Guild Wars 2

I feel like i´m the only one that thinks firebrand is freaking awesome ?? Of course you have to get used to all the new utilities (especially the new Tomes, wich can be pretty good if you starting to know them). Its just a playstyle that guardians didn´t have to think about before. Instead of reacting to sth you have to be a little preemptive ( if you notice a condi bomb go f2 or if you notice a deadeye go f3 and use that bubble.. these are some examples).

Tome of Justice: AWESOME!! you have a big CC that pulls everybody together and is the perfect opening for a great burst combo ( i go 3-2-4 wich is almost like a free kill). It can be easily reset with renewed justice wich allows you to be a constant burning/bleeding bomb). In combination with litany of Wrath it even has the potential to be a full heal.

Tome of Resolve: First i thought it is super weak and can´t be usefull. But after practicing a little and starting to create more complex rotations it is a good condi clear, boon sharing tool and decent heal. Although it think sth like Druid staff healing would be nice ( warping to a location and apply healing there)

Tome of Courage: Imo the weakest of them, because you don´t really get enough for swapping into that tome and using a skill (atleast if you are in a fight). But still you can do some pretty cool stuff with it. Combining Pure of Heart and legendary lore and the right gear you can heal yourself about 4.8k with just using the first skill of that tome ( with 8 pages it should be around 7k, while having aegis and blocking)

Although i think the casttimes of equiping a tome should be faster and i think it would be a good idea to create a trait or just add sth that reduces the cooldown of the tome, if you have pages that you didn´t use ( sometimes you just use 1 page of a tome and go out it with full cooldown)

Mantras: to be honest… i´m not a big fan of them atm… the only one i use and find pretty usefull is the one that cleanses condis. The range for all the offensive mantras is way to short ( to hard to hit somebody with it).

Axe: love it !! ( just increase the range to 300 like any other melee range weapon

No I also love firebrand’s themes and playstyle.

I love the firebrands tomes and talents…

the Mantras could use with some slight tweaking… namely being changed from frontal cones to 360° PBAoEs, Targeted AoEs, or Ground Target AoEs… but at least they have recharge rates that arn’t painfully pointless like the ones they gave to Mesmers… and they have 3 charges instead of 2…

So far it looks pretty great for PvE. PvP…. not so much

Best thing about firebrand is you can get up and make a sandwich while waiting for your tomes to recharge.

Manimarco Devil.1790:

So far it looks pretty great for PvE. PvP…. not so much

Really? hmmm i´m rocking pvp pretty good with it

Manimarco Devil.1790:

So far it looks pretty great for PvE. PvP…. not so much

The condi portion perhaps. The support is laughably bad for pve.

RabbitUp.8294:

Best thing about firebrand is you can get up and make a sandwich while waiting for your tomes to recharge.

Renwed justice+ courageous return+ renwed focus+ Power of the virtues help to overcome the cd´s quite a bit

but i know what you mean.. they are freaking high maybe they will lower them

Yes you are.

/15char

I’d like to love FB, if it wasn’t gutted by all those spectacular design failures with regard to providing support. At the current state, I’ll stick to DH.

I love firebrand! its so much fun and so much support! I really love the tome being return to us and being able to heal people and keep people supported with boons and break stuns.

I didnt realize that mantra are frontal range not aoe which im a little sad cause im used to shouts converting. I got used to it though and cant wait for the expansion. I did feel like im the only firebrand running around but i love the set up.

I don’t like FIREBRAND !
Hate:
- No escape no disengage
- It’s full support spec (just not my type)
- If you make burn spec you are glass cannon WITH NO ESCAPES
- Play-style feels clunky and slow
- Mantras Cast time !! Its just disturbing to me
-Tome page 0/5 the idea is great BUT not as an additional set of skills
What i like about Firebrand:
- very versatile class thx to ammo system and Tome pages 0/5
- Utility skills haw ammo system
-Tome page 0/5 like the idea after using Virtue you get new options but i rather haw my weapon skills upgraded to haw additional effect rather than new set of skills
I wish ANet would rework DH to haw ammo system and Virtues that after use you get 1 or 2 charges of weapon skill upgrade ( additional effect or just raw damage boost).
-

