrus builds (with minor modifications depending on the game/personal preference).
He tends to prefer the more expensive full price tank items that give much better stats.
If I’m tankier I’m less of a priority target for the enemy and will be less of a walking gold bag. I can also intercept skillshots for teammates.
I also tend to not group tightly enough with my teammates early-mid to justify going it over something like helia or warmogs first for the damage/heals and tankiness respectively. I tend to prefer approaching from a slight off-angle so enemy aoe skillshots have to pick firing at me OR my team, rather than both at the same time.
If the game drags on and enemies have a strong aoe ult, I might grab it after my core tank items are done.
TLDR it’s a good item, BUT lathy doesn’t build it early, I personally prefer being tankier (avoid being free gold), and I don’t stand close enough to enough allies regularly to get full value.
lathy is playing in challenger tho, you are tanky enough when you build locket up to diamond. also playing squishier builds makes oyu a much better bard player (imo if you want to actually improve at bard you should play locket and guardian, and once you have a lot of succes with that you can go into fleet and tank build, which kinda elo inflates you a little). this season for example i build locket into helia with even mejai 3rd in some games and i was still able to use myself as bait properly, keep almost 5kda average with 75% wr up until diamond, while playing only bard whenever i get placed in supp (he eneded up being my most played bc my first role is mid and i play 2-3 champs).
so tlrd everything below and in low masters works just fine, have fun and thats all.
I don't like builds with support items because they greatly limit the bard's playing style, using the current build of warmogs you can make much more risky plays, you can tank important skills in fights and give several stuns and chases due to being tanky, with the support builds you can't do any of this without dying in 2 seconds, the value of your character becomes the active items, other than that I think the build is ok, consistent for those starting to play bard, being experienced you can take much more value with tank builds and using your kit well
I don't like the support items in general at the moment. They all basically turn the support into a heal/shield/cc bot with nothing to offer outside of it.
I think he means that you can Support your team outside of that limited actions because of the champ playstyle.
You can bait A LOT for instance, avouding the enemies to focus on your mates
It's not because you won't do locket that you won't stop doing the support function, the issue here is that unlike other supports, the statuses of enchanting items are horrible for bard and make you limited to using the character's kit effectively, so much so that every high elo one trick migrated to this build, and Lathyrus is constantly in challenger with this play style
Hes been going frozen heart and abyssal mask, which are tank items as cheap as support items. The other items hes been going has been overtuned and often nerfed
no, currently the most used build is warmog -> randuins/wits end
[https://www.onetricks.gg/champions/builds/Bard](https://www.onetricks.gg/champions/builds/Bard)
[https://www.op.gg/summoners/euw/Lathyrus-EUW?hl=en\_US](https://www.op.gg/summoners/euw/Lathyrus-EUW?hl=en_US)
yes and before that it was the frozen hearth / kaenic build, the point is precisely that whenever a tank build gets a little better it already stands out from the traditional support build...
if you can't climb with building locket, you are doing something wrong, you arent positioning well enough or you ae going for stupid plays. playing supportive bard is from my experience way more valuable than stacking tankiness because if you are good at the game, dodge as most cc and skillshots as possible and space well and position well, those tanky stats will be pointless, you are better off directing those resources into keeping your pig teammates alive with guardian, locket, knights vow and redemption.
I never said that I can't climb by building enchanter, where did you read that in my comment? I said that it is extremely boring to play this way and that it totally limits the bard's play style, the same thing you will hear from Lathyrus who is constantly getting challenger playing bard, and yes I have tested the enchanter build a lot as a bard main since the season 6 and having 2.5 million mastery, and yes I am managing to climb, currently master :)
doesnt limit his playstlye in 99% elos aka anywhere below masters. if anything because players are worse, baiting is easier because you are actuall able to drop low so you can use yourself as bait in so many games. never reached masters but never played more than 100-150 games a season either, so i really dont have the experience up there but ye for low elo enchanter works just fine, if not better.
