I've reread the deep dive a few times as I've written this, because as I was playing and formulating an opinion on this I found myself saying "I'm not sure what they were trying to achieve." I recognize, and respect, that the dev team has a vision for the classes. I am basing this post on the idea (grounded in the fighter deep dive) that the goals around the revamp were, in no particular order:
-Create satisfying upgrade paths in the fighter toolkit
-Allow fighters to do damage while tanking and soloing (note, this does not say "while being a dps member of a group or raid")
-Reinforce the "master of arms" persona
I can see the thought and effort put into each of these, even while questioning (or disagreeing with) some of the decisions that were made. I'll also state clearly before I continue on that I have no interest in PVP. And so I am both completely and happily ignorant to how fighters could or would be used in a PVP setting. I am certain some of the thoughts here will reflect that ignorance.
-Create satisfying upgrade paths in the fighter toolkit
I appreciate the additional skills with the idea of expanding the kit, and am in a likely minority of people that think you've given them too much. It is satisfying to unlock some of the newly introduced skills, it comes at an interesting cost. The introduction of ability tiers without distinction between them (no CD changes, no vengeance consumption changes, no additional abilities inside the skill that unlock at a certain level -looking at you, Rend) does not generate an excitement about approaching the next tier. It is not satisfying to say "I've reached max rank [skill], so now my [skill] behaves exactly the same but scales a bit better." If this sets the stage for more meaningful distinction, then that's great. As it is now, it feels more like a forced but understandable coin drain, but also a new spell book management minigame for a melee class without any value.
-Allow fighters to do damage while tanking and soloing
One of the most exciting things that I've done as a fighter post change is hit a 5 stack frenzy*. That wall of glorious yellow text (each that can crit) makes me smile. Cross cut got fixed, feint exists for when you don't have the vengeance for frenzy, armor break feels like it works better, you can swap in a shield and hit a shield bash ... to me I never thought Fighters had problematic damage output, and still don't think I feel that way post-change. It does feel that there are some setups or loadouts that will be more viable, but that's the nature of the game.
-Reinforce the "master of arms" persona
For the sake of this discussion, I'm going to say that the creation of the skills and their distribution goes in the satisfying upgrade paths section. How they play out is the persona reinforcement. This is where we need to talk about Vengeance, and the overall "is the class fun to play" in its state. When I think about a master of combat (or arms) I think about someone who can both be strategic and opportunistic. A fighter can use all weapon types and shields, and get those skills to max. They have skills (however useful) associated with different styles of fighting (dual wield, sword and board, 2-handed) showcasing their skill. All of that training, all of that proficiency, all of that mastery ... and it (at least partially) manifests itself behind a system of gambling: Vengeance. I said, above, one of the most satisfying things I've done as a fighter is hit a 5 stack frenzy. That happens, even post tuning, with alarming irregularity as the group's tank. Now, I understand there needs to be chance in this game. Spells resist. Attacks miss. And yes, you can be "strategic" in how you approach not wasting your Vengeance. You can know what the Feint/Frenzy cooldown is, you can know how long is left on your Vengeance timer, and you can say "hey I only have X stacks of Vengeance now, they will expire in 5 seconds, I should use Frenzy instead of Feint so I don't waste them." This is the very definition of being both strategic and opportunistic at the same time! But playing this way requires staring unendingly at your spell bar, constantly checking on the timer of Vengeance, and essentially settling and not getting the big payoff of the max stack Frenzy. The way this core mechanic, this spender, was implemented is not fun. The tweaks did not help. And for what it's worth, attaching Vengeance to other skills will only exacerbate the problem. Fighter already had some amount of dynamic gameplay (Rend had the chance to reset other skills) perhaps lean into skill-based interplay and let Vengeance enhance the chance that will happen?
There are a lot of good things, things I really like, about the fighter rework. I like the idea of what Vanguard is. I like the interplay of Juggernaut and other threat-generating skills. I like the idea of Shield Block. I like Cross-Cut as a damage ability without the threat modifier. I like that Feint exists for when you don't have the Vengeance for Frenzy, and its interplay with other skills. I like that other people like the direction that Second Wind is heading in. I think that you achieved a lot of successes in the three main goals you set out to do. I think that success is overshadowed by real friction that this rework has created.
I guess the tl;dr here is: I played a fighter 1-60 in beta. I was looking forward to playing it again in EA. I'm not sure I will in its current state. If the rework in its current state makes it so that more people want to play fighter, that's great. I don't think it will.