In PvP it is trash, basically necro 2.0 a new focus target due to 0 disengage. In PvE apart from raids everything is decent if you auto-attack good enough and dodge out of dangerous stuff... so map exploring/fractals/dungeons are out of question for SERIOUS gameplay. Raids? It seems promising but healing crown still belongs to the druid, why? Celestial form every 15 seconds or so, staff that heals nicely and a choice... they can heal from distance or in melee. We? We can just go melee and die or let our raid wipe because our mantra cones are too short and too little, as well as F2 healing which seems good, but is very restricted by range and its cooldown. "But we stack quickness" - yeah we do. Guess what, chronomancer does too and even if it might do it not as good as a FB, chrono still has two things that FB does not have. Alacrity and distort, and it’s just as good as quickness itself, think about it.
I’ve been fanboying very hard for Firebrand and now I am utterly dissapointed with it but only on the part of numbers. The concept is good, the tomes, mantras. Seems all chill for me, but the numbers are too weak in the face of what other classes are capable of.

I am still deeply kittened off by the fact that a class that is meant for disruption, conditions like necro gets a better support spec. When I heard "barrier mechanic" my first thought was a guardian. "Barrier" sounds so guardian-like, yet a disease-spreading, condition-spamming scourge gets it for no real depth in it, while still giving them mobility.
WE ARE STUCK IN MELEE RANGE and we have nothing to defend ourselves or to escape pressure. Don’t even mention aegis that can be popped with a sneeze. I would gladly give all our blocks for barriers, that would give us more self-sustain while browsing tomes to give out support.

Those who claim for it to be just cool and alright, have clearly no idea what they are talking about. First try out other classes, compare them, then tell me that FB is just as good as you think it is.

imb4 "but not every spec has to be good for every game mode". Then please nerf 4-5 classes that by their sheer numbers in their current state are already seen as glorious picks for every game mode.

The entire point of elite specs is that it feels like a new class, they are not meant to be a replica of our core traits, not every elite spec is going to be a support/dps/tank spec.

I think they should strip ALL support from the Firebrand and focus on making it a strong condi burn spec.

Arnath.2319:

The entire point of elite specs is that it feels like a new class, they are not meant to be a replica of our core traits, not every elite spec is going to be a support/dps/tank spec.

I think they should strip ALL support from the Firebrand and focus on making it a strong condi burn spec.

Yes, after Dragonhunter, that’s what guardian was really lacking, a purely damage-focused spec with no support.

well i can only speak for myself but i am rocking pvp atm with the firebrand. After you get used to some rotation it can be pretty good ( deals more dmg then old burn guard/ has even better sustain with the right rotations)

My Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAs9OnkIClDhNDB8DBD/hyGAdbdeD3U4DA-TpgMABAs/g4lBAA

the missing weapon is Axe and the missing skill is the mantra that removes condis.
for the firebrand traitline i choose all traits on the buttom

The entire point of elite specs is that it feels like a new class, they are not meant to be a replica of our core traits, not every elite spec is going to be a support/dps/tank spec.

I think they should strip ALL support from the Firebrand and focus on making it a strong condi burn spec.

Guardian was originally designed as a tanky support. I create a Guardian to be that. We get a damage elite spec as our first elite spec. The true guardian players deserve now a support spec or a tanky spec.

Arnath.2319:

The entire point of elite specs is that it feels like a new class, they are not meant to be a replica of our core traits, not every elite spec is going to be a support/dps/tank spec.

I think they should strip ALL support from the Firebrand and focus on making it a strong condi burn spec.

Oh god… if anything Firebrand should have all of the condi stripped from it and have it repurposed as an actual support spec. Then to fix being able to have a burn build, Anet can finally let the PvP version of VoJ be availiable in PvE and also change spirit weapons back to how they were but with unlimited time limit like necro minions. Those 2 changes were all that was ever needed to make a burn guard viable but Anet refused to do them so they could cram this terrible spec down our throat.

no your not alone, just in a very small minority, there a table of 4 waiting for you guys.

Core guardian is our support spec, you can talk about making core guardian stronger but not making new elites similar to core guard. The entire point of elite specs are them feeling like completely new classes, not the same as before.

I don’t like the mantras at all, but I do enjoy the tome mechanics. Those are fun at least.

Arnath.2319:

Core guardian is our support spec, you can talk about making core guardian stronger but not making new elites similar to core guard. The entire point of elite specs are them feeling like completely new classes, not the same as before.

Even if what you said made sense (core classes are not “specs”, they are the base specs build upon), core guardian in its current state is a lot better at condi dps than it is at supporting.

