Virtuoso Feedback Thread [Merged]

[Naxos.2503]

I. Miss. Too. Often !

 

A lot of the skills usage is directional, but doesn't track targets, meaning a lot of skills (including the long cooldown elite skill) can be Completely wasted with high regularity. 

 

As a player with dyspraxia, I rely on the Instant cast option for me to fight competitively. That however has a noticeable downside is that if I use the skill on a target that is arbitrarily "too far", it still casts, but just casts on Me instead, wasting the skill unless I stand directly in the face of my opponent. This happens with Rain of Swords only so far, and I cant understand why. This is the case for Renegade ghosts. An endless source of frustration for me.

 

It was otherwise a fairly decent experience, if a very monocentric spec from what I've seen. It's power based and that's about it. I'm sure it can be worked with on a condi build, but that is very likely to be extremely subpar compared to Mirage of a Chrono shatterbuild.

 

If you change anything, please either make the skills properly track their target, or atleast make the AoE work properly with instant casting.. If Elementalist can have it, why cant renegade and virtuoso ?

Edited August 19, 2021 by Naxos.2503

[Sir Vincent III.1286]

3 hours ago, Quadox.7834 said:

infinite forge is absolutely not useless, it is actually the best one for many builds. but it should prob work out of combat.

90% of the time I have 3+ blade in combat using Psychic Riposte. Even Bloodsong + Jagged Mind gives more blades in the same time frame.

 

Infinite Forge, replenish a single blade every 3s for max of 3, is useless in comparison.

 

Although  I do agree that it can be improved if it also replenishes out of combat and increased to max of 5 blades.

[HotDelirium.7984]

Are the Bladesongs intending to synergize with shatter skill traits?

 

I like dagger 2 and 3 but auto attack feels and looks like im throwing a pink boomerang.

 

I think you should flip (somewhat) what the Psychic renewal and the healing skill do because if you have no target to pew pew its pretty DOA. Let us renew the blades, gain distortion and some healing (and maybe regeneration). The other skill can knock people back, give boons and damage.

 

Thousand Cuts feels like 10 Cuts. I do like the stationary portal detonation drop (because you can move while its shooting). I think it would be unique if the velocity increase every second for the 3 seconds equalling a ton of blades flying. (i.e. looking like a thousand cuts). Maybe even make the blades smaller to emphasize all the tiny lacerations happening. Maybe add stacks of bleeding if the enemy is already bleeding.

 

I think it would be cool to have the blades hovering over the mesmer be race flavored (even if the other animations look regular). A sylvari's looks more plant like, Char more gritty, human more noble, asura more techno, norn just more big.

[pitchBLACK.5479]

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 =)!

[Levetty.1279]

6 hours ago, Quadox.7834 said:

infinite forge is absolutely not useless, it is actually the best one for many builds. but it should prob work out of combat.

If you are regularly fighting for 9 seconds without generating blades then there is a problem.

[Xaylin.1860]

11 minutes ago, Levetty.1279 said:

If you are regularly fighting for 9 seconds without generating blades then there is a problem.

Yeah, got to agree. The only time Infinite Forge is useful is out of combat or when you're constantly running away. Sure, you could theoretically run Bloodsong without actually having Bleeding. That would be worse. But even Psychic Riposte easily generates more Blades via Bladeturn Refrain.

 

 

12 hours ago, Simonoly.4352 said:

[...] bladedancessongs (if you're going to call it a "bladesong" our characters should surely be singing, right?).  [...]

 

Traits

Unfortunately, the new Virtuoso traitline is very unexciting. I feel like I could pick any of those traits at random and I wouldn't even notice. There's nothing there to really craft a build. Where's the trait to augment my dagger? Where's the trait to get me thinking about my stacked blades differently? Where's the trait to augment my psionic utilities? Give me some traits with the same kinds of flavour and pizzaz seen in the skills! 

 

[...]

In my head canon, the "singing" comes from the Blades vibrating or slicing air. Time. Space. Who knows. Works for me. Maybe not what I initially envisioned a Virtuoso to be like but it's not totally out of place.

 

Regarding traits: I do agree that they are uninspired and don't impact your gameplay enough. However, there are traits that augment your Dagger. And your Psionics. Every trait affecting "Blades" does. It's just so forgettable and watered down it doesn't feel impactful.

[Axl.8924]

I like the idea in theory in focusing on shatters and having no illusions, but i was just thinking of soulbeast how when they merged with pet they get multiple stuff to survive and do dmg.

 

Not having illusions or phantasms you should have on your weapon set and maybe you are supposed to use sword/focus/GS or something? i dunno, but the new weapon really is lacking.

 

Also thinking about it, other weapons have ranged and utility.

[Xaylin.1860]

Just now, Axl.8924 said:

Not having illusions or phantasms you should have on your weapon set and maybe you are supposed to use sword/focus/GS or something? i dunno, but the new weapon really is lacking.

Theoretically, using Phantasm skills could give you a stance-like effect like they just introduced to Willbender which attaches the Phantasm-metric to the Mesmer and therefore at least temporarily benefit from Phantasm related effects. The attack would be performed by the Mesmer himself. It would be a lot of fun. However, this would be yet another gimmick and probably spaghetti code plus more difficult to balance because some traits would need a Virtuoso-exclusive effect.

 

[mortrialus.3062]

I've spent probably around 10 hours testing this thing in PvP and here are my thoughts. 

 

Thematics:

 

Virtuoso is still not a good name and it should be something like Phantomblade instead.  Virtuoso implies some kind of artistic performer like a bard, it'd be a good name for a true bard spec, but there's no music of performance aspect to this elite spec. The Bladesongs don't really have anything to do with songs.  And the psionic skills don't feel that psionic either.  I feel like the names of these things should get a workover to make them more focused on what the spec actually is and plays like.  A ranged fighter who nukes people with phantasmal blades they create. 

 

Now in terms of aesthetics this profession is one of the best.  It feels cool running along with a full set of 5 blades ready to strike.  I like the animations of all the skills are all gorgeously rendered.  That said one odd thing is that the elite is very very hard to see while the normal utility skill Rain of Swords is one of the craziest animations in the game.  

 

The Class Itself Part 1.

 

Just across the board, everything is woefully under tuned.  As in everything is doing half the amount of damage or even less than it should be in SPvP levels of under tuned.  All of the following numbers were recorded from the medium target dummy in SPvP.

