Our Bard Lost Ark class guide covers everything you need to know about this Mage subclass, including its overall role in the team, its strengths and weaknesses, some tips, and more. Lost Ark allows you to control a number of classes, who all come with different benefits in PvE and PvP content. So if you want a breakdown of the Bard Lost Ark class, we’ve got you covered below.
Bard Class Guide Overview
The Bard in Lost Ark is a Mage type that wields a Magical Harp. Their musical instrument is a Pan Flute. The Bard is mostly a Ranged Support class that focuses on shielding and buffing party members. On a lesser note, they also can do some healing. If you are the type of player that excels at having knowledge of difficult encounters and gets satisfaction out of saving your friends lives and preventing damage, the Bard is the right choice for you.
Their Identity Gauge, the Serenade Meter, fills up to 3 bars when using skills and dealing damage to enemies. The more bars that are full, the more powerful the effect of the Identity Skill that is used. Once a bar is full, the player can choose to use one of two Identity Skills: Serenade of Courage or Serenade of Salvation. The Serenade of Courage increases damage of the bard themselves and also their party members. Serenade of Salvation is an Area of Effect that heals party members standing within it.
Role of a Bard
Bards are one of two support classes. They focus on attacking enemies at a distant range while providing an Increased Damage Taken Debuff as well as an Attack Power Buff to the Party, and coming into melee range to shield and mitigate damage to party members. While they can complete a lot of content on their own, it is much harder and slower to do.
It is not advisable to be a DPS Bard unless you already have a Support Bard in your Group.
Strengths
- Provides Shields to self and party members
- Provides Aura Buff to increase attack power
- Provides Aura Buff to reduce damage taken
- Provides Debuff on target that increases damage taken
- Provides Heals to self and party members
Weaknesses
- Lower overall damage
- Difficulty levelling alone
Skills
The following table is a list of all Lost Ark Bard Skills that you will unlock and at which level you will do so.
| Combat Level | Icon | Skill Name | Cooldown (seconds) | Type | Description |
| 10 |  | Conviction Core | 20 | Normal | Summon 3 Cores to protect yourself for 10s. The Cores explode when there is a foe within 4 meters, inflicting 82 Damage. |
| 10 |  | Dissonance | 8 | Point | Cause a clash of musical notes at the target location, inflicting 21 Damage every 0.5s for 5s and reducing Move Speed by 60% for 1s. |
| 10 |  | Rhapsody of Light | 24 | Point | Summon beautiful sound waves at the target location, inflicting 149 [Holy] Damage every 1.5s 3 times. Channeling will be canceled if you move. |
| 10 |  | Sound Shock | 6 | Normal | Pull the string of the harp to fire an orb of light that explodes on impact, inflicting 125 Damage to the target and nearby foes. |
| 10 |  | Sound Wave | 8 | Normal | Summon a beautiful melody to inflict 26 Damage and push foes away. |
| 10 |  | Stigma | 16 | Casting | Cast a Stigma at the target location. The Stigma lasts for 4s, attacking foes for 60 Damage every 0.7s. Max of 5 times. Stigma’s Damage +12.5%, the faster it pulses. |
| 12 |  | Wind of Music | 18 | Normal | Call forth a fierce wind that inflicts 49 Damage, Pushing foes. It will then spread wide to inflict 73 Damage on foes in an additional 1 meter radius. |
| 14 |  | Sonic Vibration | 24 | Point | Lift foes at the target location, inflicting 115 Damage, and then slam them back onto the ground, inflicting 289 Damage. This skill’s melody lingers for 3s, inflicting 43 Damage 4 times. |
| 16 |  | Rhythm Buckshot | 16 | Normal | Pull the string of the harp to blow up the musical note, inflicting 210 Damage and knocking foes away. |
| 18 |  | Soundholic | 24 | Normal | Shoot a blinding ray of light for 3s, attacking foes 10 times to inflict 31 Damage every 0.3s. You can change the direction of the light ray, but the channeling will be canceled if you move. |
| 20 |  | Prelude of Storm | 16 | Normal | Play a powerful tune to call forth a storm that inflicts 179 Damage and stuns foes for 3s. |
