Mevelios.4809

Ah, right, my bad - I misinterpreted it and just jumped at associating it with the quick, uninspired solution I had in mind. ☹️

My exact thought about nerfing the Sigil of energy on everyone, for the sake of a single e-spec that is mirage, because "I waste half of that bonus on my way of playing it while waiting for weapon swap CD". Note that any boon strip on you, for the few occurrences there are in PvE, do reduce the amount wasted; as for the meta builds I don't play that include dodging as a mechanic to deal damages (daredevil, vindicator) sure they could afford it as they don't need it today, but maybe some players out there actually found use for it or rely on that tool to solo content if we're only talking about PvE. I won't talk about WvW, because indeed it seems overperforming to my taste, but I'm not a fan of that game mode that's already plagued by several other unhealthy builds. In any case, I don't think that sigil is the primary issue about "alac mirage build inflexibility", because should the change be only made to the sigil for whatever compensation again related only to mirage, we'd still be stuck with at least the staff in one weapon set. Let's give more leeway for everyone to have their fun by getting out of that must-, or should I say "only-have".

I have to agree - it feels like the sort of nerf (at least here for a trade-off, unlike my coming example) that happened to the relic of Karakosa, being nerfed because it was overperforming on... revenant's mace. A single case impacted everyone. Without giving it much thought, the first thing that comes to mind for me consists in as simple a solution as making Mirage mantle give alacrity on any ambush, however with the loss of its few interesting effets there could simply be a complete rework of Mirrored axes. Let's be real: without the trait, the weapon doesn't shine, meaning it's great on mirage and barely average on all other (e-)specs without mentioning its ambush. The trait has already seen its CD reduction made baseline; the remaining effect could also be made as such, and maybe we could have a nice surprise on chrono thanks to it? In return, with that major master trait made available, another trait could be created to boost weapons' efficiency in various forms. It's uninspired but it could be extra conditions on those related, strike power on the others, and why not boons on a few exceptions? I'm thinking there of the rifle primarily, to have a quickness option instead of that meaningless fury. I'd think the same about scepter & staff, but it could deny them the possibility of being run as damage dealing options... Maybe something worth considering? There are future weapon proficiencies to consider as well. I'd love to see underwater weapons be made available on dry land so they actually see some use, but also at least one more support option especially to get out of the Illusionary defense must-have for protection (and thus by extension, mirage mantle's synergy with it). Tying it to a weapon isn't my favorite way to adress it, but it could at least open possibilites; some ideas I had for a duet mace+warhorn, but I'd rather post them later!

Dagger's vulnerability, rifle's fury (heh) & spear's might are definitely worth getting rid of, and we likely could afford losing sword's boon rip & axe's cripple (bit more doubtful about that last one since I don't care about GW2's "PvP"). The remaining effects (improved GS damage, trident torment, staff alac, scepter self-quick for competitive content) much less, hence my doubt!

It would definitely make it easier and solve the entire issue, however I'm not yet convinced it'd be the best move as Split surge's increased damages are very welcome coupled to the preview we got from next update about "power mirage", Imaginary axes' cripple and Ether barrage's quickness do help in competitive modes, Mirage thrust's boon rip still is a freebie even if it's redundant with domination's Vicious expression, and Wave of panic's extra torment also is very welcome for that dead underwater content (might as well adapt those weapons to make them land-based at this point, eh? An ever-chasing spear and the staff copycat -the trident- which could make one be more support-focused with boons and the other damages-centered?). But such a simple solution would however give a lot more leeway about bringing an alacdps mirage, without being forced into playing the staff!

It's just marketing shenanigans, because portals are (were?) an iconical tool in our arsenal. Don't mind the pointless advertising, it'll only mislead you; take the product for what it really is - here, a healing weapon. From my point of view, that useless flipover skill is just a hindrance worth deleting should you mistakenly use it, sending into a lengthier CD a good skill. I mean, there could actually be niche uses with good communication in a raid, but it's otherwise utterly pointless. Rather than bothering with that nonsense, I'd like them to look at what they could do to pair it better with alac mirage, since it feels like it was primarily designed to be used by chronoheal only. Those like me who dislike playing chrono for whatever reason (mine was the chronojail of the HoT/PoF years, still can't get over it today) are largely stuck with nothing new, aside some uses ordinary PUGs wouldn't bother with.

