Revenants?

[Haelow.7243]

I've been increasingly interested in the story of Guild Wars 2, and now that I purchased HoT, I'm planning on rolling a Revenant from scratch. However, I never played Guild Wars 1, and I've noticed through some videos I've seen that Revenant as a professsion really draws from the history and lore of the game. From what I've seen, apparently Revenant has been seen as a kind of Ritualist comeback for GW2. So, what exactly is the deal with Revenant? Have there always been Revenants in the story? And what exactly are the Mists, as I haven't seen the game explain them very much.

[Tyson.5160]

@"Haelow.7243" said:I've been increasingly interested in the story of Guild Wars 2, and now that I purchased HoT, I'm planning on rolling a Revenant from scratch. However, I never played Guild Wars 1, and I've noticed through some videos I've seen that Revenant as a professsion really draws from the history and lore of the game. From what I've seen, apparently Revenant has been seen as a kind of Ritualist comeback for GW2. So, what exactly is the deal with Revenant? Have there always been Revenants in the story? And what exactly are the Mists, as I haven't seen the game explain them very much.

Coles notes version is that Revenant invoke legends from the Mists, which for the most part are characters you interacted with in GW1, with the exception being the new elite spec Renegade.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Revenant

The Mists are more complicated and the gw2 wiki article describes it well.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Mists

[Zola.6197]

Revenant is a new profession and concept in its own right. Rytlock Brimstone of Destiny’s Edge is the “first” to discover this profession after getting lost in the Mists.

Ritualists from GW1 were, conceptually, the “spirit” version of necromancers in that they summoned spirits to help them/allies on the battlefield, or they channeled spirits for various boons and affects. They were a casting profession.

By comparison Revenants are warriors who literally invoke the spirits of Legendary Heroes from Tyria’s history. They commune with them and can actually converse with these spirits (if you idle long enough as a Rev your currently channeled spirit will start speaking to your character, and they’ll respond).

There are definitely lines to be drawn between the two - they both wear/wore eye coverings to better commune with spirits. I think they are very different in function and play though!

A little bit about the “legends” you channel:

Shiro Tagachi was the main antagonist of GW1: Factions. He was emperor of Cantha.

Jalis Ironhammer was king of the now (mostly) extinct dwarves.

Malyx was a demon from GW1: Nightfall I believe. Can’t remember many details.

Ventari was a healer and centaur who sought out peace, and he was the one who actually planted the tree the Sylvari were born from. Sylvari society is based around his teachings (you can imagine how honored a Sylvari Revenant would be to channel him)

Glint is the elite spirit/spec that comes with HoTs. She was a crystal dragon integral to the PC’s success in GW1, and she mentored Destiny’s Edge (which Rytlock was formerly a part of) in their fight against the elder dragons. She died fighting Kralkatorrik, her former master.

Kalla Scorchrazor is the elite that comes with PoF, and I believe she led the rebellion of the modern day Charr against the Flame Legion (the evil Charr who destroyed the human kingdom of Ascalon at the start of GW1: Prophecies). Basically she’s responsible for the Charr peacefully coexisting with other races in modern day, kinda.

Wow I’m bored. Sorry for the info dump and I hope it’s all accurate lol. The wiki can tell you more!

[Narcemus.1348]

I do think that there is more of a comparison than just the blindfold. Ritualist also could summon the ashes of well known individuals and channel extra effects through them. Both professions are also the only known professions to channel mists magic. Or at least channel magic in a way that communes with the Mists. That is very close connection.

[Rognik.2579]

@"Svennis.3852" said:Kalla Scorchrazor is the elite that comes with PoF, and I believe she led the rebellion of the modern day Charr against the Flame Legion (the evil Charr who destroyed the human kingdom of Ascalon at the start of GW1: Prophecies). Basically she’s responsible for the Charr peacefully coexisting with other races in modern day, kinda.

Correction on this one. As the granddaughter of one of the GW1 heroes from Eye of the North, Pyre Fierceshot, she led the rebellion against the Flame Legion and that's why female charr now fight beside the males rather than being kept away from the fighting. While this is certainly the first step towards peace, it would take another century or so before peace between the humans and charr could be discussed. As for the charr relationship with the other races, the asura were on the other side of the continent and thus never a big concern, while the norn enjoyed fighting just as much, but the two never really had a reason to contest each other's territory.

