Loading...
Loading...
Bard
September 16, 2026 at 02:39 PM
Initial version (2026-09-16)
The Bard is the support and utility hybrid of the roster, and the only class whose abilities are songs rather than spells. The official archetype phrase is Fast-Moving Song Twister. Twisting is the whole idea: songs run short, so a Bard cycles between them to keep several effects alive at once instead of casting one thing and waiting.
Field | Detail |
|---|---|
Archetype | Fast-Moving Song Twister |
Roles | Support, Utility |
Playable races | |
Armor and weapons | Earlier class documentation, written before the 2026 rework began, describes Bards as wearing chain armor and wielding nearly all weapons, instruments, and alcohol filled flagons. |
Rework status | No detailed rework published as of September 16 2026. The class page describes intended direction only |
A Bard has broad access to most spell types, covering buffs, debuffs, crowd control, damage over time and regeneration, but reaches each of them shallowly rather than competing with the specialist who owns it. The class trades depth for coverage.
Property of songs | Detail |
|---|---|
Group auras | Songs function as group auras that affect all allies in range, so positioning matters more than targeting. |
Short duration | Songs run short and rely on twisting to maintain several effects at the same time. |
No mana cost | Songs typically have no mana cost and can be used while moving. |
Instrument families | Brass, string, wind and percussion each give category-specific bonuses, and some songs require a specific instrument. |
Charm | A Bard can temporarily charm enemies as crowd control, but not reliably enough to serve as a rotation option. |
The older class writeup adds that bardic magic is diverse in its origins and capabilities, and that time spent in taverns leaves most Bards decent melee combatants and capable at roguish skills. That framing is what separates a Bard from the Enchanter, which is the roster's dedicated crowd control specialist, and from the Shaman, which owns the strongest physical buff suite.
The Bard is open to Dwarf, Halfling, Human and Wood Elf, one of the shorter race lists in the roster.
Every race on that list is in the set playable when the game enters Early Access on October 1 2026.
As of September 16 2026 the developers have not published a detailed ability rework for the Bard. Thirteen of the eighteen classes had received one by that date, and the Bard is one of the five that had not, alongside the Enchanter, Necromancer, Ranger and Shadow Knight. What follows is stated intent from the class page, not a description of abilities that exist on the beta servers.
Direction | Stated intent |
|---|---|
More song depth | A deeper song list, including a larger damage offering than the class currently has. |
Instruments | Instruments are to become a normal part of play rather than an optional extra. |
Social songs | Social and non-combat songs are planned as part of the class identity. |
Less charm | Charm is to be reduced as a sustained playstyle, in line with the roster-wide reduction of crowd control overlap. |
That last point connects to a problem the team has named across the whole roster: too many classes with pets, and too many crowd control options. The Bard's charm is one of the overlapping options being narrowed. See Classes for the roster-wide picture.
The Bard is not one of the seven true caster classes, so it does not receive cantrips and does not keep a memorised spell through death. That makes spellbook recovery after a death a live concern, since the spellbook is an equipped item and drops with the rest of your gear. See Death Penalty.
Songs are visible to other classes as a distinct effect type: the Wizard Purge removes one beneficial effect and one song, which is the clearest confirmation that songs are tracked separately from buffs. Because songs are auras with a radius, a Bard is most useful in a tight group, which suits the game's focus on single group play. See Combat for the underlying combat rules and Experience and Leveling for the level spread rules that govern who you can group with.
