Guild Wars 2

With the release of new details about the Revenant’s abilities, it just solidifies just how awesome this class will be. It’s a good thing they can’t weapon swap, because that would have been too Overpowered. The set weapon, plus ability to swap out Legendary Stances, makes the Revenant the go-to class for all players. Strong options with melee and ranged attacks, blocks, crowd controls, conditions, and more!

Now here’s my concern.

*Because the Revenant is so good, that means a lot of players might be making this their new main in PvE. The possible Meta change could also mean too many Revenants in SPvP and WvW. In order to prevent this, other classes might need some buffs to keep other professions relevant. Perhaps this is where Specializations come in?

*Now if the strength of the Revenant is too much, options would be to either buff other classes… or nerf down Revenants. If it’s the former, and all other classes are buffed, that would lead Anet down the slippery slope of Power Creep.

The new details show that there’s a lot of potential for the Revenant, but we do not have any details yet on the nitty-gritty that allows meta munchkins to power-game nor do we know of the new profession changes (specializations, conditions, boons, etc.). Patience.

Take in mind the only information we were given today was wrote by ArenaNet, and Roy. They’re going to make the Revenant sound perfect, because its a selling point for a lot of people to buy HoT.

If in the blog post, they said “Well, these professions can counter the Revenant, and its kinda squishy, and it can’t apply the following conditions…” and generally listed out it’s flaws, people wouldn’t be interested in it.

It won’t be overpowered, because all professions have downfalls and weaknesses, and when it comes out, those will become apparent. Unitl then, ArenaNet only wants us to see it as perfect and excellent.

The downfall I see is that their HP pool is only medium in size. The versatility of the Revenant makes it really appealing for tactical players. It’s not as OP as I once thought it was, since you can’t weapon swap. But that’s not to say that the mechanics so far scream “play me and play me often!”

The Hype Train is running along smoothly. But I was already on board as soon as I saw that_shaman’s post on Reddit.

Edit – I would love it if they made a Legendary 55 Monk Stance

I think it is all in the small details. Just because it sounds cool doesn’t mean it will be meta. Also depends on specializations and some people have their professions they like to stick to. Don’t forget 8 Specializations

Their downfall in competitive play is you know almost instantly their entire build by looking at their buff bar (displays current legend being invoked) and looking at their non-switchable weapon.

These guys will have literally NO tricks up their sleeve.

Nike.2631:

Their downfall in competitive play is you know almost instantly their entire build by looking at their buff bar (displays current legend being invoked) and looking at their non-switchable weapon.

These guys will have literally NO tricks up their sleeve.

That’s true. But while you can prepare to counter one Revanant’s Stance, if you go after a team of 5, each using a different weapon and Stance, you can’t prepare for them all. One could go ranged-Hammer, one would go CC Axe, one could go condi-Mace, etc. Heck, one possible Stance could be a Support based one. And all Heavy Armor too. That’s a lot of damage reduction.

Well from what we’re seeing, they’re less versatile than ele’s and engineers already.

That’s not counting the fact that they’re energy-locked. Go play GW1 on a warrior main and see the fun you can get into in the +pips/-pips model.

Windsagio.1340:

Well from what we’re seeing, they’re less versatile than ele’s and engineers already.

That’s not counting the fact that they’re energy-locked. Go play GW1 on a warrior main and see the fun you can get into in the +pips/-pips model.

Played GW1 for 8 years. Very familiar with the pips. It’s how you adapt, since each class combo had different play styles. Revenants will have a learning curve, but I’m positive they’ll have a major impact on each game type.

more like too little options.

right now, they haven’t decided if you’ll be able to pick utilities for legends or not, but they’re leaning on “nope”. that, together with the “no weapon swap” thing, would make revenant the most restrictive class in the whole game.

BrunoBRS.5178:

more like too little options.

right now, they haven’t decided if you’ll be able to pick utilities for legends or not, but they’re leaning on “nope”. that, together with the “no weapon swap” thing, would make revenant the most restrictive class in the whole game.

How did that over sized customization ended for the class itself and in relation to others and content? Filler skills/traits/runes/sigils have no place,are ignored and buffed in wrong places,hold back professions .There is a limited amount of useful skills a class can have vs requirements. GW2 works different than other mmos.

Also, wow @ jumping the gun. I’m gonna call it now. Each specialization, as it is revealed is going to be declared ‘the new meta’.

