Guild Wars 2

Hello folks, I’m going to build a new character and I was curious about the Revenant. It looks like a fun class to play on PvE so I wanted to give it a try. But I can’t find any good information about this class.

So, without further ado…

-What’s good/bad about the Revenant?
-What are common builds and how do they play?
-Does the Revenant play well in PvE and/or WvW?
-What was your experience with playing a Rev?
-Do you still play a Rev character? Why or why not?

Please provide objective assessments of this class. While sharing opinions and experiences can be helpful, I don’t want to receive a bunch of answers saying something like, “Revenant sucks cuz I didn’t like it” or “Rev sucks, choose a different class”. I’m looking for good information so I build a character I’ll enjoy playing.

http://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki

In solo Pve rev brings decent mobility, survivability, and damage. They only run into problems in high end group pve. The problem is, that their DPS is balanced around their self buffing ability which is among the best in the game, able to maintain fury, ~10 might stacks, and ~45% quickness uptime. With this self buffing capability, their solo DPS is pretty respectable.

However once you enter a raid, none of this matters. Classes that have had their damage balanced around not having the above buffs all of a sudden do thanks to Mesmers, warriors, and druids providing all of those buffs permanently to the whole raid. At this point rev self buffing capabilities are mostly redundant and hence irrelevant and rev becomes the lowest or second lowest DPS class in the game (it does a bit more damage than condi Mesmers on a golem, however Mesmers damage comes from torment and confusion so they can do more DPS in many actual fights). On top of this most of their support is just boons easily obtainable from other sources and as a result redundant and irrelevant. This all comes together to make rev the worst class for raids. If you have any intention of raiding aside from training runs you will struggle to find a group that will accept you largely because of the class.

For reference I have over 500 legendary insights and when I try pugging on my Rev I am pretty much always asked to play a different class, if I refuse I am frequently kicked.

Satchen.8309:

1-What’s good/bad about the Revenant?
2-What are common builds and how do they play?
3-Does the Revenant play well in PvE and/or WvW?
4-What was your experience with playing a Rev?
5-Do you still play a Rev character? Why or why not?

1- Good at: mobility, boon sharing (specially fury, protection and resistance), area cleaving, mele fighting, res denegation, evading and reversing physical damage. Bad at: condition cleansing, stability access, ranged combat, cc pressure.
2- Here:
https://metabattle.com/wiki/Revenant
3-Any class is effective in PvE but other ones are more efficient than this one; Rev is solid in WvW as long as you are skilled as roamer or well supported in team fights.
4-ANet gradually dismantled any viable condition build I used to play with the Rev forcing me to play power Rev; then they procceded to do almost the same with that one. Finally they buffed healer Rev but I stay in power due Ventari is crap for roaming/solo q.
5- Yes. Because is the only heavy armor class which is hard to play. Being so vulnerable forces you to play better.

Satchen.8309:

Hello folks, I’m going to build a new character and I was curious about the Revenant. It looks like a fun class to play on PvE so I wanted to give it a try. But I can’t find any good information about this class.

So, without further ado…

-What’s good/bad about the Revenant?
-What are common builds and how do they play?
-Does the Revenant play well in PvE and/or WvW?
-What was your experience with playing a Rev?
-Do you still play a Rev character? Why or why not?

Please provide objective assessments of this class. While sharing opinions and experiences can be helpful, I don’t want to receive a bunch of answers saying something like, “Revenant sucks cuz I didn’t like it” or “Rev sucks, choose a different class”. I’m looking for good information so I build a character I’ll enjoy playing.

Despite what you’ll hear from the majority of the forum, there is a lot of good about the Revenant. The class does get a lot more sustainable once you get to Herald (if you’re on EU servers I’d be happy to help you get there), but it can be pretty sustainable on Jalis and perhaps Mallynx.
Rev is the only class with access to two heals so bear that in mind, as well as (again Herald) access to 90% of boons.

So, onto the meat of the post (I only discuss PVE for this, not PVP just as a note)

- What’s good: Boon access, party viability/buffing, good DPS (Sword, Staff, Hammer, Mace for conditions), pretty hard to take down once you get accustomed to the mechanics.

What’s bad: Rev tends to get a bad stigma in Raids because of people refusing anything other than meta-DPS-race and inability to think outside the box, the energy mechanic can be a bit limiting at times, having cooldowns + energy costs on weapons means you’ll need to keep an eye on your management, some of the skill costs are a bit too high (phase traversal, the alacrity skill for Ventari, staff #2).

In all honesty if you can manage your energy well, theres very little you can’t do.

