The elite spec names make no sense

[Dahkeus.8243]

Maybe I'm nit-picking here, but in particular with the "Virtuoso" and "Harbinger", there seems to be no connection to what the elite spec is actually about.

 

Virtuoso

noun

noun: virtuoso; plural noun: virtuosi; plural noun: virtuosos

a person highly skilled in music or another artistic pursuit.

 

What does the new elite spec have to do with music?  I mean, it's entirely about blades.  Sure, I mean, they are "psionic" blades, but referencing the blades as being related to sound still does nothing to tie it to music.  Virtuoso sounds like a bard-like elite, but the actual mechanics and everything else is more akin to dealing with psychic daggers.

 

Harbinger

noun

noun: harbinger; plural noun: harbingers

a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another.

 

What exactly is the necro announcing?  What does this elite spec have to do with announcing anything?  It's a pistol-wielding elixir drinker.  I would at least expect shouts to be tied to a harbinger or something, but how to elixirs/blight/pistols tie to anything harbinger related?

 

Now, "Willbender" isn't actually a distinct word with its own definition, but it is a combination of the words "will" and "bender", which implies there is some sort of domination or manipulation to someone's will.  To me, this implies some sort of psychic domination, which is anything but a "physical" skill brawler, but it's at least vague enough to be able to apply to any sort of powerful individual without saying anything too meaningful about them.

 

Previous elite specs seem to have, at least for the most part, done a good job of naming elite specs in a way that ties to what those specs are.  Good examples are Chronomancer, Holomancer, Mirage, Deadeye, etc.  They aren't all winners, but so far we haven't seen any that make sense with their name nearly at all.  Maybe this will change with the future, yet-unrevealed, elite specs. 

 

Either way, this is just an annoyance to me at the moment, lol.

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Dahkeus.8243

[Verdict is Vengence.6912]

19 minutes ago, Dahkeus.8243 said:

What does the new elite spec have to do with music?

Virtuoso is like a master performer or a kind of artist. With Virtuoso, I think its more like a composer of daggers, a conductor of flying blades if you will. The name of the spec works in my eyes.

 

24 minutes ago, Dahkeus.8243 said:

Harbinger

noun

noun: harbinger; plural noun: harbingers

a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another.

I have no idea why the class is named this. I thought harbringer was usually the messengers to start off the end times or destruction. That's how its been depicted in media anyways.

26 minutes ago, Dahkeus.8243 said:

"Willbender"

No idea why a kung fu dual blade guardian is called a willbender.

 

You got a point with two of them. Virtuoso is still an appropriate name in my opinion. The only thing I find odd about Virtuoso is that its kind of designed like a character from the Victorian era. But asia did have dealings with britain back then so maybe it works.

[sajah varel.9261]

The virtuoso actually does make sense (unlike the willbender), if you read the skilltypes. The blade skills are called bladesongs, so it's kind of like the elven spellsingers from D&D. So they should be summoning the blades through sound. You can also see that some of their traits are named after paragons' skills, like bladeturn refrain.

So it's the bard side of the mesmer (don't forget that the mesmer is a performer, bard, dancer, actor, illusionist etc.).

 

Willbender is stupid like all of the guardian names (even more so, at least the previous ones had a connection to the class, this one does not, zealot, warrior monk, martial artist or royal guard would have been a better choice). At that point I think they're just going with the meme.

 

As for harbingers, it kind of works if you look at them as the harbingers of the blight, which they use. I guess alchemist would have been too easy.

Edited August 15, 2021 by sajah varel.9261

[Verdict is Vengence.6912]

2 hours ago, sajah varel.9261 said:

As for harbingers, it kind of works if you look at them as the harbingers of the blight, which they use. I guess alchemist would have been too easy.

They could've gone with Plague Bringer or Plague Doctor. There is a similar class in a game called Grim Dawn that's like Harbinger but its called Occultist.

[Gomes.5643]

I actually thought that the Virtuoso was Canthas aquivalent to the knife thrower in the circus...... which would make then some sense, but that doesnt seem to be their lore .......

 

 

The other two I completly agree. Habinger should be Plaguedoctor - the name is just to fitting and also would make sense lorewise as Kaineng is known for the big plague.

