So now that its been almost a week where are we?

Anyone found any viable work around for FB to be decent in sPVP post GIGANTOR nerf hammer? And don't start with the L2P play crap because every FB player I have talked to on here and in game feels the same way. That it was ridiculously over done. We can still mostly heal but we have very little sustain now and just melt. They pretty much also with these annihilated build diversity for FB from what I see. I just want to see if any of you have come up with anything other than shelfing your FB and rolling a Druid.

PVE: DH is non meta DPS. Falls short to Weaver and a few other classes. DPS SB can parse 35k. so can one of the Mesmer specs. DH is the nub spec to high DPS now because of its simplicity. FB is non existent in PVE as either DPS or support. There is comparison with Druid or chrono in the support department

PVP: They just GUTTED poor firebrands over here. Hybrid builds are non existent. FBs are forced into bunker and still lose to SBs and burst pressure on point. Druid is better point holder now. FB is mediocre bunker/party support mid. Nothing to write home about.

WvW: Once again they gutted hybrid builds and any kind of power roamers. WvW meta in unchanged but now its much harder to push as a FB frontline. You are once again forced into support role which is pretty much limited to waiting on Tome 3 #3, 4, 5 skills.

Bravo Anet, Bravo.

Thank you for killing any kind of build variability FBs had

I switched my Menders hybrid build over to staff Magi bunker and it's OK. I would only play it with friends. No way in hell I'm doing solo-queue with it. Get a team of idiots and you're more than useless.

Still trying to figure out what my new prof would be. I might pick something that sucks, like Reaper, and that way I am certain I won't get nerfed into oblivion after getting the hang of it. :D

I have been thinking about this and have tried a few things for WvW. I have not found any real good workarounds. I love roaming and Vanilla guard is somewhat ok still. But it lacks the power that FB had. Also, trying to be a frontline guard now is almost impossible. I may finally need to learn how to be good with another class.

For sPvP, there were four viable builds, core symboist power, DH with LB, FB dps (condi primarily) and FB bunker.

It is safe to say any non-bunker FB dps builds are dead, not that they were good to being with.

Core is still where it was, a bruiser build with no mobility and so so sustain. It is significantly out played by almost all PoF bruiser builds and druid. Heck, even scraper after the buff.

DH is still where it was more than a year ago, not remotely competitive against good opponents.

FB bunker is better balanced. Though I am not sure it has a place in the current meta. The nerfs where not well balanced, and FB did not perform well against power builds, even pre the nerf.

sPvP wise, guardian is not bad, just mediocre.

PvE wise, I think DH is still solid choice. FB is kind meh.

I like the meditrapper or core hammer guard for roaming (WvW). Can you actually roam/small scale group as a Firebrand? I'd imagine people will just cleanse your burning right away, not to mention you have to be in their face for Tome #1 to even hit.

In WvW, that imob corruption change means I have a higher chance of killing my squad once I drop resistance on them.

@"Traveller.7496" said:I like the meditrapper or core hammer guard for roaming (WvW). Can you actually roam/small scale group as a Firebrand? I'd imagine people will just cleanse your burning right away, not to mention you have to be in their face for Tome #1 to even hit.

Roaming on FB for 2 months, even after nerf as this video shows, but hybrid/power build, not condi:

In my experience after nerf:

PVE: Dragonhunter way better and easier.PVP: Hybrid FB since you can help on DPS. Full support is not as good anymore, specially when your team doesn't help.WvW: I don't do zerg, but i roam everyday on Power/Hybrid FB and it works pretty well.

@Lynnie.7213 said:Roaming on FB for 2 months, even after nerf as this video shows, but hybrid/power build, not condi:

That's cool, thanks. It's just that harrier gear is seriously a pain in the ass/expensive to get - is there a viable alternative? You can at least craft wanderer jewellery fairly easily.

Pretty disappointed with the healing nerfs. Nerfs to the heal mantra and ToR taken together mean that if you're not running the honor traitline/healing power build, the heal mantra is absolute trash. Once again, you have to specifically trait/build for it to make the skill go from trash to mediocre which is bad design.

DPS-based FB is less viable now but still works somewhat well. This is the build I've been using since the patch a couple days ago for the occasional power FB roaming:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRArd8enkIC1BjlDBWDB8DhlECbPgOQboXLrAQCIL/8fCQA-j1CFQBXUJIAeCA6T9H2t/QDOgCKUZyCORBpR/CSUalBNEM4gAEAAB4mtZb2mxm38QH6QH6QHab3m3sNvZduzbmQACGDA-w

If you enjoy roaming/havoc with medi trapper DH or core medi guard, you might try this since you wouldn't have to change your gearing too much. The pro is that It deals fairly well with S/D thieves which DH can't do, but the drawback is somewhat low mobility.

@"Arcaedus.7290" said:Pretty disappointed with the healing nerfs. Nerfs to the heal mantra and ToR taken together mean that if you're not running the honor traitline/healing power build, the heal mantra is absolute trash. Once again, you have to specifically trait/build for it to make the skill go from trash to mediocre which is bad design.

DPS-based FB is less viable now but still works somewhat well. This is the build I've been using since the patch a couple days ago for the occasional power FB roaming:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRArd8enkIC1BjlDBWDB8DhlECbPgOQboXLrAQCIL/8fCQA-j1CFQBXUJIAeCA6T9H2t/QDOgCKUZyCORBpR/CSUalBNEM4gAEAAB4mtZb2mxm38QH6QH6QHab3m3sNvZduzbmQACGDA-w

If you enjoy roaming/havoc with medi trapper DH or core medi guard, you might try this since you wouldn't have to change your gearing too much. The pro is that It deals fairly well with S/D thieves which DH can't do, but the drawback is somewhat low mobility.