Common builds – As you may have noted, people linked you to metabattle. You’ll find the “common” and “only accepted” build is sword skill spamming 1 and Shiro/Herald. You buff then use Shiro.
Myself personally, I have 3 builds setup – main (for all levels of content), Condi and Support.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlUQJAWin3gWNSuQrJRbo/ksP0gS4I6QJ4EdrkFNFidMrpN2FMhNsdABoBA-TBCBQBB4SAgRlBMSJYWU6ZIdB9b/BA8EAQo6PkCwrlRA-e

This gives me 100% boon duration and crit, great damage and tanking capability, high versatility (jalis for heal + elite 50% less damage taken, party buff too). I can switch for Mallynx if I need boon strip or perma blind, or Resistance. When paired with Staff I have breakbar anytime I need it, condi clear with traits and #4.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlUQJApnn3geNSuQvJRboHlsP0kS4I6SJ4EtrkFNFyugJshpd4DlodABoBA-TBCBQBeU5H62BYLLP8sTAg/0D4Q1fopSQA8AAIFAELrA-e

Condi for pumping out Torment and Burning, as well as more Might. If the enemy stays still you can stack Burning like no tomorrow, if they move then double the Torment damage. It really does have great potential (many will tell you otherwise, ignore and try for yourself)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlUQJAWin3gmNSuQzJRboNlsP0oS4I6UJ4ENskFflxe3fLmdjRSZNgEaA-TxxGQBtRXgHVCqI1fI3lAoWK/Gy+DA4JAQKA/2bB-e

This will give you good boon duration, great healing + alacrity as a bonus, you can fight up close with staff or ranged with hammer. The DPS here doesn’t really matter, what you’ll be focusing on is essentially spamming your tablet move skill to keep up perma protection (hit F2 on every cooldown) on 5 party members along with heals and condi clear if you need it (breakbar damage on elite if necessary). You’ll have perma regen on allies too with the tablet being near. It’s great for being a backline support Rev if that’s what you want to do.

Does it play well in PVE/WVW – Yes to both. I started Rev when HoT opened and previously mained Guardian. I have never looked back, got a 3 full sets of Ascended and even did legendary journey for my Rev and have always loved the class.
In WVW I played “what am i” with enemies, essentially switching between power and condi to confuse people and winning most fights.

My experience has been great from start to even now, only once did I encounter a bug with sword #3 but never really ran into any of the issues the forum people often mention (perhaps I’m just lucky?). I thoroughly enjoy Rev and would highly recommend it.

Do I still play? Hell yes – feel free to add me

Thank you so much everyone!!! I can’t wait to try out my 1st Rev!!! And I will definitely check out those websites.

Its Nerfing Time.1495:

Rev is the only class with access to two heals so bear that in mind, as well as (again Herald) access to 90% of boons.

That’s pretty much irrelevant without context; yes you have access to 2 legends so you can swich and use two times in a row the “6”, but most of the Rev heals are weak and and lack consitency (i.e.: Shiro heal only provides a decent amount of HP if you hit your target and Glint only if you get bursted and Mallyx heal is subpar vs power based foes). Classes with only “a single” heal as med Guardian and Warrior have much better consistency in their heals.

Also, the class is full of bugs, and you can expect from skills as sword #2 (Precission Strike) to hit every random object in the landscape instead of “real” targets. Its Nerfing Time propaganda also forgets to mention how vulnerable is Rev to heavy cc pressure, Rev is truly a “free biscuit” to some Necro and Mesmer builds. Of course nothing of this matters if you goals run around PvE, but those problems must be mentioned is a fair review of the class.

Buran.3796:

Its Nerfing Time.1495:

Rev is the only class with access to two heals so bear that in mind, as well as (again Herald) access to 90% of boons.

That’s pretty much irrelevant without context; yes you have access to 2 legends so you can swich and use two times in a row the “6”, but most of the Rev heals are weak and and lack consitency (i.e.: Shiro heal only provides a decent amount of HP if you hit your target and Glint only if you get bursted and Mallyx heal is subpar vs power based foes). Classes with only “a single” heal as med Guardian and Warrior have much better consistency in their heals.

Also, the class is full of bugs, and you can expect from skills as sword #2 (Precission Strike) to hit every random object in the landscape instead of “real” targets. Its Nerfing Time propaganda also forgets to mention how vulnerable is Rev to heavy cc pressure, Rev is truly a “free biscuit” to some Necro and Mesmer builds. Of course nothing of this matters if you goals run around PvE, but those problems must be mentioned is a fair review of the class.

Except it isn’t irrelevant – the only thing irrelevant around here is the bad attitude people have towards Revs.
Jalis heals is pretty good (and heals two condis), Shiro is based on damage, Mallynx is good and gets better under condi pressure. Glint is hands down one of the best heals around because you can go from near death to full instantly. Combining Glint and Jalis can be far more effective than any class can get. Warrior can use the Shield stance to similar effect.

