Revenant (strategy)

This page contains strategies for defeating Revenant enemies. There is a wide range of effective tactics available depending on specific party compositions and average party level.
=Dragon Age: Origins=
== Basics ==
Revenants are spirits of desire or pride that possess a warrior's remains, and thus they appear as heavily armored undead knights. As such, they are very powerful in melee combat and require careful planning to defeat. Most of the Revenants encountered in the game are Boss-ranked (see The Black Vials for more information), while the one in Redcliffe Castle is an Elite.
Aside from a high armor rating (directly mitigating physical damage taken), they are immune to cold damage and have high mental and physical resistances. They can be frozen, slowed, paralyzed, knocked back, but cannot be knocked down. They are immune to sleep and fear, and the Boss-ranked ones cannot be shattered. The Hex spells are quite effective against Revenants, as these spells can only be resisted by spell resistance. 
There are actually two "subtypes" of revenants in the game. One type is considered undead, and thus has +75% cold resistance, -25% fire resistance, and 100% nature resistance. The other type is considered demon, and thus has +50% fire resistance and +5% resistance. They are all immune to cold damage (except Gaxkang). Gaxkang is both undead and demon but is not immune to cold or nature damage. The majority of revenants encountered in the game are undead. 
== General tactics ==
* Glyph of Warding increases affected characters' defense by 30, which translates into a direct -30% to the Revenant's chance to land a melee attack.
* Heroic Defense also increases a character's defense rating. Can be combined with Glyph of Warding to great effect.
* Glyph of Paralysis or Paralyze can paralyze the Revenant for a few seconds.
* Curse of Mortality inflicts damage over time and negates their natural health regeneration.
* Misdirection Hex greatly diminishes their melee combat power.
* Vulnerability Hex and Affliction Hex make them more vulnerable to elemental damage. Mark of Death makes them more vulnerable to damage in general (+20% damage taken).
* Telekinetic Weapons, Sunder Armor, Shattering Blows, and Shattering Shot help counter Revenants' high armor rating, making them more vulnerable to physical damage. This is especially useful early in the game when the party's damage output is still generally low.
* Cone of Cold can freeze a Revenant for a few seconds, even though it does no damage to them. This will interrupt their (Mass) Pull. Similar result can be achieved with Petrify.
* Force Field can neutralize the Revenant, or protect an ally from immediate danger, for a time.
* Pinning Shot helps greatly when a character needs to outrun the Revenant, as the -50% movement rate penalty from this attack cannot be resisted. Other talents (Below the Belt) or spells (Weakness) that incur a movement rate penalty can also help with this.
* Healing spells in general - Heal, Lifeward, Group Heal, etc. - help the party sustain more damage and should prove useful when the character being attacked cannot use a potion.
* Pets summoned by Ranger abilities or Animate Dead are also useful as expendable tanks.
== Specific strategies ==
* Certain Revenants spawn with skeleton allies. It might be a good idea to cast Force Field or Paralyze on the Revenant after they spawn and flee the battle area, while luring the skeletons away and dealing with them in a separate location. The party can then return at leisure and deal with the Revenant alone.
* Classic tanking: A tank maintains aggro while the other party members whittle down the Revenant's health. This is most viable if the party has a tanky character and good support capability from the others. A character's defense can be easily raised past 100 with Heroic Defense and Glyph of Warding combined. This greatly reduces the chance of the character being hit by the Revenant's melee attacks.
** The tank can use Threaten and Taunt to maintain aggro until a mage can cast Force Field on the tank. The remaining party members keep their distance, using ranged weapons, spells, and fire bombs to deal damage. Ironically, staves work just as fine, as taking too much damage causes the Revenant to switch its attention from the tank to other party members.
* Arcane Warrior tanking: Attract aggro by casting offensive spells and hexes on the Revenant; spend as much mana as possible. Then switch on Rock Armor, Arcane Shield, Shimmering Shield, and Aura of Might, and switch to heavy armor and weaponry. This way you can easily obtain 50+ armor and survive heavy attacks while dealing some damage. Flank with the rest of the party.
* Kiting: Another straightforward, if slow, strategy is to wait and see which party member the Revenant is going after, then have this character run, possibly around a pillar or some obstacle. Other members are free to hit the Revenant with bows or staves while he is running to catch your lure character. Without any obstacle to slow down the Revenant, this can be tricky to pull off, as its Aura of Weakness will slow nearby characters. It is also important for the other party members to stay near an obstacle, because the obstacle will prevent the character from being pulled all the way toward the Revenant by (Mass) Pull. This allows the characters enough time to get back up and run away before the Revenant can catch up. Sometimes, you have to flee to another part of the map to find suitable ground for the fight. This strategy is most efficient if all party members can do good damage at range. Also especially useful at low levels.
