Desperate Salvation Bard Build Guide for Lost Ark
Utilizing magic through the use of music and their harpe, Bard brings an immense amount of supportive actions to the group. Bards offer powerful shields, raw healing, and damage reduction debuffs to ensure a smooth combat experience for their party members, while also providing them strong damage boosts to maximize overall damage output.
Desperate Salvation Bard Overview
The Desperate Salvation build allows for easier healing of
party members, making their mistakes less punishing. Your gear set choice is
very important, and you can use either of the two supportive sets described
below.
Desperate Salvation Bard Strengths and Weaknesses
Good supportive abilities
Strong heals and shields
Requires good positioning
Requires boss mechanics knowledge
Desperate Salvation Bard Gear Sets
For support classes including Bard there are two viable sets, the Destructive set and the Swamp of Yearning set. The remainder of the guide is split between these two options, so ensure you are looking at the right section when picking out information.
- Destructive
- Swamp of Yearning
This is the off-meta set, focusing more on defense. Strengths: It has a lot better survivability, thanks to the Seed of Life (endurance increase) and Life Activation (healing, with double effect at 30% or less hp). With this set, it is important to focus on swiftness for max skill spam and that means more buffs from those skills, improving damage and defense of the party. The Second Wind buff from the set at level 1 starts out small, 2.4% damage increase, but goes up to 24% in 10 seconds and then lasts for 3 more seconds. If it lines up with party members burst, it outperforms builds using the Swamp of Yearning set. Even though you get Serenade Meter slower, thanks to good survivability, you can often use Bubbles for Serenade of Courage and increase the party dps even more.
Weaknesses: This set lacks the synergy (Attack/Move Speed) from Swamp of Yearning and a lot of players might have created their DPS build with that in mind.
This is the meta set and it focuses more on offense. Strengths: It provides the Attack/Move Speed synergy for party members and with good positioning, a more constant dps increase for the party. Thanks to better Serenade Meter gain, some of the skills used with this set are more offensive, offering different gameplay and bit more damage. If your party is good at dodging mechanics, you can use Serenade of Courage more often then with the Destructive set.
Weaknesses: The weakness of this set is the small range where party members can get the synergy buff, even though the buff’s 16 second duration fixes it somewhat. It has no defensive party effects, so the increase in Serenade Meter gain might seem good, but you almost always end up using Bubbles on Serenade of Salvation.
Desperate Salvation Bard Skill Builds
Because Bard is a support class, you only need to have all skills leveled to 10 in order to maximize their purpose. Use excess skill points freely, though it is recommended to go beyond 10 on skills with the highest damage and/or lowest cooldowns.
Destructive Skills
Sound Wave: Low range and low cooldown, good damage reduction buff
and one of the two skills in this build with Stagger. Good to use when close
to the boss, hitting both the boss and party members. Can be exchanged with
Soundholic, if you feel you have enough defensive skills and can
trigger set buffs quickly. For tripods we use:
Rhapsody of Light: Has a high cooldown, very good damage reduction buff
making it the best defensive skills in the kit, Awakening aside. It has Push Immunity
and one of the two skills in this build with Weak Point. It is the best skill to use on
big hits from the boss, after shielding your allies. You need to keep an eye out for your party
positions and try to hit them all with the skill circle. You do not have to
be in the circle yourself to receive the buffs. For tripods we use:
Wind of Music: Gives a good shield and has the best Serenade Meter
gain in this build. It gives a shield only to those party members that get
hit by it and generates Serenade Meter only when the boss gets hit, so best
to try and hit both birds with this skill. For tripods we use:
Sonic Vibration: Has a high cooldown, but is the best damage skill in
this build. Has Stagger and Weak Point and it gives an Attack Power buff and
Push Immunity to party members hit by it. When the skill is placed, it leaves
an area of effect on the ground where party members can receive the buff by
standing in it. Ideally you would place it so both boss and party members get
hit, but if you had to choose a location, always pick party members. The buff
is the same as
Heavenly Tune´s Attack Power buff, but lasts fewer
and does not stack, so best to use it when
Heavenly Tune buff expires.
