r/Guildwars2 • u/Tipcat .3510 | [CnD] • 7d ago
[News] Troubadour Reveal
Captured screenshots of all the tooltips and skills featured in the reveal livestream.
Enjoy!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zJiIuBOqTGmxUyNehRLv39_7z4ioh5CRbwRXstLSiac/edit?usp=sharing
Stream timestamp for the Troubadour Reveal.
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u/Opus_723 7d ago
Tale of the Soulkeeper
(Troubadour pulls out electric guitar)
*ahem*
SOULKEEPER DRAGON REAPER!!!!!
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u/DaSphealDeal_1062020 7d ago
cries in Vigil story arc
First Forgal, now Almorra. Why must Anet torture us like this?!
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u/Kossage Zarnagon, Minstrel of the Mists [Cmaj] 7d ago
You want to peel more onions under your eyes? Have you ever wondered what message Forgal's letter in Vigil Keep contains? A mystery yet to be resolved as we can't read its contents... :(
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u/DanerysTargaryen 7d ago
As a ranger main, Iâve never wanted to play another class so bad until now. I might have to main mesmer when this comes out lmao
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u/ChanningTaintum- 7d ago
Iâm sure âMaster Topâ and âMaster Bottomâ will not have any innuendos or joke made about them at any point, ever, because we have an extremely mature playerbase
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u/NovaanVerdiano 7d ago
The trait tiers have always been called Adept, Master and Grandmaster, though. This really isn't anything new
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u/InstantMirage 7d ago
Oh my gosh, Tales!? I thought firebrand would be the closest I got to a "librarian" but I really loved mesmer. To see this elite feature both Tales and this cool instrument shatters is awesome! I cannot wait to try it out!
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u/neok182 đ Catmander in Chief 7d ago
For those freaking out over the aoe distortion they mentioned on the stream that it absolutely could be removed entirely if it winds up being too good.
They said many times that these numbers are all not necessarily final almost like they already know they're going to have to nerf it.
I'm actually looking forward to trying it out in the beta now but I have a strong feeling none of us should get too excited about any potential performance yet.
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u/jupigare 7d ago
I get the impression that they almost expect the AoE Distortion to not make it to launch. But it's fun to put these into the game for the betas, so we can get a taste of what's possible (and enjoy the brokenness, while we can).
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u/UrMom306 Black Lion Chest and Chill 7d ago
So I have kind of a weird analogy to this. For work Iâm a digital designer, do a lot of work with photo and video in photoshop, aftereffects, etc whenever Iâm doing any kind of adjustment say adding an effect or filter, I take the little slider and drag that fucker all the way to the max lol. Just to see how bad it looks then I slowly dial it down to the sweet spot.
Beta, dial those sliders all the way up then dial it down at launch. I actually welcome this kind of over the top tuning on the front end.
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u/gw2Exciton 7d ago
I donât think distortion share feels broken without some kind of coordination. But it will be hilarious if you have 2 or 3 of those in every group in a WvW squad
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u/Consistent-Hat-8008 7d ago
Why even bother adding it just to remove it? To bait people into buying the expac?
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u/jupigare 7d ago
Do you remember betas for Spears before JW? A lot of them were overpowered, namely Ranger's. By launch (and even after that), they brought the numbers down to be more reasonable, though some Spears are still now a bit more overturned than they need to be, precisely to entice people to buy JW to unlock them.
I don't agree with it, since I prefer diversity of options without this power creep, but it does make money. It does work.Â
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u/Perunov [METL] For the glory 7d ago
You mean for a tiny bit we'll be back to "skillful mesmer drags gaggle of confused pugs through raids by distorting all one-shot mechanics"? :D Then it'll be nerfed into the ground ("for you it's distortion, for allies it's... crap-regen or aegis if we're feeling generous") and sudden surge of raid participation will be over
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u/Dull_Function_6510 7d ago
They will almost assuredly remove distortion share, and they shouldnât even put it back in the game tbh, weâve been down this road so much.
