The Bard is one of the mostly technically demanding classes in Rogue Legacy 2. Its gameplay is unlike anything else in Rogue Legacy 2, granting a new lease of life to potentially undervalued mechanics, and throwing in a new talent and weapons to boot. In mastering the Bard, you’ll come to appreciate its tricky yet engaging gameplay, as well as gain mastery over aspects of crowd control and ranged combat that are wholly unique to this class.
The Bard is also one of the final classes that you will unlock in Rogue Legacy 2, requiring a much more upgraded castle than most other class options. The option to unlock the Bard will likely come after you have become well acquainted with most other gameplay styles in Rogue Legacy 2. Rather than flounder trying to learn a new skillset on your own, let us get you up to speed with our Rogue Legacy 2 class guide. Soon, you’ll feel as comfortable with the Bard as anything Rogue Legacy 2 has to offer.
Rogue Legacy 2 Bard Weapon
In Rogue Legacy 2, the Bard’s main weapon is the Lute. While not so much a magic-focused class as they are a strange ranged hybrid, the lite nonetheless functions something like a cross between the Mage’s Wand of Blasting and the Astromancer’s Celestial Sceptre.
When the Lute is used, it sends out a circular musical note projectile a short distance in front of the bard. When the projectile stops moving, it sticks around as a persistent hazard for enemies, dealing damage in a small area.
As befitting a bard, there is also an element of rhythm gameplay and timing used in making the most of the lute. The notes produced by the lite are active for three seconds before they fade. But in the last second they are active, they transform into golden notes and their damage becomes automatic skill crits. As a result, it is best to keep your enemies within range of the Lute’s notes for their full duration, in order to maximise your damage output. Only three notes can be active at any one time, so it is best to ensure that you are getting the effects of your existing notes’ skill crits before deploying more of them.
But this passive area damage isn’t all that the notes are good for. When a Bard performs a spin kick on a note they have summoned, an explosion will radiate outwards, damaging enemies in a large area. This explosion deals significantly more damage than the notes by themselves, and as such spin kicks are required to really play the bard effectively. And what’s more, spin kicking a golden note causes the subsequent explosion to also be a skill crit!
This style of gameplay definitely takes some getting used to, but with enough practise, the Bard is able to do huge damage over a wide area, gaining excellent crowd-control capabilities.
Rogue Legacy 2 Bard Talent
The Bard’s class talent is Crescendo, and it is one of the most potent projectile-cancelling abilities in the game, second perhaps only to the Valkyrie’s Deflect.
When Crescendo is activated, a large shockwave bursts outwards from the Bard’s Lute. Though somewhat similar in appearance to the spin kick shockwaves the Bard generates, Crescendo has a wholly different purpose, on top of simply dealing damage. Any medium-sized projectile that is hit by Crescendo’s shockwave will be instantly transformed into a rose, halting in place. Roses are similar objects to notes, but they do not constantly emit damage. However, they can still be spin-kicked and detonates in the same manner as a regular note. And to make up for their lack of passive damage, the three notes at a time limit does not apply to roses! As such, Crescendo can allow you to convert a shockwave of dangerous projectiles into deadly traps for your enemies, just waiting to be detonated at your leisure.
Though Crescendo is an exceptionally useful ability, it is best to be careful with its timing. The talent comes with a cooldown of 12 seconds, longer than most talents in Rogue Legacy 2. But with proper usage, you’ll hardly notice this downside.
Bard Class Passive
Performer is the Bard’s class passive in Rogue Legacy 2. And as opposed to many classes’ simple across-the-board stat boosts, Performer is a more intricate ability that will take time to master.
Performer grants the Bard’s spin kicks a secondary ability. Each successful spin kick on an enemy applied a stack of the Dance status. Each stack of Dance increases the damage of all of the Bard’s attacks, abilities and spells by 15%. Up to five stacks of Dance can be applied to an enemy, granting an incredible 75% damage increase at max! On top of this, the explosions caused by spin kicking notes also apply a single stack of Dance to any enemy caught in the blast.
There is a necessary drawback to Performer however, as all stacks of Dance are instantly removed as soon as the Bard touches the ground.
With both the Dance status and the ability to detonate notes, you’ll hardly be spending any time on the ground when playing as a Bard. Once you’ve fully grasped the class’s unique mechanics, you’ll be springing around the screen like a musical Mario.
Bard Secondary Class
Once the Electric Lute has been obtained from the Soul Shop, you have the option of converting your bards into Rock Stars in Rogue Legacy 2. Most unlockable classes in the game offer an increase in complexity when compared to the base class. But in an interesting inversion, the Rock Star’s gameplay is much more streamlined than the Bard’s
Rock stars don’t have to worry about generating and detonating notes. Their Electric Lute is a much more straightforward ranged weapon, dealing instant damage a short distance ahead of the Rock Star. In addition, Spin Kicking an enemy results in the Rock Star gaining the Charged status briefly, ensuring that their next attack is a Skill Crit. If you like the style of the Bard but are put off by the complexities of their gameplay, you might well have an easier and better time with the Rock Star.
That does it for our Rogue Legacy 2 Bard class guide. For more Rogue Legacy 2 content, including further in-depth guides to classes, bosses, relics and biomes, be sure to check out our Rogue Legacy 2 hub!
