Bladesworn Feedback Thread

[ZEUStiger.3590]

7 minutes ago, BeardRex.6739 said:

For now, I'll keep my feedback small and simple: Please please make Dragon Trigger a toggle (single button press) rather than press-and-hold.

If it must be kept press-and-hold, maybe make the ammo disappear one-by-one  upon release rather than disappearing immediately.

While pressing and holding is cathartic, it feels like this was designed by someone who has their weapon skills bound to buttons on their mouse.

It... isn't press-and-hold... Like, at all... You press it once and go take a sip of tea.

[Gorem.8104]

15 minutes ago, Darkgaiden.3791 said:

I dont even know why give it the option to wield pistols, you are going to be using the gunsaber 100% of the time, is stronger, with a very good move set, so the off hand pistol is not even a thing, this is designed to be a greatsword into gunsaber class,  95% of the time, the other 5% you will probably want something ranged like rifle or bow (but no pistol, off hand and with limited bullets and short range..NO!!)..... having a class have acces to a completely new weapon that only that class can use, is ridiculous and very poorly done.... at the very least elementalist can spawn elemental weapons and others can use them as well, this on the other hand feels like when you play personal story chapters and have to use someone else's weapon.

Peace ✌️

 

Like the person above said, the Pistol should have been a MH, had a auto attack, had its 4/5 be 2/3 and allowed use of offhand axe. 

 

That combined with being able to swap weapons faster, none of this CD upon using dragon trigger. If you could actually swap weapons then it'd be so much better and have much better "flow". Swap to Gunsaber, fire off abilities, use dragon trigger, then swap back to MH pistol/Offhand axe to keep going then swap back would have been a neat rotation. 

 

Instead all you see is long CD's on everything as you constantly wait. 

[BeardRex.6739]

1 minute ago, ZEUStiger.3590 said:

It... isn't press-and-hold... Like, at all... You press it once and go take a sip of tea.

Okay maybe I was doing something wrong. When I get back online later I will check it out, but it seemed like it was turning off dragon trigger as soon as I let go of the button.

[ChronoPinoyX.7923]

Just now, Xei Han.8736 said:

During Dragon Stance, check out skills 4 & 5 (Triggerguard and Flicker Step).  #4 gives you aegis without canceling the stance.  It's not amazing, but it's saved me a couple times.  Also, use Flow Stabilizer for the stability - 5s is pretty good if activated right before entering the stance.

I already addressed the Aegis on my post.

18 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

If there's one thing I would change on Dragon Trigger's design it's put a permanent Stability on Trigger stance in order for it to actually be worth using. Obviously losing HP should still be a thing and that's where Aegis would be used on but the amount of times DT literally gets interrupted by something as miniscule as a mob tackling you is absurd

As for DT 5, it's practically useless. You want to stay close to your target to guarantee the hit, even with DT2 and 3, it's better to stay close to guarantee it. DT5 being mobility rather than anything else just means the alternative was possible, which is allowing us to walk/run in Dragon Trigger but ANet decided against it. 

[UNOwen.7132]

4 hours ago, daiball.5349 said:

I do see what you mean as older elite specs have been extremely overtuned at release but as WoodenPotatoes said they can make drastic changes between pvp and pve in the bladesworn showcase the devs said it would do less damage in pvp but would make your dragon slash charge faster as of testing it is not any faster than the pve version might be changed in the future. They could have totally different playstyles in pve and pvp which I think should be the cases for more classes but they might not want there to be a big disparity.

What they meant is that the damage instead of scaling exponentially like it does in PvE, scales logarithmically. Meaning it gets to high damage in fewer charges, but then gets less increase per charge as it goes on.

[Drakhar.1389]

Break step (Gunsaber 5) should follow your running direction like rocket boots, as it plays as a disengage most of the time. Currently it charges you toward your current target regardless of where you're pointed. It is not primarily a gap closer, so it shouldn't act like one.

 

Similarly, Dragon Slash Boost (Dragon Trigger 2) often gets you into trouble because of it's poor targeting. I think it should be ground target to offer a little more flexibility, and prevent frustrating whiffs - or at least make them the player's responsibility.

[ledernierrempart.6871]

the overall spec feels fun to use.

 

however the f2 skills does lack damage. and the skill 2 on the gunblade feels a bit underwhelming.

skill 3 on the f2 stance often miss. skill 2 sometimes stuck you inside walls.

there should be a trait that synergize with explosions. (or maybe there is one already?)

[oscuro.9720]

28 minutes ago, Sykper.6583 said:

that's...another idea I kind of like. I'll have to think on it some more where you can use Flow to precharge bullets, maybe up to a limit and shift out of stance.

