Will the May 11th changes effect solo play

[Phasendrache.1320]

I've recently come back to the game and have been leveling a Rev.  I'm enjoying it a lot and when I found out they are one of the top solo professions I got pretty excited.  There is a lot of discussion going on with the changes to condition builds and such but not much on how the sustain changes are going to affect solo/group play.

 

Can someone who's more knowledge help me out?  If it's going to be a substantial hit to solo play I might instead get familiar with Necro.

[Obtena.7952]

It's going to take a hit, but it's still going to be better than Necro in my estimation. 

[Dahkeus.8243]

Very little impact to solo play.  Mallyx won't be resistant to condis and the Kalla elite skill won't heal you as much, but beyond that, there's not a ton of change.  You may even see a bit more damage overall with the Kalla's Fervor change to affect all damage instead of just ferocity.

[Eros.6801]

- Yes there won't be any big changes in general solo-play, in fact you can ditch out a bit more dps in both power and condi build. I particularly not using Soulcleave's Summit and Pain Absorbtion much while soloing because they are a huge waste on energy unless you're in absolute dire state in need of a stunbreak or panic heal. Darkrazor and Battle Scars along with dodging are more than enough to stay alive in toughest situation, not to mention if you are running torment runes on condi build the sustain can be described in one word "Nasty".

[Infusion.7149]

If you're facetanking something then torment will do even more damage. 

As far as power builds, Ferocious Aggression will affect life steal damage, Destructive impulses also sees more damage output, Dance of Death will remain high self sustain. For renegades , the Kalla's Fervor change should be a net damage increase since ferocity only applies to crits.

[mindcircus.1506]

4 hours ago, Phasendrache.1320 said:

I've recently come back to the game and have been leveling a Rev.  I'm enjoying it a lot and when I found out they are one of the top solo professions I got pretty excited.  There is a lot of discussion going on with the changes to condition builds and such but not much on how the sustain changes are going to affect solo/group play.

 

Can someone who's more knowledge help me out?  If it's going to be a substantial hit to solo play I might instead get familiar with Necro.

I think it's super important during times like these to ignore the forum circle jerk around balance changes and wait until they are in play, test them for yourself and react accordingly.
On paper, a proper shortbow condi build won't be losing much. Most of your healing comes outside the use of Soulcleave's Summit and Open World/solo sees very little need for condi cleanse.

The torment changes will likely see a reduction in your damage against open world trash if you are not positioning properly, however you should see a significant damage increase against champions and other mobs that don't move.

[Zoser.7245]

It will affect, of course.  If you are using Mallyx you will lose the sustain of ignore conditions along the time you have resistance. And that is significant is you  had a build around max your resistance time.  That will make some high end content impossible to solo.  And probably it's  done on purpose due to someone soloing some Raid bosses.  As this update seems more a Raid centered patch than a PvE general one.

 

The torment change make you lose damage for trash mob than run against you so you'll clean slower against groups of mobs and also against moving champions as those of bounties with several charge skills, etc.  Obviously  also in PvP and WvW were enemies are almost all time moving.

 

Also unless they rework Pain Absorption  in Legendary Demon Stance (Mallyx),  ignore that skill until it's reworked or use other Legend. You can't not control conditions outside your group.  Imagine absorbing a stack of 16 burns from an allie around you, despite if it is a player, a minion or a mob.  Kasmeer could kill you instantly 😁

 

It's a pity because i really like Call to Anguish  and some sinergy that the legendary demon stance offer through traits and runes. But with the lose of the old resistance i'll have to re-evaluate if change my builds depending of the final patch changes. For solo the hardest content you'll need that extra sustain/mitigation (no condition damage time) from other sources, not all is dps. And of course for PvP and WvW some re-evalutation will be needed to optimize the build or even change the style of play to another type more effective,  other type of build if not to other profession. We will see.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Zoser.7245

[Infusion.7149]

Original post was talking about "leveling a rev", while you are talking about soloing raid bosses which is not a normal use case.

For openworld/living story and "leveling a rev" I believe it will be more than fine. There aren't a load of situations where the resistance is a make or break part of revenant ; if you run Dance of Death you are going to have high enough sustain to withstand most conditions that aren't stacked high outside maybe burning stacks. 

P.S. I do agree Pain Absorption needs looking at.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Infusion.7149

[Zoser.7245]

1 hour ago, Infusion.7149 said:

Original post was talking about "leveling a rev", while you are talking about soloing raid bosses which is not a normal use case.

For openworld/living story and "leveling a rev" I believe it will be more than fine. There aren't a load of situations where the resistance is a make or break part of revenant ; if you run Dance of Death you are going to have high enough sustain to withstand most conditions that aren't stacked high outside maybe burning stacks. 

P.S. I do agree Pain Absorption needs looking at.

Not only raid bosses.  Dungeons, bounties,  fractals,  even there are champions with too much CC and adds that are a nightmare. Against them the resistance is really useful.  Suffer frequent CC ends with you as your main sustain comes from your attacks, if you can't attack and are under high damage unable to leave you are done. 

 

That is why i prefer change to my Mirage against bosses that disable you too much without any tell, like pulling you wihout even a clear cast animation or AoC advice.  So my clones do its job and  let me avoid be in the worst place too much and never if possible.

 

The game has evolved a lot from the Central Tyria until now. We still have easy content, the majority for everyone, but now we also have more difficult and challenging content you can do,  and a challenge solo it.   For leveling and the majority of content the Revenant is a pleasure to play,  a Renegade in my case. Is the one i play more often now, at least until the next expansion.  And it would be perfect if we could combine the skills from different legends lol.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Zoser.7245

[Infusion.7149]

Resistance doesn't stop hard CC. If hard CC is a problem you run Dwarf for stab.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Infusion.7149

[Zoser.7245]

1 minute ago, Infusion.7149 said:

Resistance doesn't stop hard CC. If hard CC is a problem you run Dwarf for stab.

I know, but it helps to survive when you are suffering  hard plus soft CC and contidions altogether at the same time. Something very common when you are outnumbered with all against you.  I don't have problems with my builds or hard CC.  As i always try to optimize and get the most versatile one to acomplish my goals, i'm upset because i imagine that it will be impossible find a build as effective as the one i'm using now.  Anyways,  as always,  we will have to adapt to what is to come. 

[Za Shaloc.3908]

Yeah tbh I think you will be totally fine in most solo content. I have a feeling they will be touching on the resistance/Pain Absorption issue and how it specifically affects Mallyx (the feedback has been very vocal), and the torment change in open world IMO is more of a benefit than a hindrance. Just pull em and bomb em. The Soulcleave change will for sure hurt your sustain if you are running Kalla, but you have other means of remedying this like @Infusion.7149mentioned, such as Dance of Death, and if running condi, Tormenting Runes. 

[Shao.7236]

Empowering Misery and Pain Absorption are fundamentally broken/useless without the current resistance function. They need to be reworked or have added features such as removing/consuming damaging conditions to be worth having.

[LucianTheAngelic.7054]

The removal of Soulcleave's healing is fairly major for any Viper Condi builds not utilizing Torment Runes (lower damage than Nightmare) and Dance of Death is only optimal on Power builds.  It will definitely be harder to survive high pressure scenarios now