Guild Wars 2

I’m doing a full review of each class’s Elite Specializations here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/All-Elite-Specializations-Analysis/first#post5574892

The following is my analysis of the Berserker.

I’ll be covering the following things in this review…
01) General Descriptions
02) New Traits Analysis
03) New Weapon Analysis
04) New Skills Analysis
05) Gearing Options
06) Rune/Sigil Synergies
07) PvE Usefulness
08) PvP Usefulness
09) WvW Usefulness
10) Overall Opinion

Warrior – Berserker

General Description
The Warrior has always been the damaging bruiser or the indestructible tank. Conditions haven’t really been a Warrior’s strong suit until the Berserker came along. The Berserker comes in sporting fire, fire, and more fire. If something isn’t on fire – you’re doing it wrong.

New Traits Analysis

Minor Traits
Primal Rage
Grants access to Torch, Rage skills, and Berserk Mode.
Did I mention fire?
Always Angry
Your first strike entering combat generates 10 adrenaline. This effect refreshes when Berserk Mode ends.
This is a great way to build up adrenaline without trying.
Fatal Frenzy
Gain Quickness and Swiftness when activating Berserk Mode.
This just makes you hurt them faster.

Adept Traits
Smash Brawler
Reduces recharge on Primal Burst Skills and Berserk Mode by 33%.
Makes it so you can really lay into them if you have the adrenaline.
Last Blaze
When you use a Rage skill, set nearby foes on fire for 3s.
Good for more burning.
Savage Instinct
Activating Berserk Mode Breaks Stun and removes 1 condition.
Has good synergy with Head Butt and other traits.

Master Traits
Blood Reaction
A percentage of Precision is given as a bonus to Ferocity. This doubles in Berserk Mode.
More pain – for them.
Heat the Soul
Reduces recharge on Torch skills by 20%. Grants +150 condition damage when using Torch.
Torch = Fire…sooo more Fire? More Fire.
Dead or Alive — 30s ICD
Taking fatal damage while in Berserk Mode ends Berserk Mode, but heals you instead of dying.
Good recovery skill.

Grandmaster Traits
Bloody Roar
Taunt and Bleed enemies when you activate Berserk Mode. Gain Fury for each Taunted foe.
Really good at forcing them to take your first Primal Burst skill.
King of Fires — 2s ICD
Increases the duration of burning you apply. Critical hits against Burning foes spread Burning to nearby foes.
MOAR FIYAH~!!!!
Eternal Champion
Gain Stability while in Berserk Mode. Gain Stability when you Break Stun.
Makes it very hard to CC you.

New Weapon Analysis
The Berserker gains access to the Torch.

Blaze Breaker — 15s ICD
Smash your Torch into the ground, creating a deadly shock wave that Burns and Cripples foes.
Good way to start off with Burning. It’s ranged too which is a plus.
Flames of War — 25s ICD
Cleanse conditions and become a mobile Fire Field that Burns nearby foes. When the Field expires, it explodes, damaging foes and Burning them again.
Great way to clear condi’s and pressure your opponent. The Fire Field has many great combos with Warrior traits and skills.

New Skills Analysis
The Berserker gains access to Rage skills.

Berserk Mode [F2]:
Gain Adrenaline, +15% attack speed, and Primal Burst Skills.

NOTE: All Primal Burst Skills have a 5sec ICD. I’ll not be covering underwater weapons for the sake of time.

Sword -> Flurry -> Flaming Flurry
Lash out with a flurry of strikes that destroys projectiles and shoots fireballs at foes in front of you.
Can do some serious Burning damage
Axe -> Eviscerate -> Decapitate
Leap at your foe with a powerful attack. Foes behind your target also take damage.
Just a powerful Leap Finisher.
Mace -> Skull Crusher -> Skull Grinder
Unleash a powerful skull strike that Dazes your target and inflicts Blind, +4 Bleed, +4 Confusion, and 8s Cripple.
Also causes a Blast Finisher.
Greatsword -> Arcing Slice -> Arc Divider
Deliver a circular attack to foes around you creating a violent shock wave that damages foes. Deal more damage to foes under 50% HP.
Massive Fire Field.
Hammer -> Earthshaker -> Rupturing Smash
Jump to the targeted location and slam your hammer down creating a deadly chain of earthen shock waves that Immob foes.
Blast Finisher with Immob. Less effective than Earthshaker.
Longbow -> Combustive Shot -> Scorched Earth
Fire a Burning shot that leaves behind a trail of flaming destruction.
Long 1,200 range Fire Field.
Rifle -> Kill Shot -> Gun Flame
Fire a fast flaming shot that explodes on the first foe it hits – interrupting foes in the area.
Strong Burning shot for 1,500 range.

Blood Reckoning — 25s ICD
Heal yourself and gain increased critical hit chance. Critical hits heal for a percentage of their damage and grant bonus Adrenaline.
Not too impressive of a heal.
Wild Blow — 30s ICD
Critically hit your foe and launch them. Your target flies backward with such force that they KB other foes in the way. Gain bonus Adrenaline if this hits.
Powerful and hilarious skill to use.
Sundering Leap — 25s ICD
Leap to a location and gain Adrenaline. When you land deal damage and apply 10 stacks of 8s Vuln and 5s of Cripple to all foes in the area.
Decent way to start a fight. Counts as a Leap Finisher.
Outrage — 10s ICD
Break Stun and gain Adrenaline.
Stun Break on a 10s ICD. Great synergy with many things.
Head Butt — 20s ICD
Stun your target. Stun yourself. Gain +30 Adrenaline if you hit.
Breaks stun only to apply it again. Has great synergy with many traits and skills.

Gearing Options
The following are acceptable gearing types to consider for a Berserker.

NOTE: These are types that can work depending on the overall goal of your build. They are not all equal as some are much better than others.

Power: Berserker’s, Soldier’s
Precision: Assassin’s, Rampager’s
Toughness: Knight’s, Settler’s
Vitality: Sentinel’s
Condition: Sinister, Carrion, Rabid, Dire
Healing: Cleric’s, Apothecary’s

Rune/Sigil Synergies

NOTE: These are types that can work depending on the overall goal of your build. They are not all equal as some are much better than others.

Superior Rune of (the)…
Power: Baelfire, Brawler, Elementalist, Fire, Flame Legion, Hoelbrak, Mad King, Mesmer, Ogre, Strength
Precision: Eagle, Lyssa, Thief
Toughness: Dolyak, Forgeman, Guardian, Melandru
Vitality: Exuberance, Trooper (Soldier), Wurm
Ferocity: Rage
Condition: Adventurer, Afflicted, Aristocracy, Balthazar, Krait, Nightmare, Perplexity, Scavenging, Tormenting, Undead
Healing: Altruism, Defender, Grove, Monk, Water

Superior Sigil of…
Attribute Bonus: Force, Malice
Duration Bonus: Agony, Paralyzation, Smoldering
Chance on Hit: Water, Purity
Chance on Crit: Air, Blood, Earth, Fire, Generosity, Nullification, Rage, Strength, Torment
On Kill: Luck, Restoration, Bloodlust, Corruption, Cruelty, Momentum, Perception
On Swap: Battle, Cleansing, Doom, Geomancy, Intelligence, Leeching, Renewal

PvE Usefulness
Massive damage options and just all around useful. Can’t really go wrong with a walking Fire Field.

PvP Usefulness
Havoc incarnate. This class can make sure everyone is trying to clear Burning at all times while pressuring them significantly. Paired with a Burning Guardian and you’re going to be laughing at how fast things melt.

WvW Usefulness
Fantastic brawlers in Zerg fights. Rather poor at defending, but great at roaming.

Overall Opinion
The Berserker is a very interesting class. It has a lot of synergy with many traits and weapons. It feels a bit strange to make a Warrior deal condition damage, but it’s certainly entertaining once you get the hang of it.

I’m doing a full review of each class’s Elite Specializations here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/All-Elite-Specializations-Analysis/first#post5574892

The following is my analysis of the Herald.

I’ll be covering the following things in this review…
01) General Descriptions
02) New Traits Analysis
03) New Weapon Analysis
04) New Skills Analysis
05) Gearing Options
06) Rune/Sigil Synergies
07) PvE Usefulness
08) PvP Usefulness
09) WvW Usefulness
10) Overall Opinion

Revenant – Herald

General Description
The Revenant is the newest addition to the Guild Wars 2 game. This class has been given mixed reviews, but it’s very much tied to the rather strange complexity that it comes with. It’s been said to be a confused Guardian trying to be a Thief or a Mesmer, but it’s far more interesting than that. The Revenant utilizes the powers of many different aspects of iconic characters in Guild Wars Lore. They have access to the Stone Tank powers of Jalis, the Malevolent Conditions of Mallyx, the Healing Powers of Ventari, the Destructive power of Shiro, and the Mysterious Support powers of Glint. All these things put together make their weapons and traits rather tricky to put together in a way that makes your build feel “focused”. Once you’ve mastered the understanding of each trait line’s purpose, each weapon’s strengths, and gained an understand of every Legend’s skills – you’ll be able to make a class that truly seems the most universal and balanced of all the classes. However, depending on how “focused” you make your builds you may be less effective in some aspects of the class’s overall skills than others – which is typical of every other class too. This class will take some getting used to, but it’s well worth the effort.

New Traits Analysis

Minor Traits
Crystal Harbinger:
Grants access to the Legendary Dragon Stance, Shield, and F2’s Facet of Nature
The F2 skill will stay active across all stances and you don’t even need to have the Legendary Dragon Stance on to have access to it.
Vigorous Persistence
Gain +25% Endurance Regen While you have an active upkeep skill.
Since every Legend has an upkeep skill you’ll likely make good use of this.
Envoy of Sustenance
Increase Boon Duration +15%
Fantastic in general.

Adept Traits
Swift Gale
Gain Superspeed on Stun Break.
Can be useful if combined with the Invocation trait line.
Radiant Revival
Place Infused Light (2s) on an ally when reviving them. — 45sec ICD
The recharge on this skill and short duration make it near useless. It has potential, but it’ll be rarely used.
Hardening Persistence
Gain +40 Toughness for each upkeep point you’re using.
This works really well across all Legends since the F2 stays regardless, but the Dragon Stance makes the most use of it.

