Should Offhand Sword Changes Be Reverted

[Forgotten Legend.9281]

i like the new skills... i like the more damage :-)

 

however, i will suggest that the OLD skill 4 & 5 be made into a focus for core rev. though i think the second skill in the chain for 4 should be something new.

 

i won't get into how much i think that Herald's boonbot stuff should have been rolled into Ventari legend, how i think that shield should have been a core weapon (in addition to all the others) and how much i think Glint should have been more mesmery with a warhorn. it's just that the old sword offhand skills could have easily been good rev shield skills... and that reminded me of my hatred of how anet butchered my beloved Glint for Rev...

[ethanzephyr.7298]

I elect to either make Shield 5 not root you in place anymore, or return the block to Sword 4. It doesn't do any good for the Revenant to have sword become a more costly version of Axe offhand.

[Ocosh.5843]

"The off-hand sword weapon for the revenant had a bit of an identity crisis. While the main-hand sword is primarily an offensive weapon, the off-hand feels like it's trying to be both a defensive and utility weapon at the same time. "

 

The mainhand skills' functions have no bearing on the offhand skills' functions. Necro MH dagger is power while OH is condi; thief MH pistol deals damage while OH provides utility. Sometimes weapons match and sometimes they don't. Sword had an identity across professions more or less from launch (fair damage, mobility, utility). All three offhand sword skillsets (Mesmer, Revenant, Warrior) featured a block, as sword was a balanced weapon. Access to a mobile block is important for Revenants' survival in competitive gamemodes.

 

What is the point of the new _Shackling Wave_? It now deals less base damage and has an increased cd, in exchange for hitting 2 more targets and _possibly_ applying a longer-lasting immobilize (if one hits 3+ targets). When are you hitting that many people at once that it will matter? In pvp, you're not landing it on 3+ people; in wvw, it won't matter (resistance/condi clear -- and let's be honest: they never balance around wvw); and in pve, you never really need to immobilize any groups. This was worth losing a block? The skill is arguably weaker than before. What justified removing the utility portion?

 

Revenant already had one of the game's better gap-closers in _Phase Traversal_; there was hardly any call for another one with a slow, clunky follow-up. While _Grasping Shadow_ (the old sword 5) had limited usefulness, it was handy for pulling an enemy back into your team (in pvp/wvw) or applying cc (in pve, albeit in a fashion inferior to axe, since the breakbar damage was the same, but the axe didn't force a reposition).

 

The "identity" argument is a poor one. Revenant has great use, if not (in the current atmosphere) a need, for a block on a damage-oriented weapon set that doesn't root the character in place. The new skills do not at first blush recommend themselves as particularly useful: _Shackling Wave_ is no better than before, and _Deathstrike_ is a shorter-range teleport than Axe 4, on a longer cd, with a delayed burst that rarely hits. These changes do not improve power Revenant's damage output in instanced pve, and they decrease Revenant's survival in pvp/wvw for no real gain.

 

Presumably, now that the change is made, _Grasping Shadow_ is gone forever and _Deathstrike_ is here to stay. At the very least, give back the block. If not, can staff 3 have its block cd reduced to its old value to make up for the lost defense?

[Kidel.2057]

> @"Exalted Quality.8534" said:

> It doesn’t matter because ANET will continue to make rev worse every patch. Don’t bother posting polls because devs do not read or care.

 

Unfortunately I have to agree with this post.

[Raziel.8072]

Removing the block from sword took away one of the few hardline defensive measures a non-herald revenant had...it was the worst thing they could have done to sword offhand. Honestly I liked it the old way just fine. I had FINALLY gotten accustomed to using it as a defense/utility and was incorporating it into many builds but now you could not pay me money to use whatever this thing is they left us with. Restore the block and immobilize, the do whatever else you want to it, hell it can't get any worse than it is now.

[InsaneQR.7412]

Well i love the 2 new skills, but i would like to see a target requirement for the 5th skill or a ground target, thus would give more security to hit stuff and not just jump in front if them without a hit.

The 4 skill is awesome and a good group control skill.

[Warlyx.6732]

5 is good , but 4 could get the block back and put a full time parry , something like

 

block the attacks for the next 2s after that or if pressed again , the actual attack.

 

btw i still think energy should be removed but if we can get a reduction i would be happy

 

> @InsaneQR.7412 said:

> Well i love the 2 new skills, but i would like to see a target requirement for the 5th skill or a ground target.

 

that would be cool and make the skill unique , to avoid attacks or to close gap

 

[Thon.3780]

As testing

new off hand suit for dmg focus only

it should revert sw4 , need only block. I think almot ppl think same thing . i dont care chain after block.

also sw5 it feel like Axe4 , if it can change i think it do knockdown 0.5 sec then follow with second blow. that is enough.. no need to shadow step

 

[Redfeather.6401]

After playing around with sword/sword for a bit I went to staff. I really didn't care for sword skills on revenant and as excited as I was to finally see new skills on the class sword still feels hollow and clunky.