Revenant or Chronomancer
For PvE you’re mostly interested in unlocking your character’s Elite Spec because of the power creep so for all intents and purposes you’re asking for comparison of Chronomancer vs Herald.
Damage
Chrono: Still dependent on your Illusions. Though there was a recent update that made it to where any player companion receive 95% less damage unless they are specifically being targeted. In other words, monster AoE’s and cleave no longer insta-nuke your Illusions. Overall though Chronos have a good deal of burst damage but lackluster sustained damage.
Herald: Used to have one of the highest sustained output damages in the game but got rightfully brought down as of a recent patch. Overall, Herald’s damage excels at single target damage while still being able to “snipe” at a range. They can self generate boons/buffs for the most part so they’re not as reliant on other classes to make them stronger. Though in fractals and raids, you’re still getting boons/buffs from other players so this argument would be more for open world cases.
Defense
Chrono: Very generous access to blocks, evades, and invulnerabilities. The defensive capabilities are so great that they’ve earned a staple role as a tank in the raids. They also inherit core Mesmer’s cleansing capabilities as well as their projectile defenses making them a great contender for projectile management.
Herald: A good amount of blocks/evades though they also have skill/traits that let them stand there and soak damage. When slotting Ventari they have high healing capabilities as well as a “mobile shield of Avenger” for complete shutdown of projectiles. They do have shadowstep capabilities when channeling Shiro though it’s a little wonky due to having to have a target to activate the skill.
Party Utility
Chrono: Beyond what was mentioned above? You’re looking at being a buffbot. Primarily a Chrono is taken to dish out massive amounts of Quickness and Alacrity while still being able to push out a moderate amount of CC. Portal shenanigans as always.
Herald: Beyond what was listed above? Boonbot. By themselves, a Herald can literally sit down and spew out Fury, Might, Swiftness, Protection, and/or Regen. On top of that they broadcast a buff that extends anyone’s outgoing boon duration by 50% (Chrono drool over this making the two classes really good friends). Heralds also have access to strong CC for dealing with break bars.
Play Style
Chrono: I would argue that Chrono’s are a swiss army knife in that they can emulate various class mechanics: stealth, offensive/defensive support, control, etc. So if you like being able to do a little bit of everything this class helps accomplish that. The class is also very rewarding for those who think outside the box being able to mimic their skills and launch them back-to-back…to-back-to-back. Though the flip side of that being very true. In other words if you don’t learn the synergy of your skills/traits as well as the rotation that goes along with them you’re wasting a lot of potential.
Herald: Would be more of a poor man’s swiss army knife. While they are capable of filling multiple roles they are more locked into their role since their utilities are more or less preset due to them being based off of your Legend selection. Though they do excel at the role you choose. Some skills offer multiple effects such as one of the Shiro skills providing an evade, removing movement-impeding conditions, and restoring endurance all in one skill. Similar to a thief they have an Energy mechanic that works like initiative but affects all of your skills rather than just your weapon skills. This is great in the sense that you can frontload a lot of your attacks/skills and have relatively shorter cooldowns….but you easily burn out too quickly if you have poor energy management.
I would suggest going Chrono… the HoT mobs are more difficult, and the navigating the new maps is a struggle until you get familiar with them and unlock a few of travel-related masteries.
It’s easier doing all that on a class you’re experienced with rather than trying to learn a new class at the same time.
Thanks so much for these responses! I have a much clearer idea of what to do now and lots to think about.