Master Traits
Bolster Fortifications
Grant Protection to nearby allies when using a healing skill.
The short boon duration (2.25s) makes this rather weak.
Shared Empowerment
When you apply “a boon” to an ally, you also apply might. — 1s ICD
This is amazingly powerful and is the most typical choice people will make.
Harmonize Continuity
When you Stun Break > Stun Break allies in 600 Radius.
Decent support utility – can be used.

Grandmaster Traits
Elder’s Force
Increased damage +2% per boon.
Amazing synergy with Dragon Stance.
Soothing Bastion
Activate Crystal Hibernation when struck below 25% HP.
Great recovery option since Crystal Hibernation blocks all attacks for 4s.
~!~ BUG: Shield skills don’t increase boon duration. ~!~
~!~ BUG: No ICD listed, but it is assumed 20s ~!~
Enhanced Bulwark
When Stability is applied to you, gain an extra stack. — 1s ICD
Good if you need Stability.

New Weapon Analysis
The Herald gains access to the Shield.

Envoy of Exuberance — 10E 15s ICD
Throw Shield to targeted area granting Protection and a burst of Healing and Protection again as it returns to you.
Great support skill.
Crystal Hibernation — 20E 20s ICD
Root in place creating a crystal shield around you that blocks all attacks while regening health for 3s.
Amazing recovery skill.

New Skills Analysis
The Herald gains access to the Legendary Dragon Stance and Facet of Nature.

Facet of Nature [F2] — -2U
Pulse increased outgoing boon duration by +50% to self and allies
Amazing synergy with Dragon Stance.
||
One with Nature -- 25s ICD
Consume Facet of Nature to grant Fury, +3 Might, Regen, Protection, and Swiftness to self and allies.
Powerful support buff.

Facet of Light — -1U
Pulse Regen to self and allies.
Good support.
||
Infuse Light -- 30s ICD
Consume Facet of Light to heal self and invert all damage to healing for 4s.
Great heal skill if used right.

Facet of Darkness — -2U
Pulse Fury to self and allies.
Good support.
||
Gaze of Darkness -- 20s ICD
Consume Facet of Darkness to Reveal the area around you and Blind nearby foes.
This skill is good anti-stealth play and will also Break Stun.

Facet of Elements — -1U
Pulse Swiftness to self and allies.
Good mobility option.
||
Elemental Blast -- 15s ICD
Consume Facet of Elements to target area in a 3-pulse attack. Pulse 1 Weakens, Pulse 2 Chills, Pulse 3 Burns.
Decent damage from Burning regardless of condition damage.

Facet of Strength — -2U
Pulse Might to self and allies.
Good support.
||
Burst of Strength -- 15s ICD
Consume Facet of Strength damaging foes and causing Vuln.
Decent damage and up to 20 stacks of Vuln.

Facet of Chaos — -5U
Pulse Protection to self and allies.
Great support.
||
Chaotic Release -- 45sec ICD
Consume Facet of Chaos causing damage, KB, and granting Superspeed to allies.
Good control/utility skill.

NOTE: Interesting fun fact. The organ tone harmonies in the background that play when maintaining any Dragon Stance skill are very similar to GW1’s Crystal Desert song controlled by the Player Instrument Volume slider.

Gearing Options
The following are acceptable gearing types to consider for a Herald.

NOTE: These are types that can work depending on the overall goal of your build. They are not all equal as some are much better than others.

Power: Berserker’s, Zealot’s, Soldier’s, Valkyrie
Precision: Rampager’s
Toughness: Knight’s, Cavalier’s, Settler’s
Vitality: Sentinel’s, Shaman’s
Condition: Sinister, Carrion, Rabid, Dire
Healing: Cleric’s, Apothecary’s

NOTE: Condition builds on a Revenant in general are viewed as rather weak, but they can still work if you put the effort in.

Rune/Sigil Synergies

NOTE: These are types that can work depending on the overall goal of your build. They are not all equal as some are much better than others.

Superior Rune of (the)…
Power: Baelfire, Brawler, Citadel, Elementalist, Fire, Flame Legion, Hoelbrak, Ogre, Pack, Strength
Precision: Eagle, Lyssa, Thief
Toughness: Dolyak, Earth, Forgeman, Guardian, Melandru
Vitality: Exuberance, Wurm
Ferocity: Rage
Condition: Adventurer, Aristocracy, Balthazar, Perplexity, Scavenging, Tormenting, Undead
Healing: Altruism, Defender, Dwayna, Grove, Monk, Water

Superior Sigil of…
Attribute Bonus: Force, Malice
Duration Bonus: Smoldering, Venom
Chance on Hit: Water, Purity
Chance on Crit: Air, Blood, Fire, Generosity, Nullification, Rage, Strength, Torment
On Kill: Luck, Restoration, Benevolence, Bloodlust, Corruption, Cruelty, Momentum, Perception
On Swap: Battle, Cleansing, Doom, Leeching, Renewal

PvE Usefulness
Entirely useful. This class can match the DPS of other Berserker speed run classes with much higher sustain.

PvP Usefulness
Amazing in team fights and can certainly hold its own on capture points.

WvW Usefulness
Fantastic for zerg fights. This class offers so many different options that each Revenant can choose a different role and support the fight in multiple ways. Roaming is also fairly easy depending on your build.

Overall Opinion
Since the first release of the Revenant I hated it. It was so hyped up and looked and sounded like it was going to be amazing. The Legends seemed powerful but when we got them were very underwhelming. However, over the course of the other beta weekends we’ve seen this class grow into something respectable for this game. It’s become viable in many areas of the game and doesn’t feel too one sided like it did before. There are still elements of this class that seem out of place and/or clunky, but for the most part everything has been coming together really well. I believe this class will be very entertaining at release, but I know many people will find it VERY difficult to learn and master.

I’m doing a full review of each class’s Elite Specializations here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/All-Elite-Specializations-Analysis/first#post5574892

The following is my analysis of the Dragonhunter.

I’ll be covering the following things in this review…
01) General Descriptions
02) New Traits Analysis
03) New Weapon Analysis
04) New Skills Analysis
05) Gearing Options
06) Rune/Sigil Synergies
07) PvE Usefulness
08) PvP Usefulness
09) WvW Usefulness
10) Overall Opinion

Guardian – Dragonhunter

General Description
The Guardian is a class that has changed quite a lot since its release. Typically viewed as a support class the Guardian specializes in trying to protect allies while still dishing out a fair amount of damage. With a rather recent update the Guardians’ main condition, Burning, became far more useful and mainstream. Therefore, there are now two typical styles of Guardians: The Support Guardian and The Burn Guardian. With the release of the Dragonhunter we see an immediate clash against the typical norms that define the Guardian. The weapon we get is a Longbow, but the skills we get – Traps – are laid at our feet, and our virtues have changed from being instant casts to activation time casts. At first glance this may really seem like a step in the wrong direction, but I assure you there are good things to be found.

New Traits Analysis

Minor Traits
Virtuous Action
Grants access to new Virtues, the Longbow, and Traps.
Defender’s Dogma
Blocking an attack causes Justice to reach its maximum charge.
This makes for interesting play mechanisms if you focus on Block+Burn Combos.
Pure of Sight
Deal +10% damage to foes at least 360 Radius away.

Adept Traits
Piercing Light
Traps daze enemies when activating and have -20% recharge.
Good synergy if using Traps.
Dulled Senses
KB’d enemies are Crippled and Crippled foes gain Vuln.
Works to some degree, but ultimately pales in comparison to others
Soaring Devastation
Wings of Resolve deliver an Immob Attack (3s) upon Landing.
Interesting addition to a heal skill. Does decent damage. A bit odd for ranged play.

Master Traits
Hunter’s Determination
Gain Aegis and drop Fragments of Faith at your location when CC’d.
Interesting counter-play and synergy options with other traits.
~!~ BUG: No ICD listed ~!~
Zealot’s Aggression
Deal +10% damage to Crippled foes. Justice’s passive effect Cripples foes.
Can be okay depending on how much Cripple you can push out. Mostly underwhelming.
Bulwark
Shield of Courage is larger and lasts longer.
Good anti-ranged enhancement.

Grandmaster Traits
Hunter’s Fortification
Remove 1 condition when blocking an attack. -10% damage when you have no conditions. -- 1s ICD
Great synergy with other traits.
Heavy Light
LB arrows KB enemies 240 Radius when within 300 Radius of you. Gain Stability when you KB an enemy. — 10s ICD
Interesting concept, but with a 10s ICD it’s still a bit hard to use effectively.
Big Game Hunter
Striking a foe tethered by your Spear of Justice causes Vuln and grants +10% damage.
Good for adding damage to your build.

New Weapon Analysis
The Dragonhunter gains access to the Longbow.

NOTE: All LB skills have 1,200 range.

Puncture Shot
Fire an arrow that can bounce to enemies behind your target. If an arrow hits a second target, all enemies struck are Crippled for 2s.
Decent auto-attack and has some trait synergy.
True Shot — 4s ICD
Root in place for 3/4s while charging a powerful piercing attack.
Very strong if you can use it.
Deflecting Shot — 10s ICD
Fire a slow moving missile that blinds enemies and destroys projectiles. Destroying projectiles increases the damage dealt 100%.
This has some amazing uses if timed correctly.
Symbol of Energy — 15s ICD
Fire a slow arcing arrow that explodes on impact to burn targets and sear a Symbol of Energy into the ground.
Grants 3s of Vigor and 2 stacks of Burn for 5s.
Hunter’s Ward — 45sec ICD
For your arrows into a barrier, and deal damage at the location.
Causes Cripple and deals good damage. The barrier forms at the end of the attack and lasts for 6 seconds.

New Skills Analysis
The Dragonhunter gains access to Traps.

NOTE: All Virtues maintain their standard Passive effects and are affected by other traits that would affect the non-Dragonhunter variants.

Spear of Justice — 20s ICD
Hurl an unblockable spear of light that passes through foes. Enemies struck become tethered and receive burning periodically.
Decent way to force Burning on a Target.
Wings of Resolve — 30s ICD
Leap to a target area healing allies in the area.
Strong heal. Removes Immob. Has a lot of good synergy with other traits.
Shield of Courage — 75s ICD
Create a wall in front of you that blocks projectiles.
This has decent synergy with other traits, but the ICD is still rather long. Activation time should be removed.