I feel like that might break the idea of the charge your blade concept Anet envisioned but it would help Bladesworn SPvP a lot.

I was thinking maybe incorporate it into daring dragon (i think that’s the one that limits max charge to 5), that way, should they fix the damage, you aren’t storing up a 1 shot, but you are able to unload a 5 charge every once in a while.

[GrayBalls.5968]

I had a lot of fun playing the class but have a few suggestions to clean up the noticeable jankiness in the spec:

- Have the weaponswap button switch you between your weapon and the gunblade when in combat/PVP as the nearly decade of muscle memory we have built up is impossible to overcome, leading to an unnecessary amount of frustration and fumbles in tense scenarios

- Gunblade skill 2 should also put an explosion on your body, rounding out the hitbox. I understand why its a slower skill with a semi-conal hitbox to offset the damage payoff but if the target is inside your body it should still hit

- Should be able to access dragon trigger when using your weapon, not just the gunblade. the dragon trigger animation is very, very noticeable and you aren't catching anyone by surprise when you are charging it up for 5 seconds!

- Please allow us to stow weapon on the gunblade/dragon trigger

 

Spec has a lot of potential, just want it to flow as I believe is the intended class fantasy! Samurai weren't fumbling around as much as players have to when trying to play the spec.

[cryorion.9532]

Some feedback and thoughts:

The spec is too spammy, Lush Forest is incentivising spamming every ammo skill to 0 ammo to lower cooldown of F2 (Dragon Trigger)

and also when in F2, spamming skill 4 (Triggerguard) and 5 (Flicker Step) to shorten cooldowns of other skills. It gives the spec high APM feel, but feels clunky. F1 Gunsaber's 2nd (Blooming Fire), 3rd (Artillery Slash) and 4th (Cyclone Trigger) skills seem to have aftercasts that are really annoying, breaking fluidity/smoothness in this ammo skill spam. The 3rd skill tends to not activate sometimes when these skills are pressed one after another.

 

Being in F2 and charging for Dragon Slash feels horrible in open world or anywhere where mobs do aoe CCs, big aoe damage or simply just move rapidly. Single aegis doesn't really help if there are multiple enemies and short blink is short... can't imagine how bad it must be in PvP...

 

Another negative thing about the spec is that compared to Core warrior, Berserker or Spellbreaker, Bladesworn mechanic feels clunky and pointlessly convoluted. Complexity isn't bad but for example not being able to enter F2 from normal weapon set is weird. Not being able to exit F2 into normal weaponset is weird. F1 Gunsaber feels like reworked rifle, it has ammo skills but they are mostly weak and useless. Projectile management on Gunsaber 4th skill (Cyclone Trigger) is as useful as Spellbreaker's dagger 5, which isn't a good thing.

Or 5th skill (Break Step) which feels clunky, not sure if the skill should be used to go away from enemy or to get to enemy, since damage is dealt on activation location and dash goes through targeted enemy, full range... feels random. Leap finisher could be added on it so it can be comboed with fields for some extra fun points (smoke field wink wink).

 

Utility skills feel very underwhelming. Again, they have ammo so they are meant to be spammed, so I guess their effect cannot be that good? Bulletproof Barrier and Electric Fence are such boring, bland and uncreative skills. Why not at least make them both to be normal circular AoE to be more practical?

 

Dragonspike Mine's radius could be increased to like 180 radius so it's more likely it hits something.

 

Also, PLEASE make Gunsaber in F1 sheathable so we can run with it like normal civilized people + some nice legendary looking gemstore skins for Gunsaber would be nice wink wink.

 

Edited September 22, 2021 by cryorion.9532

[lystwo.9574]

No damage at all, arcing slice consistently deals almost double damage then fully charged dragon trigger. 5-6k for a 5 second cast time, choreographed, must be in a mode attack is absurdly low (berserk+scholar rune in pvp) true shot can deal 8k in marauders. Cool Idea, but 0 damage. Also dodging on vindicator and river drake tail swipe do twice its damage.

Edited September 22, 2021 by lystwo.9574

[Gorem.8104]

1 hour ago, ZEUStiger.3590 said:

Ok, some actual feedback this time.

 

Why oh why have you decided to swap the meaning of F* buttons around. Burst was always on F1! Why did you feel the need to change it? To arrange the buttons on the bar in the order they are supposed to be pressed?

• Core warrior has burst on F1.
• Berserker pre-rework had burst on F1, new profession skill on F2.
• Berserker post-rework has burst on F1, new profession skill on F1.
• Spellbreaker has burst on F1, new profession skill on F2.
• Bladesworn has burst on F2, new profession skill on F1.