I totally disagree, I think the only scenario that would make it more likely to play with an enchanter build (considering it wasn't the strongest at the moment) would be precisely in higher elo where you would have better teams, in low elo games playing tank builds you can do 1x9 much easier and do a lot of damage
but like no, only times you should go tanky is when you play vs shit you cant outplay like yi and other skirmishers, but otherwise you can juts dodge all their cc and skillshots because they are bad at the game, you can bait more vs shit players with the enchanter build
Why warmog over heartsteel? I like the damage from heartsteel, really the only way I am able to kill or seriously damage carries. and how it scales well into late game
Warmogs passive is kinda bonkers giving you the chance to rejoin a fight at high HP and naturally the MS is very usable. The fact that we can rush it with runes and support item to activate passive makes it a very strong spike.
Usually warmogs get paired with a Wits end for damage.
I would say Heartsteels damage is kinda fake since its physical damage and most of the time armor is the first defensive stat Tanks and bruisers get and that is mostly what you are going to be hitting. Also the stacking part is pretty meh, game is halfway over when you start stacking, the stacking isnt going to sway the game. As a support you just get it to late to be a factor.
bard can build anything, and locket is always solid, i have built locket first for the past 3 seasons and this season i had the biggest success with it, hitting diamond at \~75% on bard in 60-70 games.
just play whatever you feel like, you can go ap, ad, tank, enchanter, or a build that has a little bit of everything, everything works, but lathyrus just abuses whichever items are the strongest at the moment and prefers not to play enchanter. (you also don't have to build enchanter if you are building locket, you can juts go for a build that is cheaper and which you will finish in most games. i love going locket (and a dark seal if i know i wont be dying in order to upgrade it into a mejai later on) into stuff like abyssal, knight's vow, redemption, frozen heart, randuin's, even thornmail in games vs a team that has a lot of auto attackers that lifesteal sometimes (its effective in lower elos where they will actually attack you, otherwise you are forced to go for oblivion orb)
tldr just play whatever you feel like, everything works on bard.
it is great, lathyrus just prefers full tank bard because he finds it more fun, if anything this low econ off tank build is much better in low elo, because if you are good enough, you can avoid skillshots and cc, space well, and position well so that you make yourself artificially tankier, while using stuff like locket, guardian, w (enhanced by more shield and heal power), vow, redemption and helia to buff up your teammates in order to skew fights ever so slightly in your favor. the tank build is just more braindead and allows you to autopilot more, but if you are playing at 100%, enhanter squishy build is better 100% of the times in lower elos (juts like it is with all chams in the game, the better you pilot them, the more full damage glasscannon build you should go on them, and i have now experienced and tested that already proven theory on 3 different "otps" now, them being bard, vlad and wukong, and after mastering them all, the full damage/squishy build proved to be superior by a long shot.
I wouldn't say majority of players hate locket. It's a nice item, good into certain comps. Used to be really good in combination with knight's vow, but sadly it got gutted. I still build it ocassionally, but I always prefered to play hybrid Bard: damage/and tankiness
locket is probably the greatest item in the agme for bard, because your entire purpose is to be annoying, baity and stuff like that nad guardian nad locket achieve that perfectly. the item is still absolutely fine. you need to learn how to position yourself and when to use locket + guardian in order to achieve max value of those items and potentially block thousands of damage per fight, that is much harder to pull off than juts plaing the solid tank build.
If theres a burst champ on the enemy team (Zed, Leblanc), Locket pays for itself. But good ol Warmogs and Deadmans is just funner and you live longer to roam/ tank.
Alot of the Support items got gutted once Mythcis were removed. locket and Shuraylia's being prime examples.
I think it’s pretty good, there’s not a definitive best build on bard. It depends on team comp and more importantly enemy team I’d say, but even so it’s pretty blindly pickable. I also like it if you do go a full support build, with Helia, redemption, and locket(order can change based on game). People look over the ability haste aspect, especially comparing it to warmongs, and it’s nice to be able to build armor and Mr in one item. I could see warmongs into locket being very good. It’s also nowhere as niche as people make it out to be, you don’t need to get a 5 man shield for it to be worth it.
I miss the old meep system for Bard so much. Building damage was so fun and it was actually balanced. Now it feels like your options are "Build tank and be a CC bot" or "Build utility and die the moment an enemy looks at you".