[Aaron Ansari.1604]

If you're just looking for a good primer on the revenant, this article is probably your best source. It's an official ANet post released in the run-up to HoT. It'll also probably be your best summary on the Mists, at least for the purposes of this discussion.

As far as the revenant and ritualist go, there are parallels, but also differences. Both professions reach into the Mists and draw their power from it, one way or another, and both wear blindfolds to make that process easier. The main difference is what they're drawing from the Mists: ritualists channeled the power of spirits, especially ancestors and great heroes, and often called upon them or bound them in a more-or-less tangible form. Revenants instead draw either directly from the Mists themselves (the more or less legend-neutral weapon abilities) or on 'echoes' of the greatest heroes and villains of history; snapshots captured by the Mists, but not the spirit itself, per se. These legends also don't take tangible form, with the exception of Kalla's warband and Ventari's tablet, instead being experienced as a voice in the revenant's head.

They're very new to the story- Rytlock only introduced the profession around the start of HoT, so they weren't even part of GW2 at launch.

The specific legends we can channel in game are:Jalis Ironhammer, last king of the Deldrimor dwarves, who most importantly presided over the race accepting its prophesied destruction for a greater cause. He performed the Rite of the Great Dwarf to transform them into 'living' stone, weapons to stand against the Great Destroyer of ther mythology and, ultimately, Primordus itself. Their sacrifice is largely supposed to be the reason that the destroyers couldn't play much of a roll in the story until S3. (Jalis also holds the distinction of being the only revenant legend who might still be 'alive' out there somewhere, although it is doubtful.)Mallyx the Unyielding, greatest of the Margonites and lord of the remnants of Abaddon's demons, the scattered strongest who endured after their master's destruction. He challenged the fledgling Goddess of Truth and may well have cast her down if the GW1 PCs hadn't slain him first. That's all we really know about him- he was the final boss of what was almost a GW2 style raid, so his roll was one-and-done, unlike most of the other legends on the list.Ventari, the centaur sage and pacifist. He led a tumultuous and violent youth, but in his old age he made repeated efforts at creating peaceable sanctuaries where both centaurs and humans could find solace from the conflict embroiling the world outside. His last sanctuary eventually became the Grove; while he didn't actually plant the Pale Tree (that was the human, Ronan), he did tend her in her youth, and the tablet he carved on his deathbed containing the core principles of his philosophy became the moral bedrock of the sylvari race.Shiro Tagachi, the Betrayer. He was a key figure in Canthan history, not an emperor himself, but an assassin who was handpicked as the bodyguard of an emperor, and was turned against his master and tempted into practicing forbidden arts. He killed that emperor in the midst of receiving a blessing meant to enrich the land, engaged in a ritual to turn the power to his own ends, and was slain in the midst of it, releasing the stolen energy in a death wail that turned half the continent into stone. Centuries later, his spirit returned to the world, becoming the main antagonist of Guild Wars: Factions when his presence spread a terrible 'affliction' during his search for a means to return himself to life. He returned again in Nightfall as one of Abaddon's generals, standing alongside the final boss of the Prophecies campaign as the final hurdle before we could take on the fallen god.Glint, the dragon prophet. A seer and oracle, and long believed to be the oldest living being in the world, until the Elder Dragons came along. Her convoluted Flameseeker Prophecies formed both the basis and inciting event of the original Prophecies campaign, covering all the winding twists and turns that story took. In the lead up to GW2 it was revealed that she was once a champion of, and perhaps even born of, Kralkatorrik. The Elder Dragon killed her upon awakening, but her 'legacy', the children she left behind with plans to see them replace the Elder Dragons, represent a central plot point in the story from S2 on and our best hope of tackling the game's main conflict. All in all, she is likely the single most important character in the franchise.Kalla Scorchrazor. Rognik did a good job of covering her- she's the charr who led the rebellion against the Shaman caste to victory, laying the stage for what the race is today, and now remembered as the foremost hero of the modern charr.