Of course mesmer had a foundation for this. All it took was making Bountiful disillusionment & Restorative illusions group-wide tools. Mantras were already there, other minor inspiration traits were already there, and a few tweaks brought the finishing touch. That's what had been discussed last october & november to make it happen, and it did! Now, gotta find ideas to avoid keeping chrono as the near-only support mesmer.

Hey, now. There are still dinosaurs like me who run the condi mirage axe/pistol & axe/torch! To hell with that boring staff! ☹️ That much we agree on, which is a shame considering the most handy condi relic is the one of the Fractal. The issue IMO simply is how efficient dueling (through viper gear) & chaos specs (through its many raw stats bonuses) are over illusions, only the Cvirt really has more interest in illusions. And that's still despite the buff they gave to the torch by making The pledge's CD reduction baseline, for a weapon capable of making use of dueling's Ineptitude! Even if the recent buff did reduce the gap in performance between each spec, illusions still comes as the least interesting of the three. JP portals? Oh wait, we made that joke before already. 😆

Lush forest works wonders for that and is heavily fed by the gunsaber + Tactical reload (if you're pretty sure your raid is safe enough to remove the Battle standard), so I find it fair - there are indeed a few tweaks I'd give it which I recommended in another topic. That went poorly with zero participation to the discussion, and now we have the bias with the staff as there isn't a satisfying mainhand support weapon (mace & axe somewhat, although clearly lacking compared to the staff skills). My stance on the staff is that it's an effective yet lazy answer, trying to squeeze a solution to every current issue into a single weapon. Let's be real, considering the fat heals +aegis +protection +long block (unlike the mace's counter) there isn't much incentive to play the warhorn anymore, especially if your boondps can somehow provide swiftness (with the amount of heralds around, you're quite likely to have one). So much efficiency goes into this new weapon that I'm worried it'll incite a nerf for everything else, at which point it ruins the whole principle: several traits are worth some attention, whereas a single weapon as the answer will only drain players down into a single build, which is currently either overhealing yet still unsatisfying for stab access (when picking Vigorous shouts), either clunky (if choosing Martial cadence) because of the issue often mentioned about dragon trigger/gunsaber offering no healing or any contribution whatsoever apart from feeding Lush forest (a risky thing in high pressure encounters). And that's only considering the PvE side; I don't like neither care about GW2's PvP/WvW because I can immediately figure out issues from that unrealistic implementation in a competitive mode. At least it's a blast to play in PvE! There are solutions, but the staff is clearly overperforming numbers-wise while having the clunky forced movement that makes you unwilling to use it for tanking. I wouldn't be surprised to see it getting a nerf, hence the approach I had before its release by considering the traits rather than a single weapon as the answer. That's why I'm worried it'll completely miss the mark and leave either one side of the coin lacking (the staff itself or the support traits), either nerf them altogether and turn the (so far) secretive healer warrior into a mere memory for very few players that actually played it!

I'd be curious. While I'd like a few finishing touches on top of that to really give a support potential to the e-spec beyond only providing alacrity, if it could be done without actually removing the alac option on bladesworn (let's be greedy and promote diversity!), I'd love to try it.

Well, what I meant is I'm really worried about just limiting it to a weapon, and maybe that's just me playing it wrong for the last two months (wrong enough to pass several CM marks at least 😆), but I can only see unsolved issues. Qheal zerk without Vigorous shouts will just want to keep two staves without even getting sigils with weapon swap effects, since you can't really disregard a +10% outgoing healing bonus while concentration/boon duration still being a limit to the pure healer build, you want to keep the +10% boon duration sigil as well; then you get the healsworn for which the whole point is to switch to dragon trigger/gunsaber to provide alac, meaning it'll be unable to heal while weapon swap's in CD without vigorous shouts, but if you trait it then you're back to missing a stab source AND overhealing so much it deserves a nerf. When I see the Karakosa relic was overperforming on revenant mace's triple blast finisher, so the relic got nerfed for everyone instead of looking at a single profession's weapon, I'm worried the same treatment will be applied to the warrior on a smaller scale: staff's the lazy answer to everything related to the healer warrior, so whatever was otherwise contributing to that role might be nerfed - effectively reinforcing the must-have aspect of the staff and bottlenecking again the profile to a single build. Time will tell... will it? It's still a good weapon for the sake of a healer role and provides, I suppose, a way of getting out of the vigorous shouts must-have that existed so far (for the sake of the "diversity" argument). But it does so with such efficiency that it shuts down the creative uses there were to X/warhorn, and goes in contradiction with one e-spec's mechanic that either makes it an overhealing asset, either takes such a risk for alacrity that you don't really want to touch it. I can't see it ending well.