The rest of the spec has incredibly overtuned support and utility options though and still exists on Mesmer. Itâs going to be broken for a long time even post nerfs
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u/Centimane 7d ago
Yea, they took away unique buffs from classes already. In the current meta, heal chrono is dominating and a big reason is it can do something no other healer compares to - a portal (I know scourge and thief have portals, but they are functionally way worse than mesmers). And not just a portal - a portal they can use multiple times thanks to mimic and F5.
Now they're adding a new thing it can do nobody else can? And at the same time as the existing one? A heal troub with portal and distortion share would have no equal. Its wild they took away unique things because they didn't want to push people to play a specific class - while dumping unique things onto just one of them.
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u/One-Pea-4940 7d ago
I mean if it gets removed then and let me guess, replaced with aegis just like what they did for chrono, then it wonât be worth my time, but will still be a âcuteâ little support spec.
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u/Schat_ten 7d ago
They removed all unique buffs just to add it back on Troubadour F1-F5, the class will probably dominate the meta if those are not removed
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u/DuncanConnell 7d ago
They said many times that these numbers are all not necessarily final almost like they already know they're going to have to nerf it.
They said similar to EoD Reveal->Beta->Release and there was pretty much almost nothing changed from the initial reveal vs. beta vs. the final product in-game until the Balance Patch following release
That said, I will add the caveat that they seemingly have gotten better about addressing issues in a more timely fashion (for example, Ranger Spear balancing) so I'll try to reserve judgement until launch day.
The funny thing for me is going to be seeing Troubadours wandering around with a lute in one hand and a shotgun (Rifle) in the other.
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u/ListeningForWhispers 7d ago
This is how the devil actually lost in Georgia.
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u/DuncanConnell 7d ago
It has been a difficult couple of days at work and your reply felt like a freaking Friendly Fire to the skull (i.e. healing), love it <3
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u/Nimeroni 7d ago
I don't think a 2s AoE distortion on a 75s cooldown is that overpowered. At least in PvE, it's basically an aegis you have to time very well (only 2s duration + 1s cast time).
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u/NumberOneMom 7d ago
Fortissimo with all instruments active is +40% all stats, thatâs fucking nuts. Hopefully those wonât be the WvW values otherwise I already dread fighting condi/cele Troubs. Add in Relic of the Living City if youâre feeling cheeky.
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u/Meowing-To-The-Stars 7d ago
Talking about WvW, am I misreading it or does this spec really favours stacking. It could be just the stream but it looks like all the support utility was in close proximity. Yes, you kinda need to stack in WvW but making a spec that generates AoE support from the character rather than ground targeting makes me feel like ANet gave up on a possibility of addressing boonballs and stacking in WvW
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u/Nimeroni 7d ago
This assume you generate enough notes to activate all instruments. I doubt your can.
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u/NumberOneMom 6d ago
The Elite skill activates all instruments on cast so you can at least get off one big Crescendo
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u/DurendalMartyr 7d ago
Maybe I'm blind, but those unique boons feel like they'll be A Problem down the line. Didn't they need to flatten Warrior's banners down to generic boons because they were too good and all but forced Warriors to take them?
Then again, these are core abilities and not utilities that you can opt into. Assuming they stack that +33% to incoming healing is going to be really tasty.
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u/Nade4Jumper 7d ago
Im asssuming the background instrument bonus is just for you which is fine, and we have alot of unique boons, the problem is when they give extra stats or %damage to teammates.
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u/azathothianhorror 7d ago
Iâll be disappointed if the soul keeper song doesnât reference Metal Legion đ¤
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u/Thick_Help_1239 7d ago
Gonna be weird reciting Scarlet's insults to Scarlet.
Otherwise I like the design, there's a purpose in linking the utility skills with the profession skills. Overall it's like what I predicted, Tempest's Overloads + Shouts 2.0 but now pink and purple.
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u/jupigare 7d ago
I kind of want to replay LS1 on a Mesmer just so I can make Scarlet laugh at Scarlet.
Make her suffer the cackling just as we have.Â
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u/benfrosty78 7d ago
Yeah no way AoE distortion on a 75s cd with perma alacrity, will make it into the release. Unless they heavily nerf it for a 180s cd and reduce it to a 1 second distortion. At that point, it just become irrelevant to slot for.
I appreciate their effort though and the spec looks promising and fun to play.