Purification — 30s ICD
Minor self heal when laying trap. Large self heal and area blind on triggering.
Odd trap. Hard to use if not planning ahead of time. Heal values should likely be inverted.
Test of Faith — 30s ICD
Creates a ring that damages enemies that cross its threshold.
Decent damage. Causes Cripple. Hard to get many hits from this due to its size.
Fragments of Faith — 40s ICD
Damages foes and releases multiple Fragments in the area when triggered. Fragments grant Aegis to anyone who passes over them so long as they don’t already have Aegis.
Interesting trap. Can lead to a lot of interesting synergies with other traits.
~!~ BUG: If standing on top of a fragment while under the effects Aegis and getting hit thereby losing Aegis the fragment will not automatically grant Aegis and you must step off the fragment for at least 1s before you can pick it up. ~!~
Procession of Blades — 25s ICD
Creates whirling blades at location when triggered.
Hits up to 10×. Can be used to trigger Justice a few times.
Light’s Judgement — 45sec ICD
Reveals the area for 1s and causes 10 stacks of Vuln for 2s per pulse.
Very good for anti-stealth play and increasing damage with Vuln.
Dragon’s Maw
Pull enemies to the center and creates a 6s barrier.
Decent damage. Causes 4s of Slow.

Gearing Options
The following are acceptable gearing types to consider for a Dragonhunter.

NOTE: These are types that can work depending on the overall goal of your build. They are not all equal as some are much better than others.

Power: Berserker’s, Zealot’s, Soldier’s, Valkyrie
Precision: Rampager’s
Toughness: Knight’s, Settler’s
Vitality: Sentinel’s
Condition: Sinister, Carrion, Rabid, Dire
Healing: Cleric’s, Apothecary’s

Rune/Sigil Synergies

NOTE: These are types that can work depending on the overall goal of your build. They are not all equal as some are much better than others.

Superior Rune of (the)…
Power: Baelfire, Brawler, Elementalist, Fire, Flame Legion, Hoelbrak, Ogre, Scholar, Strength
Precision: Eagle, Thief
Toughness: Dolyak, Earth, Forgeman, Guardian, Melandru, Mercy, Resistance
Vitality: Exuberance, Radiance, Trooper (Soldier), Wurm
Condition: Adventurer, Aristocracy, Balthazar, Nightmare, Scavenging, Trapper, Undead
Healing: Defender, Water

Superior Sigil of…
Attribute Bonus: Force, Malice
Duration Bonus: Hobbling, Smoldering
Chance on Hit: Water, Purity
Chance on Crit: Air, Blood, Fire, Generosity, Incapacitation, Nullification, Strength
On Kill: Luck, Restoration, Bloodlust, Corruption, Cruelty, Momentum
On Swap: Battle, Cleansing, Doom, Leeching, Renewal

PvE Usefulness
This class seems like it either needs to kill immediately with its traps right after engagement or else things may not go so well. Though it is true that this class thrives in team oriented situations – it’s not true that it’s bad for solo play. A counter-intuitive example is that once you’re in combat range you may immediately think the LB loses value even with its KB trait. The truth is that as long as you snare your target in some way you have the ability to create a rather large gap of at least 800 range from your target using at minimum Wings of Resolve. Not only will this heal you, but it will provide you with sufficient distance to set up your target for your next assault.

PvP Usefulness
This class in PvP may seem a bit out of place at first. The fact that Guardians are typically melee is one thing, but with all the things flying around in PvP you tend to feel like you lose ground quickly. Not to mention once you expose the fact that you’re a trapper – you’re getting targeted right away. The remedy for this style of play in PvP is to become a Hybrid of being a trap user and either a Tank+DPS or Tank+Burn user.

WvW Usefulness
In Zergs – you’re out of your element if running Traps. Apart from using your #5 skill – you’re not much help unless you’re Commander is working with you directly to place your Traps in locations that he intends to lure the opposing party. Defending is a similar creature – just the venue has changed. However, roaming can be very interesting and fun. If not running traps you can actually be useful everywhere and be a very interesting force to be reckoned with. Using DPS+Heal gear you can force yourself into battle and hold your own quite well while causing a fair amount of havoc for the offending party.

Overall Opinion
The Dragonhunter, though cool in concept, is still not quite all there. Synergy lacks in many aspects of the class for what the Dragonhunter was initially. It’s now become something slightly more respectable, but it’s still feeling infantile compared to the other elite specs present. It has its areas where it shines, but it’s clear where it doesn’t shine. There is a conflict of interests that occurs – keep the target at range or let them close in? If you can keep them at range that’s great! But, if you let them close in – not having much for CC skills to push them back – you start to feel a little cornered unless you leap away. It’s a strange system of push and pull that just needs a bit more tweaking in my opinion.

This review will encompass all elite specializations.

Please note that the following information is based on my personal experience in the game and may not match your current views and opinions.

I’ll be covering the following things for each class…
01) General Descriptions
02) New Traits Analysis
03) New Weapon Analysis
04) New Skills Analysis
05) Gearing Options
06) Rune/Sigil Synergies
07) PvE Usefulness
08) PvP Usefulness
09) WvW Usefulness
10) Overall Opinion

NOTE: I will not be covering complete builds simply because I found it more educational for me to create my own builds as I learned more about the class and its overall synergy options that suited my personal play-style. I will be providing subtle suggestions for where to focus your attention within each specialization and may point a finger here and there to give you ideas for the basics of a complete build.

Guardian -> Dragonhunter:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Dragonhunter-Review-1/first#post5574968
Revenant -> Herald:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/revenant/Herald-Review/first#post5575042
Warrior -> Berserker:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Berserker-Review/first#post5575080

Engineer -> Scrapper:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Scrapper-Review/first#post5575130
Ranger -> Druid:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Druid-Review-1/first#post5575176
Thief -> Daredevil:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Daredevil-Review/first#post5575215

Elementalist -> Tempest:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Tempest-Review/first#post5575233
Mesmer -> Chronomancer:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Chronomancer-Review/first#post5575282
Necromancer -> Reaper:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Reaper-Review/first#post5575317

Hopefully this will help provide a decent overview of each specialization and you’ll find it helpful in understanding more about what the specialization is and how it works.

Can I have a source for that?

I can’t access my additional options for my commander tag apart from creation and color. I apparently need to be in a “Raid” squad to enter the new Raid/Dungeon thing. I want to go inside and see what’s in there as this was stated to likely be the last beta. Can we at least have it enabled for people to walk in freely? Or can we get this feature fixed/enabled in time for us to at least test the Raid a little bit?

Michael Henninger.7451:

Hi everyone!

Long story short is that display names weren’t designed in a way that allows them to be changed without causing a potential (and significant) batch of problems on the account so we (support) only do them when we reeeeally need to.

I read a post from Gaile that was 2-years old indicating only 2-exceptions that are allowed for display name changes.

I was, however, a bit confused with my current situation In regards to 1 of the exceptions listed. I have a second account that I use whose display name is one of my active emails that I’d like to change. Does that qualify by those standards of having used an email for a display name that is still active? I’d like to be able to change the display name, but I don’t want to submit a support ticket if it’ll slow the process of everything and just be shot down

I feel like i’m either splitting hairs or falling in a gray area.

May I get some clarification on this?

I personally dislike this feature at the moment, but if we were able to select our characters and see our own health bar on screen – it’d at least be reminiscent of Gw1…

I vote for a toggle feature to allow this to be turned on/off freely.

Absconditus.6804:

Dragon Ruler X.8512:

I know this is a bit of a stretch considering how outfits seem to work, but can we have a “Helmet Toggle”?

Currently I don’t like the helmet involved with this outfit, but I love everything else about it. I like the face I put on this character, but I’d like a “battle-mode” version using my helm that I have selected for my normal skin.

Could this be a feature in the future?

Hide your armor’s head armor to hide an outfit’s head armor. This does not work for shoulders/gloves however. I really wish outfits would be made into separate pieces of armor by now, mixable together with our other equipment skins. At this point, we’d have so much variety in custom appearances, but are limited by this rather annoying limitation of the outfit system. I also believe this would financially be smarter by ArenaNet, as someone may not want a full outfit, but perhaps wants just the gloves, or the coat, the head piece, etc.—meaning people would buy a full outfit that they otherwise wouldn’t, to get a specific skin piece. Outfits, financially, are likely not as great a revenue potential as individual pieces would be.

I’m aware of how to hide the helm of the outfit, but I want my normal helmet >.<

I know this is a bit of a stretch considering how outfits seem to work, but can we have a “Helmet Toggle”?

Currently I don’t like the helmet involved with this outfit, but I love everything else about it. I like the face I put on this character, but I’d like a “battle-mode” version using my helm that I have selected for my normal skin.

Could this be a feature in the future?

Kidel.2057:

Rune of Rage + Healing skill is 100% Fury uptime pretty easy, plus another 5% multiplier. That’s pretty good on Revenant since you also get +10% crit chance on Fury from trait.

It’s 12% damage + 10% (+30% total) crit rate full time.

That’s very true.

However, I do think that the Revenant should have greater access to Fury without the use of Runes if there are going to be traits providing benefits from being under the effect of Fury.

That’s my opinion though.

Rygg.6237:

Dragon Ruler X.8512:

I do believe the Revenant has improved since the last Beta, but it’s still not ready for the rest of the game.

Props to you for the hard work on this one, this actually should be bumped to the skies devs do need to take a look at this, I had the idea to make something like this to test Revenant’s viability but you beat me to it, as I see Revenant even when trying to minmax into either role it’s still not enough to bring it on par to other professions, specially in PvP a decent Revenant build can fare well against a subpar build but it can’t do much against an optimal build (meta builds) and I agree 100% with you, if Revenant goes live in the current state it’ll be the weakest profession out of the lot and will be heavily seggregated in all game modes.

Some other stuff I’d like to add:

Lack of reliable direct damage modifier traits there’s only one trait with this which is Targeted destruction and it’s quite good because it’s a master minor, but the others are too pigeonholed in certain situations, ferocious agression would be better if revenant had more fury uptime but it’s not that optimal at the moment.

Upkeep skills High energy cost and very situational, if they added another effect they would be much better even if they still were very situation base, some suggestions: Protective Solace: Reflect projectiles instead of destroying them, pulsating protection or aegis.
Impossible Odds: add lifesteal while active
Vengeful Hammers: pulse protection/retaliation while active
Embrace the darkness: pulse resistance while active and add 1-3 random conditions to nearby foes/deal extra damage per conditions on you

Thank You!