Why? All muscle memory goes to hell. I'm not going to rewire my brain every time I switch to this specialization. I will have to change keybinds every time, or else half the time I want to use Dragon Trigger I will instead end up Sheathing Gunsaber.

Please change this. Move the skill buttons to the right of the adrenaline bar, where they always used to be, and swap them around. Or add per-specialization keybinds. Right after you add per-profession keybinds.

 

Bursts should not be interruptable by other skills. There's way too big of an investment into charging them up only to end up wasting both time and adrenaline because you used a healing skill a moment too early and interrupted the burst cast.

 

On that note, it's a little hard to distinguish when the burst actually landed by the sound alone. There's the initial explosion sound cue immediately upon activating the skill, and after hearing a sound cue - you would think the skill has done its effect. But no, in case of Dragon Slash - there's a second sound cue that follows - the slashing sound. I don't understand the need for two sounds. Or the explosion in general: why is there an explosion happening in sheath?

 

The spec overall feels more sluggish than it should be, for the most part because of unnecessarily long cast times and aftercasts. Dragon Trigger in particular should probably have higher priority than other weapon skills to be able to interrupt them, as using it fast can be paramount if you're trying to stack various damage buffs: e.g. warhorn's Charge, Peak Performance proc. The latter specifically, being only 6 second, already gives you little room for error, and having to wait for some stray autoattack to finish casting before the skill queue reaches Dragon Trigger feels exceptionally bad. And you cannot queue "Unsheathe Gunsaber" into "Dragon Trigger" directly, because Dragon Trigger isn't clickable until it flips over from Unsheathing, so a random autoattack can easily squeeze through. Because of this, the order of skills has to be "Charge, Unsheathe, Physical skill while unsheathing, Dragon Trigger", which, while usable, feels a little convoluted. Why not add an option instead to DIRECTLY invoke Dragon Trigger from ordinary weapon set, bypassing the awkward transition to Gunsaber?

 

Lack of any precision modifiers that the entire warrior class suffers from is felt especially bad with this spec. Missing one crit out of half-a-dozen that you do every second on another spec isn't the end of the world (but still painful), but here, having your druid briefly running away and dropping Spotter from you for a short second can screw you over big time. Adding a PvE-only "Burst skills have additional 15% chance to crit" modifier to a minor trait in Bladesworn tree would go a long way towards making sure that the spec doesn't feel awful to play in less-than-ideal environment.

 

Putting Sheathe Gunsaber on weapon swap cooldown every time you Burst feels bad. It practically turns this spec from "still sort of having 2 weapons" into "camping Gunsaber 100% of the time except when there's a huge downtime", because you have to wait for so long to swap to your ordinary weapons. And to make it worse, your ordinary weapons are even less useful due to loss of access to regular bursts.
I understand that this is done to allow "on weapon swap" procs to not be near-useless with this spec. But it's also inconsistent with itself: cancelling Dragon Trigger (with Escape for example) DOES NOT put "Sheathe" on cooldown. So it's not like you're "weapon swapping to Dragon Trigger and back", it's more like "you're weapon swapping from Gunsaber to the very same Gunsaber", which makes little sense.
The only thing that makes it slightly more bearable is that "Sheathe/Unsheathe" cooldown is affected by alacrity, while regular weaponswap isn't, but this only serves to make the spec even less versatile outside of organized environments.

 

My overall impression after doing a few raids with it: I liked it, but I didn't feel good while playing it. This spec is one big gimmick that will only see adoption in certain niche scenarios, after its damage will be properly balanced to not overshadow berserker 100% of the time. It makes you feel incredibly selfish to just be standing in one place, effectively AFKing for 5+ seconds, while other people have to deal with all the chaos happening around you, and you cannot help them, because that means wasting resources and time already put into charging the burst. Bladesworn adds a, while cool thematically, but still only a very niche gameplay option to a class that's already starved for options: warriors still have no proper PvE support spec, existing PvE builds struggle with identity and public perception, and their usefulness in PvP has diminished after years of balance decisions made not in their favor. While EoD is a correct "place" to be adding bladesworn to the game, I don't think now was the correct "time" for it. The class has many lingering issues that need to be resolved first, before adding more toys to it that are cool for the sake of being cool.

 

Amazing use of the ammo system, tho.

 

Yeah, that. I do hope they swap F2 and F1. 

