Do burn Firebrands need toughness/vitality for soloing most pve content?

[Gadzooks.4687]

@Kerivek.5740 said:This is the build I have been using:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnf7elsAhKhY5QwZIwPEL+DWWSoClhsCAVg60+FtjOSB-jRyCQBbUZQFV6dsnAAg0PMvTAAAOIArUJYBV/5E7PQIgFrBA-e

I mainly use this gear because I like the durability when I go into WvW. That being said, I have never felt like I lacked the damage to do anything short of raids. The AoE just melts any groups I encounter and I can solo most Champions that are tuned for groups.

Thats kinda what I had envisioned.

The thing that kept me away from doing it however, was zero points in power. Does the burn damage feel like more than enough on its own to warrant your normal direct attacks doing such small damage?

[Kerivek.5740]

Yeah absolutely. When killing trash you can keep ToJ up more often than not due to resets. Even when it isn't up you have enough burn application to kill anything real fast. The burn damage is pretty insane, I have had my burn reach upwards of 50k a tick when doing event bosses.

[Metavahn.7293]

Need to use mantra of liberation to get out of stuns, no reason not to use that OP mantra, also master of consecrations with virtuous solace and youll rarely die

[Ryouzanpaku.1273]

No class needs vitality/toughness for open PvE content.

[RabbitUp.8294]

@Holgarf.6581 said:

@MichalAniol.5807 said:

@Gadzooks.4687 said:Zero defense stats on gear. Im new to guardian/firebrand... just wondering how you arent super squishy, especially vs non-normal enemies

By tons of aegis, retaliation or we just burn everything before it hits. Also - doging helps :D

I love it when people say dodge, like they think it's going to remedy the fact that some enemies in PoF have fire shots at high rates of fire that stack burn - not enough dodge for that.

PVE, Guardian is squishy af. You either go full damage and destroy them (unless there is loads) or spend forever healing yourself and chip away at them slowly. If there's lots of enemies, you're usually screwed. And Kanto, that regen is no help when enemies hit very hard. I wish there was attack skills in tomes 2 and 3 because then you could pick one tome, but with tome 2 and 3 only focusing around protection or healing your DPS plummets. It would be more useful having some form of attack in tomes 2 and 3 as opposed to dedicating ALL of the pages of one particular tome to a specific thing, i.e. heal only. protection only. damage only. It just interrupts your own damage output using anything other than your weapon skills or tome 1. If you use tomes 2 or 3, by the time you've swapped back if you're against a few enemies, your health as already gone back to the point before you healed, only now you've made your tomes go into a cooldown period.

That's where you use projectile hate or CC.

It's much easier in open world and PoF instances now that we have mounts, dash with Raptor and use the tail sweep thing to stack them, then ToJ 3 for a follow-up cc and start burning them. They will die before they land a hit on you.

[otto.5684]

@Gadzooks.4687 said:I see many builds that are pure Power/Condition/Precision (and sometimes Expertise).

Zero defense stats on gear. Im new to guardian/firebrand... just wondering how you arent super squishy, especially vs non-normal enemies

I never run any low HP pool without at least some vitality in open world. Though beyond 14k hp is a waste, so is toughness.

[Rennie.6750]

I don't play firebrand much in PvE because of the terrible range of mantras, as running dps gear kind of forces you to go full range at times in a few selected cases where burning the mob asap is critical, as you have about the reflect wall + aegis duration to kill it. That being said, it should work, just not all the time.

[Rhomulos.2089]

Changing gear stats away from full dps is usually much worse than just changing your traits. Always have full vipers/zerkers etc and just add defensive traits/utilities

[green plum.7514]

So far, I am usually able to burn anything down before it gets me down. Even without any vitality or toughness gear. One problem are certain story steps. But as much as I like Firebrand, I went back to Reaper for open world, simply feels better, more margin for mistakes, and more mobility is always a plus.

[phor.7952]

I believe I saw some math on reddit that implied that because FB is such a mix of physical and condition damage, that Celestial actually retains slightly more DPS than Carrion and a lot more than Dire.So if you are looking to add more survivability than a Viper/Griever gearset, Celestial is probably the way to do it for Firebrand.

[SidewayS.3789]

Well this is the build i run in PoF Open world/fractals/story , with some little modifications. I have 100% burn duration, and once you hit it, you can put some vit/cond dmg.http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnf7elsAhmhY5QwSIwPEL+DmVAoCUn2vod0RaWSoClhA-jRiAQBwY/hrpELR6Hg2TAAiq/QSlBA4kAASlG0UJogAUE-e

If you guys, have another idea, hit me with yours.

[Torgal.8345]

@SidewayS.3789 said:Well this is the build i run in PoF Open world/fractals/story , with some little modifications. I have 100% burn duration, and once you hit it, you can put some vit/cond dmg.http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAnf7elsAhmhY5QwSIwPEL+DmVAoCUn2vod0RaWSoClhA-jRiAQBwY/hrpELR6Hg2TAAiq/QSlBA4kAASlG0UJogAUE-e

If you guys, have another idea, hit me with yours.

Imho your gear stats dont make any sense. You overcap burn by 11%. I would go max to 93% and add cheap 7% burn food or even lower and use 10 or 15% burn food. Basically i would swap some of your viper gear to sinister (more burn dps) or dire (more defensive).

[Gulesave.5073]

@setdog.1592 said:i am running an exotic shaman draconic set with balth runes, axe torch, shield mace. zeal/virtues/fb, i like it because i got tired of dying in higher damage gear

i like it, its slower damage, but its actually alot more enjoyable. i like it because i can solo roam and take on multiple veterans at a time. still die when vastly outnumberd, but its actually nice casual set up, hard time killing anything that heals tho, i kinda tried to model the build after the gw2 fb intro video,a zealous lorekeeper, and they had him with shield, so what the heck i chose zeal and the lore talents

and did mention its cheap!! like super cheap.

This is what my firebrand is wearing, too. Aside from affordability, healing power just generally works well for guardians.

[kinjiro.3251]

try full dire. radiance,zeal, firebrand

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

Go for full DPS gear. If you want more durability, adjust your utilities and your traits as you see fit. Use sound judgement and you won't have a problem.

That's my general advice. I haven't done much overworld roaming with the Firebrand, only fractals and some HoT events. But, if I have trouble surviving, I start swapping out the offensive utilities for defensive ones. First, I ditch the signet for things like Retreat or Wall of Reflection. Then, I swap out the fire mantra for purging flames. From there, I swap out the torch off-hand for shield and focus, and prioritize using the scepter over the axe. From there I'll change traits. Honestly, I've never gotten to the "change traits" portion, except in rare circumstances where it was better overall than doing one of the other above things.

[yLoon.5289]

In exploring PoF maps, you died mostly due to being CC by mobs. Hence, Mantra of Liberation is a must in order to break stun (any other break stun utilities are also welcome).Vitality wise, I am only comfortable at 15k HP and I ignore Toughness all the time because I still find it not practical, other than being useful in a raid; but it is really up to your own preference here. I rather trade Expertise with Toughness.

If aim for Condi Firebrand, always reach for 100% burn duration and 1.7k to 1.9k of passive burn on ToJ.My favorite combo would be to cast Purging Flame when surrounded, and Shield5 to push them away. Most mobs melt easily after entering the ring again.If aim for DPS Firebrand, reach for 60% crit chance, 220% crit damage, 3.9k of Greatsword Whirling Wrath.