chad ranger vrgin warrior - a question about classes

[Erdem.6213]

so, i played most of time ranger(soulbeast) and guardian/dragonhunter, while playing with them i felt so strong on all pve pvp and wvw, when i tried new thing like firebrand and warrior, i was hitting hard powerfull but they felt so weak to me in pve i was melting so fast even there is like 2 or 3 mob, it kinda annoys me cuz i want to play something different. so what is wrong here? is that supposed to be like that (they weak)? or about build? maybe items? (i follow the builds from internet) any advice?

[draxynnic.3719]

Hrrrmn. I've never experienced firebrand to be weak in PvE - it is a bit more support-oriented and condition-oriented than dragonhunter, but power solo firebrand is definitely something that can work. Possibly more sensitive to bringing the right build to the right job than dragonhunter, but if you're following builds that are intended for the environment you're in, that shouldn't be a problem. Warrior is something I find often underperforms, but that could be personal inclination and not knowing its ins and outs as much - there are certainly people out there who do well with it and even proclaim it to be one of the easiest professions for PvE.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Well, Ranger has lots of protection access and warrior doesn't. The typical OWPVE warrior build for self survival is:

Greatsword + Mace/shieldSTR: bot-mid-midDEF: top-top-topWith your choice of third traitline, Tactics being the next tanky option but typically Discipline, Berserker, or Spellbreaker.

With Might Makes Right you get a large amount of healing and endurance over time, with Adrenal Health you get a large amount of healing over time after using your bursts.

[ASP.8093]

Firebrand's strengths are:• Tons of group buffs, including very good access to Quickness, Aegis, and Might, mostly available via insta-cast skills• Strong utility from Tomes• Powerful condi damage thanks to Axe and Tome (especially with the Radiance minor trait Renewed Justice)

If you're using Zerk or other Power-focused gear, a Firebrand is going to feel weaker than Dragonhunter or Core Gaurdian in solo play; the Fractal build does that because it's a way of getting moderately-strong burst DPS (during breakbar windows) while providing your group with some Aegis, Quickness, and Might.

For personal damage, you're probably better off using the condi (really hybrid — Viper's/Grieving gives you Power and some Precision/Ferocity as well as Condition Damage and Expertise) build instead. This version takes advantage of the fact that Renewed Justice (Radiance minor trait) will reset your Tome 1 cooldowns, allowing you to quickly cluster up and burn down enemies; the build offers reasonably sustained DPS, which is kinda lacking in burstier Power guard specs. You're still kinda fragile but you can get great value out of using the Aegis mantra to soak big attacks. Axe is also a good hybrid condi-damage weapon; try to make sure you're not interrupting your auto-attack chain too often because the third hit is very strong.

With both styles of DPS/support Firebrand specs, read your Tome skills very carefully — you've basically got 15 extra utilities, some of which are highly spammable even though the tome itself is on a long cooldown! In particular, when bad stuff is happening, ask yourself, "Could I cancel this out completely by popping my Tome 3?" It's got a long cooldown but you can use it to block projectiles, apply Stability and Resistance, get some extra CC on bosses, &c.

The other thing you can do with Firebrand is a Healbrand spec with Harrier (or Minstrel, or possibly even Plaguedoctor) gear for group content. Your personal damage will be miniscule but you can spam out tons of offensive and defensive buffs on the whole party, and mitigate incoming damage (including some that other healer specs can't actually heal through!) for days.

[RedShark.9548]

Maybe because you let your pet do all the tanking work you havent learned how to survive without it?

[draxynnic.3719]

@RedShark.9548 said:Maybe because you let your pet do all the tanking work you havent learned how to survive without it?

Dragonhunter doesn't have a pet, and if the OP mostly plays ranger on soulbeast, it's probably reasonable to presume that the pet isn't out all the time.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

For Firebrand specifically, there's an immortal burning build using perma-Protection (from Hammer and/or skills) and the %damage reduction signet. Its not used much in PvE because being glassy tends to be better, but if you're struggling its good.

Warrior needs to skill into healing traits, like Adreanal Health, Might Makes Right, or even HealShouts.

[AliamRationem.5172]

@Erdem.6213 said:so, i played most of time ranger(soulbeast) and guardian/dragonhunter, while playing with them i felt so strong on all pve pvp and wvw, when i tried new thing like firebrand and warrior, i was hitting hard powerfull but they felt so weak to me in pve i was melting so fast even there is like 2 or 3 mob, it kinda annoys me cuz i want to play something different. so what is wrong here? is that supposed to be like that (they weak)? or about build? maybe items? (i follow the builds from internet) any advice?

Having the right build and knowing how to use it make a huge difference. I always feel this way when trying a new class or build. In fact, I gave up on learning the class several times with weaver. It just felt weak, like I was feeling pressured even against things that should be easy and the rotation wasn't making sense to me. More or less the same experience you're having, by the sound of it.

Despite that, I did eventually learn weaver and now that I'm very comfortable with it and have developed a build that works for me I can do almost anything with it! Unfortunately, I don't know warrior very well so I can't give you specific advice to help you with that. But I think you should be able to find something that works for you. Just try not to get discouraged when switching from a class you're very comfortable with to one you're new to. I think it's pretty normal to struggle in that scenario.