BrunoBRS.5178:

more like too little options.

right now, they haven’t decided if you’ll be able to pick utilities for legends or not, but they’re leaning on “nope”. that, together with the “no weapon swap” thing, would make revenant the most restrictive class in the whole game.

well given that the utilities had that little arrow thingy in the pics you get occ to swap your skills makes me certain they do will be able to get swapped out…just most likely you wont get as much utilities to choose from per “standalone” legend but you got 2 legends to “equip” means you basically most likely will have two entire skill sets that can be swapped in the middle of a fight….or im mental and seeing things that arent there

You’re seeing the images just fine… but you haven’t kept up on what the class designer has been telling us in the other thread .

Nike.2631:

Your seeing the images just fine… but you haven’t kept up on what the class designer has been telling us in the other thread .

well if they lock that stuff down… then this class is gonna get really boring really fast…oh boy.. lets hope they dont kitten that up cause it looks so darn tasty like it is right now

Basaltface.2786:

Nike.2631:

Your seeing the images just fine… but you haven’t kept up on what the class designer has been telling us in the other thread .

well if they lock that stuff down… then this class is gonna get really boring really fast…oh boy.. lets hope they dont kitten that up cause it looks so darn tasty like it is right now

they haven’t decided yet if they’ll stick to it though. the popular alternatives we brought to him are either generic class skills that aren’t tied to any legend (my personal pick), or just giving each legend a pool of 4-6 skills to choose from. now if he got the chance to read it yet or not, we don’t know, since he probably went back to working/heading home/etc :P

If they go for fixed legend skill sets then I think this class is going to appeal to beginners and really good players and will probably be less compelling for those in the middle.

Beginners might feel the class is easier to learn and might be less afraid of selecting “the wrong build”. It’ll have the easy learning curve of the warrior, but more variety in playstyle.

On the other hand, intermediate players may prefer the greater customisations possible with other classes. Which is great, because you want new players to start with the shiny but then learn about the other great classes.

But I think this class will be most highly regarded by the more advanced players who love FPS-like positional mechanics and the energy balance/timing mechanics. I bet the difference between a skilled player and an intermediate player will be massive with the Revenant. Perhaps more so than any other class (maybe on par with engi?).

From the looks of the skill bar, there’s definitely room to change Heal, Utility, and Elite skills. Of course, things can change up until release date (I’m looking at you Cantha District in DR). Just from looking at this pic, customization for advanced players should be juicy. Then it comes down to the equip you’ll use. PTV to make up for the lower HP pool is what I’m guessing most will go for. Rune sets will be determined if you wanna hyper focus melee or crowd control.

ZaidDyan.3057:

If they go for fixed legend skill sets then I think this class is going to appeal to beginners and really good players and will probably be less compelling for those in the middle.

Beginners might feel the class is easier to learn and might be less afraid of selecting “the wrong build”. It’ll have the easy learning curve of the warrior, but more variety in playstyle.

On the other hand, intermediate players may prefer the greater customisations possible with other classes. Which is great, because you want new players to start with the shiny but then learn about the other great classes.

But I think this class will be most highly regarded by the more advanced players who love FPS-like positional mechanics and the energy balance/timing mechanics. I bet the difference between a skilled player and an intermediate player will be massive with the Revenant. Perhaps more so than any other class (maybe on par with engi?).

…engi can choose his kits and swap em whenever he feels like it, he also can carry up to 4 at the same time, no cooldowns and nothing at changing them or he can use no kits at all. Also engi got access to the toolbelt what gives kits basically a 6th skill that can be used regardless if the engi got the kit equipped or not. Even without kits engi can slot his utilities however he wants and still got basically a 2nd (static and depending on the slotted skills) skillset thx to the toolbelt. To call the rev on par with engi (if he really cant change his skills) is insulting and i really REALLY hope they dont lock the skills down.. cause then this class is gonna be the most boring thing ever in an mmo.

edit: Also rev cant change his weapon in combat…so yea if his class mechanic basically is made of 2 “static” skillset kits…then this is gonna suck

Basaltface.2786:

ZaidDyan.3057:

If they go for fixed legend skill sets then I think this class is going to appeal to beginners and really good players and will probably be less compelling for those in the middle.

Beginners might feel the class is easier to learn and might be less afraid of selecting “the wrong build”. It’ll have the easy learning curve of the warrior, but more variety in playstyle.

On the other hand, intermediate players may prefer the greater customisations possible with other classes. Which is great, because you want new players to start with the shiny but then learn about the other great classes.