Heck, base mesmer is at a whole another league compared to base guardian, and they still got a support spec. Even base ranger and warrior bring valuable unique buffs, while core guardian is stuck playing with boons.

I love the recent changes to guardian and firebrand in general. I feel like I will finally be able to play my guardian in the way I’ve been wanting to for years…

I will admit the 300 cone set up for the mantras is not ideal. However, an elite spec only has one required part: the traitline. And I am very happy with the traitline. The mantras not your thing? Hopefully Anet will fix them, but until then you can still use everything else. This spec is more about the Virtues anyway. I haven’t even considered using the axe tbh. Not sure how it is. But I will never unspec Firebrand.

why is the condi-support we shouldnt do damage an argument when it doesn’t even condi support well?

I love the Burn/Condi options of the FireBrand. The support mantras are a waste of code and the support options are to watered down because they are to broad.
1/3 of the elite is worth it, the other isn’t…. Great job ANet, your final grade is a 33!

I’m loving Firebrand’s overall new play style. Like I said in another post, it feels like Engineer kits but a lot slower rotation and very situational/specific skill sets.

The skill-cap on the class is noticeably higher, something I don’t want to changed. With the exception of axe, mechanically (the way FB is played) FB is awesome. It just needs to be on the same bar as other elite specs.

This need to be said, what happen to passive of this skill. with absolute resolve it only heals for 100?

EDIT: Just noticed i lost my whole post other then bit above. Guess i will have to rewrite it when i wake up ><

I like the concept a lot. I’ve had a lot of fun with Firebrand so far.
I expect some things to change once bugs are fixed and the future meta starts settling down.

I also like it a lot, it feels very nice/promising tbh.

If they just fix casting times on tomes and the cone on mantras to 360 300 range it will be really fun to play. Also i find Shouts to have great synergies with FB and the first build i seen that can actually do with out medis. Welcome back honor/radiance.

To be honest, I do have criticisms for firebrand, but with that being said, I was actually very happy overall with this elite spec.

Flavor wise, it’s just perfect. It really feels like an elite spec designed for the guardian, unlike the Dragon Hunter, and the effects and animations for the skills are some of the best I’ve seen in the game.

I also enjoyed the versatility tomes gave us. Adding an extra 15 skills to our toolbar to use between weapon skills is nothing to sneeze at, and allows us to adapt to a variety of situations on the fly. This spec also introduces a lot of potential build variety, from conditions, to support, to dps and I can see ways it would support some of the already existing core builds.

Luckily, what issues there are with it can be tweaked or adjusted, but the foundation we have here is very strong, and can be built upon nicely. These are the suggestions I’d make for changes:

1) Reduce Tome cooldowns: Not by too much, maybe 20, 40 and 60 seconds for ToJ, ToR and ToC respectively.

2) Reduce cast times to activate tomes. This did feel like an annoying limiting factor while in the heat of battle, and often caused me to fail to activate a tome properly.

3) Give a 25% passive speed bonus to the “Swift Scholar” Trait. One of the biggest issues with firebrand is mobility, and this would help alleviate it somewhat. Considering this is mostly a melee/support spec with short range aoe support tools, we need the ability to keep up with both our allies and our enemies.

4) Increase the cast speed animation on symbol of Vengeance: To me it doesn’t make sense for a purely offensive symbol to have such a long cast animation, which makes it super easy to miss with.

5) Improve reliability of Blazing Edge’s pull. Right now it misses very often from my experience. Considering we lack an engage on axe and have lost wings of resolve, this pull is our only real means outside of taking Judges Intervention to close the gap with out enemies, and right now it’s very unreliable for that purpose.

6) Make mantras a 360 degree aoe. If there’s one thing we learned from cleansing flame, it’s that support skills with a cone aoe don’t function well. The mantras are actually very nice as a whole, particularly for the personal utility, but they are very unreliable when it comes to casting on allies, who often step out of the cone aoe. I also feel it doesn’t make sense for a spec that’s obviously designed to be in the front lines on combat to be forced to stand behind his allies or face away from his enemies in order to support them.

7) Make Mantra of flame a short range teleport: This could serve as an engage or escape tool, something Firebrand is sorely lacking. You could have the first two charges have a small range (say 500) and the last one with a longer range (900).

All-in-all, I’d give a thumbs up for this elite spec. I’m quite happy with it. It’s better to get a very cool elite spec that just needs some tweaks to make it perfect, than to get an elite spec that doesn’t make sense at all, and that even if effective, ends up feeling out of place.