[AquaBR.9250]

Overall pretty fun, but here somethings id like changed:

When i use the F2 it puts on cooldown the F1 to change to my regular weapons, that so so so bad, some rotations are limited to gunsaber and dragontrigger. Btw dragontrigger should be avaible even when not with the gunsaber equiped, theres no need to press an extra buttom (F1 then F2) to use your burst skills.

 

I kinda miss my rifle's burst skill tho, if you want to go an extra mile with this spec make a F2 for every weapon, it doesn't need to have 3 attacks like the gunsaber, just a thing we hold and release, while having the dragontrigger 4 and 5 too.

 

Dragontrigger 3 is very underwelming, i don't feel like using it unless you increase the range to 1200, is a predictable skill easy to dodge, in WvW is impossible to use with this range, having to stand at 900 range in WvW to use your burst is suicide, i died several times trying to use this in in WvW fights, and if you use dragontrigger 5 and 3 you cover the same distance dealing MORE damage and also get closer of you target, so theres no real point of using DT 3 instead of the other 2, also change how the projectile works, it follows the ground instead of going a straight line to the target, this fell very clunky in certain terrains.

 

Artillery Slash should receive a buff, maybe deal more damage the higher the range and lower cooldown, we have one less option of weapon set, we need that ranged value.

 

I know this guy's pistol is not meant to be a ranged weapon but, i doesn't feel too different from a melle off hand weapon like a dagger or axe, the 5 skill should have its range increased to 360 to feel like a medium range weapon.

 

In general flow generation feel in the right spot, time to charge the dragontrigger too

 

 

[Brian.5324]

Bear in mind the following is strictly from an sPvP perspective.
 

Really, REALLY, liking Bladesworn - it’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing warrior, and I’ve played GW2 since launch. The higher APM of this spec is very fun and a bit different from other warrior specs. I’ve been playing a zerker ammy Tactics/Disc shout build with the barrier trait in BS, and, paired with greatsword, feels like a solid, fun brawler, if not a bit undertuned.
 

There are, however, some noticeable issues:

-Dragon Trigger abilities don’t deal enough damage writ large, especially noticeable at zero and max charge

-Flow builds up too slowly

-Gunsabre damage is a bit too low overall, and the CDs are a touch too high

-The the stun GM trait seems to really overshadow the other two in regards to securing both damage and sustain

Those are mostly number/value tuning issues, though, so I don’t feel too worried about them. The most glaring design issue, though, that adds a ton of clunkiness is that needing to be in Gunsabre to use F2 feels terrible. If F2 was accessible all the time, this spec would see a vast, immediate improvement in both functionality and fun, and would just need some more tuning and polish.

 

I should mention, though, I didn’t use any utilities besides the heal and elite (which I did like), so I can’t speak to those. However, overall, I’m loving Bladesworn and greatly look forward to see it fleshed out more!

Edited September 22, 2021 by Brian.5324
Added detail

[Psycoprophet.8107]

Wow I'm sry but wtf haha these guys are so bad at balancing man geez. 5 sec charge on a skill for like 2-4k on marauders and scholars rune lol.....seriously cmc? I'm sry but if u have to some how catch someone with that dragon slash 5 sec charge it better do 10-12k consistently or its no where near worth the pay off for the kind of set up needed. U guys really need to think about risk vs reward as well as rewarding skills with long cast times, after casts and such cuz it really seems esp with bladesworn uve put some heavy drawbacks with way to little compensation. Buff bladesworns dragon skills significantly or literally remove the charge and just have a hit and release mechanic that's always full power but can be held or released by the player, right now it will literally only be viable in pve and that's gbage. The idea and theme of the class as well as the animations are awesome but definitely needs adjustments. I'm of course speaking of pvp and wvw modes.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Psycoprophet.8107

[Karakutso.7546]

I really like the design.

 

I just have 1 request / question. Bladesworn is the first spec to introduce a class mechanic/weapon that you can permanentaly wield and run around with. This would make it very skin-worthy (Especially considering the fact that lore-wise, surely not every gunsaber would look exactly the same). I'm not asking for anything flashy or a particle show-off but just different styles of the weapon maybe from different regions of cantha. Just small changes to the style which make up 3-5 skins that you can unlock (perhaps make a difficult specialization collection in which you unlock all of them through different tiers) and maybe change in a little drop-down menu. I know this would maybe give the spec a bit of an unfair treatment, seeing as you cant apply skins to holo-forge, reaper shroud or similar modes where you gain a transformation/weapon through a class mechanic. Then again, bladesworn is the first class to actually have a new weapon as a class-mechanic to permanentaly run around with. I'd really dig if not every gunsaber would look exactly alike.

