[WvW roaming] Build advice

It's been about a month now since I started playing Revenant. I had some nice mentoring from Tubby himself ( ! ) and a couple other skilled players while roaming about. I'm an extremely slow learner however so there's a long road of improvement ahead. I already feel I've gotten much better over the past few weeks and am able to win a lot of 1v1's but, 9 times out of 10 I'll lose 1vX. Not quite to that level yet.

Anyway, the build I was using during my first week of play was this:http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vlQQNAscmn3guNSuQ7JRboVlsP0rS4IaWJ4EdsklNFqNAHoB2BsgPUNG1oHA-jFDEQB+T9H4t/wDOCAMRJ2WUC6uDBgDVGEhHAQb0HEFlCSRJBAOBABAQAuZb2m3MwNv5Nv5NvZXXoJ0s5NvZSBo6kN-w

It eventually evolved to this:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlQQNAscmn3guNSuQ7JRboVlsP0rS4IaWJ4EdskFNFidMrJOtDIANwegJMiA-jFDEQBMUJWUUK0G9BA4EAkI1fewRAYLKBz2hAgAPAApokwhKDi3+DBAQAuZb2m3MwNv5Nv5NvZXXoJ0s5NvZSBo6kN-w

The second build is the one I'm using now which, with a few trait changes, transitions quite well between roaming and zerging. Still, I'm looking for advice on how to improve whether it be through gameplay or build.

Final note: I'm a sucker for big numbers. If you think it's safe to go more offensive, I'm fine with that. I only started off tanky because I had tried Rev before and knew I'd need the cushion.

The build looks alright to me - I'd make some changes to the traits like Assassin's Annihilation instead of Swift Termination for a bit of sustain, Shared Empowerment for a bit of might, and Cleansing Channel for an additional cleanse (this I think you should change though, Rising Tide isn't worth it considering it doesn't take much to go below 90%), but yours probably works just fine. Also I like Hydromancy Sigil a lot - but if you manage to build Bloodlust stack then yeah why not.

@idolin.2831 said:The build looks alright to me - I'd make some changes to the traits like Assassin's Annihilation instead of Swift Termination for a bit of sustain, Shared Empowerment for a bit of might, and Cleansing Channel for an additional cleanse (this I think you should change though, Rising Tide isn't worth it considering it doesn't take much to go below 90%), but yours probably works just fine. Also I like Hydromancy Sigil a lot - but if you manage to build Bloodlust stack then yeah why not.

Yeah needs hydromancy. And bloodlust is bad if you cant build the stacks and then keep them for any length of time.

Also to expand on Hydromancy - I put in on on of my swords, and there are a lot of way you can proc the sigil: Phase to the opponent and weapon swap to sword or legend swap if you're already on sword, while doing sword 3, Riposting Shadow through your opponent and legend swap/weapon swap while evading, or may be just when you're close to your opponent. Chill is a nice condi, the damage is quite nice, especially if you manage to combo it. It helps me a lot oneshot-ing squishy, unsuspecting foes (mostly DE's).

I farmed WvW to craft Warbringer, 95% of the time using my rev either in zergs or roaming. Being tanky as a rev won’t get you far in roaming. As in, you won’t do enough damage to matter.

Though I would suggest adding some extra stats to boost your hp and reach about 19-20k. And switch staff to hammer, phase traversal + hammer is amazing to chase cowards and thieves, but use it wisely or they will kill you. Hammer 4 is very good too to avoid some ranger/deadeye burst. Staff is useful, no doubt about it. But in my experience of hundred of hours in WvW hammer has been a better secondary overall. Glad I’m done with WvW too, pvp and balance in gw2 is so awful.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlQQNAscmn3guNSuQ7JRboVlsP0rS4IaWJ4EdskFNFqdABICsjZNxxegHMiA-jVDFQBL4IAUtDBgTUSUIVVuiSQ9pWBAeAAM4EA0ElCtb/h0oPAhKxUoygAAIA3sNbzbG4m38m38m3srL0hO0hO0hezbezbWKAVnsB-w

Shining Aspects** is a trash trait, take the might trait or even the toughness instead, especially if you are using shield, which I prefer.

