Hello and Welcome to my guide! First off, a bit about myself. I am a Mastery 7 Bard Main. I was a former support and one day I wanted to try AD Bard. At first I was just messing around and having fun until I noticed my damage. My damage output was extremely high considering Bard's more popular role was support. I experimented a bit more with the build and ended up making this guide! I wanted to share this guide with everyone as I enjoy it very much and think it is very fun to one shot enemies as a "support". Now, this is not some secret OP strategy and it takes time to master and perfect. If you are, however, interested in trying AD Bard, I highly recommend looking into this guide.

Traveler's Call ~ Passive: Chimes spawn randomly around the rift and are shown with icons on the minimap. Collecting these chimes grants Bard movement speed stacking up to 5 times for a total of 80% movement speed, experience, and 12% of his maximum mana. For every 5 chimes collected Bard will empower his Meeps. Meeps spawn at Bard's side up to a maximum of 9 at a time scaling with chimes, these meeps empower Bard's auto attacks. The more chimes collected, the more they are empowered.

---

Cosmic Binding ~ Q: Bard shoots a skillshot in a line. If it collides with an enemy, it will deal magic damage, slow them for 60%, and continue travelling forward. If the skillshot collides with another enemy or a wall, it will instead stun the target(s) for a small duration.

---

Caretaker's Shrine ~ W: Bard places down a small pad. The pad charges, gaining power for up to 10 seconds. If Bard or an ally step onto the pad, they will be healed (depending on how long the pad was charged) and granted a small amount of movement speed. The pad's are destroyed if an enemy walks over them.

---

Magical Journey ~ E: Bard creates a one-way portal on a target wall. The portal leads to the other side of the wall. All Champions are allowed to go through it, but allies travel 33% faster than enemies.

---

Tempered Fate ~ R: After a short delay, Bard puts all units (champions, minions, turrets, etc.) in a target area into stasis for 2.5 seconds. These units are untargetable, invulnurable, and unable to perform any action.

Pros + High Burst Damage + High Mobility + Game Changing Ultimate + Easy to get picks + Lots of Slows + 1 item power-spike

Cons - Squishy - Weak Early Game - Bad if you fall behind. - Team thinks you're trolling - Worse heals than Support Bard - Prone to CC

Playing AD Bard is an enjoyable experience. The high mobility built into his kit along with the insane amount of damage you do to enemies work well together. Being able to save teammates or engage a teamfight with your R Tempered Fate is extremely satisfying and fun to do. You should also play AD Bard if you want to surprise enemies with your damage and bait them in for free kills. Although this build might not be the strongest or best Bard build, it is worth trying out if you want to have some fun.

Electrocute is the best keystone to take on AD Bard. The extra damage helps a ton with his early game as well as his burst mid game. This rune also works very well with Bard because of his meeps. Since they count as an ability, they contribute to the 3 attacks needed to proc electrocute. This means that 1 meep auto counts as 2 attacks for electrocute. I would highly recommend taking Electrocute in every game.

---

---

---

---

There are two choices for secondary runes, the first one is Sorcery. I recommend taking Sorcery against enemy champions that will look to get on top of you. Great for survivability and slipperiness.

---

---

---

The next secondary rune choice is Precision. I recommend taking Precision when you want a bit more damage in the late game teamfights and won't need to kite too much. Great for DPS and Teamfights.

---

---

Flash is a great summoner spell to have on many champions and Bard is no exception. I take this spell in every game and I highly recommend you do so as well.

---

Ignite is another great summoner spell to take on Bard. I take this in almost every game as it allows for easier picks to help snowball.

---

Teleport works well on Bard because of his roaming potential. You could clear a wave top, roam bot for a kill, then teleport back top to catch a wave. Although I do not recommend taking this over Ignite because of Bard's mobility, it is an option if you think you will roam frequently.

---

I take Exhaust very rarely on AD Bard. You should only take Exhaust against a difficult matchup, such as Sett or Nocturne, or against a team full of assassins that will look to kill you in teamfights.

Blade of the Ruined King is a great item on AD Bard. The attack damage, attack speed, and active slow work great with his kit and help you chase down your targets. I highly recommend building this first in EVERY game as it is one of your biggest powerspikes.

