Revenant or mesmer to level up?

[Blackrystal.3508]

i have only a slot empty and like both gamestyle. 

I would like to become a buffer/healer in the new patch and  i would like to be able to solo content in OW.

[AXLIB.8425]

As a mesmer main, I will just quickly point out that if you care about patch note balance and meta you should only pick mesmer if you are a masochist. The current state of chrono is pretty much that it used to be good at raids as a power dps(and you can only achieve the 42k benchmark with perma slow, and have a different damage ramp up then other power build) and mediocre/shitty in other game modes, now it is ok at raid and mediocre/shitty in other game modes. Mirage used to be pretty much none existence, and often requires food to perform, so the new buffs are welcome (expect the new Chaotic Transference). Mirage can now at least be a decent boon support as well, so mesmer as a profession won't just be a dps or portal bot now. And trust me no one wants a heal mesmer/ heal chrono, I tried. Mesmer, Thief, and maybe Warrior(shout warrior can be neat) are the only three professions that don't have a place as a healer.

Revenant is just better (expect core Rev) in almost every situation. Herald have passive 10-man boon buffs that you only have to press a button, and have a oh-kitten-I-gonna-die-and-let-me-make-myself-invanuarble-and-also-heal-me-to-basically-full button, and that is their heal skill. And as a Renegade, you press F4 to get 10 man alacrity (5 if you are not traited) and 20/25 stacks of might by pressing F2, and can be used no matter what legend or weapons you are using, unlike mirage who must be on staff. New torment and exposed change also mean Renegade is going to have a benchmark of 45k (the reason that chrono got nerfed but even higher). 

As for soloing content, there is actually a staff staff mirage build that can solo most open world content but that one is rather heavily depended on food like most mirage build in wvw. I am not familiar with solo Revenant build, but I heard there some really good ones, although with the new Soulcleave's Summit nerf things might change.

It is up to you, if you want easier time finding groups, and better treatment from Anet go with Revenant. If you want purple butterfly and illusions, go with Mesmer. 

[Infusion.7149]

I have legendary items on mesmer because it goes in and out of meta and gets nerfed with random nerfs. The boon duration and stat combos required have ping ponged all over the place. Even up until July 7, 2020 it was broken (cloneless shatters didn't work) or OP (when mesmers were able to put out every single boon and share distortion). Even in the February 25, 2020 balance patch Vicious Expression was busted in PVE briefly.

If you want a healing option, revenant is the only real choice between the two of them, mesmer healing is a meme and after the upcoming May 11 patch it will be even worse after mantras are changed. You will basically be relegated to well heals plus the heal on shatter. That said , revenant healing is not meta due to the clunkiness of the tablet and also the energy mechanic. If you just want minor heals, soulcleave summit does a good enough job and doesn't require any investment into healing power. In the solo context, Dance of Death results in high sustain without going full tank (trailblazer gear or otherwise).

See https://lucky-noobs.com/builds/heal-alacrity-renegade , https://snowcrows.com/raids/builds/revenant/renegade/heal/

Also if you aren't popping tomes, mesmer is generally more painful to level up. In the long run if you have curiosity with respect to mesmer I would just spend the 800 gems or less to get a character slot.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Infusion.7149