Some HB questions

[Lazerpaint.9852]

I have been playing HB and have been doing CM's lately and I ran into another HB with some other skills he uses in his build that contradict what I though i knew about the class....  In the firebrand skill tree he used "weighty Terms" and seem to burn his 3 mantras cds instantly for buffs then rely on pages and other skills. The way I have been playing is to almost never burn my 3rd mantra charge in case of emergencies and just sprinkle the buffs throughout the fight. Mainly mantra of Solace and Potence. Im hoping someone can explain the reasoning and what actually is most optimal. (depending on the fight of course).

[Gaiawolf.8261]

14 hours ago, Lazerpaint.9852 said:

I have been playing HB and have been doing CM's lately and I ran into another HB with some other skills he uses in his build that contradict what I though i knew about the class....  In the firebrand skill tree he used "weighty Terms" and seem to burn his 3 mantras cds instantly for buffs then rely on pages and other skills. The way I have been playing is to almost never burn my 3rd mantra charge in case of emergencies and just sprinkle the buffs throughout the fight. Mainly mantra of Solace and Potence. Im hoping someone can explain the reasoning and what actually is most optimal. (depending on the fight of course).

I'm not sure how the other player was managing it, but I spec Weighty Terms for support builds too. I burn through all charges of Potence, but only tap the first 2 charges of Solace every 8-9s. I almost never use the last charge of Solace unless we need the aegis now. I can keep quickness going 100% with a little room for error if any other quickness source is slotted (usually Feel My Wrath or Mantra of Liberation if needed). If I need Liberation, I swap Weighty Terms for Stalwart Speed.

Which specific setup I use most often comes down to stability and aegis, and sometimes cleanses and healing. Stand Your Ground is a good staple, but if I need more aegis, stability, or burst heals/cleanses, then things shift around with Advance, Liberation, Bow of Truth, Mantra of Lore, or other skills.

There is no one way to firebrand. It's a very versatile class that can provide support along with DPS in a few different ways, and several builds are viable depending on the group needs. This is generally due to the versatility of tome skills and their trait interactions, the generous ways it can supply quickness, and the variety of core guardian support and healing skills.

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by Gaiawolf.8261

[Riba.3271]

He is using Weighty Terms and Stoic Demeanor in combination to grant resistance and might around him. You definitely shouldn't use solace fully when running quickness on heal skill and run extra pages instead.

I use something similar in WvW without heal mantra. I use mantras fully quite often, but not always.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Riba.3271

[Kuya.6495]

I use legendary lore for extra boons on tomes (helps with perma regen and protection when not using mace. Also helps with might if you prefer not using staff 4 for might). I use potence on cooldown and keep 1 charge of solace for the aegis. 

 

I only really use weighty terms for condi fb and quickbrand and I only use 2 charges of flame and potence. Although based on what I read on the balance discord, you always take weighty terms on dps and quickbrand regardless of whether you use all mantra charges or not (I assume cause of extra pages from mantra use).

Edited May 9, 2023 by Kuya.6495

[Vidit.7108]

I keep the final charge of potence and solace at all times because the number 1 rule of pug healing is don't trust the other players to be where you want them. 

There sort of isn't an entirely optimal way to play when it comes to the mantra charges. If your alac is a willbender you might need feel my wrath for fury, which then means you always have more quickness to play with. Most dps alac provide the remaining amount of might you need so final charge of potence might not be necessary. If you run a couple pieces of celestial or full minstrels however much over roughly 70% boon/quick duration you are influences trait/skill choices more. If you always run FMW and Liberator's Vow then you need less boon duration overall. In that situation with full harrier and weighty terms it won't really matter very much how many charges you are using.