Making Firebrand Guardian Great Again.

All seriousness though, I myself could not make a Power Bruiser work (his particular build is also support) on a competitive level the way Arken has. He has consistently held off top 5 within two weeks of PoF. I'll give the build itself an easy top 100 Rank in-game performance. It's my personal (#1) Firebrand Bruiser build thus far but all this said, I dare not speak for him though, I simply like to support a fellow Guardian who has always been an acquaintance of mine. Hope no boundaries are broken in that regards.

TL;DRMy challenge to the Guardian community; as it was myself, is to not only learn a difficult Firebrand build but to also view his Twitch channel in an attempt to mimic it. Better yet, ask him yourself what the best build is in Ranked PvP. Ask how the build in question plays in a specific role. Better yet when you see his build, how in the heck do you support a team; as well as, deal bruiser level damage with just 11k health?

"Up worth, downed worth, to a forth beginning a decimate end." - Falselights

He is definitely a very very very good Guardian player and the reason i watch him and also subbed him on twitch. He is also willing to teach viewers and give info

Is there a link to his build anywhere?

This is his Build (he showed the traitlines and his gear briefly in one of his streams):http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnd7ensADFBj1BDOCDkCjF+BDLAMDKC7b0Q6J1aBMu2TA-jJxHQBB8JAUyyAib/BAcSAAA

I used it yesterday and absolutly having a blast... it can really do all the things you see in his stream.About > @Saiyan.1704 said:Better yet when you see his build, how in the heck do you support a team; as well as, deal bruiser level damage with just 11k health?

First the DPS:
basically it Radiance is the reason for his dps.: +50% crit chance with Righteous Instincts ( quite easy to achieve with mantra of liberation , unhindered delivery and justice is blind!!!! this might seem a bit confusing, but in combination with mantra of truth you are able to blind enemies quite frequently with then gives you lightaura with then gives you more retaliation) / + 10% crit chance with radiant power (as you might know firebrand shits out tons of burns) / +20% crit chance with inner fire, but i changed it to right hand strength ( due to the insane ammount of boon corruption i rather stick to a permanent 15% crit chance increase then a possibly 20% that is tied to a boon with is tied to a condition on an enemy... not to mension you are likely to get some fury due the match anyway). So you can set up a total ammount of 80 % crit chance with a 169% critical dmg (Retribution). Even though firebrand is supposed to be a condi dmg spec, it has great power dmg potential. The axe autoattack and symbol can provide some nice dmg ( especially if you combine it with mantra of potence ). Same goes for tome of justice ( chapter 4 and 1 also can hit freaking hard... especially chapter 4 is awesome... you can cover nearly a whole point with it). You basically wanna start with chapter 4, pull your enemies with chapter 3 in and spam chapter 1). Good old Scepter helps with might stacking and some extra dmg aswell. Please take in consideration that this build is supposed to be a support build, that make the dmg even more remarkable.

second the support:with your 90% boon duration and 900 Healing power you are more then capable to provide offensive as well as defensive support. With all the condi spam atm you are a lifesaver in certain situations. Tome of resolve is awesome for condi removal while provide some strong healing aswell. 3 condis removed while healing allies for 1.1k per condi (on a 2 3/4 cd) and 5 condis into boons. together with mantra of lore you have awesome condi removal for you and your allies. If thats not enough of you have acces to 4 seconds resistence with pulses 4 times on a 6 3/4 sec cd. You basically can remain resistence while you on tome of courage. The healing is where firebrand really shines imo. With Tome of Resolve you are able to heal about 8k only with chapter 1. Combining this with other chapters, your dodge rolls and your symbol healing you are able to ceep you and your allies alive for quite some time. Even Tome of Courage has some nice healing due to pure of heart. Chapter 1 of tome of resolve is perfekt for disengaging ( you get a block, stability, protection and a 1.1k heal for every block).

third self sustainbasically the support part is helping you sustaining. with the combination of the weakness provided of mantra of truth and all ur protection power based enemies are no threat at all to you. even against condi specs you can surive quite good (depends on how many enemies you face). Mantra of Liberation is one of the most important aspects of your own survivabilty... beeing able to stun break 3 times is much more usefull then one invuln for a couple of seconds.

