Is there an overall (open world, fractals and possibly raids) build for firebrand? Or does anyone have suggestions?

[Sire Dragon.4157]

I am finally getting into ascended gear and before doing anything i'd regret spending gold or ressources on, I would like to know if there was an overall build, or if anyone had any suggestions for a build that could cover open world and fractals, I'd also like to get started in raids.

I first thought about mixing sinister and viper, but i'd also like a bit of survability. I read that a complete celestial build is not at all recommended for fractals nor raids.

If anyone has any suggestions, or is sporting such a build, hit me up 🙂 

[Puck.3697]

Aah yes cele will force you into a tank role. 

Which you can do but if not intending viper is the other choice. 

Trailblazer is the best solo build but not good in group content. When trying to do both with 1 build it can be complicated due to this. 

https://hardstuck.gg/gw2/builds/guardian/condition-firebrand-r26/

Is the solo Condi FB build. 

But in fractals Condi FB would want viper accessories. 

So quickness Condi FB maybe the other choice 

It'd require you to carry less secondary pieces and you can use the flexible build for quickness condition firebrand in fractals until you got 2 sets of accessories. 

https://hardstuck.gg/gw2/builds/guardian/condition-quickness-firebrand-r29/

It's the best I could maybe see working unless you carry 2 sets entirely 

Trailblazer / celestial in solo, and vipers for group PvE 

Accessories tend to be easier to get as alot of content offers them quicker then armour / weapons. 

Alot of the living world seasons sell them for currencies, PvP and fractals both offer them with easy access to stat changing with the cartridge items which reset them. 

Plaguedoctor adds additional self healing. But won't do much for the low hp you will carry naturally as a guardian. 

Firebrand has very good access to aegis though so maybe practice keeping aegis up as much as possible will go in hand with soloing well with it. 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Daddy.8125

[MrTJpwnz.4710]

I wanna start of by saying that changes to firebrand have been announced for when the xpac launches on reddit somewhere (don't know the changes yet), so things can change on monday when it releases. In general for raids you want to stay away from thoughness cause of tanking.

 

The best DPS setup for solo gameplay/ open world would be this (ideally you'd want to swap the bursting sigil on axe/torch to sigil of strength for ~+100dps but this way its the same sigils for instanced gameplay):

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PWABc+t/lRw6YPMEGJO+KaPdA-zRRYfBxbG9cDFSlRQuFQHpgDHkgYP8WC8sC-e

 

And is very similar gear wise to the DPS raid build for firebrand, difference being different food, and a sinister amulet instead of a viper amulet, not having the sinister amulet will be a small dps loss for when you are raiding, but nothing major. You do have to swap traits and skills around though for instanced content. Link for instanced content setup here:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PWABc+t/lRw6YVMI2IW0WfveA-zRRYfB1bG9cCFSlRQuFQHpgDHkgYP8W49sC-e

 

If you want more survivability you might want to consider Ritualist gear set that comes with the new expansion (replace all viper pieces with Ritualist pieces), which gives you a good amount of vitality resulting in ~6k more health. Obviously bit lower dps but you also gain some boon duration which allows for perma quickness, in both solo gameplay or in group gameplay.

 

Again alot of things can change by monday, so I'd probably suggest waiting tho I don't think the gear will change, probably just traits/skills, maybe things stay the same and its just a straight up nerf

[Asum.4960]

Unfortunately FB isn't in a fantastic spot solo content wise, and fairly gear set intensive for various roles/content. 

Since the Zeal nerfs it's pretty rough to get Might, Vuln as well as reasonable sustain and DPS under one banner.

 

This works fairly well as a decent solo/OW build which scales incredibly with groups, and would therefor also serve you well for getting into Fractals and carrying beginner groups - providing group buffs (Might, Fury, Quickness, Regen, etc.), utility, cleanses, pulls, as well as decent healing and CC. 

 

But it's not what you would want to bring for more hardcore Fractal groups nor Raiding in general (unless, with some changes, if you wish to tank) - and unfortunately there isn't a one size fits all there.  

From OW/solo, to condi FB, to Fractal Quickbrand, Raid Quickbrand, Heal Firebrand, etc., all, more or less, require different gear and build setups. 

 

For Meta options you can consult Discretize for Fractals and Snowcrows for Raids. 

