Celestial Firebrand versus Carrion

[fourhim.3584]

I play very casual PVE only.  I don't do crafting, and I get my gear through game rewards, trading post or vendors only.  Right now I have Carrion gear (exotic) for my Firebrand.  If I purchased around 200 gold or so I could switch to full Celestial instead, which is all I hear recommended.

Would it make a noticeable difference in my survivability and damage?  Carrion is Condition Damage primary and then Power and Vitality as secondaries.  I definitely don't want to make the switch if I can anticipate dying more often.

Thanks for the advice.

[phandaria.4891]

Celestial gives good additional stat for survivability like healing. But whether it gives noticeable difference, I think it is less than what you think it will give you.

The idea is that Firebrand have the utilities to make use all of the stat more than other profession/specialization. But at the same time you need to slot in and use protection/healing skills. In this case you would sacrifice damage for survivability. It is not like if you equip Celestial gear, you will see increased performance in every domain at the same time.

I would suggest to aim for Celestial Ascended gear since you are currently in exotic. Wizard's Vault currently offers 1 weapon and 3 armor chest for Astral Acclaim.

Edited September 21, 2023 by phandaria.4891

[Buran.3796]

  Celestial is huge in OW PvE (and sometimes WvW) due offers a increse in 74.38% in stat points compared to 3 stat gear, so as long as your spec benefits for every stat is a ver strong choice for gear. How do works for Guardian? Well, the problem with Guardian is that in the Firebrand and Dragonhunter specs their traits don't allow you to buff at the same time dps and sustain, so you must chose. The strongest spec for Guardian balancing dps and sustain is Willbender, and yet the damage and sustain is a bit low compared to other celestial specs as Mirage (which has huge dps and good survability albeit is a bit risky) or Vindicator (which is massively tanky but a bit weak in dps).

  In general, celestial Firebrand is fabulous for OW since benefits for direct damage, condi damage for the burn procs, boon duration, armor and vitality. Since the array of tools is superb (stability and aegis on demand, projectile reflection, good cc tools, etc) celestial Firebrand melts regular PvE content with ease. You just NUKE foes: cc with axe or Heated Rebuke. Purging Flames + Scrocherd Aftermath & Ashes of the Just...  The only problem arrives if you're facing a hard foe as some Champs and Bounties, which usually you can't burst fast due the amount of HP...  Then the fight becomes an atrittion war, and you'll notice that your dps tools and sustain skills have a limited number of uses and sometimes your will burn (pun intended) your resources trying to survive dealing low damage or doing burst with decent damage but leaving your resources exhaust for a while...

   Would I recomend celestial stats for Firebrand? Yes! I run cele FB in OW and WvW, and I like it. But is not as powerfull as Renegade or Vindicator, IMO. I also run power (Marauder/Dragon) Willbender while roaming.

[cat.8975]

The best part of Cele FB for open world is how strong it becomes whenever other players show up. Doing 10-20k dps (depending on the encounter) while giving up to 4 other players quickness + 25 might + fury + various defensive/utility boons is just bonkers. If incoming damage starts to spike (bounty/rift torment fields come to mind), then you can just pull out the staff + resolve tome and pump heals + cleanses.

You're a walking force multiplier that also happens to do 10-15k solo dps. It's crazy good.

[Chyro.1462]

You'll have more boon duration and sustain while also getting some toughness and vitality. Definitely recommend Celestial over Carrion. Don't even need to slot anything special to take advantage of the boon and healing stats, since the firebrand tomes and traits offer a lot of sustain and boons that can take advantage of having all the stats. Not sure which set deals more damage, since Carrion gives more condi dmg but celestial makes up for it with also giving expertise (condi duration) which strongly affects how much condi dmg you deal on targets that don't instantly die.

I wouldn't recommend just straight up buying celestial from trading post though, 200g is very pricey for an exotic set. Since celestial is one of the core game stats, it can be selected from any stat-select exotic gear and you can get ascended rings, amulet and accessories for either laurels or season3/4 map currencies. For armor you can get the exotic Bladed Armor pieces from verdant brink (first HoT map) either from map currency vendor or as random drops if lucky. Also since the recent patch there's a new vendor in WvW that sells you stat-select exotics for very cheap if you're not disinclined to zerging around in WvW a bit (very low time investment to get full exotic of your stat choice, especially with WvW rush event active). A complete set of equipment with weapons + jewelry costs roughly 13g and 800 badges of honor (the wvw currency. check your currency wallet if you maybe already have some. my friend had like 1k despite never playing WvW, not sure where from) from the vendor in lion's arch behind the big fractal gate.

