Why play Revenant?

[Revolution.8425]

Pls anyone tell me what this class is good for. 

I need opinions because other classes feel better and I'm starting to regret spending so much time on Revenant class. DPS can be high but the rotations are tiring and after a point feel unrewarding for the amount of fingerwork they require. The specs in general have a low HP pool especially the Vindicator whereas switching to more defensive stats reduce the dps by alot. Renegade utilities are slow, uninspiring and only good for spending energy to take advantage of Charged Mists trait. Many abilities from the Shiro, the Demon and the Dwarf are NEVER used because of the exorbitant cost of resource and often along with the fact that they offer near nothing in PvE or PvP. CC outside of the staff 5 is nonexistent in the class. Sorry but the hammer is a complete waste of time to use. Idk what kind of use the designers found for the weapon...

Worst part is that I can't find people that mainly use this class. Everyone I meet (Renegades and Vindicators are rare) plays Revenant as a sideclass or because they wanted to fill up their character slots cause they had nothing better to do.

Thank

[DanAlcedo.3281]

Rev as a class overall or just a certain part of the game. Speaking Openworld / Raids+Strikes etc.

For openworld, i mainly just see Quick Power Dps Herald.

While in Instance Content, i mainly only see Quick Power Dps Herald. MAYBE the Heal Quick Variant of Herald every full moon.

 

Given that QDPS Herald doesnt even have a rotation, when played on none snowcrows standarts. Its understandable why people play that alot.

But other then that, i agree.

Why would i play rev if other classes have FANTASTIC openworld builds and Raids builds.

The only time i ever played Rev was back in the day when Hammer Herald was busted in WvW.

 

Given that you dont like fast pace rotations, i guess Warrior wont be an option.

Necro has very strong openworld options and Raid/strike builds which are easy to learn. I would try that.

Power Reaper and Heal Alac Scourge.  Always usefull in group content.

[Puck.3697]

tbh i think most people dont main any class, Swapping chars is so easy in the game no one really feels the need for this, It seems to be reasonably popular Atleast according to wingman stats, got more people playing Rev then you do guardian in Raids, which is a very weird thing to say lol. considering Guard used to be like 40% of the playerbase

things will Jump in and out of meta and change over time, no class is meta forever unfortunately, it'd appear its primarily used for Quickness Herald builds as of right now. but tbh its DPS Options are about the same dps as every other class outside a few outliers which are doing 50k+ Currently lol 

Edited March 9 by Puck.3697

[Shagie.7612]

idk cause game's not competitive anymore and rev shortbow is the coolest weapon in the entire game

[draxynnic.3719]

1 hour ago, Puck.3697 said:

tbh i think most people dont main any class, Swapping chars is so easy in the game no one really feels the need for this, It seems to be reasonably popular Atleast according to wingman stats, got more people playing Rev then you do guardian in Raids, which is a very weird thing to say lol. considering Guard used to be like 40% of the playerbase

Quickness herald does nearly everything quickbrand does, and easier, so it's not exactly surprising. Same for heal herald and healbrand - quickheals have dropped in popularity lately due to the alacheal/quickdps combination generally being better, but if you have alacdps, heal herald probably still just outpaces healbrand. While the full DPS versions of revenant and guardian are about the same. So it's not really all that surprising - firebrand is mostly holding on because while it's no longer BiS, it's close enough that a player having more experience in firebrand or who just simply has a preference for it doesn't feel pressure to switch unless they're going for something at HTCM level.

Mind you, some people are still going to hold up the fact that firebrand is still played as evidence that it hasn't been nerfed enough.

To the OP: As discussed above, herald is currently generally regarded as BiS for quickness roles in raids and strikes (not sure about fractals, firebrand might still be better there). Chrono might kick it out, but that's a more complex build that does have some downsides. In solo/open world PvE, there are solid celestial herald and vindicator builds. Competitive modes I can't really speak much on at the moment - been taking a bit of a break there - historically hammer builds have been strong on the zerg backline, but I don't know if that's still the case, and the impression I get is that rev is underperforming in sPvP, in part because willbender can fill the same niche better.

[Yasai.3549]

QDPS Herald is one of the best and less intensive QuickDPS roles. It's definitely better than things like Berserker where you actually have to pop a vein spamming your stuff non stop or else you drop Quickness. 

I mainly play Revenant in WvW where I'm a sucker for punishment and play either Core Power (the absolute worst Revenant build) or Celestial Renegade (If I feel like taking a dump on anyone cocky enough to run at me)

[Fueki.4753]

It may be a crazy concept to some, but there are people who play games to have fun. There most certainly are people having fun with Revenant.