 

/E:

As @MrTJpwnz.4710 mentioned, you might want to hold off on FB gearing until after EoD though, considering the announced nerfs for it.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Asum.4960

[Infusion.7149]

The correct answer is to wait for the EOD nerfs before committing to a gear set you don't have already. Only 5 days.

[Puck.3697]

7 hours ago, Infusion.7149 said:

The correct answer is to wait for the EOD nerfs before committing to a gear set you don't have already. Only 5 days.

that is true.. although i struggle to see how it'll hit guardian meta.

Willbender Just doesnt seem in good enough position to really become wanted, but maybe anet will prove me wrong.

[MrTJpwnz.4710]

8 hours ago, Daddy.8125 said:

that is true.. although i struggle to see how it'll hit guardian meta.

From reddit from an Anet dev, the changes to firebrand might change things up a bit

[Puck.3697]

Just now, MrTJpwnz.4710 said:

From reddit from an Anet dev, the changes to firebrand might change things up a bit

the problem isnt firebrands current position to why willbender doesnt look strong.

Willbender is going to be Glassy (I.E Not open world friendly) due to its Lower access to things like Aegis its going to get hit more as a guardian with 11k HP.

Willbender Will naturally just have less DPS then DH while DH has more Survivability buitl in via Wings / Aegis.

Alacrity is a Absolute terror to try upkeep with and it isnt built for 100% Uptime making it the worst Alacrity option avaliable.

Unless some extreme changes happened, Willbender in itself wont be strong enough realistically, i hope its not the case, it was actually ALOT Of fun to play.. but yeah theres some severe changes needed.. and with Alot of its problems coming from core and the Current Specc changes / larger mechanical changes delayed til summer. i think we'll be waiting on summer launch to determine this.

on the bright side tho... Willbender will likely use a similar set up to DH. so if u have a DH build ur prolly not far off.

[MrTJpwnz.4710]

2 minutes ago, Daddy.8125 said:

the problem isnt firebrands current position to why willbender doesnt look strong.

Willbender is going to be Glassy (I.E Not open world friendly) due to its Lower access to things like Aegis its going to get hit more as a guardian with 11k HP.

Willbender Will naturally just have less DPS then DH while DH has more Survivability buitl in via Wings / Aegis.

Alacrity is a Absolute terror to try upkeep with and it isnt built for 100% Uptime making it the worst Alacrity option avaliable.

Unless some extreme changes happened, Willbender in itself wont be strong enough realistically, i hope its not the case, it was actually ALOT Of fun to play.. but yeah theres some severe changes needed.. and with Alot of its problems coming from core and the Current Specc changes / larger mechanical changes delayed til summer. i think we'll be waiting on summer launch to determine this.

on the bright side tho... Willbender will likely use a similar set up to DH. so if u have a DH build ur prolly not far off.

Oh yeah Willbender is probably straight up worse in survivability and damage compared to condi firebrand. But to be fair the post is about firebrand, so didn't really consider willbender. Haven't tried Willbender in open world, wondering how good it is in terms of surviving, you got evade on F2 + decent heal every 5 hits  when it is active, might not be too bad tbh.

[Puck.3697]

12 minutes ago, MrTJpwnz.4710 said:

Oh yeah Willbender is probably straight up worse in survivability and damage compared to condi firebrand. But to be fair the post is about firebrand, so didn't really consider willbender. Haven't tried Willbender in open world, wondering how good it is in terms of surviving, you got evade on F2 + decent heal every 5 hits  when it is active, might not be too bad tbh.

Guess really will depend on the size of the nerf. i cant see it being enough.

Strike wise everything dropping to 5 man is a buff to firebrand indirectly, ontop of that monoply on both Aegis and Stab is always big, but we never know i guess devs may suprise us with some large impactful nerfs overall.

Saving ascended and sticking to a exotic build maybe the best option til launch on the off chance ofcourse unless in a Position to make multiple Ascended sets. i just finished crafting both a Power and condi set im working on a Celestial set now xD so i should be oki with either option. i havent found guardian to be amazing at soloing that powerful in either way though.

so willbender does stand potiental there. although i will say, I think its going to be REALLY hard to get a guard build usiing 1 set of armour thats good in all content. i primarily say this based on the fact guardian speccs tend to be Ultra Squishy when actually taking damage. which means it generally needs to extra survivability set up for solo play and it wont overlap.

unless ur playing Tank FB and running Celestial effectively.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Daddy.8125