I’ve been using the greatsword in the beta and I have to say, I rather enjoy using it. Its attacks are really meaty and many of the skills are extremely useful. Skill 5 I found particularly good. However, the weapon is far from perfect having a few issues that holds it back in both PvE and PvP.
Skill 1: The damage on this is quite high. Allot higher than I expected from what people were saying on the forums. Though i do have to say that the full investment of the auto’s chain isn’t worth executing At a 2 and a half second investment the pay off just isn’t there. That last attack in the chain just isn’t worth it. And with such a huge investment you’re better off using other skills.
Suggestion for skill 1: Increase the third skills damage and increase the chill duration to 3 seconds. This would increase its usability in both PvE and PvP. You could permanently chill someone in the chain, but at as high of a investment as this skill requires you’re not likely to be able to do it in challenging content for PvE and against skilled or even moderately skilled players in PvP. Its still really slow and has huge tells.
Gravedigger: Very strong skills. Its damage is pretty high but not insane. I managed to hit for 12k with this thing and after being able to spam it fairly frequently while moving I have to say this skill is a bit better than people think. Normally I was hitting for 4-9k depending on if I critically hit or not.
Death Spiral: This skill obliterated foes. The damage was just insane and its life force gain was always useful. It was a great lead into Gravedigger as well as getting me back into Reaper’s shroud.
Nightfall: I like this skill. Its animation, its name sake, what it does. Though it feels like it doesn’t hit very often and when it does it doesn’t feel like it does too much beyond the blind. So this needs some work, though I’m not too sure on that just yet.
Grasping darkness: Really good skill. A bit hard to determine where you’re sending it out but otherwise great. The poison feels a bit weird on it. I’d probably have gone with something like chill on it. Though that might be a bit strong. Valn would be great though.
Overall I love the design of the greatsword. I think its a powerful weapon and the skills work very well together. There are a few issues with overall power with some of the skills though nothing so big that the weapon would need a re design. A few buffs here or that and it should be a great weapon.