[DanAlcedo.3281]

1 hour ago, Xei Han.8736 said:

During Dragon Stance, check out skills 4 & 5 (Triggerguard and Flicker Step).  #4 gives you aegis without canceling the stance.  It's not amazing, but it's saved me a couple times.  Also, use Flow Stabilizer for the stability - 5s is pretty good if activated right before entering the stance.

@BeardRex.6739 It was a toggle when I played it.  Unless there's a bug?  Didn't release unless I hit actions 1-3.

If a Mechanic needs multiple skills and traits supporting it just to make it even playable. Its a bad mechanic.

Edited September 22, 2021 by DanAlcedo.3281

[Naxos.2503]

What happened to Explosions ? What are they used for ? 

[DanAlcedo.3281]

Just now, Naxos.2503 said:

What happened to Explosions ? What are they used for ? 

Exactly one Trait. To give you 10s of 250 ferocity.

Thats it.

[Verdict is Vengence.6912]

I agree with the others and think the damage should be raised in WvW for Bladesworn. Getting a full charge with berserker and scholar runes, including signet setup, to only hit almost as hard as [Kill Shot] is telling.

Or consider giving back weapon swap and normal bursts then it'll start looking a lot better.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Alright. I was finally able to  get some time with it tonight. I will start with the positive feedback first. I liked how Gunsaber itself felt. There are issues with breakstep breaking the flow of things (double pun intended), but overall it is a fun kit to use. The spec has a solid chassis for you guys to work with, and the theme is great. That is where the positive things I have to say stop. There is hope, as what you have is 100% salvageable. A lot of warrior mains have given solid feedback already, and to be honest I am going to echo what they've said for the most part.

That is a great thing, because it is going to give you all some very obvious direction on how to work on Bladesworn from here. Getting such overbearing consensus from the us makes it easy to know what to change and why, you just need to listen to our feedback and follow through on it.

Some structural changes that need to happen for this spec to work:

• 100 flow is indeed greater than 30 adrenaline, but 100 flow also takes longer to build than 30 adrenaline. This is a huge mistake. It's fine to change some skills to gain higher rates, but there never seems to be any large positive flow rate stacks. You need to either greatly increase the ability for positive flow rate to  stack in intensity, or you need to drop the flow cap to 30, and update the flow drain on Dragon Trigger to 3 flow per interval in PvE, and 6 in competitive, where every 3 flow drained gives 1 charge. FWIW I think the 30 max flow and tweaking the flow drain and charge gain rate in competitive play is the right call.
• You took away our core bursts AND our weapon swap in exchange for 2 new kits, but they do not function like kits proper. It's my opinion that you should be able to swap into Dragon Trigger from your main weapon set, and that if you do that when you leave DT you go back to that set. Like kits equipping the Gunsaber and Dragon Trigger should have 1s CD between equips. This would justify losing weapon swap and core bursts.
• The competitive damage scaling on the three Dragon Slashes is insultingly low for what we have to do to pull them off. We have to build a resource, DRAIN that resource over some period of time during which we cannot move, use any CDs with cast times or even use our dodge, all for an attack that is weaker than a Volley. Using an average weapon strength of 1000 (easier math) I found that the PvE scaling on DS1 is ~1.53 to ~46. Now that 46 scaling absolutely does not belong in competitive play, but the competitive scaling turned out to be ~0.97 to ~2.36 and that is way too low for the hoops that we have to jump through. The solution here is to keep the same minimum PvE scaling of ~1.53 but change the rate it increases in competitive play so that it caps out at 6.0 or 7.0 scaling. For reference Whirling Axe that most of us are using as a damage comparison has a scaling of 5.595 in competitive play. DS2 and DS3 should of course be lower, use the same PvE scaling for the minimum but cap them out at  75% and 66% of the DS1 maximum.

So to summarize the structural things above, make Flow flow faster or lower the cap. Make GunSaber and Dragon Trigger function like proper kits with 1s CD on equips. Fix the insultingly low damage on the Dragon Slashes.

Gunsaber:
When I was wailing on the raid golem I felt like the damage was fine, if I were in WvW that is. The damage is a tad low in all modes, and the CDs are too high. Increase it damage by ~15% in all modes and reduce the CDs by ~20%. I know you set them high because of the elite and some of the traits, but those lead to a spammy playstyle that is neither healthy for the game, nor my wrists. The flow of the attacks are all great, except for Breakstep. Make it stop at the enemy, or make it a ground targeted leap. This missile block on Cyclone Trigger should just be a normal block. This kit is honestly close to being right, its damage is just low and the CDs are too high. Fix Breakstep's leap. Turn CT into a normal block.