I’ll just point out a few things that I checked on in regards to -X% incoming damage traits.

Corruption:
No -X% incoming damage skills

Retribution:
Omitting Fall Damage Trait – Planar Protection
Adept
Close Quarters (-10%)
Improved Aggression (-20% from Taunted foes)
Master
Redeeming Protection (Protection for 3 secs if CC’d + ICD of 5 secs)
Grandmaster
Determined Resolution (-10% with HP below 75%)

Salvation:
No -X% incoming damage skills

Invocation:
Shrouding Mists (-10% while Energy is below 50%)

Devastation:
No -X% incoming damage skills

As we’ve agreed – these are very specific circumstances to be placed in if you are trying to maximize these traits. With the inability to have a good protection or taunt up-time the Revenant will likely only be able to have -20% incoming damage during solo combat.

I also wanted to touch on your upkeep skill statement.

I agree they are very situational, that they decrease your energy too quickly, and should provide additional benefits when activated. However, I think something that could also greatly assist the Revenant is being able to siphon/gain energy either from attacking or under moderately to frequently re-occurring conditions (like a Necromancer with Life Force).

sendaf.8375:

Great review with nice details/insight!

I was really hoping they would push healing power as a viable stat choice with Rev by buffing the scaling. They could bring Rev toughness and vitality scaling down for balance.

An idea I had would be to increase your stat scaling based on which legends you are traited for. Going Centaur/Dwarf would give bonuses to your Healing power and toughness scales etc.

If a Rev needs to specialize his build for a very specific role, then he should be better at that role then other classes. Right now Revs lose a lot of skill diversity by choosing only 2 legends and aren’t necessarily rewarded for it.

Thank you!

I’ll note that if using the Salvation line, Cleric/Magi/Apothecary gear, Monk runes, and Benevolence+Life sigils, you can acquire a 101.5% healing boost at maximum stacks – which is really good (this is not accounting for other bonuses such as consumables or player skills/traits like Banner of Tactics, etc). This would make something like Natural Harmony heal for roughly 5-6k hp every 2 seconds – provided you have the energy.

However, you will only get the non-modified amount of 2-3k hp. This strains you even more since almost all Revenant skills cost 10%+ of your energy bar (Natural Harmony being 25%). If you attempted to spam that skill (and only that skill) right after summoning the tablet you’d be able to get roughly 3 casts off, which is good healing for the party, but not so good for you. Keep in mind that this skill also has a delay of 2 seconds and proximity requirement meaning you won’t be able to use it as a reflex skill.

Lastly, I feel it’s important to note that in order to acquire this level of support – you need to sacrifice a lot of DPS options to do it – and you receive only a temporary reward that is focused purely on a single legend and weapon set with no support boons such as Protection/Aegis or debilitating conditions such as AoE Weakness.

On your other statement of modifying the scaling based on the specializations chosen – I think it could help, but at the same time I feel it might be just another “guiding hand” in how the Revenant “needs to be played” to make it “more effective”. I personally want to stay away from that and allow builds to have diverse options and variations like other classes.

Conclusion/Summary:
As we’ve seen above the Revenant can scale Power quite well along with a moderate amount of Condition damage, but healing doesn’t scale quite as well as it needs to. Due to everything costing Energy and the fact that you will always start a fight at 50% Energy (including when you swap legends) it is very hard to build up Energy for bursts if you’re playing solo.

With only 5 skills per Legend, each Legend designed around a specific concept, and the lack of traits enabling self-sustain boons such as Protection, or debilitating conditions like Blind/AoE Weakness – it is hard to create something that will have decent sustain with decent DPS/CDPS.

The Hammer is still too slow to be used in solo play and doesn’t synergize with much else the Revenant has. The Mace/Axe combination is primarily used for CDPS, but could be used for DPS if they scaled better with power. Staff and Sword/Sword are effective defense/offense combinations.

When looking at Traits it’s easy to see that damaging conditions are not widely supported, but rather DPS and healing/life siphoning is.

Ultimately the Revenant is lacking the ability to focus on a given task due to either Legends, Traits, Weapons, or the lack of skills not aligning correctly for that task. A DPS build requires more self protection methods or dodging options to live. A CDPS build requires more synergy between trait lines apart from trying to stack Vulnerability. A Tank build requires more self protection, healing, and condi cleansing options to do its job correctly.

Some things that would help the Revenant are select-able skills beyond those initially given by the Legends, Protection, AoE Weakness, lower cooldowns, longer condition durations, lower Energy costs, and faster attack speeds (though only a handful of those should be applied in total).

I do believe the Revenant has improved since the last Beta, but it’s still not ready for the rest of the game.

Build 1: Pure DPS
Specializations – R/I/D
My Traits: 232/213/211
Variants: 2(2/3)(Any) / Any / (1/2)(Any)(Any)
Legends – Jalis/Shiro
Weapons – S/A + Staff
My Gear – Berserker’s
Variants: Soldier’s, Assassin’s, Knight’s, Sentinel’s

Build 2: Pure CDPS
Specializations – C/R/D
My Traits: 311/222/213
Variants: (2/3)(Any)(1/3) / 2(2/3)(Any) / (1/2)(Any)(Any)
Legends – Mallyx/Shiro
Weapons – M/A + Staff
My Gear – Rampager’s/Sinister ‘!’
Variants: Rabid, Dire, Carrion, Rampager’s
‘!’ : Sinister is not available by default in beta, but would likely be my choice.

Build 3: Pure Tank
Specializations – R/S/I
My Traits: 233/212/223
Variants: 2(2/3)3/Any/2(1/2)3
Legends – Jalis/Ventari
Weapons – S/S + Staff
My Gear – Cleric’s
Variants: None

Build 4: Tank + DPS
Specializations – R/S/D
Variant: R/S/I
My R/S/D Traits: 232/212/213
Variants: 2(2/3)(Any) / (1/2)(1/2)2 / (2/3)1(1/3)
My R/S/I Traits: 232/212/212
Variants: 2(2/3)(Any) / (1/2)(1/2)2 / Any
Legends – (Jalis/Shiro)/Ventari
Weapons – S/S + Staff
My Gear – Cleric’s
Variants: None

Build 5: Tank + CDPS
Specializations – C/S/I
Variant: C/S/D
My C/S/I Traits: 311/212/223
Variants: (2/3)(Any)(1/3) / (1/2)(1/2)2 / 2(1/2)(2/3)
My C/S/D Traits: 311/212/113
Variants: (2/3)(Any)(1/3) / (1/2)(1/2)2 / (1/3)1(1/3)
Legends – Mallyx/Ventari
Weapons – M/A + Staff
My Gear – Settler’s
Variants: Rabid

Build 6: Support
Specializations – R/S/I
My Traits: 233/331/213
Variants: None
Legends – (Jalis/Shiro)/Ventari
Weapons – S/S + Staff
My Gear – Cleric’s
Variants: None

Continue…

Putting it all together:

Since we can see that Healing Power scales rather poorly – we can assume that builds utilizing it are going to be rather lack luster. We can also see that Condition Damage scales moderately well – so gearing with that is an “okay” choice. Lastly – we can see that Power scales very well so most builds should try to utilize that if possible (This is not saying that Power is mandatory – just that it will increase the performance of your Revenant better than most other stats).

Considering this is a Heavy Armor class with a Medium size base health pool we can assume that we don’t need to have much Vitality or Toughness to level the class out.

That said – valid gear types appear to be…

Power: Berserker’s, Soldier’s
Precision: Assassin’s, Rampager’s
Toughness: Knight’s, Settler’s
Vitality: Sentinel’s
Condition: Sinister, Carrion, Rabid, Dire
Healing: Cleric’s, Apothecary’s

We can further categorize these into respective roles…

DPS: Berserker’s, Soldier’s, Assassin’s, Knight’s, Sentinel’s
CDPS: Rabid, Dire, Carrion, Sinister, Rampager’s
Tank: Settler’s, Cleric’s, Apothecary’s

With this in mind we should be able to generalize specific trait lines to fit these categories.

-C-orruption – CDPS
-R-etribution – DPS/Tank
-S-alvation – Tank
-I-nvocation – DPS/Tank
-D-evastation – DPS/Tank

Lastly we can generalize the legends and weapons based on the tests done above…

Jalis – DPS/Tank
Mallyx – CDPS/Tank
Ventari – Tank
Shiro – DPS

Hammer – DPS/Tank
Staff – DPS/Tank
Mace – CDPS
Axe – DPS/CDPS
Swords – DPS

NOTE:
Hammer is still extremely slow with poor synergy making it very clunky and difficult to use solo, therefore, I’ll not be using it in my builds below.

My logic on the following build choices should make sense…

NOTE 1:
1,2,3 correspond to the top, middle, and bottom traits respectively.

NOTE 2:
I’ll be omitting Runes and Sigils as these are refinement tweaks that should help tailor a general build set to a style more comfortable to the player using it.

The following are in order of performance…

Continue…

Test #3 – Power Damage Scaling
Game Mode – PvP (Lobby)
Legends – Jalis/Mallyx/Shiro
Weapon – Hammer/Mace/Axe/Staff/Sword/Sword

Base Gear:
Amulet – Settler’s
Rune – Infiltrator
Sigils – Nullification/Purity

Test Gear:
Amulet – Soldier
Rune – Centaur
Sigils – Nullification/Purity

NOTE 1:
The sigils of Nullification and Purity were selected to ensure that the combat log stayed as clean and accurate as possible.

NOTE 2:
I’ll be ensuring I have not applied Vulnerability, Might, or any Rune that increases damage dealt given specific circumstances to keep the combat log as clean and accurate as possible.

NOTE 3:
I am avoiding Precision, Ferocity, and +X% damage modifying, entirely to keep the combat log as consistent as possible.

