Mordeus.1234

I just can't get my head around the utility flipping thing. It's so easy to lose track of what's going on and feels like an unnecessary addition on top of everything else. Not to mention that it encourages you to go dps/healer hybrid to make use of it all. I was hoping to be able to go strictly Archemorus/Shiro or Viktor/Ventari but instead it feels like playing a more chaotic Weaver. I really don't understand why it can't be a simple legend swap via the F2.

I'm pretty happy with most of the Revenant trait lines. However the Salvation one needs some reworking, especially when the Viktor skills coming into play. It's too rigid in it's role in boosting heal effectiveness and supporting Ventari, instead it need to be more versatile like the Elementalist's Water or the Ranger's Druid trait line. The requisite minor trait Serene Rejuvenation needs to have that alacrity boost moved to an optional major trait since it only applies when using Ventari, so it shouldn't be a universal trait thing. Instead the alacrity boosting effect should be moved to Generous Abundance, the major trait that spawns healing orbs when using a legend skill. Tranquil Balance needs to be merged with Serene Rejuvenation (once the alacrity is moved) so it becomes one heal power boost trait with a further boost when above the health threshold. There's just too many traits that boost heal power which is rather unimaginative. At the moment there are 5 traits which do that. Tranquil Balance could then be a trait that reduces the duration of damaging conditions like poison, burn & bleeding but probably not the mental themed ones like Torment or Confusion. Words of Censure doesn't really live up to its name. Instead of spawning healing orbs when doing crowd control, it should instead inflict a condition like slow or increase the cooldown of an enemy's skill. Also the Retribution trait Planar Protection which creates the projectile shield when using a heal skill, is incredibly counterintuitive with the Glint heal skill Infuse Light as it interferes with the damage absorb effect. Not sure what to do about that other than change the activation requirement to a threshold or elite skill activation.

I'd pick Razah and have his utilities each be based on an Eye of the North character that he learnt from. Like an Ogden's Wisdom skill for healing, Jora's Strength for elite, Gwen's Kindness for stunbreak, etc... The other two could be Pyre Fierceshot for a ranged attack & Vekk for an Aoe attack which would also round of the GW1 races. His profession mechanic would be a F2-F4 skillbar that has long range skills that change depending on the Legend you swap out from. So you could swap out of Ventari, while still gaining some healing ability, or swap out of Jalis while keeping some protecting skills. Visually you'd get a mist cloud that circles around the player like the mist aura Revenants get on the arms. The cloud would be the representation of the Legend you swap out of. With it transforming into a illusionary visions of the swapped out Legend when activating a F2-4 skill like Ventari stampeding or Mallyx devouring. Razah is the ultimate mimic, so his profession would be about mimicking others, even his fellow legends. I'd probably called the profession the Demiurge referencing his mist-shaping ability and demigod creator archetype. The equipment piece would be his GW1 hood and the profession icon would be the 5 pointed sun emblem of his. The weapon would be the focus which represents a vessel that carries mist energy with skills about absorbing and releasing it.

I've redone the illustration with ideas discussed above. I've switched the concept art blades to glass shards as I feel they are a little more versatile in appearance and link to the existing Mesmer aesthetic.

An Attunement mechanic is added before access to the Bladesong shatters. Similar to how the Tempest's Overloads appear when you attune to their specific element. However instead of the Elementalist Attunements acting like a weapon swap in function and lengthy cooldown. This one alters the ordering or formation of the Virtuoso Blades. Which gives some visual diversity to how the Blades appear while granting different defensive states designed to counter specific playstyles. Functionally it would be like attuning between different Herald's Facets or Signet skills, where you get a passive effect (attunement) and then an active one (bladesong). The Attunement cooldown wouldn't be like the Elementalist 10 seconds, and would be more like half of a second to avoid skill spamming. I guess it is a kind of weapon swap visually, since they also go from Missiles to something like a Shield in their formations. Thematically the Attunements work as the Virtuoso shifting through different mindsets or paradigms. Or it could be seen as the Virtuoso tuning themselves to a different sound before activating their Bladesong. The existing Bladesong types of Harmony, Sorrow, Dissonance & Requiem work well because not only do they represent different sounds, they are also linked to a specific emotion or feeling. So the way the Blades exist should reflect these different 'feelings' when summoned, so Harmony has them feeling lightweight and in the air, while Sorrow has them move slower and to the ground, while Dissonance would have them a little chaotic and erratic. I agree that the literal daggers are a little strange, especially how they don't move with the player. I prefer the organic look of something like the Shiro Revenant healing skill where they are more like shards that float. Maybe turning them into something like mirror shards would work, especially since it would tie the Virtuoso to past Mesmer aesthetics. If they also have irregular faceting then they'd pick up environmental lighting too.

https://i.imgur.com/nYhHzcW.png Overall I like the Virtuoso, however visually the stocked blades are too static. I feel like they could be reordered into different formations via an Attunement mechanic. Basically you'd Attune between 4 different states. Each state would cause the Virtuoso blades to appear in different formations around the player. When in a specific Attunement you'd gain access to their corresponding Bladesong. Similar to how Tempest Overloads are accessed, just without the weapon swap cooldown. Each Attunement would grant the Virtuoso different passive effects that aid in countering different playstyles. Moving between them would be necessary depending on the battle situation. Either the effect's interval or strength would be increased depending on how many blades are stocked. Thematically this would work well with the Elite Specialization's musical concept. As you'd need to "Attune" before activating a "Bladesong". The existing musical states of Harmony, Sorrow, Dissonance & Requiem work as different paradigms that the Mesmer goes through during battle.