For tripods we use:
Prelude of Storm: The only stun and Counter skill in this build. It
has a long range and the good cooldown reduction from our Swiftness stat
makes countering a lot easier. For tripods we use:
Heavenly Tune: Provides two times Attack Speed, Attack Power and Mana
Recovery speed. It does not have to hit party members for them to get the
buffs, but they need to be within 24 meters. provides a large damage boost and
should be used as often as possible, unless you know that a burst window is
approaching, in which case you would keep this skill for that time. As tripods
we use:
Note Bundle: Decent damage reduction buff. This is the most important
skill for the build as its multi-hit allows you to proc the sets 20 stack
effect with just two well placed casts, which means that after roughly ten
seconds of combat you would already have all 20 stacks for the set bonus to
be active. Thanks to the skill’s low cooldown and long aftermath, no other
damage received debuff skill is needed. For tripods we use:
Guardian Tune: Gives decent damage reduction in a 24 meter radius and
once it expires, a shield. Because of the shield proc after damage is
received and the long range, using it makes it easy to keep gear set buff
stacks on party members from timing out. For tripods we use:
You can opt for Wind of Protection instead of
Agile Defense, but whether it is useful or not, depends on the
fight.
For our awakening skill we use Symphonia. It gives a full Speciality meter bubble, has stagger, provides a shield to all party members equal to 100% of your Max HP and a big 30% Attak Power debuff on boss, both lasting for 10s. The skill’s range is 12 meters, so you need to position yourself well and try to hit all party members. Use this skill only for defensive reasons or in rare cases, as an extra stagger.
Swamp of Yearning Skills
For this set I recommend replacing Note Bundle and
Sound Wave
with
Sound Shock and
Soundholic
Sound Shock: It has good range and very low cooldown, plus a debuff
on the target which makes it take more damage. The debuff lasts 3 seconds,
so thanks to the skills' very low cooldown and 2 second refresh duration on
the spot it was cast, it has 100% uptime. For tripods we use:
Soundholic: This is the best damage skill in this build and also
the best Serenade Meter gain. Channeling of this skill lasts about two seconds,
but luckily you can simply interrupt it and move, if needed. For tripods we
use:
You can also opt for Melody Increase, instead of
Focus Fire, as it gives better Serenade Meter gain, but doubles
the channel time.
The rest of the skills remain the same as the Destructive set build above.
Desperate Salvation Bard Skill Rotation
As a Bard, there are two skill rotations to keep in mind: The first rotation focuses on providing the maximum DPS increase for your group, and should be used when there is a good damage window during the fight.
The second rotation is to give maximum survivability to the party and yourself and it should be used when there are harsh mechanics that you feel the party will not avoid.
Additionally, If you are using Conviction and
Judgment runes, it adds a third short rotation.
Destructive Skill Rotations
The offensive rotation is: Serenade of Courage -> Note Bundle ->
Heavenly Tune ->
Sonic Vibration.
Serenade of Courage should be used first, as it has a high uptime, 8-16 seconds, depending on the number of bubbles used.
Note Bundle has to be placed, so it would hit the boss and the party
members close to it.
The 10% damage received debuff on boss is very important and it lasts for up to 7 seconds, if boss stays in the aftermath area. Party members who got hit by Node Bundle gain 10 stacks of the Seed of Life set buff quickly and it takes 20 stacks to get the Life Activation and Second Wind damage increase set buff, meaning there is a high chance they get it.
After Note Bundle we use
Heavenly Tune, because it gives 16%
Attack Speed and Attack Power based on the caster´s Attack Power and it buffs
all party members within 24 meters, making it easier to buff everyone.
Sonic Vibration goes last, in case some party member was too far to
get
Heavenly Tune Attack Power buff, so we place it on those party
members. When everyone gets
Heavenly Tune buffs, there is no need to
use
Sonic Vibration, as their Attack Power buffs are the same and do
not stack.
A defensive rotation would look like this: Guardian Tune ->
Note Bundle ->
Wind of Music ->
Rhapsody of Light.
Timing is very important with this rotation and you should always end up
with Rhapsody of Light channelling active, when the big attack hits
that you want to defend against. It takes about 4 seconds to cast all 4
skills, then
Rhapsody of Light channel lasts for 3 seconds and that
is when the big attack should happen.
We start the rotation with Guardian Tune as it lasts the longest, has
24 meter range, gives 30% damage reduction and once that expires, a
20% shield.
Next we use Note Bundle but you can also skip this one if you feel
time is not on your side.
Note Bundle gives a total of 30% damage
reduction and lasts up to 7 seconds.
The third skill, Wind of Music, gives a nice 30% shield, but only lasts
for 4s and party members need to be very close to you. If party members are
too spread out and you are low on casting time, then this should be the
second skill that you can leave aside and not use.