But I think this class will be most highly regarded by the more advanced players who love FPS-like positional mechanics and the energy balance/timing mechanics. I bet the difference between a skilled player and an intermediate player will be massive with the Revenant. Perhaps more so than any other class (maybe on par with engi?).

…engi can choose his kits and swap em whenever he feels like it, he also can carry up to 4 at the same time, no cooldowns and nothing at changing them or he can use no kits at all. Also engi got access to the toolbelt what gives kits basically a 6th skill that can be used regardless if the engi got the kit equipped or not. Even without kits engi can slot his utilities however he wants and still got basically a 2nd (static and depending on the slotted skills) skillset thx to the toolbelt. To call the rev on par with engi (if he really cant change his skills) is insulting and i really REALLY hope they dont lock the skills down.. cause then this class is gonna be the most boring thing ever in an mmo.

edit: Also rev cant change his weapon in combat…so yea if his class mechanic basically is made of 2 “static” skillset kits…then this is gonna suck

he’s talking about the skill gap between new players and veterans, not the options.

“With the release of new details about Elementalist’ abilities, it just solidifies just how awesome this class will be. It’s a good thing they can’t weapon swap, because that would have been too Overpowered. The set weapon, plus ability to swap out Attunements, makes the Elementalist the go-to class for all players. Strong options with melee and ranged attacks, blocks, crowd controls, conditions, and more!”

Or insert just about any other class.

We don’t know enough about the new class to jump on the overpowered-bandwagon. Will it need balancing? Probably, but its just as likely the new class will be underpowered.

Balancing aside, I am sure there will be plenty of people playing Revenant simply because it is new and exciting.

There are probably a lot of veteran players with 80 tombs-of-knowledge, but I think just as many players will be kicking off their new Revenant at lvl 1, which means they must forgo the new Maguuma content in favor of leveling up.

There will also be new subclasses and weapon specializations for people to test out on their already existing characters.

I am sure there will be plenty of Revenants running around, but A-net is adding enough new content in other areas that we’ll still see plenty of the other classes still kicking around. And without anyone having tested the class yet, it is just too early to make claims about balancing issues for the Revenant.

I think I’ve seen this post in every game that’s ever added a class ever.

I don’t really subscribe to “meta” since it’s so limited but the gameplay dynamic will change for sure if you add a new class with a whole new slew of skills, as well as new conditions. It will be pretty much chaos at first but that also comes with any expansion in a game with a competitive element, unless the game was made by seers. We’ve just got to be patient early on, although yes I have no doubt the devs want to see some discussion over the new stuff.

I would be surprised if it wasn’t overpowered it’s a new class Anet is going to want people to play it what better way to do that then make it op? If anything I’m just curious how op it will be lol.

I don’t believe that the Revenant will be over saturated. I think we’ll see a ton of people roll one when the expansion launches; and everyone will probably have a Revenant, but I honestly can’t see a lot of people maining Revenant.

The Revenant seems like a really busy profession mechanic wise, and I don’t want to say it’s a trend… but the busier the profession mechanic, the less popular the profession tends to be overall. Warrior being the simplest and most popular and Mesmer being the most “complex” and least popular.

I know this is really a unsubstantiated line of reasoning; but I think the combination of upkeep, resource management, lack of weapon swap, and the potential depth of legend swapping will make most players stay away and prefer simpler professions. I don’t think Revenent will become the most popular profession… not over warrior at least, not even close probably.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

With the release of new details about the Revenant’s abilities, it just solidifies just how awesome this class will be. It’s a good thing they can’t weapon swap, because that would have been too Overpowered. The set weapon, plus ability to swap out Legendary Stances, makes the Revenant the go-to class for all players. Strong options with melee and ranged attacks, blocks, crowd controls, conditions, and more!

Now here’s my concern.

*Because the Revenant is so good, that means a lot of players might be making this their new main in PvE. The possible Meta change could also mean too many Revenants in SPvP and WvW. In order to prevent this, other classes might need some buffs to keep other professions relevant. Perhaps this is where Specializations come in?

*Now if the strength of the Revenant is too much, options would be to either buff other classes… or nerf down Revenants. If it’s the former, and all other classes are buffed, that would lead Anet down the slippery slope of Power Creep.

Nothing a few nerfs from ANET won’t fix.

The class was designed by Roy. Is there any doubt it will be the new Warrior?

Don’t forget that there will be the other professions specializations, we don’t have any information regarding those, saying that the revenant is the new meta is a shot in the dark.

