Looking at Rev...what do you like about it?

[Rysdude.3824]

Hello all,

After some time in Ranger, and a stint in Warrior, I'm looking at Revenant for a character slot.  The profession seems interesting from a lore/theme point of view.  I see it extensively in WvW (my preferred mode), either in a zerg or roaming (all three especs).  Visually and thematically, its looks very cool.  From a practical playing side, the energy management plus cool down management seems a little hard to manage and weapons seem very limited to me.

So for all you Rev mains, what draws you to the profession?

[Tulkas.2576]

I love the short cooldowns on all abilities.
 

I love that because you are limited in what skills you can choose, skills tend to have multiple effects and are relatively balanced for all game modes.

For example I mostly use a power Shiro/ Jalis Vindicator in all game modes and apart from a few different talents, the build is almost exactly the same. When I used to play DH, even a simple power DH varies quite a bit across game modes, requiring different skills, weapons and talents.

 

I love the rhythm of swapping stances(legends) every 9 seconds, refreshing energy, proccing sigils and legend effects(via song of the mists…I dont like playing builds without this trait as much) It reminds me of a wotlk arms warrior from WoW except charge has a 5 second cooldown (phase traversal) and you have really good self healing.

 

I also love the assassin/thief type playstyle that doesn’t use, have or rely on stealth to be effective. 
 

I wish greatsword was a baseline weapon. I think core rev is just as fun as herald or vindicator. I have a hard time picking which I prefer, but the GS is my favourite weapon so I usually role Vindi.
I wish hammer was a bit less janky. I think Rev Hammer and Mes GS are the coolest ranged weapons in the game, except Mes GS is just way nicer to use.

Rev is the only class I will use staff on because I love it being a physical weapon not a caster weapon(Daredevil might be fun too, never tried it)

 

overall, my favourite proff. Took a long time to try it out cause I thought it was going to more like an angsty DK from WoW, turns out it feels more like a warrior rogue with self healing.

[Dahkeus.8243]

The legend system is awesome.  This is largely because of how it hinders the developer’s balancing.  Let me explain: 

 

For the devs to make any build viable in PvP/WvW, they have to make legends have the basic toolkit needed for this, which includes stun breaks and mobility.  There are technically some exceptions to this, like Centaur stance with no stun break, but there’s still PvP-worthy tools in those legends, like the ability to blind and block projectiles while stunned.  At the same time, builds are balanced around having PvE viable roles, like DPS roles.  
 

the end result is that you can play a pure DPS build, but still have ample tools to handle PvP-like situations, such as stuns.  This means that you frequently get builds that deal strong DPS while still having the toolkit to handle messy situations anywhere you take them.

[Tulkas.2576]

9 minutes ago, Dahkeus.8243 said:

The legend system is awesome.  This is largely because of how it hinders the developer’s balancing.  Let me explain: 

 

For the devs to make any build viable in PvP/WvW, they have to make legends have the basic toolkit needed for this, which includes stun breaks and mobility.  There are technically some exceptions to this, like Centaur stance with no stun break, but there’s still PvP-worthy tools in those legends, like the ability to blind and block projectiles while stunned.  At the same time, builds are balanced around having PvE viable roles, like DPS roles.  
 

the end result is that you can play a pure DPS build, but still have ample tools to handle PvP-like situations, such as stuns.  This means that you frequently get builds that deal strong DPS while still having the toolkit to handle messy situations anywhere you take them.

agreed. This is one of the points I was trying to make, but you laid it out much clearer than I did. 
I think Vallun was the first one I heard point this out and it’s been one of my biggest reasons for playing Rev. 
 

[Frayze.4620]

I’m not a Rev main (yet, it’s very tempting though!) and my experience so far is limited to vindi support in WvW (my main game mode). I’ve come from support scrapper, which whilst it’s thematically interesting, I’d actually quite similar to ele to play in that you are constantly hunting for the next combo to maximise your performance.

