Thoughts on Virtuoso

[Abelisk.5148]

- Tooltips imply Bladesong skills are instacast, which they are not. Also, there no longer exists a panic "Daze" that the other Mesmer specs come with--the only alternative is a knockback utility that feels unreliable with its 45 second cooldown.

- The heal requires you to face your target for the blades; I've had my cast broken midway because the target would port behind me. Seems counterintuitive. Ether Feast may become the meta healing skill.

- Bladesongs seem to be able to get reflected but permanent blade upkeep feels nice.

- Aegis/block gimmick easily counterable, matchups against Thieves even more difficult or impossible.

- Damage doesn't feel consistent, bursts are hard to setup as all bladesongs require target lock on

- Invuln utility is a must, so is Blink, leaving one spot available which can be a plus or negative

- Dagger skills feel lacking. Surprised to see dagger skills deal no conditions at all.

 

The spec will get buffed in the future I'm sure, but can't say I was feeling too excited about it.

 

Edited August 18, 2021 by Abelisk.5148

[Guirssane.7082]

I feel the spec strong enough but the issue is that you're really squishy, even with the utility evade+ the stun break/knock back + blink if I'm focused it's hard to survive imo. The heal requiring you to face your target is hard to land so I'm not using this one usually. I guess the best elite to use is either the invis or the moa because virtuoso elite doesn't looks good in pvp. Too easy to dodge. Not sure if I should play staff as second weapon or something like sword/torch... The range on the dagger feels nice 1200 range is good. Burst can be brutal but animation of shatter takes a lot of time so it can be avoided.