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What is your Firebrand build?

Cave Rock.4869

By Cave Rock.4869
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Cave Rock.4869

Cave Rock.4869

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@Cuddy.6247 said:With the Balthazar outfit breathing life into my dream of fire and fury, I concocted this for future use:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQFARlsAhShYzQwaIQQELBE2eE9i2RzGCPoJkVA4B8mA-jxhAQBrVJIXV/BaPAApqDAG7PYWlfA4CAAA-e

Basic principle is simple - use Tome of Justice. Hit things with greatsword when Tome of Justice is unavailable.

Thanks heaps once again for the post Cuddy it made me smile... Your inner Balthazar is coming out lol :) You just want to burn em all!I will check out your build and probably still keep on laughing as i think about how your probably in game villainously saying monologues as you take out your enemies by turning em all crispy :)

Yep i was right it did make me smile :) Cheers from Cave Rock and Bluevoltron42.

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Cuddy.6247

Cuddy.6247

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@Cave Rock.4869 said:

@Cuddy.6247 said:With the Balthazar outfit breathing life into my dream of fire and fury, I concocted this for future use:

Basic principle is simple - use Tome of Justice. Hit things with greatsword when Tome of Justice is unavailable.

Thanks heaps once again for the post Cuddy it made me smile... Your inner Balthazar is coming out lol :) You just want to burn em all!I will check out your build and probably still keep on laughing as i think about how your probably in game villainously saying monologues as you take out your enemies by turning em all crispy :)

Yep i was right it did make me smile :) Cheers from Cave Rock and Bluevoltron42.

Haha, thanks!

I now have two guardians. My dragonhunter does it a bit better than my firebrand but firebrand works well enough (I'm waiting desperately for Griever to replace Sinister right now). I love making them Balthazar. Condi warrior would be fun as well but I can't really get into warrior. I just really like guardian in general.

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stone cold.8609

stone cold.8609

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@Cave Rock.4869 said:

@"stone cold.8609" said:Hey phor! You are right. I just had some Marauder's stats ammy and rings in my inventory so used them and didn't pay attention to the crit chance of the build with them added. Valkyrie's or a mix with Maurader's would be better because you don't need much precision from gear in this build. I updated my build link above.

Cave Rock - if you try it let me know how it goes! I may give it a try as well.

I have added some extra pieces to your build. I wonder if it would be the same as you intended Stone Cold... Our would Maurader's be better? Cheers for the ideas from Cave Rock and Bluevoltron42.

Hey Cave Rock - that's the idea. Essentially, as long as you have high uptime on retaliation, you will only need 35% crit chance to reach the cap. Therefore any extra crit chance from gear, like precision stat, is just wasted and would be better spent on another stat like health, toughness, healing, etc. It gives you a lot of flexibility with the build, while keeping very good damage. I opted to keep the ferocity high to maximize the direct damage and buff up the health pool in my build.

I tried out the hammer and it worked ok, but I had a harder time keeping up the retaliation with it. I prefer, GS, Sword/Shield, and Scepter/Shield over it in this build.

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Halbarz.3854

Halbarz.3854

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Hi All,

I am rather new the guardian class, been a ranger since launch but would love to try out the class.My focus is WvW and Fractals and I was wondering if the build (link below) would be good for this.The hammer has been my favorite weapon + mace and shield.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAS5ensADFBjtCBGCBEEhlBCDLDsduB7L0IaG1KAUtaTA-jRSBQBVTpBAeCAmRJ4EvIANV3wVV/JZKD23+DXRJGpA+alF-e

Could you folks give some feedback please? I would really appreciate it :)

Thank you in advance <3

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Cuddy.6247

Cuddy.6247

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@Halbarz.3854 said:Hi All,

I am rather new the guardian class, been a ranger since launch but would love to try out the class.My focus is WvW and Fractals and I was wondering if the build (link below) would be good for this.The hammer has been my favorite weapon + mace and shield.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAS5ensADFBjtCBGCBEEhlBCDLDsduB7L0IaG1KAUtaTA-jRSBQBVTpBAeCAmRJ4EvIANV3wVV/JZKD23+DXRJGpA+alF-e

Could you folks give some feedback please? I would really appreciate it :)

Thank you in advance <3

I wouldn't, but it's up to you. Would be okay in the thick of WvW but not ideal for frontline. In Fractals I wouldn't recommend it at all.