 

Blade Song Harmony with 5 blades:

 

Domination the damage can range from 

4,440 (only one crit)

9,315 (All crit)

 

Illusions

 

6,172

7,195

7,519

5,905

6,201

5,905

 

Now keep in mind that on core mesmer, Mind Wrack with 1 clone is capable of putting out these kinds of numbers.

4024 (No crit)

7835 (One ability crits)

11,646 (Both hits crit)

 

And using a 1 clone Mind Wrack and greatsword is an easy combo to do, has a fraction of a second of a telegraph and doesn't require close to 10 seconds of set up to do.  The Virtuosos F1 skill should be hitting much harder than the core mesmer one due to the cast time, the higher tell, the higher set up time and cost.

 

For comparison, on the power DH trapper build, True shot which requires no set up, has the same cast time as Virtuoso F1 and a faster projectile is critting for:

5,783

6,262

6,935

 

And if you take to time to set it up with the DH's F1 skill first you can be hitting:

9,977

10,030

10,296

 

So again, you're looking at something very long range as well, with a fraction of the set up time and easily hitting for significantly more damage than absolute the luckiest all 5 attacks crit I got on Virtuoso.

 

I don't really want to get too into the weeds on numbers and PvP isn't a DPS benchmark on golems, but I those few examples and direct comparisons show how really undertuned virtuoso is on a whole even at Virtuoso's absolute best it's damage is pathetic compared to what other classes on Berserker amulet can snap out very quickly with a fraction of the set up.

 

So let's go through these one by one.

 

Dagger

Flying Cutter:  The projectiles need to be significantly faster.  Potentially twice the velocity.  This is currently very buggy and very frequently does not cause the flurry attack after 3 strikes but if you up the projectile speed and round out the bugs this should be fine with like a 10-20% boost in damage. 

Bladecall:  Trash.  Virtuoso turns mesmer into a more effective long range fighter than core Mesmer.  So why is it's signature weapon so counter to that?   Look at other long range attacks in the game.  Rapid Fire, good at any range and hits the target.  True shot, good at any range and hits the target.  Death's Judgement, good at any range and hits the target.

 

And Bladecall is our best damage dealer on our long range kit that... requires us to get point blank to the enemy, detarget them, aim the camera into the ground and then fire directly at their feet to get the skill's damage numbers looking halfway decent.  This skill should just be a damage dealing skill that's just always good like other long range fighters.  Why have all this nonsensical conditional aspects to it that run counter to the entire spec that other professions don't have to deal with? 

 

Unstable Bladestorm:  Feels super unimpactful and floaty.  We should be able to choose where we summon it not just shoot it out from us. This shouldn't be a projectile either, it should be an AOE that shoots projectiles. And it should apply cripple or chill to help maintain range as well as trap people into it or maybe knock people away when they get hit by it like Revenent Staff 5.   Or maybe it should destroy projectiles. 

 

Right now Dagger simply does not have the tools required to be an effective ranged weapon in PvP.  And no combination offhands gets dagger up to being a viable ranged weapon.  Compare some of the other long range kits other classes have:

 

Ranger Longbow

1.  High Velocity Projectile

2.  Main damage skill, high velocity good at any range.

3.  Stealth to escape a target that gets close.

4.  Knockback to push a close target away.

5.  A long range AOE cripple that is ground targeted, applies cripple to keep targets away, and can rack up 10k damage.

 

Deadeye Rifle:

1.  High Velocity Projectile

2.   Cripple / Immobilize.

3.  Main damage skill, high velocity good at any range.

4.  A massive blink backwards that can be spammed if targets get close / a projectile destroying wall if someone tries to attack you from range. 

 

These are just more complete kits that have ways to keep people away, do good damage at max range, and get away from the target should they close the gap.   Dagger has none of these and regardless on what offhand you have it doesn't make the kit as well rounded as those competitively.  You can get a stealth or a stun which doesn't compare to the quality of life on either of those weapon kits. 

 

Maybe we can look into giving Virtuoso some flip over skills for their dagger 2+3 skills that will actually round out dagger a lot more as a long range weapon, give it a way to prevent enemies from getting close and a way to get them out of your face when they do close the gap.

Bladesongs

Bladesong Harmony:  Cast time could be bumped down to 0.5 instead of 0.75.   Damage needs to go up considerably in SPvP by about 50-100%.

Bladesong Sorrow:   It's fine but but very boring. 

Bladesong Dissonance:  This is absolutely terrible and I have nothing good to say about it unfortunately. 

 

Losing the point blank AOE aspect is extremely bad, making it absolutely worthless defensively.  Turning it into a projectile is extremely bad.  And giving it a  0.5 cast time makes it functionally unusable.   If it's going to be a daze then it should be instant cast with a slight aftercast like Thieve's Headshot and the velocity should be equally as fast.  Ranger Concussion shot has a 0.25 cast time and it can full on stun in the right conditions.  Everything about this is bad.  It should either be a stun if it's going to have the same cast time, and i mean a meaty stun like 0.5 seconds of stun every blade.  Not to mention you lose the ability to have you clones stagger into the enemy.  

 

Also Master of Fragmentation shouldn't make an AOE around the target but should make this skill shoot 5 projectiles that automatically target multiple enemies. 

 

Literally every single aspect about this is a huge downgrade from base F3 with nothing positive in return for it.

 

Bladeturn Requiem: This thing is very bad but it can almost work if the damage was straight up quadrupled or sextupled .   So we lose distortion and that hurts, so there has to be something very valuable given back to us in return to make it a trade off rather than a straight nerf.  We get block, which is still a downgrade, we can't attack while we do it.  And the damage is absolutely pitiful  Let's check out some of my damage numbers on the medium target golem:

 

1,183

1,447

1,541

 

And in one special lucky case where all packets of damage managed to crit I got:

 

2,521

 

You are replacing your ultimate defensive tool for this.  This your way of dealing with enemies that try to melee you, by scaring them off with counter pressure, and it does absolutely nothing for damage.   If the skill is going to keep the functionality it straight up needs it's damage multiplied by 4-6x in SPvP, it needs to be threatening so that when a thief jumps on you, you scare them away from you and can keep trying to function as a ranged damage dealer.  Compare the damage from Bladeturn Requiem to Procession of Blades on Dragon Hunter on the same medium golem:

 

7,180

8,700

10,462

 

Dragon Hunter's PoB hits for 4-6x the damage as Bladeturn Requiem.  And sure you aren't going to get 10k out of PoB every single time, but what's valuable about it is that it hits very hard very quickly and it will absolutely scare anyone standing on it away.  If you're going to make us lose distortion on F4 and replace it with damage the damage needs to actually be good enough to counter pressure and scare people away and very valuable if you trap someone in it the full duration.  Quadruple the damage and make the damage pulses come out quicker similar to Precession of Blades and this would actually be workable and could actually save you if a thief or revenant jumps you. 