(Name: Base / Geared | +Difference)
~!~Traits~!~
Spontaneous Destruction: 66 / 158 | +92
Reflexive Summon: 173 / 410 | +237
Equilibrium: 532 / 1,263 | +731
Focused Siphoning: 60 / 64 | +4
Assassin’s Annihilation: 243 / 359 | +116
~!~Hammer~!~
Hammer Bolt: 371 / 882 | +511
Coalescence of Ruin: 489 > 684 > 879 / 1,160 > 1,624 > 2,089 | +671 > 940 > 1,210
Phase Smash: 684 / 1,624 | +940
Drop the Hammer: 586 / 1,392 | +806
~!~Mace/Axe~!~
Misery Swipe: 124 / 295 | +171
Anguish Swipe: 142 / 337 | +195
Manifest Toxin: 213 > 107 / 506 > 253 | +293 > 146
Searing Fissure: 89 / 211 | +122
Echoing Eruption: 355 / 844 | +489
Frigid Blitz: 53 > 533 / 127 > 1,265 | +74 > 732
Temporal Rift: 266 / 633 | +367
~!~Staff~!~
Rapid Swipe: 254 / 603 | +349
Forceful Bash: 293 / 696 | +403
Rejuvenating Assault: 390 / 928 | +538
Punishing Sweep: 391 / 928 | +537
Debilitating Slam: 586 / 1,392 | +806
Warding Rift: 78 / 186 | +108
Surge of the Mists: 1,755 / 4,176 | +2,421
~!~Sword/Sword~!~
Preparation Thrust: 284 / 675 | +391
Brutal Blade: 178 / 422 | +244
Rift Slash: 320 > 107 / 759 > 253 | +439 > 146
Precision Strike: 302 / 717 | +415
Unrelenting Assault: 195 / 464 | +269
Shackling Wave: 266 / 633 | +367
Grasping Shadow: 266 / 633 | +367
~!~Jalis~!~
Inspiring Reinforcement: 266 / 631 | +365
Forced Engagement: 133 / 316 | +183
Vengeful Hammers: 133 / 316 | +183
~!~Mallyx~!~
Banish Enchantment: 66 / 158 | +92
Unyielding Anguish: 133 / 316 | +183
~!~Shiro~!~
Enchanted Daggers: 858 / 927 | +69
Phase Traversal: 266 / 631 | +365
Jade Winds: 399 / 947 | +548

Conclusion:

Revenant damage scales well in almost all skills/traits. However, the only weapon and legends that show significantly lower Power Damage Scaling is the Mace/Axe combo with Mallyx. This is likely due to the presumption that the other part of the damage would be compensated by conditions – this is not the case. In a build that doesn’t use Condition Damage, the weapon’s damaging potential is severely limited. Carrion/Rampager/Sinister gear would be the only way to maximize this, but at the same time just simply elevating the scaling factor on the mace skills would allow for far greater versatility.

Continue…

Test #2 – Condition Damage Scaling
Game Mode – PvP (Lobby)
Legends – Mallyx
Weapon – Mace/Axe

Base Gear:
Amulet – Berserker
Rune – Centaur
Sigils – Nullification/Purity

Test Gear:
Amulets – Rabid/Carrion
Rune – Adventurer
Sigils – Nullification/Purity

NOTE 1:
The sigils of Nullification and Purity were selected to ensure that the combat log stayed as clean and accurate as possible.

NOTE 2:
I’ll be ensuring I have not applied Vulnerability, Might, or any Rune that extends condition duration to keep the combat log as clean and accurate as possible.

NOTE 3:
I am using Venom Enhancement to show maximum fixed condition output using traits.

(Name: Base / Geared | +Difference)
~!~Traits~!~
Rampant Vex: 64 -> 128 / 312 -> 623 | +248 -> 495
---BUG: Combat log displays a total of 440 (not moving)
Diabolic Inferno: 1,048 / 2,753 | +1,705
~!~Mace/Axe~!~
Misery Swipe: 64 -> 128 / 312 -> 623 | +248 -> 495
Anguish Swipe: 64 -> 128 / 312 -> 623 | +248 -> 495
Manifest Toxin: 302 / 1,044 | +742
Searing Fissure: 524 / 1,377 | +853
---BUG: Combat log displays a total of 1,376
Echoing Eruption: 287 > 573 / 1,400 -> 2,800 | +1,113 > 2,227
---BUG: Combat log displays a total of 2,087 (not moving)
Temporal Rift: 382 > 764 / 1,867 -> 3,734 | +1,485 > 2,970
---BUG: Combat log displays a total of 2,630 (not moving)
~!~Mallyx~!~
Banish Enchantment: 99 -> 120 / 271 -> 698 | +172 -> 578
---BUG: Combat log displays a total of 696 (no skill used)
Unyielding Anguish: 239 -> 477 / 1,167 -> 2,334 | +928 -> 1,857
---BUG: Combat log displays a total of 1,698 (not moving)
Embrace the Darkness: 16 -> 16 / 78 -> 78 | +62
---BUG: Combat log displays a constant 80 / 418 (not moving) after the 4th stack is built up. Dividing this by 4 would indicate Torment to do 20 / 104.5 damage per stack which is not consistent to the rest of the Torment skills.

Conclusion:

The Revenant has the ability to do moderate condition damage, but due to some of its inherent limiting factors this damage is only briefly realized. When pressuring for conditions most players will likely use Shiro > Mace. If traited correctly you can push near 2k Torment out, but at a rather substantial cost. Due to low durations on most Revenant conditions you can only build up condition output if you stay in close proximity to your target, don’t stop attacking, and use Impossible Odds which will drain your energy quickly. This puts you at a rather large disadvantage since you’re investing yourself a great deal for a rather small payoff that is only very short lived. Similar to a Burn Guardian this single condition can be removed quickly stopping the tick damage, but unlike the Burn Guardian – being exposed to it for only a few seconds will not strain the target enough to immediately react as they would if they were Burning.

Continue…

Tests Done:

1) Healing Power Scaling
2) Condition Damage Scaling
3) Power Damage Scaling

Test #1 – Healing Power Scaling
Game Mode – PvP (Lobby)
Legends – Jalis/Mallyx/Ventari/Shiro
Weapon – Staff

Base Gear:
Amulet – Berserker
Rune – Centaur
Sigils – Nullification/Purity

Test Gear:
Amulet – Cleric’s
Rune – Monk
Sigils – Nullification/Purity

NOTE 1:
The Sigils of Nullification and Purity were selected to ensure that the combat log stayed as clean and accurate as possible.

NOTE 2:
Salvation traits augment “Outgoing healing effectiveness to allies”. Therefore, I did not have to test at maximum stacks; rather – I can increase the values by the estimated percentages to see what healing others would receive.

NOTE 3:
The Monk rune was used to check how Regen. was handled when extended beyond flat values.

(Name: Base / Geared | +Difference)

~!~Traits~!~
Replenishing Despair: 43 / 57 | +14 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
Steadfast Rejuvenation: 389 / 595 | +206 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
Nourishing Roots: 260 / 695 | +435 hp
—-BUG: Fractional healing is not in description nor calculated correctly
Tranquil Benediction: 390 / 981 | +591 hp
—-BUG: Fractional healing is not in description nor calculated correctly
Natural Abundance: 985 / 1,673 | +688 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
Equilibrium: 389 / 595 | +206 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
Invigorating Flow: 332 / 401 | +69 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
—-BUG: Poor Description – Weapon Energy doesn’t trigger healing
Focused Siphoning: 57 / 61 | +4 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
—-BUG: Description states healing should be 56 / 65
Assassin’s Annihilation: 306 / 444 | +138 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
~!~Staff~!~
Rejuvenating Assault: 165 / 371 | +206 hp
Renewing Wave: 1,295 / 2,189 | +894 hp
~!~Jalis~!~
Soothing Stone: 4,605 / 5,980 | +1,375 hp
~!~Mallyx~!~
Empowering Misery: 3,320 + 980(X) / 4,695 + 1,118(X) | +1,375 + 138(X) hp
—-BUG: Healing based on (X) is slightly off at higher values (according to Combat Log)
~!~Ventari~!~
Project Tranquility: 325 / 394 | +69 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
Ventari’s Will: 805 / 1,355 | +550 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
Natural Harmony: 1,620 / 2,445 | +825 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
Purifying Essence: 325 / 325 | +0 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
—-BUG: Does not scale with Healing Power
Energy Expulsion: 985 / 1,673 | +688 hp
—-BUG: Does not display in Combat Log
~!~Shiro~!~
Enchanted Daggers: 1,640 + 808(6) / 1,984 + 1,083(6) | +344 + 275(6)

Conclusion:

Prior to getting into this I need to clarify a few things.

The Revenant doesn’t have the ability to apply long term Protection or AoE Weakness. It does not have the ability to mitigate enough damage directly with -X% incoming damage traits. As Taunt cannot be maintained with little down time I’m ignoring Improved Aggression. The Revenant also cannot reliably spam Blind with enough consistency due to too long of a recharge. If you were to try to Self-Blind or Self-Weaken with Mallyx and spread it using Embrace the Darkness – the Energy would deplete too fast or be too short lived with too long of a recharge.

The overall healing gained from pushing Healing Power is still too small. The amount of healing gained isn’t substantial enough or fast enough to provide decent self-sustain with the current Energy cost involved – let alone attempting to heal allies. There either needs to be a much greater gain from Healing Power, more self-sustain boons such as Protection, more Blind, more AoE Weakness, or lower Energy requirements and recharges to bring this class closer to being “on par” with other classes.

Lastly, the Orbs from Staff and Natural Abundance/Energy Expulsion can occasionally be difficult to see – especially if they spawn far away or behind your target. Reducing the spawning radius, enhancing their visual spawning animation, and increasing their duration by 3 seconds would allow more players to react to these skills better.

Continue…

I’m going to provide my current view of the Revenant with as close to a complete analysis as I can. Please keep in mind that I’ve put a lot of effort in making sure the data I’ve collected is as accurate as possible.

Disclaimer:
The following information is based on my tests using specific criteria for specific reasons. My conclusions/results may not be the same as yours.

TL:WR
The Revenant has the ability to send out moderate damage by comparison to other DPS spec’d classes, but lacks the ability to really survive when doing so due to the lacking of direct -X% incoming damage. When traited correctly the Revenant can have decent sustain without any -X% incoming damage traits or boons, but in order to accomplish this you need to sacrifice a large amount of DPS and may even require you to stop fighting entirely for awhile. The Revenant needs slightly higher DPS scaling, more boons like Protection, longer conditions, and better condition cleansing options. Being restricted to only 5 skills per legend really makes your choices limited for what you can do with a given legend. Lastly, some of the Energy requirements are too large to allow you to chain multiple skills together. The Revenant has improved since the last beta, but it still needs a lot of work.

The following information will be general bugs/issues I found when using the Revenant.

Trait Bugs:
Devastation – Jade Echo > Jade Winds
A real copy of Jade Winds would do damage – this doesn’t.

