Bards in Dark and Darker are versatile performers, who use their skills in music, storytelling, and magic to support their allies and hinder their enemies. They can cast a wide variety of spells, ranging from healing and protection to charms. Bards can also inspire their allies with rousing speeches and music, boosting their morale and granting them temporary bonuses. In combat, bards can use their weapons and martial skills, but they excel at using their charm and wit to manipulate their enemies, making them an unpredictable and dangerous foe.
You can equip a total of 2 skills.
| Name | Description | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
| Dissonance | Creates an unpleasant noise to block hostile targets within a certain area from casting spells and silence them for 3 seconds. | 30s |
| Encore | The next song is automatically played to the end without any input and is sure to succeed. | 30s |
| Music Memory | Can store up to 4 sheet music as space permits. | / |
| Music Memory 2 | Can store up to 4 sheet music as space permits. | / |
You can equip an additional perk every 5 levels. Currently maxed out at Level 15, so a total of 4 perks can be equipped.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Lore Mastery | A high level of understanding of objects increases all types of interaction speed by 25%. |
| Melodic Protection | While playing, the caster’s physical damage reduction bonus is increased by 15%. |
| Rapier Mastery | When using a rapier, weapon damage increases by 3 and action speed increases by 5%. |
| Wanderer’s Luck | Increases the chances of finding high-quality items when opening treasure chests. Increases Luck by 100 |
| War Song | If the performance is successful, increases nearby allies’ weapon attack power by 3 for 6 seconds. |
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Accelerando | Gradually increase the movement speed of yourself and nearby allies for 8 seconds based on your performance. The amount of boost (Poor – 5 per second. Good – 10 per second. Perfect – 15 per second) stacks up to 3 times over the duration of one song. |
| Chaotic Discord | Excites nearby monsters to attack the nearest target except the performer. |
| Peacemaking | All nearby players and monsters temporarily lose the will to fight when enchanted by the chanelling section of the song. 8 seconds cast time. 6 seconds duration. |
| Tranquility | Gradually restores the Recoverable Health of yourself and nearby allies based on your performance. Poor – 8 hp for 4 seconds. Good – 16 hp for 8 seconds. Perfect – 24 hp for 12 seconds. |
To play the lute, the bard needs to hold the instrument and then activate the Skill: Music Memory by pressing the default E button. From there, the player can select the desired song and initiate it by right-clicking.
To successfully activate the song’s effect, it is crucial to hit the right notes at the right time. As the song plays, the player should press the right mouse button at the correct moment to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted performance. If the player can successfully play the song to the end, the song effect will be activated, providing a variety of benefits in combat and other game scenarios.
Weapon of choice: Rapier
Pros:
Cons:
-Since songs take some time to perform, the Bard needs anticipation to be played well.
-Chaotic discord is a great way to solo clean rooms. Mobs will kill each other while keeping the bard safe. Can also be used as a protection if attacked in a room full of mobs.
-Peacemaking can be a powerful temporisation tool, but beware of ranged attackers outside of its AoE. The song is quite long to play, so beginning it before the encounter is recommended.
-Dissonance can make skeleton mages easy to manage if you have high enough dps as a solo or a group.
-Accelerando is a powerful tool both for fleeing and engaging.
-Tranquility is a reusable heal, but depends on the quantity of Recoverable Health. In groups, it is most useful on high Health classes, like the Barbarian.