If you are not one of them, it's fine. Not every profession needs to fit every player.

[Aeolus.3615]

4 hours ago, Yasai.3549 said:

QDPS Herald is one of the best and less intensive QuickDPS roles. It's definitely better than things like Berserker where you actually have to pop a vein spamming your stuff non stop or else you drop Quickness. 

I mainly play Revenant in WvW where I'm a sucker for punishment and play either Core Power (the absolute worst Revenant build) or Celestial Renegade (If I feel like taking a dump on anyone cocky enough to run at me)

Less Intensive? depends how many actually know how to have quickness or vigor w/o the requirements for it, u can actually have it permanently  and still gain energy 1 to 2 pips if one use the deamon trait to get +1 pip, I noticed this cause the trait was auto glitching itself when Anet changed it, and its was glitching on WvW , tested in pve and pvp it is also glitched, only need 2 facets to bug the trait.

Edited March 9 by Aeolus.3615

[draxynnic.3719]

7 hours ago, Aeolus.3615 said:

Less Intensive? depends how many actually know how to have quickness or vigor w/o the requirements for it, u can actually have it permanently  and still gain energy 1 to 2 pips if one use the deamon trait to get +1 pip, I noticed this cause the trait was auto glitching itself when Anet changed it, and its was glitching on WvW , tested in pve and pvp it is also glitched, only need 2 facets to bug the trait.

Interesting - I wonder if it's treating the trait as an extra pip of upkeep rather than the reverse? Or is it applying for every facet individually?

That said, 'activate 6 pips of upkeep, switch legend, repeat' is still relatively LI. You probably would get better performance with other boons if you do more than that, but that alone will give you a lot.

The issue with the trait, I think, is that it makes it hard to be out of combat while maintaining even a basic facet, unless I'm misremembering how it works.

Edited March 10 by draxynnic.3719

[Vasdamas Anklast.1607]

I had it enough with abusing stealth mechanics in other MMOs, so I chose it over thief many years ago, and I am not one of those who jumps on the bandwagon for a class or build that is currently busted, even though multiclassing in this game is easy. It is probably not a bad class for raids and PvE, but I find all of that so dreadfully boring nowadays and would be better off finding amusement somewhere else in real life, so I am lacking competence in regards to PvE.

[mikexg.7329]

Super fun and simple in any open world content.  Builds can be adjusted to be LI if you are feeling lazy or have physical limitations that prevent spamming buttons.  Fairly survivable even as a raw DPS and can adjust things for more survival if needed.  From a role playing perspective, its fun listening to the legend’s banter sometimes.  Cool animations for the most part.  Unique concept on weapons (ranged hammer, melee scepter), decent animations.  Fun throwback lore to guild wars 1 if you played.

 

as others have said -Class isnt for everyone - but I enjoy it ad a main in pve and wvw.   If it doesnt click right away, swap to something else.  Can always swap back or move gear around.  Focus on having fun, rev is functional in all content.  

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

I play rev because it has an LI build second only to mechanist in it's damage output and general usability.  For a long time I focused on rev for WvW, because hammer doesn't use many projectiles and because it was a decent build for solo-roaming as well, but then everything I used was nerfed into oblivion.

Right now, all of my toons except for Ele and Thief are mothballed behind a jumping puzzle chest somewhere.  I use the thief for home instance stuff and random daily requirements, and ele for WvW dailies.  Personally, I don't like how the weapon masteries has forced Anet to nerf all of the weapons over and over again.  People talk up the herald builds a lot right now, because that's the spec everything is being balanced around.  Aside from that, the main build that I would use is an off-meta build that uses Sigil of Stamina on Vindicator to spam dodges.  It isn't super high DPS, but it has great survival thanks to battle scars and spending most of its time flying through the air.  

[Buran.3796]

  I started maining Warrior for like 4 months, then moved to Guardian over 2 years, then HoT arrived and swaping to Revenant was unavoidable. I like Warrior  but wasn't able to play it right; Guardian was better but ANet hates tanks at PvP so it was just a low HP Warrior with poor mobility;  when a new heavy armor class with good mobility and mid HP arrived seemed the right choice, and has been that way since.

   Cele Vindi is arguably the best solo PvE spec in the game; Vindi is also a meta WvW support choice and powerful roamer. Is currently mediocre at PvP but that happens with most of specs and at least I enjoy  the gameplay and options provided. Rev is also very convenient since has very few weapons and uses even less of them, and even without legendaries is easy to gear.