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Kichwas.7152

Kichwas.7152

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I'm now running this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVEQRAnf7fnsADdBjFBDOCDkCjl4B7qGEDOCVBgtU9avleT7pA-jBlAQBA4AEcBlgdZ9BPcgA+iyAEqyRPUDYFaDwnOAaohYPaEWgJFmo0TAnEgBcEAkhGkGYqwBmgomqI2cDgAAHAMdAAA-e

The knight's accessories are holdovers from my old build - and I lack the funds to put viper there, so leaving it as is for the time being. Might go unlock the area with a sinister accessories karma vendor and see what that has.

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Halbarz.3854

Halbarz.3854

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@Cuddy.6247 said:

@Halbarz.3854 said:Hi All,

I am rather new the guardian class, been a ranger since launch but would love to try out the class.My focus is WvW and Fractals and I was wondering if the build (link below) would be good for this.The hammer has been my favorite weapon + mace and shield.

Could you folks give some feedback please? I would really appreciate it :)

Thank you in advance <3

I wouldn't, but it's up to you. Would be okay in the thick of WvW but not ideal for frontline. In Fractals I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Thank you for your input.Making ranger builds is way easier :smile: Would anyone be able to give some pointers on what to change or just in general wat to go for if the build i posted is kinda all over the place?

The Idea behind the build was:

  • Keep boons up
  • Ok damage
  • okish HP pool
  • with some ok healing to keep myself up and help out a group of players.

Maybe I want to many thing in one build, which might be a mistake or I just made the wrong build for it hihi :dizzy:Any help is more then welcome <3

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Cave Rock.4869

Cave Rock.4869

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@Lazeris.1725 said:Hi guys,I'm setting up a Condi-Roaming group with some friends (Scourge, Mesmer, 2 Revs and a Firebrand) What do you all recommend for a Wvw Condi-firebrand?

Hey Lazeris, with the group you described I would actually be the anti condition player in your team. Main reason being is you only basically have one damaging condi to apply, burning. The bleeds are basically nothing in my opinion. If you can manage to keep alive the multi condition stackers like the Scourge, Mesmer and Revenant then your group will always win.

So basically I personally like to play a build that turns conditions into boons or condition cleanses. Stacks might. Great rezzer when needed. If your group is wise and uses the resistance fields you offer, it can almost mean perma Resistance for your group and definitely your Revenant friends. Permanent swiftness and stability also to help stomp the downed players. Trust me it is great in a group setting.

Just have another dps suit for when you solo, which if you play mostly with friends is hardly never. Cheers for the post from Cave Rock and Bluevoltron42.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNApeWl8AhWhY/OwUIwPELLE2e/cgmQxuAVgSwVA4BMAA-j1xHQBwT9HH+kCAwpUQc7PAQlfgTfzDVCGAAB4n9Zf+z85P/5P/zf+zf+zf2195P/5P/5P/5P/5PLFwXr0A-w

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Cuddy.6247

Cuddy.6247

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@Halbarz.3854 said:

@Cuddy.6247 said:

@Halbarz.3854 said:Hi All,

I am rather new the guardian class, been a ranger since launch but would love to try out the class.My focus is WvW and Fractals and I was wondering if the build (link below) would be good for this.The hammer has been my favorite weapon + mace and shield.

Could you folks give some feedback please? I would really appreciate it :)

Thank you in advance <3

I wouldn't, but it's up to you. Would be okay in the thick of WvW but not ideal for frontline. In Fractals I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Thank you for your input.Making ranger builds is way easier :smile: Would anyone be able to give some pointers on what to change or just in general wat to go for if the build i posted is kinda all over the place?

The Idea behind the build was:
  • Keep boons up
  • Ok damage
  • okish HP pool
  • with some ok healing to keep myself up and help out a group of players.

