The ultimate Bard guide - Magical Journey to the top!

Bard’s ultimate guide (latest patch) - Support your way to the top! 

Bard - Summoner Spells:

1. Flash: Essential for escaping, engaging, or repositioning.
2. Ignite: Useful for securing kills and reducing healing.

Bard Runes:

1. Primary (Precision): Fleet Footwork, Triumph, Legend: Alacrity, Last Stand.
2. Secondary (Domination): Eyeball Collection, Relentless Hunter.
3. Stat Shards: Based on the document, there seems to be an error. However, typically you might go for Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, and Armor or Magic Resist depending on the enemy team composition.

Full Build + situational items - Bard:

1. Start with Spellthief's Edge for gold generation and early poke.
2. Prioritize Tier 2 boots (Mercury's Treads against CC/magic damage, Plated Steelcaps against physical damage).
3. Locket of the Iron Solari for the shield active and resistances.
4. Knight's Vow if you need to protect a carry on your team.
5. Abyssal Mask against magic damage or if the enemy has magic on-hit effects.
6. Frozen Heart for armor and slowing enemy attack speed.
7. Gargoyle Stoneplate as a late-game item for survivability in team fights.

Bard - Ability Skill Order:

1. Q (Cosmic Binding): Levels 1, 4, 5, 7, 9
2. W (Caretaker's Shrine): Levels 2, 8, 10, 12, 13
3. E (Magical Journey): Levels 3, 14, 15, 17, 18
4. R (Tempered Fate): Levels 6, 11, 16

Bard - General Playstyle and Advice:

‍Bard is a roaming support champion. In the early game, focus on safely trading and stacking your Spellthief's Edge. Use your empowered auto-attacks for efficient trading. When your ADC recalls, use this time to collect chimes and roam if possible. Your goal is to get your Tier 2 boots as soon as possible to enhance your roaming potential.

In the mid-game, use your E (Magical Journey) and your mobility to roam around the map, helping other lanes and securing objectives. Use your ultimate (Tempered Fate) to initiate fights, catch out enemies, or to disengage.

In the late game, stick with your team. Your role is to provide utility and crowd control in team fights. Use your Q to stun key targets and your ultimate to control the battlefield. Remember to keep collecting chimes to enhance your Meeps' power.

Bard - Objective Control

:Bard's E and R are great tools for controlling objectives. Use your E to provide quick rotations around the map, and your R to stall enemies or to initiate fights around objectives.

Bard Matchups:

‍Bard generally struggles against champions that can all-in him or his ADC in the early game, as he is relatively squishy and lacks immediate peel. He does well against champions that he can poke down and that can't easily engage onto him.

Please note that this guide is based on the document provided and my current understanding of the game. For more specific advice on matchups and champions that are strong or weak against Bard, I would recommend consulting a more recent guide or tier list, as these can change with each patch. This was Bard’s ultimate support guide for the latest patch.