[Hashire Kazemeijin.6719]

Because jumping up and down nonstop like a goon and just goomba stomping trash mobs with infinite dodges is stupid fun.

I've been a Thief main since the open BWEs, and while I've cleared the OG campaign with every class and dipped into some expanded stuff with select other professions, Thief is the only character I've taken through *all* the PvE content from start to SotO.

But playing Vindicator Rev through HoT on a whim was *really* fun despite playing through HoT being a test of patience with the early design choices as the first major expansion, and honestly made me less motivated to return to Thief when SotO came around just because it felt more flashy and exotic compared to simply beating everything to death with a stick. The first class in a good while that made me want to linger on it instead of my main; not since HoT first came out and gave me the fun of Fresh Air Power Tempest (which I now also have to relearn due to sword access making the old classic Scepter/Focus force lightning spammer something that gets yu uninvited from meta event mobbing groups).

[Loopgru.1026]

I'm not a competitive player. Like, at all. So if that's your interest, I'm not your guy.

That said, revenant ticks the boxes for me to feel fun, capable, and useful, which are really my core priorities for a class/profession.

Fun: Vindicator makes dopamine with big numbers. Herald is super easy and makes people happy you're there. Renegade... exists, but maybe the changes will make it more enjoyable.

Capable: Cele herald is up there with Reaper as the best soloist in the game, easily steam rolling champs, HoT HPs, and solo fractals. It's also among the best duellists in the game for the same reasons.

Useful: In organized play, we bring quickness, or alacrity, and high uptime group stab, all without huge sacrifices in our personal performance. Vindicator can spin on a dime from pure kurzick offense to luxon support, which feels pretty great to me. We don't have the bag of tricks that some professions (mes, engi) do, but aside from those specialist niches we offer a whole lot.

Plus we look cool.

[Shao.7236]

Judging by what you said, the profession ain't for you. Try something else.

Class is very unique and brings a lot of things the others can't do.

Obviously you're gonna have to work your head at it since that's what it's designed with in mind, you're supposed to do a lot without having to wait on for much.

Much of it is misunderstood by the majority because it tries really hard to be different which is understandable but it does have it's noticeable strengths that are often ignored in favor of simplicity.

Edited March 12 by Shao.7236

[Aeolus.3615]

On 3/10/2024 at 4:54 AM, draxynnic.3719 said:

Interesting - I wonder if it's treating the trait as an extra pip of upkeep rather than the reverse? Or is it applying for every facet individually?

That said, 'activate 6 pips of upkeep, switch legend, repeat' is still relatively LI. You probably would get better performance with other boons if you do more than that, but that alone will give you a lot.

The issue with the trait, I think, is that it makes it hard to be out of combat while maintaining even a basic facet, unless I'm misremembering how it works.

Test it in any game mode:

- start herald F2 facet of nature

- start Facet of Darkness (Fury)

At this point Herald  is at 4 upkeep

- pick up Elevated Compassion on and off until it starts giving perma quickness or vigor depending the gamemode.

If one use  x-1-1 on herald trait, now supposedly one has  perma fury, perma 25 stacks of might and still have a +1 pip regen.

If one wants to add more regen can add the trait from deamon that adds more +1 pip of e-regen.

NOTE: i noted this was happening in middle combat until i realized that i was getting quickness or vigor w/o the requirements then i went on a quest to try to find it the how and why.

I have submitted this to Anet, and this is something that has been working since Anet borked Elevated Compassion to quickness/vigor (more kitten boons right??) which was quite some time ago... i have been also trying to spread the word so Anet can fix this.

 

Edited March 13 by Aeolus.3615

[Cuks.8241]

Because in pve I can do pretty much all roles except healalac on 1 character with quite simple rotations. I'm not trying to min/max every rotation and every role and with Revenant I find it the easiest to do it all in quite similar setup (at least both quick builds and dps) so I never get rusty and can switch according to the squad. And easily at a lvl that's acceptable in encounters I am aiming for. And yeah herald just spews all the boons with really minimum effort. No need to track 4 abilities CDs to upkeep 4 boons. Just light them up, maybe blast a fire field to get might going faster and everyone should be fully booned from start to end of the instance, ooc doesn't matter.  

And while I am a bit out of the wvw squad play meta as my guild is on hold, I think revenant is still one of the top choice classes be it vindi dps, vindi heal or herald dps.

In pvp I don't really play rev so much. I mostly played condi herald in the past. I think it was making a comeback but I only played it a bit so not really sure. It was a bit of a degenerate playstyle in the past so no harm done to that build. Only dabbled a bit in power builds like vindi and herald so don't really know. 

