Guild Wars 2

When you are so excited for the Xpac you are already theory crafting builds based on current knowledge of the new Elite Specs.

http://i.imgur.com/NHodM7C.png

Currently thinking of a Condi/Support

I currently have a for fun build that does nothing but poop out aegis(which is can hold about 90% Aegis Uptime per frequency of attacks if im paying attention)
What Firebrand does for this build is makes the ridiculous Aegis output good for support AND damage as Firebrand’s Aegis modifiers make it apply Quickness and “Ashes of the Just” which lets allies apply Burning on hit.
The new Tomes can assist you in either Support or more Burn Stacks and the Firebrand’s Healing Mantra can Provide EVEN MORE Aegis for attacks and the Burn Mantra a good replacement for Intervention.
Get some Seraph Gear to help out your Boon Application and Condi Damage and grab some Runes to bolster your Burn uptime and you may just have a pretty involved Condi Support. Cant say if it will be any good though, have to wait and see for that.

Also looking at some of the new Stat Sets featured in the Demo and previews the Core Guardian and Dragon Hunter could be getting a CONSIDERABLE jump in damage.

Guardian and Dragon hunter naturally apply a lot of Burn stacks but they tickle because of the lack of Condition Damage.
And a Condi Spec of either Loses steam after the initial burst as it doesnt have the Ferocity to make its Power attacks threatening enough.

They have a new Stat Set in the preview that gives Power, Condition Damage, Precision, AND FEROCITY. Now Guardian can be an effective Hybrid taking advantage of both its strengths.

I applaud your enthusiasm. I, on the other hand, don’t see anything that supportive in firebrand. Aegis, stability, condi removal and minor healing are all things guardian had already and we couldn’t play support, because their use in pve is very limited. Firebrand is not changing that.

So, that leaves us with quickness, which while nice, it alone is not enough. A severely watered-down chrono with no unique buffs. I guess I’ll have to switch classes to play support after all.

RabbitUp.8294:

I applaud your enthusiasm. I, on the other hand, don’t see anything that supportive in firebrand. Aegis, stability, condi removal and minor healing are all things guardian had already and we couldn’t play support, because their use in pve is very limited. Firebrand is not changing that.

So, that leaves us with quickness, which while nice, it alone is not enough. A severely watered-down chrono with no unique buffs. I guess I’ll have to switch classes to play support after all.

I also forgot to mention Firebrand has its own Unique Buff from Quickness application.

If by Support you mean something like Healing then the Firebrand also has you covered on that too. Guardian has a Healing spec, and a kitten potent one at that but it always lacked the range and was only ever a decent choice if the fight had a lot of moments where you would have to stack up.
But now Firebrand is giving us all that Aegis which synergizes with Pure of Heart and the Tome of “Totally not Celestial Avatar” Resolve which has potent healing skills and even a skill that increases healing effectiveness by 33%. Just combine that with the trait that gives Extra Tome Pages, Receive the Light, and a few other Utilities.

But if you mean something like Tanking then no they really dont have anything for that.

I put together about 4 Theory Builds per new Elite Specs in my spare time.

Tome of Resolve has 45s cooldown, i.e. it’s nothing like Celestial Avatar. It’s an emergency button.

Ashes is not a unique buff, or a buff at all, it’s just some burning stacks. It’s a venom.

In raids, aegis is useless, because it’s stripped by boss auras. Also, all the big attacks are unblockable. You also lose the healing of Receive the Light if you want to keep quickness up, in exchange for a heal with laughable low numbers, that’s only good for applying aegis.

Don’t worry about the negative nancies OP. They did the same thing with DH and it turned out just fine.

The angriest customers are often the loudest, but they don’t represent the majority thought. And often quite very wrong in their predictions.

I for one and kitten excited for Firebrand :>

RabbitUp.8294:

In raids, aegis is useless, because it’s stripped by boss auras.

Pretty sure that’s wrong, though I was testing on KC.

You may be thinking of Vakle Guardian, where you are being hit by the small projectiles.

Can you name me which boss is triggering aegis off aura?

RabbitUp.8294:

Ashes is not a unique buff, or a buff at all, it’s just some burning stacks. It’s a venom.

Imbued Haste – Condition Damage +250, Healing power +250, Toughness +250

Thats for all allies affected by your Quickness which can help be maintained by Chronos if you cant keep it up most of the time. Its a Unique Benefit of the Firebrand which stacks with other stat boosting effects and benefits your Condition specs, Healers, and entire party with extra toughness.

And the fact you think Aegis is useless in Raids shows how little you actually know about it. If you are just looking to be a Healer the Druid seems more your cup of tea.

SPvP
I looked over the skills once the gw2wiki populated and… the Burn Support Hybrid Firebrand spec in PvP is going to be very, very bad…

I see what they’re trying to do with our Aegis boons. If you pretend our allies are like Mesmers clones, our Aegis applications in a team setting are very similar to Mesmer’s Condi shatter skills… except unlike Mesmers who apply several unique conditions on burst shatters, we’ll be entirely dependant on our team’s Condi coverages instead. That and we wont have a viable Pure Power Shatter build like Mesmers… all 5 Aegis applications are not going to suddenly run to a target :/

Also unlike DH, Firebrand does not apply 2 additional conditions in unison of our burn applications.
(The two condi’s on Dulled Senses & Zealot’s Aggression in DH tree gets cleansed first, even though they proc when our F1 passive procs.)

So the above would make Sage amulet something like a gimmick. We just won’t make use of Heals. We don’t have mobility like Mesmers so we won’t be able to reset skills as easily. Mobility and distance-keeping is what makes shatter Mesmers work in general.

TL;DR
All that said, the above wouldn’t be much of an issue for pure Condi amulets like Carrion thanks to Axe bleed skills. We may also get away with running Zeal over Virtues for the Shattered Aegis effect, that much I’m excited for but I’m still Very weary on Firebrand’s overall gimmick playstyle… we’re more depending on allies rather than self dependancy.. something Guards have been known for since, ever.

im more curious to how you got my account name

Azure.8926:

RabbitUp.8294:

Ashes is not a unique buff, or a buff at all, it’s just some burning stacks. It’s a venom.

Imbued Haste – Condition Damage +250, Healing power +250, Toughness +250

Thats for all allies affected by your Quickness which can help be maintained by Chronos if you cant keep it up most of the time. Its a Unique Benefit of the Firebrand which stacks with other stat boosting effects and benefits your Condition specs, Healers, and entire party with extra toughness.

And the fact you think Aegis is useless in Raids shows how little you actually know about it. If you are just looking to be a Healer the Druid seems more your cup of tea.

Can you read? Imbued Haste affects only firebrand, not allies.