Maybe I want to many thing in one build, which might be a mistake or I just made the wrong build for it hihi :dizzy:Any help is more then welcome <3

Well for WvW I'd start with diving into celestial or wanderer (pvt + concentration), rune choice can be mercy (good for rezzing the dps) or durability for your own survival. Their healing is subpar, I wouldn't honestly recommend a healing guard in WvW over just making a minstrel druid. You'll want to pay attention to commander calls and use ring of warding and mighty blow when called on for rings or big bombs. "SYG!" is also used for stab when the commander calls for stab.

In Fractals I'm honestly more inclined to say just use a zerker dragonhunter.

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Cave Rock.4869

Cave Rock.4869

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@Halbarz.3854 said:

@Cuddy.6247 said:

@Halbarz.3854 said:Hi All,

I am rather new the guardian class, been a ranger since launch but would love to try out the class.My focus is WvW and Fractals and I was wondering if the build (link below) would be good for this.The hammer has been my favorite weapon + mace and shield.

Could you folks give some feedback please? I would really appreciate it :)

Thank you in advance <3

I wouldn't, but it's up to you. Would be okay in the thick of WvW but not ideal for frontline. In Fractals I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Thank you for your input.Making ranger builds is way easier :smile: Would anyone be able to give some pointers on what to change or just in general wat to go for if the build i posted is kinda all over the place?

The Idea behind the build was:
  • Keep boons up
  • Ok damage
  • okish HP pool
  • with some ok healing to keep myself up and help out a group of players.

Maybe I want to many thing in one build, which might be a mistake or I just made the wrong build for it hihi :dizzy:Any help is more then welcome <3

Yo Halbarz, my apologies it took a little while to get back into the forums to help you out. This is what i really like to do. Now lets get started breaking down what your build offers and can be improved upon.

It offers decent boons, damage and health pools. It would be a great hammer PvE build for fractals for sure, but may not meet the raid benchmarks requirements for being in the meta. That you would need to check on QTFY.eu.

Now with regards to WvW you will definitely need a different suit. Why you might ask? Low toughness is perhaps the biggest issue. Plus a health pool of 16k will not give you enough time to react and setup your symbol healing for yourself and others. Also symbols only work if your in a coordinated group that actually uses them to their advantage.

Additionally you severely lack enough condition cleanses or healing give to be considered a great supporter of the party or squad. See mostly these days WvW is a matter of who can manage the best condition damage versus cleansing and countering that playstyle. Power damage tends to be more predictable and easily managed or avoided.

Just to finish on a positive it would be fun to use the hammer again atleast in one game type such as fractals. The protection and quickness uptime should make boss encounters easier and also faster. People have had great success in the past with hammer quickness builds in dungeons so I see no reason why it wouldn't work for fractals these day especially with the new Firebrand elite. Bare in mind at one point there was an issue with the hammer doing too much damage in those scenarios but it was fixed.

Cheers for the build, I believe it is the first I have seen using harrier stat gear. Many thanks from Cave Rock and Bluevoltron42. P.S. I am glad your friends sent you to me for help, I hope it helped to save some gold or time. Perhaps my reply might even inspire you to try out the build or Firebrand in the Fractals of the Mist. Trust me stick with the Firebrand you will really enjoy playing it, I do thats for sure.

If you have no success with that type of support try out a tempest I hear that they work great for fractals. Also they are still great for WvW, as my buddy Niraka still does incredibly well.

Later on Halbarz goodluck and keep at it!

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Halbarz.3854

Halbarz.3854

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@Cave Rock.4869 said:

@Halbarz.3854 said:

@Cuddy.6247 said:

@Halbarz.3854 said:Hi All,

I am rather new the guardian class, been a ranger since launch but would love to try out the class.My focus is WvW and Fractals and I was wondering if the build (link below) would be good for this.The hammer has been my favorite weapon + mace and shield.

