Returning to GW2 and New to Revenant

So I'm returning to GW2 after about a 1-2 year hiatus (with about a month of play couple of months ago) and am getting back into it with a friend. I tried playing my reaper and chronomancer since Necro and Mesmer were my go to favorites in core and HoT, but they're just not fun for me anymore, so I decided to dig my Revenant up and see how he feels after all this time, and I am in love with the gameplay. It offers a form of micromanagement that is completely different than thief and mesmer, and feels like a more fluid less piano playing style of the elementalist. I just have a couple of questions with the class.

First what is the point of the staff? It feels underwhelming in every single aspect of gameplay so far. 1 and 2 damage are outshine by other weapons, in fact I hardly find myself using 2 at all because of how lackluster it is. 3 just feels clunky to me and doesn't provide anything other than a block, which I suppose in higher level fractals is more desired. 4 I realize removes conditions from allies, but is the weapon taken just for this single skill? And 5 just feels awful to use period. If I'm using it on mobs it breaks them up and the damage is pitiful compared to other weapon skills. Half the time against a single target I get 2 hits and then zoom around them instead of pushing them with me. I know staff is used in nearly every build, but is it because the lack of better weapons to fill the spot, or am I missing something?

Second is what do you feel the class is missing? I'm seriously looking at making the Revenant my new main just because switching weapons and stances is ridiculously fun. It's just different enough from the other forms of management that classes have that makes it enjoyable, but I can't shake the feeling that overall the class is missing one tiny piece from being as fluid gameplay wise as it could be. Help enlighten a new player?

Thanks in advance!

@Spark.8061 said:So I'm returning to GW2 after about a 1-2 year hiatus (with about a month of play couple of months ago) and am getting back into it with a friend. I tried playing my reaper and chronomancer since Necro and Mesmer were my go to favorites in core and HoT, but they're just not fun for me anymore, so I decided to dig my Revenant up and see how he feels after all this time, and I am in love with the gameplay. It offers a form of micromanagement that is completely different than thief and mesmer, and feels like a more fluid less piano playing style of the elementalist. I just have a couple of questions with the class.

First what is the point of the staff? It feels underwhelming in every single aspect of gameplay so far. 1 and 2 damage are outshine by other weapons, in fact I hardly find myself using 2 at all because of how lackluster it is. 3 just feels clunky to me and doesn't provide anything other than a block, which I suppose in higher level fractals is more desired. 4 I realize removes conditions from allies, but is the weapon taken just for this single skill? And 5 just feels awful to use period. If I'm using it on mobs it breaks them up and the damage is pitiful compared to other weapon skills. Half the time against a single target I get 2 hits and then zoom around them instead of pushing them with me. I know staff is used in nearly every build, but is it because the lack of better weapons to fill the spot, or am I missing something?

Staff is just really good. It has a block, evade, some of the best CC in the game, heal, condi remove, blast finisher, weakness, blinds, and daze. Overall it's a utility/support weapon that is just too useful not to have.

1. Auto animation is OP
2. Not the best skill for PvE, PvP the daze is okay if you can time it right.
3. It's a block that also applies blindness which is really really nice.
4. Rev really needs the condi cleanse so this is nice. The heal isn't the best, but if you're in a pickle it's better than nothing.
5. HUGE CC, decent damage if you can pin your target and land the whole thing and it's a nice 1 sec evade if you need emergency avoidance.

Second is what do you feel the class is missing? I'm seriously looking at making the Revenant my new main just because switching weapons and stances is ridiculously fun. It's just different enough from the other forms of management that classes have that makes it enjoyable, but I can't shake the feeling that overall the class is missing one tiny piece from being as fluid gameplay wise as it could be. Help enlighten a new player?

Thanks in advance!

I think it's super fluidd but if you break the fluidity by messing up it can realllllyyyy suck to recover because you're basically running away or auto attacking until you're swap comes off cooldown or you regen some energy.I don't have a ton of hours in Rev yet but as a relatively new player I think sword/shield could use some work. I really like using shield on herald for some reason but it just feels really lacking compared to sword/sword. I think a little bit of a damage buff to sword 2/3 and a little damage nerf to sword 4 would be nice with a bit of a buff to the shield but I'm not sure on the changes there. I honestly have no idea what would make it better, I just want sword/shield to be a little stronger.

The staff is utility weapon. In PVP, the Staff is used for the condi cleanse, and to escape with its block. This might have changed with mounts, but Surge of the Mists was also used to break stacks in WvW. In PVE, Staff is a good weapon for healing builds. But, an off-hand staff is often kept on DPS builds, because Surge of the Mists will shred breakbars. Using it, I once managed to solo the Legendary Mordrem Wyvern in verdant brink, since that one skill could break its bar. Likewise, punishing sweep + debilitating slam is also an excellent CC for interrupting channel attack.