And "Willbenders" mean ..... nothing really ...... only would make sense if the guards of the empress are called the Willbenders ...... which still would be a weird name but that is the only explaination I came up with .....

 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Gomes.5643

[Fueki.4753]

Harbinger sounds to me like they first thought of Harmbinger but ended up dropping the m.

Harmbinger would fit that specialization.

 

Willbenders are killing off any threat to the Canthan throne, thus bending the people's will away from any kind of resistance against the throne.

 

Mesmers are the profession that is connected to arts more than any other. A Virtuoso is someone excelling in arts.

So while not fitting the specialization mechanically, Virtuoso fits Mesmers in general very well in regards to the lore.

[FranzM.1298]

Harbinger is a pun. Har”binger” as in they binge on elixirs to cause themselves harm. Harbingers signify disaster so it suits Necromancers.
 

Virtuoso needed some vocal recordings in their bladesongs or utilities to make it more music based. 

 

Willbender to me fits.

Edited August 15, 2021 by FranzM.1298

[Bunny.9834]

Virtuoso - Bladedancer, Psyblade 

Harbinger - Plaguedoctor, Darkshaman 

Willbender - Vanquisher, Vindicator 

[sajah varel.9261]

WHile I'm good with occultist, plague doctor makes no sense, a plague doctor is a doctor, they cure afflictions, they don't inflict it. Witch doctor on the other hand...

[Panda.1967]

20 hours ago, Fueki.4753 said:

Mesmers are the profession that is connected to arts more than any other. A Virtuoso is someone excelling in arts.

So while not fitting the specialization mechanically, Virtuoso fits Mesmers in general very well in regards to the lore.

Indeed… Virtuoso is a good fit for “a” Mesmer elite spec… just not this one… it is an absolutely terrible fit for this particular elite spec… and worse off it effectively kills off any potential of an actual musical themed Mesmer elite spec in the future… the Vituoso (name) should have been put on the back burner for a later expansion. The spec we got is honestly exactly what I was expecting for a Canthan Mesmer Elite spec… some sort of blending of assassin and Mesmer… I was not disappointed in that refused… but the instant they revealed the name as “virtuoso” I facepalmed… they should have gone with a different name…

Edited August 16, 2021 by Panda.1967

[Fueki.4753]

1 hour ago, Panda.1967 said:

Indeed… Virtuoso is a good fit for “a” Mesmer elite spec… just not this one… it is an absolutely terrible fit for this particular elite spec… and worse off it effectively kills off any potential of an actual musical themed Mesmer elite spec in the future… the Vituoso (name) should have been put on the back burner for a later expansion. The spec we got is honestly exactly what I was expecting for a Canthan Mesmer Elite spec… some sort of blending of assassin and Mesmer… I was not disappointed in that refused… but the instant they revealed the name as “virtuoso” I facepalmed… they should have gone with a different name…

I agree with most of that and think that Bladecaller or Bladesinger might have been better.

But for a musically themed specialization, they can always simply call it Bard.

[frareanselm.1925]

I see the virtuoso like somebody who works in Divinity's Reach Circus, specialist in illusionism, and the typical guy that picks some volunteer and throw daggers to him. Circus artist lore.

[Lotus Bane.9387]

Generally, I at least like that they are not using common names such as "bard". If I happen to be walking in a public area overhearing someone randomly say they "play Virtuoso", my mind during these days would automatically jump to GW2.  Versus someone saying they "play bard", having my mind explode with 50 million possibilities. 

[Gomes.5643]

On 8/16/2021 at 1:13 PM, sajah varel.9261 said:

WHile I'm good with occultist, plague doctor makes no sense, a plague doctor is a doctor, they cure afflictions, they don't inflict it. Witch doctor on the other hand...

 

Well the medieval plague doctors surely tried to cure afflictions ..... how sucessful they were on the other side ..... I think the name would makes sense when you think of the afflictions as an side effect ...... as plague doctors have the prejudices that their cures come with a price.

[DeanBB.4268]

Elite name are like car or band names, apparently.  All the good ones have already been taken.

 

I'm okay with them. I agree that harbinger doesn't make sense, at least not yet. The other two are fine.