 Rev is like a breath of fresh air. Thematically, it is interesting (if a little edge-lord) but in actual game play it’s hilarious. I’m running around leaping a hundred meters into the air every few seconds like a rabid kangaroo healing and cleansing everything in sight. The devs MUST have known how incredibly ridiculous this looks and feels to play, but went with it anyway because it’s just so much kitten fun!  
i have a giant hammer that though “mist magic” can hit things at 1200 range, yet my magic staff can only be used to poke people in the eye in melee range. Oh, I also have a magic spear with a 2000 range??!! 
literally nothing makes sense about this class, but it is so much fun to play because of it. 

 

Oh, for bonus insanity points you will also randomly have dead spirits taking to you, and of course your character will answer them as if this is a completely normal thing to be happening. If in alliance, you’ll get TWO of these voices having full blown conversations inside your mind. Like wtf Anet??!!

 

 Give it a try, it’s crazy but you’ll probably love it.

[captrowdy.9561]

All 3 elite specs play really different. My favorite is renagade for roaming wvw with shiro jails. Shiro is hilarious in wvw. Seeing a unsuspecting ranger on a cliff and porting to them to burst them is very satisfying. My favorite thing about rev is it’s kinda hard to pick up and play but the more you learn and get used to it the stronger it is. That’s true about all classes but it just seems so satisfying on rev. 

[Buran.3796]

  I tend to run heavy armored characters in rpgs so my first main in GW2 was Warrior, which was fine but I wasn't very clever handling it so used to die a lot, so after 4 months started to main Guardian, which was supposed to be "tankier". At that moment (circa early 2013) was "abducted"  🤣 by a WvW clan avid from Guardians in which I stayed ~4 years until faded after PoF. In reality I was also fairly inept as a Guardian, which was mainly a support in WvW G vs G, and I hated how outside a team was a low HP class with poor mobility (so easy to gank). I understand now that I wasn't playing the class as I should, but whatever...

    So then HoT arrived and also the Revenant: a heavy armor class with good mobility, mid HP poor and strong burst? Sounds perfect to me! I loved the faster pace and how the initial years of the class worked. In the lore I also appreciated how the legend mechanic resembled my favourite class in Rolemaster (Companion III), the Chaotic Lord (a semi weapons/magic spell user which invokes and contains chaos demons inside his body gaining extra features as increased speed, senses and unnatural armor. Most of the initial Rev legends were also pretty kitten, too. 

   Mechanically I enjoy the more complex nature of the Rev without stepping in the deeps of Thief/Engineer/Ele; I don't find the weapon roster lacking due Warriors historically has been using like 4 weapons in the whole GW2, but is true that I dislike current hammer/staff and core needs either another condi weapon for swap or a hammer rework to make it hybrid as the short bow or undewater choices.

   Lore wise latest two choices in legends seems fairly lame, but ANet is oftenly wrong, so Renegade started being bad and then OP and then nerfed it but is still powerfull, and Vindi was released OP and then nerfed but still works in some parts of the game not dead...

[Howluffu.7259]

On 11/1/2022 at 10:56 PM, Tulkas.2576 said:

I wish greatsword was a baseline weapon

I wish that too... GS herald would be my default pickup.

[Shao.7236]

It does overall everything at the cost of having fair complications.

Problem I have with it are;

Many players compares it in a vacuum with other professions because some skills seem too powerful while they're in fact fair given the majority of what Revenant do that is strong has a counter and meta plebs get to alleviete that with a lot of non sensical changes that the profession gets since it's original design which leads to the next point.

Original devs aren't there anymore to envision properly what the profession is really in need to be adjusted, down right to the point where players end up knowing what Revenant really needs, there are undeniably "some" good changes that were made but those are little in comparison to the bad and finally.

The profession had specific but yet still maleable ways to be played and those are completely ignored in the balance because again, no original devs are left and this really hurts Revenant gameplay because not only the original way to do things gets shafted, but Revenant is stuck on utility sets which means if you can't even do what you're meant to do from the very start, you're unable to do anything about it because sets are tied together.

