pitchBLACK.5479

So before I jump into my thoughts and feedback with the class, I want to point out that I’m by no means a hardcore Raider/PvPer/WvWer, etc. I’ve played through from the start of GW1 and GW2 and enjoy playing all the different kinds of content at a more casual pace. Therefore numbers, min/maxing, having alacrity here, or might there isn’t my angle. My feedback is from the perspective of: “Is this class fun to play”, so if things feel off, or janky, or not right with the class playstyle or targeted thematic’s, that’s where I like to place opinions. From the previous beta, I don’t feel like a lot has changed outside a few bug fixes and minor changes (understandable given the time frame), so my feedback below is more or less like a broken record/the same as before. Which is this: · Well of Tears - it does basically no damage, yet from what I can tell it's a pure damage skill outside of traits giving it alacrity? The only tears here are mine when using it and having it do basically nothing. · Scepter skill 1 and 2 feel basically the same. 2 is just a bigger bolt than 1 with weakness instead of torment · Scepter skill 3 feels very lack lustre on Scepter/Dagger · Shroud skill 1 feels too slow and un-impactful · Shroud skill 2 (Grasping Shadows) feels weak. this could have a bigger explosion effect and an instant cast to keep with the fluidity of Thief. The sound effect needs more impact I feel, maybe use a similar one to shroud 3’s payoff? · Shroud skill 4 is ok, it’s a bit weak (should have more punch like revenant’s glint swipe/burst of strength, which it seems to basically be a replica of) · Siphon feels very lacklustre and seems to be the only real good way of getting shroud back? spending initiative gives very little shroud. Siphon seems bugged while under water? · Underwater versions of shroud skills seem buggy? Skill 1 has an odd cast animation and is even slow than the land version? Suggestions: · Change Siphon to allow for tethering with 3-5 allies, or 3-5 enemies. If tethered to allies, it gives boons, barrier and healing depending on skill use. If tethered to enemies, give them conditions, or take tick damage, depending on skills used. Have the tether be time based and slowly generate shroud while tethered (up the cooldown here). o Have it be an ammo skill, so you need to designate 3-5 targets as you go. With it only lasting X amount of time. o Other Steal/Siphon traits could still work here, just add their boons, conditions to the tethered targets (maybe at a reduced amount if it’s a strong boon/condition) · Update shroud skills to be Ally/Enemy based like scepter. Skill 1 could work like scepter 1, skill 2 could heal/boon allies, and damage/condition enemies in its effect area, 3 could do something similar to 2 with the leap to the target/ally, 4 and 5 not to sure, could not use that mechanic, or have aoe style effects · I think scepter skills need an update to be more unique between 1 and 2 (perhaps an AOE on scepter 2?). 3 needs to be stronger on Scepter/Dagger, or changed up in some way. Not sure how much of the above will be taken into consideration, but hopefully some! As I think this elite could very well be one of the best elites thus far! Base potential is there, just needs some work! Keep up the great work ANET!

So before I jump into my thoughts and feedback with the class, I want to point out that I’m by no means a hardcore Raider/PvPer/WvWer, etc. I’ve played through from the start of GW1 and GW2 and enjoy playing all the different kinds of content at a more casual pace. Therefore numbers, min/maxing, having alacrity here, or might there isn’t my angle. My feedback is from the perspective of: “Is this class fun to play”, so if things feel off, or janky, or not right with the class playstyle or targeted thematic’s, that’s where I like to place opinions. The changes made to the vindicator make it so much more enjoyable to play compared to the last beta. Not being locked into the forced skill swap of the legendary alliance stance have transformed how this class feels to play! You can make the conscious choice of offense or support, it’s great! I honestly don’t have many bad things to say about the state of the Vindicator now, it’s tonnes of fun. However, the few comments I do have are as follows: Dodge It sometimes bugs out for me when I use it… when it does, my character leaps about 3ft into the air and hovers near the target and then slams down? It’s very rarely done this, but something to mention. Class “F” skills Outside of the new legendary alliance stance legend and the dodge change, there really isn’t much that differentiates the “elite specialization” aspect of the class. The F3 just locks in whether you want Archemorus or Saint Viktor utilities (cool), but if you’re not using that legend, then this F skill has no use… albeit I think it does need to stay for this purpose. Where is really breaks down is the F2 (Energy Meld), It’s just “push a button” and get endurance… oh yay! It has no play to it at all and is quite boring. What I think could be really cool here is playing on that duality of the legendary alliance in tandem with the new dodge, I propose to add an additional F skill and completely change energy meld. Have 1 F skill be Archemorus focused and the other F skill be Saint Viktor focused. Maybe the Archemorus focused F skill could provide offensive boons on use to the vindicator and then if the dodge is used within say 5 seconds it does additional damage, and/or gives AOE offensive boons when it lands. Then with the Saint Viktor F skill it could give supportive boons to the Vindicator and if the dodge is used within the 5 second period, it provides healing/barrier when it lands, and/or give AOE defensive boons. Having this change would mean that if you opted not to use the legendary alliance stance, there is a more unique reason to choosing this elite spec. Greatsword Feels great, don’t change its functionality! Archemorus side of legendary alliance All the skills for this side of the stance feel great, except the elite. The Spear of Archemorus skill feels slow and somewhat un-rewarding outside of PvP to use. If it’s to have this long wind up before it throws the spear, might be cool to have a small AOE where it hits, or leave a trail of fire behind it or something. Either that or reduce the time it takes to throw the spear by a little. Saint Viktor side of legendary alliance Same as Archemourus, most of these feel good. I think the Urn of Saint Viktor has a tooltip bug? It states you take damage, yet the description has +1% Damage… which makes it sound like you get additional damage with your attacks? Maybe it should be “1% Self Damage per second” Traits Given my suggestion for additional F abilities/changes, I think the traits may need some tweaking to work with this. The 3 elites are great and should remain, as they change the dynamic of what the dodge does which is great. The Minor and Major however might need some number tweaking and potentially slight updates to not make having new F skills to over powering… maybe this is where additional endurance gain on using the 2 new proposed F abilities could be? Overall, this class is shaping up to be my favorite of the new set of elites at the moment! With some small updates, I think it could be one of the best in general! Keep up the great work ANET!