Could you folks give some feedback please? I would really appreciate it :)

Thank you in advance <3

I wouldn't, but it's up to you. Would be okay in the thick of WvW but not ideal for frontline. In Fractals I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Thank you for your input.Making ranger builds is way easier :smile: Would anyone be able to give some pointers on what to change or just in general wat to go for if the build i posted is kinda all over the place?

The Idea behind the build was:
  • Keep boons up
  • Ok damage
  • okish HP pool
  • with some ok healing to keep myself up and help out a group of players.

Maybe I want to many thing in one build, which might be a mistake or I just made the wrong build for it hihi :dizzy:Any help is more then welcome <3

Yo Halbarz, my apologies it took a little while to get back into the forums to help you out. This is what i really like to do. Now lets get started breaking down what your build offers and can be improved upon.

It offers decent boons, damage and health pools. It would be a great hammer PvE build for fractals for sure, but may not meet the raid benchmarks requirements for being in the meta. That you would need to check on QTFY.eu.

Now with regards to WvW you will definitely need a different suit. Why you might ask? Low toughness is perhaps the biggest issue. Plus a health pool of 16k will not give you enough time to react and setup your symbol healing for yourself and others. Also symbols only work if your in a coordinated group that actually uses them to their advantage.

Additionally you severely lack enough condition cleanses or healing give to be considered a great supporter of the party or squad. See mostly these days WvW is a matter of who can manage the best condition damage versus cleansing and countering that playstyle. Power damage tends to be more predictable and easily managed or avoided.

Just to finish on a positive it would be fun to use the hammer again atleast in one game type such as fractals. The protection and quickness uptime should make boss encounters easier and also faster. People have had great success in the past with hammer quickness builds in dungeons so I see no reason why it wouldn't work for fractals these day especially with the new Firebrand elite. Bare in mind at one point there was an issue with the hammer doing too much damage in those scenarios but it was fixed.

Cheers for the build, I believe it is the first I have seen using harrier stat gear. Many thanks from Cave Rock and Bluevoltron42. P.S. I am glad your friends sent you to me for help, I hope it helped to save some gold or time. Perhaps my reply might even inspire you to try out the build or Firebrand in the Fractals of the Mist. Trust me stick with the Firebrand you will really enjoy playing it, I do thats for sure.

If you have no success with that type of support try out a tempest I hear that they work great for fractals. Also they are still great for WvW, as my buddy Niraka still does incredibly well.

Later on Halbarz goodluck and keep at it!

Dear Cave Rock & Bluevoltron,

Thank you so much for your help with this. I will focus on the fractal part first as it is also a good way to get some gold and might even get some other ascended pieces to then get a WvW build. I saw several builds with Minstrel gear for WvW so will give that a try as well. As middle class citizen in Tyria we got to prioritize :smiley: :sweat_smile:I saved this page to be sure I know what to watch out for when creating my WvW setup :smiley:

Again thank you for your help :)Ps: Make a youtube channel to talk about builds :D

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Cave Rock.4869

Cave Rock.4869

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@Halbarz.3854 said:

@Halbarz.3854 said:

@Cuddy.6247 said:

@Halbarz.3854 said:Hi All,

I am rather new the guardian class, been a ranger since launch but would love to try out the class.My focus is WvW and Fractals and I was wondering if the build (link below) would be good for this.The hammer has been my favorite weapon + mace and shield.

Could you folks give some feedback please? I would really appreciate it :)

Thank you in advance <3

I wouldn't, but it's up to you. Would be okay in the thick of WvW but not ideal for frontline. In Fractals I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Thank you for your input.Making ranger builds is way easier :smile: Would anyone be able to give some pointers on what to change or just in general wat to go for if the build i posted is kinda all over the place?

The Idea behind the build was:
  • Keep boons up
  • Ok damage
  • okish HP pool
  • with some ok healing to keep myself up and help out a group of players.

Maybe I want to many thing in one build, which might be a mistake or I just made the wrong build for it hihi :dizzy:Any help is more then welcome <3

Yo Halbarz, my apologies it took a little while to get back into the forums to help you out. This is what i really like to do. Now lets get started breaking down what your build offers and can be improved upon.

