Guild Wars 2

am I the only person not appealed by Herald around these parts of the internet?

Its mechanic change is just a set of boons.

Have no choice in mix and matching utilities.

Shield may be ok in this regards.

But as a whole, I am not seeing the interest, especially compared to some of the other Elite Specs other classes get.

It’s personal choice on if you want to run it or not. I rather like it mixed in with a few builds I have been crafting but it was useless for the condi build I made. The nice thing about it, is you don’t have to run it. If you don’t want to play as a herald then just play as a normal rev. You can swap out the elite with a normal

The design is very simplistic, but it’s effective.

Yeah, all it does is pulse boons, but the boons that are pulsed are very worthwhile (with the exception of regen, but what else would be the ‘heal’ boon). The lack of mixing utilities is a mechanic of the base class itself so that’s not really applicable to the Spec itself.

The biggest selling point of the Spec is the Facet of Nature (F2) which is an extremely powerful party utility for a very minimal cost. The passive boons allow the Herald to fill the lacks in a group for those that are struggling in the upkeep on certain boons (pun not intended). The active flip on the utilities are okay, and they’re about on par at potential as other class’s signets.

The traits offered in the Spec are also worthwhile ranging from personal sustain to group support.

Overall, the Herald spec does a great job of letting a Rev fill the role of support.

Let me put it this way, with the power build I’ve been tweaking a lot: fury you applied through just invoking a legend goes up from lasting only 7s to 22s because of the the 15s increase in just taking Herald traitline and that’s not even taking into account the 50% boon duration of the Facet of Nature.

I think this is right, but if you take the 50% increase you will take that 22s/2 then take the 22s + 11s and you have the duration you will end up with just the 50% increase which is 33s (I could be completely wrong, percentage math isn’t my strong point not enough xs and ys in it XD ) I do know that 100% upkeep would be taking the 22s and adding on another 22s thus you get 44s and that is basically what the boon spec with rage runes will give you and you are sharing out those boons + the 50% duration on those boons. So while the group won’t have the 44s on it you do, they will have the 14s of fury (going with only the one granted through invoking a legend in Invocation).

Like I said, this type of gameplay doesn’t appeal to everyone, but I’ve always enjoyed trying to get as many boons on my ranger as possible to push that 1% damage bonus (and I did get that 11% at several points in fractals, rare, but a for a time I was dealing that much more damage) and imagine it with the 22% damage increase which is now possible on the rev Is it required to take? Na and that’s the great thing about GW2.

So Rev get less base skills than other classes, and the dull Elite Spec to go with it, buts its all optional, so no big deal.

am I getting this right?

Knighthonor.4061:

So Rev get less base skills than other classes, and the dull Elite Spec to go with it, buts its all optional, so no big deal.

am I getting this right?

I think calling it dull is subjective.

I’m personally really excited to try Herald this weekend as I think it will make Revenant much more desired in group content as well as increase their damage significantly through Might stacking+Perma Fury. My only concern with it is condition removal but that heal skill makes every tick of damage turn into HP and if you combine that with either Runes of Lyssa or Hoelbrak, you can potentially have a good method of surviving conditions. We’ll see tomorrow though.

I’m kinda lukewarm about it and probably won’t be using it. I just don’t like how the facet actives don’t seem to not fit together very well. The traits are ok, but I see them as a little messy and some of them kinda steal Jalis’s thunder.

I like the Glint skills, but the shield is pretty lackluster IMO, and so are the traits. They have almost no synergy with anything other than the Herald itself. Honestly, a lot of the Revenant traits need to be looked at still

No, you’re not.

But I recognize what it does for the class and what it’s good at. And for that I’m happy we got Herald instead of something like another Shiro-like specialization.

EDIT:
Actually reading back at this post, it looked a little negative. I genuinely am happy with Herald and it does look like something I would like to play. But the main theme being boon sharing which some other classes do (way too) well already might make some people a little salty. Like the might upkeep, it’s fine and all but it serves little purpose with Warriors passively giving out 25 might already. It has more to do with Warriors and not the Herald.

frayon.3984:

because of the the 15s increase in just taking Herald traitline and that’s not even taking into account the 50% boon duration of the Facet of Nature.

it is 15% bonus from the minor trait, I assume you going by the gw2skills builder that says 15s which is a kittenup on their behalf.

With Facet of Nature and the minor you sitting on 65% which is nice but it no 15seconds (which would be completely overpowered :P )

I like it.

Can’t help your opinions, man.

The trait line and Facet of Nature are useful, but I will probably never use shield or the legend. Shiro and Mallyx are just too good to replace.

Corran.4957:

frayon.3984:

because of the the 15s increase in just taking Herald traitline and that’s not even taking into account the 50% boon duration of the Facet of Nature.

it is 15% bonus from the minor trait, I assume you going by the gw2skills builder that says 15s which is a kittenup on their behalf.

With Facet of Nature and the minor you sitting on 65% which is nice but it no 15seconds (which would be completely overpowered :P )

Thank you for clarifying. Yeah I was looking at the skill builder. I think it was a little op. Thanks again I kept running the numbers and was like, that makes no sense and now it does make a lot more sense.

I love it. Absolutely love it. Until we got Herald, it felt like something was missing. For me the key is versatility, with a ton of useful benefits I can bring to a group depending on team composition and situation.

Maybe the reason you don’t like it that much is that you are into pvp. As a pvp player, I am much more interested in Shiro/Mallyx than herald. I understand the negativity in your post. Herald doesn’t offer utility, just group support. I highly doubt herald will be used in pvp builds that aren’t bunker builds

Knighthonor.4061:

So Rev get less base skills than other classes, and the dull Elite Spec to go with it, buts its all optional, so no big deal.

am I getting this right?