Well, you saw and left a reply in my post about the heal warrior a month and a half ago; it's definitely playable, I'm using it in our CM trainings (HT aside for obvious reasons, OLC & KO are still on the to-do list, works well in raids). Real issue is the protection uptime, aegis & regen access restricted to a banner and how stability competes with other healing traits; to these points, the staff replies "screw Vigorous shouts and the rest, imma be your must-have". Provides regen on chain finisher, massive healing to disregard the shouts so you could trait Martial cadence for stab, while aegis & protection are on Line breaker. A lazy solution IMO when the warhorn already was a great tool despite a mainhand support weapon missing, although at least the mace had some use for a tank (doubled by extra CC for qheal zerk) while mainhand axe had a whirl finisher in light fields for extra condi cleanse & the Axe throw contributing to healsworn's Lush forest. There were several synergies promoting knowledge & anticipation (from combos to anticipating damages with barrier or your only aegis/stab every 30s), staff's lazily answering with massive heal amounts, and in doing so completely disregards whatever work could've been put in the actual support traits to promote variety, thus bottlenecking it to a single two-hander. Since it didn't look like there were many bold enough players to put the healer warrior to the test (only met one in two months) as long as it isn't labeled "meta", I gave up the topic; should a nerf hit the staff, back to square one!

Replace sharpshooter with Mage, observations are similar. Almost thought I was in the wrong topic!

Shatter boons aren't tied to the number of clones shattered though! It's only quick/alac for chrono.

It opened the way for the healsworn at least. A shame I don't meet more Daring dragons!

Rather, almost nobody is giving it a shot, it's been nearly two months I've been running one and it works well already without the staff in raids & strikes, passed several CMs with it too (whether tanking or not). Only met another healsworn once so far! Healsworn build found here and qheal zerk left in the same topic there.

That pseudo-buff to power mirage won't restore interest to the mainhand sword IMO. Leaving aside dagger/GS which should be more or less fine on their own, tripling the power scaling on Mirage thrust doesn't change anything for the other mesmers, neither does it fix the poor damages from Blurred frenzy, the inexistant damages of Illusionary leap (which isn't the virtuoso's Blade leap) or their respective aftercasts. As much as that's a kind gesture, it's still missing the mark. I enjoyed power mirage a lot during the PoF years, but it definitely didn't scale with today's performances. No use just pointing that out; since warriors don't seem interested in my feedback about how they perform already as healers, guess I'll go back to my favorite character and make suggestions!

Celestial indeed is the hole in my logic for PvE, but it's unsatisfying at solving the issue of boon duration (18% may not sound like much, yet for PvE if healsworn would be fine, healzerk's hard-pressed and performance drops terribly anytime a boss phases out/goes invulnerable for a while, during spread mechanics or whenever targets are missing to keep firing burst skills away). PvE is less of an issue though, since you'll be compared to other healers. What I had in mind the most here was PvP context. A flat 2/300 stats bonus is huge but already existing from almost all of them, so there wouldn't be much change except for the rabid amulet, which is the only one with so much toughness, but maybe it has less incidence than what I imagine? Seraph stats are more handy at landing crits, so it could prove interesting to run arms instead of discipline and give it a go on a hybrid zerk (extra crits for Furious surge stacks & bleeding). Bit doubtful though - again it's PvE anyway, there would be a comparison with other hybrid healers regardless. The issue I have with it is how selfish that thing is, for being on the prime support spec. I'm surprised though, thought a mere 50 hp recovery in PvP would have little use - well, with four allies around FGJ's worth 2400 hp (not factoring in the 1% scaling of the trait with heal pow), so I get that's worthwhile without mentioning other might sources! What I'd rather bank on however are shouts healing the team rather than boons healing the self. Basically, removing Mending might to make Vigorous shouts a minor trait (that is, always active as long as tactics spec is used) would reduce the self-healing, however it could be triggered anytime, anywhere and with more ease (instead of FGJ only, applicable to all shouts) without its performance being dependant on how many allies are around. At the same time, Vigorous shouts & Phalanx strength wouldn't be competing with one another (although competing then with a new trait, which in my suggestion would enable a second ammo To the limit). Less survivability for the self when standing in the middle of a full group, but better self & group survivability in any context with less than four people around (at least that's my perception from such a change). I'm aware of the split between both modes; how about finding some middle ground here? While sticking to my suggestion, the moved Shrug it off would have a competitive split done, keeping it as-is in PvE - I don't care much for it, it's simply convenient for being a safety when you make a mistake to avoid resetting the encounter and provides extra healing (although that's obviously the sort of trait that denies "player skill", whatever anybody ties to that meaning). The PvP split however could enable the ammo back, by simply turning the PvP Shake it off into the PvE version (meaning the skill no longer removes four but three conditions with two ammos - supposedly without touching the 24s PvP CD). My question here would rather be how valuable discipline is in PvP - that's really a game mode I dislike with the limited GW2 character building. If discipline isn't valuable, then for the sake of maintaining Shrug it off on tactics while sticking to the rest of my suggestions, finding room for the trait is difficult... maybe moving Empower allies to discipline instead of Shrug it off?