It offers decent boons, damage and health pools. It would be a great hammer PvE build for fractals for sure, but may not meet the raid benchmarks requirements for being in the meta. That you would need to check on QTFY.eu.

Now with regards to WvW you will definitely need a different suit. Why you might ask? Low toughness is perhaps the biggest issue. Plus a health pool of 16k will not give you enough time to react and setup your symbol healing for yourself and others. Also symbols only work if your in a coordinated group that actually uses them to their advantage.

Additionally you severely lack enough condition cleanses or healing give to be considered a great supporter of the party or squad. See mostly these days WvW is a matter of who can manage the best condition damage versus cleansing and countering that playstyle. Power damage tends to be more predictable and easily managed or avoided.

Just to finish on a positive it would be fun to use the hammer again atleast in one game type such as fractals. The protection and quickness uptime should make boss encounters easier and also faster. People have had great success in the past with hammer quickness builds in dungeons so I see no reason why it wouldn't work for fractals these day especially with the new Firebrand elite. Bare in mind at one point there was an issue with the hammer doing too much damage in those scenarios but it was fixed.

Cheers for the build, I believe it is the first I have seen using harrier stat gear. Many thanks from Cave Rock and Bluevoltron42. P.S. I am glad your friends sent you to me for help, I hope it helped to save some gold or time. Perhaps my reply might even inspire you to try out the build or Firebrand in the Fractals of the Mist. Trust me stick with the Firebrand you will really enjoy playing it, I do thats for sure.

If you have no success with that type of support try out a tempest I hear that they work great for fractals. Also they are still great for WvW, as my buddy Niraka still does incredibly well.

Later on Halbarz goodluck and keep at it!

Dear Cave Rock & Bluevoltron,

Thank you so much for your help with this. I will focus on the fractal part first as it is also a good way to get some gold and might even get some other ascended pieces to then get a WvW build. I saw several builds with Minstrel gear for WvW so will give that a try as well. As middle class citizen in Tyria we got to prioritize :smiley: :sweat_smile:I saved this page to be sure I know what to watch out for when creating my WvW setup :smiley:

Again thank you for your help :)Ps: Make a youtube channel to talk about builds :D

Hey again Halbarz, I have played since Guild Wars 1 and then the launch of Guild Wars 2. I still considered myself part of the lower to middle class aswell. Perhaps because of my nature to craft or make the perfect build for my playstyle. That has set me back in the gold level and currently I have about 10g. All because I recently crafted and made an ascended magi's healing suit for my Firebrand. I did that because it kinda works out well in SPvP but not so much in WvW. That's the way I roll. I do extensive theorycrafting and once I am content that I have min/maxed the best possible option then I usually set out to make it. Even if it costs my character an arm or leg to get there in the end. Lol sometimes even an eye or a kidney on the black market. :) Usually I end up emptying the entire collections tab just so I can port around once again after making my new suit.

Anyways enough of my antics, you probably know what I mean though right. Us poor folk gotta stick together and help each other out right.

P.S. Halbarz, in regards to your statement about a YouTube channel, I do have one but sadly since I only have a very old laptop I can no longer make videos. Since YouTube shut down its in built video editor and that was the only program which would run on my laptop that I could use to edit my videos. But perhaps if I can manage to get a new computer in the future then I would love to make videos about builds with both SPvP or WvW footage attached to show the effectiveness. I would explain the reasoning behind all my choices and state what are the pro's and con's. Additionally I would include how to fight all the other professions or avoid. As most of the time Guild Wars 2 is like playing rock, paper and scissors, therefore it ends up mostly all about counter-play, skill level and then at times marginal gear or build differences.

Check out my channel at Point3mc on YouTube if you like or get the time I would really appreciate it as not only does it help me out but most importantly it helps out my friends at Arenanet and there amazing games Guild Wars 2.

