(edited by Kain Francois.4328)
Commenting on underpowered Revenant Traits
Devastation:
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Overview
One of our few good traitlines. It’s actually really good, for the most part.
It offers powerful traits, and synergy with nearly every legend. All legends gain the damage multipliers and Vulnerability, Jalis and Shiro benefit heavily from Life Steal, Mallyx appreciates the Vulnerability especially, and Bunker builds love Jade Echo for being extra-annoying.
It’s really not bad. Perhaps its flaw is that it is possibly too much of a staple, but I believe that is an issue of other Traitlines being underpowered rather than Devastation being overpowered.
The principals of Devastation are Damage-Buffs, Sustain through Life-Siphon, and weakening enemy defenses through Malicious Reprisal and Vulnerability.
Nefarious Momentum
- 2 Stacks of Might for 11s each time you use an Assassin Stance skill.
Why does this even exist? It competes with Assassin’s Presence, which grants +150 Ferocity to you AND ALLIES. So not only does the numbers of Assassin’s Presence completely beat it, but it’s more supportive too.
But even if you put aside its competition, it’s a very lackluster skill. 2 Stacks of Might really isn’t much. It’s limited to Assassin Stance, and most of Assassin’s Stance skills have recharge times.
Because Assassin’s Presence is such a staple for any PvE scenario whatsoever, this skill should be changed to a context-specific use that does not compete. Perhaps reworked into something useful for another game mode?
Dismantle Fortifications
- Remove extra stack of stability whenever you use a CC skill.
The problem is that most foes in PvE do not have Stability. Not only that, but it competes with Swift Termination, which grants us +20% damage against foes at half health.
Possibly needs a new effect against non-human foes? Suggestion: Each time a CC is used, it dazes a foe? That way it has use for breaking breakbars.
Assassin’s Annihilation
- Siphon 300 HP from a foe when hitting from the back or side. Recharge= 1s.
Why is Flanking suddenly a thing for Revenant?
The effect itself is useful when tanking, or when you want to be slightly more bulky. However, it’s still fairly weak for a grandmaster, considering its effect is about equivalent to receiving Regeneration or Soothing Mist.
Firstly, I do not think the arbitrary Flanking is necessary. Secondly, I think it merely needs numerical adjustments. Perhaps an emphasis on the extra damage, with some more heal?
(edited by Kain Francois.4328)
Corruption:
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Overview
Uh oh, here it is. The worst traitline; la creme de la creme. Mallyx was changed during the Expansion Beta, and the traitline wasn’t changed at all to match it. This has some of the most pathetic excuses in the game for traits I have ever seen, and it is desperately in need of a rework.
The principals of Corruption are Condition Damage, Boon-Strip, and uh… Random? Yeah, it’s all over the place. Let the clown fiesta begin.
Replenishing Despair:
- 136 HP whenever you receive a new INCOMING condition. Only when an enemy applies a condition on strike, not for bleed tic. 1s CD.
LMAO
IS THIS A JOKE!?
In a game where skills deal upwards of 6000 damage on a single attack, here’s a trait that heals a puny 100 damage, but only whenever you receive a condition, which deals damage anyway, making it completely useless-useless-USELESS for mitigating damage!
Even if it were 136 hp per second, it’d still be a useless trait far inferior to other Revenant options.
Let me be frank: This is kitten.
The only reason for this trait existing is a remnant from the Beta of Heart of Thorns when Mallyx functioned differently.
Just remove it from the game.
Venom Enhancement
- Poison extended by 50%. Deal 7s of Poison 1 Stack with 20s CD.
(PVE PERSPECTIVE)
Why is this skill CD 20s for just 1 stack of poison? As for duration increase, our only source of Poison is Mace autoattack and this trait.
Perhaps it was intended simply to reduce enemy heal, making it a PvP skill? But for PvE, it’s quite weak.
Bolstered Anguish
- Gain 3% damage for each condition on you.
Since we have no way of self-applying conditions anymore, this trait is quite outdated.
