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PDps quick firebrand


LordMorgul.9845

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It would seem as if the sharpening stone isn't as useful as others you could use. As far as I see, you have very little condition damage, and absolutely no expertise. You are also using weapons oriented toward condition damage with no strength into it.

I've used a power/support FB build before that was pretty fun in T1/2 fractals. I went with a few more mantras, especially in the heal and elite skill. I also used hammer/Scepter-focus, using harrier stats.

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@"LordMorgul.9845" said:after some try i can confirm is a kitten ;P better i stay dh

Or invest in stats that work with it. Without Concentration, a Quickness focused build can't maintain itself.... so at minimum, you'd need Boon duration runes. For Power gear, the only other reliable source of concentration is Commanders.

However, there are a bunch of problems with the concept..... Firebrand is designed as a support spec, and most of its offensive power comes from reflecting off other players. Even when geared for all offense, the spec's strongest asset is the Tomes... and the tomes are strongest in a group. Secondly, Firebrands are incredibly squishy without investment in defense stats or traits. This problem comes a quirk in their trait synergy where offense oriented have to get at least some sustain outside of Radiance/Zeal combo--- For Core guard this comes from Virtue- Absolute Resolution and Freedom in Utility choices. For Dragon Hunter, it comes from the Retooled Virtues and the huge healing amount of the Purification. A third option is Medi Guard or Medi DH when Pure power, which brings strong condition management and sustainable healing at the cost of Radiance's damage bonuses and Justice reset.

Because Firebrand's offensive Tome is Burn based, and the other tomes scale strongly on support stats, Firebrand has the ability to get really good mileage out of Hybrid stats like Scourge can. Justice Tome has insane amounts of burning, and you want at least half your damage to be burning/condi because it can scale off of a group where power can't. Axe also has 6 hits per chain, similar to Sword; both of which are designed to proc Justice's Passive at least once per chain, and triggers multiple times when cleaving multiple enemies. (This is why its considered a Condi weapon)

Having half your gear set be Vipers or Grieving with Durability or Leadership runes (for Boon Duration), will take advantage of Justice without having to invest in a full Viper's set. Ideally full vipers gives the best Burn damage output, but the squish factor when solo stands out, and burn damage needs a lot of upkeep to keep going. Because of you'll have to tank a few hits every fight, you either have to invest in Core Guard utilities or at least some defensive stats. But heres the thing...... Mantras are very strong if you can meter them out, but are weak if you try to use them in a bursty fashion. Core Guard utilities are the opposite- Strong in bursts but weak against more frequent/sustained pressure.

In high level fractals or raids, the defense gap is a non-issue since you're DPS spec. Though it should be noted in Raids you don't get the benefit of Justice Reset from Renewed Justice, so the ideal rotations having you mostly sitting in Auto attack between tome bursts.

If you're Open world or WvW, its possible to go full hybrid so you can seamlessly flow between various situations, without having to gear change constantly. Full Celestial or Half Celestial is extremely viable, as Firebrand can take full advantage of all the stats provided. Rune of Choice is Durability or Leadership for Boon Duration. If you WvW a lot, Durability is preferable. Choice of Sigils is open depending on what you do most often, but Smoldering/Malice is good for burn duration if you're weapons aren't already slotted with something else for another build. You may also consider Bounty Sigil for more concentration on the cheap; though quickness in these builds are more to support big bursts rather then maintained. In WvW I run Axe/Shield and Staff, and load the support sigils in a Minstrels staff (Energy/Transference), Smoldering on Vipers Axe. Shield I run Sigil of Life to build Healing power for WvW. Open world I go Axe/Torch Scepter/Shield. Malice Sigil on Viper Torch for mode compatibility. The scepter is just for Kiting, so you can just recycle the one you have from your Raid/Fractal build.

To do a cele build on a budget, I use WvW armor boxes for Exotic armor, and had cele and minstrel trinkets from previous builds. I swap between trinkets depending on what I'm doing; full Cele for Open world, and Minstrel Trinkets in WvW if the zerg needs a Support Firebrand. Full Cele in a zerg has descent surviability, but it adds a good amount of damage to the Front line. It also catches many Roamers off guard, since they're used to seeing Firebrands in full Minstrels (IE, no Damage). You can also use Zerk trinkets if you don't want to get a new set. just keep in mind it'll load your damage into the weapon's base damage, and you lose a lot of damage scaling since Permeating Wrath turns Justice's passive into an AOE burn (which triggers very frequently, up to 6 times per chain on Axe auto with cleave).

Open World: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAnfbn8ABFBjVCBOCDkCjlACLbI8gmQWBgHwbaPieR7oA-jBiAQBmS9H/t/we0wAQ9BA4JAgGlfr8EAAJlgkCIwBbA-e ( I honestly don't bother with food in open world) Quick note: You use quickness mantra on burst actions, as one of your traits increases CondiDmg/Healing/Toughness when you have quickness. You time it when you're dumping damage to max out burn stacks, and gain burn potency in the process.

WvW: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAneWnsADtCh9CBOCDkCjlHCbveuPDoZng5T9BLA0AySA-jhiAQB97IAaC6oyPAqHwUq/sgTAg/2fglKB7whAAAPAg9ohhUA+NzC-e (note the listed food is expensive, but the most common for healing builds; Cheaper food is still viable. If you run full Cele in WvW for the offense aspect, go with cheap condi damage or concentration consumables)

I've found the tomes to be insanely fun in Group events. Especially boss fights and Bountys, where Resolve and Courage tomes can carry the glassy builds through the rough parts of a fight. Cele also balances your defenses for Open world, with enough damage and toughness to take a few hits when fighting trash, but scales up well for Champ fights so you can tank the smaller hits, and save the dodges for the bigger attacks.

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If you wanted to do a power-based quickness fB for PvE, I'd go with something like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAR7fnsABFBjdBDGCBEEhl4BzqEkviU7v0ZaPtKA0AqXA-jBSBQBNVnwV2fUeAgnAgZVCiHNNT8iAEWlYUS9nAAHAnfem38gzP/8zP/8a+5nf+5nf+5nfepAiYZE-e

It'll probably parse at around ~24k dps (with the standard buffs people test with on the golem).

If you're doing content that only needs short bursts of quickness rather than sustained (dungeons, open world trash, basically anything that'll die within 10-15s), you can just drop the boon duration stuff and go for full zerk. In that case, replace the burn mantra with sword of justice, as the burst DPS (along with the fast vuln application) is very strong in a short fight.

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