Do you have much experience running the healer warrior in PvE then? No offense meant here, just a question; I've been running mine in raids/strikes (including the easier CMs) and I can't reach the same conclusions, although I can easily imagine how you'd like to have more manual control other some aspects rather than the current passive implementation of several key traits. What I don't get about that suggestion is, regardless of what you use, you already have a guaranteed 130 heal pow from it. The flat bonus you suggest (200-300) is basically what we already have in sPvP content from the amulets (minus the rabid one), whereas in PvE/WvW the power scaling prevents making a decent hybrid running on celestial or even seraph/plaguedoctor gear for qheal zerk. From my topic I linked above, I consider that power to healing conversion excessive anyway, considering base healing values are already high. I'd rather give it the concentration bonus most healers get, while moving it to a default trait of tactics (minor grandmaster) instead of Mending might, which is utterly useless IMO: self-heal on applying might to allies, for a terribly low amount with a mere 1% scaling on heal pow. If it's kept as a major trait (one to pick among three), it would still remain as a must-have because of the stats increase. Beyond the healing from Vigorous shouts, it's also a provider of endurance - 65 in sPvP, 100 in WvW. That's huge. It's hard to land but if it succeeds AND is an ammo skill, yeah, in sPvP I'd find it excessive for teamplay. Using the concept of soaking up focused fire alone without breaking a sweat doesn't sound to me like the right way to balance things, as it denies group play already (and is one of the reasons why I'm definitely not a fan of GW2's PvP/WvW modes). I'm not averse to making To the limit an ammo skill, simply averse to making it baseline. I suggest making that option a major trait rather, so it doesn't become a freebie. Here I get where you're coming from - you definitely want more manual control over such tools in PvP. It did save my hide more than once when I failed anticipating a bump or whatever as a tank in PvE (not mentioning the free heal it brings), but the major master traits under tactics spec don't look really interesting IMO. I don't really have a solution in this regard, my own suggestion takes it away from the spec to fit it into discipline. However, there's still making PvP Shake it off an ammo skill a risky move - it's still a powerful tool with its AoE stunbreak +condi cleanse, which heals on cleanses when shouts themselves can heal too. It's massive. There's the staff then to consider soon, I'd be afraid of a global reblance nerfing a lot to the ground!

Are these suggestions for sPvP only? Because if it's the case, on most amulets Vigorous shouts' conversion provides 260 heal pow already (only the rabid one's an exception), while too many ammo skills on shouts would really allow abusing the healing on it. To the limit being also a way to recover endurance (65 points at that, more than a dodge roll's worth) it could prove unhealthy.