 

Finally, while the animation is stunning it's extremely difficult to tell when you're actually blocking during this.  And it got me killed multiple times as a result.

 

Continued in Part 2.

Edited August 26, 2021 by mortrialus.3062

[mortrialus.3062]

Continued from Part 1

 

Traits

Across the board the traits are very boring and don't feel like the synergize with Virtuoso much and are also horribly undertuned.   The only trait that is good is Infinite Forge, in fact all other traits are so bad it's straight up mandatory. 

 

TOP

Aegis on Bladesong seems good on Paper but again, this is a spec that is designed to be a ranged damage dealer you don't want people noticing and attacking you at all.  It would be better if there was something that actually prevented targets from getting close into the first place like Chill or Super Speed on Blade Song.  The quickness also sounds way better on paper than it actually is.  So you dodge an attack and evade, and then by the time you're done evading your quickness duration is already half over.  Just not a great combo. 

 

Post megabalance a lot of quickness traits will only do 2 seconds, but they're also a lot more controllable offensively, like Soulbeast's Live Fast gives 2 seconds of quickness but it's also a lot more controllable as it'll activate when you use a beast skill meaning you're already likely going on the offensive and thus just getting it for free as part of your normal aggression.

 

Reposting Blade is a joke.   56 damage, 130 crit on block or evade.  Again, everything on Virtuoso is outrageously under tuned.  You could up the damage on the by a factor of 15 and it would still only be a tiny bit better than the Warrior dodge attack trait.

 

Middle

Mental Focus is boring and it hate how what it incentivizes on virtuoso runs counter to what Virtuoso is actually better at than Core Mesmer. Phantasmal blade also undertuned and not the most fun interaction.  Just kind of passively loading damage onto something else.  Damage is also very poor.  Every 20-30 seconds you shoot a projectile that can crit for about 1,100k on a berserk amulet.  Better than Reposting Blade for sure.  Infinite Forge is the only good trait and straight up mandatory. 

 

Bottom

The condition traits are hilariously undertuned as well. 1s of bleed on crit as a Adept trait is a prime example.  Before Sharper Images got smiter's booned it was 5 seconds on clone and phantasm attacks.   So on virtuoso you pick these condition traits, giving up power damage because you need the crit from Rabid, and all you get to show for it is at most 150 bleed damage on crit is straight up laughable.   It's pathetic.  Like I dunno if Condition Virtuoso should be a thing at all given that is what Mirage is for, but if you're going to give us traits that bad I'd rather they be scrapped entirely and replaced with something that could be more useful and interesting for build craft competitively. 

 

Traits Conclusion

There's so much missing from Virtuoso, it has absolutely no answer for conditions anywhere on the spec.  This could be a good opportunity to give mesmer some conditions and boons it doesn't typically have a lot of like Super Speed, Chill, Immobilize, Reveal, something that would help it as a ranged damage dealer.  There's no trait based stunbreak, there could have been a trait that made Bladesong Dissonance and Bladeturn Requiem break stun like guardian's Indomitable Courage. You could have something like a grandmaster that makes the Bladesongs Unblockable if you use a max stack of blades or something.   But there's just nothing new or exciting here. 

Continued in Part 3

Edited September 4, 2021 by mortrialus.3062

[Lincolnbeard.1735]

4 minutes ago, mortrialus.3062 said:

Continued from Part 1

 

Traits

Across the board the traits are very boring and don't feel like the synergize with Virtuoso much and are also horribly undertuned.   The only trait that is good is Infinite Forge, in fact all other traits are so bad it's straight up mandatory. 

 

TOP

Aegis on Bladesong seems good on Paper but again, this is a spec that is designed to be a ranged damage dealer you don't want people noticing and attacking you at all.  It would be better if there was something that actually prevented targets from getting close into the first place like Chill or Super Speed on Blade Song.  The quickness also sounds way better on paper than it actually is.  So you dodge and attack and evade, and then by the time you're done evading your quickness duration is already half over.  Just not a great combo. 

 

Post megabalance a lot of quickness traits will only do 2 seconds, but they're also a lot more controllable offensively, like Soulbeast's Live Fast gives 2 seconds of quickness but it's also a lot more controllable as it'll activate when you use a beast skill meaning you're already likely going on the offensive and thus just getting it for free as part of your normal aggression.

 

Reposting Blade is a joke.   56 damage, 130 crit on block or evade.  Again, everything on Virtuoso is outrageously under tuned.  You could up the damage on the by a factor of 15 and it would still only be a tiny bit better than the Warrior dodge attack trait.

 

Middle

Mental Focus is boring and it hate how what it incentivizes on virtuoso runs counter to what Virtuoso is actually better at than Core Mesmer. Phantasmal blade also undertuned and not the most fun interaction.  Just kind of passively loading damage onto something else.  Damage is also very poor.  Every 20-30 seconds you shoot a projectile that can crit for about 1,100k on a berserk amulet.  Better than Reposting Blade for sure.  Infinite Forge is the only good trait and straight up mandatory. 

 

The condition traits are hilariously undertuned as well. 1s of bleed on crit as a Adept trait is a prime example.  Before Sharper Images got smiter's booned it was 5 seconds on clone and phantasm attacks.   So on virtuoso you pick these condition traits, giving up power damage because you need the crit from Rabid, and all you get to show for it is at most 150 bleed damage on crit is straight up laughable.   It's pathetic.  Like I dunno if Condition Virtuoso should be a thing at all given that is what Mirage is for, but if you're going to give us traits that bad I'd rather they be scrapped entirely and replaced with something that could be more useful and interesting for build craft competitively. 

Continued in Part 3

The worst about riposting blade is that it reveals you. Dodge or block while having that trait and stealth and you'll kill yourself.

 

As for condi I agree I don't think it should be a thing, I've been playing it on wvw and while the survival is still an issue the condi burst is insane, still I think this spec should be focused on power.

[mortrialus.3062]

Utilities

 

Despite the absolutely gorgeous animation these are largely not very good.

