Setup
Armor: Berserker (Hoelbrak and Traveler)
Weapon: Hammer (Strength, Bloodlust), Staff (Energy, Cleansing)
Soldier Neck, Cavalier Ring, Knight Ring, Knight Earring, Berserker Earring, Beserker Back
Lemongrass Soup, Sharpening Stone
I mostly do large scale (20-40 vs 20-40) WvW.
Friday Reset
Friday I went with a Shiro/Jalis mix with Devastation, Invocation and Retribution. I loved Shiro right off the bat and the survivability with Shiro’s mobility was intense. I got caught in a zerg a few times and the easy access to dodge rolling out and using Super Speed to reposition with Jalis always serving as a back up set of escape utilities as swapping to Jalis and immediately hitting Rite of the Great Dwarf got me out of some bad situations. Conditions didn’t get me that much in a larger group as condi cleanse is abundant and with -60% condi duration they don’t last very long.
Over all I found this setup incredible for dealing damage (at some points I saw 8k with 2k crit follow ups with Ruin+Shiro Heal) in a force and taking care of myself. Unfortunately it really didn’t bring much to the group other than that damage. With the Hammer Bugs (reported) going on it wasn’t the greatest damage either. Over all it felt very much like a Ranger, great for doing damage and surviving but honestly not really bringing much to the team.
Saturday Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-p7ysfz5fQ
Saturday I decided to swap back to Malyx and kept Shiro for defense. Originally I tried a Devastation, Corruption and Retribution build but it was very clunky and didn’t work well. A single stun break (Riposting Shadows) just wasn’t cutting it and I swapped to Corruption, Retribution and Invocation and the stun break on legend swap with Riposting Shadows as well worked much better.
Malyx is pretty amazing for group play. Pain Absorption works wonders for clearing conditions from people and stacking resistance on yourself. Unyielding Anguish…well watch the video above. It’s usefulness in a group WvW setting is unmatched and basically serves as massive area denial either on the front line or for guarding the back line. Corruption as a line is great even without conditions. Demonic Resistance is staple. Spontaneous Destruction is amazing for ripping stability off targets when you first engage. Maniacal Presence basically boosts that already large 40% crit rating (70% with Fury up) all the way up permanently until I crit to the point it’s more surprising not to see a crit on it.
Shiro is great in terms of mobility but I am not 100% convinced with it. Riposting Shadows is basically only backwards and that means your only real stun break option is a retreat. That doesn’t work when you need to charge forward, let alone charge forward into CC. The on demand Super Speed is fantastic for repositioning in combat and unlike the first test I never got left behind and killed because I was stuck in combat with no mobility.
Sunday Night
Sunday I went back to the original build from the first Revenant Test back to Malyx/Jalis with the same Corruption, Retribution, Invocation build. Road let me go forward so that was pretty great and the Stability isn’t bad but most cases I only get 1 stack of stability on the go. This means I have to basically sit in it which just isn’t viable for WvW. The stun break on Rite of the Great Dwarf is also a huge disappointment with the massive cast time. One scenario I literally got stunned, swapped to Jalis, got Feared, began casting Rite of the Great Dwarf and then got knocked down due to a wall. The 2-3s cast time on Rite of the Great Dwarf is ridiculous for the incredibly short duration and the fact it can immediately be CC’d while casting your stun Break at 50 energy no less.
Slow and tanky just doesn’t functionally work in a game where you often times have less than a second to react whether it’s PvE, PvP or WvW. Having to use 75 energy (25 for road, then 50 for Great Dwarf) just is a bit ridiculous.