Displaced Firebrand, advice appreciated (help me find a new class)

[LandofBacon.7150]

Sorry to make this my first post.

GW2 is my first mmo as I've never touched the genre and had no interest in them but I think this game studio is very special, at least for me.  Soooo many aspects of the game drew me in that I've stopped playing all other games since discovering GW2 in February of this year, I fully bought into everything, own all the content (and love it)

 

If possible, I would greatly appreciate suggestions for class alternatives to potentially help me transition to a different class/build. It would be helpful to avoid discussions on the shortcomings of my current condi build or pointing out that I'm a fool for boosting a build that died. I am fully aware of the consequences in those decisions and think that is enough punishment in itself

 

I've done a few hundred hours with thief, warrior, and engineer but when I discovered Firebrand I fell in love with it, mainly using the fire tome burning groups with the firebrand's flames, just SO fun!

 

I fully invested all my gold into him unlocking 5 extra bag slots and making him look unique but I started to notice things were not dying as much anymore, or at all when it came to veteran or elite npcs which now take too long to destroy to be considered enjoyable in my case

 

Due to being enamored with the game and playing it relentlessly, I was unaware of the recent changes (I know lol, please refrain from saying it because I sense your thoughts and you are correct).  I went through a brief period of confusion and desperation. I questioned what I was doing wrong and tried increasing my condi to 1850+ and even adding a signet on top of it hoping it would make me viable as a firebrand condi

 

It fell apart when doing fractals, strikes and other group content felt really really bad..so just for now I have decided to take a break from them while I search for a new role after I realized the changes had not only been implemented but even announced, some time ago

 

As a player with lower skill I find glass cannon DPS builds to be challenging and unsatisfying, but I cant express how much I enjoyed taking aggro, face-tanking, and healing through burning damage with my trailblazer loadout.  It made me feel relevant like I had an actual role to play

 

For the first time since I started playing I logged in today and just didnt know what to do or where to go 😞.. I sorta just sat in arborstone, stared at my gear and upgrades I had built up over the past few months and logged back out.   I did this a few times and decided it might be a good idea to reach out here with fellow players.  I can't invest more into my firebrand but I also can't get myself to delete my guardian yet.. maybe its the recent memories of how he was able to get me through all the content that was a part of my routine.. or the feeling of "yes, this is my class!!!!!" might still be too fresh

 

I hope this doesn't come off as being angry or anything because I just want to adapt so I can play everything comfortably again and maybe there's a class or build that is compatible with me which I just don't know about or cant see because I'm in this weird mental place w/ the game

 

Thanks so much for reading I did not intend for post length

[draxynnic.3719]

First... don't delete your guardian, especially if you've invested into bag slots! Changing your gear might go a long way, and if you want to stick to trailblazer, condi willbender is worth looking at. If you want to make sure you carry your weight in group content, though, you probably want to switch to mostly Viper's for DPS or something like Ritualist for a quickness support role. (Ritualist boosts your health by a lot so it avoids the glass feeling.) Even if you do switch, balance is a moving target, so it might come back around.

If you do want to switch, though, based on what it sounds like you enjoy, it might be worth looking at some revenant builds. Something like a quickness herald can provide a lot of value to the team, including boosting durability if running Jalis/Glint, and revenant currently has some of the best solo builds in the game.

[tAzz.8497]

That's life in mmo's when you get hit by a balance patch.

Your class now got the shorter stick, it had too much, ppl complained and here we are.

Considering you played heavy armor guardian and also tried warrior, the best would be to go out and try revenant.

This way you can just move the armor and hunt for a condi build for the new char . If you don't like revenant, try some reaper for low skill EZ damage.

 

I started on elementalist and now it just sits parked near a jp chest. Found mesmer to be my love, having good range, decent HP,  stealth, reflect, blink etc

Look a bit over the skills and think what you would like to play .... for example I do not like condi mesmer. I don't like the weapons for condi, the meta builds locking your utility skills etc and I like big numbers from power builds. lol @ mirage staff staff build, I would delete the game. But meh you wanna solo a champ, that ugly build can do it ez so keep that in mind.