Nienow.1705:

Don’t forget that there will be the other professions specializations, we don’t have any information regarding those, saying that the revenant is the new meta is a shot in the dark.

Thank you, was gonna say something like this. Specs are going to change the game. We’re going to have all the new mechanics that the Rev does. That moving wall thing and that creeping abilities thing are in all likelihood being added across the board.

We have literally not even seen a proper video of this class, can we just stop with this doomsday posting? Yes they’re going to make it look like an AMAZING class when they’re PROMOTING the new expansion. For kitten’s sake.

To me it looks like it might be a fun profession to play with the potential to really hinge on player skill.
But people let themselves be wowed far to easily.

“oh my gawd! Revenant’s ranged attack will deal more damage the further a target is away!? That is so OP, also i’ve never heard of Rangers or Mesmers”

Legendary demon stance spreads ebola. Nerf plox

Terrahero.9358:

To me it looks like it might be a fun profession to play with the potential to really hinge on player skill.
But people let themselves be wowed far to easily.

“oh my gawd! Revenant’s ranged attack will deal more damage the further a target is away!? That is so OP, also i’ve never heard of Rangers or Mesmers”

How many people can throw a two-handed War Hammer? In real life, you gotta be pretty OP to be able to do something like that.

Scoobaniec.9561:

Legendary demon stance spreads ebola. Nerf plox

Also does double damage if you haven’t vaccinated for measles.

ZaidDyan.3057:

But I think this class will be most highly regarded by the more advanced players who love FPS-like positional mechanics and the energy balance/timing mechanics. I bet the difference between a skilled player and an intermediate player will be massive with the Revenant. Perhaps more so than any other class (maybe on par with engi?).

I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as more advanced but I do prefer to have more control over my character rather than less – which is why cooldown driven is my least favourite form. Definitely prefer FPS. From the current professions mechanics-wise I like thieves best but unfortunately in terms of theme it’s my least favourite.

That’s why I was initially very excited by the revenant. But my excitement has waned. There’ll still be some cooldowns and they’ve said they’ve designed it so the optimal way to play is swap legends as often as possible to take advantage of the instant energy half refill. And they explicitly don’t want to make any allowances (i.e. traits) for players not wanting to play them that way.

Unfortunately the more I read about them the less it sounds like I’d be playing the class and the more it sounds like it would be playing me.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

How many people can throw a two-handed War Hammer? In real life, you gotta be pretty OP to be able to do something like that.

The Revenant won’t be able to throw a two-hanhed War Hammer. He will use it to cast magical skills, using the power ofthe mists…

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Terrahero.9358:

To me it looks like it might be a fun profession to play with the potential to really hinge on player skill.
But people let themselves be wowed far to easily.

“oh my gawd! Revenant’s ranged attack will deal more damage the further a target is away!? That is so OP, also i’ve never heard of Rangers or Mesmers”

How many people can throw a two-handed War Hammer? In real life, you gotta be pretty OP to be able to do something like that.

You’ve apparently never heard of the shot put? Also worth mentioning is that pretty much every medieval weapon weighs far less than what the average person thinks it does. Two handed axes, for example, weighed around 2.5 pounds.

new meta?
you mean new joke, it has all the bad sides and none of the good sides.

energy – same as initiative which i can’t stand.
no weapon swap – worse then engineer and they have kits to lower the problem.
linked utility skills – as if we don’t have enough limits.

take that and add the problem that their health bar is med, it’s gonna be a fun ride seeing ppl getting so exited for this profession and ending up dying more often then they like to.
at least remove the energy dependent part and the blow isn’t that hard, for now it’s allot worse then the thief and that profession is broken beyond believe.

sorudo.9054:

new meta?
you mean new joke, it has all the bad sides and none of the good sides.

energy – same as initiative which i can’t stand.
no weapon swap – worse then engineer and they have kits to lower the problem.
linked utility skills – as if we don’t have enough limits.

take that and add the problem that their health bar is med, it’s gonna be a fun ride seeing ppl getting so exited for this profession and ending up dying more often then they like to.
at least remove the energy dependent part and the blow isn’t that hard, for now it’s allot worse then the thief and that profession is broken beyond believe.

Good; I hope a lot of people suck at the profession like people did at elementalist at the launch of the game. It’ll keep the Revenant population nice and low.