[sajah varel.9261]

On 8/18/2021 at 8:09 PM, Gomes.5643 said:

 

Well the medieval plague doctors surely tried to cure afflictions ..... how sucessful they were on the other side ..... I think the name would makes sense when you think of the afflictions as an side effect ...... as plague doctors have the prejudices that their cures come with a price.

Yeah but the elite spec doesn't look like it wants to cure someone, it's more like kill myself to kill someone else faster. If anything it's more like a junkie class that anything else.

[Gomes.5643]

7 hours ago, sajah varel.9261 said:

Yeah but the elite spec doesn't look like it wants to cure someone, it's more like kill myself to kill someone else faster. If anything it's more like a junkie class that anything else.

 

Well I think it fits - the class has access to elixirs after all. Giving stuff to strenghtening the body is also something doctors might be known to .... exspecially the darker kind. I like the name because i can imagine it to be an actual job description in Canthan society - like e.g. "My spouse has gotten that pesty illness that is making the rounds - luckily the elixier of the plague doctor made her endure it." or "You seek strength no matter the consequence? Your local plague doctor might have something for you ..." Thats works much better then with "Harbinger"  ......

[Sobx.1758]

On 8/15/2021 at 10:47 AM, Verdict is Vengence.6912 said:

They could've gone with Plague Bringer or Plague Doctor. There is a similar class in a game called Grim Dawn that's like Harbinger but its called Occultist.

Plague bringer sounds bad. Plague doctor is already a name of one of the stat prefixes. I think the current names are ok, with Willbender being the least fitting.

Edited August 20, 2021 by Sobx.1758

[Kodama.6453]

27 minutes ago, Sobx.1758 said:

Plague bringer sounds bad. Plague doctor is already a name of one of the stat prefixes. I think the current names are ok, with Willbender being the least fitting.

To be fair, the argument with stat prefixes doesn't hold, considering that we have a berserker elite spec which is also the most commonly used power build prefix.

[Shin Ryu.5802]

Frankly, I'm glad someone brought up this topic.  It really seemed like the least relevant aspect of the new elite specs and I was afraid that it would just be something practically no one would care about, but I'm glad so many people piped up and proved me wrong.

So allow me to add my own humble opinions to the pile:

Virtuoso:  Actually not a bad name; it's a master performer, and mesmers are, in terms of their "color," all about putting on a show.  It's easily the most ostentatious of the elite specs so far, so it fits in that regard.  If there is any minor weak point to be found, it's in the cultural dissonance of placing a decidedly Latin/Italian elite specialization name into an Asian-inspired expansion.

Harbinger:  Harbinger of what, exactly?  What are they announcing?   Sure, it SOUNDS cool, but so does "meconium"--it just doesn't MEAN anything particularly cool or even relevant.  "Plague doctor" isn't bad, I'd be on board with it.  It happens to be one of the current stat combination prefixes already in use, but that's not necessarily disqualifying.  "Jade alchemist?"  "Blight slinger?"  I'm sure there are better ideas; they really only have to clear the low bar that is "harbinger."  Again, "harbinger" SOUNDS cool, but it's about as relevant to what this elite spec does as "waffle maker."

Willbreaker:  No idea where this even comes from, other than maybe it was a new word their legal department told them hadn't been trademarked by anyone else yet.  It's the most questioned (if not outright hated) elite spec name so far, and yet coming up with a substitute is still challenging--mostly because it's not entirely clear what the elite spec is really meant to be.  

I think willbreaker was meant to be a Shiro Tagachi-style kitten protector-enforcer, but it currently plays like some kind of nerfed daredevil burn thief that disappoints guardian and thief players alike.  Perhaps more than with any other of these elites, the name itself could offer a more clear direction:  "avenger," "enforcer," "vanquisher," "yojimbo," or anything that tells us what this elite specialization is all about. 

Unless of course the willbreaker is actually meant to  break the collective wills of all guardian players by giving them yet another lackluster elite spec.  In that case, they're on a solid path to victory, and I withdraw my criticism of the name.

[Sobx.1758]

1 hour ago, Kodama.6453 said:

To be fair, the argument with stat prefixes doesn't hold, considering that we have a berserker elite spec which is also the most commonly used power build prefix.

Oh, true.

I just don't like it then 😛 

 

Edited August 20, 2021 by Sobx.1758