Devastation – Dismantle Fortifications
May not be a bug. Trait indicates that it removes an additional stack of Stability – however, on players that use things like Shared Anguish or other traits that activate on CC – this skill does not pull the target even when there is no Stability on them.

Retribution – Reflexive Summon
May spawn below you if you’re on a level above a level that is open below you (Ex: Shallow Bridges). Also, may cancel if collision is detected for too long.

Legend Bugs:
Jalis – Vengeful Hammers – Cancels when collision is detected for too long.

Weapon Bugs:
Hammer
Issue – The attack speed for everything is still a bit slow in my opinion.
Coalescence of Ruin – May not do 3 impacts if terrain is uneven.
Drop the Hammer – Animation replays after hit. Also, it won’t hit if you dodge right after the casting bar completes/disappears.

Combination Bugs:
Shiro – Impossible Odds > Mace
Stalls after the 3rd strike if quickness is applied.

The following are Tests I did to identify and isolate key issues of how the Revenant will grow and shrink in the main dynamic categories.

Continue…

Yes yes yes~ I vote +1

Conclusion:
The Revenant has a lot to bring to the table – so much so that typically there isn’t enough room or the table collapses under the weight of it all. It’s like a confused child that doesn’t know what it wants to do. It wants to play condi – but condi is just horrid to use if you don’t push condi stats into the gear since this last patch. It also wants to beat everything down with shear power, but it can’t do that too well since it has so little sustain. It also wants to try to heal, but it can hardly care for itself. It’s certainly a jack of all trades, but a master of none.

Legends are designed around specific concepts (Damage/Conditions/Support). This is great, but it really limits how effective your builds can ever be unless you use gear tailored for the selected legends – unless of course you just play Celestial gear – then you’re prepared for everything.

Weapons are designed around Legends which are designed around the concepts above. You have no weapon swap which means that if you gear up for a specific style of play that you are forced into specific weapons. If you play condi – you’ll want Mace/Axe. If you play healing power, Staff. If you play pure damage, Hammer. You could always pick a weapon that isn’t suited for your Legend or gear, but you will lose effectiveness in some aspect of that weapon.

With the above determined – you’re left with Specializations. The also have mostly very clear roles and will be used based on the role you’ve selected. This doesn’t differ much from standard build making, but the versatility available to other classes is clearly not present in this one.

I tested them out in WvW, All Dungeons, Fractals, Queensdale, Kessex Hills, Gendarran Fields Harathi Hinterlands, Bloodtide Coast, Sparkfly Fen, Mount Maelstrom, Straits of Devestation, Malchor’s Leap, and Cursed Shore. I played solo and with guild teams. In solo play – I was near worthless against Elite or higher mobs. In team play I was able to “help a little”, but it was nothing compared to any of the other classes right now.

All in all I can easily say “The Revenant is not ready for the real game yet”.

Putting it together:

The Revenant has no weapon swap and each Legend and Weapon are geared toward a specific purpose. Each Legend controls all your 6 -> 0 skills with no alternate skill choices available. Due to these limitations I developed gear and builds around that concept and tested them out in low and high level zones and dungeons. These are the builds I used in order of effectiveness.

NOTE 1:
These are the builds I settled on after extensive testing of all traits and Legend combinations. What you read here is not indicating that I only attempted the build present, but that this was the most effective build I came across for that gear.

NOTE 2:
Reasons for certain choices are as follows…
Celestial: Balanced and given by default.
Berserker: Typical Meta style – tested for that reason.
Cavalier: Compared to Berserker – Higher toughness – Corruption + Invocation can yield very high crit chance.
Apothecary: Tested maximum healing options and moderate condi output.

Celestial:
Weapons were swapped out based on occasion.
Corruption + Retribution + Invocation
Jalis + Mallyx

Result:
This build had the highest sustain of all the builds. DPS and CDPS were comparatively lower than Berserker or Apothecary. It was still a nightmare to play since conditions would eat me alive and there was too little healing output for the amount of damage i’d receive.

Berserker:
Typically Staff, but I used Hammer too.
Corruption + Retribution + Invocation
Jalis + Mallyx

Result:
Similar issue with Celestial when it comes to sustain. I was able to kill mobs faster which left me alive better in most cases (typical zerk mentality). But, if I got caught – it was game over with no recovery options.

Cavalier:
Typically Staff, but I used Hammer too.
Corruption + Retribution + Invocation
Jalis + Mallyx

Result:
This build would have worked well if there was more condi control options and higher healing that isn’t directly proportional to the amount of condi’s on me. DPS was similar to Berserker, but overall sustain was lower due to the slightly lower DPS in combat.

Apothecary:
Staff or Mace/Axe
Corruption + Salvation + Invocation
Mallyx + Ventari

Result
Though you can certainly put out good CDPS – your normal DPS is just gone. This is a setup for failure as there isn’t enough condi-control or healing to go around. The fact that I had to wait for Ventari’s tablet typically was the death of me. If that tablet persisted for 20-30 seconds I may have been okay, but mostly it was impossible to play correctly solo. When using Ventari you end up spending activation time on tablet skills and no time attacking – this is the main issue. Healing also doesn’t scale near enough and is too circumstantial for general play to have any lasting benefits for the player.

Moving to Weapons

Mace/Axe:
This is your DPS/CDPS weapon set. You gain access to a standard attack chain, burning fire field, blast finisher, teleport/chill, and a linear pull/torment skill. This weapon set is clearly designed for conditions, but has a very power-based heavy combat presence.

Bugs/Issues:
No major concerns.

Hammer:
This is your pure DPS weapon. Your auto-attack is ranged and very slow. You gain a skill that damages foes more that further away from you with no push-back options for close foes (nor a blast finisher). You gain a “leap-skill” that chills foes at the “impact-site” while executing a blast finisher near the “impact-site”. You gain the ability to create a protective wall against ranged attacks. Lastly, you gain the ability to summon a hammer at a specific location to knock down foes and create a blast finisher.

Bugs/Issues:
The weapon set is all around too slow and is geared towards ranged combat, but has no way to keep the foes ranged.
When pairing Field of the Mists and Phase Smash you can expose yourself from the wall briefly once you “phase-leap” towards the foe(s) as the wall stays in front of you too far to protect you once at the “impact-site”.

Staff:
This weapon is an interesting hybrid of offense and defense. Your attacks are melee based. The auto-attack is melee based and has a whirl finisher tied to the end with a healing orb that spawns near your character. The second skill damages foes and flips to a new skill that can weaken them if you struck them while they were using a skill. The third skill is your anti-ranged skill and can blind nearby foes. The fourth skill heals you and your allies while removing up to 2 condi’s. The fifth skill is the most interesting – charge towards your foes and knock them back – possibly multiple times.

Bugs/Issues:
The healing from the orbs is pathetic and takes too long to get to spawning enough to create a noticeable affect on your health bar during combat.
Due to the low damage output – the recharges are too long.

Moving to Core Specializations

Corruption:
Clearly mostly geared towards conditions. Has 1 offensive mark and 2 defensive marks. The healing from Replenishing Despair is pathetic to the damage actual conditions can do.

Bugs/Issues:
None if you’re playing condi.

Retribution:
This is your combat utility line. Has a bit of everything.

Bugs/Issues:
This line almost feels like it’s trying to do too much (like the rest of the revenant).
Improved Aggression is near worthless with only 2 ways to Taunt foes currently.

Salvation:
This line is supposed to be focused on healing and support.

Bugs/Issues:
The healing effects and augmentations are far too small to make any noticeable effects in actual combat.

Invocation:
This is your “Revenant” trait line. You can take a Legend Swapping approach or an offensive/defensive mix.

Bugs/Issues:
This again feels like it’s trying to do too much, but it’s still semi-focused.

Moving to Downed State:

Well – you probably saw this state a lot if you were adventuring alone.

Bugs/Issues:
Forceful Displacement will sometimes shadowstep a ranged foe right on top of you.

Prior to getting into this post I want to openly state that this is my personal opinion of the Revenant and is not meant to target anyone or any ideal the current player base has.

Being a solid player from the 3-day head start after beta testing Gw2 I can easily say that I’ve seen this game develop from the beginning. That said – I am aware that what I’m about to get into may have no relevance to the final product when HoT launches.

TL:WR
The Revenant isn’t ready for the real Gw2 world.

NOTE:
Before getting into the details I want to make sure that the I explain the gear I used. I will list them in the order I felt turn out to be most effective.

Celestial: Balanced – Moderate sustain – Slightly lower than average DPS/CDPS
Berserker: Respectable DPS under Jalis, but otherwise worthless
Cavalier: Rather poor sustain compared to DPS output
Apothecary: Used to test Ventari + Mallyx – no major sustain – very low DPS/CDPS.

Breakdown:
The current version of the Revenant has…
3 Legendary Stances
4 Weapons
4 Core Specializations
1 Downed State

Starting off with the Legends:

Jalis:
Focused on DPS – this Legend is your standard combat go-to option. You get condi-cleanse wrapped up in your heal, stability for a control fight, the only Taunt skill of the Revenant, a vortex of swirling hammers, and a defensive elite skill.

Bugs/Issues:
The heal skill has too long of a recharge to be a main source of condi-cleanse.
The heal skill’s total healing gets affected by poison (even though it cleanses it).
Vengeful Hammers will cancel out if persistent collision detection is met.
The Elite Skill takes too long to cast and lasts for too short of time.

Mallyx:
Focused on CDPS – this Legend is your go-to option for playing condi. You heal for more per each condition on you, can absorb conditions from allies and gain Resistance, can remove boons and confuse your target, leap towards your target and displace them while applying torment, and can copy your conditions to nearby foes every 3 seconds.

Bugs/Issues:
Playing condi-control is very risky with the latest change to conditions.
Traited resistance doesn’t last long enough to help control the condi.
Unyielding Anguish displaces foes with defiance that would otherwise be “immune” to control skills and doesn’t decrease the defiance counter or interrupt the target.
Embrace the Darkness places too much strain on your energy bar to maintain resistance during fights.

Ventari:
Focused on healing – this legend is your go-to support option. You get a skill set that is initially fully disabled until you conjure Ventari’s tablet. Then you get a heal skill that must pass through its targets to heal them, a shield that drains your energy, a delayed heal, a condi-cleanse that heals based on conditions removed, and an elite that destroys your tablet while knocking back foes and creating healing fragments for you to pick up.