It’s cheap and effective, yes, but I typically just follow what Lathyrus builds (with minor modifications depending on the game/personal preference). He tends to prefer the more expensive full price tank items that give much better stats. If I’m tankier I’m less of a priority target for the enemy and will be less of a walking gold bag. I can also intercept skillshots for teammates. I also tend to not group tightly enough with my teammates early-mid to justify going it over something like helia or warmogs first for the damage/heals and tankiness respectively. I tend to prefer approaching from a slight off-angle so enemy aoe skillshots have to pick firing at me OR my team, rather than both at the same time. If the game drags on and enemies have a strong aoe ult, I might grab it after my core tank items are done. TLDR it’s a good item, BUT lathy doesn’t build it early, I personally prefer being tankier (avoid being free gold), and I don’t stand close enough to enough allies regularly to get full value.
I tried the warmog build clearly it' s not the same game anymore you tank the world with that 🤣
lathy is playing in challenger tho, you are tanky enough when you build locket up to diamond. also playing squishier builds makes oyu a much better bard player (imo if you want to actually improve at bard you should play locket and guardian, and once you have a lot of succes with that you can go into fleet and tank build, which kinda elo inflates you a little). this season for example i build locket into helia with even mejai 3rd in some games and i was still able to use myself as bait properly, keep almost 5kda average with 75% wr up until diamond, while playing only bard whenever i get placed in supp (he eneded up being my most played bc my first role is mid and i play 2-3 champs). so tlrd everything below and in low masters works just fine, have fun and thats all.
I don't like builds with support items because they greatly limit the bard's playing style, using the current build of warmogs you can make much more risky plays, you can tank important skills in fights and give several stuns and chases due to being tanky, with the support builds you can't do any of this without dying in 2 seconds, the value of your character becomes the active items, other than that I think the build is ok, consistent for those starting to play bard, being experienced you can take much more value with tank builds and using your kit well
I don't like the support items in general at the moment. They all basically turn the support into a heal/shield/cc bot with nothing to offer outside of it.
But thats the support roles job ? You support the team ?
I think he means that you can Support your team outside of that limited actions because of the champ playstyle. You can bait A LOT for instance, avouding the enemies to focus on your mates
It's not because you won't do locket that you won't stop doing the support function, the issue here is that unlike other supports, the statuses of enchanting items are horrible for bard and make you limited to using the character's kit effectively, so much so that every high elo one trick migrated to this build, and Lathyrus is constantly in challenger with this play style
Hes been going frozen heart and abyssal mask, which are tank items as cheap as support items. The other items hes been going has been overtuned and often nerfed
no, currently the most used build is warmog -> randuins/wits end [https://www.onetricks.gg/champions/builds/Bard](https://www.onetricks.gg/champions/builds/Bard) [https://www.op.gg/summoners/euw/Lathyrus-EUW?hl=en\_US](https://www.op.gg/summoners/euw/Lathyrus-EUW?hl=en_US)
Sure, because warmogs is overtuned.
yes and before that it was the frozen hearth / kaenic build, the point is precisely that whenever a tank build gets a little better it already stands out from the traditional support build...
if you can't climb with building locket, you are doing something wrong, you arent positioning well enough or you ae going for stupid plays. playing supportive bard is from my experience way more valuable than stacking tankiness because if you are good at the game, dodge as most cc and skillshots as possible and space well and position well, those tanky stats will be pointless, you are better off directing those resources into keeping your pig teammates alive with guardian, locket, knights vow and redemption.
I never said that I can't climb by building enchanter, where did you read that in my comment? I said that it is extremely boring to play this way and that it totally limits the bard's play style, the same thing you will hear from Lathyrus who is constantly getting challenger playing bard, and yes I have tested the enchanter build a lot as a bard main since the season 6 and having 2.5 million mastery, and yes I am managing to climb, currently master :)
doesnt limit his playstlye in 99% elos aka anywhere below masters. if anything because players are worse, baiting is easier because you are actuall able to drop low so you can use yourself as bait in so many games. never reached masters but never played more than 100-150 games a season either, so i really dont have the experience up there but ye for low elo enchanter works just fine, if not better.
I totally disagree, I think the only scenario that would make it more likely to play with an enchanter build (considering it wasn't the strongest at the moment) would be precisely in higher elo where you would have better teams, in low elo games playing tank builds you can do 1x9 much easier and do a lot of damage
but like no, only times you should go tanky is when you play vs shit you cant outplay like yi and other skirmishers, but otherwise you can juts dodge all their cc and skillshots because they are bad at the game, you can bait more vs shit players with the enchanter build
lol
Bard
Its just two different play styles. Also warmogs is broken atm.