When you only have 2-3 seconds to react, using Wind of Music and then
Rhapsody of Light is ideal, assuming you hit people that need it, with
both skills. You can also use Serenade of Salvation at the start of the
rotation, if party members have lost a lot of HP.
Tip: Sonic Vibration ->
Note Bundle with
Judgment
and
Conviction can have their runes swapped if you are already
used to using the skills the other way around.
Swamp of Yearning Skill Rotations
The offensive rotation is: Serenade of Courage -> Sound Shock ->
Heavenly Tune ->
Sonic Vibration.
Serenade of Courage should be used first, as it has a high uptime,
8-16 seconds, depending on the number of bubbles used. Make sure you hit the
boss with Sound Shock, as the 10% damage received debuff is very
important and it lasts for up to 6 seconds, if the boss stays in the
aftermath area.
Then we use Heavenly Tune, because it gives 16% Attack Speed, Attack
Power based from the caster´s Attack Power and it buffs all party members in
24 meters, making it easier to buff everyone.
Lastly, we can use Sonic Vibration, if some party member was too far
to get
Heavenly Tune buff, so we place it on those party members.
If everyone gets the Heavenly Tune buffs, there is no need to use
Sonic Vibration, as their Attack Power buffs are the same and do
not stack.
A defensive rotation would look like this: Guardian Tune ->
Wind of Music ->
Rhapsody of Light. The same ideas from the
Destructive set rotation apply here as well.
Desperate Salvation Bard Stat Priority
Our main combat stat is Swiftness and with good quality accessories, it should be close to 1700. That amount gives ~36%+ cooldown reduction, also the 29%+ Atk and Move Speed is very useful, making sure you can have an easier time with mechanics and get your skills off in time.
Secondary stat is specialization, around 500 from the necklace plus any bonuses. It is useful for the extra Serenade Meter gain and making Serenade buffs stronger. You can even the stats out more, if you do not like full Swiftness, but then you lose a bit from the pet’s value.
Speaking of the pet, we always have Vitality Training (Max HP) as the defensive pet effect, because some skills give shields and heal based on your Max HP. For the combat stat pet effect we use Improved Swiftness, as you should always have the stat that is the highest, to maximize the 10% increase.
Destructive Gear Set Engravings
We have four main engravings that you should always have:
Heavy Armor level 3 increases your defenses by 100%, making sure that you survive, as otherwise the class can feel squishy.
Awakening level 3 because the awakening skill
Symphonia is a very good defensive skill and also gives Bubbles so the more you can cast it, the better.
Expert level 3 is the bread and butter of the support class as it increases shields and heals you cast, even more when targets are under 50% hp and that is when they need them the most.
Magick Stream level 3 because both the mana recovery and cooldown reduction are vital for the build, so you can spam skills as often as possible.
Optional Engravings
We focus more on mana recovery, as the set bonus benefits from continuous usage of
skills, so as a fifth engraving you can choose
Desperate Salvation at level 1: We use this engraving at
level 1 because most of the time you can heal the party with Life Activation
buff and this extra heal also affects Second Wind, so it should be rare when
you use Serenade of Salvation and not worth going to level 3.
Increased Max MP or
+MP Regen.
These two engravings help with your MP problem that having full uptime on skills
will cause.
Increased Max MP helps more with mana, but
+MP Regen gives you a bit more damage. While you
are a support and should not focus on damage, it is a choice for those who
care about it. You can use either of these engravings at any level.
Drops of Ether helps the party out with random Ether orbs
and while its randomness makes it a questionable engraving, it is still
useful and a DPS increase for your group.
Swamp of Yearning Gear Set Engravings
Heavy Armor level 3 increases your defenses by 100%, making sure that you survive, as otherwise the class can feel squishy.
Awakening level 3 because the awakening skill.
Symphonia is a very good defensive skill and also gives Bubbles so the more you can cast it, the better.
Expert level 3 is the bread and butter of the support class as it increases shields and heals you cast, even more when targets are under 50% hp and that is when they need them the most.
Desperate Salvation level 3: It restores extra HP for party members, depending on your max HP, once Serenade of Salvation has expired. It is not dependent on the used Bubble amount, making 1 Bubble Serenade of Salvations a lot better.
Optional Engravings
Skill spamming is not needed for this set, so running into mana problems is a smaller issue, but can still happen.
Magick Stream can be used at any level.