 

There's no trait interaction at all to bump the down the cooldowns. No interesting synergy that could incentivize them.  What you see is what you get. 

 

Twinblade Restoration:   Too long of a cooldown.  Damage is fine but it's a healing skill that's not the main draw.  I hate the conditional aspect of it, just have the skill be good on it's own.  Drop the cooldown to 20 seconds and give us the boons and cleanse and have the damage be it's own reward. 

 

Blade Renewal:  The only genuinely good one of these.   People aren't going to play virtuoso in PvP, but if they did this is the only virtuoso utility they would consider running.  I find it a tough fit between blink being mandatory, and wanting some kind of cleanse and also a stealth.   I would suggest adding a stunbreak but I actually would think that would make this utility too good and too mandatory.

 

Psychic Force:  If you bumped this down to like a 15 second cooldown this would actually be solid. Maybe give it 5 seconds of reveal as well.

 

Rain of Swords:   Coolest animation in the game.  Garbage damage.  Bump the damage up to 10k on a zerker amulet is SPvP like the Guardian Trap and it'll see some use.  Maybe add some cripple or Chill.  Basically the same thing as the Chronomancer power damage well which is a bummer. 

 

Sword of Decimation:  I can't see this being used and I can't really think of anything to really fix it.  It's just not great and you'd have to scrap it entirely and make something new.

 

Thousand Cuts (Elite):

Doesn't matter how high you tune the damage on this thing you will never hit anything in SPvP with it.  The delivery and activation of this skill are among the absolute worse I have ever seen in this game.  It's absolutely useless.  I'd recategorizing this as a standard utility, making Rain of Swords the elite, and then bumping up the Rain of Swords damage up to Elite Levels and making it 300 Radius, give it some chill and then you would have an elite people might actually take.   I'd rather the activation be more like Prime Light Beam where it'll just follow and cast on my target. 

 

Ultimately

Virtuoso is let down by abysmal damage numbers in SPvP and nothing to show for losing all quality of life from core mesmer as well simply not having the toolkit to operate effectively as a ranged damage dealer.  I actually was excited for a cloneless more psionic mesmer, especially one that could do long range really effectively and excel in team fights, but this ain't it and needs heavy amount of work. 

 

Also it has absolutely zero ability to deal with enemy downstates.  It's damage is terrible and won't do much to scare away people by pressuring the body normally. It doesn't have the level of cleave to scare away people reviving the body like a Dragon Hunter dropping Procession of Blades can.  It doesn't have anyway to safely stomp the body without true distortion.  It doesn't have stability and it's too squishy to make good use of stability stomping anyway. 

 

Additional Thoughts

It was nice to see Sword 3 adjusted with Virtuoso in mind but there's some other problematic aspects of Mesmer when interacting with Virtuoso.

 

Please look into adjusting the auto attack chains for Staff and Scepter while on virtuoso.  Condition Staff and Scepter's damage is balanced around having three clones.  Having three clones will double your auto attack's DPS on these weapons while condi.  Please double the stacks on these weapons while Virtuoso, or double the duration of the conditions. No other spec nerfs core weapons like this.  Like imagine if Daredevil took away 50% of your dagger auto attack damage.

Edited October 3, 2021 by mortrialus.3062

[Thund.2795]

I'll post here too a suggestion for Virtuoso (more lore-related): right now phantasms are translucent purple illusions in the caster's image, carrying weapons based on the skill that created them. My suggestion is to change the phantasm aesthetic for Virtuoso to show only the weapon, like a spirit weapon for guardian. I think it's a great idea to give more identity to this elite spec! 😊

[azarhal.3086]

I played one a bit on HoT maps (default DPS setup, soloing random stuff).

 

I liked the overall feel of the e-spec, but there is a lack of synergy between the Blades and core Mesmer traits/balance with everything that is tied to Clones. Blades replace Clones but not entirely, they do not provide alternate targets for attackers and they do not attack things while they are "stored" like clones do. I also have the impression that all the traits related to clones do not work with Blades (I haven't tried all of them thought). The clones were removed, but outside Blades working with shatter skills nothing seems gained on Virtuoso for their lost by default.

 

The Elite skill is badly though out, you will either miss entirely or not get all damage tick unless you fight a stationary target or are in a very specific area with dumb enemies being lead down a corridor. We should be able to track targets with the beam at the very least. You are also quite vulnerable while using it, balance should take that into consideration. 

[ASV.7819]

Today I've noticed the next bug, scepter autoattack chain doesn't generate 5th blade. Please pay attention to this. And let vrtuosso shoot his blades from the back.

[Xaylin.1860]

1 hour ago, mortrialus.3062 said:

[...]

 

Rain of Swords:   Coolest animation in the game.  Garbage damage.  Bump the damage up to 10k on a zerker amulet is SPvP like the Guardian Trap and it'll see some use.  Maybe add some cripple or Chill.  Basically the same thing as the Chronomancer power damage well which is a bummer. 

 

[...]

 

Thousand Cuts (Elite):

Doesn't matter how high you tune the damage on this thing you will never hit anything in SPvP with it.  The delivery and activation of this skill are among the absolute worse I have ever seen in this game.  It's absolutely useless.  I'd recategorizing this as a standard utility, making Rain of Swords the elite, and then bumping up the Rain of Swords damage up to Elite Levels and making it 300 Radius, give it some chill and then you would have an elite people might actually take.   I'd rather the activation be more like Prime Light Beam where it'll just follow and cast on my target. 

 

 

I agree. Unless Throusands Cuts gets wider, it is too situational. While I also agree regarding damage, I got the feeling it won't ever reach the levels we'd wish for. Because they contain "Blades" (attack-effect). Theoretically, when running Jagged Mind and Bloodsong, you could stack so many Blades (resource) with max. targets of 5 that you could basically spam Bladesongs for a short period of time. Simultaneously, your enemies would be blasted with Bleeding and Vulnerability. Is this scenario realistic? Probably not. But it could happen.

[Daniel Handler.4816]

It's hard to tell where this spec is supposed to fit in. It doesn't have the mobility or sustain for a roamer in WvW/PvP. It can't do raids like a chrono (bench is slightly higher but less cc). It can't solo open world like mirage. Any build can group open world. 

 

Maybe fractals? If i can figure out how to add agony resistance. 

[dweller.3249]

I have played memser from the start and all the other elite specialisations even the base mesmers have tricks and confusion for PvP and a degree of utility for pve,

In this way I don't think the virtuoso brings much to the table.