You need a little bit more health, and I'll echo what everyone else said about hydro. This should be a suitable build having to change the fewest things possible.

I would stick with staff.

Couple of things other people haven't said...

• You'll see a lot more personal dps our of Notoriety than AP due to the improved Might aspect of it that got added a few patches ago... If you're roaming with a group of like 3-4 other power dps players, you'll see more gain out of AP, but really, I dunno... It's kind of better to just be selfish in the roaming scene. Once people start getting downed, AP loses its effectiveness, and that's exactly when you'll wish you had Notoriety's extra oomph to rally them. Also, lots of other classes won't be as close to 100% crit as you are to take advantage of that ferocity anyways.
• Cleansing Channel saves waaaaaaaay more lives that you'd expect. Especially considering that the amount of time that you're above 90% health in a fight is very small--unless you're just lurking for one shots.
• If you like to try hard with Bloodlust, you can just stack it off NPC's using an exotic sword or something, and then swap to your ascended with another sigil when it's time to fight for real. You maintain the stacks even if you unequip the weapon so long as you don't get downed. There's no reason to have it as your primary sigil tho. I'd personally just use Force.
• I don't really think Core Value is worth it... But all those traits are pretty lukewarm, so if you like that extra boon removed every 20 seconds, I guess knock yourself out.

Alright, I've made some adjustments with some of the tips here. I haven't yet taken Hydromancy however, as I'm thinking on going Air + Leeching on Sword/Sword instead. I may try Hydromancy later. I'm familiar with how it works as I use it on my Necromancer and Warrior.

I have some more questions though.

Does anyone have tips on how to fight condition Mesmers (in general, as in Mesmer/Chrono/Mirage) and Scourge? These are the two things giving me the most difficulty in 1v1's atm. I like to think I'm relatively good at managing conditions since most of my other characters use very low cleanse and I do just fine. On Revenant however, I'm struggling against these two even with Cleansing sigil, cleanse on Legend swap, staff cleanse and just general avoidance. I can't seem to do anything against a decent Scourge and with Mesmer, I can sometimes get the upper hand but it's not consistent at all.

@"SpellOfIniquity.1780" said:Alright, I've made some adjustments with some of the tips here. I haven't yet taken Hydromancy however, as I'm thinking on going Air + Leeching on Sword/Sword instead. I may try Hydromancy later. I'm familiar with how it works as I use it on my Necromancer and Warrior.

I have some more questions though.

Does anyone have tips on how to fight condition Mesmers (in general, as in Mesmer/Chrono/Mirage) and Scourge? These are the two things giving me the most difficulty in 1v1's atm. I like to think I'm relatively good at managing conditions since most of my other characters use very low cleanse and I do just fine. On Revenant however, I'm struggling against these two even with Cleansing sigil, cleanse on Legend swap, staff cleanse and just general avoidance. I can't seem to do anything against a decent Scourge and with Mesmer, I can sometimes get the upper hand but it's not consistent at all.

Mesmers have about 90% chance to win, even bad ones. Either newbies or extremely bad ones can be beaten or if you manage to place a nice burst but even that is not enough with all the heals/regens stealth and passive evasions + dodges. This class and all the time it has been that OP both in PvE and PvP is the only proof you need to see how Anet does not know how to properly balance their game. Don’t overthink it too much. If you see a Mesmer and you’re alone, the best option is to run to allies/safe spot. It’s really stupid.

For Scourge I’d say it’s 50/50 and this is where Hammer as a secondary can be useful as I told you. To burst they need you to be either not moving or at close/melee range to spam the sandcrap. They can also do some nice damage with Axe (especially axe 5 if I’m not mistaken) so watch out for the weapon they use. What I would usually do is tender the meat with some well placed Hammer attacks and then when you see an opening go for the kill with swords+shiro. Some Scourges can be harder than others it depends but quite often it’s 50/50 tbh.