How viable is Revenant in WvW?

[DarthEros.3547]

Returning player here. Previously levelled an ele to 80 and enjoyed it but am keen to try something different.

For me, end game is all about WvW having come from ESO and spent virtually all of my time in alliance war.

My question is - how viable is Rev in WvW? Which specs? What roles? Etc

I know that WvW has its own problems at the moment, so I don’t want the focus to be on that, rather Rev specifically.

[Arheundel.6451]

-Passing by non-rev player heavily invested in WvW-

Seen two types of effective rev builds the condi mallyx staff/axe/mace and the zerg meta backline hammer herald , ofc you can also play sword herald power and kind of boring to face ventari support

[nomak.8693]

Backline herald/dwarf Rev is meta right now and one most wanted classes after the firebrands in zerg/blob fights. Every other build is just a waste of a rev.it’s super strong if you learn to land those hammers on the right spots and then cleave the downed players with the staff.I highly recommend this build for wvw.

[DarthEros.3547]

Thanks for the replies. Glad staff rev is viable too as that’s one of the reasons I like the class (melee staff looks awesome so thief was also on the cards).

How is the support aspect with the Ventari specialism enabled? I had thought it might be a little clunky, but it does seem intriguing and mechanically intensive which is something I enjoy.

[Arkantos.7460]

I miss good old times where ppl just pick the class they want and experimenting with builds

[Justine.6351]

Watched a video last night of some zerging, rev wasn't even in the top 5 for dps any more.

[DarthEros.3547]

@Arkantos.7460 said:I miss good old times where ppl just pick the class they want and experimenting with builds

Per the post I’ve levelled an ele to 80, I also have a 20 Mesmer, Thief and Necro. Unfortunately it’s a lot to ask of someone with a life and a job to experiment with multiple classes and specs, especially as it relates to a certain game mode.

I’ve watched a lot of videos too, but nothing beats opinions of people playing the class in that game mode.

[Buran.3796]

The main weapon of the Rev's build for guild vs guild skirmishes (hammer) was not only nerfed across 2019 but has also plenty of bugs and remains largely inconsistent.

And for the roaming side, there's only a competitive build and hasn't change in ages, except for being less fun due nerfs. This class has the same build deep as Mark's Whalberg acting range.

[Za Shaloc.3908]

I play a lot of WvW and a lot of Rev--about 85% of my time is spent on the class. These are my opinions. Keep in mind that even though I do play a lot, I play pretty casually. I am not part of any serious raiding guild and mostly just do my own thing, which is mostly solo to small-group roaming. I have my favorite builds, but I still do have a lot of experience on most of them.

