Homebrew Rev PvP build that I've been tinkering on for a while

[StabbersTheThird.6053]

Marauder/Lyssa

Shiro/Jalis

Shortbow (Agility/Doom) with Sword/Sword (Battle/Exposure)

 

Invocation: Forceful Persistence, Incensed Response, and Song of the Mists

Devastation: Vicious Lacerations, Nefarious Momentum, and Swift Termination

Renegade: Ashen Demeanor, Sudden Reversal, and Vindication

 

 

Gameplay explanation: Sword 4 and Shortbow 5, as well as Jade Winds and Forced Engagement, trigger Ashen Demeanor which applies 5 vulnerability and cripple. On top of that, Sigil of Exposure preps 5 vulnerability and Expose Defenses (Devastation Minor Talent) give 5 vulnerability. That means if you do the standard +1 engage of Phase Traversal->ShacklingWave->Forced Engagement->Deathstrike you apply 23 vulnerability, cripple, slow, chill, taunt, weakness and immobilize. At this point you are rocking Quickness, (a minimum of) 9 might, vigor and fury. I have shortbow because (besides loving the weapon!!!) it is an amazing support tool in a teamfight where you will probably have trouble getting anywhere safely (I couldn't shove enough condition cleanse into this build without becoming a wet noodle). Shortbow 5 is a Knockdown with burn, then you press 4 on them for more burn and slow, then you press F3 for even more burning. With the might you manage to get relatively quickly, the burn will deal the damage you need. My standard shortbow rotation is (always starting Jalis) 5, 4, 2, swap to Shiro, F3, turn on Impossible Odds and auto down the priority target. Something I found out while +1ing duels is that F4 gives Alacrity and assuming you have 5 stacks of Kalla's Fervor (we have a multi-hit build, should be plausible) then you press F2 and give them +10 might as well. I don't tend to use Riposting Shadows unless I'm retreating (dodge roll away, RS, dodge roll, RS, dodge roll, swap to Jalis and prep Inspiring Reinforcement so you don't get yoinked back in or something). Besides that, I've used every ability in my build.

 

 

 

Any ideas on improvement? I'm enjoying the build a lot, but I don't know if I get rid of Invocation or Devastation if I need to get tankier. If I did swap, I was thinking Retribution for Improved Aggression, Eye for an Eye, and Versed in Stone.

[StabbersTheThird.6053]

On a side note: How on Earth, Heaven, or Hell do I fight Mesmers? Whenever I engage it's always Evade, Invulnerable, or an illusion because they went invisible. They have a huge learning curve compared to everyone else. I'll explain, and then maybe someone can break it down for me from my perspective.

 

 

Warrior is about baiting big cooldowns. If I get the 0 damage stance or the stability stance, I back off. When they got nothing, I can 1-2-3 burst them.

Guardian is about remembering Aegis and hitting them before they go invulnerable or retaliation burst me.

Fellow Revenants are about remembering energy cost and timing, keeping an eye on Legends, and hitting them when I'm certain they can't hit back.

Elementalists are waiting for the dodge frames, then chain them down and do the hoppity sword move (sword 3) with whirling hammers on.

Necromancers are repeat bursting them to break down shroud, tend to be hard because of conditions.

Mesmers are the question.

Thieves are about finding them first. That's about it. If I open, I win. If they open, I gotta get to them before I die (why are they all Rifle users >.>). Dwarf 5 is good here.

Engineers are rough and my only current strategy is keep hitting them until they stop fighting back. Necromancer level hard if they are Holosmith, otherwise meh.

Ranger is like Warrior, but easier. And ranged. Only condition rangers are hard, but all I do is use my Lyssa Runes and I'm fine most of the time.

 

 

Help is appreciated, and input on the pre-mentioned build. I added this because I didn't think making a whole new thread "How to fight Mesmer" was a good idea. Sorry if this breaks a rule or annoys someone.

[Milan.9035]

Avoid the fights. Thats the best you can do. Fight them only in team fights. Vs engy save evades for photon forge. Sword 3 during start of photon forge works great they tend not to evade amd try to do all their big damage moves.

[StabbersTheThird.6053]

Is there nothing at all I can do for Mesmer?

 

As for Engi (Holosmith ones), do they have a delay between the visual queue of them going super shiny and the first move they can use? If not, when should I sword 3 or do the Shiro dodge roll?

 

[Milan.9035]

Aa soon as you see then i meam there is cast times and stuff. Go try engi and you will see. You can beat real bad mesmers sure just land your sword 4 and 5 and they dead but its rare that they can be damaged

[narcx.3570]

> @"StabbersTheThird.6053" said:

> On a side note: How on Earth, Heaven, or Hell do I fight Mesmers? Whenever I engage it's always Evade, Invulnerable, or an illusion because they went invisible. They have a huge learning curve compared to everyone else. I'll explain, and then maybe someone can break it down for me from my perspective.

>

 

That's a pretty broad question as there are lots of different kinds of mesmers... But remember, when you fight a mesmer, you are always at an extreme disadvantage--rev v mesmer is probably the worst 1v1 matchup in the game, so you need to be just flat better than them or catch them off guard if you want to actually kill them. Remember, if you're actually going to try to fight a mesmer 1v1, it better be worth it: i.e. you already have the point and he was coming to decap it. Never go attack a mesmer 1v1 on his own point, because even if you kill him, he will have drawn out the fight for a real long time, and you would have put up more points for your team doing literally anything else.

 

That said, I approach most mesmer fights with two general strategies depending on if they're a Chrono or a Mirage. (Condi v Power v Hybrid doesn't matter as much, you kind of fight them the same--althought you know, condi's obviously worse, cuz Revs.)

 

Versus Chronos the fight has three general phases:

- Their mega shatter burst combo (which you HAVE to negate with i-frames or facet of light). They will use Continuum Split on it, so you'll have to face this combo twice--it won't always be chained into one long double combo, although it often is, especially vs one-tricks. You can also try to interrupt their combo's with cc, but it's a lot more risky to try this since they often blanket their bursts with distort.

- Their defensive spam phase... After you survive the burst, they're going to have two shield blocks and distort (unless they used it offensively) to survive your counter attack... So don't necessarily blow everything all at once on them unless they already used distort and you catch them with a hard cc. I like to wait for them to Pop Shield 4, and then I'll use Phase Traversal to land an amped up/unblockable Precision Strike on them (just make sure u get inside their hitbox so you don't waste bolts on the clones.)

- The chase. If you've done the first two phases correctly, the chrono will now try to run away with Blink and Stealth. When you sense they're going to retreat try to land a UA on them, and preemptively cast Gaze of Darkness while UA is doing it's thing... UA will let you "ride" their blink, and GoD will stop their stealth, allowing you to finish them off. If the UA trick doesn't present itself, always make sure you can swap to Shiro to finish them, Chronos (unlike Mirages) can't outrun Phase Traversal + Sword 5.

 

Versus Mirages, you just want to go as hard as you can... Try to cleave their clones with your AoE attacks, they will always be able to instantly summon more, but keeping the number in control severely limits the amount of pressure they can put on you. If the Mirage is playing some BS toughness build, you're gonna have a rough time... But a lot of time they'll be playing glass and you can quickly catch them with an amped up burst combo of your own. If they have all their cool downs, you probably won't be able to chase them down, but if you warded them off, you can consider it a victory. But really, you shouldn't be looking to 1v1 these guys at all... It's just the worst. Especially the hybrid ones.

 

Hope some of that helps...

Practice hunting them in WvW, it's a little easier to practice fighting them there where you don't need to worry about Point Control and stuff.