Hello, I am RangoFan2011 and I have 300k mastery points on bard. I like the champ quite a bit and I think making a guide would help me and many others help understand the champ even more. Anyway, I'm gonna dive straight in.

LANING
Before bard gets 15 chimes, he's a caster minion with an 11 second cooldown slow/stun. So, you have to be able to make the most of it. Most of the time, you will need to give level 2 prio. The only exception is if you have a high kill pressure partner, like draven or tristana. However, the main goal is to make it to level 3 without too much trouble. Be mindful of minion wave states when walking up to Q or AA poke for item gold or fleet footwork proc. Once you get E, you can play more aggresively and have an easy escape option when their team ganks. Alternatively, you can provide portals for your team that might need them for ganks, such as kha'zix, sej, bel'veth, and others. Overall you do not want to make repeated disadvantegous trades.

ROAMNIG
Bard is notorious for disappearing 10 minutes into the game. YES, you need the mana, exp, and damage that comes from roaming for chimes. You also need the XP and gold that comes from laning, wether it be poking enemy champs or executing minions. Communicate with your laner to determine when to shove and to find the best times to leave for chimes and potentially make plays around the map. The goal is to make sure your back timer isn't offset to your carry. Knowing when to play in and out of lane is key to making the most out of laning phase and winning your games. Also keep an eye out for your jungler's pathing. You don't want to be away from lane when your jungler is botside, since you'll miss an opportunity for a gank.

OBJECTIVES
Objectives and teamfights are where bard becomes a real threat. Q stuns are made much easier in the jungle due to the narrow and rigid terrain. A well-timed ult can be an excellent engage or escape option. Generally, you do not want to ult your teammates unless you know their cooldowns, otherwise you're baiting them. You can also guarantee a Q stun if you ult two enemies next to eachother (and have perfect timing). Also, your ult stops herald charge damage if you ult the tower, but you need to time it so that if there is a pilot they can't turn away and hit another tower.