So before I jump into my thoughts and feedback with the class, I want to point out that I’m by no means a hardcore Raider/PvPer/WvWer, etc. I’ve played through from the start of GW1 and GW2 and enjoy playing all the different kinds of content at a more casual pace. Therefore numbers, min/maxing, having alacrity here, or might there isn’t my angle. My feedback is from the perspective of: “Is this class fun to play”, so if things feel off, or janky, or not right with the class playstyle or targeted thematic’s, that’s where I like to place opinions. I have to say that compared to the previous beta, the Willbender feels significantly more enjoyable to play. None of the janky locking yourself into certain actions are there now and it hits harder than before as well. I do think it can still feel a bit clunky, but am confident those things will be tuned before release/with time. As such my feedback below is what I feel could be improved upon to make the class overall feel really good/better. Sword Executioners calling (sword 4) – skill usage is fine, but the sound effect really doesn’t fit. It sounds very odd compared to the rest of the classes thematic’s, especially the 2nd follow up double hit. Advancing strike (sword 5) – Skill states a shadow step, but that doesn’t seem to happen? Am I just not using it right? Have tried at various different distances and nope. Also same as sword 4, the sound effects don’t feel like they fit, I swear they were different previous beta? Utilities Most of these actually feel pretty good. I think Heel crack is a little bland, but the utility is nice when timing it correctly. My only complaint here is the sound effect on Rolling light seems to share the sword sound effect which I just don’t think fits, but it’s only the sound effect on the rolling back part, the leap in is fine. The sound effects on all the other utilities and the elite sound great for the thematic’s of that “Monk fast holy warrior” kind of feel, where as the ones mentioned above feel jarring. Virtues Rushing Justice and Crashing Courage feel fun to use, but Flowing Resolve feels a bit… meh? If it’s meant to be used as an initiator skill, it feels lacking… I can almost run to my destination faster than using the very short dash forward. I’m not sure what to suggest here to make it feel better though, maybe 600 range or a leap with aoe team support, but slightly less effectiveness on the regen, swiftness, etc.? Traits Don’t have a huge amount to comment on here, they are all OK. But nothing that really modifies the play style greatly… maybe the alacrity generation does a bit. Overall, a great improvement Anet! Keep up the great work!

Quite honestly, all the changes that were made from the past beta have made this class really fun to play. The skills are fun and the visuals are incredible! It feels like everything is nice and fluid and hits hard where it’s meant to. The one and only thing that I cannot get past, which was part of my feedback from the previous beta is the sound effects… I do not understand why everything sounds as though it’s like a wabbly pool noodle hitting glass underwater… It sounds dumb, but for me it breaks the entire feeling of the class and puts me off playing it. Just compare it to how impactful and amazing the wells are on the Chronomancer (each tick changes the sound and then the final burst), they sound awesome. Or how thematically right the dodge, jaunt, etc. sound with the mirage. The one and only sound effect that is good on this class is the auto blade generation. Please, please ANET change how the Virtuoso’s abilities sound… It sounds so wrong!