| 24 |  | Heavenly Tune | 30 | Normal | Inflict 156 Damage on nearby foes. Atk. Speed for all party members within a 24 meter radius +3.5% and MP Regen Speed +12% for 8s. |
| 28 |  | Note Bundle | 12 | Normal | Cast a group of musical notes that travels at a low speed while continuously inflicting 32 Damage and Move Speed -40% for s. The musical notes can hit the same foe up to 84 times. |
| 32 |  | Prelude of Death | 24 | Normal | Play the Prelude of Death to attack nearby foes, inflicting 119 Damage 2 times, inflicting Death’s End on them, a debuff that expires after 3s, causing 80 additional Damage. For each stack of Death’s End, Move Speed -20% up to 40% and Damage upon expiration +50%. |
| 36 |  | Harp of Rhythm | 24 | Normal | Summon a harp that has a will of its own. The harp shoots a guided musical note that inflicts 76 Damage to foes within a 14 meter radius. |
| 40 |  | March | 20 | Holding | Play the harp, summoning musical notes every 1s. They follow the closest foe, inflicting 38 Damage. Move Speed -50% for 2s. |
| 50 |  | Guardian Tune | 30 | Normal | Play the harp. Damage to all party members within a 24 meter radius -20% for 8s. |
| Combat Level | Icon | Skill Name | Cooldown (minutes) | Type | Description |
| 50 |  | Oratorio | 5 | Normal | Play the giant harp and sing with angels, inflicting up to 666.1 [Holy] Damage. Explosion causes 111 [Holy] Damage and foe Crit Resistance -12.0% against attacks from all party members for 6s. |
| 50 |  | Symphonia | 5 | Normal | Rise into the air and play in an ensemble with angels, granting a shield for every ally within 12 meters, which absorbs Damage equal to 100% of your Max HP for 10s. Inflict 111 Damage to foes. Foe Atk. Power -30%, foe Atk. Speed -20%, and foe Move Speed -40% for 10s. Gain 1 Bubble. |
Bard Levelling Guide
We recommend you to just try out all the skills and play for whatever is the most fun for you. However, if you just want to speed up the process (maybe that’s the most fun for you) or you’re tying to power through with levelling an alt, follow this level by level breakdown of what skills to use and level up and which tripods to activate.
You can swap between saved skill tree slots whenever for free (even in combat as long as no skills are on cooldown). It’s recommended to use both your skillbook slots, choose abilities based on this: one for AoE (packs of normal enemies) and one for Single Target (Boss/Elites).
Skill Progression
Below is a chart that shows progression of placement of skill points and their Tripods.
| Level | Icon | Name | Level | Tripod 1 | Tripod 2 | Tripod 3 |
| 11 | | Dissonance | 4 | Melody Increase | ||
| 12 | | Stigma | 4 | Sustain Enhancement | ||
| 15 | | Dissonance | 7 | Melody Increase | Law of the Jungle | |
| 18 | | Soundholic | 4 | Sound Concentration | ||
| 19 | | Soundholic | 7 | Sound Concentration | Sustain Enhancement | |
| 20* (Skill Preset 1: used for Normal Enemies) | | Dissonance | 10* (remove points from everything else) | Melody Increase | Law of the Jungle | Harmony Enhancement |
| 20* (Skill Preset 2: used for Bosses) | | Soundholic | 10* (remove points from everything else) | Sound Concentration | Sustain Enhancement | Focus Fire |
| 21 | | Stigma | 4 | Sustain Enhancement | ||
| 24 | | Stigma | 7 | Sustain Enhancement | Brilliant Stigma | |
| 25 | | Soundholic | 4 | Sound Concentration | ||
| 28 | | Soundholic | 7 | Sound Concentration | Sustain Enhancement | |
| 30 | | Soundholic | 10* (delevel all other skills except Dissonance) | Sound Concentration | Sustain Enhancement | Focus Fire |
| 31 | | Stigma | 4 | Sustain Enhancement | ||
| 32 | | Heavenly Tune | 4 | Quick Preparation | ||
| 33 | | Sound Shock | 4 | Maintained Explosion | ||
| 34 | | Stigma | 7 | Sustain Enhancement | Brilliant Stigma | |
| 39 | | Stigma | 10 | Sustain Enhancement | Brilliant Stigma | Pain Brand |
| 50 | | Sound Shock | 10 | Maintained Explosion | Shock Enhancement | Rapid Fire |
Combat
For Normal packs of enemies, the Bard rotation is generally Stigma>Dissonance. This combo will clear pretty much everything, however, if there are any leftovers use Sound Shock for a quick clean up.