[SWLDguitar.5746]

With the new weapon releases, i've been dipping into all the other professions and i always come back to Rev.  I made up my mind in beta that i would be a mesmer main.  Played the crap out of mesmer. 

When Rev was released, i couldn't stand it.  Really had a tough time with it. 

Don't know how, why, or when it happened, but it suddenly just all clicked for me.  I still enjoy other classes, but when i get on my rev i'm reminded why i main it.  It's such a good class. It's kind of rare for me to "main" something as in most games i'm all about the alts, so that speaks volumes. 

My biggest regret is the race of my rev.  I'm a norn male - voice actor is fantastic though.  Kinda wish i picked something different, o well. 

[Joxer.6024]

Ok, people keep saying that Herald is easy as...a cake-walk...can do everything  with eyes closed. How so? I just dont see it. Now granted, it could be partly due to my old as fingers (63,but they work!) and that but for me it just feels like ALOT of button smashing. Flip this facet, then this one, and now this one, then flip them all again before legend swap. And whats up with that F2? Do you ever press it and why? I see people use it in the vids but yet in the rotation I see no reference.

Now, most of this could be 100% due to me not understanding the spec. I loved Ren when it came out but got tired of being in Alac prison, so kinda just stopped. But I do like the class from things I have read here and in other posts\sources, Herald would really be the ticket for me. So....what am I missing? Is it a spammy class yet most peeps find it easy, in which case thats on me so all good. Or am I just not seeing the whole deal here. I'm leaning towards the latter...I'm thinking user error but would love for someone to enlighten me with some actually useful knowledge.

Cheers and to the OP, sorry to derail your post, not my intent.  😉

(moved this to a post of its own, yea, like it needed it. lol)

Edited March 16 by Joxer.6024

[StraightPath.3972]

I found my answer in the rev mist weapons (Mistbreaker, Mistrender, Mistcleaver).
They looks awesome and I figured a perfect build to use all three.

On my warrior. So i main a warrior now :3
 

Edited March 16 by StraightPath.3972

[draxynnic.3719]

42 minutes ago, Joxer.6024 said:

Ok, people keep saying that Herald is easy as...a cake-walk...can do everything  with eyes closed. How so? I just dont see it. Now granted, it could be partly due to my old as fingers (63,but they work!) and that but for me it just feels like ALOT of button smashing. Flip this facet, then this one, and now this one, then flip them all again before legend swap. And whats up with that F2? Do you ever press it and why? I see people use it in the vids but yet in the rotation I see no reference.

Now, most of this could be 100% due to me not understanding the spec. I loved Ren when it came out but got tired of being in Alac prison, so kinda just stopped. But I do like the class from things I have read here and in other posts\sources, Herald would really be the ticket for me. So....what am I missing? Is it a spammy class yet most peeps find it easy, in which case thats on me so all good. Or am I just not seeing the whole deal here. I'm leaning towards the latter...I'm thinking user error but would love for someone to enlighten me with some actually useful knowledge.

Cheers and to the OP, sorry to derail your post, not my intent.  😉

You might be finding either old guides or particularly sweaty ones. Quickness herald does the majority of its job just by setting six pips of upkeep until your energy runs low, switching legend, and repeating. You can eke out a bit more with more active usage of skills, but that's all you really need to do.

[Szymon.5369]

On 3/13/2024 at 1:52 PM, Aeolus.3615 said:

Test it in any game mode:

- start herald F2 facet of nature

- start Facet of Darkness (Fury)

At this point Herald  is at 4 upkeep

- pick up Elevated Compassion on and off until it starts giving perma quickness or vigor depending the gamemode.

If one use  x-1-1 on herald trait, now supposedly one has  perma fury, perma 25 stacks of might and still have a +1 pip regen.

If one wants to add more regen can add the trait from deamon that adds more +1 pip of e-regen.

NOTE: i noted this was happening in middle combat until i realized that i was getting quickness or vigor w/o the requirements then i went on a quest to try to find it the how and why.

I have submitted this to Anet, and this is something that has been working since Anet borked Elevated Compassion to quickness/vigor (more kitten boons right??) which was quite some time ago... i have been also trying to spread the word so Anet can fix this.

 

I think you can bug it in different way, yesterday I ended up pulsing quickness for no reason after turning IO off. I was running around mining, so maybe it's something about mounting up with upkeep skill active, but I couldn't reproduce it yet.