Some things i said might be obvious for some of you guys. But i wanted to give new guards also some advices :).maybe i´ll go into more detail when i find the time :D

My question was more rhetorical and meant for the audience :p But yup, that's his build. Thanks for the post!

That's very kind of you. I appreciate it.

@InViictuZz.1705 Just used this build it's awesome. Thank you.

Not too impressed with him as a streamer. I joined and it was just ranting and raging on and on over a bad game, but w/e. The build looks interesting, so I may try it out.

Edit: Also, I don't know what the OP means about blinding causing light aura. Justice is Blind triggers blind and is triggered by Virtue/tome of Justice. Echo of Truth has nothing to do with that.

his build is trash, the only reason it works in soloq is because the average skill level in ranked queue has dropped about 99.9% in the last couple seasons. you guys have probably noticed as much, there's almost never any good players in ranked anymore.

his build is garbage and is food for any decent power spec. Luckly ppl don't that he has 10k hp8) ily arken hf out there in the mists

Don't let this ignorant OP mislead you. The build he is referring to is a "Pugstomper". A pugstomper build exploits the fact that the average ranked player is extremely bad. This build is in no way shape or form a "competitive" build like OP has stated. The build has 11k hp. Against ANY competent PvPers that build would be feeding the entire game. Which is why he plays it in ranked, because he knows well he will never go against decent players since the NA top pvp population is so low. There's a reason you never see Arken win any tournaments or AT's. Hes barely an average tier guardian.

Not to bash on Arken, he's an amazing player and definitely lives up to the legend if you duel him or face him in spvp but I don't think his build is anything special. Once again, this Firebrand build is held together by the following staples:

• The Honor and Firebrand traitlines
• Traited tomes (especially Archevist of Whispers and Loremaster)
• Heal/aegis mantra
• At least 2 stunbreaks (or just take elite mantra)
• At least one instant-cast condi clear (cleanse mantra works best I've found)
• About 1000 healing power
• Double energy sigil
• Both shield and focus offhand weapons

Seriously, you can substitute just about anything you want that I didn't specify above, and you'll have a seemingly cohesive powerhouse of a build that doesn't go down 1v1 and has bruiser-level pressure. You can run an amazing shattered aegis build if you take zeal as your third traitline. You can play Firebrand very close to classic medi guard by taking valor + JI and smite condi. You can go even further into support by taking a consecration and specing into virtues; really doesn't matter as long as you have the staples.

This build's a great duelist, honestly it's similar to the symbolic with more risk for more support.

The HP is easily the build's caveat, but it does have a lot of offensive power.

I was out for a week & half on vacation but was able to play a bit before Thanksgiving's festivities.

@Dahkeus.8243 said:Edit: Also, I don't know what the OP means about blinding causing light aura. Justice is Blind triggers blind and is triggered by Virtue/tome of Justice. Echo of Truth has nothing to do with that.

I can't find myself saying that but I'm sure it was a typo or I edited it later.

@Skittledness.5106 said:his build is garbage and is food for any decent power spec. Luckly ppl don't that he has 10k hp8) ily arken hf out there in the mists

@Abelisk.4527 said:This build's a great duelist, honestly it's similar to the symbolic with more risk for more support.

The HP is easily the build's caveat, but it does have a lot of offensive power.

You two are the only ones here who actually listed the build's shortcomings specifically. Like @Abelisk.4527 mentioned, the build is comparable to Core Valk burst variant as the roles are virtually (no pun intended) the same; FB trades HP and damage for support & utility.

Core build is a 1v1 power house able to beat most power burst classes including Engi, while FB would otherwise have a struggle with. I would definitely be weary if there was a competitive Thief + Power Mesmer comps but would otherwise be comfortable on Core Guard.

On the other hand, FB offers team resistance in skirmish fights with team-wide stability & heals. If there's no heavy hitters focusing you and you don't die, you'll likely win mid every time if your team was half good.