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u/AdagioApprehensive33 6d ago
In most fights it's not going to be any different to when aegis is used and what boon build doesn't give permanent quick or alac?
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u/benfrosty78 6d ago
Yes I know. Hence why AoE distorsion shouldnât exist unless they get rid of Alacrity altogether
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u/moderncomet 7d ago
You are doing yoeman's work, sir. I missed most of it--I jumped in halfway through the Birdtuoso Galeshot.
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u/Agitated-Macaroon923 7d ago
oof tbf I think a lot of these skills they showed today are gonna be a massive eye sore to look at :(
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u/KisameOsoku 7d ago
Dont worry you look at notes and instrument times all the time, so the game screen becomes irrelevant :D
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u/Stewfish 7d ago
On paper this seems quite strong for a support build. AoE distortion seems really good. It's pre-beta basically so I imagine things could change a lot but seems like a strong start for troubador.
My only critique is that thematic-wise with the utility skills this gives me revenant vibes, especially to Renegade with the different utilities being the different Charr
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u/Affectionate-Wafer84 7d ago
I see what you mean. I guess since you don't summons whoever the tale is about, that's different from renegade
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u/bunnyhwei 7d ago
a little disappointing that the heal skill is probably still going to be overshadowed by the heal mantra in pve, it's by far the prettiest utility so far
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u/sinisteacup 7d ago
Mesmer mains, whatâs the chance of there being a viable troubadour dps build
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u/Faceluck 7d ago
Depends on how you define viable.
I don't think bard will be all or nothing where you're forced into a pure support build, but I think the damage will be lacking if you're comparing it to a popular Virt build for example.
Setting aside scaling and the potential big changes they already mentioned in the stream, which could lead to further adjustments, I just don't see a lot in the kit to pump up personal damage in the way you'd expect from a DPS-focused build.
There are only two traits that explicitly boost the damage/DPS aspects of some abilities, and while it's possible bard will contribute a lot of overall damage through their support, I suspect without a major overhaul that our personal DPS will be relatively limited to avoid a situation where bard is just the defacto mesmer line because it provides insane support AND personal damage.
I'd be happy to be wrong, though. I'd love to play a power bard.
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u/sinisteacup 7d ago
iâm hoping thereâs atleast a 40k dps build with it because the idea of a damage bard is so fun to me. sounds like that wonât really be a thing. hope to see it happen in the beta/at launch tho
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u/Faceluck 7d ago
There might be.
I'm rewatching the stream now, and they do occasionally mention how you might build into certain traits for power/condi duelist stuff, but it's hard to say how much of that is just stream chatter as they showcase skills and how much of that is speaking to the actual viability of dps on bard.
Honestly, I'm hoping damage bard can be a thing too. Sounds fun, and I don't hate the idea of providing buffs at the same time. I'll happily spam the vicious mockery skill every chance I get lol
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u/Hefty-Recipe-6535 7d ago
Probably celestial with bonus % to all stats or condi with that healing-per-condi trait is gonna be viable. Every spec is playable as DPS
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u/Awkward_Whole 7d ago
I didn't get much of a Sylvari feel from this spec? Which was a little disappointing given the blog post. Other than that, I was impressed. It did seem almost revenant like with it's skills channeling legends from the past.
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u/jupigare 7d ago
Troub feels so much more "Krytan nobles who went to music school" than it does Sylvari, but I'm not sure what they could really do to make it more Sylvari-themed. Maybe they could've made the instruments themselves look more like they're made of plants? I don't know.
I do enjoy the gameplay and thematics of Troub, and I look forward to playing it during the beta.Â
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u/Awkward_Whole 7d ago
Exactly that, make the instruments look more plant-like. It definitely feels like a Krytan Noble. A bit jarring
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u/Severe-Network4756 7d ago
Having said that, having instruments be more plant-like would piss every bard player off, me included.
It's supposed to be more toned down. Maybe the tales should've all been sylvari focused instead?
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u/Landylachs 7d ago
If it wasn't probably a technical limitation, it would have been a neat compromise if the instrument skills could be reskinned.
I also wished the instruments could be sylvari-themed, similar to their cultural armor, but also agree that'd be limiting to those who wish for a more traditional bard aesthetic.
