Herald vs Spellbreaker?

Hi,i've been playing a beserker for a while and I love her, but i've been thinking of changing it up. I'm making a new character, and i can't decide if i should make a spellbreaker, or give Rev a try. I'll be honest, i've heard some really bad things about the class, and i was wondering how much of that was true or not. Can anyone give me an honest review of the class, or maybe a few build / weapon ideas?

Note i playl play PVE, storyline, and Dungeons.

The class can be a bit more complex than a lot of other classes (especially in pvp/wvw), but it’s not bad at all in PvE/open world. When playing revenant you have to be a bit more precise about what skills you want to use and when as everything costs energy, so maximizing your survivability or damage takes a bit more planning.

Power revenant is focused more on single target damage with decent cleave up to 3 targets, with few skills that hit 5. Playstyle tends to be bouncing around from target to target. Hammer is also an option for slow ranged damage.

Condi revenant focuses more on area control and 5 Target AoE damage. Playstyle can be mostly melee with mace/axe or ranged with shortbow or some combination.

Even though power revenant does kill regular mobs faster, condi revenant is also a fine choice for open world etc due to the fact that power lacks consistent, powerful AoE. Power rev also starts to struggle harder against higher tier mobs (veteran and up) whereas condi will generally do the same or more damage to those targets in the long run. Condi rev also tends to be a bit safer (especially with renegade shortbow) in open world while still putting out good damage, especially against groups of enemies or strong enemies.

Additionally, power revenant tends to perform slightly better than condi in fractals, but condi tends to perform better in raids. There are exceptions to those rules, though.

If you have no desire to do end game content I’d play around with the legends and weapons and figure out what you like. Swords and hammer tend to be power weapons. Staff is utility/defense//support with decent power damage on Surge of the Mists. Axe is hybrid and can be used with both condi and power builds. Mace is condi focused. Shortbow is condi focused but can do decent hybrid damage. Shield is healing/support/defense. Power and condi rev can be played on either herald or renegade; there are advantages to both. Also either go full berserker for power or full viper for condi; anything else will feel weak and revenant has plenty of ways to avoid/mitigate damage

What bad things have you heard? It's hard to tell you if they are true or not if we are not on the same page with what you are hearing about it.

At any rate, I find the profession to be extremely fun. The issue is that it requires a change up in how you play. I think that's where most of the bad blood comes from. People pick up Revenant and try to play it like it's any other profession when the reality is you don't play Revenant the same way you do others. It's akin to picking up Elementalist and Engineer and having to learn their rather unique playstyles to get them to work. Revenant requires you to know your Legends in a fashion that you don't need to know you're other abilities. You are meant to be swapping in and out of Legends during combat and not staying locked in the same one for a long time. That's one of the mistakes I notice folks who dislike Revenant seem to make. It is also jarring for some to not being able to set up your Utilities. Some folks just can't give up the level of choice other professions have in that arena.

I find the profession more fun than playing Warrior but that's just me. Though it's worth pointing out, you don't need to create a new character to do Spellbreaker. So this isn't an either or thing. You can go ahead and get the HP to Spellebreaker and level up a Revenant and have both to play around with.

Both rev and SB are really good in All PvE content. I prefer rev, but is a good choice as well.

@Marissa.4796 said:Hi,. I'll be honest, i've heard some really bad things about the class, and i was wondering how much of that was true or not.

The bad things are that the class has a lot of bug, and usually they last unfixed. In PvE is more or less fine, if you don't mind to end crossed inside a wall from time to time after casting the Unrelenting Assault teleport, and things like that.

@Dace.8173 said:What bad things have you heard? It's hard to tell you if they are true or not if we are not on the same page with what you are hearing about it.

At any rate, I find the profession to be extremely fun. The issue is that it requires a change up in how you play. I think that's where most of the bad blood comes from. People pick up Revenant and try to play it like it's any other profession when the reality is you don't play Revenant the same way you do others. It's akin to picking up Elementalist and Engineer and having to learn their rather unique playstyles to get them to work. Revenant requires you to know your Legends in a fashion that you don't need to know you're other abilities. You are meant to be swapping in and out of Legends during combat and not staying locked in the same one for a long time. That's one of the mistakes I notice folks who dislike Revenant seem to make. It is also jarring for some to not being able to set up your Utilities. Some folks just can't give up the level of choice other professions have in that arena.