It’s so situational, and begs the use with Mallyx to draw conditions form Allies. But I honestly can’t make it work when I need it to enough.
Changing the damage buff to a simpler requirement would go a long way. (Perhaps +7% against foes afflicted with Torment?)
Frigid Precision
- 50% chance to chill foe for 2s chill. 10s cd
Why does this exist, and as a Master trait? It competes with Bolstered Anguish above, too.
I cannot think of a single use for this, nor’ can I make a suggestion. It needs a new trait entirely.
Yearning Empowerment
- Torment Lasts 33% longer.
A Minor trait.
Simple in its effect, but I question why it exists? Shouldn’t this be part of the other Minor trait’s functionality, Rampant Vex?
It simply feels like this trait should be merged with the other Minor, and something else in this place.
Diabolic Inferno
- 2 stacks of burn for 4s whenever using Elite Skill. 10s cd
Very hard to comment. Seems underwhelming for a grandmaster.
(edited by Kain Francois.4328)
Salvation:
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Overview
Suffers from extreme-context specific syndrome. All it does is give Outgoing Healing, and because that’s currently the only reason to ever take this traitline, the other traits go ignored.
Waaay too centered around the “Pacifist” theme/flavor that very little of the playerbase actually gives 2-dolyak feces about, over something that is simply fun to play.
Worst of all, because the entirety of the Salvation traitline centers around Ventari, it doesn’t want us to use our profession mechanic of swapping legends.
Ventari should not require use of an entire traitline just to be useful. And that traitline should not require use of a specific Legend Stance just to be useful. Ventari should be good without Salvation, and Salvation should be useful with Mallyx and Shiro.
The saddest part of Ventari is that some of the Traits like Blinding Truths are actually really cool. But again, because we have no reason to take this except when Healing, and because Outgoing Healing has a monopoly on traits, we do not use the other traits as much.
I want the potential of this traitline to someday shine, we must rip it apart.
The principals of Salvation are Blind, Healing, and uh… yeah, like Corruption, it lacks a third principal. (Personally, I think it should have more Plant-y themed traits.)
Nourishing Roots & Tranquil Balance
- Grant 2s of Regeneration for Allies near Tablet
- 20% outgoing healing while over 75% health.
The role of these traits are to heal allies. So what exactly is the balance of being forced to choose one or the other?
Of course, a healer will take the latter. So why does the former exist?
In my opinion, they should be merged, as they provide synergy with each other. (Regeneration helps maintain Revenant above 75% hp.)
Tranquil Benediction
- Orbs summoned from Staff autoattack (that nobody bothers to pick up) give 3s Regen and Swiftness
The orbs from Staff autoattack are unreliable for alies, so I assume the buffs are for my self?
The problem of course, is that movement in GW2 is very important, and I do not have time to circle around a foe, looking for orbs to pick up.
The functionality of this trait would be wonderful if Staff autoattack was changed to give functionality of the Orbs in a radius, rather than picking them up. This would also let Revenant function better as a blanket-healer, even when not using Ventari.
However, not every Revenant who uses Staff wants to be a healer. It’s a VERY popular weapon used for damage, CC, and block.
Let’s stick the middle finger to “flavor”. In going with the suggestion of not locking the Revenant into a single legend, I think this trait should give the Staff +10% additional damage. Even better idea, how about Staff dealing +20% damage to foes with Blind? That way Revenant actually has a reason to use Ventari for offensive purposes and synergizes with other traits in this traitline.
Invoking Harmony
- +20% outgoing healing for 10s after switching a legend.
Badly designed. Because other legends don’t have outgoing healing, its only intention is using it to switch INTO Ventari, but there are little situations to actually do that.
Also, why is a Master trait so inferior to Adept?
Selfless Amplification
- Outgoing Healing increased 1.50% per 100 Healing Power.
Useless without healing power. And no one except dedicated healers will be using this anyway. Most healers will have 21% outgoing healing power from this trait.