Increased Max MP
+MP Regen
Drops of Ether helps the party out with random Ether orbs and while its randomness makes it a questionable engraving, it is still useful and a DPS increase for your group.
Destructive Gear Set Runes
Sound Wave:
Overwhelm, for extra stagger. Optional is
Bleed for a bit more damage and a debuff or
Conviction /
Judgment.
Rhapsody of Light:
Protection, this is important for your own safety, as you get fewer damage reduction than the party members and no shield from the skill. This also allows the skill to be used as Push Immunity skill without worrying about your health during cast.
Wind of Music:
Wealth, because this skill has the best Serenade Meter gain in this build.
Sonic Vibration:
Conviction, it can proc with each skill hit, including the aftermath. Optional is to change to
Overwhelm, for strong stagger check mechanics, because this is the strongest stagger skill in this build.
Prelude of Storm:
Galewind, it helps ensure that your counter lands in time.
Heavenly Tune:
Focus, helps with mana problems as this skill consumes the most mana.
Note Bundle:
Judgment, because it can proc with aftermath hits. Optional is to have
Wealth, to help gain more Serenade Meter.
Guardian Tune:
Focus, to help with any mana issues.
Swamp of Yearning Gear Set Runes
Sound Shock:
Judgment, because it can proc with aftermath hits. Optional is to use
Wealth, to help gain more Serenade Meter.
Rhapsody of Light:
Protection rune, this is important for your own safety, as you get a smaller damage reduction buff then party members and no shield from the skill. This also allows the skill to be used as a Push Immunity skill without worrying about your health.
Wind of Music:
Wealth rune, for more Serenade Meter gain.
Sonic Vibration:
Conviction rune, it can proc with each skill hit, including the aftermath. You can change to Overwhelm rune, if there are strong stagger check mechanics.
Soundholic:
Overwhelm rune, for extra stagger. You can use
Wealth rune instead, for more Serenade Meter gain.
Prelude of Storm:
Galewind rune helps to make sure your counter lands in time.
Heavenly Tune:
Focus rune helps with MP consumption as this skill costs the most MP.
Guardian Tune:
Focus rune to help with MP consumption.
Desperate Salvation Bard Gems
As a Bard, we want to use skills as often as possible, so it should not be a surprise that we have cooldown gems for all the eight skills that we use. The last three empty spots go to damage increase gems.
Destructive: Cooldown gems on all eight skills. Damage increase gems for
Sonic Vibration,
Note Bundle and
Prelude of Storm.
Swamp of Yearning: Cooldown gems on all eight skills. Damage increase gems
for Sound Shock,
Sonic Vibration and
Soundholic.
Destructive Gear Tripods
The most important tripods that you should level up are:
Rhapsody of Light -
Quick Prep
Wind of Music -
Quick Prep
Heavenly Tune -
Quick Prep
Prelude of Storm -
Quick Prep
Wind of Music -
Melody Increase
After these, you should level up tripods that affect buffs:
Endurance Wave for
Sound Wave
Shining Protection for
Rhapsody of Light
Wind of Protection for
Wind of Music
Strong Note for
Note Bundle
Endless Protection for
Guardian Tune
After the above are prioritized, you can get the remaining ones at your own pace.
Swamp of Yearning Gear Tripods
The most important tripods that you should level up are:
Sound Shock -
Quick Prep
Rhapsody of Light -
Quick Prep
Wind of Music -
Quick Prep
Heavenly Tune -
Quick Prep
Prelude of Storm -
Quick Prep
Wind of Music -
Melody Increase
Soundholic -
Sustain Enhancement
After these, you should level up tripods that affect buffs:
Shining Protection for
Rhapsody of Light
Wind of Protection for
Wind of Music
Endless Protection for
Guardian Tune
After the above are prioritized, you can get the remaining ones at your own pace.
Desperate Salvation Bard Card Set
The best set of cards is Lostwind Cliff, assuming your party members are
using the
Light of Salvation set and you are fighting dark-based bosses.
However if you are newer to the game or if the content does not require
light type damage, then you can use Field Boss II and/or "Farewell, Weapon" to
increase your Max HP and thus making your shield and heals stronger. Both of
those card sets give Max HP +4% for 2/4/6 cards and can be mixed, if you do
not have a full card set.
Changelog
- 13 Sep. 2022: Guide Added
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This guide has been written by Sywo, a long time player and content creator for Lost Ark. He has been covering the game since 2018 when it first released in the KR region. You can find him on YouTube and Twitter.
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