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How does one become a Revenant?


TheLadyOfTheRings.9148

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Hi everyone.

I've never tried Revenant but I'm curious about its lore. According to the wiki, the Revenant profession was 'introduced to the world by Rytlock Brimstone in 1328 AE who in turn learned it from Glint (...)'. Since Glint is dead, I'm assuming Rytlock is the only one in Tyria who knows how to become a Revenant. Is this correct? If it is, that means that future Revenants would need to learn the profession from him? Is it possible to teach the profession to someone? Or is that something that each individual needs to learn while in the Mists? I mean, it can't be that 'easy' to become a Revenant, if it took so long for the first Revenant to appear, and not even on his own, but with the help of Glint.

So my main question is how one becomes a Revenant after Rytlock. Thank you for your inputs :)

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When i've created my Revenant, i was dissapointed. Starter story is same as any other character. It should have been little bit different, involving mists. Maybe Glint herself took character from the Tyria into the mists to teach him\her the ways of Revenant, and then character returns to Tyria with promise from Glint of greater destiny ( Aurene's Champion ).

On return, character's friends will act with surprise to fill up some dialogues, character could have been missing for few month or so. And then continue with regular story.Glint also simply could ask not to reveal info about Revenant magic to others for some time, until HoT.

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@Aeon.4583 said:When i've created my Revenant, i was dissapointed. Starter story is same as any other character. It should have been little bit different, involving mists. Maybe Glint herself took character from the Tyria into the mists to teach him\her the ways of Revenant, and then character returns to Tyria with promise from Glint of greater destiny ( Aurene's Champion ).

On return, character's friends will act with surprise, character could have been missing for few month or so. And then continue with regular story.Glint also simply could ask not to reveal info about Revenant magic to others for some time, until HoT.

I agree. That would have been more interesting and 'lore-friendly' :)

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@TheLadyOfTheRings.9148 said:Hi everyone.

I've never tried Revenant but I'm curious about its lore. According to the wiki, the Revenant profession was 'introduced to the world by Rytlock Brimstone in 1328 AE who in turn learned it from Glint (...)'. Since Glint is dead, I'm assuming Rytlock is the only one in Tyria who knows how to become a Revenant. Is this correct? If it is, that means that future Revenants would need to learn the profession from him? Is it possible to teach the profession to someone? Or is that something that each individual needs to learn while in the Mists? I mean, it can't be that 'easy' to become a Revenant, if it took so long for the first Revenant to appear, and not even on his own, but with the help of Glint.

So my main question is how one becomes a Revenant after Rytlock. Thank you for your inputs :)

Rytlock was indeed the first revenant (and herald at that), and he taught others how to use revenant magic after returning in the beginning of HoT. This includes having taught some charr, which developed the Renegade specialization.

While all Tyrian revenants can trace their teachings to Rytlock, one doesn't need to have learned from Rytlock.

There's also those who have revenant-like powers, such as the Archdiviner in the Cliffside Fractal. Rytlock may be the first revenant, but he is not the first to use Mists magic - there were, after all, the ritualists of GW1 who tapped into the Mists' magic too.

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@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@TheLadyOfTheRings.9148 said:Hi everyone.

I've never tried Revenant but I'm curious about its lore. According to the wiki, the Revenant profession was 'introduced to the world by Rytlock Brimstone in 1328 AE who in turn learned it from Glint (...)'. Since Glint is dead, I'm assuming Rytlock is the only one in Tyria who knows how to become a Revenant. Is this correct? If it is, that means that future Revenants would need to learn the profession from him? Is it possible to teach the profession to someone? Or is that something that each individual needs to learn while in the Mists? I mean, it can't be that 'easy' to become a Revenant, if it took so long for the first Revenant to appear, and not even on his own, but with the help of Glint.

So my main question is how one becomes a Revenant after Rytlock. Thank you for your inputs :)

Rytlock was indeed the first revenant (and herald at that), and he taught others how to use revenant magic after returning in the beginning of HoT. This includes having taught some charr, which developed the Renegade specialization.