Pistol:
Its fine. It should be a MH weapon instead though. I would move it to the MH, give it a 900 range AA with a fast attack speed, like ranger shortbow fast. Move P5 to P2 and P4 to P3. Personally I instinctually wanted to do P4-P5-P4 as the combo, so yeah changing their order would flow better. That and this would then pair well with Shield or Warhorn. After that an OH pistol with an evade or smoke field would round it out, or skip OH pistol. Regardless you should just move this to the MH. People are saying Dragon's Roar doesn't trigger movement traits, ditto with Gunstinger, make them count as movement skills for trait purposes.

Dragon Trigger:
Increase the damages in competitive play as I state above. Triggerguard should be a 1s evade instead of a 2s aegis. Give it 1s of resistance as well. Flickerstep should be longer range and provide 2 stacks of stability for 2s on use, it also should proc any movement related traits. Fix the hit box and Dragon Slash - Reach, it's apparently too small. The full charge time is too slow in all game modes. I suggest having it affected by quickness. The base charge time in all game modes is just too high for this to function well. Make sure that the Dragon Slashes all count as T3 bursts. Too much effort is required to use them for them to be T1 equivalents even at low charge values.

Traits:
Rivers Flow: Reduce the CD or lower the flow cap.
Swift as the Wind: Reduce the CD or lower the flow cap.
Unseen Sword: Reduce the CD or lower the flow cap.
Dragonscale Defense: Lower the CD to 5s, we have to be in DT to get it, so there is already a built in CD, you just want to keep it from proccing more than once during a DT. Add in Resolution for 4s. Make them both 20% more effective (total of 40% damage reduction). This would also have great synergy with Defense.

The Master tier all promote overly spammy gameplay, but the only one that is really useful is Lush Forest. The barrier on Unshakeable Mountain is too low even in PvE. Personally I think the PvE numbers should be in Competitive and the PvE numbers should be 50% higher.

Lush Forest: Leave as is.
Unshakeable Mountain: Increase the barrier amounts by 50% in all game modes.
Fierce as Fire: This trait is dead weight. Either double the burn stacks or put something else in, like gain positive flow rate when you use the last charge of a munitions skill.

Guns and Glory: We have enough access to ferocity. Please swap this out for 250 precision instead.

The GM tier are all fine, its just Dragon Slash itself that is broken right now.

Utilities:
Honestly they were all okay.
Combat Stimulant is okay, it could also have resistance though. In fact I'd swap Vigor out for it with a 1 for 1 duration.
Flow Stabilizer should pulse 2 stability per second for 8s on the first use.
Bulletproof Barrier: Turn it into a reflect, make the initial damage pulse each second, give it a light field.
Electrified Fence: Pulse the cripple, this makes the second pulse and follow up pulses immobilize targets.
Dragonspike Mine: Make the mine placement where you use the skill. Give it ammo like all the other Armaments. 5s between uses, each use has 35s recharge.
Tactical Reload:  Give it ammo, or reduce the CDs on Gunsaber. Personally I'd say just reduce the CDs on Gunsaber and make it less reliant on an elite skill to function properly. Works cool with shouts though.

Two last things. In Dragon Trigger, allow 50% move speed and allow for dodge rolling without cancelling the mode. Pause the charging until you are stationary again though. Since you radically changed adrenaline into flow, I strongly consider that you make it so that flow does not drain outside of combat seeing as we have to drain it to charge our new burst mechanic. You may even should consider not have the charges drain either, but that may be too powerful.

Edit: You gave us explosions, but only one trait that works with them. I strongly consider you give more interactions, or get rid of them and make Guns and Glory a static stat increase.
 

 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Lan Deathrider.5910

[InspectorCaracal.2970]

Came in to say some stuff and people've already said all of it, so I'm just butting in to make one remark:

 

36 minutes ago, Karakutso.7546 said:

I just have 1 request / question. Bladesworn is the first spec to introduce a class mechanic/weapon that you can permanentaly wield and run around with.

It might be the first elite spec to add one to a class, but Engineer's had that for a while. If they add skins for gunsabers, they should add them for flamethrower kits etc. as well.

[Geoff Fey.1035]

Had some time to play around with it. Overall I think it needs some rejinking but the foundation is strong.