I do however enjoy this specialisation for the honed blade that it is very enjoyable and different dealing all your damage from such range.

I personally find that it doesn't integrate well with the mesmer has a whole and as a result there are very limited ways to play the new elite specialisation.

I hope it can be tweaked to either give a better condition route or an idea that brings something new to the foundations of a mesmer e.g. stun , burst damage trickery and mobility to allow different & viable ways  to play.

[Axl.8924]

Thematics:

 

Virtuoso is still not a good name and it should be something like Phantomblade instead.  Virtuoso implies some kind of artistic performer like a bard, it'd be a good name for a true bard spec, but there's no music of performance aspect to this elite spec. The Bladesongs don't really have anything to do with songs.  And the psionic skills don't feel that psionic either.  I feel like the names of these things should get a workover to make them more focused on what the spec actually is and plays like.  A ranged fighter who nukes people with phantasmal blades they create. 

 

This exactly hit the nail on the head. It shouldn't have been called a virtuoso, more like knife thrower or something. The name is so deceptive and people who expect a bard are going to be so disappointed.

[TheAgedGnome.7520]

28 minutes ago, Axl.8924 said:

Thematics:

 

Virtuoso is still not a good name and it should be something like Phantomblade instead.  Virtuoso implies some kind of artistic performer like a bard, it'd be a good name for a true bard spec, but there's no music of performance aspect to this elite spec. The Bladesongs don't really have anything to do with songs.  And the psionic skills don't feel that psionic either.  I feel like the names of these things should get a workover to make them more focused on what the spec actually is and plays like.  A ranged fighter who nukes people with phantasmal blades they create. 

 

This exactly hit the nail on the head. It shouldn't have been called a virtuoso, more like knife thrower or something. The name is so deceptive and people who expect a bard are going to be so disappointed.

 

Harbibladebringer!

Stabbymancer!

Sliceuoso!

 

No? Ok, how about: Psimancer or Mistblade  

 

[FranzM.1298]

1 hour ago, ASV.7819 said:

Today I've noticed the next bug, scepter autoattack chain doesn't generate 5th blade. Please pay attention to this. And let vrtuosso shoot his blades from the back.

I couldn’t get scepter auto to generate any blades at all 😞

[Wielder Of Magic.3950]

Introduction

I hereby present my feedback on the Virtuoso elite specialisation for the mesmer class. I will be mostly talking from a PvE perspective with some minor PvP sprinkled in (as far as my limited PvP knowledge allows me that is). Before the BETA begun, I considered the Virtuoso to be in the best/most finished state out of the three elite specs. After playing it and trying things, I still think this is the case, but not by as much of a margin as I thought. Harbinger 100% needs the most work in every department in my opinion, that is for sure. And where Willbender imo needs the most adjustment to numbers and animations and slightly less so to its spec traits, I feel Virtuoso is the one that needs less adjustments to its animations, but the most changes to its traits.

 

The PvE DPS numbers:

The power damage is completely fine, with it benching something like 41-42k+. Condi Virtuoso is not a thing outside of some bugged PvP confusion memes. I am of the opinion that the Condi part of Virtuoso should either be removed or merged with existing traits (see the traits section) to help make some room for more interesting options, since its currently not leading anywhere, and if it did it would be stepping hard on the toes of Mirage.

Possible issue with the theme: 

The theme in essence is something I actually have zero problems with. Clones becoming blades that you stack and don’t disappear when your original target dies is pretty cool. An illusionary blade wielder is a nice idea, no complaints. But it could use some more of a unique identity through traits and weaponry, right now Virtuoso to me often feels like I am playing power/bursty core mesmer, just now with higher numbers and more pink AoE.

Possible issue with the Mechanic:
Blades as a core idea are fine, but I have issues with the way it interacts with traits. I will elaborate on this in the traits section. Something that could use a tweak is activation time. Shatter were instant. If making Bladesongs instant is not an option at least reduce the casting time. It feels clunky, slow and unfun. Also, the fact that almost everything this spec puts out is a reflectable projectile is a problem for PvP. Virtuoso should at least get some unblockable/unreflectable windows, either through base class design or through traits.

 

I am also unsure if the change from clones into blades is enough. Other than a resource change, F1 is still power damage, F2 is still condi,  F3 is still control, and F4 is still defense. If it is possible some more unique shatters might be nice. F4 serves the same goal as the original skill, but does put its own spin to it by becoming a block that pulses damage. I feel the F4 should serve as an example for the other bladesongs flavourwise.

 

If there is a chance for Virtuoso’s F1 to F3 to get a similar type of treatment that would in my opinion do wonders for the distinctiveness of the class. The damage on the F4 is very low, but I assume that is because even with the functionality change the skill is still meant to be defensive in nature and not offensive.

As a closing overall note: I understand that bladesongs having a casting time is a trade-off when compared to instant shatters, but I think they could benefit from less casting time than they have now, for me it really interrupts the flow of combat.

Possible issue with the dagger skills:
I think they are fine as an idea, but as mentioned before, the projectile component on dagger and on bladesongs severely locks your options in any form of PvP environment. The weapon as a whole could use some flavour, right now its just damage, damage, and some more damage.

 

Proposals:

1.     Dagger skill 3 (Unstable Bladestorm) could use something unique, else the entire toolkit on dagger is just ‘damage’ and nothing more. Perhaps this skill could be ground-targetable and inflict cripple/chill or block/reflect attacks in addition to its current behaviour? I think that would help PvP Virtuoso a lot while at the same time giving the dagger moveset some flavour.

 

2.     In the same vein, dagger 2 (Bladecall) could in my opinion also use a secondary effect aside from damage and stock blade. Perhaps cripple per thrown blade?

 

Possible issue with artwork of utility skills and traits:  

The Virtuoso trait and skill icons look the best to me out of the three revealed specs. You can clearly see it is a mesmer icon, and there is enough detail for it not to feel out of place. I do think some of the utility skills could use a slightly more unique artwork, I see a bit more overlap than I’d like here (and something like the elite looks like its a re-used Chronomancer icon of sorts).

 

Proposal:
Give this a touch-up before release and give the elite an icon worthy of its status.

 

Possible issues with Utility skills:
I feel like the utility skill Rain of Swords and the elite skill Thousand Cuts are just way to similar to each other. Both are a pulsing AoE that requires the target to remain stationary,the only big differences are one also applying vulnerability and the other doing more damage/pulsing faster. I would honestly prefer one of these two get changed to do something more unique.