• Hammer Herald is very strong but in a bit of an awkward position right now because of a significant bug to CoR, its staple damage skill. I wouldn't consider this much of a reason to not play it, though, as far as long-term goes. The build offers not only a lot of spike damage, but a lot of team support as well. Glint/Jalis offers the best teamplay option, but if you are doing your own thing, Glint/Shiro gives you a bunch of extra solo survivability and allows you to be pretty bold with your positioning. Personally I don't play this a ton, but the Glint/Jalis is probably the best WvW zerging build for the class.
• Condi Rev is underestimated and quite powerful, but it does fall shorter in larger group play simply because of the sheer amount of cleanses in the game. Small-scale, I'd say it is extremely strong and isn't given enough credit. Is it meta? I'd say no it is not, but the latest rework to Mallyx has made it feel very solid. Tormenting Runes carry the build extremely hard and will give you an absurd amount of survivability against groups. You will most often see Glint/Mallyx Heralds, but core is great too. My personal favorite is to run Shiro/Mallyx for roaming. I run condi Rev a lot and absolutely love it. It is extremely fun to play and has really great AoE pressure.
• There's a Diviner Hammer Renegade build on Metabattle that I'd say is pretty decent for group play. You are basically only taking Renegade for the alacrity, but with its boon duration, it can have some very solid resistance uptime, and using Jalis is always very beneficial for groups. I do like the build, but it is much more vulnerable to pressure than its Herald counterpart. I still don't think it brings enough to a group to justify bringing over other options, but it is by no means a poor choice. I'd like to see this build given a few more buffs to bring it up to snuff because both Mallyx/Jalis are really nice to have.
• The meta roaming Glint/Shiro build is a very strong roamer. You have insane burst potential, and while you are very squishy, you have both evades/blocks and your Glint heal to pad that, which allows you to go more all-in for damage. If you are good at kiting, abusing terrain/line of sight, and timing your burst and heal, you can be a destructive force. Its biggest weakness is condition damage, but this is better supplemented in WvW by cleansing sigil, and you can make some other off-meta sigil/rune/trait/weapon choices that will help supplement this. This isn't a luxury that sPvPers have to quite the degree. Very fun build, higher skill floor but you can get carried hard by its sheer damage potential.
• Healing Rev is underrated, but can be tricky to use. This is the spec that got me into Revenant, and I still absolutely love it, but if you have really squirrely teammates, it can be very frustrating. I'd say that Glint/Ventari Herald with Draconic Echo is the best and most effective choice out there for a healing Revenant. If you like big green numbers like I do, then you will really enjoy it. As much of a fan of the spec I am, I would never ever recommend it as a primary support choice. Firebrand is just simply more effective and impactful, and Ventari Rev falls below both Scrapper and Tempest as well. I don't think it is given enough credit because people don't have the patience to learn how to use the tablet, but I can't say that its poor-to-mediocre reputation is completely unjustified. It is fun to run in groups that have enough Firebrands, and it helps tremendously if you are in comms so you know the movement patterns and can maneuver the tablet appropriately. I find it much easier to use in the mid-backline because you can more easily read the flow of movement of the frontline. It is also incredible in chokeholds, and when attacking structures with a bunch of siege pressure. Seriously, it shines hard there. Its alacrity is nice for hastening the siege, too. I recorded for a few minutes yesterday and although I couldn't get any good footage because of major lag, I figured I could show you just a couple screen captures of some realistic examples of its healing potential.[Here] is an example of numbers you can expect to see when simply swapping from Glint to Ventari. The 1ish-k ticks are from regen, the bigger ones are from Facet of Nature - Centaur. These are both passive 600-radius and 5-to-10 target skills that don't make up your burst healing potential.[Here] is the best example I could find of its ranged burst healing potential. Much better is possible, but pulling from a few minutes of major lag didn't really offer me much. Luckily it shows how high of numbers you can get with the spec.

In conclusion, the class has its flaws like any others, but I definitely find it worth it to invest in it. I say that to you as a biased Rev main who loves the class to pieces, but I think it is absolutely worth your time. I'd write more but I've gotta run. Hope this helps.

[DarthEros.3547]

Thanks @Pterikdactyl.7630 - that’s exactly the sort of response I was looking for, and I think you’ve made up my mind for me!

[Magnuzone.8395]

Backline and frontline sustain are 2 viable builds that are easy to switch between, and offer slightly different playstyles. And you can use the same armor stats and runes for both if you dont mind a bit of dmg drop as a backline. Can always tweak it later.

[Knighthonor.4061]

@DarthEros.3547 said:Returning player here. Previously levelled an ele to 80 and enjoyed it but am keen to try something different.

For me, end game is all about WvW having come from ESO and spent virtually all of my time in alliance war.

My question is - how viable is Rev in WvW? Which specs? What roles? Etc

I know that WvW has its own problems at the moment, so I don’t want the focus to be on that, rather Rev specifically.

Depends on how you look at it. Revenant is not Firebrand/prenerf Scourge tier or anything close to that.

But in WvW anything can be useful, and I recommend trying to build around what group role you want to perform.

I started running my Core Healer build again when the Templates were added since it easy for me to swap back to damage when ready. But the Core Healer Revenant build can dish out decent heals and CC to the commander's location. You can block projectiles and create cleansing field. And unlike other elite spec support revs, you have the Ancient Echo's ability for more uptime and energy of your tablet without need to legend swap out of the tablet.

Use Dwarf as the off Legend if you want to provide good Stability and damage reduction to allies. and use Taunt to CC enemies and pull off edge of walls.

Or you can use Demon for some good AoE conditions and provide life steal for allies.

