Why is Bard disabled in LoL? Game-crashing bug explained

Nicholas James Published 23/04/2022

Riot Games has Bard disabled in League of Legends due to a bug that can crash all 10 players’ games and make the match end.

Riot Games had no choice but to have cosmic wanderer Bard disabled due to a game-breaking bug that caused the entire match to end, disappearing into the void of the internet. The issue cropped up with Bard’s terrain traversal, Magical Journey, which creates a shortcut through the terrain, and player-created terrains including Anivia’s wall and Trundle’s pillar.

Bard disabled due to portal bug

The issue boiled down to somebody using Bard’s portal being displaced by player-created terrain and getting stuck between that terrain and another hitbox. If the placement was just right, the person traveling through the portal would be stuck, spinning rapidly in place between the two pieces of terrain. This causes the game to bug out, resulting in a crash for all 10 players that leads to the lobby being closed.

Content creator and praised bug-finder Vandiril was one of the first to note the interaction. This wasn’t a bug that only occurred in very specific circumstances, as it could be easily recreated. As a result, Riot had no choice but to fully disable Bard in all queues, from ARAM to ranked play. Afterward, it would not appear in players’ match histories.

Bard’s Magical Journey is no stranger to unintended interactions. Some have pushed players into out-of-bounds areas. A forced crash is something else entirely, though. The bug has seemingly been fixed, but it certainly won’t be the last time that Bard is the cause of a bug.

Nicholas James

About Nicholas James

Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.

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