Why not just make it a flat 21% outgoing healing in the first place?
Or better, since it’s such a staple for healers, why not just fuse it with Serene Rejuvenation, and put something else in this place? It’d greatly help with build variety.
Natural Abundance
- Summon a Fragment which heals 1000 HP each time you use a Ventari skill. Fragment disappears after 5 seconds.
Hey, who has time to pick up a randomly-spawned fragment in just 5 seconds? No one.
Hey, remember Medkit for Engineer? Because it worked SOOOOO well, amrite?
Picking up fragments for healing does not work in GW2, kapish?
Bad trait. Needs a complete change.
Or at the very least, a much longer fragment duration.
Momentary Pacification
- When you use an elite skill, foes adjacent to you are immobilized for 3s after 3 seconds. kitten cd.
Why is it on a kitten cooldown? It’s just a 3s immobilize to foes in melee. A DELAYED immobilize at that, and it’s quite unreliable.
Would it hurt to give it damage and Bleed, like the Ranger’s Entangle? That way it has at least some use in a condi build.
It’s a cool idea, but it’s unreliable.
Retribution:
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Overview
Defensive traitline works well for PvP, but it’s a bit underpowered for PvE.
This was soooooo cool in the Beta, when it had a trait that summoned a Jalis hammer surrounding you. Sadly that trait was removed. (Worst of all, they removed legendary effects from the Hammers as well…)
It lacks a little offensive “oomphf” and a bunch of traits have poor synergy, and underwhelming effects. Desperately needs attention as well.
The principals of Retribution are Defense, Taunt, and uhhh… Yup, lacks a third Principal again.
Planar Protection
- Reduce falling damage by 50%. When falling, create a Dome of the Mists which for 8s which blocks projectiles and weakens foes for 1s. 5s CD.
Why is a Dome of the Mists exclusive to a falling trait?
It seems like a cool effect. I just wish there were some way to trigger it willingly?
Close Quarters
- Reduce damage by 10% from foes further away than 360 radius.
Good with hammer in things like WvW. Sadly, it synergizes poorly with Jalis and Taunt because those are primarily melee-ranged abilities.
Furthermore, it competes with another damage reduction trait, Improved Aggression.
Improved Aggression
- Taunt duration increased 100% in PvE. Taunted foes deal 20% less damage to you.
The major problem with this trait is that the only reliable Taunt on Revenant is Forced Engagement on Jalis, making it useless on other Legends.
Taunt itself is quite problematic for Revenant. The only single-target foes worth using this on would have breakbars, so the mechanic of taunting isn’t useful.
On the other hand, for Open World PvE and Trash-Enemies in dungeons, we do not have AoE taunt for agro control and actual damage reduction.
Overall, not a bad trait by itself. But Revenant requires some form of AoE Taunt for it to have a use.
Retaliatory Evasion
- 2s Retaliation after dodging.
Bwahahha. Barely any retaliation. It’s already not the most powerful Boon out there, but the duration is so puny, it’s hilarious.
But seriously. Trash trait.
Synergizes with Empowering Vengeance, but that’s a trash trait too.
Empowering Vengeance
- Gain 1 stack of Might for 10s while under Retaliation.
Essentially translates to: “Whenever you dodge, gain 2 stacks of might for 10 seconds”.
Very underwhelming. Especially relative to other traits that give the Revenant damage buffs.
Because Revenant has no issue gaining Might whatsoever, I think this should’ve been a Damage-Modifier instead.
Currently, this barely qualifies as a grandmaster trait.
Did I mention I miss the Spinning Hammers from Beta?
Steadfast Rejuvenation
- Gain 500 hp when struck. 5s CD
Another trait that barely qualifies as grandmaster.
Invocation:
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Overview
Our “Primary” Attribute, yet it barely interacts with Legends or Mana. Would a Swap CD Reduction or Mana Increase hurt?
For the record, despite not interacting with Legend-Swapping a significant way enough, this is one of the better traitlines.