The class is not anywhere near as bugged as people seem to think or say. In the entirety of my playing Rev, I’ve encountered – 1 – bug. Just one.

1. on Sword isn’t bugged, they made it target other enemies unless there is only one available, then spike damage. Surely you should be aware of this?

It’s laughable you call it “propaganda” because neither you or others in this forum can’t handle ANYONE speaking good about Rev. Like seriously, grow up already. The Rev IS a good class.

As stated before, I don’t care about PVP because it’s not the main focus of the game, it’s a mini-side-game at best. Rev can have some good success at PVP if you know what you’re doing, but that’s the same as any class with a good player. I make it perfectly clear in my posts I don’t discuss PVP therefore your posts are irrelevant.

Its Nerfing Time.1495:

The class is not anywhere near as bugged as people seem to think or say. In the entirety of my playing Rev, I’ve encountered – 1 – bug. Just one.

1. on Sword isn’t bugged, they made it target other enemies unless there is only one available, then spike damage. Surely you should be aware of this?

I’m literaly tired in WvW of using Precision Strike and Unrelenting Assault vs veteran sentries and guards froms camps ending in some of my attacks hitting supplies and medkits (or whatever are called in English) for no reason. That’s a bug and happens every time, and is a meaningful loss in dps in two skills that are conceived to burst single targets.

Satchen asked about all parts of the game and I’m showing the two sides of the coin; He should be aware that in this game bugs that doesn’t affect the potential earnings in PvE (like the Ghost Thief build soloing a raid boss for hours) or competitive PvP (which now has less relevance, because ANet has given up) rarely get attention, which means that what’s broken usually remains broken.

Revenant is the youngest class in the game and was born in an expansion which was rushed. The bugs and lackings were “balanced” providing the class an excess of burst and evades; those advantages were gradualy nerfed on hold of the inevitble new expansion which will unleash the power creep again.

Buran.3796:

Its Nerfing Time.1495:

The class is not anywhere near as bugged as people seem to think or say. In the entirety of my playing Rev, I’ve encountered – 1 – bug. Just one.

1. on Sword isn’t bugged, they made it target other enemies unless there is only one available, then spike damage. Surely you should be aware of this?

I’m literaly tired in WvW of using Precision Strike and Unrelenting Assault vs veteran sentries and guards froms camps ending in some of my attacks hitting supplies and medkits (or whatever are called in English) for no reason. That’s a bug and happens every time, and is a meaningful loss in dps in two skills that are conceived to burst single targets.

Satchen asked about all parts of the game and I’m showing the two sides of the coin; He should be aware that in this game bugs that doesn’t affect the potential earnings in PvE (like the Ghost Thief build soloing a raid boss for hours) or competitive PvP (which now has less relevance, because ANet has given up) rarely get attention, which means that what’s broken usually remains broken.

Revenant is the youngest class in the game and was born in an expansion which was rushed. The bugs and lackings were “balanced” providing the class an excess of burst and evades; those advantages were gradualy nerfed on hold of the inevitble new expansion which will unleash the power creep again.

Yes, PS will hit those because they can be targeted and destroyed. Anet did failup with that but it isn’t a bug, it’s just bad programming. a bug is when something happens that shouldn’t. Bad programming is when something targets neutral when it should only target hostile.
Also, have you ever tried using something else other than metabuild and sword? You might find that perhaps is the issue? I did WVW (legendary journey) and ran into almost no issues until I found a bunker druid, otherwise my “what am i” game seemed to work quite effectively if I got killed, or when they died and came back.

Does Anet have poor balance capability and for whatever reason tried to push esports and failed? Yes absolutely, no idea why they ever bothered in the first place. They also left WVW to just flat out die, when they were trying to push more people into it (I knew it was a failed experiment from day one). He asked about PVE and WVW/PVP yes, I addressed the PVE side as I stated but also said depending on skill, you can do well in PVP.

Yes they certainly oversold the Rev and then proceeded to nerf down without much in the way of buffs, so I’m patiently waiting to see what they do with it come the new expansion. Doesn’t mean it’s not viable or bad at all.

Its Nerfing Time.1495:

Also, have you ever tried using something else other than metabuild and sword? You might find that perhaps is the issue?

Yes they certainly oversold the Rev and then proceeded to nerf down without much in the way of buffs, so I’m patiently waiting to see what they do with it come the new expansion. Doesn’t mean it’s not viable or bad at all.

Power Glint/Shiro is the best Rev roaming/pvp build by far, my current win ratio in S6 with that one is 63%; condi Rev is slow, lacks stability or sustain and can’t put pressure due the absence of ranged condi weapons in the Rev kitten na an can be easily poked to deathl; power hammer is easy to beat by mele builds (including sword based Rev).