Willbenders failed to impress when they were initially fielded in the Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons beta but the final testing event will see the new and improved elite spec.
Willbender was meant to be the highly mobile Guardian that would probably end up being the bane of squishes in Guild Wars 2 PvP but this dream never materialised because the elite spec ended up being terribly underwhelming. However, the devs listened to the feedback and have made crucial changes that will undoubtedly make Willbenders more dangerous but it remains to be seen how they will fit into the balance of the game.
One of the main complaints players had were the rigid animation for the skills specific to this elite specialisation, resulting in animation locks that would make Willbender actually less agile than everything else. ArenaNet addressed this issue by giving the Willbender Virtues large buffs. For example, Rushing Justice now has almost twice as much range as before and the animation length was adjusted to make transitions smoother.
Advancing Strike, the #5 weapon skill when using an off-hand sword, also has better scaling in PvP and WvW, making it a decent damage ability on top of the utility it provides.
Flash Combo and its follow-up now allow movement while they are being used. The same goes for Whirling Light, which was buffed even more as it provides a 50 per cent movement speed buff, has a wider damage radius and a 25 per cent lower cooldown.
The elite skill, Heaven's Palm, will now provide a shadow step as the ability is targeted. The Guardian will move to the target and then perform the area attack.
Willbenders may be one of the highlights but virtually all EoD elite specialisations received changes, so you might want to check out the wall of text to know what's going on with the new beta.