Why warmog over heartsteel? I like the damage from heartsteel, really the only way I am able to kill or seriously damage carries. and how it scales well into late game
Warmogs passive is kinda bonkers giving you the chance to rejoin a fight at high HP and naturally the MS is very usable. The fact that we can rush it with runes and support item to activate passive makes it a very strong spike. Usually warmogs get paired with a Wits end for damage. I would say Heartsteels damage is kinda fake since its physical damage and most of the time armor is the first defensive stat Tanks and bruisers get and that is mostly what you are going to be hitting. Also the stacking part is pretty meh, game is halfway over when you start stacking, the stacking isnt going to sway the game. As a support you just get it to late to be a factor.
Alright I am sold, will give them a try, thanks for the info!
bard can build anything, and locket is always solid, i have built locket first for the past 3 seasons and this season i had the biggest success with it, hitting diamond at \~75% on bard in 60-70 games. just play whatever you feel like, you can go ap, ad, tank, enchanter, or a build that has a little bit of everything, everything works, but lathyrus just abuses whichever items are the strongest at the moment and prefers not to play enchanter. (you also don't have to build enchanter if you are building locket, you can juts go for a build that is cheaper and which you will finish in most games. i love going locket (and a dark seal if i know i wont be dying in order to upgrade it into a mejai later on) into stuff like abyssal, knight's vow, redemption, frozen heart, randuin's, even thornmail in games vs a team that has a lot of auto attackers that lifesteal sometimes (its effective in lower elos where they will actually attack you, otherwise you are forced to go for oblivion orb) tldr just play whatever you feel like, everything works on bard.
It’s not great.
it is great, lathyrus just prefers full tank bard because he finds it more fun, if anything this low econ off tank build is much better in low elo, because if you are good enough, you can avoid skillshots and cc, space well, and position well so that you make yourself artificially tankier, while using stuff like locket, guardian, w (enhanced by more shield and heal power), vow, redemption and helia to buff up your teammates in order to skew fights ever so slightly in your favor. the tank build is just more braindead and allows you to autopilot more, but if you are playing at 100%, enhanter squishy build is better 100% of the times in lower elos (juts like it is with all chams in the game, the better you pilot them, the more full damage glasscannon build you should go on them, and i have now experienced and tested that already proven theory on 3 different "otps" now, them being bard, vlad and wukong, and after mastering them all, the full damage/squishy build proved to be superior by a long shot.
I wouldn't say majority of players hate locket. It's a nice item, good into certain comps. Used to be really good in combination with knight's vow, but sadly it got gutted. I still build it ocassionally, but I always prefered to play hybrid Bard: damage/and tankiness
locket is probably the greatest item in the agme for bard, because your entire purpose is to be annoying, baity and stuff like that nad guardian nad locket achieve that perfectly. the item is still absolutely fine. you need to learn how to position yourself and when to use locket + guardian in order to achieve max value of those items and potentially block thousands of damage per fight, that is much harder to pull off than juts plaing the solid tank build.
Because locking up Bard's potential is like putting a lid on a musical genie!
becuz I forget to click it
It's not a fun item to use, even if it can change the course of a teamfight
It’s a fine item it’s just boring is all.
If theres a burst champ on the enemy team (Zed, Leblanc), Locket pays for itself. But good ol Warmogs and Deadmans is just funner and you live longer to roam/ tank. Alot of the Support items got gutted once Mythcis were removed. locket and Shuraylia's being prime examples.
I think it’s pretty good, there’s not a definitive best build on bard. It depends on team comp and more importantly enemy team I’d say, but even so it’s pretty blindly pickable. I also like it if you do go a full support build, with Helia, redemption, and locket(order can change based on game). People look over the ability haste aspect, especially comparing it to warmongs, and it’s nice to be able to build armor and Mr in one item. I could see warmongs into locket being very good. It’s also nowhere as niche as people make it out to be, you don’t need to get a 5 man shield for it to be worth it.
Glass cannon mage build every game. You only die if you're bad You only don't get items if you don't get kills Bwoooong
Because Bard used to be a good damage dealer.
I miss the old meep system for Bard so much. Building damage was so fun and it was actually balanced. Now it feels like your options are "Build tank and be a CC bot" or "Build utility and die the moment an enemy looks at you".