Flow

Played around in this a bit more and it definitely charges too slowly. I tested it out, and was able to get 7-8 Bursts/Full Counters camping in Greatsword as Spellbreaker in the same amount of time it took get get Flow to 100. That was using Movement skills, Ammunition with 1 charge left, etc. It simply takes way too long to get up to speed. If 100 Flow charged in the same amount of time it takes 20 Adrenaline it would be a different story, but right now it just takes ages. I understand that Adrenaline is a different matter (strikes, being struck, traits, etc) and Flow is Pip/Time (+Pips for certain mechanics); they drastically need to increase the amount of Flow you receive and/or reduce the cap.

Unsheath Gunsaber (F4)

Should move this to F4. F1 is such muscle memory for Warriors now that having anything except the burst skill feels counterintuitive. If nothing else, Gunsaber should not be in F1. Personally would recommend changing it to be like an Engineering Kit (i.e. no cooldown); Warrior's on-weapon-swap traits already have 4s CD's (remove 1 condition, provide 2 stacks 10s might; 5 adrenaline/flow pips all locked behind Discipline) so it will not be providing undue advantage being able to swap back and forth, especially if the CD's continue to be a limiting factor.

Dragon Trigger (F1-F3)

While the Dragon Trigger seems like a fun idea, the execution leaves a bit to be desired especially with Warrior's reliance on Burst being quick for traits. This should be revamped as F1-F3 skills instead: One button click starts Dragon Trigger, a second click activates the Dragon Slash of choice or if you reach 10 charges. This allows you to start charging with one (Force for example) and if you decide to change or reach 10 charges you can quickly use a different one (Reach, if enemy ran away). That also makes it so you need to make your decision of which one to use within that 5 second window of charging.

1. Dragon Slash - Force - Wider radius (160-180)
2. Dragon Slash - Boost - Wider radius. Difficult to target but feels nice. Maybe make it "stop" your character just past your target.
3. Dragon Slash - Reach - Difficult to hit with, does not always catch.

Triggerguard & Flicker Step - While in Dragon Trigger pulse Aegis and/or Stability (1s/each every 1s) & have access to 2-3 "dodges". This would force a Warrior to make discerning decisions if they want to move their character or if they're getting CC focused (PvE/PvP/WvW) and need to "dodge" away if something chips through the Aegis/Stability. The inspiration for this rooting is the Deadeye Kneel ability that roots you but you can still dodge.

Gunsaber - I want to like this weapon but it feels lackluster. The skills themselves don't do enough damage and the cooldowns are FAR too high for you to camp in this weapon, which is how the spec seems to play out. When using this weapon (and swapping back and forth with Axe/Pistol) it was a struggle to kill 1 Dominion Duelist in Drizzlewood Coast; that was pre-using ammunition so that I always had 1 charge left and then spamming everything I could. Right afterwards I chose Spellbreaker, NO utilities/heals/elite, ran into a group of 2 Scouts, 1 Veteran Scout, and 1 Gatling Cannon and was able to kills all 4 faster than I could kill that 1 Duelist, while getting off at least 7-8 Bursts/Full Counters.

Cooldowns must be reduced or Damage must be increased; possibly both.

1. Swift Cut-Steel Divide-Explosive Thrust - Feels slightly clunky and a bit too slow. Final explosion feels delayed; perhaps have the 3rd attack simply end with an explosion rather than the explosion after the fact.
2. Blooming Fire - Should have an explosion on your character, currently seems to hit in an arc just in front of character. Otherwise feels nice; could use a bit more damage.
3. Artillery Slash - Does not feel nice; perhaps revamp to be similar to Mortar Shot
4. Cyclone Trigger - Block projectile makes sense thematically, but the Strike then Ranged feels odd. Perhaps revamp to be a block (providing utility) that you can activate to then shoot out the shots.
5. Break Step - Feels odd in that it lunges you forward. It seems to be an "engage" skill yet you'd use it at a distance and would not hit anything there. And if you use it in combat it moves you away and then you need to get back in. Recommend change to something like Rush, Deathstrike, or Jump Shot

Healing - Combat Stimulant

Interesting thought in that your "actual" heal is a 2 part. Currently Mending takes 1 second, heals more, removes conditions, and only 15s CD. Combat Stimulant requires 2 button presses, delayed healing, and takes 2.50 to achieve the boons + heal (0.75s initial activation > 1s CD > 0.75s second activation) .Activation should be reduced to 1/3 or 1/4 and Recharge either to 0.5s or removed entirely, as you require 2 button presses to activate.

Please keep this, it just needs tweaking to be more effective but it's almost sitting in a really good spot

Utility - Flow Stabilizer

Reduce cast time to 3/4s and maybe increase Stability to 2 stacks. It's meant to be a "protection" for Dragon Trigger but 1 stack really doesn't do much. Positive + Additional Flow can be kept as-is.