Since Stigma has a longer cooldown than Dissonance, alternate between Stigma>Dissonance and Sonic Vibration>Dissonance
For Bosses you’ll use Serenade of Courage(if ready)>Stigma>Dissonance>Heavenly Tune>Soundholic
You’ll want to use Attack Buffs before Soundholic as it is the Bards highest Single Target damaging ability. Wait for a clear opportunity to use it and better yet: hit the boss from behind with it for extra damage potential.
Gear
Just equip the highest Item Lv. item you find. Focus on Agility for increased movement speed, reduced casting time, and faster skill cooldowns. Secondly, your next best stat is Specialization.
Bard Solo PvE Build
Here’s the general strategy for DPS Bards Chaos Dungeons, Tower Event, and solo Quests. Focus on grouping up enemies and using AoE abilities. First cast Heavenly Tune for the Attack Speed and Damage Buff. Stigma and Dissonance are the main skills that clear most enemies on their own. Sonic Vibration is another good choice for AoE. An important note here is that Prelude of Death can be an incredible ability with Tripod 3: Area of Death; it will cause insane chain reaction explosions if an enemy dies from it.
The rest of the abilities is up to you. Sound Shock is an option for a quick skill while others are on cooldown. If you find yourself taking too many hits and are low on health, Guardian Tune is another good option for some damage reduction.
Also, it would be wise to pick up the second Awakening Skill: Oratorio for a very powerful boss killer.
Bard Solo Stat Priority
As a DPS Bard in Solo a content setting you should have a separate set of accessories that has Crit as a primary stat; then Swiftness as a secondary stat. A general ratio of roughly 70/30 is optimal.
Bard Skills Solo PvE Build
Below is a solo build that focuses on clearing trash quickly.
This build requires 296 Skill Points which will require the collecting all the available Points in Shushire or if you have Rohendel unlocked, then you can grab some from there.
| Icon | Name | Level | Tripods | Notes |
| Heavenly Tune | 10 | 1 1 1 | Attack Speed and Power Buff |
| Stigma | 10 | 3 2 1 | AoE |
| Dissonance | 10 | 2 1 2 | AoE |
| Sonic Vibration | 10 | 1 2 1 | Damage and Attack Power Buff |
| Prelude of Death | 10 | 1 1 1 | AoE |
| Soundholic | 10 | 1 1 2 | Line up enemies and Laser Beam them down |
| Sound Shock | 4 | 1 | For use between cooldowns. (Can pick up Tripod 2: Sacred Shock for Increased Damage Taken Debuff) |
| Guardian Tune | 4 | 1 | Reduce Damage Taken |
| Oratorio | Awakening | N/A | Can often kill bosses in one hit. |
Bard Group PvE Guide
Bard PvE Party Build Stat Priority
As a Support Bard in Group setting you should have a separate set of accessories that has Swiftness as a primary stat; then Specialization as a secondary stat. A general ratio of roughly 70/30 is optimal.
Bard Skills Party PvE Build
This build requires 328 Skill Points which will require the collecting all the available Points in Shushire or if you have Rohendel unlocked, then you can grab some from there.
| Icon | Skill Name | Skill Level | Tripods | Notes |
| Wind of Music | 10 | 2 1 2 | Shield |
| Sonic Vibration | 10 | 3 2 1 | Attack Power Buff |
| Guardian Tune | 10 | 1 1 2 | Damage Reduction; Tripod 2: Endless Protection for a Shield or Tripod 2: Powerful Protection for even more Damage Reduction |
| Heavenly Tune | 10 | 1 1 1 | AoE Attack Speed Buff; Tripod 3: Intense Performance for Attack Power Buff. |
| Harp of Rhythm | 10 | 1 3 1 | Tripod 3: Note Brand for Increased Damage Taken Debuff on Target Tripod 2: For Identity Gauge generation |
| Sound Shock | 7 | 1 1 | Tripod 2: Sacred Shock for Increased Damage Taken Debuff on Target |
| Prelude of Storm | 7 | 1 2 | Tripod 1: Mind Concentration for Mana Regen. Tripod 2: Melody Increase for Identity Gauge Generation |
| | Soundholic | 10 | 1 1 2 | High Damage |
| Symphonia | Awakening | N/A | Powerful Shield |
Bard PvP Guide
In Player versus Player Arenas, Bards are a valuable asset to the team. They provide great utility with attack buffs, shields, and minor healing through their identity skill. They also have some pretty decent CC with a slow, stun, and a 4 second fear.