You can gradually swap out carrion pieces for celestial, or even save them as two gear templates if you wanna be able to switch between them. Or just gradually replace piece by piece as you aquire them. Either way, I really wouldn't recommend spending 200g on that (even if you buy the gold with gems) for stuff you can fairly easily aquire on your own.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Chyro.1462

[Solaries.9065]

200g is a lot to waste , it seems after the last update you can get any gear set from the wvw vendor for arround 1g per piece and somemarks

[Gaiawolf.8261]

2 hours ago, Chyro.1462 said:

You'll have more boon duration and sustain while also getting some toughness and vitality. Definitely recommend Celestial over Carrion. Don't even need to slot anything special to take advantage of the boon and healing stats, since the firebrand tomes and traits offer a lot of sustain and boons that can take advantage of having all the stats. Not sure which set deals more damage, since Carrion gives more condi dmg but celestial makes up for it with also giving expertise (condi duration) which strongly affects how much condi dmg you deal on targets that don't instantly die.

I wouldn't recommend just straight up buying celestial from trading post though, 200g is very pricey for an exotic set. Since celestial is one of the core game stats, it can be selected from any stat-select exotic gear and you can get ascended rings, amulet and accessories for either laurels or season3/4 map currencies. For armor you can get the exotic Bladed Armor pieces from verdant brink (first HoT map) either from map currency vendor or as random drops if lucky. Also since the recent patch there's a new vendor in WvW that sells you stat-select exotics for very cheap if you're not disinclined to zerging around in WvW a bit (very low time investment to get full exotic of your stat choice, especially with WvW rush event active). A complete set of equipment with weapons + jewelry costs roughly 13g and 800 badges of honor (the wvw currency. check your currency wallet if you maybe already have some. my friend had like 1k despite never playing WvW, not sure where from) from the vendor in lion's arch behind the big fractal gate.

You can gradually swap out carrion pieces for celestial, or even save them as two gear templates if you wanna be able to switch between them. Or just gradually replace piece by piece as you aquire them. Either way, I really wouldn't recommend spending 200g on that (even if you buy the gold with gems) for stuff you can fairly easily aquire on your own.

^

I was thinking of chiming in and recommending celestial gear for the extra utility, but this advice is spot on. Depending on your traits, healing power and precision can be great stats for more healing and special effect procs on crits, respectively. However, the bonuses to concentration and toughness are almost always exceptional for any OW FB build.

Now, if you want more damage and utility, and you don't have issues surviving with your current carrion stats, you can opt for ritualist gear instead of celestial gear. You will get better condition damage, the same boon duration buffs as celestial, and decent survival with high vitality (but no toughness, so it evens out as mid-grade survival gear).

Edited September 27, 2023 by Gaiawolf.8261

[Balsa.3951]

On 9/21/2023 at 11:35 AM, fourhim.3584 said:

I play very casual PVE only.  I don't do crafting, and I get my gear through game rewards, trading post or vendors only.  Right now I have Carrion gear (exotic) for my Firebrand.  If I purchased around 200 gold or so I could switch to full Celestial instead, which is all I hear recommended.

Would it make a noticeable difference in my survivability and damage?  Carrion is Condition Damage primary and then Power and Vitality as secondaries.  I definitely don't want to make the switch if I can anticipate dying more often.

Thanks for the advice.

focus on legendary. its a long time goal but u will get there

[yLoon.5289]

It totally depends on your play style, whether in your limited casual time, what do you do most?
is it WvW or PvE?
If you are into PvE Raid, yes Carrion/ Viper is good for you.
If you are into WvW, yes Celestial is good for you.
If you just solo every content of the game, any stats are fine.
Just spend your hard-earned gold where you feel the most comfortable.
 

Edited October 4, 2023 by yLoon.5289

[FalanuLachance.4576]

On 9/27/2023 at 4:39 PM, Chyro.1462 said:

 

I wouldn't recommend just straight up buying celestial from trading post though, 200g is very pricey for an exotic set. Since celestial is one of the core game stats, it can be selected from any stat-select exotic gear and you can get ascended rings, amulet and accessories for either laurels or season3/4 map currencies. For armor you can get the exotic Bladed Armor pieces from verdant brink (first HoT map) either from map currency vendor or as random drops if lucky. Also since the recent patch there's a new vendor in WvW that sells you stat-select exotics for very cheap if you're not disinclined to zerging around in WvW a bit (very low time investment to get full exotic of your stat choice, especially with WvW rush event active). A complete set of equipment with weapons + jewelry costs roughly 13g and 800 badges of honor (the wvw currency. check your currency wallet if you maybe already have some. my friend had like 1k despite never playing WvW, not sure where from) from the vendor in lion's arch behind the big fractal gate.

 

The Lunatic armour set is the reward for the Halloween event and very easy to get. It's stat-selectable!