I find the profession more fun than playing Warrior but that's just me. Though it's worth pointing out, you don't need to create a new character to do Spellbreaker. So this isn't an either or thing. You can go ahead and get the HP to Spellebreaker and level up a Revenant and have both to play around with.

I personally adore the revenant ever since it was released with HoT, because i am a gw1 enthusiast (but it isnt fun playing it alone), my gw1 main was a ritualist which is technically the inspiration for the revenant, and i like the playstyle of the rev. changing legend on rev is like changing your personality. you get other skills, other playstyle, other advantages, utilities etc. but still, even though i didnt encounter it myself, i still hear about revenant being bad, revenant is a joke and so on. thats kinda what broke my fun for the class.

I really like Revenant because of the diversity of playstyles. On one hand, it has a small scope of build diversity because you are unable to select your utility skills beyond your legends, but on the other hand, it has a diverse number of roles. For quite a while I have wanted to try out a Revenant-only WvW squad just to see how they would work together. Probably far from a meta comp, but I feel like it's one of the few classes that could realistically accomplish this.

• Shiro is absolutely a blast to play if you like a fast-paced style combat. I am a mobility whore and both Riposting Shadows and Phase Traversal are such great and fun skills.
• Mallyx doesn't perform super well in PvP settings, but kitten is it satisfying to use in PvE. Exploding with hellfire (via Diabolic Inferno) while you are consumed by shadows is so visually satisfying. Also, what's better than stripping a cocky Firebrand of its precious boons only to leave it helpless (and dead)?
• Jalis is a solid legend. Not the biggest fan of it thematically but it has a specific niche that it fulfills well. Solid WvW spec, or if you are doing open-world it is a fantastic group support legend for bounties/bosses that are heavy in CC.
• Ventari is still my all-time favorite playstyle in this game. It is visually and auditorily beautiful aside from the centaur grunting, and the tablet mechanic is a very unique mechanic despite being a little clunky. I have always been a healer in MMOs and honestly after playing Ventari, it's hard for me to adapt to other playstyles because I love the micromanagement involved.
• Glint is great if you like boons. It is a good complementary legend for mostly any playstyle.
• Kalla I don't have much experience with.

Warrior is a solid class too and a great choice in any game mode, but I have never really been a fan of the warrior archetype in games, so I have minimal hours logged into the class.

@"Pterikdactyl.7630" said:

• Ventari is still my all-time favorite playstyle in this game. It is visually and auditorily beautiful aside from the centaur grunting, and the tablet mechanic is a very unique mechanic despite being a little clunky. I have always been a healer in MMOs and honestly after playing Ventari, it's hard for me to adapt to other playstyles because I love the micromanagement involved.

not to mention that the tablet might be one of the strongest if not broken mechanics for fractals. the higher the fractal the more broken it becomes with just one skill: Protective Solace. let me explain. in many encounters in tyria you wil find yourself in need of projectile denial, and very much so in fractals because some cases are group-whiping dangerous. most of ppl resort to the most blunt and kinda overkill solution : Chrono or/and druid, but as a revenant (no elite spec just pure revenant) you can save your group much trouble by just poping portective solace in certain encounters. here is a list:

1. Uncathegorized fractal (jumping puzzle, harpys ,golems) :at the end boss there is an asura in a bubble making him invulnerable. while you kill one by one his golems he will constantly shoot a burst of agony afflicting orbs at a random group member, but you can negate that entire mechanic by seting the tablet with PS activated inside him, thus blocking his projectiles and your group can focus on the golems.
2. Molten furnace fractal(Braham and Rox, weapon test): at the end, where the dredge engineer tests various wappons on you there are some ways to make it much easier to your group with PS. you can counter 2/3 weapon tests from him, the tornados, and the aoe projectiles. for the tornados, just camp inside the tablet and you ll be fine, for the projectiles, place your tablet at the center of an aoe circle with Ps on. this will deny one little field that your teammates can use to endure durring that stage. sadly you cant counter the shockwaves that easly. there you just need to time the jump :)
3. Volcanic Fractal (Volcano, Grawl): at the endboss, there will be a grawl what comitted sudoku and became a flying ... whatever. at the 75% 50% and 25% hp mark, he will spawn dangerous elementals, the root you and do significant damage to you and your group, but as a revenant with PS you can deny the elementals their attacks and kill them without worrying
4. Mai Trin Boss Fractal :Here Ventari is universal, because may trins attacks are a mix of projectiles that can be denied and condi heavy autoattacks that can be cleansed by the tablet, plus horriks fire shots (not the important electric shots) can be destroyed by the tablet.