---

Statikk Shiv is my next item on AD Bard. The attack speed and crit give you more damage per second and allow you to carry mid-game teamfights with ease. I recommend building this item second unless you need a Phantom Dancer instead.

---

Bard has a few options for boots. The first is Berserker's Greaves. I recommend building these boots when you are ahead as they increase your damage, allowing you to snowball.

---

Ninja Tabi is the next option for boots. Build these when you are against an AD brawler, such as Tryndamere or Sett.

---

Only build Mercury's Treads on Bard if most of the opponents deal magic damage, have a large amount of CC, or both.

---

I rarely build Mobility Boots on AD Bard. I only recommend building these if you are in a bad matchup and your team is winning. This will allow you to help your team snowball as well as help you get a lead by roaming.

---

For your third item, (Not Including Boots), you have two options. The first option, and a personal favorite, is Infinity Edge. I build this as my third item almost every game. I like the extra damage and crit Infinity Edge gives. This allows for AD Bard to have a much higher damage output. If you would rather trade damage for cooldown reduction, Essence Reaver would be a better choice.

---

The second choice for your third item is Essence Reaver. While this item gives less damage than Infinity Edge, it makes up for that with the 20% cooldown reduction it gives. I recommend taking this over Infinity Edge if you need to use your Q Cosmic Binding in fights more.

---

For his last two items, Bard has a couple options. One that I usually build is Black Cleaver. This item gives me the cooldown reduction I lack from Infinity Edge while also giving me extra health for more survivability.

---

If you already have cooldown reduction from Essence Reaver, or if the opponents have many tanks and or healers, I recommend building Mortal Reminder. This item helps Bard kill tanks significantly faster and prevents the healers from staying alive or keeping the enemy carries alive.

---

AD Bard benefits greatly from this item as it helps him survive an assassin's burst. This will allow Bard to do more damage for a longer period of time. If you went Phantom Dancer as your second item, you can build Statikk Shiv or Rapid Firecannon here.

---

Rapid Firecannon allows Bard to slow people from a farther distance. Rapid Firecannon also gives Bard 25% more crit. I recommend building this item if you want to catch out or chase enemies with your teammates.

---

Another option for your last item is Guardian Angel. This item allows you to revive in the same spot as you died in. This item is especially good into assassins who will look to pick you out, as they will only proc your Guardian Angel allowing you to continue doing damage.

In lane, AD Bard's main trading tool is Q Cosmic Binding along with an auto attack with meep. This combo will proc electrocute and is very important during laning phase. You will want to rush Bilgewater Cutlass as the item is essential for killing your opponent. Most of the time, you will want to play safe in lane so you do not fall behind later. Look for good roam opportunities to help get a lead and collect your chimes while roaming or walking back to lane. After you finish Blade of the Ruined King you will hit a big powerspike and be able to fight opponents if you did not fall behind. Look for Q Cosmic Binding stuns to get free autos and follow up with the active slow from Blade of the Ruined King to stick to your target. If you have a jungler with CC, their ganks will work very well with your kit and almost always secure a kill. AD Bard has weak early game damage and is very squishy. Because of this, you will want to play extremely safe into bad match-ups and look for roam opportunities. If you were able to stay equal or even get ahead of your opponent, you will be able to scale and deal insane damage mid-game.

If you did not fall behind early, you should have good damage output and be able to one shot enemy squishies. At this point, you want to look for picks with your R Tempered Fate or while running around collecting chimes. If you have decent teammates, you can also use your ultimate Tempered Fate to catch out of position carries and kill them. In teamfights, you want to look to kill the enemy squishies as you do alot of burst damage.

As AD Bard, you want to position like an ADC in teamfights. You want to make sure you will not get caught out and you want to look for a good ultimate to help your team engage on the enemy carries. You want to focus the carries first as you do not have much health. You will be able to shred bruisers as long as you stay in a good position where you will not die.

Thank you for reading my guide! I hope you try it out and if you do I hope you enjoy it! If you have any questions or ideas, leave a comment and I will try to respond to all of them. If you enjoyed the guide, leave a like as it motivates me to continue updating it.