Alright, time for a few suggestions from those experiences! Please remember those are made with PvE in mind, I definitely don't have the experience to wander into PvP/WvW considering how little I play(ed) those modes. Clearly, there's no avoiding using the supportive spec that is tactics, as well as the discipline line considering how it empowers banners, provides a healing output bonus and how a faster weapon switch helps both profiles. However, a few traits IMO are either overtuned, either placed in the wrong spec. The prime example for it would be Stalwart focus, the discipline trait providing extra in & output healing. Here are some suggestions I'd see for the sake of a new, more coherent healer warrior before the staff's release: Tactics: many changes here, for the sake of bringing tactics in line with most support specs from other professions and leveling its performance. Marching orders: similar mechanic, however instead of three stacks of might, the trait provides protection (see below). Base duration kept as 4s. Leg specialist: kept as-is for the sake of a brawler build. Soldier's comfort: healing maintained, however this trait would provide 3 (possibly 5) stacks of might for a base of 15s instead of the original protection. Basically, boons were traded with Marching orders as protection has too high of a value to be ignored, whereas a smaller source of healing with a few might stacks could be disregarded. Roaring reveille: trait removed (see below). Instead, Warrior's cunning is revised: current effects are removed and take Martial cadence's properties, providing a single stack of group stability for base 3s on use of a burst skill. Lacking inspiration here to find a way to access a single stab without making the Banner of tactics a must-have. Empowered: is removed, replaced by the former discipline's Stalwart focus. Effects maintained: +10% healing received, +15% outgoing healing. Warrior's cunning: is removed, replaced by current Empowered. Deals 1.5% extra strike damages per boon on the character (up from 1%). Shrug it off: trait removed (see discipline). Replaced by Roaring reveille: current effects are removed (see below - no more concentration/fury/resistance here), Charge provides aegis for base 5s, Call of valor provides resolution for base 5s. Possibly 20% CD reduction on these skills? Empower allies: remains as-is. Mending might: trait completely removed. Replaced by Vigorous shouts: healing maintained on shouts, however removal of the power to healing conversion (numbers go really high on harrier gear - too high). Instead, gain 120 concentration (possibly 240, considering several healers get that much). Martial cadence: trait revised. To the limit becomes an ammo skill (2 possible uses, one charge's cooldown set to 24s). Using a healing skill provides resistance in a 600 radius on a 4s base duration (20s CD). Vigorous shouts: trait removed since it's been moved. New trait: (First aid/Field medic?) makes weapon autoattacks (or chain finisher, including bladesworn's gunsaber 1) provide a base 4s regeneration in a 600 radius. (might then be worth looking at the beta staff's autoattack to possibly make it similar to revenants' staff - small heal on autoattacks instead of regen on finisher only) Phalanx strength: remains as-is. Discipline: only few changes here, affecting exclusively the support traits. Versatile rage: kept as-is. Crack shot: kept as-is. Warrior's sprint: kept as-is. Stalwart focus: trait removed, since it went to tactics spec. Instead, Shrug it off takes its place with its current effects. Fast hands: kept as-is, obviously. Doubled standards: resolution removed from initial placement, instead banners provide base 4s regen from every pulse. 50% effect improvement (understand: duration) remains as-is. Destruction of the empowered: kept as-is. Brawler's recovery: kept as-is. Could possibly be replaced by a condi trait, since Shrug it off (above) takes the relay on condi cleansing +stunbreak? Won't go further into that, since it's not my topic here. Versatile power: kept as-is. Axe mastery: kept as-is. Heightened focus: I did write I wouldn't touch anything but supportive traits, however this one really has no use in my eyes (but maybe I've missed something). Could definitely offer something instead for condi builds which are Czerk, Czerk or Czerk - and really shines only if it takes the discipline spec for the faster weapon swap. Burst mastery: kept as-is, on support builds it's a massive help. Not as much for healsworn, but healzerk really has use for it - not an absolute need, but close to it. Berserker: a single tweak to bring in line all boon AoEs, to avoid making it a guess game whether you can provide your quickness or not. Heat the soul: radius increased to 600 (from 480). Alternatively: all heal/boon AoEs of the healer warrior could be reduced to a 480 radius (bit of a shame, but 600 is massive - other healers do struggle with 360 or even a 240 radius). Banners: a few tweaks to the main banners meant for support warrior. Banner of defense: everything except one perk is kept as-is; the banner no longer pulses regen, but protection instead for a base duration of 2s. Banner of tactics: initial placement provides 3 stacks of stability (increased from one). Everything else as-is. Warhorn: a single change on PvE Charge for the sake of better use in this mode, and to prevent healsworn (providing alac) to contribute to quickness uptime. Charge: competitive split to remove quickness in PvE only. Instead, provides (again, PvE only) base 4s protection on top of the remaining current effects: swiftness on base duration 20s, removes cripple/immobilize/chill conditions, with a blast finisher property. That would be the changes I've imagined; a finishing touch could come from making group aegis accessible without relying exclusively on weapons like the staff or my modified warhorn, because taking that away from them would remove the must-have aspect either for those weapons, either for the Banner of defense (even though then, the issue of protection access may come back - not as crucial as canceling a key attack on some encounters). Anyway, back to the aegis topic: it could take form in the Berserker e-spec by making Eternal champion's ability to manually exit the berserk mode baseline, removing (competitive split for PvE only?) the self-stab and providing instead group aegis on entering/exiting the mode (15s CD). The bladesworn could have one of its support traits (River's flow/Lush forest/Daring dragon) make Cyclone trigger a group aegis instead of a personal one, while removing the already small damages on it (possibly changing the skill itself for lore's sake, making it some sort of "tactical charge - detonate a canister disrupting enemies' focus, allowing allies to dodge their next attack with ease")? Buncha possibilities there!

