We’ll give you a guide for how to build a best Support Bard and a DPS Bard in Lost Ark, include the stats, skills, engravings, builds, and rotation. Please check it if you need.

Lost Ark Best Support Bard Build

This guide is for intermediate and advanced Bards looking to optimize their build and take their gameplay to the next level. This guide assumes you have level 3 Yearning, level 7 gems, level 5 tripods, and sufficient skill points and runes. It assumes you have a working knowledge of the fundamentals of the game, the support role, and the Bard class.

1. Relic Set and Stats

• -Yearning with 1700+ swiftness and 600+ specialization.

• -With level 9+ cooldown gems, it is viable to swap a ring from swiftness to specialization.

2. Engravings

-Mandatory:

• Desperate Salvation

• Awakening

• Heavy Armor

Heavy Armor is mandatory because it is optimal to use push and paralysis immunity skills to tank patterns while maintaining uptime.

• Max MP Increase

Max MP Increase is mandatory because without it, you will quickly run out of mana such that the class is unplayable.

-Options:

• Expert

Expert is the default 5th engraving.

• Vital Point Hit

Vital Point Hit helps mitigate Bard's lack of stagger (when not running Sound Shock).

• Drops of Ether

Drops of Ether is fine if extra healing isn't needed and lack of stagger isn't an issue.

3. Skills

• Wealth rune priority:  Prelude of Storm > Wind of Music (Superspeed Cast) > Stigma > Wind of Music (Wind of Protection) > Sonatina.

• Focus rune priority:  Heavenly Tune > Sonic Vibration > Harp of Rhythm > Guardian Tune.

• Galewind rune priority:  Heavenly Tune > Harp of Rhythm > Guardian Tune > Sonic Vibration.

4. Support Build

Drop Sonatina if you want to swap out a skill for Dissonance, Rhapsody of Light, or Sound Shock.

5. Rotation

Techniques used: casting Symphonia during skill downtime, animation canceling Sonic Vibration, and delaying Harp of Rhythm with Sonatina.

• -Stimulant to have a 3-bubble Serenade of Courage ready. Guardian Tune right before entering the gate.

• -Harp of Rhythm → Heavenly Tune → Serenade of Courage...

• -→ Stigma → Prelude of Storm → Wind of Music → Sonatina → Symphonia...

• -→ Sonic Vibration (spacebar animation cancel and cast Guardian Tune, if up)...

• -→ Prelude of Storm → Stigma → Wind of Music → Sonatina...

• -→ Heavenly Tune → Guardian Tune → Harp of Rhythm → Prelude of Storm (→ Wind of Music)

• -→ Serenade of Courage → Sonic Vibration.

If executed perfectly, you'll have a second 3-bubble Serenade of Courage roughly 24 seconds after starting the rotation. After that, there's no strict rotation. You should rotate your buffs, maintain your brand, and cast meter generation skills off cooldown. Cast Guardian Tune whenever it's convenient.

Generally, cast Heavenly Tune and Serenade of Courage (2+ bubbles) right before DPS windows. Avoid using the Serenade of Salvation unless necessary, especially when holding 2+ bubbles.

With the given stats (1700 swiftness and 600 specializations), this build at its ceiling generates 6.3 bubbles per minute. Based on your party composition and DPS windows, it is your choice whether to expend three bubbles twice or two bubbles thrice per minute.

In optimal scenarios, with 4 Galewind runes, you will run out of mana after 32 seconds. With 4 Focus runes, you will run out of mana after 57 seconds. With a Master Summoner and 4 Galewind runes, you will run out of mana after 90 seconds.

Lost Ark Best DPS Bard Build

DPS Bard is the most viable of the optimal three DPS support builds. DPS Artist and DPS Paladin suffer from long cast times; additionally, DPS Paladin must use the Entropy set while suffering from mana issues. DPS Bard does not have a synergy (it would not stack with the support's brand). Also, DPS Bard does not have a counter.

Note: Calculations and numbers in this section are based on having 1700 swiftness and 600 crit (roughly 70 to 80 quality accessories). This is 36.5% CDR and 21.47% crit chance.

1. Relic Set and Stats

• For 5x3 (about 2.66% less DPS than 5x3+1), raise True Courage to 3 and drop Keen Blunt Weapon.

• For 4x3+2+1 (about 2.69% less DPS than 5x3), drop Adrenaline to 2.

-Mandatory:

• True Courage (1)

• Adrenaline

• Grudge

• Keen Blunt Weapon

• Mass Increase

• Raid Captain

2. Skills

• Symphonia

• Harp of Rhythm

• Sound Shock

• Note Bundle

• Heavenly Tune

• Stigma

• Sonic Vibration

• Sonatina

• Soundholic

3. DPS Build

4. Rotation

• -Equip Awakening 3 and cast Symphonia to activate Dominion. Swap back to your original engravings and enter the gate.

• -Harp of Rhythm → Sound Shock → Note Bundle (→ Symphonia) ...

• -→ True Courage → Stigma → Heavenly Tune → Sonatina → Sonic Vibration (spacebar animation cancel) → Soundholic → Harp of Rhythm → Stigma → Sound Shock → Note Bundle...

• -Heavenly Tune → Sonatina → Sonic Vibration (spacebar animation cancel) → Soundholic → Stigma → Harp of Rhythm → Sound Shock → Note Bundle.

Generally, try to use your damage skills after casting Heavenly Tune. If convenient, activate Conviction + Judgment and cast Stigma before casting Heavenly Tune.

You'll naturally generate enough meter through skills, so True Courage will not have downtime since it lasts 2 minutes.

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