“Dull” is opinionated. I happen to think the Elite spec is awesome. I also happen to think you are looking at the class as a somewhat passive class when in reality all the skills have awesome looking and functioning actives. How you could say knocking back opponents with massive dragon wings and giving everyone superspeed is “Dull”.

Knighthonor.4061:

Its mechanic change is just a set of boons.

I disagree with this completely. Not only is there synergy with the boon auras and the traits, there’s also the actives. In fact, I’m more excited about the actives than the “set of boons” as you put it.

The Herald is the oposit of selfish, the 1st active skill on F1 gives all ur allys up to 5 around u more boon time
same as with all of glints skills u give staff to ur allys. guild wars isnt a solo game is a party game and for ur self i love it, mi dont think u can go anywhere without it,

It’s meh, the thing I love about Herald is that it’s truly a sidegrade. If you don’t want to be a boon dispensing support, that’s alright.

MercenaryNote.8506:

It’s meh, the thing I love about Herald is that it’s truly a sidegrade. If you don’t want to be a boon despensing support, that’s alright.

That’s exactly how it should be, an alternative way to play the profession. Some of the other specs like Chronomancer and Reaper, look like upgrades instead of alternatives that are balanced with the base profession.

Reaper is amazingly fun, and will be better for certain builds, but it isn’t a flat-out upgrade, IMO. Chronomancer is a different story.

As for Herald, I also think the shield looks fantastic. Looking forward to trying it out today.

You are not the only one. Herald has it’s place and it’s role, but we’ll have to see in about 4-10 mins how the mechanics actually work to determine it’s usefuless.

I will say that the “Ooo shiny amazing auras we’re super amazing!” reaction is way off base. The energy cost on upkeep is very rough in terms of what it does to your DPS. Each energy has to be seen as potential DPS per energy band the auras from that perspective are just awful. There’s no way AOE Might, even 10 stacks across 5 people, is going to be worth doing a Coalescence of Ruin that has a potential of 25000+ damage in a single move for same energy.

It still has it’s place in the game and it’s a good variation on the base Revenant but it’s not like Chronomancer where it’s just a straight upgrade to the base class.

This is more a symptom of the poor design of the Revenant mechanic vs. an issue with the elite spec.

The Revenant is a very cookie-cutter profession and they obviously aren’t putting the design thought into it they should. Everyone is hyped over a new profession and the Legends aspect (thematically the profession is amazing). However the mechanics are lackluster.

So far as I can tell there is no intent to make the profession less cookie-cutter by granting more than 3 utilities per Legend (thereby giving you some customization by choosing between 4-5 utilities) or by adding a neutral set of utilities (Glyphs would be ideal and fit into the Invocation trait line well).

Dastion.3106:

This is more a symptom of the poor design of the Revenant mechanic vs. an issue with the elite spec.

The Revenant is a very cookie-cutter profession and they obviously aren’t putting the design thought into it they should. Everyone is hyped over a new profession and the Legends aspect (thematically the profession is amazing). However the mechanics are lackluster.

So far as I can tell there is no intent to make the profession less cookie-cutter by granting more than 3 utilities per Legend (thereby giving you some customization by choosing between 4-5 utilities) or by adding a neutral set of utilities (Glyphs would be ideal and fit into the Invocation trait line well).

I think the mechanic works great. As far as being cookie-cutter, you’ve got a lot of options for change and being different. I’d even go as far to say that you could potentially not meet the same Revy twice.

yeah sorry but this just doesnt work well outside of PvE…
maybe in WvW where everything works.

But that Shield,,,, come on,,, could have been better.

herald is pretty cool in that it allows boon stacking and situational utilities as well as ur primary stance. I really like it, I do see where you are coming from with it being an elite spec, but I think the herald fills a large void for the revenant and definitely functions differently to the core class.

(my only minor concern is the flashing traffic light underneath your character which doesn’t look very realistic)

Herald is pretty awesome, always wanted a Bard like character in GW2. Reminds me of my DAoC days. I think Herald will appeal to different people just like every other class/spec appeals to some and not to others. Really this just means you do not care for it, no reason to change it for the rest of us that like it.

Knighthonor.4061:

But that Shield,,,, come on,,, could have been better.

I disagree. It’s fantastic.

2nd facet effects are great. I’m not liking crystal hybernation making you unable to move and still being considered an invuln in pvp point capture, while it’s not. The healing is nice

Kidel.2057:

2nd facet effects are great. I’m not liking crystal hybernation making you unable to move and still being considered an invuln in pvp point capture, while it’s not. The healing is nice

I agree with this. crazy that its not a invulnerability but still prevents capture point. and it roots and doesnt heal much. Its basically a self stun. and for what trade off?

As far as pvp I much prefer Herald over Mallyx. The heal skill itself is amazing. The swiftness is great for getting places. I use Shiro utilities far more anyway.

The facet of nature gives great boons. With the boon trait I do great burst damage.

I personally don’t dislike Glint, but neither am I bursting into tears of excitement. The spec is functional in what it does, and I am sure a lot of other Revenants out there are loving it!

Personally though, I am really hoping for a ranged future elite spec. Perhaps giving us longbow with a Keiran legend?

Hey I take that back. I found a good use for the Legend. but the traits on the other hand, and shield…

maybe in PvE only.

You don’t have to use shield just because you take herald

uhohhotdog.3598:

You don’t have to use shield just because you take herald

I dont, because it sucks. But who likes having weapons that suck? You play Necro?

Knighthonor.4061:

uhohhotdog.3598:

You don’t have to use shield just because you take herald

I dont, because it sucks. But who likes having weapons that suck? You play Necro?

I have a necro that I often play yes.