Bard, the Wandering Caretaker
Overview:
With Bard being one of my favorite champions and having an already compelling kit, my initial redesign was fairly tame and mostly concerned bringing his gameplay more in-line with his theme - taking on more of a caretaker role with tools that allowed him to put a stop to fights rather than start them.
This update is also a minor one, cleaning up some of his gameplay and further focusing his identity around being able to effectively roam by reigning in his area of influence while allowing him to more readily get to wherever he needs to be at the time.
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In terms of specifics, Magical Journey has been given a second charge, so that he can initiate a timely Ult with it without having to wade out of the entire enemy team once his song is done. His Caretaker's Shrine is also back to its original form, as my redesign of it was more complicated than I'd like, and its long range took emphasis away from Bard's roaming capabilities.
Bard's Meeps have also been tweaked to allow him to rely less on pure aggression while giving enemies reasons to not attack him, flying at enemy champions who try to start fights with him while he's placing shrines or collecting chimes. In exchange, they now collide with the first enemy in their path, making them a less effective tool for applying offensive pressure and providing additional early-game counterplay.
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For those curious about Bard's displaced abilities, his wall tunnel - an effective ganking and invasion tool that had poor defensive utility - now belongs to a burrowing pack-hunter who will more than put it to good use in her jungle-dominating endeavors.
His time-stopping Ult, on the other hand, has been given to League's original chronomancer, allowing him to control the flow of battle and set up for his cornerstone fight-resetting ability.
All values in blue are meant to give a general idea of the ability's properties, and are subject to change.
Class: Catcher
Recommended Positions: Duo Sidelane (Support)
Complexity: Low
Innate: Traveler's Call
Bard's presence causes sacred Chimes to appear at random locations and linger for up to 10 minutes. Colleting a Chime grants Bard 24% bonus movement speed out of combat for 7 seconds. Every other Chime collected beyond the first grants an additional 14% bonus movement speed (up to a total of 80%), 20 + (1 per minute after 5 minutes) experience, and restores 12% of Bard's mana. Bard empowers his Meeps each time he collects 5 Chimes.
Bard attracts a Meep to his side every 8 to 4 seconds (based on number of Chimes), up to
1 to 9 (based on number of Chimes) at once. Meeps will fly towards minions and monsters Bard attacks, or enemy champions that attack Bard, dealing 40 + (12 per 5 Chimes) +
(30% AP) magic damage to the first enemy in their path. Meeps will only attack once every 1.25 seconds.
At 5 Chimes, Meeps start slowing damaged enemies by 25% to 75% (based on number of Chimes) for 1 second, and at 15 Chimes they deal splash damage to enemies within 150 units of his target as well as those in a 90° cone 350 units behind them, with the cone's size increasing by 100% at 35 Chimes.
Q: Cosmic Lullaby
PASSIVE: As Bard travels, his song carries further - granting a charge of Cosmic Lullaby every 1000 units he moves, up to 4 charges.
ACTIVE: Bard plays a song in the target direction that reaches the ears of the first enemy it crosses, soothing them for 1 to 3 seconds and bouncing to 0 to 4 additional targets (prioritizing champions if the first enemy hit was a champion). The duration and number of bounces is based on the number of charges consumed.
Soothed enemies deal 24/28/32/36/40% reduced damage, and are slowed by 40/50/60/70/80%. Cosmic Lullaby's slowing effect decays over the duration.
Range: 1000 (range), 500 (bounce radius)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 11/10/9/8/7
Cost: 60 mana
W: Caretaker's Shrine
Bard conjures a shrine at the target location that builds up in power over 10 seconds, which remains until a champion steps on it.
If the champion was an ally or Bard himself, they are healed for 30/60/90/120/150 + (30% AP) to 70/110/150/190/230 + (60% AP) and gain 50% bonus movement speed that decays over 1.5 seconds.
Up to 3 shrines can be active at once, and placing a new one past this limit will immediately destroy the oldest one. Using Caretaker's Shrine on an ally champion directly will immediately heal them for the minimum amount and grant them the movement speed bonus without placing a shrine.
Range: 800
Targeting Type: Placement
Cooldown: 12
Cost: 70 mana
E: Magical Journey
PASSIVE: Bard stores a charge of Magical Journey every 26/24/22/20/18 seconds, up to 2.
ACTIVE: Bard travels on a wave of song towards the target location at 110/120/130/140/150% of his movement speed, becoming untargetable but incapable of other actions until he reaches his destination or re-activates the ability. Once Magical Journey ends, all nearby enemies are silenced for 0.5 to 1.5/1.75/2/2.25/2.5 seconds, based on distance traveled (capped after 1000 units).
Magical Journey's maximum distance is increased by 200% if Bard has not dealt or taken damage within 5 seconds.
Range: 340/420/500/580/660 (range), 300 (effect radius)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 3/2.75/2.5/2.25/2
Cost: 30 mana
R: Pacifying Melody
FIRST CAST: Bard begins inhaling, preparing to play his instrument for up to 2 seconds, increasing Pacifying Melody's range over the duration and slowing himself by 50%. After 2 seconds, Bard automatically initiates the second cast.
SECOND CAST: Bard sits down and plays his instrument, ensnaring nearby enemies in a mystical tune that forces them to dance for up to 2/2.5/3 seconds, or until they're damaged by a champion or turret. Bard is incapable of performing any action until his tune is finished.
Range: 125 (initial effect radius), 375 (max effect radius)
Targeting Type: None
Cooldown: 110/95/80
Cost: 100 mana