While all Tyrian revenants can trace their teachings to Rytlock, one doesn't need to have learned from Rytlock.

There's also those who have revenant-like powers, such as the Archdiviner in the Cliffside Fractal. Rytlock may be the first revenant, but he is
not
the first to use Mists magic - there were, after all, the ritualists of GW1 who tapped into the Mists' magic too.

Thank you! This was the info I was looking for.

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@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Rytlock was indeed the first revenant (and herald at that), and he taught others how to use revenant magic after returning in the beginning of HoT. This includes having taught some charr, which developed the Renegade specialization.

While all Tyrian revenants can trace their teachings to Rytlock, one doesn't need to have learned from Rytlock.

There's also those who have revenant-like powers, such as the Archdiviner in the Cliffside Fractal. Rytlock may be the first revenant, but he is not the first to use Mists magic - there were, after all, the ritualists of GW1 who tapped into the Mists' magic too.

It always bugged me that they went with "Oh uh, Glint, yeah she thought him how to be a Revenant", and completely ignored the obvious connection with the Ritualists.

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@Elric.4713 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Rytlock was indeed the first revenant (and herald at that), and he taught others how to use revenant magic after returning in the beginning of HoT. This includes having taught some charr, which developed the Renegade specialization.

While all Tyrian revenants can trace their teachings to Rytlock, one doesn't need to have learned from Rytlock.

There's also those who have revenant-like powers, such as the Archdiviner in the Cliffside Fractal. Rytlock may be the first revenant, but he is
not
the first to use Mists magic - there were, after all, the ritualists of GW1 who tapped into the Mists' magic too.

It always bugged me that they went with "Oh uh, Glint, yeah she thought him how to be a Revenant", and completely ignored the obvious connection with the Ritualists.

Why would Rytlock learn anything from or about ritualists though? They were a Canthan exclusive profession (mechanics of a few post-factions foes aside), and while both do associate with Mists magic, they use it in fundamentally different manners. There's as little relation between ritualists and revenants, as between rangers and elementalists who both use elemental magic.

Would have made more sense to say Razah, but I could see them avoiding that because 90% of GW2 players wouldn't know who Razah was.

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My head canon is a bit twisted when it come to the Revenant profession. Essentially I see Rytlock as the first Herald, Champion of Glint. We know he interacted on the Tyrian plane, as well as in The Mists, with the dragon Glint. Given Glint's prescience, she undoubtedly began molding Rytlock back in the Crystal Desert with their first encounter. I think this also better explains Glint's death at the claws of her father. "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

But Rytlock's return back to Tyria had magical consequences. My line of thought is that Rytlock created a spiritual echo. A reverberation took place that flooded the Tyrian plane with the same protomatter that coalesced the being Razah in Guild Wars. This protomatter echoed throughout the entire continent and certain people basically became chambers of these echos. However, this event was only powerful enough to recreate the voices and the abilities of long dead heroes within the new Revenants. It was not powerful enough to bring new races into Tyria.

So who are these certain people that became "chambers" for these echoes? Those on the verge of death and those that were experiencing great trauma. A Revenant is someone that has returned from the dead. So our new Tyrian Revenants are essentially that. They were experiencing a physical, spiritual, mental, or emotional death at the time of Rytlock's re-entry. Depending on what you were experiencing would determine which voices are captured within you. So Revenants are basically a mixture of the features we think of with both spiritual possession and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

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by Dialogue from some NPC`s in Tarir, ppl are "jumping" into the mists in some way to become revenants.

Bartimus Swordheart: What do you make of all the revenants running around lately?Obstructor Rora: Their ability to channel power from the Mists is fascinating.Bartimus Swordheart: Hmmm, bet they're pretty good with swords.Obstructor Rora: (snort) You aren't smart enough to become one. You'd only wind up trapped in the Mists.Bartimus Swordheart: I didn't say I wanted to become one, just curious what you thought of them.https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tarir,_the_Forgotten_City

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I don't know why people are always saying Rytlock was the first Revenant, it doesn't say this anywhere in Lore. It says he was the first Herald, specifically the Herald of Glint upon his return from the Mists, wielding /powers of the Mists/.

