Guild Wars 2

Hi all,
I am currently running a grenadier build with power/precision/critical damage stats.

I would like to know if my damage with Flamethrower will be good and acceptable with the same combination of stats.

I am kinda tired (fingers hurt) from spamming grenades and would like to try another build without the needs to change set.
I have also another set with armors (pow, vit, tough) and accessories (knight set, pow, prec, though)

I would like to know if Flamethrower build will work with any of those 2 sets, please say which one if better.
and if not, what combination of stats you would suggest.

and what other build i can play with my current armors and accessories set (something not grenades )

thank you in advance for your comments and suggestions.

most of the damage from Flamethrower is ‘normal’ white damage, so based on power.
Ony a small portion of it all is burn damage (so condition).

Flamethrower #1 hits a lot of times on a short period.
In other words: it does fast attacks.

Fast attacks, many attacks, means that each of those can crit.
So a flamethrower has a lot of chances to crit (bit like grenades who have 3 chances to crit on each throw of 3 grenades…).

So in my view Flamethrower benefits most from:
- power
- precision and crit damage

Should you take power-prec-crit damage or power-prec-toughness?
Depends on what you do.
Do you want to kill faster, or live longer

Power-vit-toughness would work too, but your daamge will be noticably lower without the critting (this is what I use in WvW, but I’m a tanky engineer).

Power/precision/crit is a decent build for flamethrower. Carry a rifle for net shot to land more of FT#2 for burst damage. Vulnerability and bleed on crit talents will also help. Spec into Juggernaut for survival and the all-important might stacks.

I’ve had good success with a condition/burn build as well with my FT/EG hybrid, but that’s a lot more work for not much more return. It doesn’t take a lot of +cond to pull off. Though you will want more precision than power for it.

Also, while it’s not the most efficient of options, I recommend trying the Elixir B → Elixir U combo with Flamethrower autoattack. Massive burst potential on a 60 second cooldown. Great as an ‘ohkitten’ button in PvE. YMMV for PvP of any sort.

P/V/T with Emerald is the standard set-up for FT builds. You’ll have a pretty good crit rate with high attack and 20K HP.

I would hesitate going full Zerkers outside of WvW and world map. Wear Ruby jewelry if you’re worried about your damage. But the Flamethrower is best used just outside of melee range, and you’re going to need to be able to take a hit or two. Even with Infused Precision and Invigorating Speed, you’re not going to be able to dodge everything.

Thanks a lot for your replies so far.
I will try to combine my both set and see what my damage/viability ratio will be

I’ve set up my set to be roughly at:

38% crit
25% crit damage
1800 toughness
just shy of 20k HP

Mix and matching the gear somewhat but it gives some great results and allows for some good AOE farming with the flame thrower.

Does not work so well in WvW as with the Grenade build though since you are medium range.

You’ve been using grenades for a while it seems, so using flamethrower will kill things at about half the speed. Flamethrower has one purpose in PvE, and it’s tagging mobs. For PvP air blast is ingenious and incredibly usable, as is the blind and 9-12 second burn from the toolbelt skill. But for PvP, look elsewhere for your berserker kit – I’d suggest adding tool kit and elixir gun alongside grenade kit, as you can swap to those kits, use their high damage abilities, and return to stacking vulnerability and bleeds through explosive shrapnel grenades.

Kamahl makes a good point that flamethrower #1 is not something to rely on for damage. It is great at triggering on-crit abilities and extending existing burns, but – especially on single targets – its damage is subpar. Personally, I love flamethrower, but I think cycling kits is really the way to go. Flip between EG/FT/Rifle for abilities, maybe cycling TK into the sequence…

.. but then you’re back into finger-hurty-button-mashy territory, just with more buttons. :P

Hi again,
Sorry I wasn’t clear in my first post about the purpose of trying another build.
I am more PVE oriented.
So i was more thinking about FT as alternative PVE build for might stacking.
yesterday I did my tests in heart of the mist and it seems easy to maintain a 20 stacks of might during combat.
I still need to try it in some high level instance and see how it goes

Kimbald.2697 best answer
zugly.9035 just need to choose.
“Do you want to kill faster, or live longer”