Like I said keep an eye out for me in the future on YouTube. But until then you can message me in game at Cave Rock.4869 and I will be happy to help you out with any class. I like theorycrafting for them all. But I am more specialized with the Guardian, Elementalist and Warrior. While I do say that the others I know quiet well because I played them or face them on a regular basis in both competitive formats of the game and it really is advisable to know what those professions can or can't do to you. Its that if you can't beat em join em idea or know thy enemy trick. It really does help, even if you just learn some of the meta builds. As a Guardian or Firebrand we need to know this perhaps more than any other profession so that we can counter their abilities like cleansing condition damage or using aegis to block power damage. As those are the first things I think about when I encounter or get into a fight, how do I or we my mate manage this situation. It all comes down to practice and know your enemy/professions abilities.

In time you will get the hang of it. I always said to my friends who are new to the game just dust off and get right back into the fray again and think what can I do better next time to bring it to the rematch or another fight.

From Cave Rock and Bluevoltron42, remember I am always happy to help out just drop me a post or tell in game. When I find the time help will be right there as asked Halbarz.

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Cuddy.6247

Cuddy.6247

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@Oldirtbeard.9834 said:Looking for a Power build that uses Hammer, I heard this spec generates tons of Crit and fury so I assume there's room for a tanky frontline build that's good for WVWVW Fractals, and Open World using Soldiers Armor and Zerker Trinkets and Weapons?

Fury mostly comes from radiance (inner fire) - could just as well use right hand strength if you're going to use an ax (which most in pve do).

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQFAyksAhWhYzQsYRYZZgCU6Z/cuOnnYBgazDA-jRxRAB2oDgElgAs/Azq/UhyPA-e

Probably something like that. Would be better in WvW and not half bad in open world (especially with the number of players who drop at bosses). Wouldn't really bother taking it into fractals though over the traditional dps roles.

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Predator.1398

Predator.1398

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Hello everyone,

I'd like to gear my firebrand for open world PvE and fractals (don't care about PvP and WvW at all) and badly need an advice regarding to the build.I'm definetely not going to play glass-cannon berserker or viper due to guardian low basic health so having vitality/toughnes on the gear is mandatory for me. Here are the main goals I'd like to achieve:

  • Condition based (basically burning) damage since it's firebrand :)
  • Solid amount of HP (~18k or more) and armor
  • Comfortable gameplay for regular open world PvE and maybe T3/T4 fractals

I'm not trying to achieve highest possible damage or ability to face-tank everything. Just want to find some good balance.I've been thinking about the build like that:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnf7en0ABdBj1BDODBkCjl4BzKE8CeUVBgtU9aPmeT7pA-jhiAQBA4EAIgjAAi0MQSleeUZANVCCj9HOl6PD4gAEtHAoHAA-e

  • Dire gear and trinkets for survivalability
  • Balthazar runes for burning duration
  • Trailblazer amulet for extra expertise to achieve 99.73% burning duration
  • Sinister Axe and Torch to compensate the lack of power and presicion on the gear
  • Assassin Scepter and Shield for range

There is another option to use Carrion gear instead of Dire to have more power but less toughnes:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnf7en0ABdBj1BDODBkCjl4BrKAslqXWhgXwjaPmeT7pA-jxhAQBA4EA4RlBfS9HYs/QzU6FtHAoHYmKBBA-eThe difference:

  • More power (+585) which should result in 30% more pure power based damage
  • A bit more condition damage (+59)
  • Less armor (-673) which leads to 22% more direct damage from enemies according to my calculations

So if my calculatuons are correct it's 22% more sustain vs. 30% more direct damage. In fact sustain difference will be lower because damage from enemy conditions ignores armor. Still quite hard choose...

I'd really appreciate any feedback and advice!

Thanks!

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TonyCraig.7290

TonyCraig.7290

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I’m having similar thoughts to Predator, having been downed far too often in the POF open world wearing Berserker (Base Guardian) while farming hero points for Firebrand. My thoughts have very much been to Carrion, but how many HP do you think I should aim for (I’ll be using exotics)? I know some people will want to say ‘go all offense’ but I’m really not skilful enough to keep alive.

I’ll be trying a burning build with sceptre and (probably) axe, off hand yet undetermined. After I’ve got the required Vitality, I guess I should look for CD and Power, but what other stat? Precision?

