Please convince me !

[ThomasC.1056]

Hello,

I'm currently running a power DH with hammer/LB which I'm fond of. It's really effective, and I got countless hours of bashing and smashing with it, in open world PvE and small scale WvW. It works fine, I gave it a try in PoF, and it's still doing its job fair and square, eventhough I picked from some traits because there weren't anything else to pick. Anyway, there's absolutely no reason I would change it

No reason but... you know... The grass is always greener... So I'm considering switching to FB. I'd like to keep the kind of "aggressive" playtyle I had with my DH build, and therefore focus on burns (of course) with an hybrid damage build looking like "viper + TB trinkets + flame legion runes". I've got no issue gearing that way, so that's not the limiting factor. My only fears are :

• I tested it a bit in the PvP looby, and the DH's F-skills seem more handy than the tome skills. But maybe I'm just not used to them ?
• FB has a strong "supportive class" feeling, but in my current idea, I'm almost completely discarding all that. Am I doing wrong ?
• Even if I'm planning on a hybrid build, I know that FB relies almost only on burning condi for "that" part of damage. And now I'm hearing "Don't put all your eggs in the same basket".

So, here am I, wondering. Should I switch ? Am I right with these concerns, or are they just my imagination, or nothing to worry about ? Will I find the same kind of feeling ? I know I can switch my build back and forth without having to sell a kidney, so it's not that big of an issue, but... Well... What's your opinion on this ?

[Diswan.8156]

Hey fellow guardian, ive been maining guard since the first gw2 beta so here are my 2 cents.

When pof came out i was unsure about firebrand mainly because i loved my power valk gs Dh so much ñand because i dont rlly like condition specs, I also tought firebrands support was lackluster in some way. The same as you, i went to the pvp room and just bashed some skills and tried some unranked matches.I ended by leaving the pvp lobby impressed by the visuals of the spec but very dissapointed in the performance i was "expecting".

I was about to do all of pof's content with my Dh but the idea of not giving something new and something that i payed real money for a real chanse was rlly bothering me, so i decided to do the first map with only fb and see from there. Havent touched DH again and ive never had this much fun on my guardian.

Here is why:DH is a very straight forward spec, its virtues are very powerful so any weapon works because you can get carried out of any tough situation by using them. It brings fun gameplay but kind of shallow now that i think of it.

FB is not as staright forward as Dh, it has a lot more complexity in it because it has the potential to be everything, you just need to focus on what you want to excel at.

Here are some examples

PVE

Valkirye or cavaliers quickness fb (zeal, radiance, firebrand) - the damage mod is a little lower that DH on same build but you get acces to so much quickness that you en up doing more dmg and have a lot more retaliation uptime in the long run. Drwback is you wont have it as easy to disengage and will be a little squishier.When you go back to dh after all that quickeness you rlly feel like playing in slow motion.

Grieving (hybrid full dps) (zeal, radiance, firebrand) or (virtues, radiance, fb) eggs in 2 baskets - the dmg is the highest you can get, optimal for raids and high lvl content but you need to be very good at it because of the low hp. Its a very fun build, you just melt everything.

On pve you can also go carrion, marauder or vipers depending on what you want but my personal favorite:

Celestial hybrid support (virtues, radiance, firebrand) eggs on all the baskets- the damage is very respectable but you are no longer squishy, you can support and heal your whole party easily which makes for an excelent wll rounded spec capable of almost everything.

PvP

On pvp i also tried many builds and many of them viable with varying lvls of succes until i discovered the little firebrand secret.It dosent matter which build it is, you need healing power and honor traitline to be effective. Be it condi, power or obviously support. Those 2 aspects bring so much to the table for you and your party that they have become mandatory for me.

The support build you see on pvp currently brings amazing party support but your dmg sucks so forget about 1v1 and about killing anyone, you become very dependant on your party and them to you which is not always a good thing.

Thats why im using menders (fb, honor, radiance) w runes of water, the dmg si super decent and the support is almost as full support bunker, the self sustain is also way higher than dh.Whith this build i win all my 1v1 except maybe vs a good scourge but i can stall indefinetly, vs spellbreakers it takes a while if they are decent but end up winning, vs dh its an easy match i just win.

Overall i think you rlly need to play it more to get the feeling of it, its adifferent kind of omelette but with a lot more ingredients and depth.

If you have any more questions send me a pm ingame the name is Diswan, ill be glad to help.

Cheers mate and good luck

[Obtena.7952]

I believe the most compelling argument for someone already happy with their build is if they wanted to try a high damage condition hybrid build, though to be fair, Guardians kind of already had that option prior to FB. Still, FB is dedicated to that, so it works much better than any past condi builds.

[phor.7952]

I had been running a Radiance/Virtues/DH Zerker/Valk burst build with Longbow/Hammer through HoT and most of PoF.Really like the build and it continues to work well, but like you I really wanted to make something work with FireBrand.I don't really like the Tomes compared to Virtues. The extra button press to equip makes it feel slow, and then when in the tome it's very spamy.If you go condi, you're going to want to use Tome of Justice. ALOT. So I didn't want to make a condi build.

Here's what's been working for me:

• Zerker Hammer Firebrand - Open World/DungeonsYou could swap out the Zerkers for Marauders and do a little less damage for a lot more HP, but I'm actually finding it to be pretty survivable in zerker.

The initial Burst is decent because a charge of Solace gives you Quickness and a Lesser Symbol of Protection.So I usually engage with Hammer#3, Hammer#2, Solace, Potence, Potence.Sets you up with a couple stacked symbols, several Vuln stacks on the mobs, 10 stacks of Might, and Quickness.

Defensively, you get permanent protection and Aegis every ~10 seconds on average.You get a bit of endurance regen, so you can dodge every ~8 seconds and re-engage with Hammer#2.
The healing from Writ of Persistence, Virtue of Resolve, and using Mantra of Solace is a bit more healing than Warrior's Healing Healing Signet.And then you can also blow your Tome of Resolve or Courage any time you need since we take Loremaster.

It's pretty fun. I think I'm going to stick with it for a while instead of going back to DH.

[ThomasC.1056]

Hello everyone !

Thanks for the nice answers, build suggestions and advices. I decided to give FB a shot. I'm still not really used to it, but I'm having a lot of fun ! It's indeed very different from DH, but less "rotation-reliant" and I like that. I may have to improve some stuff (I'm still using spares, so not really optimized) and my choice of skills.

Thanks again !