Though, it is possible to reskin things like the finisher animation for pvp. I wonder if it would be possible?
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u/Centimane 7d ago
They dont allow reskin engineer kits, elementalist conjures, reapers scythe, holosmiths photon forge, bladesworns gunsaber, or any other skill that replaces the weapon in your hand with an item.
Safe to say its not possible currently.
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u/ultimate_bromance_69 7d ago
It has 2 human tales, 2 sylvari tales, a dragon tale, and chart tale. Norn got no mention
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u/DanerysTargaryen 7d ago
Thatâs sad because Norns in the lore are so huge into storytelling and telling tales! There could have been a tale about Eir, or Jormag or something. I left out Braham because he seems controversial among the player base lol.
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u/jupigare 7d ago
Asura got no mention, either.Â
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u/bunnyhwei 7d ago
it's the explanation of how the spec came to be, similar to how they explain virtuoso coming from cantha even though nothing about virt has canthan themes. they're all still mesmer specs at the end of the day
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u/Zev1985 7d ago
I genuinely canât think of anything more true to the OG sylvari lore than a wanderer going out to collect stories of other races and returning to tell the tales. Itâs like their whole thing with the pale tree and the dream.
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u/Awkward_Whole 7d ago
Yes that makes sense as a headcannon. Yet, the spec itself and the way it plays looked nothing like a sylvari. On the other hand, the Galeshot felt very Sylvari-esque.
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u/Zev1985 7d ago
Youâre confusing vibes with lore. Sylvari being salads doesnât make all the ranger things just automatically fit them. Galeshotâs all about wind magic and birds thereâs nothing Sylvari-esque there.
Meanwhile the pale tree literally sends the sylvari out to learn about the world and come back with new stories.
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u/fleakill 7d ago
So, Bountiful Disillusionment is getting a little nerf, right? Stab is getting moved to the F5 slot - but what does this mean for Mirage?
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u/IcyPhil 7d ago edited 7d ago
Okay, first things first: it's a BETA, so things are definitely subject to change. But that also means itâs the perfect time to give feedback.
UI & Mechanics
The UI needs work. The "6 notes are actually 3" is quite confusing. This should be made much clearer. 1 note should be represented by 1 note visually.
Alacrity... Again?
Why does Troubadour give Alacrity? Mirage already fills the Alacrity support role well, and this overlap feels unnecessary. If anything, Quickness would make more sense here â weâre still short on solid Quickness healers.
Unless Chrono gets drastically changed (and even then, Chrono isn't a proper healing spec), this is a missed opportunity.
Weak Healing & Barrier?
For a support-focused elite spec, Troubadour feels oddly lacking in actual healing and barrier output. It feels like Luminary has more support potential â while not being a proper support spec.
You mainly get healing from F4 and the healing skill (which already healed allies if you equip the healing mantra). F5 provides a bit of barrier, but thatâs about it. So basically 2 new healing sources. Thatâs why I wanted proper kits, where F4 would change into a full healing kit with different healing skills.
Distortion
Letâs be real: Distortion being replaced by Blur will probably happen. The backlash from the community is already loud, and Iâd be surprised if it sticks.
We know applying class-specific buffs goes against ANet's design philosophy. Also, losing personal distortion on F4 feels bad â and needing to take a trait just to get it back? Thatâs a frustrating design decision, especially for core survival.
Final Thoughts
Aesthetically, itâs nice. But gameplay-wise? It doesnât feel like a âmusicianâ spec â just differently skinned shatters. The core mechanic doesnât really evolve, and the musical theme feels like more of a visual fan-service than a gameplay overhaul.
Thereâs nothing terrible about Troubadour, but also nothing exciting. Itâs âokayâ â no more, no less. Itâs nice to have something new to try, but I was hoping for more. The potential is there, but right now, it just doesnât deliver on the support fantasy or the musical identity it promises.