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stone cold.8609

stone cold.8609

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@Predator.1398 said:Hello everyone,

I'd like to gear my firebrand for open world PvE and fractals (don't care about PvP and WvW at all) and badly need an advice regarding to the build.I'm definetely not going to play glass-cannon berserker or viper due to guardian low basic health so having vitality/toughnes on the gear is mandatory for me. Here are the main goals I'd like to achieve:

  • Condition based (basically burning) damage since it's firebrand :)
  • Solid amount of HP (~18k or more) and armor
  • Comfortable gameplay for regular open world PvE and maybe T3/T4 fractals

I'm not trying to achieve highest possible damage or ability to face-tank everything. Just want to find some good balance.I've been thinking about the build like that:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnf7en0ABdBj1BDODBkCjl4BzKE8CeUVBgtU9aPmeT7pA-jhiAQBA4EAIgjAAi0MQSleeUZANVCCj9HOl6PD4gAEtHAoHAA-e

  • Dire gear and trinkets for survivalability
  • Balthazar runes for burning duration
  • Trailblazer amulet for extra expertise to achieve 99.73% burning duration
  • Sinister Axe and Torch to compensate the lack of power and presicion on the gear
  • Assassin Scepter and Shield for range

There is another option to use Carrion gear instead of Dire to have more power but less toughnes:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnf7en0ABdBj1BDODBkCjl4BrKAslqXWhgXwjaPmeT7pA-jxhAQBA4EA4RlBfS9HYs/QzU6FtHAoHYmKBBA-eThe difference:

  • More power (+585) which should result in 30% more pure power based damage
  • A bit more condition damage (+59)
  • Less armor (-673) which leads to 22% more direct damage from enemies according to my calculations

So if my calculatuons are correct it's 22% more sustain vs. 30% more direct damage. In fact sustain difference will be lower because damage from enemy conditions ignores armor. Still quite hard choose...

I'd really appreciate any feedback and advice!

Thanks!

Hi Predator!

Toughness isn't really needed in PvE. Of your two builds I'd go with the Carrion one with a couple of modifications (Viper's ammy for more precision/damage and the healing mantra for more aegis uptime since Guardians are all about the active defenses).

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnf7ensADdBj1BDODBkCjl4BzKE8CeUVBgtU9aPmeT7pA-jxhAQBNTpHIVGMTlgR7BA6Bgx+DfS9HAcCAAA-e

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Cave Rock.4869

Cave Rock.4869

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@Predator.1398 said:Hello everyone,

I'd like to gear my firebrand for open world PvE and fractals (don't care about PvP and WvW at all) and badly need an advice regarding to the build.I'm definetely not going to play glass-cannon berserker or viper due to guardian low basic health so having vitality/toughnes on the gear is mandatory for me. Here are the main goals I'd like to achieve:

  • Condition based (basically burning) damage since it's firebrand :)
  • Solid amount of HP (~18k or more) and armor
  • Comfortable gameplay for regular open world PvE and maybe T3/T4 fractals

I'm not trying to achieve highest possible damage or ability to face-tank everything. Just want to find some good balance.I've been thinking about the build like that:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnf7en0ABdBj1BDODBkCjl4BzKE8CeUVBgtU9aPmeT7pA-jhiAQBA4EAIgjAAi0MQSleeUZANVCCj9HOl6PD4gAEtHAoHAA-e

  • Dire gear and trinkets for survivalability
  • Balthazar runes for burning duration
  • Trailblazer amulet for extra expertise to achieve 99.73% burning duration
  • Sinister Axe and Torch to compensate the lack of power and presicion on the gear
  • Assassin Scepter and Shield for range

There is another option to use Carrion gear instead of Dire to have more power but less toughnes:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnf7en0ABdBj1BDODBkCjl4BrKAslqXWhgXwjaPmeT7pA-jxhAQBA4EA4RlBfS9HYs/QzU6FtHAoHYmKBBA-eThe difference:

  • More power (+585) which should result in 30% more pure power based damage
  • A bit more condition damage (+59)
  • Less armor (-673) which leads to 22% more direct damage from enemies according to my calculations

So if my calculatuons are correct it's 22% more sustain vs. 30% more direct damage. In fact sustain difference will be lower because damage from enemy conditions ignores armor. Still quite hard choose...