PvP Stats
- 1000 Agility
- 249 Endurance
- 1 Crit
Bard Skills PvP Build
Feel free to change whatever skills you like depending on your playstyle and how you see fit.
The one change below, especially if you play in 3v3’s, is including Rhapsody of Light with the Tripod 3: Shining Protection for a very strong damage taken reduction buff. You will definitely also want Tripod 2: Stabilized Light for Knockback Immunity.
The Best Bard PvP Awakening Skill is Symphonia due to it’s very high Shielding. However, if your team finds it would be more helpful to have more damage use Oratorio.
Below is a general PvP build that is a great foundation to build upon.
| Icon | Skill Name | Skill Level | Tripods | Notes |
| Heavenly Tune | 10 | 2 1 2 | Precast for buff |
| Guardian Tune | 10 | 1 1 2 | Precast for buff |
| Sonic Vibration | 10 | 3 3 | Knock up enemy |
| Prelude of Storm | 10 | 2 1 2 | CC: Stun Tripod 3: Lightning Concentration for Longer ranged stun |
| Prelude of Death | 10 | 3 2 2 | CC: Fear Tripod 3: Howling of Pain for the fear effect |
| Soundholic | 10 | 2 1 2 | Once CC’d, free burst damage. |
| March | 7 | 3 3 | Useful to run away and slow enemies |
| Rhythm Buckshot | 7 | 2 2 | Quick Knock Down to Peel |
Here’s Youtuber Pum with some extraordinary 1v1 PVP.
For further pvp reading check out gFeverTV’s PvP Guide here.
Engravings
Mandatory
The Awakening engraving allows for more usages and more frequent usage. It also fills up the Identity Gauge very quickly so that you can use your Identity Skill more often. Desperate Salvation is also a no brainer as you will now heal more when using the Identity Skill Serenade of Salvation. Heavy Armor Equipment is up here in the Mandatory section as Bards are one of the most susceptible to damage. Having 150% increased defense combined with all the other abilities means it will be very hard to be killed.
| Icon | Engraving | Description | Source |
 | Awakening | Lv. 1: Awakening Skill Cooldown -10%. +1 maximum use. Lv. 2: … -25% … +2 Lv. 3: … -50% … +3 | Chaos Dungeons Cube |
| Desperate Salvation | Lv. 1: When the recovery effect ends, an additional recovery effect is activated, recovering 8% of your Max HP. Lv. 2: … 16% … Lv. 3: … 24% … | Guardian Raid Abyss Dungeon |
| | Heavy Armor Equipment | Lv. 1: All Defense +30%. The amount of Defense increased by Heavy Armor Equipment is not affected by effects that cause Defense reduction. Lv. 2: …+75%. Lv. 3: …+150%. | Chaos Dungeons Cube |
 | Specialist* | Lv. 1: Shield and HP recovery effects used on yourself and party members are increased by 6%, and when the target’s HP is below 50%, this effect is increased by an additional 3% Lv. 2: … 14% … 7% Lv. 3: … 24% … 12% | *May not be available on launch |
Optional
True Courage will further improve party damage .
Spirit Absorption is a great option to reduce cooldowns on skills. In particular, if going for a high Specialization stat build, this makes up for the loss of Agility. Increased Max MP is great option for high Agility builds, as you use more abilities you use more Mana and can run into Out of Mana problems.
| Icon | Engraving | Description | Source |
| Spirit Absorption | Lv. 1: Atk./Move Speed +3%. Lv. 2: …+8%. Lv. 3: …+15% | Chaos Dungeons Cube |
| True Courage | Lv. 1: Serenade of Courage makes outgoing Damage +10% and Crit Rate +10%. Lv. 2: … Damage +15% … Lv. 3: … Damage +20% … | Guardian Raid Abyss Dungeon |
 | Increased Max MP | Lv. 1: Max MP +5%. Lv. 2: Max MP +15%. Lv. 3: Max MP +30%. | Chaos Dungeons Cube |
Gear Sets
Below is a list of all the gear sets and their bonuses that available to Tier 1 Bards. You can mix and match 2-Set bonuses using 2 or 3 different ones. Depending on your playstyle and what’s available to you, you may want to take two 2-set bonuses instead of a full 5-set Bonus. You can also have one set for Chaos Dungeons and other Solo Content, and another for Guardian Raids and other Group Content.
