Thoughts on Quickbrand + Support Heal build viability

[Revan.2015]

This is a build for PVE - Champ Solo, Open World groups and occasional Fractals (non-high level).

The goal:Retain as much DPS capabilities as possibly while increasing Survivability/recovery/support via increased effectiveness of Tome of Resolve and Courage

I have been toying with the idea of creating a "partially fused" build combining elements from the quickbrand build and Support Healer build. The challenge mainly falls to proper stat distribution.

Currently I run this quickbrand build

Ideally It would be nice to play a Support Healer all the time, but I feel in Solo and Open world content the dmg output is far too low.

It's an amazing build as some of you know for solo and group play. But, I did come across a few downsides though over time playing it. Mainly it's survivability/recovery in certain situations involving heavy condi dmg and massive burst dmg. The condi cleanse only coming from Tome of Resolve and it's skill 2 can place you in a predicament (in those moments i wish I was on my necro). Mainly because the overall heal output is rather mediocre so it can't be used to compensate for the limited condi cleanse and the overall self heal isn't as great as in other classes due to the Vipers stat commitment.

This is where this partial fused build idea originated. So I wondered what if we sacrifice a bit of DPS/condi dmg to increase healing power and boon duration? In turn increasing survivability and support? Would replacing Accessories with Harrier stats nudge the stats just enough to accomplish this while retaining the viper armor stats? I don't have a full set of harrier accessories to test this myself so I was wondering what some of you thought about this idea or if another stat combination would work better to accomplish this?.

[otto.5684]

I play a similar build to this. Full Viper and FB runes. Things to keep in mind:

1. As a quick support, I use honor instead of radiance. Axe/shield and staff. Without radiance, you obliviously lose damage, but you gain significant uptime on AOE might (you can maintain like 15-20), additional healing, protection uptime and possibly stability. I use mantra of potence. The other two slots vary depending on the situation, but I usually use shouts and/or mantra of flame. Reminder, this is not meant as raid support, but more of low level fractal open world support in dps gear.
2. Getting deeper into support, you will have to sacrifice damage stats for more effective support. More healing power, makes you heal better. More concentration higher boon duration. Your goal is to get 100% quickness uptime, 100% 25 might stacks uptime, as much protection as possible + highest healing possible. Where you draw the line depends on the situation.
3. If you are deep into support, you probably will use radiance and perfect inscriptions. Radiance/honor/FB.
4. Solo PvE (or any situation that I am not under 100% quickness without needing mantra of potence), I find purging flames better than signet of wrath.
5. Renegade runes + viper does better damage, but less support. Best dps setup in open world is sinister or grieving + balthazar runes, but offers the least support. I cannot remember the exact damage difference between the three options, but I know all three are relatively close in a raid.

[Revan.2015]

@otto.5684 said:I play a similar build to this. Full Viper and FB runes. Things to keep in mind:

1. As a quick support, I use honor instead of radiance. Axe/shield and staff. Without radiance, you obliviously lose damage, but you gain significant uptime on AOE might (you can maintain like 15-20), additional healing, protection uptime and possibly stability. I use mantra of potence. The other two slots vary depending on the situation, but I usually use shouts and/or mantra of flame. Reminder, this is not meant as raid support, but more of low level fractal open world support in dps gear.
2. Getting deeper into support, you will have to sacrifice damage stats for more effective support. More healing power, makes you heal better. More concentration higher boon duration. Your goal is to get 100% quickness uptime, 100% 25 might stacks uptime, as much protection as possible + highest healing possible. Where you draw the line depends on the situation.
3. If you are deep into support, you probably will use radiance and perfect inscriptions. Radiance/honor/FB.
4. Solo PvE (or any situation that I am not under 100% quickness without needing mantra of potence), I find purging flames better than signet of wrath.
5. Renegade runes + viper does better damage, but less support. Best dps setup in open world is sinister or grieving + balthazar runes, but offers the least support. I cannot remember the exact damage difference between the three options, but I know all three are relatively close in a raid.

Interesting, I hadn't considered using Honor trait with staff. How do you handle ranged fights? I normally always match a melee and ranged weapon to fix that gap. Plus having torch available helps with the burn upkeep.

I used to run purging flames for forever and switched to Signet of Wrath for the condi dmg boost and last resort CC if need be since the CC on this build is just alright. But I do think about putting purging flames back on each time I need condi cleanse and Tome of Resolve is on CD.

I'm not too concerned with min/maxing dmg/healing since I won't be doing high level fractals and raids. Just interested to see if a decent dps/support build could be made. The full viper build does very good damage to begin with so I figured a little dps sacrifice would be ok (without crippling it) to increase it's support/survivability to get a bit better use out of Tome of Resolve and Courage.

[otto.5684]

If I need to range I usually go for scepter over axe (unless I am playing full dps, then I probably use both).

With FB runes and Feel My Wrath you can get to 100% quickness uptime with no damage sacrifice, if you take the middle FB traits, except the major GM. You definitely can do full dps radiance/virtues/FB, if your group is highly competent. If you think they will have sustain issue, switching from radiance to honor will probably be more beneficial. Again, this is situational. This is why I love FB :). It is extremely versatile in what it can offer. You just need to figure out what your group needs the most.