I want to start by saying I absolutely love the thematics of the Spectre! I think it’s a really awesome concept, so awesome work ANET! As with the rest of the specs, and understanding this is a beta to test these things, I do think that it could use some changes and bug fixes. I have tried to sum up my feedback into more dot point categories (Likes, Observations, Dislikes/Problems, Bugs and Suggestions) to make it easier to consume. Also note, my feedback doesn’t touch on numbers, as those can be tuned, my feedback is purely from a “how does this feel to play, or could be changed to play better”. Here goes: Likes: Theme is awesome, love the idea around the play style Shroud is a really nice switch up for the Thief Wells are really cool and unique with the shadow steps Observations: Well of Gloom - burrows into the ground and then appears at the target Well of Shadowfall - leaps and then lands onto the ground for the well-cast Well of Tears, Silence, Sorrow and Bounty all step and then cast - the cast feels clunky in this animation cycle compared to the others. Well of Sorrow has no sound effect? Well of Silence has a very quiet sound effect? Well of Tears has an awesome look and sound effect, but does basically no damage, yet it's a pure damage well? Under tuned? Dislikes/Problems: Scepter skills have quite a loud sharp sound to them, feel this needs to be tuned down/updated a bit. Scepter skill 1 and 2 feel basically the same. 2 is just a bigger bolt than 1 with weakness instead of torment Scepter skill 3 feels very lack lustre on Scepter/Dagger Shroud skill 1 feels a bit clunky and slow to use at the moment Shroud skill 2 (Grasping Shadows) feels weak. this could have a bigger explosion effect and an instant cast to keep with the fluidity of Thief. The sound effect needs updating I feel to, maybe use a similar one to shroud 3’s payoff? Shroud skill 3 (Dawn's Repose) feels clunky to use. This would work better if it was ally/enemy targeted and you run to the location and have the explosion go off when you reach your target, otherwise it's a really cool skill. Shroud skill 4 is OK, bit weak and no real sound effect (should have more punch like revenant’s glint swipe/burst of strength) Shroud skill 5 (Mind shock) - this skill takes forever to cast, leaving you standing/running around doing nothing while you wait for the payoff – does not feel good Siphon feels very lacklustre and seems to be the only real good way of getting shroud back? spending initiative gives very little shroud Bugs: Scepter skill 3 won't work when in action cam as it identifies as not having a target? Scepter skill 3 when no offhand equipped (Triple threat) seems to be bugged. the first 2 shots don't fire, only the 3rd does. Underwater versions of shroud skills all seem very buggy? Skill 1 has an odd cast animation, 2 seems casted randomly/on a target? and feels clunky, 3 is fine, 4 is fine, 5 you don’t know when it’s going to cast and how far it’s range is. Suggestions: Change Siphon to be the tether mechanic instead of shroud – have it either instant tether to 3-5 allies, or 3-5 enemies. If tethered to allies, it gives boons, barrier and healing depending on skill use. If tethered to enemies, give them conditions, or increased damage, depending on skills used. Have the tether be time based and slowly generate shroud while tethered (up the cooldown here). OR have it be an ammo skill, so you need to designate 3-5 targets as you go. With it only lasting X amount of time. Other Steal traits could still work here, just add their boons, conditions to the tethered targets (maybe at a reduced amount if it’s a strong boon/condition) Remove tether on shroud with the above change and update shroud skills to be Ally/Enemy based like scepter. Skill 1 could work like scepter 1, skill 2 could heal/boon allies, and damage/condition enemies in its effect area, 3 could do something similar to 2 with the dash to the target/ally, 4 not sure here and 5 I think needs a rework anyway (perhaps Shadow Form 😉?) Update all the wells to use a similar spell cast animation to Gloom/Shadowfall as they feel more fluid, or give the others some sort of ground punch so it looks like you’re placing it rather than standing there and having the well appear. I think scepter skills need an update to be more unique between 1 and 2 (perhaps an AOE on scepter 2?). 3 needs to be stronger on Scepter/Dagger and I think Scepter/Pistol is actually OK if the targeting bug is fixed. Update initiative spenders to give more shroud in general Not sure how much of the above will be taken into consideration, but hopefully some! As I think this elite could very well be one of the best elites thus far! Base potential is there, just needs some work! Keep up the great work ANET!

So just to per-cursor my feedback, I appreciate and recognize that this is a BETA, so my thoughts may already have plans for changes/updates. Secondly, my feedback is not about the balance of the class, as I'm sure that will adjust as time goes on, or the underlying design, as I think it's quite interesting. My feedback comes purely from a place of class feel and enjoyment of running around as an average player. As such, from my experience with the class, I firstly think it's visually gorgeous! However it doesn't "feel" impactful, and I'm not talking about numbers on the screen and how fast things die. I'm talking about how a skill feels when it lands, or the sounds the skill makes when you activate it. For that, my best description is it's feels like a wet noodle! All the skills in the Virtuoso arsenal have a very muted sound... it's like some sort of hollow wobbly watery sound, and it's not even that loud for that type of sound effect. Second to this, the skills don't feel they have a very impactful hit on a target, visually or from a sound design perspective. The best way I can contrast what I mean here is in comparison to the Chrono and Mirage specs... place down a well on chrono and it makes a very distinct sound on each clock ticket and then a satisfying end when the well finishes... put down mirages heal skill, dodge, or jaunt to an enemy and you get a very distinct, impactful, punchy sound, with a satisfying feedback hit on the enemy (just go into game and stand still, swap between specs and free cast each specs skills to see what I mean). I think if there was a much punchier sound palette to the Virt, with more impactful hits for each skill in line with the other specs, it'd feel like a great class to play! This feedback actually extends somewhat to Harbinger and Willbender... they both have somewhat of a similar issue to me, although not as problematic as the Virtuoso. Be awesome to see any update in this respect to make the classes feel more present and impactful to play =)!