Overall Revenant used to be fun and is not as much for reasons that disrespect what made it able to stand out, many players never ever step out of the elite traits zone which is honestly where the real fun is at with the profession but unfortunately, there's little left since everything but Shiro gets gutted and riddled with bugs, all the elites constantly get their daily whining eventually changed with what seems like random darts at a board for them to be content until they aren't while the core class gets ruined every patch.

 

[ScottBroChill.3254]

It's interesting, the ghosts.

[Virdo.1540]

Its amazing to see how many bugs you can fit into an single class & keeping it for years on the "playable" stage

[draxynnic.3719]

Had this one percolating in my head for a while.

I think a big part of it is that there's a degree to which playing revenant can feel like you're basically changing playstyle every ten seconds (although you can of course delay the switch if it's tactically advantageous) - while you generally still want to build so that your legends complement one another, even legends that perform the same basic function are so different in their skills that there's a notable change in how you use them.

From a thematic perspective, I also see the profession as being a means of introducing themes that wouldn't fit in a more conventional profession. Which is one of the things I found disappointing about Vindicator: Alliance Stance feels a bit too much like there could have been a Kurzick-themed Guardian elite specialisation and a Luxon-themed Warrior elite specialisation instead. If it had to be a Canthan legend, I'd have liked to see something like Zhu Hanuku instead.

[Rysdude.3824]

The mobility of rev leaves room for desire

[Angesombre.4630]

I must admit that I find it harder and harder to like it, even though at the beginning it was a love at first sight for this class.

[Strider.7849]

The sound of mallyx. Too bad after the changes to resistance, it's sucked ever since.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

Originally it was how low maintenance it was.  Auto-attack rev was a thing since HoT came out.  Herald loaded itself up with boons, then swapped to Shiro and could auto everything to death quite effectively.  The self-sustain from the devastation line made it night immortal, too.  

[Arthelad.5418]

you're a ghost knight that changes playstyles in combat. You can channel kings, demons, the pacifist founder of an entire race, dragons, assassins, a group of highly trained battle soldiers and champions of different cultures. Wanna be an assassin? We got that. Wanna be a dragon knight? We got that. Wanna be a bow sharpshooter that shoots arrows from portals? We got that. Wanna just jump into the stratosphere and come back destroying your enemies? Yep we got that too. What's not to love?

[Innocent.3861]

The only class you'll ever need because it's the only one that matters. It does everything every other class can do fifty times better, and then some, and I do mean EVERYTHING!

 

It's got BIG BURST skills like to abuse that Exposed with MASSIVE DAMAGE! 

Vindi GS5, Citadel Bombardement, Archemorous Spear

 

CC? Bang Bang! Sit the kitten down!
Staff5, Darkrazor's Daring, Ventari Tablet-bomb

 

Group Stability? We're the Department of Roads and Highways!

Jalis Road

 

Alacrity? Quickness? Get that stupid gundum and book club out of here!

Quickherald/AlacRenegade

 

Survivability? INDESTRUCTIBLE!

Battlescars and the countless damage reduction traits

 

You wanna talk Boons? I got your party buffs. Better start collecting Diviners and Harriers and Celestials, because you're gonna be pulsing the ever living kitten out of those boons!

 

On top of all this, ANet gave Herald a boost the pushes it to the mountains of TOO GODDAMN STRONG!

Glint's Facet of Nature! You don't even have to pray that your supports are top-tier boon-providers anymore. It lets boon duration go above the cap, which means you're basically boosting every other support in your 10-man squad to be 20% better at their job! Effectively meaning virtually zero downtime in squad boons! Which means you can do disgusting kitten like permanent might and alacrity and quickness even if the group is forced to spread out to keep the DPS absolutely PUMPING! Just keep the Facet rolling and gather up the piles of inevitble unidentifieds.

 

Other classes ain't got kitten on Revenant. King of PVX!

 

(Srly tho, Rev is pretty great and is really versatile. Sure it's kind of a buggy mess and needs some work in... significant places, but I love it all the same.)

 

[Yasai.3549]

I initially picked up Revenant for PvE because I was recommended to but I kind hated the PvE playstyle and shelved it. 