Bugs/Issues:
Being as this is a healing legend it is horrid at healing (even when traited).
You have to conjure the tablet to use the skills which means further delay on healing during combat.
The primary heal skill has the most pathetic healing in the game.
The primary heal skill demands the tablet pass through you to work.
The skill set requires focus during combat which means you will suffer a major DPS cut.

Though I’m not happy about the subscription fee for Windows 10 and I’ll likely be trying out a Linux OS (see: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Inquiry-about-Linux/first#post5264729)

Has anything been said in regards to Gw2 being supported / playable on Windows 10?

I’ve been doing some research on Windows 10 and I’m not very happy about the subscription fee just to have an updated OS – not to mention the “forced” updates.

With that In mind I’d assume there will could be an increasing migration towards the Linux community since that is “free” (and we all like free). I began toying with Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon as my first Linux OS because of my dislike towards a subscription fee (I’m honestly broke and trying to pay my way through college – so yeah…). I found that it is remarkably similar to a Windows OS so it’s rather simple to convert over to. It’s true that Linux requires a slightly more elevated know-how when it comes to computers, but there are so many things out there for help and guidelines that emphasise that you can copy/paste their instructions into the Terminal (command prompt) that I’d not think it hard for many standard Window users to make the transition.

That said – from a techy perspective I can see some inherent flaws in trying to use the application “Wine” to make it so you can use specific Windows programs such as Gw2.

Has Anet considered – or will they consider – making Gw2 Linux supported?

Title pretty much says it all.

Can’t open the bags while inside the PvP lobby or a PvP map.

I think I put this in the wrong forum so here is the link:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Quick-Draw-Axe-Timing-Issue/first#post5223297

Content:

Not that this is a big deal, but I thought it’d be fair to make a note of this.

Note: I am also assuming this was not an intentional thing – I could be wrong.

All Ranger weapon skills other than Whirling Defense get treated equally by Quick Draw. Quick Draw is an amazing skill, but it only lasts for 5 seconds – which is a problem if you try to use Whirling Defense since that skill lasts for 5 seconds. This wouldn’t be a problem if the game recognized that you used the skill based on activation, but instead it only notes it if it “completed” its activation.

There are 2 things that I can think of to fix this.
1) Increase the time from 5 seconds to 6 seconds (or 7→9 for time for other skills).
2) Make Quick Draw recognize skill activation rather than completion.

Anyways I just wanted to make people aware of this possible oversight.

Cheers!

You have to keep in mind it has a 10 second ICD

It seems to work just fine on me ?

Not that this is a big deal, but I thought it’d be fair to make a note of this.

Note: I am also assuming this was not an intentional thing – I could be wrong.

All Ranger weapon skills other than Whirling Defense get treated equally by Quick Draw. Quick Draw is an amazing skill, but it only lasts for 5 seconds – which is a problem if you try to use Whirling Defense since that skill lasts for 5 seconds. This wouldn’t be a problem if the game recognized that you used the skill based on activation, but instead it only notes it if it “completed” its activation.

There are 2 things that I can think of to fix this.
1) Increase the time from 5 seconds to 6 seconds (or 7->9 for time for other skills).
2) Make Quick Draw recognize skill activation rather than completion.

Anyways I just wanted to make people aware of this possible oversight.

Cheers!

To make things simple I’ll say it this way – Anyone in the guild could own the expansion, but of those people who do, 1 would need to be in or placed in the Guild Leader rank to attune to the crystal for the claiming.

TL:DR

Thing 1:
A statement was made that they wanted to remove Gold from the progression system of their new Guild Halls, but we released information that Influence is going to be used at the start to give Guilds a running start with the new Guild Hall progression. However, we did not turn off influence acquisition methods or inhibit the ability to purchase other in-game consumables that grant Influence prior to the release of the statement that Influence is going to disappear entirely. Large Guilds will likely stockpile Influence to maintain a progressive edge…

Thing 2:
As stated in Thing 1 – the in-game consumables haven’t been turned off yet. The question then arises: “what happens to unused consumables that grant Influence”? Additionally, will these items be removed/replaced from/in the Core Game’s Personal Story?

Not even sure what you’re on about there >.>

Had some interesting concerns about Influence come up in a recent conversation.

The following quotes are from http://dulfy.net/2015/06/18/gw2-rethinking-guilds/

“Aetherium replaces the pacing elements of the current queue system and establishes a baseline rate at which our largest guilds can progress that cannot be circumvented by spending gold.”

“You’ll no longer be able to gain influence once the new system is live, but we respect that you’ve worked hard to accumulate your guild’s existing influence, so we’re going to offer you a few different ways to spend it.”

So…we want to have things “that cannot be circumvented by spending gold”…
…and we tell everyone that influence is going to disappear…
…but we also tell them that the influence they have before this change comes in can be used for…

“Favor: incentivizes guilds to gather and complete missions on a weekly basis.”

“Aetherium: replaces the pacing elements of the current queue system and establishes a baseline rate at which our largest guilds can progress that cannot be circumvented by spending gold.”

“Resonance: serves the sole purpose of speeding up the assembling of guild items and removes the need to balance other currencies around that. Meanwhile, resonating shards reward small group play with fellow guild members.”

…the above can be obtained…

“Each day, you may trade a limited amount of influence for favor.”

“Once per day, you may use influence to purchase a small boost to your aetherium production.”

“Whenever it suits you, you may convert influence to resonance.”

….meaning….
if you have influence now you can do more progression based things when this comes out…and since influence can be purchased right now from vendors…we don’t think people will stockpile more?

It seems this was done backwards…

Correct way:
Turn off Influence and implement all things to inhibit acquisition of more Influence
THEN
Tell everyone it’s going away and can be used to give Guilds and edge during the start-up phases

Other Concern
What are we doing with items that give Influence?
Are Letters of Commendation etc going to just “stop working”?

Brother Grimm.5176:

The only thing any MMO player should consider a constant is the inevitable change….never get to attached to any specific build as it will eventually be altered.

Rather than look at this as some devastating disappointment, you could view it as a challenge.

Your optimism is nice, but the issue is that players already hate anything that isn’t high DPS. This change will lower the DPS capabilities significantly since spirits will be forced to be left behind now. Even if they increase the power of these spirits in some way – it likely won’t suffice for practical use.

There are 2 main perspectives when it comes to this game:

Combat and Progression.

You have fights – and then you progress from those fights to the next fights.

To do this you have to fight using your skills that you take with you. If they are all taken up by spirits you’d probably not want to use them on mobs that aren’t bosses or threats to the party – meaning you’ll have to willingly sacrifice possibly up to half of your available skills just to have these with you. Assuming you used these spirits for little fights – then you have to wait for them to recharge if you want to use them again – and since their range is so limited – you’ll likely just have to end up leaving them behind since they won’t move now. It just becomes a waste to have them.

Tornupto.2304:

Dragon Ruler X.8512:

Tornupto.2304:

Dragon Ruler X.8512:

4) PvE: Won’t make sense in dungeons for the same reasons as WvW.

I disagree with this. If they dont move they are quite good in Dungeons, because you can place them out of enemy range and still get the buff(s) (there is only one spirit with a useful buff for dungeons, the protection buff might be usefull in special situation, but most times the dps-buff of frost spirit is the only usefull buff in dungeons). If you unbound spirits in Dungeons they will die in nearly every AoE. Frost spirit only has a Couldown of 20 sec, if you place one it is most times ready until you need it again. (Swap the spirit out of Skillbar to kill it, e.g. replace the spirit with a trap or something else and swap this with the spirit again.)

I feel you may be less experienced with spirit ranger builds than I am (which is fine). In a good spirit ranger build you’ll be able to change from close combat to ranged combat fluidly. Doing this keeps the spirits alive during the fight since you’ll likely be avoiding the AoE – and therefore they will too. In addition (so long as you have Nature’s Vengeance) if a spirit dies in close combat you can utilize the effects of the active skill against the foe. If the spirits were placed too far away and killed then there is no extra effects placed on the monster. Spirits like Storm Spirit can work very well this way as most Storm Spirit strikes hit for 2-3k damage alone.

Spirit ranger in Dungeons? No comment… Pls dont annoy groups who want to be fast.

The aktive Skill of a spirit is not strong enough to be an alternative to signet of the wild+quickening zephir in dungeons. The only spirit that is usefull in a dungeon is the frost spirit with his passive effect. Its aktive skill is a 10% damageboost for you (with the right traits!) if you reach the boss with it, but it only lasts a few secs.
The aktive skill of storm spirit may be able to cause some dmg, but this dmg is far too low to be a reason to use this spirit. Its passive is crap. There are better ways to get runspeed than using this spirit.
Sun spirit is also a bit crap in dungeons. Yeah a bit burning but…
The protection a stone spirit can apply to your group may be a little bit useful in some situations, but not realy a good reason to use it either.

Btw: A good placed frost spirit is most times still alive, when the dungeonbosses die.

Remember: I’m talking about DUNGEONS

No one here who is actually trying to debate on facts thinks about your speed run perspective – this is a debate on whether or not a trait that gives any sort of viability to spirits in the ranger class should be changed or not. The fact remains that while spirits are “weaker” than other ranger builds – that by changing this single trait they become almost useless.

By removing this trait from the ranger spirit line up they are crippling a style of play beyond any possible compensation I can realistically think of. This is a hindrance to the class itself and unfair to players who want to experiment with every aspect of the class.

In most cases all classes have some sort of utility line that is “less useful” than others, but typically you’ll have at least 1 useful utility per utility type. Frost Spirit is not good enough to be the only utility worth taking since it will be left behind and requires trait points to set to 70% passive trigger rates. Therefore, none of the skills will be truly viable anywhere.

Spartacus.9743:

Consider that we don’t know at the moment how the revenant elite specialization will work. . Maybe we will be able to use 3 legends instead of two, or maybe we can bound a weapon set with each legend we’ll use. …
in any case I see the revenant well balanced with the legends traits and each weapon set avaliable. ..
Skills from both weap/utilities with low cool down, so we won’t have problems about use only autoattack, only sb rangers and dagger thieves will suffer from that

My only qualm with your statement is that we should not be forced into an Elite Specialization just to fix the functionality of the Revenant that should already be a part of it to begin with because then we are not only restricted in some of the many things pointed out in the above posts, but also restricted on our trait lines. It would be like telling us that if you want to be a good Revenant you have to only play with 2 Specializations since you are forced to take the Elite one to fix all the other problems with your build.