Personally, for WvW, I don't use the staff. I just use sword/sword + hammer. The hammer is underrated IMO. People underestimate how hard Coalescence of Ruin hurts, so when they break away for distance I'll drop hammer 2 on them and down 'em in a single hit. Phase Smash triggers traps and marks, and a lot of people don't realize it is an evasion skill, so if somebody gets close you can just Phase Smash right where you are standing while evading their burst skills. Field of the Mists is a good opener when meeting somebody's gaze, since it will block their ranged burst and let you approach much more safely. Drop the Hammer... is hard to use. Mostly it is used for spacing and zergs, but you can use it behind yourself. This means you can use it on a chasing opponent with good timing.

As for what the rev is missing... I legitimately don't know. One thing I do miss greatly is the block skill from off-hand sword. Off-hand shield is pretty bad, since it roots you in place.

Thank you for the replies. I guess I'm viewing Staff as another powerhouse when it's just mostly a great utility item for the class. I haven't considered Surge for breakbars and I'll have to try that out once I get to higher level content (only 67 currently). It sucks to hear that the shield underperforms though. I hate the thought that an entire new elite skill weapon is useless.

@Spark.8061 said:Thank you for the replies. I guess I'm viewing Staff as another powerhouse when it's just mostly a great utility item for the class. I haven't considered Surge for breakbars and I'll have to try that out once I get to higher level content (only 67 currently). It sucks to hear that the shield underperforms though. I hate the thought that an entire new elite skill weapon is useless.

Shield isn’t useless it’s just not amazing. There are some niche scenarios where you might want it, and healer Herald can make use of it decently (though that is also a niche build). So having one on hand in your bag can be useful, even if you might only use it every now and then

@"Spark.8061" said:Second is what do you feel the class is missing?

I see a lot of complaints about what rev's missing on these forums, and I think for the most part they're just frustrated l2p issues that should be taken with a grain of salt... But, IMO, Rev does have one big hole in it's game atm and it's a complete lack of a "downstate game" in sPvP and to a lesser degree WvW.

Rev used to have a great down cleave when Impossible Odds gave you quickness, but when they took that out they didn't really do anything to replace it. Add onto that how power crept things like FB support is in the power-rez game, your cleave is just not enough to stop or punish a rez anymore. Infact, you only have ONE skill to stop a rez (Chaotic Release, since it moves the downed body out of the rezer's range) and quite frankly, it's way not enough compared to what other +1/team fight classes bring (shadow step stomp/distort/elixer s/smoke field/300 stacks of stability/etc).

Also, you 100% can't rez anyone unless you have Facet of Light off cooldown, but that's not as big of a flaw as being able to finish people in team fights (which is literally your job.)

@Spark.8061 said:Second is what do you feel the class is missing?

A lot. But most noticeable is lack of a second condi (ranged wep) set on core. Shortbow dont count, its a weak poop designed weapon with even worse traitline for pvp purposes

@Zexanima.7851 said:

1. Auto animation is OP

On my male Charr, swing #1 in the chain looks like I'm swinging a golf club =(

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@"Zexanima.7851" said:

1. Auto animation is OP

Same on my charr if you spam it without hitting anything, I think the actual auto chain is pretty cool. Specially since I'm using the war god's staff skin.

@Zexanima.7851 said:

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@Zexanima.7851 said:

1. Auto animation is OP

Funny enough, I use the War God's Hammer, but opted instead for the Forged Staff (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Forged_Staff)

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@Zexanima.7851 said:

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@Zexanima.7851 said:

1. Auto animation is OP

I also use the war gods hammer, shield and sword! I love the skin sets. The forged is cool too, kind of like a more simple redesign of the war god skin

@Zexanima.7851 said:

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@Zexanima.7851 said:

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@Zexanima.7851 said:

1. Auto animation is OP

When I started playing Hammer Rev I bought the Forged Hammer and Staff skins (why no Forged 1-H sword skins ANET? :cries:), but once I got my Warbringer, the War God's hammer matched the flames on the back piece better, so I took the plunge. I just preferred the Forged staff over War God's so never switched, though saving 90g also helped me with the decision lol.

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@Zexanima.7851 said:

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@Zexanima.7851 said:

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@Zexanima.7851 said:

1. Auto animation is OP

I'm still working on my warbringer. :( But yeah, the war god set was not cheap