Use Staff/ Sword+Sword for either.

Make sure you have decent Power and Vit for your gear with some toughness in the mix.

[Aeolus.3615]

I played hammer zerker/ but last months been focusing on condi removal and healing.

The gameplay it’s overwhelming due the attention to allies health calls in zones fb can’t reach, stop range spikes, and still be able to dive with the frontline.

Herald/ventariPassive 1k+ regen to 10 players, and other boons, condi removal for area and self with aoe 4-5k heals.Ventari, 10k aoe heals, condi removal with tablet and F2, movable dome to protect flanking rangers and their spikes/ganks, kB and more condi removal with tablet elite , every 3 sec is a 3k heal with tablet movement as well, Ventari f2 passive is a 1.7k to 2k heal very 3 second for 10 players.

Possibility to reduce facets from 10 targets to only 5 with an addition of 1.2k heal every 3 second.

No need to play ministrell for long boon duration, due herald mechanics on energy management and itsbfacets work like gw1 bonding boon system.

(Edit)@DarthEros.3547, this are builds i swap once in a while, but ventari setups are extremely underrated by players that its play meta to get carried or gtfo.

Herald/Ventari support (alternative is to use monk runes for better direct healing, i ended prefering regen so i swaped to dwayna ones):http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmwAw6ZllQKMKyiNRXsKCjFSisBqgn/kVrF-zRIYf0xXIBVBJGCVnAiMA-e

Core banzai build: Dwarf/assassin (Damage and damage and damage, on push use RoTGD(dwarf elite) and F2 so u can spam the uncorrupted 50% damage reducer as much as u can)http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmgAIZldQMMHyj1QdsHij9RksAigFzk1SD-zRRYBBLGVsSw2B-e

Herald Batery(besides damage and m8 and fury stack, dwarf F2 is now a 10 players damage reducer passive, boon on herald will also afect 10 allies)http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmgAIZldQKMHyi1QXsHCj9RisAqgFzkfzE-zRRYBBLGVsSw2B-e

Renegade/Deamon (While using both legend elites u will gain heal per sec (steadfast rejuvenation) plus torment runes will heal u and renegade is a vampiric aoe, while can still use other heals :P while aplying mass torment, heals skill from legends will give dome every 20sec) .http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmwAUlflhQLsIajJRaMIKjBSjMBygDzi/zE-zRJYvRNfJ49A-e

This last one is amazing for pve as well :\ its what i use for pve on my condi rev.

And theres way more builds that others play that are even better, revenant is the class with more versability on buildcraft.

[Virdo.1540]

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmwAwyZldQKMHyi1QXsHCj9RisAqgp+le7F-zRZYBBZIGdc4wBFcKtJByUE0pCoXhgGHA-e
Thats what i like to play in WvW as Roamer. High damage with extreme health & dmg reduction

in zerg id like to play a mix of berserker&marauder (main goal is to have max damage while being on 100% precision on enemy land)

[alain.1659]

Rev is really ok actually. But that is also the problem. It is "ok". CoR bug really bugs people and still scourge is a better choice for many in zergs (but hammer is still used often). For ventari, I cannot be kind as other friends. It is not terrible. But it is nowhere viable as other supports. Heal might be good but radius is small and 5 player cap is bad with that radius. It is hard to control and not reliable as you have to know the exact place where your wounded friends will be to heal them properly. It works in coordinated zergs, and even in pug runs. But really not well in roaming. No proper boons, no stability, clunky speed etc. makes it a low tier choice for support.

Renegade feels fine but lacks the proper tools. As a alacrity support it is really good though. Other than that classic shiro-jalis combo works with renegade traitline as it gives 25 might, reduces condi dmg, gives you flowers and kisses you on the forehead before sleep. But standart herald dmg build has the upper hand still.

Condi rev is really strong. I dont like to play it but with torment runes... Omg the sustain and the damage is incredible. Works wonders in wvw and pve together.

Best thing about rev is that it seems limited. But in reality it is not. Taking corruption traitline doesnt mean you should use condi. Or taking mallyx does not force you to be a condi spec. You can find your own style :)