 

Sword of decimation I feel could use a smaller damage bonus for hitting targets under soft cc ( something like 25% maybe).

Another thing that I see as an issue is that the utility kit is very one-dimensional. It all does damage, and the few things that don’t have long recharges to the point it doesn’t really make them viable in PvE or PvP.

 

A few possible Proposals/ideas:

1. Give the elite skill something that allows it to have an identity of its own so it does not feel like Rain of Swords 2.0. Perhaps allow the AoE to be moved/retargeted 1-3 times with a flip-over skill, or allow it to slowly follow the Virtuoso's target, or give it a unique effect upon ending/with each hit (cripple maybe)?

 

2. Or allow the elite to follow the Virtuoso’s target’s movements as it channels? That would partially solve the problem of “sidestep, gg no damage” it suffers from currently outside of chaining it with something like Sword of Decimation’s 4s immobilize ( that and the hitbox being a bit wonky. It sometimes hits further than the animation suggests, and other times the visual shows a target being hit, but no damage is being dealt).

 

3. Psychic Force and Blade Renewal could probably both do with a reduction in cooldown, especially for PvP environments. If Virtuoso is meant to be a duelist, you need something more than a stunbreak on a 45s cooldown or a 3s blur on a 60s cooldown.

 

4. The Virtuoso kit could really use some tools to either increase its own mobility or hamper their enemies. Either through some personal superspeed or the ability to cripple or chill foes. If Chronomancer was meant as the “dump things on you and their allies and threaten to do it again” spec, and Mirage was meant as the “Now you see me...now you don’t and here are a million conditions” spec, then it is clear that Virtuoso is meant as a “haha, come at me bro!” spec.

 

But right now you just don’t want them to come at you at all, because if they get to you its pretty much over. Cripple, Chill, superspeed, hell Immobilize on some key utilities outside of sword of decimation could work...at least something to allow Virtuoso to keep people off them.

 

Possible issues with Traits in general:
The traits are my BIG problem with Virtuoso at the moment.
I am not denying its effectiveness, as it stands it is a great power DPS that benches 41-42k+.
But almost none of the traits promote active play or change the way you play.
Most traits are passive damage modifiers/do things automatically and often lack something special. As a result, the majority of Virtuoso gameplay to me felt like I was playing core mesmer, just without clones and some shiny purple things attached to it once in a blue moon.

 

In addition, like the other two BETA specs it seems like Virtuoso tries to do everything at once.
It tries to be a PvP duelist, it tries to be a PvE power DPS, and it also tries to be a PvE Condi DPS with awkward bleeding traits tacked on to it.
One or Two out of these as a focus is fine, but Three is honestly a no-go for me.

Part of the charm of our current elite specs (for me) is that you have the spec focus on 1 or 2 roles, and then through traits have multiple ways of reaching that goal.
Currently you have 3 roles, and only one way to achieve each role, since it is obvious what trait to pick for each, with none of the traits being very exciting or promoting the active play I feel is needed.

 

Some generic proposals before going into details:

I really feel that condi related traits have to go. It feels like it doesnt fit the power DPS theme most of Virtuoso seems to have. Its damage is also very lackluster right now (outside of bugged confusion pvp oneshot memes). It also cannot compete with condi Mirage in any way in its current state, and imo it shouldn’t. There is no real way of making the mostly Bleed focus on Virtuoso compete with the Torment+Confusion+Burn from Mirage.

 

Let Mirage stay the stealthy/ambushy condi spec, let Chronomancer be the tanky/supporty/some long wind-up power spec, and let Virtuoso be a mix of bursty/quick wind-up power DPS and PvP duelist that makes you feel like you entered a scene out of the ‘House of Flying Daggers’ movie.

 

I think it would really be a lot better to either remove most condi traits completely, or partially roll them in with other existing traits, freeing up slots for traits that could give Virtuoso some rewards for active play and/or expand its unique identity (and by doing so into more unique gameplay).

 

Possible issues with Virtuoso specific traits:

 

Bladeturn refrain:

Probably mandatory in PvP, but not sure if it would be enough.

 

Proposal
Perhaps this trait could incorporate a cripple/chill/immobilize/superspeed component when performing certain actions?

 

Mental Focus:

Basic damage boost, that now forces you to play at half your maximum range. For PvE it doesnt matter because everyone stacks in melee for boons anyway, in PvP I can see this being very frustrating and another reason why no Virtuoso would ever pick this over Bladeturn Refrain (since Virtuoso is starved for active defenses there it seems).

 

Proposal 
In PvE I’d rather work for my DPS boost instead of it being something I get passively. We already have a passive DPS trait with Quiet Intensity already, one is enough.

Perhaps a stacking 1% damage bonus when we fire a blade? Or something akin to Kalla’s Fervor on Renegade that can be triggered through multiple actions, ranging from attacks, shatters, utility skills or positioning? I am really not arguing with the damageboost of this trait itself, but I do argue with how its completely passive.

Jagged Mind:
 If people agree that condi should go then this trait should probably go. Bleeding is pretty weak anyway, especially on a spec that cannot really stack thát much of it. The premier condi options are burning and torment right now, and Mirage fills this niche perfectly (and comes with a relatively engaging rotation and gameplay on the axe variant).

 

Proposal
I would strongly either completely remove this or merge this with Deadly Blades so it doesnt take up a valuable trait slot (which can then be used for something more fun/unique/active) but can still fuel Bloodsong.

Deadly Blades:
 After *Illusion of Vulnerability, Rending Shatter, Dazzling,*  almost every sword skill, *Mantra of Pain, Phantasmal Warden, Phantasmal Warlock*, Virtuoso’s own *Rain of Swords* AND *Mirrorblade* on GS, does mesmer really need ANOTHER source of vulnerability? Perhaps people with more mesmer experience can shed some light on this, but I feel vulnerability isn’t that high on our priority list.

 

Proposals

1. I really feel this slot could be used for something better and/or more creative. Perhaps allow weapon swapping to stock a blade and/or shoot a blade?

 

2. Or gain a blade when you kill something, and gain additional blades if you kill more foes within a certain time (grab blades back from bodies to recycle and use again idea)?

 

3. Or if you want to be very boring, perhaps tie some might generation here, Virtuoso seems to have trouble generating might on its own.