Re watch the POI at the part where they are showing class skills and think about potential counters and downsides to those skills.
Here’s what I can think of off the top of my head.
-Mace AA, its like the scepter for both the necro and mesmer rolled into one, except it is torment on a melee attack, seems pretty inefficient if the opponent can stay at range or have high HP
-upkeep skills seem potent, but bad use could mean accidentally locking down most of your skills for a time
-edit: axe 5 is like mesmer’s focus 4 without ground targeting and less control… on a ranged weapon

Now think about how current prefessions can counter without their new specializations

Necromancer: If they have Malyxx activated, and you’re condi specced or use staff the most, avoid if you’re alone. Otherwise, power necros should have little problem with a med hp profession that so far, utilizes a slow ranged weapon and a melee condi weapon. Fear can also render that hammer reflect skill useless. The CCs shown seem to be easily avoidable outside that chain skill, so watch out for that.

Ranger: Simple, their ranged weapon shown is far outpaced by your bow, now you all have to learn to cancel rapid fire when reflect is up (if Mesmers didn’t already make that apparent). Like you, they have a melee condi weapon setup, but they don’t have your mad evade skills, I would really like to see a condi ranger vs. condi revenant duel.

Guardian: Use your hammer 5 so their hammer is less effective so you can hit them with your hammer while their hammer is rendered sub par. Shout the Malyxx away.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Terrahero.9358:

To me it looks like it might be a fun profession to play with the potential to really hinge on player skill.
But people let themselves be wowed far to easily.

“oh my gawd! Revenant’s ranged attack will deal more damage the further a target is away!? That is so OP, also i’ve never heard of Rangers or Mesmers”

How many people can throw a two-handed War Hammer? In real life, you gotta be pretty OP to be able to do something like that.

Ok good trolling. Well done. You got a lot of people going for it.

BrunoBRS.5178:

Basaltface.2786:

ZaidDyan.3057:

…
But I think this class will be most highly regarded by the more advanced players who love FPS-like positional mechanics and the energy balance/timing mechanics. I bet the difference between a skilled player and an intermediate player will be massive with the Revenant. Perhaps more so than any other class (maybe on par with engi?).

…engi can choose his kits and swap em whenever he feels like it, he also can carry up to 4 at the same time, no cooldowns and nothing at changing them or he can use no kits at all. Also engi got access to the toolbelt what gives kits basically a 6th skill that can be used regardless if the engi got the kit equipped or not…

edit: Also rev cant change his weapon in combat…so yea if his class mechanic basically is made of 2 “static” skillset kits…then this is gonna suck

he’s talking about the skill gap between new players and veterans, not the options.

Correct. I certainly wasn’t trying to insult my favorite class! From what I’ve read so far the rev. is going to be about understanding timing and synergies between legend skills … just like the engi. I think beginner players find the engi confusing. Intermediate players see the engi as a cool flexible class with lots of customisation via kits and weapons but ultimately it feels underpowered. Advanced players synergise combo fields and blast finishers from different kits and traits to dominate. But this requires precise timing with kit swapping and knowing how to tweak the loadout for different situations.

The recent polygon article has some additional interesting insights… e.g. swapping legends resets the energy bar to 50% and that the legends are intended to be “template playstyles”. If that’s the case, I think beginners will focus on one legend at a time because it will relate really easily to what they know. Advanced rev players will figure out exactly when to swap legends, when to toggle upkeeps, creating several different situational 10+ skill rotations – similar to how an advanced engi (or elementalist) is played.

Of course, all speculation till we see exactly what those skills/legends are…

idk how a condi build or a support build will make this meta in pve. we hardly know anything about this class.

also buffing already silly builds in spvp to make people play them more is just….

no thanks, ill be sticking with my mesmer, love that class too death, screw anything else

Well my prediction at Hot release revenant and specializations will be the only kitten viable. regular classes will be subpar. 6 months later regular class will be bad but playable, 1 year later new specializations and then things get balanced.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

I would love it if they made a Legendary 55 Monk Stance

YES, PLS! But… also a place where i can aggro so many enemies that it becomes relevant.
55hp farming isnt about killing 3 enemies :S

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Windsagio.1340:

Well from what we’re seeing, they’re less versatile than ele’s and engineers already.

That’s not counting the fact that they’re energy-locked. Go play GW1 on a warrior main and see the fun you can get into in the +pips/-pips model.

Played GW1 for 8 years. Very familiar with the pips. It’s how you adapt, since each class combo had different play styles. Revenants will have a learning curve, but I’m positive they’ll have a major impact on each game type.

I really miss the pips. :’(