Utility - Bulletproof Barrier

Increase damage. Consider revamping to 360 degree similar to Black Powder.

Utility - Electric Fence

Revise to operate similar to Line of Warding or  Hunter's Ward; prevent players from passing through. Causes Daze (0.5s) when players touch it. CD and Recharge can be left as-is; it offers a defensive skill with these changes to block enemies off to give you breathing space to either charge Dragon Trigger or use other skills.

Utility - Dragonspike Mine

I like this one but it could use some tweaking, especially changing it to an Ammunition skill. Keep CD on Dragon Trigger (Bursts) but make it so this Mine has 2 ammo counts. That was this skill plays into getting off multiple bursts.

Elite - Tactical Reload

Good as-is.

Traits

1. Minor - Gun x Sword  - No changes
   1. River's Flow - Regeneration should affect flow rate. 
   2. Swift as the Wind - Remove CD. Flow rate increase does not stack.
   3. Unseen Sword - Not enough damage and no incentive to swap weapons while in combat with current design. Kit idea suggested above would solve that and allow it to function as an extra attack.
2. Dragonscale Defenses - Protection, Stability, or Aegis pulse while in Dragon Trigger. See above suggestions.
   1. Unshakable Mountain - Barrier needs to be increased.
   2. Fierce as Fire - Does not make sense. All Gunsaber, Pistol, Utility, Dragon Slash, and Traits are Power Focused. Warrior loses regular Burst so Sword & Longbow condi-bursts cannot be used. Should be changed so that all explosions & ammunition uses causes burning.
   3. Lush Forest - Depends on CD changes recommended above. Feels like the only viable trait currently in the Master slot. Would recommend changing to EVERY use of Ammo on Ammunition skill recharges all skills by 1CD. Add 1s ICD to this trait.
3. Guns and Glory - Ferocity is nice, but hardly truly required. Would recommend changing to operate to give you ammunition back on your weapon skills. Perhaps each Charge consumed via Dragon Slash reduces CD of your Gunsaber & Pistol skills by 1s , that way since you are forced to use the Gunsaber mandatory in this Elite Spec you have a guaranteed trait you're forced to take that emphasizes using Dragon Slash + Gunsaber together and gives you a gimme if you want to have a Pistol in your offhand. This promotes usage of the Dragon Trigger as well.
   1. Immortal Dragon - Cannot consistently get high enough damage to make this worth it, and when you do get high enough often your enemy is already dead. Would recommend changing so that Dragon Slash heals you by the number of Charges used whether you hit or not, allowing self-sustain, synergy with River's Flow, and allows Warrior's an emergency button to quickly get some heals while in combat.
   2. Unyielding Dragon - No changes
   3. Daring Dragon - Oddball. It's strong and works well, but the Dragon Slashes are easily interruptable and you can be locked out of this trait by CC. Recommend this Stunbreaks upon Dragon Trigger activation (both initial & re-entering)

Summary

Overall the foundations are very strong. The Condi Trait "Fierce as Fire" does not make sense in this entire build. Spellbreaker did not have any Condi traits because nothing in the entire Elite Spec leaned that way. I see they were trying to make this one more inclusive if you wanted to run a Condi version but at the moment that does not work.

If Condi was to become an option in this build (hinted at with the Explosions & glowing Gunsaber), "Fierce as Fire" should make it that all explosions cause burning, all ammo uses causes burning. That would suddenly make every aspect of the Bladesworn play into a condi version.

The Gunsaber itself looks nice but needs tweaking to give it a bit more utility since you're expected to camp in it. The CD definitely needs to be addressed, however a tweak to Lush Forest, the recommendation of Guns & Glory above, or some combination would take care of that. The biggest problem is simply the damage. Axe/Greatsword simply do more damage at a faster pace vs. the Gunsaber and since we are forced to take the Gunsaber as a weapon it 100% needs to compete with those options. The ammunition system can still be used but either damage itself needs to be increased, CD reduced, or the aforementioned ways of reducing the CD yourself.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Geoff Fey.1035
EDIT1: Wording, References EDIT2: Played around more

[Wafflemang.6237]

I'm really enjoying it aside from weapon swap CD triggering after you use dragon slash. Feels kind of clunky being forced into gunsaber for 5-10 seconds after you do your big burst can feel pretty bad. Especially when you have no ammo or elite skill.

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

1.) Allow players to pocket bullets by exiting dragon trigger stance, even if they decay after a little while.  

2.)Allow players to exit holding the gunsaber after landing a burst. There should be no cd on weapon swap after using dragon trigger.

3.) Double the range of flicker step.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Azure The Heartless.3261