Minstrel Firebrand in WvW and fractals

Lately, I've been looking to get into WvW. After browsing the forums I've found that scourges and support firebrands would be pretty desirable and simple enough to start learning the mode.I enjoy supporting in most games, so I've decided to focus on firebrand. However, I also want to do the occasional high level fractal and since constant stat changing would be incredibly expensive, my question is if I would be accepted as a support firebrand. I assume that the high health and armor which will allow me to "tank" + healing and boons would make me a welcome addition to a fractal group? Or are high level fractals full of "elitist" which will kick me if I am not a druid?

Also hammer or axe is better for supporting in general in WvW/PvP?

There is a sub forum for guardians, you may want to ask your question there.

I assume that the high health and armor which will allow me to "tank"

If you mean "tank" as in your ability to survive occasionally failing to avoid enemy attacks, then yes; if you, however, assume that enemies in Fractals will automatically fixate on you just because of your attributes, then you have misunderstood the game's systems.

support firebrands would be pretty desirable and simple enough to start learning the mode.

Support Firebrands in WvW are anything but "simple." Mistiming your Tomes drops you from a hero to zero. Mess up your positioning, or facing, and your Mantras reach none of your allies as you dive the enemy backlines. And most egregious of all, dropping your Symbol of Swiftness on top of your pre-fight stack will net you a swift kick in the bollocks.

...would make me a welcome addition to a fractal group? Or are high level fractals full of "elitist" which will kick me if I am not a druid?

I've healed my fair share of T4 PUGs with a variety of healer builds that are Druids. I don't get kicked often because I'm the one that sets up the LFG by clearly stating my role. If you decide to stubbornly ignore LFG descriptors and join a group that is specifically asking for a Druid, please don't go wailing about "elitist" communities.

In WvW and PvP going full healbot will be viable, especially if you know your role.

The problem with high level fractals is that damage is king. If you join on a minstrel character you essentially waste 20% of your party damage if the rest are half competent, and you would bring absolutely nothing to the table except some stress relief through boons. This is why druid is preferred because it gives you a little of both. The core of the issue is that when you lack the damage there is no way a single player can outheal that difference - ergo damage is king.

Axe is currently the strongest of the two, mostly for the pull. Hammer still decent, but incredibly slow. It's mostly used for it's blast finisher these days, and the fun of banishing downed players off of walls/cliffs.

I would suggest a minstrel Firebrand (not sure the PvP equivalent) for WvW and a dps Scourge for fractals (the bulk of their support comes from barriers which you get nonetheless with dps gear). How you play will far outweigh your individual build and gear choices. This way, atleast until the next expansion, you will have a secured spot in every group or mode.

@rng.1024 wrote:This is why druid is preferred because it gives you a little of both.

To clarify, the druid brings with them unique buffs that increase the party's damage output, namely their Spirits and Spotter. A support Firebrand simply replacing a Druid's role provides only healing, and possibly some Might; the majority of the Boons that a Firebrand can give is provided with more ease by a Chaos Chronomancer, which most high-tier Fractal groups run with.

@rng.1024 wrote:The core of the issue is that when you lack the damage there is no way a single player can outheal that difference - ergo damage is king.

This, however, is inaccurate. Most of the damage from Fractals are outhealed by a single (competent) healer, whether it's the small "explosions" from Astrariiv, the unique "poison" debuff in Old Tom's room, or Mai Trin's barrage of bleeds.

@Ojimaru.8970 said:

@rng.1024 wrote:This is why druid is preferred because it gives you a little of both.

@rng.1024 wrote:The core of the issue is that when you lack the damage there is no way a single player can outheal that difference - ergo damage is king.

Last I knew meta for Druid was Harrier. Which means it will hurt a little while still dishing out heals and giving might. My bad if this is not the case.

And the second part is a good point, but if like I said your party is half competent and they put a reflect on Old Tom, and dodges Mai Trin's barrage they are more than capable to heal themselves rendering you absolutely useless if you have no damage.