 

4. Or merge some of these ideas together with the current Jagged Mind trait. So you get vuln+bleed, or vuln+bleed+might, or bleed+might, or something unique with some of the aforementioned ideas.

Duelist's Reversal:
This trait seems PvP oriented, but from my own experiences and from what I gathered by asking around, the boons currently aren’t extremely impactful.

 

Proposal
I am wondering if this trait could perhaps incorporate some condition cleansing or transfer, currently Virtuoso’s kit has no way of effectively doing this. And while I understand every spec should have weaknesses, there is a difference between “It’s harder for me to deal with X” and “I cannot deal with X at all”.

 

Phantasmal Blades:

DPS increase with the most minimal of flavour. The go-to trait for PvE. But its nothing more than an additional damage packet that you have to do nothing for. Yet another illustration of my issues with Virtuoso: So much of the traits are passive and mostly a number increase. It works, but its not very engaging.

Sharpening Sorrow:
If people agree that condi should go then this trait should go.

 

Proposals

1. Perhaps we could have a trait that enhances Psionics or dagger in a unique manner?  Currently Virtuoso has nothing that interacts with Psionics or its dagger.

 

2. Or perhaps this could grant ethereal fields to Psionics and some other Virtuoso tools and perhaps give it a unique interaction with those fields?

 

Quiet Intensity:
A single basic damage increase trait is okay. It feels like the “A percentage of X gets added to Y” trait design that also plagues the other BETA specs, merged with Revenant’s Roiling Mists trait. Could be worse, but once again: Completely passive and thus boring. One of these per spec is okay, but I really think either this or Mental Focus could use a redesign to reward you for more active play.

 

Psychic Riposte

For a Grandmaster this honestly doesn't do much. If you want blade generation you take Bloodsong (which right now is the only Grandmaster that actually benefits you), and if you want damage you also take Bloodsong (because the blade that you shoot has crap damage). This trait is an annoyance at best.

 

Proposal
Either scrap it or make the blade it shoots do more damage or have a secondary effect worthy of a grandmaster slot.

 

Infinite Forge: 
You would think this is the go-to power trait, but Bloodsong outperforms it hard for blade generation. And considering blade generation is all this trait does, and only under a threshold... it could  use a BIG buff or a functionality change, because nobody is going to take this over Bloodsong. Even with the minimal amount of bleed you inflict when ignoring bleed specific traits, you generate more blades with Bloodsong than with this.

Bloodsong:
Is ironically better for power dps than Infinite Forge right now, despite looking like a condi trait at first glance. Considering you need to actively inflict bleeding for this trait to proc, it at least has some active play attached to it.

 

Proposal

Perhaps it could give an effect that makes the Virtuoso inflict X bleed on its next attack/action or its next X attacks/actions if they do Y or Z in addition to what it currently does (not much unlike the Sharpen Daggers enchantment from the Assassin in the first Guild Wars)? A lot of this suggestion depends on what would happen to Jagged Mind (removed or merged)and if it would put blade generation over the top or not.

 

Some general trait ideas to possibly make Virtuoso reward more active play and reduce its current passive trait design:

1.    Psionic skills stock a blade after use. And/or perhaps do some more immobilize? Immobilize feels like a Virtuoso thing to me, but it has low access to it outside of Sword of Decimation.

 

2.    The maximum amount of blades you can stock is increased (7).  Using a bladesong with the maximum amount of blades deals  increased critical damage OR shortens the bladesong’s recharge/refunds X amount of blades/ makes them unblockable.

 

3.    Gain a stacking damage bonus whenever you fire a blade. Duration: 15s. effect: 1% bonus damage or X amount of power/ferocity in a Kalla's Fervor sort of way. Reward us for actively doing SOMETHING.

 

4.    Your attacks can no longer be blocked or reflected, but can also no longer critically hit and ignore the effects of boons and conditions on both you and your target (A bit of a hommage to GW1 mesmer’s Illusionary Weaponry elite skill. That one really feels like it fits with Virtuoso, and gives a clear trade off. Not sure how viable or well thought-out this one is. Could be downright broken, or could be completely useless).

 

5.    Or perhaps a trait that actively decreases your max amount of blades (let’s say to 3), but somehow rewards you with boons/bigger effects per blade used/etc.

 

6.    A trait that gives ethereal fields or a field unique to Virtuoso to dagger 3 and Psionics, and let that field do something unique or a unique interaction? Be it with bleeds, with shooting/stocking blades or something else entirely.

 

Closing statement

Virtuoso’s theme is completely fine, Psionics have nice visuals, the idea behind blades and bladesongs is also fine, its power damage is fine, and dagger has serious potential. But its traits are a passive and boring mess and Psionics could use some refinements. At least to me.

I can see potential. But it’s not there yet. And considering how the most intricate part of its problems are (imo) bound to the passive traits it has, fixing it may be more complicated than it would seem at first glance.

I really think it could use a way to manage/manipulate blades or blade thresholds or increase/decrease your max blade count for some other bonuses, just so its not just 'stacked clones that now look like blades'.

Blade generation itself might become a bit more unique as well, just to help it to move away from it feeling a lot like core mesmer.

More interaction with blades, psionics, between these could go a long way.
Why does everything have to be so passive in this spec and specifically its traitline?

Make me want to actively play around with my amount of blades, change the max amount I can have, reward me for different amounts, tie blade generation to active gameplay, etc.

 

I feel that the spec could really use some complexity that rewards you for mastering it or for managing resources correctly.

I am not saying my solutions are the best or even good ones. But I hope they illustrate the issues I currently have with this spec.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Wielder Of Magic.3950
forgot psychic riposte existed.

[Kilty.4906]

I've been playing a lot with Condi Virtuoso and I really like the e-spec theme as swapping clones for blades really feels like a different class.

Build (D/P D/T): [&DQcBJxgvQj/bGm4BgwEAAN0aAAC2AQAA5hoAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]

 

I like building blades with bleeding, as it is really easy to build them in PvE because of Bloodsong, so I hope devs maintain the current version of the Sharpening Sorrow trait as it swaps your F2 confusion to bleeding which is better than what the tooltip implies.

 

What I really wish to see changed is more trait options for blade skills since right now we only have Jagged Mind and Deadly Blades, maybe Mental Focus could increase blade skills damage by 15% instead of 600 range condition, and also sword skills should get blade skill fact just like greatsword skills did as they are a type of blade. And finally Thousand Cuts is really weird to use while moving because it changes the direction of the beam, maybe locking the caster in place would be better while also increasing the skill damage and the number of hits to compensate.