But it was far from a new thing and has been done all throughout Guild Wars' history.

Its like saying Kasmeer was the only Chronomancer, when Mesmers had been using time-based magic for hundreds of years. Creating a school for something doesn't mean you immediately have a monopoly on its existance all throughout the past, it just means that you've specialised in it, turned it into a Profession, if you will, and that you can teach it to others.

Yes, its a retcon for Revenants to be present during the Zhaitan campaign, but consistent with GW1 lore, some Fractals, etc.

Btw its also a retcon that we had mounts during HoT, a throwaway line in the Festival of the Four Winds mocks this as not canon, however in-game skins reveal players utilising mounts /from Central Tyria/ as early as the starter zones. This is just how it works in games, what happens in the game world itself always supercedes any canon established outside of it, because that's secondary--not primary--canon.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Distant_Lands_Mount_Select_License

Primary canon is always WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get).

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@"Hannelore.8153" said:I don't know why people are always saying Rytlock was the first Revenant, it doesn't say this anywhere in Lore. It says he was the first Herald, specifically the Herald of Glint upon his return from the Mists, wielding /powers of the Mists/.

Uhm, no. It says he was the first revenant. Hell, when Rytlock comes back from the Mists, Rox asks him what his new magic is, and he talks about revenant magic, not Herald magic.

Rytlock is never once called a Herald. The only reason we know he is, is because he uses two herald skills in HoT at two scripted moments, and never again.

P.S., Kasmeer isn't a Chronomancer, and we don't have any lore as to who "the first Chronomancer" was or why the specialization spread during HoT. Mesmers haven't been big on time manipulation before Chronomancer either - they were big on mental manipulation in GW1, and in GW2 focus more on spatial manipulation. Marjory, however, was the first Reaper per lore, and while Braham has become a Dragonhunter, out-of-game lore suggests that it was made by Pact soldiers who were refocusing their teachings into a more offensive-against-dragons(-minions) concept.

@"Hannelore.8153" said:Btw its also a retcon that we had mounts during HoT, a throwaway line in the Festival of the Four Winds mocks this as not canon, however in-game skins reveal players utilising mounts /from Central Tyria/ as early as the starter zones. This is just how it works in games, what happens in the game world itself always supercedes any canon established outside of it, because that's secondary--not primary--canon.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Distant_Lands_Mount_Select_License

Primary canon is always WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get).

You should note the difference between an animal's existence, and the act of domesticating them as mounts. Those licenses is basically saying "the animals are in the wild, though never shown", but it is not saying that they were domesticated during the plot of Heart of Thorns. Just because you can take a mount into the old maps doesn't mean that suddenly in 1328 AE the Pact had an army of domesticated animals to work the role of mounts.

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In a rush, so just gonna drop this here.

EDIT: Alright, Konig already covered most of this, but if you're interested in the source, that article above was released as part of the massive slew of assorted posts that covered for the pre-HoT content drought, and it remains the most comprehensive statement on revenant lore. (It is, admittedly, a low bar.) To pull out the paragraph most relevant to the recent discussion:

The story of how charr tribune Rytlock Brimstone became the first revenant hasn’t yet been told, but at the launch of Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, he’ll have brought the knowledge of how to obtain that power to the world of Tyria, making it somewhat common knowledge. There’s no profession-specific story content planned for the expansion, but a brand-new revenant starting on their journey will not have had to visit the Mists or undergo any more of an advanced process to access revenant powers than they would for the other core professions. All that’s necessary to begin training as a revenant is knowledge of the profession, the faith and will to reach into the Mists, and an open mind.

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@"Drgnfly.5812" said:My head canon is a bit twisted when it come to the Revenant profession. Essentially I see Rytlock as the first Herald, Champion of Glint. We know he interacted on the Tyrian plane, as well as in The Mists, with the dragon Glint. Given Glint's prescience, she undoubtedly began molding Rytlock back in the Crystal Desert with their first encounter. I think this also better explains Glint's death at the claws of her father. "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

But Rytlock's return back to Tyria had magical consequences. My line of thought is that Rytlock created a spiritual echo. A reverberation took place that flooded the Tyrian plane with the same protomatter that coalesced the being Razah in Guild Wars. This protomatter echoed throughout the entire continent and certain people basically became chambers of these echos. However, this event was only powerful enough to recreate the voices and the abilities of long dead heroes within the new Revenants. It was not powerful enough to bring new races into Tyria.