The Revenant is better than most people make out: to me, it's flexible, powerful and satisfying. It has received some reworks and substantial buffs, so some of what caused its mixed reputation has been addressed.

It is particularly good in the PvE you mention, I do dungeons and T4 fracs most days with a Herald. Never any complaints and some people even pleasantly surprised with what Rev can actually do.

@Lucas.3718 said:

@Dace.8173 said:What bad things have you heard? It's hard to tell you if they are true or not if we are not on the same page with what you are hearing about it.

At any rate, I find the profession to be extremely fun. The issue is that it requires a change up in how you play. I think that's where most of the bad blood comes from. People pick up Revenant and try to play it like it's any other profession when the reality is you don't play Revenant the same way you do others. It's akin to picking up Elementalist and Engineer and having to learn their rather unique playstyles to get them to work. Revenant requires you to know your Legends in a fashion that you don't need to know you're other abilities. You are meant to be swapping in and out of Legends during combat and not staying locked in the same one for a long time. That's one of the mistakes I notice folks who dislike Revenant seem to make. It is also jarring for some to not being able to set up your Utilities. Some folks just can't give up the level of choice other professions have in that arena.

I find the profession more fun than playing Warrior but that's just me. Though it's worth pointing out, you don't need to create a new character to do Spellbreaker. So this isn't an either or thing. You can go ahead and get the HP to Spellebreaker and level up a Revenant and have both to play around with.

Never let other folks ruin your fun for a profession!!! You know it is awesome and cool. Those other folks are just haters.

@Marissa.4796 said:Hi,i've been playing a beserker for a while and I love her, but i've been thinking of changing it up. I'm making a new character, and i can't decide if i should make a spellbreaker, or give Rev a try. I'll be honest, i've heard some really bad things about the class, and i was wondering how much of that was true or not. Can anyone give me an honest review of the class, or maybe a few build / weapon ideas?

Note i playl play PVE, storyline, and Dungeons.

If all you do is story/open world/dungeons, Power Herald is actually one of the strongest classes in the game since you'll always have fury + 25 stacks of might + a full hp reset + loads of cc. When I have to pug dungeons for marks or whatever, I always do it on my herald because even if all the low level people in there do literally nothing, you can easily solo anything that comes across your path. I mean, lots of classes can solo dungeons, but it's like easy mode on Herald.

You start hearing negative feedback on Revenant when it comes to raids, where it doesn't do top, top DPS numbers except versus one very specific encounter and in PvP/WvW where people who play it for the lore get curb stomped because it's one of the more skill intensive classes and also requires strong decision making skills/knowledge of the meta game to succeed...

The best part of Revenant (Herald) for me is that you have access to many different roles all while running the same elite spec, build and gear.Looking for solo single target DPS? ShiroLooking for solo AoE DPS? JalisLooking for group Offensive Support? GlintLooking for group Defensive Support? Jalis / Mallyx

AND, you could technically run Glint 100% of the time and do all of the above, depending on which facets you're maintaining.

What I dislike with Revenant is that a keypress done in error can be more punishing than on other professions, and Power Herald doesn't lean towards good burst or sustained DPS - it's kinda in the middle?

But Sword/Sword is still very fun to play, as is Hammer for ranged / backline combat. I also enjoy Mace but since I'm not partial to condi builds, I haven't really used it beyond me early leveling years.

The short and sweet of it is that Revenant is a very easy class to play, but a very difficult class to play "well", and even harder to master. If you have no problem with playing for fun, and aren't overly concerned with min/max performance, you'll be fine.

What I like about PvE Power Herald(little bit lower benchmark then pRenegade)That while doing your rotation you support 5 guys with unique buff. Right it isnt that much but all countsWhile inShiro you and your party gets lifestealJalis reduces dmg you get by i guess 10%And glint makes your boons last longer by a second or two(this isnt much but in Raid/fractal scenario you can get all boons and add 2 sec for all is good).

@narcx.3570 said:When I have to pug dungeons for marks or whatever, I always do it on my herald because even if all the low level people in there do literally nothing, you can easily solo anything that comes across your path. I mean, lots of classes can solo dungeons, but it's like easy mode on Herald.

Power Herald is excellent for that, the easy access to party-wide Fury and Might stacks will help with newbies and those with low damage builds that can frequently crop up in dungeons.