Dastion.3106:

I’d really rather see Spirits be immobile but have rather large ranges. Then, once the Spirit is active have the second trigger able effect be “Summon your Spirit to you and do an effect”.

I’d not mind that, but considering that the largest range skill in the game Shadow Trap is 10,000 range units (not counting the Sniper Shot in HoT Beta) – we’d probably not be able to expect much more than that. This is certainly an effective radius, but it is a radius. From a dungeoning perspective you’d have to note that (in most cases) you will be progressing forward – which means the backwards range of the radius is useless. From a WvW perspective you’d be able to cover the map with hidden spirits in Camps/Towers/Keeps with just a few Spirit Rangers with that kind of range. From a PvP perspective you’d also be able to give the advantage to your allies in Home/Mid by placing the Spirits in the starting areas where the spirits would gain Invuln. Go too big with the range and the spirits become too powerful. Go too small and they become worthless. Keep them mobile and they do their job as they are supposed to.

Daniel Handler.4816:

Nuzt.7894:

Soo basically, Anet has decided to turn Spirit Rangers into Ritualists.

I don’t play a Spirit Ranger but if I did my pets better follow me around. Can we make the Ranger pets all stationary to pls ? I mean you won’t have to fix the pathing this way. While were at it, minions don’t need movement either.

Would you prefer it was like Gw1 Ranger Nature Rituals? And all enemies gain the benefits of your spirits as well? Those spirits also didn’t move.

To both of your statements: “Summon Spirits” worked on both Nature Rituals and regular spirits. However, this skill did place them all in close proximity to each other so AoE could instantly kill them if you weren’t careful. Also – in Gw1 – if you used Nature Rituals – you were likely abusing EoE, FS, or QZ in a ST build meant for DoA or Dungeons – which honestly worked really well if played and supported correctly.

Windsagio.1340:

I like the downsell on the spirit of nature active ability.

It’s not the best skll in the world, but a mass rez is still pretty handy.

You can’t target warbanner either and nobody counts that as a disadvantage :p

You can target warbanner >.>
Warbanner (Battle Standard): http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Battle_Standard

Also – the “downsell” was deliberate since it can only be activated twice (3 times if you do it right when you spawn it – these are including the dying activation). The spirit has to be near the target (which means you have to be near the target) and can only revive up to 3 downed players in that area (which if your party is not stacking – isn’t very effective). It’s a great skill, but very hard to utilize compared to other skills. Other classes have this revive ability on non-elite skills that work similarly, and in most cases those recharge times can be reduced.

Tornupto.2304:

Dragon Ruler X.8512:

4) PvE: Won’t make sense in dungeons for the same reasons as WvW.

I disagree with this. If they dont move they are quite good in Dungeons, because you can place them out of enemy range and still get the buff(s) (there is only one spirit with a useful buff for dungeons, the protection buff might be usefull in special situation, but most times the dps-buff of frost spirit is the only usefull buff in dungeons). If you unbound spirits in Dungeons they will die in nearly every AoE. Frost spirit only has a Couldown of 20 sec, if you place one it is most times ready until you need it again. (Swap the spirit out of Skillbar to kill it, e.g. replace the spirit with a trap or something else and swap this with the spirit again.)

I feel you may be less experienced with spirit ranger builds than I am (which is fine). In a good spirit ranger build you’ll be able to change from close combat to ranged combat fluidly. Doing this keeps the spirits alive during the fight since you’ll likely be avoiding the AoE – and therefore they will too. In addition (so long as you have Nature’s Vengeance) if a spirit dies in close combat you can utilize the effects of the active skill against the foe. If the spirits were placed too far away and killed then there is no extra effects placed on the monster. Spirits like Storm Spirit can work very well this way as most Storm Spirit strikes hit for 2-3k damage alone.

Guys! They just said HoT will take another 2 years so calm down!

I agree with a lack of synergy in the areas where synergy is needed.

Disclaimer: Easiest way to solve the primary dilemma of Gear <→ Legend <→ Weapon is to use Celestial. This, I personally feel is wrong because it almost feels forced, but I will explain more below.

Looking at the current Legends and Weapons available most Min/Max players will see a serious issue. When everything is finalized most of us are expecting to see that each Legend has their own specialization line. This is fine in most cases, but with the Rev…we have a few issues.

Let’s take Ventari/Mallyx for example and start there.

Mallyx is condi-oriented and also utilizes a mechanic that sends monsters away from the character. With that in mind we can already assume that Staff would be a less than optimal choice since staff requires us to stay in close quarters combat to activate the heal orbs where as Mace/Axe would work great since we can shadow step over to our selected target. I realize that you could rush in with the Staff, but the main issue with this versus the Mace/Axe combo is that Mace/Axe already conforms to conditions.

Looking at Ventari we can see that it is healing based, but the current numbers in the healing are small. It also requires other players to know that they need to pick up the orbs to heal which may be hard for the less agile players. We can easily see that Staff was designed around Ventari and so Staff is the better choice. Other options work, but let’s move on to gear.

Knowing I have Condi and Healing Power based Legends I instantly look at gear containing these stats. This limits me to: Settler’s, Apothecary, Shaman, or Celestial. If I want to maximize healing I’d use Apothecary, Condi – Shaman, Survival – Settler’s, or If I wanted a mix of everything Celestial. Let’s assume I take Settler’s.

After fully gearing up in Settler’s gear and recalling the above comparison we know that Mace/Axe and Staff are my two main choices. If I want a more condi based approach – Mace/Axe. If I want a more healing based approach – Staff. To make everything easy – let’s assume I choose to carry both weapon sets with me so I can change up when needed.

Here’s where the issue comes in. Though we haven’t seen the other Legends yet and thus can’t speculate on them – we do know that given the fact that I have now specified my gear for my character that I am optimized for those 2 Legends. Switching to Jalis would be bad since that Legend thrives more on Power. Therefore it can be argued that after gearing up in anything other than Celestial gear – you have optimized yourself likely for 2 specific Legends – and possibly only 2 specific Legends. This removes the utility of the Rev. entirely. Specialization lines won’t change the fact that your gear just isn’t suited for optimizing the other Legends. Weapons won’t have optimal synergy with other Legends. Therefore – the Rev. is forced into Celestial gear to try to retain some of the synergy of the other Legends and Weapons they use.

It seems counter intuitive that we can’t weapon swap if we are only given 2 Legends to work with and just 1 Legend has a rather clear influence on the weapon of choice.

I will also note that Ventari’s healing is very limited unless you spec into healing power. Not to mention that it is shared among your party in most cases – further reducing the effectiveness.

The last note I’ll bring up is that the Rev is going to have a major disadvantage in terms of utilities. With 1 weapon set you gain access to only 5 skills for your 1 → 5. With 2 Legends you gain access to only 10 skills for your 6 → 10. Every other class with a weapon swap has access to 10 on the left and 5 on the right, but every class without a weapon swap has a more interesting dynamic set for themselves. Elementalists have 20 skills on the left and 5 on the right while Engineer’s have access to 25, 20, 15, 10, 5 on the left and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 on the right respectively. And this isn’t including the Flip Skills of each class.

I personally feel like the true power of the Rev is going to be undermined by the pure variety of things that it will have access to. I also feel like the weapons will mostly only be optimized for 1 Legend and have little to no synergy with the other Legends you will have access to.

Some things…

Spirits don’t operate like Turrets/Minions/Other Summons.
01) They don’t attack.
02) They don’t go on cool down until the spirit dies.
03) You can only use their active skill 2-3 times
04) You can’t pick them up and move them.
05) They will die too easily if left in place.
06) Their passive AoE is rather small.
07) Their passives are based on RNG.
08) Their passives only affect 5 things and go on cool down after 1 use.
09) Their passives are weak: Burning, Protection, Swiftness, +10% damage, Healing.
10) Their actives are weak: Blind, Cripple and Immob, Damage, Chill, Healing, Delayed Non-Targetable Res and Removes 3 Conditions.

These will become entirely useless in dungeons or anywhere if they don’t move.
1) WvW: Too small of passive AoE – won’t keep up with Zergs
2) WvW: Will die if used in Zergs since they will get hit by AoE.
3) PvP: 1-zerk-bow shot and they are gone.
4) PvE: Won’t make sense in dungeons for the same reasons as WvW.

Being able to move these is crucial to their survival!

I, like the OP, have already dedicated hundreds of gold+laurels to creating a build to make this work on my Ranger. Everything is fully ascended and infused with WvW Infusions. I made it because Spirit Rangers weren’t common and I enjoyed the play style.

Please Keep Spirits Mobile!

Been here since Beta testing, the 3-day head start, and played thousands of hours already. After 3 years – I’ve never seen a Pre as a drop or from the MF.

I have effectively given up all hope – Just like I gave up hope on getting a Q9 Obsidian Edge or Voltaic Spear in Gw1.

No JP there to my knowledge.

BUT! There is an interesting hidden cave.

Beside the Vigil Keep Waypoint there is a section of land south east of the sealed portal gate that you can jump over on to. Below you will be some tents and an NPC named Scornheart [Karma]. If you stay up on that section of land and head more south – stopping before the hill side sections off to a new lower level – you can look below you to see a dead ram on a protruding section of land leading to the cave’s entrance :o

Kenyon.6150:

From what I understand, each trait will get it’s own small icon.

I don`t know if you follow WoodenPotatoes on YT, but in his video of: Trait Overhaul & Speculation, shows the unlocked of the skills around 17:35 and they are all squared with icons. ArenaNet has their own video on it but I currently cannot find it and I`m on short time atm :P

So currently, yes it looks kinda dull with the roman numeral I, II, III, IV etc. right now, but that will change as far as I know.

To be honest that was why I said I was confused since I knew the ready-up video for either the Reaper/Dragonhunter (can’t recall which) had a dev state that each of the traits was getting new art applied to it.

The other confusing part is the fact that we even have trait squares right now since we are expecting only 9 to exist in each specialization and not on the side like they are now.

It just doesn’t make sense to me (>.<)

Just not a fan of the new trait squares

They are so…dull…?

Also – confused on “Trait icons are now square in preparation for future changes to skills and traits.” when we’ve seen specialization lines don’t look like these “squares” at all?