 

Edit: Also can Flying Cutter have a similar animation as Thief's Dancing Dagger?

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Kilty.4906

[Pomdepin.7068]

Disclaimer : I've only tested power Virtuoso. I won't talk about pure numbers.

 

I like the direction which has been taken for the cloneless spec and think it has great potential. Visuals are overall pretty nice and theme is also good. However, my general feeling is that it's hard to know what the spec is supposed to do. Many skills do not have any synergy or even work with base mesmer abilities and some traits/skills are in a weird place to me. Here are a few examples of what I mean : a casting interrupt, 1200 ranger on dagger with a slow moving tornado on skill 3, increased damage below 600 range, no blade generation on clones abilities.

 

What I liked :
- Visual effects and theme

- Cloneless shatters : Kind of the point of the spec, but no more destructible and slow moving NPCs to do your damage.

- New sword 3 : Absolutely great, feels much smoother than the classical one.

- Fun class : Overall, I liked playing the Virtuoso. It has a lot of potential, even though I feel like it's just a slight change from core mesmer thanks to the blades mechanic. It doesn't feel that different because even though blades are ranged, you kind of have to get to close range like before to do some damage.

 

What I disliked :

- Blades are too slow : cast time is slightly too long and travel to is too slow

- Blades cannot be fired when not facing the enemy

- Blades can be reflected : Considering the above issues, reflecting the core source of damage of the spec is tough...

- Dagger as a weapon : Feels unimpactful. I'm disappointed we'll still have to take MH Sword and GS for power builds. I think that's a big missed opportunity to make dual daggers with a kit more in line with how the spec plays.

- Utility skills : Apart from blades renewal which is awesome, I don't see myself using any other skill. Blink still mandatory in pvp. The elite should be fired just like Holosmith's and have some kind of additional effect.

- Blade creation :  it's mostly automatic, I'd like to have some manual ways to get them. Also, none are created with clones skills/traits. It makes the mandatory build up phase not very fun.

- Shatter 2 : For power mes, it's just again a useless shatter. Even more now that the build up phase is so much longer. Need to be straight reworked for power.

- Range or Melee ? : Now that might be my biggest gripe with the Virtuoso. I think it's in this weird place where it doesn't have enough tools and pressure to do significant damage from range, but almost all its skills are 1200 range. I thought dagger would be more interactive and fast paced for a range weapon. Some traits suggest melee range like the below 600 range damage increase or the quickness on block-evade, but it's quite squishy to stay in melee.

- Lack of synergy with mesmer traitlines : Overall, Virtuoso traits feel quite meh. A lot of vulnerability we already had from domination traitline, some weird close

 

I think Anet has to give a clearer direction to this spec and change a few things accordingly. Good news is they still have time before release so it could be a really great elite spec.

[Phoenix.6023]

I feel like a few things could be mechanically adjusted and fixed for the Virtuoso.

FIRST AND FOREMOST WHY ON EARTH DOES REGULAR SWORD NOT GENERATE BLADES? BUT GREATSWORD DOES? FIX THAT!!! 😡

 

1. As aforementioned above. Sword Mainhand, and Sword Offhand don't generate blades. However they are blade orientated weapons. This strictly restricts your blade generation and your over-all build style to one very specific weapon set. It's not even worth running Regular Sword Off Hand. Because Sword Off Hand Skills, DO NOT GENERATE BLADES. There is ZERO BUILD DIVERSITY! This is the most linear out of the three elite specs because of this reason. Dagger/Sword/ Greatsword would be significantly more viable than Dagger Pistol. And maybe having an offhand weapon that generates Blades, will be significantly better. Also Due to the lack of defensive utility with Virtuoso. The Virtuoso needs should run Sword Offhand for Riposte and Counter "Blade" < IT'S IN THE NAME! OBSERVE.... Phantasmal Swordsman should also grant Blades. Increase Riposte and Counter Blade's range to 1200 to match Phantasmal Swordsman and the Dagger Skills.
    
2. Trait wise.. I feel like the traits are on the right track.. You're either going to fill gaps with boons, build into Burst/Power DPS or Build into Condition DPS. I've found that Dueling, Illusions and Domination are the more dominant trait lines depending on exactly the sort of build players are having. There's certainly build diversity, and room for improvement to better define the objective of each build style. However Condition Damage traits, and Builds are significantly under whelming and seriously under perform.
    
3. With the Shatters/Blade Songs. Reduce the cooldown Blade Song Harmony to roughly 5sand the cooldown of Bladesong Dissonance to 35s, Also consider giving Bladeturn Requiem a follow up counter. A counter would allow for Distortion to be re implemented during the animation of the counter itself. Consider Giving Bladeturn Requiem Stability, Resistance and Resolution.
    
4. With the Dagger Skills: Unstable Bladestorm is in serious need of a rework. It's way too slow and it's damage is way too little for it's intended purpose. I strongly suggest increasing the speed literally by 50% And use the opportunity to give the mesmer a physical charge skill that makes up for the lack of maneuverability in the currently given playstyle with the Virtuoso. Think along the lines of the Elementalists Tornado Elite.
   Also: Please consider perhaps dual wielding daggers. Offhand Dagger with some physical or psionic maneuverability and defensive abilities would be more than truly welcome here.
    
5. Utility skills could do with a slight rework to allow perhaps for some playstyle diversity.
   For starters. Blade Renewal's 60s cooldown is far too punishing for what it's even worth. It needs maybe 30s tops.
   Secondly Add a Psionic skill similar to Judges Intervention or Merciful intervention on Guardian to make up for the loss of maneuverability.
   Sword of Decimation. Combine this with Rain of Swords. To increase the DPS, and make the immobilize last the full duration of "Rain of swords" Just make it a single skill. Sword of Decimation drops down, hitting hard with the immobilize and triggering the damage increase as per normal, but instead of making a second skill. Overlap it with Rain of Swords. Give it a full 1 second cast time and increase the cooldown to roughly 28-30 seconds.
   Twin Blade Restoration should have a 1 second Distortion while the heal is activates and the blades generate. Consider applying protection to the heal as well.
   Lastly, Thousand Cuts should follow the player, firing forward facing towards the players target or Circle the area in a 1200 radius central to the players character model. It needs to do more than just fire in a straight line.