What kind of situations would you use scepter/focus combo? I assume otherwise it's like playing a meditrapper but of course with the Firebrand skills, you can pull Tome 1 out and burn your enemy?

@Traveller.7496 said:

@"Arcaedus.7290" said:Pretty disappointed with the healing nerfs. Nerfs to the heal mantra and ToR taken together mean that if you're not running the honor traitline/healing power build, the heal mantra is absolute trash. Once again, you have to specifically trait/build for it to make the skill go from trash to mediocre which is bad design.

DPS-based FB is less viable now but still works somewhat well. This is the build I've been using since the patch a couple days ago for the occasional power FB roaming:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRArd8enkIC1BjlDBWDB8DhlECbPgOQboXLrAQCIL/8fCQA-j1CFQBXUJIAeCA6T9H2t/QDOgCKUZyCORBpR/CSUalBNEM4gAEAAB4mtZb2mxm38QH6QH6QHab3m3sNvZduzbmQACGDA-w

If you enjoy roaming/havoc with medi trapper DH or core medi guard, you might try this since you wouldn't have to change your gearing too much. The pro is that It deals fairly well with S/D thieves which DH can't do, but the drawback is somewhat low mobility.

I like running both focus and shield offhands. Focus 5 is great for either offensive or defensive use and shield brings a nice instant CC. You could switch out Sc/F for GS with this build if you like. I use both.

Reason you pair scepter with focus is because with sw/shield and sc/focus you have a blind and a block on both weapon-sets rather than stacking 2 blinds and a block on 1 weapon set + only 1 block on the other.

The f1 tome is a bit situational. Surprisingly for a power build, 1 spam is actually pretty decent damage with the quickness you get upon entering + it's a mid-range non-projectile attack. I mainly go into f1 tome and lay down skill 4 if I'm kiting some1 in melee range, or use skill 3 + 1 spam if I'm chasing and need a hard CC.

For SPVP, Guardians seem pretty “meh” overall. I wish the non-FB bunker builds could have gotten a touch of love to offset the nerf to FB so that we had options that weren’t so mediocre.

@Traveller.7496 said:

@Lynnie.7213 said:Roaming on FB for 2 months, even after nerf as this video shows, but hybrid/power build, not condi:

you can play with a mix of valkyrie i guess or buy harrier with trade contracts. The insignia/inscriptions are like 5~8g in tp.

@Lynnie.7213 said:

@Traveller.7496 said:

@Lynnie.7213 said:Roaming on FB for 2 months, even after nerf as this video shows, but hybrid/power build, not condi:

I had some gear in my bank that I could choose harrier stats on, so I can at least give this a go. Do you use your scepter/focus setup for small groups and the GS one for solo?

e: although I do have to find an alternative for Sigils of Concentration... yikes, that price

@Traveller.7496 said:

@Lynnie.7213 said:

@Traveller.7496 said:

@Lynnie.7213 said:Roaming on FB for 2 months, even after nerf as this video shows, but hybrid/power build, not condi:

i use both build for roaming, solo or small scale, but i rarely small scale. Depends on my mud if i want go full melee or not. :)

@Lynnie.7213 said:

@Traveller.7496 said:

@Lynnie.7213 said:Roaming on FB for 2 months, even after nerf as this video shows, but hybrid/power build, not condi:

What about zealots armor/soldier trinkets/valk weapons? I think you get similar stats except for concentration. Haven't compared in detail. What are your thoughts on the importance of boon duration as a solo roamer in wvw? Is it more of a liability than a benefit?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAc8NA-jFhXwAOUCCQ5XIdDQV/BA-w

@Kaparzo.6821 said:

@Lynnie.7213 said:

@Traveller.7496 said:

@Lynnie.7213 said:Roaming on FB for 2 months, even after nerf as this video shows, but hybrid/power build, not condi:

That stats mix could work too, its all about what you feel comfortable with. Like myself, i like at least 17k hp and 2700 armor. Less than that and i am not happy. Just mix until you get what you are looking for.About boon duration, imo, its definitely a benefit. As solo roamer you don't have anyone to back you up, no heals, no boon sharing, so you gotta be self-suficient. So you either go for a full dmg burst build, kill fast and win the battle, or go for sustain, which you have to provide alone.With boon duration i got high uptime regeneration, protection and retaliation, and those are great for defense, also high might stacks that will make me end the fight faster. Only issue with boons is scourge, but that is just one spec out of many.

@Lynnie.7213 said:

That stats mix could work too, its all about what you feel comfortable with. Like myself, i like at least 17k hp and 2700 armor. Less than that and i am not happy. Just mix until you get what you are looking for.About boon duration, imo, its definitely a benefit. As solo roamer you don't have anyone to back you up, no heals, no boon sharing, so you gotta be self-suficient. So you either go for a full dmg burst build, kill fast and win the battle, or go for sustain, which you have to provide alone.With boon duration i got high uptime regeneration, protection and retaliation, and those are great for defense, also high might stacks that will make me end the fight faster. Only issue with boons is scourge, but that is just one spec out of many.

You've roamed as a Dragonhunter too recently, right? I'm still kinda learning what builds are effective and trying out a lot of different things. Both of your roaming videos are very impressive though.

For spvp core Radiance DPS using valks amulet with all medis is fine. Sure it has its weakenesses but its actually fairly strong against some of the meta builds like Mesmer. You won't beat a spell breaker 1v1 with it though unless you are just a flat out better player and Holo does better single target damage. I have no problem leading most matches in damage and kill blows though. I perfer Greatsword with sword and focus so I can keep absolute resolution trait over glacial heart plus I really like the leap, pull, and the damage from Whirling wrath and the symbol damage from GS.