I'd really appreciate any feedback and advice!

Thanks!

Hi Predator, Stone Cold has done a great job helping you out already. My advice is to go the damage rout over sustain atleast in PvE content to get in done quicker.

Now with the build, keep it hybrid with low to no precision. Try to have equal power and condition damage. Have two weapons sets one for melee (axe/torch) and another for range (scepter/torch or shield). That way your not limited by distance to target. Take the quickness and might mantra to maximise dmg potential, and find a way to max out your power and condition damage, such as Sigil of corruption, Sigils which add might or those that add vulnerability. Also might on crit foods might be good or a little boon duration, just not anything with precision or expertise as we have that covered already.

But yeah I like the build and it seems to capture the essence of what was intended for the Firebrand. Burn the target and follow up with high damage crits and quick attacks.

I might even try something similar to this in WvW, I think it would be fun. But I still favor a support Firebrand with the team we run atm.

Cheers for the posts everyone, many thanks from Cave Rock and Bluevoltron42.

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Grimheart.2853

Grimheart.2853

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Some more theoretic notes on weird crap nobody asked for:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJAWWnsADNCjFBD2CBEEhlHCbfemPDoZvn5TGALAMcySA-jxRpABadJAdBJqEkr9Hm7JAsiSMAU/RPlHrDOAWbtUbtArt2art2aNgart2art2art2alCAwRWA-e

Above is a small redesign of my previous PvE centered quickness+heal+mightshare Firebrand build, found here:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJASWnsADNCjFBD2CBEEhlHCDLAUBySZvn5TGYfemPDoA-jxxGQB56SAQQlfk7IA6Con6Pmb/BA8AAmoSwAAIA/8n5zfG4n/8n/8n/sr7zf+zf+zf+zf+zfWKAAXpB-e

This time aimed for stronger might uptime.Should be capable of finally pushing stable 25 might stacks on top of everything else. No tests conducted, due to the requirement for 2 concentration sigils and the fact that I'm not rich, you know.

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Cave Rock.4869

Cave Rock.4869

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@Grimheart.2853 said:Some more theoretic notes on weird crap nobody asked for:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJAWWnsADNCjFBD2CBEEhlHCbfemPDoZvn5TGALAMcySA-jxRpABadJAdBJqEkr9Hm7JAsiSMAU/RPlHrDOAWbtUbtArt2art2aNgart2art2art2alCAwRWA-e

Above is a small redesign of my previous PvE centered quickness+heal+mightshare Firebrand build, found here:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJASWnsADNCjFBD2CBEEhlHCDLAUBySZvn5TGYfemPDoA-jxxGQB56SAQQlfk7IA6Con6Pmb/BA8AAmoSwAAIA/8n5zfG4n/8n/8n/sr7zf+zf+zf+zf+zfWKAAXpB-e

This time aimed for stronger might uptime.Should be capable of finally pushing stable 25 might stacks on top of everything else. No tests conducted, due to the requirement for 2 concentration sigils and the fact that I'm not rich, you know.

sup once again Grimheart, ah a build similar to what I like. Support Firebrand is awesome! You can have that and more with the build I run. But I like the hammer and staff combo... But mace and shield just seems to work better and easier. Yep sigils of concentration are expensive. I would advise against buying them :( I fell into that trap twice. Just use this build instead!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNApeWl8AhWhY/OwUIwPELLEG2FoCUC27nD0E6VA4BMAA-j1xHQBgTfj42fAAnSBAq8Deq/4wnUwDVCuO4AYtqVt1St1Wbtrt2art2aNgart2art2art2alC4rVaA-w

Max boon duration. You could even add the might/quickness mantra or the quickness elite and get them at full potential duration. Anyways nice to catch up again Garimeth, take it easy and I hope all is well. My fellow Firebrand theorycrafter :)

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