So who are these certain people that became "chambers" for these echoes? Those on the verge of death and those that were experiencing great trauma. A Revenant is someone that has returned from the dead. So our new Tyrian Revenants are essentially that. They were experiencing a physical, spiritual, mental, or emotional death at the time of Rytlock's re-entry. Depending on what you were experiencing would determine which voices are captured within you. So Revenants are basically a mixture of the features we think of with both spiritual possession and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

I really like this explanation, it gives me some really good inspiration for my rev's if you are okay with that!

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My head canon is that Revenant magic existed before Rytlock, at least in bits and pieces, but was not commonly known about until Rytlock became one in the most dramatic way possible. Rytlock would then be the first Herald.

Maybe that contradicts the canon, but it helps me RP my characters. For example, my Revenant is an Ash Legion Charr, who I imagine was tasked with finding ways to combat the ghosts and started investigating Human/Dwarven ruins and got... creative. I sort of imagine the higher-ups at Ash Legion keeping this knowledge to themselves out of general secrecy/mistrust of the other Legions, and my Charr just calls it "classified" when her warband asks about it.

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@hellsqueen.3045 said:

I really like this explanation, it gives me some really good inspiration for my rev's if you are okay with that!

Absolutely! I have whole stories about not just my characters but a number of different heroes I encounter in Tyria. If you see something you like you are welcome to it. Only if you write about it, then reference me. ;-)

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It's a shame that we have to leave it to head canon to explain why and how revenants exist. In the case of Rytlock, it was due to his time in the Mists and the nature of how death is not necessarily the end in this world. We see this in the form of Ritualists from Guild Wars 1 and how they would temporarily channel the spirit of a fallen hero from long ago.

Glint was slain by Kralkatorrik. Before this Glint had met Rytlock and knew what he fought for. Sensing him in the Mists and knowing she was building towards the defeat of her former master, she needed a way to get back to Tyria. She could not do so without a conduit to channel her. So she found that in Rytlock and made him her first Herald.

For PC Revenants I see them as heros that may have been different professions previously, died in battle, got lost in the Mists or by some twist of fate found themselves there and were given a second chance to return to Tyria . This second chance comes at the cost that the PC act as a conduit or vessel for the spirits they call upon. The PC gets their second chance, and the spirit gets to return to Tyria and influence it a new way through their host.

In my case I see my Revenant as a human Warrior character I once had, and rerolled.

War is life. Life is brief. Death comes.The warrior died fighting for what they believed in. Believing that stopping the bandits of Kryta was a worthy cause. That cause was cut short when they died taking on the impossible odds before them. Wrought with grief and regret in their failure to save their friends and stop the bandits the warrior cried out to the void that is the Mists. "Curse the rogues that would mock and indulge off of the honest!"A deep and cold voice called back to the warrior. "I cannot strike them down for you, but I can help you see to that they meet their end.""Grenth?""No, but I am no stranger to death." the voice returned."Please! I'll do anything you ask! Let me have my revenge and save my friends!" The warrior now lifting to their feet looking skyward. An eerie green light enveloped the warrior as they stood."Very well, then you and I shall be as one. Where your blade strikes, so too shall mine. Call upon my power and it will be yours."The warrior now enveloped completely by the green light as if beginning to breath its very essence in. "Whose power is it that I shall be calling upon?"The voice now ringing in the warrior's head as though coming from within."My power. The power of Shiro...Tagachi."the warrior woke not to the strange green light nor the seemingly endless smog that hung over the Mists, but to blue skies. The cool touch of grass tickling their neck and the sound of a running stream nearby. It was Kryta, and the warrior had returned. They got their second chance.
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