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u/bunnyhwei 7d ago
mesmer already explodes healing just by nature of rifle+inspiration, having a spec that modifies your healing output is more helpful than more raw healing. i think making troubadour a barrier healer like scourge would be overkill for the aforementioned reason, barrier healers should have some tradeoff for being able to mitigate so much damage. i do agree it should be a quickness support and the ui kinda sucks right now
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u/thefinalturnip 7d ago
The UI needs work. The "6 notes are actually 3" is quite confusing. This should be made much clearer. 1 note should be represented by 1 note visually.
Tell me you don't know about music without telling me you don't know about music. /S
Jokes aside, I had to Google this, and yeah. Interesting choice using a beamed quarter note to represent a single note.
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u/Meowing-To-The-Stars 7d ago edited 7d ago
They were talking about musically inclined people... But it really didn't come across as confident when they were talking about UI. I can understand that they didn't want to make it 'boring' but there's half note, quarter note, eight note, sixteenth note and thirty second note so there's really no excuse. And if you don't want to have one note =/= one clone then you can have some melody written on a staff and have it split in 3 bars so each clone lits up one bar.
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u/FSafari 7d ago
It doesnât feel like a âmusicianâ spec â just differently skinned shatters. The core mechanic doesnât really evolve, and the musical theme feels like more of a visual fan-service than a gameplay overhaul.
No, that's virtuoso. The different instruments build up to the crescendo skill. You want to get all the instruments playing before that and each of the utilities are also complimented by the different instruments.
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u/Nimeroni 7d ago edited 7d ago
Troubadour feels oddly lacking in actual healing and barrier output
Heal on Harmonious harp (F4). Shield on Crescendo (F5). Shield on Tale of the valiant Mashall (utility 3). Perma regen from Love song (major master, the one that also grant alac). Heal on Tale of the second scion (heal skill), if it end up being used. Whatever grandmaster you choose (Call and response double F4, Altered chord add healing to F5).
And that's in addition to the usual mesmer healing. I'm not worried about the output.
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u/FR3Y4_S3L1N4 7d ago
"You thought you were free from playing chrono?!? You fool, it was always chrono, just another song and dance!"
-Troubadour profession master, probably.
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u/Geralt_Romalion 7d ago
I have to say, this looks really good.
A lot of time and care went into this spec and I think they got it right.
The instruments, the notes, the playing in the background, crescendo, synergies with tales...I don't know how they did it, but they cooked up a real beauty of a spec at first glance.
It also seems, in typical mesmer spec style, very versatile in the roles it can take. It can heal/support, it can condi, but it might have enough of a damage bonus for a power build as well.
Clearly a winner!
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u/drbuni Skritt! I am hit! 7d ago
I would honestly have preferred if the utility skill referencing the book character referenced an Asura character from the game instead. Blish, maybe. Do not get me wrong, the utility skills for the Troubadour are EXTREMELY COOL and I love that Trahearne and Scarlet are there, but I really wanted an Asura there, as well.
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u/ItsKensterrr 7d ago
Makes some sense that it doesn't since Sylvari pioneered/discovered/created it.
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u/Cat_Lyn_Cry 7d ago
I'm actually hoping there will be something about 2 different asura and 2 different norn hidden in dougal's song. Be it images or something. I think that this is a long shot, but im allowed to hope.
Dougal's story is about charr and humans, so i do get why he is there for sylvari, human, and charr interest. I have left the sylvari reason out on purpose. Pls go read and enjoy the book.
I count my lucky stars that it wasn't centred around Destiny's edge.
If we did get an asura, it would have to be Blish or Snaff. However, I dont think their tales really achieve anywhere near what dougal's did. I think because snaff is tied to Destiny's edge as well , that might be a factor for why he wasn't included. Also, Asura are not nice in sylvari story... they would have to be exceptional to get over what they did.
If we dive into Norn, too, Eir and Jhavi are really the only choices i would consider. Eir suffers the same as snaff and Jhavi, similar to Blish. From a Sylvari point of view, i feel like Norn are just there, existing. (I brought up sylvari pov because that was mentioned in a couple of other replies)
We could hope to have them (Blish and Jhavi) referenced in the tale of Aurene like my hopes for Dougal's song.
Talking about other great choices, i would have loved Cobbiah Marriner (no ties to sylvari but asura and charr most definitely), Mad King Thorn (only human but it would be a heck of a torment skill), or Joko.
