Desperate Salvation Bard Guide for Lost Ark

If you're looking for further information on the Desperate Salvation build for Bard, the following links will provide that for you.

Strengths

• Well rounded supportive abilities
• Strong burst healing and shields

Weaknesses

• Requires good positioning
• Requires boss mechanics knowledge
• Squishy and may require Heavy Armor

The general playstyle of a Bard consists of generating meter so that they can use one of two different identity Serenades. Serenade of Courage will be used to increase the damage dealt by your party for a limited duration. Serenade of Salvation will be used to heal any members of the party within the ground AoE that it leaves over a limited duration. Each of these Serenades can be played a varying levels of effectiveness depending on how much meter has been generated. In all, a Bard can play a Serenade at either a 1, 2, or 3 bar potentcy. The number of bars consumed from their identity gauge will simply make them more powerful and last longer. For example, Serenade of Courage will grant a 5%, 10%, or 15% damage buff for 8, 12, or 16 seconds. Serenade of Salvation will heal for 4%, 6%, or 8% of the Bard's max health for a total of 8, 12, or 16 times, and it will last for 14, 18, or 24 seconds. The nuance of mastering a Bard is understanding how to best spend your meter and which Serenades are necessary at the given moment within a fight.

The Bard's skills will primarily be used to buff party members. Its offensive buff capabilities include skills like Heavenly Tune that increase attack power and attack speed. Also, Bards will also be tasked with ensuring a Boss is branded-- they have many abilities that will brand the target, for example-- Sound Shock or Harp of Rhythm, to ensure that a Boss is taking increased damage nearly 100% of the time. Additionally, Bards will have diverse defensive offerings. Skills like Rhapsody of Light will reduce incoming damage for party members. Then anyone who has taken damage can be healed by a Bard's Serenade of Salvation.

Just like other supports, a Bard has an array of utility options. The difference is that Bards can be more intricate and complex, resulting in a higher skill ceiling for endgame group play.

There are two primary attack damage buffs that need to be maintained-- Heavenly Tune and Sonic Vibration. These buffs will not overlap. Since Heavenly Tune is stronger, it should be prioritized and used first, once its duration is over it will be followed with Sonic Vibration. Be mindful of Sonic Vibration as allies will need to be within its AoE radius to receive the initial effect.

Guardian Tune and Rhapsody of Light are your main damage reduction options. Do you best to save these for times of need, or when you know an ally is positioning poorly. It is best to use them to counteract incoming Boss damage in order to proactively mitigate damage. These types of abilities emphasize the importance of understanding a fight.

The Brand abilities that are commonly used are Sound Shock and Harp of Rhythm. Sound Shock is a low cooldown ability that can be weaved frequently and its tripods will result in the application of a debuff on the target that makes them take increased damage. Harp of Rhythm will be casted and shoot the target on its own, ensuring maximum Brand uptime. There are times where you can flex into Sonatina to maintain a Brand debuff as well. Regardless of how you apply this debuff it is crucial to have as close to 100% uptime as possible.

The difference between a good Bard and a bad Bard is how effectively they can generate their meter gauges. The primary abilities that are used for meter generation are Prelude of Storm, Wind of Music, Stigma, and Harp of Rhythm. It is of the utmost importance to make sure that you are hitting the target with these abilities on cooldown to ensure more frequent usage of Serenade of Courage and Serenade of Salvation. Be mindful of Wind of Music. While you do want to hit the target with this ability, make sure that you are also able to apply the shield buff to your allies as well.

The primary difference between Swiftness and Specialization Bards comes down to the use of Serenade of Salvation and Serenade of Courage. Swiftness Bards will have more cooldown reduction and have more defensive capabilities with more overall buff uptime. They will take advantage of windows in which Serenade of Salvation can be used to heal allies. As a Specialization Bard, you will almost always exclusively using Serenade of Courage to increase damage. Stacking Specialization will allow you to apply more potent damage buffs to your allies. As such, you will have less uptime on buffs that derive from your skills, but in return you will offer massive damage windows to support your team. The only time a Specialization Bard uses a heal is when it is desperately needed, and they try to commit the least amount of meter possible.

1. Use Heavenly Tune to increase group damage.
2. Use Sound Shock to brand the target.
3. Use Prelude of Storm for meter regeneration.
4. Use Harp of Rhythm for meter regeneration and Brand maintenance.
5. Use Wind of Music for meter regeneration.
6. Use Guardian Tune or Rhapsody of Light if damage reduction is needed or as filler.
7. Use Sonic Vibration after the first attack power buff expires.
8. Use Symphonia during damage buff windows when necessary, or if large shields are needed.

1. Use Serenade of Courage if available.
2. Use Heavenly Tune to increase group damage.
3. Use Harp of Rhythm to brand the target.
4. Use Stigma for meter regeneration.
5. Use Prelude of Storm for meter regeneration.
6. Use Wind of Music for meter regeneration.
7. Use Sonic Vibration after the first attack power buff expires.
8. Use Guardian Tune or Rhapsody of Light only for proactive damage mitigation.
9. Use Symphonia during damage buff windows when necessary, or if large shields are needed.