Revenant is Guild Wars 2’s heavy-armor profession built around Legends — echoes of legendary Tyrian figures that a revenant channels through the Mists. You can have two legendary stances equipped at once, but only one active at a time; channeling a legend replaces the last five skill slots on your bar (heal, three utility, elite) with that legend’s skills, and swapping legends works alongside ordinary weapon swapping rather than instead of it. Every revenant skill costs Energy, a resource that drains as you use skills — some legend skills even drain it continuously while active — and regenerates over time. Revenant has no restriction on swapping between its two weapon sets in combat today, though at launch it originally couldn’t; that restriction was removed after player feedback. As a “soldier” profession, revenant doesn’t have access to racial or common utility skills the way other professions do — legend skills replace that slot entirely.

Revenant channels Legends — you slot two legendary Guild Wars figures and swap between them — while every skill also spends a constantly-regenerating Energy bar. Managing two resources at once feels clunky until it clicks, then it is one of the smoothest boon engines in the game.

Legends and Energy: the dual-resource system

Energy caps at 100 in combat, but at 50 while you’re out of combat — any energy above that is lost the moment you leave combat. Without any upkeep skills active, energy regenerates at a steady default rate; several legend skills instead have an ongoing “upkeep” cost that drains it continuously for as long as they’re toggled on, which is why managing upkeep skills is central to playing revenant well. Revenant skills also tend to have shorter cooldowns than the equivalent skills on other professions — the tradeoff is that most of them (auto-attacks aside) also cost energy on top of that cooldown, so you’re managing both at once rather than just one. Swapping to your second legend instantly resets your energy pool to exactly 50%, which is often the fastest way to recover from a near-empty bar mid-fight — a big part of why legend swapping is as much a resource-management tool as it is a way to access different skills.

Invoking legends: which stance does what

Swapping legends immediately gives you access to that legend’s full kit — a new heal, three new utility skills and a new elite, on top of whatever weapon you have equipped. Core revenant can invoke four legends before any elite spec is unlocked. Shiro Tagachi, the Legendary Assassin Stance, trades survivability for mobility and burst damage. Jalis Ironhammer, the Legendary Dwarf Stance, is the defensive, crowd-control-heavy pick — Forced Engagement chains and taunts a target, Inspiring Reinforcement pulses stability to nearby allies, and Rite of the Great Dwarf turns you and nearby allies briefly to stone to cut incoming damage; it pairs naturally with the hammer, a ranged weapon that can also block projectiles. Ventari, the Legendary Centaur Stance, is the dedicated healer/support pick. Mallyx the Unyielding, the Legendary Demon Stance, is the aggressive, self-punishing condition pick. Herald adds a fifth legend (Glint), and Conduit adds a sixth (Razah).

Legendary Assassin Stance: Shiro Tagachi

Shiro is core revenant’s mobility-and-burst legend, and it’s the backbone of Devastation, the specialization built around outgoing damage and dual-wielding. Its signature skill, Impossible Odds, is an upkeep skill: while it’s active it drains energy every second, but in exchange it grants extra movement speed and adds a follow-up strike to your attacks — a straightforward damage-for-energy trade that rewards not leaving it on longer than you need to. Shiro pairs naturally with the sword, a fast, mobile weapon on both main and off hand.

Legendary Demon Stance: Mallyx the Unyielding

Mallyx is the legend behind Corruption, revenant’s condition-and-resistance specialization, and it plays differently from every other legend: instead of avoiding conditions, Mallyx skills often pull them onto you on purpose. Pain Absorption, for example, grants resistance to you and nearby allies and absorbs their conditions onto yourself, gaining extra resolution and resistance for each condition taken — punishing to use carelessly, but a strong answer to heavy condition pressure when timed well. Mallyx pairs naturally with mace and axe, both condition-focused weapons.

Legendary Centaur Stance: Ventari

Ventari is core revenant’s dedicated support legend and the backbone of Salvation, the healing- and condition-removal-focused specialization. Its skills revolve around Ventari’s Tablet, a mobile object you reposition with staff skills; while Ventari is active, Protective Solace creates a barrier around the tablet that destroys incoming projectiles for as long as you keep it toggled on, making it a go-to answer for ranged damage in some PvE encounters. The tradeoff is mobility: piloting the tablet well takes practice, and legend swapping is your main way to escape awkward positioning while still contributing.

Each elite spec swaps in a new weapon, new skills and a changed profession mechanic. You run one at a time.

Revenant is viable in every game mode — open world, fractals, raids, strikes, WvW and PvP. Herald remains one of the most approachable quickness-support picks in the game; Renegade covers alacrity support with real damage; Vindicator offers high-mobility power DPS with a support option built in; Conduit is the newest pick for players who want a faster-paced, more constantly-engaged rotation across several possible roles. Revenant’s dual-resource system takes longer to feel comfortable with than most professions’ single mechanic, but the payoff is unusually smooth boon uptime once it clicks.

Every Revenant build we publish lands here automatically. Each links to the full write-up with gear, skills, traits and the in-game build code.