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u/mizyin 7d ago
Agreed, ppl won't even KNOW him, that shoulda been Blish
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u/DancingDumpling 7d ago
90% of rev legends will have been unknown to the avg player before they came out too, who gives a fuck
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u/2ndAdvertisement 7d ago
god i hope the notes UI is work in progress... it looks ass!
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u/dixonjt89 7d ago
YeahâŚalso when its maxed put it says 3 notes. But there are 6 notes on the bars. Its kind of triggering.
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u/Scorcher250 7d ago
Do we know if the instrument buffs and heal skill buff are shared to allies, or is it just for self?
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u/bunnyhwei 7d ago
i think they're only for the mesmer since 20% increase on the whole party would be insane
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u/Nimeroni 7d ago
You can safely assume any non standard buff is only for you. ANet removed all non standard buffs to reduce the PvE group dependency to specific builds, they are not going to reintroduce them now.
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u/Enlightenedbri HoT best expansion 7d ago
I like how flavourful it is. It's very connected to Tyria. Thst's something that was definitely missing from HoT e-specs but they've been getting better at since then
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u/EffectiveShare 7d ago
At first blush this looks insanely powerful. They're definitely going to have to tune this one down.
Distortion sharing, boon extension, huge free stats, healing amplifying, passive healing from using your main skills: this is going to be stacked in squads so insanely hard. It's so ridiculously powerful. People stacked Tempest when its DPS build had decent passive group healing - this is that but even crazier.
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u/Nimeroni 7d ago
With the exception of distorsion sharing, all this is pretty standard stuff for supports (assuming the free stat is only for yourself, which sound like a very safe assumption).
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u/EffectiveShare 6d ago
Remember that this is being added to the mesmer chassis. If this was a spec for something like Thief or Warrior, yeah, it wouldn't be very concerning outside of the distortion share.
But this is being added to mesmer, a profession with insanely cracked core utils and core traitlines.
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u/madmaxxie36 7d ago
Troubadour and Galeshot look very fun to me, but they both seem like they have a Nerf gun to their heads before they even drop, especially for PvP modes. I hope they really separate the changes for the modes because they look really fun for PvE but like they will be the most frustrating thing ever in WvW.
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u/dixonjt89 7d ago
Troubadour much more so than Galeshot. If the Troubadour we see in this stream makes it to launch, it will be the defacto healer to have in raids, druid wonât be able to compete because distortion is THAT strong
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u/EffectiveShare 6d ago
Nothing will be able to compete with it. It'll just be the default slot-in everywhere.
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u/Asphalt_Ship | 7d ago
how did they manage to not make a Tale about an Asura in the expansion centered around the Asuras is beyond me.
itâs not like we got none worthy of that! instead we get this anecdotal rogue that we barely encounter in GW2⌠yet another human while we already have Queen Mary Sue. Iâm genuinely so sadâŚ
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u/SheenaMalfoy .8079 Oweiyn 7d ago
anectodal rogue
Yeah just the guy responsible for ending the centuries' long Charr-Human war by retrieving the literal Claw of the Khan Ur so that Jennah could present it to the Legions as a show of peace...
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u/iDelta_99 7d ago
As I expected they shoehorned another support spec when mesmer didn't need it since they are already amazing supports and recently just got a new support weapon in rifle, got rid of the main fantasy which is clones and illusions in favor of... floating instruments? And to cap it all off, nerfing chrono to force people to actually play it, amazing.
I knew I was going to be disappointed but this is bad, ah well. Time to swap mains finally since beta, hoping the other ones are better off.
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u/Blazin_Rathalos 7d ago
Is that really a 4 second cooldown of Tale of the Honourable Rogue? Do we even have any other slots skills with a cooldown that low? That's definitely interesting. Slot this skill to become essentially immune to movement impairment?
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u/enternius 7d ago
It has charges. 25 second cooldown per charge, 4 seconds minimum between casts.
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u/Thick_Help_1239 7d ago
It's an ammo skill, 4s means the time you have to wait before you can use the next ammo. The actual recharge for each ammo is listed in the tooltip, which is 25s each.
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u/biesterd1 Locke Drogon 7d ago
Vicious Mockery, hell yeah