I ran it just long enough to complete the Bladedancer quest. It did feel incredibly weak. Each hit needs a huge buff in PVE. Plus making 25 orbs for the quest took way too long. If I went through a crowd of red health enemies in a strike I made 2 orbs tops. There was no point in going after majors since it took my entire super to maybe bring it down, and I would probably die while trying.

If they made it a 2 hit kill for majors and increased the orb prodution, then it might be worth using. Right now, I have no desire to use it.

It has always sucked. I used it for 2 things: nightfalls to go invisible to revive people, no wait. That's it. I was never good at blink shotguns.

TTK has changed all of that. Blink, and to a lesser extent blink strike, are now much reduced in potency.

I refute that. Blink is no longer an insta-win when paired with a shotgun, but it still makes an excellent panic button and/or distance closer. With the meta still being very shotgun heavy (because Shot Package shotguns were barely nerfed at all - kill distance is essentially the same) it's still incredibly easy to close the gap. The weapon-ready delay makes it easier to counter if you already have your own shotgun ready, but if you were using your primary (god forbid) or a sniper it doesn't help much.

PvE bladedancer still has it's advantage in plentiful, long lasting invisibility. You were never really using it to clear adds because it was so dangerous before, and you're not using it now because of the same fact.

PvP bladedancer remains tremendously powerful for a handful of reasons:
1) Instantly ready any weapon. One of the most underrated perks in the game.
2) Blink. Best PvP mobility tool there is. Combo with sword and shotgun. So good.
3) Fast Twitch. You almost always have your melee ready.
4) Hungering Blade. Health regen during your super is super effective!

That being said, I think that, because of Stormcaller and Sunbreaker, there's now more value to being a Golden Gunner in PvP as a hard counter to those two supers. Rather than finding Bladedancer to be insanely brokenly powerful, I now feel like it's been brought in line with the other specs.

I'm a huge fan of the Bladedancer subclass. For me, super abilities are not the most important thing to consider when choosing a subclass. They absolutely matter, but it's the rest of the talent tree that dictates how you will be fighting between supers, which is the majority of combat.

Bladedancer's strengths lie in the little details. Their speed and maneuverability combined with blink strike make them ideal for hit-and-run ambushes. Come flying in, unleash a few quick shotgun blasts, melee + escape artist to cloak and retreat. The quick draw ability is one of my favorites in the game, and often overlooked. It's not a flashy ability, but being able to ready weapons instantly makes the Bladedancer the best class for transitioning between combat ranges. One of my favorite tactics in PvP is to engage enemies on the very edge of shotgun range and use my speed to pull back, push forward, pull back again, switching weapons as I move to keep them off balance. I'm often able to trick the enemy into trying to keep up with my weapon switching, which they simply can't do, meaning I can shoot them more than they can shoot me.

Before 2.0, I would have said that arc-bolt grenades were the best PvP grenade in the game. They're no longer as deadly as they used to be, but still very effective.

And when it comes to their Super ability, Bladedancers are still extremely effective, if perhaps a bit more situational than some other supers. With Showstopper and Encore, the Bladedancer can clear a room of low-level mobs like no other subclass. For example: in the first room of the Omnigal strike, I'll start my super just as all the Thrall begin to pour into the room, and my super won't end until the final thrall is dead. That's close to 30 kills with a single super. In PvP, the Stormcaller wins in terms of raw damage output, but the Bladedancer is far more agile during their super. A Bladedancer has a better chance of moving between enemies or escaping a crossfire, closing the distance, and scoring the kill.

I do agree that Bladedancers are at a disadvantage against major enemies. But even so, I feel they have a place within the sandbox thanks to their unique combination of stealth and agility.

I got so tired of dying from it last night that I started sitting down when I heard one use their super and I was too close to run away; because running is all you can do and you need a pretty significant head start if they are chasing you.