[Manpag.6421]

On 3/16/2024 at 7:29 AM, Szymon.5369 said:

I think you can bug it in different way, yesterday I ended up pulsing quickness for no reason after turning IO off. I was running around mining, so maybe it's something about mounting up with upkeep skill active, but I couldn't reproduce it yet.

Herald is very buggy in general. I don’t like using Glint because the facets light effect under your character easily gets bugged to always be there regardless of what legend you’re channeling (even remaining if you change elite spec), which is an annoying visual bug. Glint is also the only legend whose upkeep skills remain active if you mount/unmount, which is convenient but seems unintentional.

[latlat.4516]

On 3/9/2024 at 10:14 AM, Revolution.8425 said:

I need opinions

well ok

On 3/9/2024 at 10:14 AM, Revolution.8425 said:

DPS can be high but the rotations are tiring and after a point feel unrewarding for the amount of fingerwork they require

not so much compared to any other classes

 

On 3/9/2024 at 10:14 AM, Revolution.8425 said:

The specs in general have a low HP pool especially the Vindicator whereas switching to more defensive stats reduce the dps by alot

The only 2 classes that have a bigger hp pool than rev are warrior and necro... I don't know from what content you are talking from, but you should probably have a talk with your healers

 

On 3/9/2024 at 10:14 AM, Revolution.8425 said:

Renegade utilities are slow, uninspiring and only good for spending energy to take advantage of Charged Mists trait

well they've been reworked since (and it was already annonced when you made this post). 

 

On 3/9/2024 at 10:14 AM, Revolution.8425 said:

Many abilities from the Shiro, the Demon and the Dwarf are NEVER used because of the exorbitant cost of resource and often along with the fact that they offer near nothing in PvE or PvP.

2 remarks on that note :

1. Dwarf utilities are all used in different settings. You litterally have a CC (which you are expected to use), the best stab utility in the game (which you are expected to use) and an upkeep skill (which you are expected to use for energy managment) (which also happens to be the best maintained damage skill for revenant in a WvW setting). The elite is the only known counter to the current WvW zerg meta. Demon is more niche (but it's not far from being the only viable option for cRev), and when you equip it, you are using all its abilities. For Shiro, you're either using IO or the rest of its kit. AAAND I hope you're not using impossible odds in PvP...

2. When you compare revenant as a whole to other classes as a whole, the amount of skills you don't use on other classes is far higher. You just don't notice it because you don't slot them. And since revenant has access to two times (3 times for vindicator) the utilities of other classes, I'd say being forced to take 1 or 2 that you will only use in specific situations is a correct trade-off.

On 3/9/2024 at 10:14 AM, Revolution.8425 said:

CC outside of the staff 5 is nonexistent in the class

- dwarf chains

- demon pull

- ventari knockdown

- shiro elite (with stab rip on shiro if you play herald)

- glint elite

- kala has a daze 

- axe 5

- hammer 5

- short bow 5

I mean, I didn't even count sources from the conditions, and rev applies a lot of them

Let's not forget the fact that revenant has the brutality trait, which can ensure a CC to pass against ennemies using stability if your timing is right

On 3/9/2024 at 10:14 AM, Revolution.8425 said:

Sorry but the hammer is a complete waste of time to use. Idk what kind of use the designers found for the weapon...

Best ranged spike damage non-projectile weapon, maybe after mesmer's greatsword. I mean, this has been the go-to dps weapon in pirate ships metas from 2015 to EoD (with a few months of scourge-based pause in 2017)

 

Conclusion

Revenant is maybe not the "best class" ... but it's clearly not the "worse class". You clearly have all the tools at your disposal to do any content, be it PvE, WvW or sPvP. 

What I can say maybe is that in competitive modes, rev asks you to be able to understand what your opponent is able to do to 1v1 them, just because you have a lot more planning to do with energy management and the fact that all your tools are not always directly at you disposal. Which means it's a very rewarding class to play in those modes. 

In the end, you can find comments like you own in every class profession : 

- thief and elem and guard will complain about low health bars, and probably other design choices specific to their classes

- rangers will complain about pet design that limits all specs except soulbeast

- inge will complain about being a flipper ball class in terms of balance

- war will complain about the design of some skills on greatsword, about the state of berserker (despite it being the only consistently played war e-spec)

- mesmer will complain about all their utility skills being niche

- necro will complain about their e-spec not being the ultra-top dps in every encounter

 

I mean, you can take it from this list that the game is in a very bad shape, and in some ways it is (just look at the WvW zergs). Or you can look at it as each class having a design flaws which comes as a trade-off from their strenghts -- which we all tend to forget about when talking about these topics.