On some bosses condi works better and a condi spec would pull more damage. So you have to choose what you like and what you loose etc

If you go open world, does it have a range weapon ? Do you like it ? Do you think you need one ? fast tag or some last second champ kill for daily.

For quality of life I like to have stun break, condi removal and blink . Are these important to you ? 

 

In the end I just decided to have all classes, that way I have all the options out there.

If I really wanted to move fast on a new char, move armor from ele to mesmer, to necro; from guardian to war, revenant; move armor from thief to ranger to engie.

Now I do not stare @ my main anymore 😁. From mesmer main, i wanted to try out the ez dmg from reaper.

So I made one, its full geared and when I want fast dps more than utility, like in COE for example I go reaper.

If I need to carry some new guys in Arah, I go mesmer. If I find a lfg to farm fractals, they want reaper or dragonhunter.

After so many years, I am ready to do no damage and just heal and buff ppl aka heal quick firebrand so I just geared one.

 

I am not saying you need to have them all, but it is nice to be able to swap char from time to time or for specific tasks.

For ex, if you need a gathering spree lets say for ascended stuff, mesmer thief engie and guardian does it best. key points, quickness, stealth or aegis. Gather all good nodes and never get in combat, that would be perfect.

 

In the end most classes will do the job, but how it does it and what you like should pick the winner.

Do a bit of research, loose a few days on it and pinpoint some victims for your new char 😄 GL

 

PS: and yes do not delete chars, even more the 1st main you had. Some 2 3 days char for test, yea you can delete those

 

 

[LandofBacon.7150]

Thanks so much for this 🤗

I won't delete him and I think I'm going to try the Rev!

 

I do enjoy group content but I run alone a lot,  sticking with groups in open world but quickly detaching once an event is over, like a single player experience but inside a living & shared world, the game feels like a technological marvel to me but I'll stop there to get back on topic

 

I'm going to create a new revenant and go through the story campaigns so I can learn it slowly a few talents at a time, same as I did with the other classes and then transfer all the ascended stuff over to him if it works out!

 

I really appreciate the starting point and I'm feeling optimistic to try and piece together something new that might fit the heavy armor close range combat style

 

Thx again for the replies!!

[Massimoni.9453]

You could perhaps have a look into Power Spellbreaker with Hammer. It is an incredibly strong build that is very easy and fluid to play and comes with many insanely strong advantages built right into the kit (like giga CC, self-stability and awesome sustain). It is my personal go-to since firebrand first had the fun and now the numbers sucked out of it.

The 0-kit/1-kit version of condition Mechanist may also be something to look into. Check the Hardstuck website for those builds if interested.

If you want to go a more supporty route or big DPS in more solo oriented scenarios maybe quickness Harbinger might do the trick for you. It deals almost the same DPS as the selfish pure DPS condi firebrand (even more if the firebrand decided to bring any utility) while offering many benefits, especially permanent quickness.

Otherwise you may look into things like Reaper or Herald but personally there is something about those specs I don't enjoy too much, maybe you do though.

There are also some LI weaver builds around with crazy  high benchmarks but those are most likely quite squishy and therefore won't really align too much with your expectations.

TLDR: There are quite a few builds around that you may like, however there is no way of telling in advance if they fill the void which the competitive death of firebrand created. Maybe have a look into the benchmark videos at first and see if there is something which might turn you off about the playstyle of the build. You can also just try the builds without getting pretty much any gear at all except the weapons (you can simply grab white weapons off of NPC vendors if needed). This way you can't check your final performance but you get a near-free initial idea if this is the path you want to pursue.

Final Note: Don't delete the guardian especially if you invested quite a few resources into it. At best it gets some uplift in the far future, at worst it may serve you as a storage character.

[Axelteas.7192]

It's typical in most MMOS, the devs decide to buff some classes and nerf others once in a while. I suggest you to get 2 sets of ascended armor, 1 for power builds and the other for condi builds. This way you can change your equipment between characters forever.

Dont delete firebrand since you can switch to willbender whick is powerful now.

[PleaseRelax.6251]

Dude, just play condi (or power) willbender, honestly.
They rock and haven't been totally bummed by the lastest patch (preview).