Warrior can already perform well as support without the staff, the real caveat being aegis & stab access if you want it to compete with the firebrand (and protection, if running without the Relic of the zephyrite). The staff will provide an extra aegis & protection source, which are pretty much the only things I find interesting on it - Banner of defense on Doubled standards work the magic already for regeneration.

A new map seems to have been opened, the meta is working fine on it. Within the bugged meta, the cannons were looking like they were in a destroyed state; the cannon was pointing slightly down, with blackened marks all over as if it had become a destructible object which somehow got destroyed. No technicians were spawning again, and no meta-related event was failing or restarting! Note: the cannon was looking exactly the same way as when it is destroyed from the event "Disable the cannon" during the out-of-meta cycle. Besides, while out of the meta cycle AND out of the event I linked, the cannons can be targeted & destroyed. Maybe something went wrong there?

Alright, time to expand the topic a bit after more thorough testing with qheal zerk! Here's the build I'm using: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PKwEMKNssA2FDj5xIxk66utD-DSJYqR9fZUdVleqq71BWafzCqA-e Honestly, I'm surprised I'm just not seeing it anywhere. It's amazing how capable it is at maintaining max might, fury, and quickness uptime; while the inherent warrior issues about aegis, stab & protection availability remain, its ability at dishing out burst skills really ease the spread of quickness & the use of Soldier's focus. Healing remains heavily tied to the Relic of karakosa which has been recently nerfed, although while the impact has proven meaningful it didn't ruin the build; Savage instinct proves also to be a wonderful (and likely too powerful) tool at tanking! Having the mace bursts also provide several CCs to assist the squad, while the warhorn and its blast finishers replace the longbow's Arcing arrow when heals are required (as long as any combo field is available). Numbers-wise, protection has an uptime of ~70%; longbow's Combustive shot & Scorched earth work wonders at that, since their fire fields also trigger burst-related tools such as soldier's focus. Obviously, relying on the relic of karakosa for healing prevents the use of the Zephyrite one, so protection uptime can't be raised up any further; that frees however the elite skill slot, leaving room for the Battle standard to raise allies in an "oh sh*t" moment should they fall. Aegis, regen & stab remain locked behind their respective banners sadly, which (should removing Shake it off be necessary to have group stability) makes the healer zerk otherwise really weak on healing without the karakosa relic & blast finishers. While providing so many fire fields can have a great synergy with condi damage dealers using projectile/whirl finishers for free burning, it can also prove troublesome for some key healers such as the engineer, who'll compete with its water fields, and the mesmer, who might have trouble fitting in ethereal fields for extra chaos auras. The one little quirk about qheal zerk is the radius of Heat the soul (480) differing from the shouts (600), which proves sometimes misleading. Eternal champion isn't a must but provides some comfortable breathing room when bosses phasing prevent building up adrenaline, however just like Savage instinct's line there isn't much interest in both of them for a support profile. On the opposite, discipline's Fast hands & Burst mastery are definitely must-haves there! Still, it's really fun to play and worth a shot if you'd like to have a new take on healing! It's a lot less pressuring compared to bladesworn's reliance on Lush forest, and more beginner-friendly!

No, I can only disagree. Dagger skills are instant (besides Bladecall's very short animation) while the sword is plagued by lengthy aftercasts and blur's channeling, during which you could fit in extra dagger autoattacks. The sword chain would supposedly cover whatever damages are lacking from the rest, yet any test on golem lets you see the surprising gap: Unstable bladestorm is instant and does the damages on its own of both Blurred frenzy & Blade leap if we're only talking about an opener - let alone if we're not talking virtuoso but chronomancer here, doing no damages on the third skill (without mentioning any boon removed with the chain finisher comes at the cost of a fourth of its damages). And Fencer's finesse does not affect your phantasms, only your base stats matter from your gear; your sigils or traits (unless specified, like Phantasmal force) do not influence them.