It’s not without its issues, however.
The principals of Invocation are Legend-Swapping, Fury, and some stupid gimmick where traits have a different effect depending on your mana level. (One I will give a lot of critique.)
Equilibrium
- Deals about 4k damage if you Legend-Swap while over 50 Mana. Heal 400 HP if used under 50 Mana.
The timing of 50 Mana is a very difficult threshold because we aren’t able to get the damage proc often during any practical combat scenarios.
This leaves us with the other effect. It may as well say: “Restore 400 HP every time you swap.”
If the purpose is to reward players for saving Mana, then why is the Low-Mana effect completely different?
I like the idea of traits making us think about the mana threshold, and it should be part of our DPS rotations.
The effect for over 50 Mana should be more rewarding, and the penalty should be consistent in theme with the reward, such as dealing half damage on proc instead of healing.
Equilibrium
- Heal yourself 300 HP whenever you use a skill that has an energy cost. 5s CD.
Incensed Response
- Gain 11s Fury whenever you break out of a stun.
It just feels like it should’ve been a minor trait, merged with Empty Vessel (which breaks stun on Legend-Swap.)
Since it seems so obvious it was intended to use with Empty Vessel, it’s kind of useless because anyone swapping legends to stun break would’ve already had Fury from Invoker’s Rage in the first place.
Our other options for Stun Breaks are Facet of Darkness of Glint, but that Legend-Stance already gives us 40s of Fury, and Jalis with Rite of the Great Dwarf, which is a little expensive for a Stun-Break, and Riposting Shadows of Shiro, being the only thing this has any clear synergy with.
Since Shiro’s Riposting Shadows is the only thing this trait has synergy with, I think it should be reworked a kitten
arged Mists
- Grants 2 stacks of Might for 13s whenever using skill that drops you under 50 energy.
Translation: Whenever you use a skill with cost (not upkeep) that brings you from >50 Mana to <50 Mana, you gain 2 stacks of Might. If you use a skill under 50 mana, you do not gain energy.
Grandmaster trait which grants only 2 stacks of might. Kek
In a practical fight, this is useless. Even simulated under perfect circumstances, it’s underwhelming.
This trait is being compared to other grandmasters, specifically Rolling Mists, which makes Fury give 40% critical chance instead of 20%.
It’s bad. Needs a complete rework. Hopefully not more Might, since Revenant really isn’t in need of more Might.
Shrouding Mist
- While above 50 Mana, gain 25% Outgoing Healing. While under 50 Mana, gain 10% damage reduction.
Similar issues to Equilibrium.
If ANET wants us to use Healing with this trait, why make it so unreliable? Just change it to 25% outgoing healing above 50 Mana, and 15% below.
As it is, Ventari is so energy-demanding that this trait sees little use in a practical healing setup.
Conclusion:
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Revenant is a fun class, but our traits are a mess.
Salvation has little synergy with anyone besides Ventari, Corruption has poor synergy with anyone but Mallyx, Retribution doesn’t even work all that well with Jalis, and
Currently, most Revenants are locked into a Devastation-Invocation-Glint meta because our other trait options really are that bad.
The biggest issues, aside from many traits simply having very low numbers, is that the traits do not promote Legend-Swapping, our profession mechanic.
Invocation, our “Primary Attribute” is a mess with the Equilibrium mechanic okitten0< Mana effects, rewarding the player very poorly for conserving energy.
Some traitlines go for theme over functionality, and this is very frustrating. For example, the excuse that Salvation cannot have any damage perks or buffs because “Ventari is a pacifist” really gives Staff the short end of the stick, despite being one of the most useful weapons in our entire lineup.
In a class who’s versatility must be dependent solely on the choice of our traits over our utility skills, I would hope ANET address the lack of versatility in viable traits. Otherwise, the class will continue becoming stale very fast.
(edited by Kain Francois.4328)
Glint:
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- Reserved. -
(edited by Kain Francois.4328)