** If the bait is a mage, it is fairly easy for the mage to keep attracting the Revenant's attention, as the mage can draw a good amount of threat by casting a wide array of spells at range, including Hexes, (Virulent) Walking Bomb, and even healing spells.
** When this strategy is employed, it is usually best to have the attacking party members use only basic attacks or low-threat abilities, to avoid drawing the Revenant's attention to them.
* Ranged characters can also try to stay outside of the range of Mass Pull (when applicable) so they will not be pulled in.
== Composition-specific strategies ==
With the right tactics, a group of any composition can defeat Revenants.
The following are recommended compositions that have been proven more successful than others.
Team 	Basic strategy
2 warriors, rogue, mage 	For single Revenants (the ones from Phylacteries), it is a straight tank and spank.
For Revenants plus minions (e.g. in the Brecilian Forest and Redcliffe Castle) either one of the warriors tanks the Revenant while the other three take out the minions before piling damage onto the Revenant, or one warrior tanks the Revenant and the second warrior does the main damage to the Revenant while the other two take out the minions. In either case, keep an eagle eye on the tank's health since Revenants hit hard.
This method works for both single and Revenants plus minions: have one warrior use Shield Wall, and Taunt the whole group and kite them around objects or in a big circle, have the other warrior and the rogue equip a bow and move them and mage to one position and pick off the minions one by one, leaving the Revenant till last. Then, move them into a triangle formation around your kiting area so someone is always hitting the Revenant. As long as you manage to get in range to taunt the Revenant, the kiter will not lose the hate the whole fight. This method takes about 5 min+ per fight but only consumes 2-3 lesser potions per fight (depending on how much get Pulled back).
warrior, 2 mages, optional	For single Revenants, again it is a straight tank and spank.
For Revenants plus minions, the warrior tanks, the mages and fourth member take out the minions first before turning their attention to the Revenant, while ensuring that the tank gets adequate healing at all times.
3 mages, rogue 	Move the rogue out of range of the Aura of Weakness and the mages in a semicircle around the Revenant. Use stoppers like Cone of Cold (which is why the semicircle is best), Glyph of Paralysis and Petrify to pin the Revenant down while everyone else shoots at him either with bows, staves, Arcane Bolt or Lightning. Note that unlike bows, the mage staves always hit, so the attack debuff from the aura does not bother the mages.
== Notes ==
* Revenants can hit several party members in melee simultaneously with their Double Strike attack, so using only one melee fighter and keeping the rest of your party at range will limit a Revenant's total damage output, letting you heal more efficiently.
* Party members can use obstacles to prevent being pulled: when you see the spell cast, move them behind pillars or walls; characters will fall when they hit the obstacle and remain at a decent distance.
* In Redcliffe Castle, you can get help by lifting the main gate, allowing Ser Perth and his fellow knights enter the courtyard (assuming they survived the Redcliffe battle).
* The Revenant in Redcliffe Castle can be petrified and shattered.
* Because of the Revenant's ability to spike, it is worthwhile to adjust the team's self-healing tactics. The main tank should heal when at 75% health and other damage dealers at 50% health. If using mages to snare and debuff, they should cast heal and self-heal more rarely, perhaps at the 25% mark instead of 50%. The spike damage comes mainly from the Revenant's Double Strike, so trying to move your party members accordingly will mitigate it greatly.
* Early in the game, the Revenant is much less likely to use Mass Pull and almost only uses Pull against its main target, which should be your tank. Indomitable or Shield Wall will help protect the tank if pulled (even better if they also have Shield Expertise). Use Mark of Death or Vulnerability Hex plus frost/fire weapons.
* All Revenants, with the exception of the one found in Redcliffe Castle, are Boss-level characters in Origins. However, in Awakening, they are Elite rank.
* There's a medium range at which your characters can stay safely and neither Pull or Mass Pull will be used, even when most of your members are ranged - close enough to consider melee, not far enough to switch to ranged. It works even on Nightmare and makes the whole fight really easy.
*In addition to their common drops, Revenants can also drop up to 3 random valuable items ranging from tier 3 and 4 health and lyrium potions to flawless grade crystals, heavy plate armor, or simply gold (varies with level).
Category:Strategies