Don't believe that Minstrel's firebrand is easy to play. Scourge on the other hand...

If u want to make guardian its much better choice than Necro. First of all u will be able to play all hight end content (raids, fractals). Unfortunately not on the same build/ armor set. WWW is full minstrl- just as u said, for fractals/raids you will need berserker or viper. But hey! Thats not realy a problem, since u dont really need ascended armor for WWW (trinkets should be ascended).

In todays PvE meta there is almost no space for Necro- high fractals/ raid groups would probably kick you. It's also not the same armor for WWW and PvE, cause you need Celestial armor in WWW and Viper for PvE. On the other hand guardian is in meta for PvE but u are dps there.

To sum up go for Guardian, make berserker/viper ascended staff for PvE, and try to collect exotic minstrel for WWW (Triumphant Armor Reward Track). After you will reach T4, full raid clears its easy to make whatever armor you want.

@rng.1024 said:

@Ojimaru.8970 said:

@rng.1024 wrote:This is why druid is preferred because it gives you a little of both.

@rng.1024 wrote:The core of the issue is that when you lack the damage there is no way a single player can outheal that difference - ergo damage is king.

Again, inaccurate. Old Tom's projectiles cannot be reflected. Secondly I would love to see a T4 group run Mai Trin with no dedicated healer and taking "no damage."

.> @Ojimaru.8970 said:

@rng.1024 said:

@Ojimaru.8970 said:

@rng.1024 wrote:This is why druid is preferred because it gives you a little of both.

@rng.1024 wrote:The core of the issue is that when you lack the damage there is no way a single player can outheal that difference - ergo damage is king.

To be expected, haven't played fractals for over a year now. That being said, I ran t3 on a zerker thief no issue - stopped before I got enough agony resistance for t4. I could finish Mai Trin quite easily only taking minor hits, that's what stealth, invulns, teleports, evades and absorb skills are for.

So what if Old Tom can be reflected? If your party is just a tiny bit coordinated you can shut down the poison debuff instantly and cc him down right away if you have the damage.

Just because you are looking for flaws in my arguments doesn't mean they don't apply. Yeah sure in a suboptimal setting having a minstrel healer is great but if you want high end fractals why would you go for anything but damage? It will only slow your group down.

You are arguing having an experienced group of 4 dps'ers with a healer vs. a mix and match group. While I agree that the former is optimal - not knowing your teammates is a huge liability, as there is nothing that can compensate for lack of damage no matter how much you can potentially heal.

well if you don't wanna spend tons of gold on minstrels you can go with a nomad/cleric/magi combo to get good all around stats.

@rng.1024 said:

@Ojimaru.8970 said:

@rng.1024 wrote:This is why druid is preferred because it gives you a little of both.

@rng.1024 wrote:The core of the issue is that when you lack the damage there is no way a single player can outheal that difference - ergo damage is king.

Harrier's is used primarily so druids dont steal fixate from the tank on encounters where fixate is determined by toughness.

Most off healers can stack and maintain 25 might on 5 people, firebrand included.

@Teamkiller.4315 said:

@rng.1024 said:

@Ojimaru.8970 said:

@rng.1024 wrote:This is why druid is preferred because it gives you a little of both.

@rng.1024 wrote:The core of the issue is that when you lack the damage there is no way a single player can outheal that difference - ergo damage is king.

Yeah but ranger can do that + give other unique buffs + dish out respectable numbers so it simply contributes more to the party offense while being the dedicated healer.

@rng.1024 said:

@Teamkiller.4315 said:

@rng.1024 said:

@Ojimaru.8970 said:

@rng.1024 wrote:This is why druid is preferred because it gives you a little of both.

@rng.1024 wrote:The core of the issue is that when you lack the damage there is no way a single player can outheal that difference - ergo damage is king.

I was correcting his point about fb giving "some" might. Druid is hardly special in that regard since most lf the off healers can do it. The druid's advantage is as you mentioned unique offensive buffs, utility for most raid situations, and the most important facet: its buffs are applied to 10 people