Then I started dabbling in WvW which was a mix of player combat and PvE elements and was looking for a class that could dual wield swords on a power build. That's when Revenant stuck out to me and I picked it up. I hated playing Power Herald but I actually fell in love with Core Power Rev after Echo was added, letting me be more versatile in how I play due to the ability to slot 3 core traitlines and have an Energy on demand cooldown. 

Still Core Reving in WvW to this day. Builds did change over the years though cos Anet can't keep their stinking hands off Core legends and traits, and love nerfing or reworking them instead of nailing trouble factors from Especs. 

Even though other Power Dual Sword classes or specs exist now, Rev is still my go to due to its versatility and unique playstyle. Also, it's gratifying to stomp people who got carried by their Espec mechanics that I on Core Rev just put them down easily due to how much more versatile I am in combat. 

Edited December 10, 2022 by Yasai.3549

[Eros.6801]

I fall in love with Revenant at first sight and still do and here is why

Aesthetic

Rev feature multi sets of skill or Legends, each has their own unique colours Malyx Darkish Purple - Jalis Light Blue - Shiro Deep Green - Ventari Sun Light - Kalla Flame of War and the newest Viktor/Archemorus  Water/Fire along with weapon vfx Red/Black/White of Rev. This allowed to adapt a vast colour scheme and idea while mixing armors/dyes together.

Concept

Revenant is a vengenful spirit came back from the underworld to punish the sins of those who wronged them. Anyone anything can fit in the theme of being a revenant really well in the World of Tyria and The Mist.

Viability and Flexibility

As a Rev we have vast amount of skills in our arsenal, a Rev can pulls, Boonstrip, Stab, Projectile hate, Quick, Alac, Heal, Power DPS, Condi DPS if you willing to build it you can have it all in just one class albeit NOT META but those are there to use when the time comes or the situation calls for. The ability to be able to perform all roles on one class with just a switch is really a bless (I can see Engineers are smirking  in the dark). Anet screwed the class up and down over the years but Rev still held strong although a bit clunky at a time, hard to get into but when you do it is engaging, fun, versatile and beauty.

[draxynnic.3719]

As an observation, I don't think Alliance stance is water/fire so much as Archemorus being a W/E and St Viktor being a W/Mo or W/Rt. Which means you are technically half right, but St Viktor's blue seems to have more in common with what is now guardian magic than water.

[soul.9651]

On 12/7/2022 at 6:28 AM, Innocent.3861 said:

 

 

 

Survivability? INDESTRUCTIBLE!

Battlescars and the countless damage reduction traits

 

 

 

 

I wouldnt call it indestructible remembering all the survivability nerfs anet did in the past (bring back renegade's elite skill heals) 😠

But in general still good survivability

[artharon.9276]

Versatility,

Lore,

Cool factor.

(And to me condi herald in pvp is secretly one of the weirdest experience ever

and I have a leggy gs, looks and plays fantastic on Vindicator)

[Batalix.2873]

On 12/19/2022 at 12:43 PM, artharon.9276 said:

Versatility,

Lore,

Cool factor.

(And to me condi herald in pvp is secretly one of the weirdest experience ever

and I have a leggy gs, looks and plays fantastic on Vindicator)

 

Also condi herald in PvP. Probably the most fun I've had in that game mode. Good smashies, a good block shield to troll at control points, and good mobility when you need to get to the other side of the map.

And for OP, Rev's big thing is "mist-leaping". Nearly all weapons and legends feature gimmicks that involve teleporting yourself or your weapon through the mists. That alone makes for some very fun gamefeel.

Edited December 21, 2022 by Batalix.2873

[Zero.1028]

I just want to say to all the Rev mains you're all the best. You've been there through the best of times and through the worst. Despite what some people will say about the "identity loss" you've still kept playing the class because it is fun, versatile and deep down everyone knows that's what makes Rev the best class. It's hard to play and hard to understand at first but once that moment clicks you are a power house that is virtually unstoppable.

Here's to the next expansion and may we be massively overtuned so we can get nerfed to the ground again and still have fun and kitten on all the haters.