| Item Level | Rarity | Set Bonus Name | Effects | Source |
| 385 | Relic | Dark Night | 2-Set: When attacking a foe, 30% chance for +8% Atk and Move Speed for 6s. (Cooldown: 3s) 5-Set: Increases Crit Rate by 40%, but decreases Crit Damage by 40%. | Chaos Dungeons Rohendel (Welcome 3) Chaos Dungeon Rohendel (Nightmare 1-4) |
| 385 | Relic | Phantom Memory | 2-Set: Attack Speed and Move Speed +5% 5-Set: Increases Damage with an Awakening Skill to Seed or lesser monsters by 60%. Increases Damage to Challenge or lesser monsters by 60% when hitting them with an Awakening Skill for 10s. (Cooldown: 60s) | Chaos Dungeons Rohendel (Welcome 3) Chaos Dungeon Rohendel (Nightmare 1-4) |
| 385 | Relic | Void Afterimage | 2-Set: Decreases damage taken by 30% when HP is below 30%. +15% Atk. Speed and Move Speed, +10% Skill Cooldown. 5-Set: When hitting a foe with a normal attack, +15% Additional Damage for 3s (Cooldown: 1s) | Chaos Dungeon Rohendel (Welcome 3) Chaos Dungeon Rohendel (Nightmare 1-4) |
| 340 | Legendary | Awakened Hatred | 2-Set: Combat Resource Recovery Speed: +30% 5-Set: Crit Damage +25 | Abyss Dungeon (Corridor of the Twisted Lord) Abyss Dungeon (Hildebrigne, Dream Palace) |
| 340 | Legendary | Boisterous Elemental | 2-Set: Increases Attack Speed and Move Speed by 4% for 6s, up to 8% when attacking monsters Boss rank or above. (Cooldown: 3s) 5-Set: Increases damage to monsters Boss ranked or above by 12%. | Abyss Dungeon (Corridor of the Twisted Lord) Abyss Dungeon (Hildebrigne, Dream Palace) |
| 340 | Legendary | Dense Confusion | 2-Set: Attack Speed and Move Speed +4% 5-Set: Crit Rate +15% | Abyss Dungeon (Corridor of the Twisted Lord) Abyss Dungeon (Hildebrigne, Dream Palace) |
| 340 | Legendary | Enraged Nature | 2-Set: Move Speed +8% 5-Set: Atk. Power +4% for 8s, up to 12% when attacking a monster Boss ranked or above. (Cooldown: 3s) | Abyss Dungeon (Corridor of the Twisted Lord) Abyss Dungeon (Hildebrigne, Dream Palace) |
| 340 | Legendary | Mist | 2-Set: Decreases damage taken from Normal ranked monsters by 20%. 5-Set: Increases damage dealt to monsters Challenge rank or below by 15%. | Abyss Dungeon (Corridor of the Twisted Lord) Abyss Dungeon (Hildebrigne, Dream Palace) |
| 302 | Epic | Ancient | 2-Set: When hit while HP is below 20%, restores 3% of Max HP for 15s each time you hit a Normal monster. (Cooldown: 60s) 5-Set: Increases damage by 17% when hitting 3 or more foes. | Abyss Dungeon (Valley of Beasts) Abyss Dungeon (Spirit of the Necromancer) |
| 302 | Epic | Rugged Valley | 2-Set: Move Speed +8% 5-Set: Atk. Power +4% for 8s, up to 12% when attacking a monster Boss ranked or above. (Cooldown: 3s) | Abyss Dungeon (Valley of Beasts) Abyss Dungeon (Spirit of the Necromancer) |
| 302 | Epic | Seraphic Oath | 2-Set: Attack Speed +8% 5-Set: Additional Damage +10% | Abyss Dungeon (Valley of Beasts) Abyss Dungeon (Spirit of the Necromancer) |
| 302 | Epic | Stalwart Years | 2-Set: Attack Speed +8% 5-Set: Additional Damage +10% | Abyss Dungeon (Valley of Beasts) Abyss Dungeon (Spirit of the Necromancer) |
Why not also check out our Lost Ark Glaivier builds, which covers everything you need to know about the class.
